Mom’s Blueberry Salad
. While I love her dearly and enjoy spending time with her, I have to admit it is nice to have my bed and my place to myself again. 
Purple onions
Romaine Lettuce
Feta cheese
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
This Sunday, I went to a Brazilian-themed party that I later found out was a party in honor of the World Cup game with Brazil playing against the Ivory Coast. I arrived just in time to see the recap of the game, but since I’m not into sports, I was completely okay with that. I just wish I could have heard all the Brazilian guests yell after seeing their country win. I love witnessing that type of excitement.
The reasons I made this strawberry shortcake cake were threefold (one of my mom’s favorite words): 1) I had bought a bunch of strawberries at Costco the day before; 2) I have been wanting to make this type of cake ever since I saw this beautiful one on the Good Mood Food blog, an Irish blog written by Donal Skehan; and 3) I wanted to bring a cake to the party. I chose this cake over the Pioneer Woman’s version because she used sour cream in the cake, and you know how I feel about sour cream.
I changed around the recipe for the cake so much that I can only say that I was inspired by the Donal’s recipe. For instance, instead of melting the butter, I blended it with the sugar as is done with most cakes I’ve made. Also, I felt that half of a stick of butter was not enough for a good cake, so I used a whole stick. The other major change I made was to sweeten the whipped cream instead. I couldn’t imagine eating whipped cream without sugar! Blech!
Once the strawberry filling was placed on top of the cake layers, they started to slide (along with the filling), and it became a huge mess. Also, I was already running late, so that is why I didn’t take photos of the process. I angrily threw placed the cake layers in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then, I made more sweetened whipped cream and covered the entire cake after cleaning the edges. I was very pleased with the end result. This was a very photogenic cake. I speak in the past tense because everyone ate that cake so quickly. It was gone before I knew it. Anyway, after I had frosted the cake, I placed it back in the freezer for 15 minutes just to be safe. After placing more strawberries on the cake and taking photos of it, I got ready to go to the party.
I placed the cake in the passenger seat and surrounded it with my camera bag and a VCR that I am planning to donate or recycle that was sitting in the backseat of my car. I then wrapped everything together with the seatbelt . It worked. The cake didn’t move one inch.
I drove up to my friend’s house and was greeted by the sight of bright green and yellow shirts with “BRASIL” written on the front. I almost turned around because I didn’t recognize any of the people on the stairs (remember my social phobia?). I reminded myself that there were people I did know inside the apartment, and that thought helped me muster up the courage to get out of the car. I hid as much as I could behind the cake and cake stand and muttered a brief “Olá” to the people outside and anxiously searched for a familiar face.
Once I walked inside, my anxiety increased even more because there were so many people in there that there was barely enough room to walk! Even the sight of a few of my colleagues did not assuage my increasing desire to run back home. Finally, my friend – the host of the party – spotted me and got so excited about my cake. I felt a bit better and less nauseated after seeing her and walking in the near-empty kitchen. I managed to eat a traditional and DELICIOUS Afro-Brazilian dish called Bobó de camerão over white rice (I am soooo going to make this very soon) that another friend/colleague had made. I then became part of an interesting 3-way conversation that lasted until 8pm!
When the cake was taken out, almost everyone took a slice. I personally thought the cake wasn’t sweet enough. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised since I’m aware that desserts in the U.S. tend to be sweeter than those made in other countries (correct me if I’m wrong!). Nevertheless, because the cake wasn’t super sweet, I knew that the guests of this party, which was comprised of 90% Brazilians (there was also one Mexican (the host), an Argentinean and one German), I assumed they would like it. I was right. They raved over the cake and kept saying comments like “Que delícia, Memória!“.
If I were to make this cake again, I would pick a sweeter cake as the base and use a regular frosting. I love sweet desserts, though, so ignore my preferences if yours are different haha. Despite the sweetness level, the whipped cream and strawberry filling tasted really good. I loved how soft everything was. It was a very comforting cake that felt very light even with the presence of heavy cream. If this cake sounds like your kind of dessert, you should definitely make it!
Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick/113g) of butter, room temperature
1 1/8 cup (225g) of caster sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup (100ml) of milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup (210g) AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
Strawberry Filling:
1 pint (300g) of strawberries, washed and hulled
1/4 – 1/2 cup granulated sugar (depending on how sweet your strawberries are)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
juice of 1/2 lemon
Whipped Cream:
2 1/2 (550ml) heavy cream
1/2-3/4 cup granulated or powdered sugar, to taste
1 1/2 tsp CLEAR vanilla extract (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350F/175C/Gas 4, and grease and line two 8-inch cake pans.
Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Mix the milk and vanilla extract together in a liquid measuring cup. Sieve or whisk the flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Then, pour the flour and milk mixture into the mixing bowl, alternating and ending with the flour.
Mix the batter completely until smooth and combined.
Divide the mix evenly between the two baking tins (or you can pour it all into one pan and separate it with a knife if you have a steady hand. I used two pans) and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool slightly for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. [While the cakes are cooling, place the whisk and bowl for the filling in the freezer!]
Filling and Topping:
When both cake layers are completely cooled, make the strawberry filling. Place the cut strawberries in a medium sauce pan along with the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Heat to boiling and then remove the pan from the heat. With a potato masher or fork, mash the strawberries into smaller chunks. Allow the filling to cool while making whipped cream.
With the cold whisk and bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add in the sugar and CLEAR vanilla extract. [If you don't have clear vanilla extract, you could omit it or use the dark variety. Just know that it will change the color of the whipped cream.]
Assembly:
If the cake layers have a peak in the middle make sure to slice it off so you are left with perfectly flat layers. Place one layer face down on a cake stand and dollop with half the cooled strawberry purée. Then, add about a fourth to a third of the whipped cream, spread evenly. Carefully place the second cake layer on top and add the remaining strawberry purée. To avoid making the mess that I made, place the layers in the freezer for 30 minutes. After that time, add the remaining whipped cream generously. Feel free to garnish your cake with more hulled strawberries.
Cream of Tomato Soup
Here’s another dish I had to consume during my wisdom teeth “saga” (I exaggerate, of course). This soup was very good and hearty. However, it didn’t take long for me to get tired of soups. What I liked about this recipe was that it had a small enough yield for one or two people compared to the soup recipe from Ina Garten (why do most of her recipes yield so much?).
Anyway, make sure you season this soup well. If you’re eating this soup right after an extraction, purée the soup more than I did. I ate this after 3 or 4 days of my extraction, and I was lazy, so I didn’t purée it. I will be sharing one more soup I consumed during my extraction, then we can move on to solid foods again hehe. On the top of the soup, I added small squares of a grilled cheese sandwich as garnish!
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup chicken broth or dry white wine (I don’t drink alcohol, so I used extra broth)
1 28-ounce can fire-roasted or regular crushed tomatoes (I always use a box of Pomì)
3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 tsp granulated sugar (to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes)
Black pepper
Kosher salt
1/2 cup half-n-half or heavy cream
Garnish:
Chopped fresh basil
Grilled cheese sandwich chopped into squares
In a large saucepan heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once butter has melted add onions and garlic, cook until onion is softened about 5 minutes. Add in 2 Tbsp of flour to form a roux. Cook the roux for 3-5 minutes. Pour in broth or wine, and allow to cook for 1 minute. Add in crushed tomatoes, vegetable or chicken broth and granulated sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
Slowly stir the cream/half-n-half into the soup, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
For a smoother soup, blend the mixture, and process it until smooth. Just before serving, sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and/or grilled cheese sandwich squares.
Enjoy!
Strawberry Cheesecake
Move over all you strawberry shortcakes! Here comes a strawberry cheesecake you’ll never forget!
