It seems that unlike many of my peers, I haven’t focused on the sweeter side of life much around here this year, and although it made it pretty easy to pick the top five sweet dishes of the year, it also meant there wasn’t much to choose from. For my money that means I’ll have to do better in my effort to bring you some tooth-achingly good treats over the course of the next twelve months or so. At least one per month, I’d say, though there may be more.

In any event, the following is a list of my favorite sweet dishes from 2007:

Chocolate Port Wine Cake: This was my first-ever attempt at baking a cake from scratch. Therefore I felt that something with the addition of wine was an absolute necessity. (That way I didn’t have to worry about being nervous while making the thing!) The flavor was pretty impressive, though I’m still not sure that I got everything right in mixing it, the cake was pretty dense.

Mini Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pies My wife made these miniature versions of her famous bourbon chocolate pecan pies for Thanksgiving so that each of our guests had their own small, but complete pie. If you’ve ever wondered if the venerable pecan pie could be taken to the next level, the answer is yes, and this is the recipe that will do it, regardless of whether you use real bourbon or just bourbon extract.

Sinfully Good Hot Dark Chocolate I’ve been waiting to make this recipe ever since I saw Michael Chiarello make something similar on Food Network earlier in the year. When the Holidays hit and I heard that my wife was having a stressful day, the time just seemed right for the making. So with his recipe as a guide, I set out to create the ultimate in chocolate beverages for a blisteringly cold (in the 20’s) Texas day. I succeeded.

Mocha Caramel Cappuccino Tartelettes These tartlettes were based on some I’d made earlier in the year, but I’ve always felt that the originals could benefit from a few things. These were made as gifts for our closest friends to enjoy over the holidays, but I’ve nearly been talked into selling them. (Actually, I’ve been threatened with what will happen to me if I don’t start trying to sell them, but that idea is still on the back burner for now.)

Tea Cookies and Brandy Balls The last installment of my favorite five sweet dishes of 2007 is actually a buy one get one free kind of deal. The first is an old favorite of mine, the second is a cookie I’ve made for the very first time. Both are fabulous, and I’ll be making variations on both well into the future. As a matter of fact, these are now my personal “go to” cookie recipes.

There you have it, my personal favorites in the arena of sweet dishes for 2007.

Do you have any sweet memories of the year? If so what? C’mon, you can share with the class, we’ve been good.