After getting my four wisdom teeth extracted, I could eat only soft foods. Unfortunately (and fortunately), the majority of the allowable food items were high in sugar and/or fat such as pudding, ice cream, and mashed potatoes. For some reason, I was craving healthier food items, so I supplied myself with plenty of baby food canisters of applesauce and pears since they are puréed more finely than the adult versions (you want to make sure you don’t get food particles on your newly-revealed gums. I even had to avoid rice dishes until later).
Anyway, once my teeth had healed a bit, I was craving something delectable, so I made a cheesecake since it is soft and on the approved list. I added the strawberries on top, but if you decide to eat this a day or two after a tooth extraction, you must omit the fruit or make a coulis version (i.e., purée the strawberries and strain out the seeds) of it.
I used my go-to recipe for cheesecake. I will never stray from this recipe because it doesn’t require sour cream or flour, two things I don’t like to put in my cheesecakes. It is so smooth and amazing and never creates a crack (at least on my watch).
I also whipped some heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract and placed some on top of individual slices. I hope you make this soon. If you are out of strawberries, try this with cherries. That was how I was going to make it originally, but I remembered the strawberries I had frozen a few months ago. I also didn’t feel like pitting cherries.
Don’t be discouraged by the length of the recipe. Most of the time making this dessert involves the oven and refrigerator. Also, I always make half of the cheesecake recipe (and the full recipe for the crust) since I live alone. It is still more than enough. Enjoy!
1 3/4 – 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt (I always use kosher)
1/2 stick (4-5 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake:
1 lb (two 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt (I always use kosher)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp heavy cream or sour cream, or a combination of the two
Make the crust:
- Butter a 9-inch springform pan – 2 3/4 inches high – and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.
- Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don’t worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn’t have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.
- Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
To make the cheesecake:
- Put a kettle or large pot of water on to boil.
- Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
- Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.
- Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
- Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven’s heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
- After an hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster, and remove the foil carefully. Allow the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
- When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly, and chill the cake for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove the sides of the springform pan, and set the cake, still on the pan’s base, on a serving platter. The easiest way to cut cheesecake is to use a long, thin knife that has been run under hot water and lightly wiped. Keep warming the knife as you cut slices of the cake.
1 pint of strawberries, cut and hulled
1-2 Tbsp cornstarch, if you want it to be thicker
1/4 cup or less of sugar, depending on how sweet your berries are
half of a lemon
In a medium saucepan, boil all of the ingredients until thick. Pour the mixture on top of the chilled cheesecake. [If making a coulis, omit the cornstarch. Pour the cooked ingredients into a blender and puree or use an immersion blender until smooth. Then, drain the mixture with a strainer.]
To store: Wrapped well, the cake will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or for up to 2 months in the freezer. It’s best to defrost the still-wrapped cheesecake overnight in the refrigerator.
Blackberry Cobbler w/ Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
When strawberry season was well underway, I wanted to go to a berry farm near where I live. I saw a link to all the picking farms in the United States (and many other countries) and found 2 places that sounded promising. Then, after I saw photos of some beautiful, enticing strawberries on Monica’s photo site, Natural Lighting, I had to ask where she got the berries (actually, I just found out that strawberries are NOT berries. Read more about it here.). She told me that she got them from Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls, Texas.
Because I don’t like to go to public places by myself (yeah, I have issues), I waited for my mom to arrive to go to the farm. Well, rain happened; my mom didn’t want to go to the farm at first; and then, finally we went the day before she left….and guesss what?! We came the very day after the strawberries were in season there!! ARGH! I was so disappointed. I had been wanting to go for so long. Next time, I will have to get over my fears and go alone haha.
Anyway, even though the strawberries were no longer in season there, the blackberries were coming in with fury. So, my mother and I grabbed a box each and picked a bunch of these dark beauties. I thought I’d add that I picked the most berries*.
*sidenote: Ignore the comment my mom is going to make about her picking the hard-to-get-because-they-were-deep-behind-or-in-the-middle-of-a-bunch-of-thorns blackberries for me. Don’t believe her! She was just delirious from the hot sun! LOL!
So, what did I do with these luscious berries?! I made the only type of fruit cobbler I like – the one with a pie-pastry-like topping as opposed to cobblers with biscuits on top of the fruit.
I searched everywhere for the right recipe for a pastry-topping cobbler. I remember finding the perfect one over a year ago that I had made with peaches two or three times. Since I have a new laptop (I’M STILL A PC AND AM DARN PROUD OF IT! WOOHOO!), I no longer had that website bookmarked. Fortunately, I found the site again because the recipe is popular even though it was posted in 2006. In addition to his recipe, I picked and chose other ingredients and methods from three other recipes to end up with the one that is warm and settled in my tummy right now as I type. YUM!
This cobbler was amazing. My only mistake was not mushing up the berries. I think it is definitely a personal preference, but I didn’t like tasting the less-hot interior of the berries after the first two bites. I think it would have been a better balance of crunchy, butter pastry taste and sweet, sour, berry taste if I had mushed them a bit. Nevertheless, it was still amazing.
I had run out of butter *GASP THE HORROR!* due to a 3-STICK ERROR (it still makes me sad to know I wasted that much butter) in a chocolate frosting I made, so I had to use butter-flavored shortening in the crust. I think the shortening caused the crust to be harder to handle. It still worked out in the end.
If you would like to use another pie pastry recipe, feel free to do so. I doubled the pastry recipe and used 2 extra cups of fruit because of the size of my dish (I will be blogging about this dish very soon). I like the double layer of pastry because you get a good amount of contrasting, yet complementary flavors.
Don’t forget to make some vanilla bean ice cream to go with it!
Pastry (I doubled this for an 11″ oval dish):
1-1/2 C flour
6 T butter
3 T shortening
1/2 tsp salt
3 T ice water
1/4 C sugar
Fruit Filling:
6 C blackberries
3/4-1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup AP flour
2 T cornstarch
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 T melted butter
To make the pastry, place the flour, butter, shortening, salt and sugar in the processor bowl with the steel blade. Pulse a few times until the mixture is like cornmeal. Add the ice water and pulse a few times, just enough to mix the water into the other ingredients. Turn the mixture out into a plastic food storage bag (it will be crumbly, not yet like dough) and quickly knead it through the bag a few strokes, till it just starts to hold together. Refrigerate for an hour or more. 
Roll out the reserved dough, cut in strips and lay in a lattice pattern over the fruit.
Sprinkle with sugar and bake about 15 minutes more, until the fruit is bubbling and the lattice is browned.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream.
Double (Not Triple) Citrus Bars
I feel like crying every time I look at my photos as of late. I didn’t post a new focaccia recipe I found b/c of how ugly the photos were. Then I forged on and blogged about the chicken carbonara even though the photos were horrible. I just had to blog about that dish b/c it was too good to keep to myself. Now, I have these citrus bars that look almost just as bad as the other photos but taste too insanely good not to share!
I first thought the problem was due to a dirty lens, so I bought a lens cleaner to remedy the problem. Also, I played around with the white balance as usual, but all the photos came out looking funky. I don’t know why!! I am guessing the colors are off b/c all the aforementioned dishes already had a yellow hue to them on their own so it was hard for me to get the right color. Therefore, for the current photos, I used the blue container of whipped cream to guide me on the right color, but I still think the overall color of the photos looks off! *CRY*
Oh well. I will move on to tell you about these bars. I hope the weird yellow-green-blue colors don’t deter you all from making these bars. You know they must have been good if I went on to post these photos.
You see that bite I took? I almost immediately stopped this photo session after that bite b/c it was so good. I just wanted to eat more. However, I thought about you all and kept clicking away. See how much I love you? LOL!
WARNING: Do not be alone after making and refrigerating these bars! You will eat almost all of them by yourself. They are that good haha. I had to really force myself to not eat the whole thing. I managed to go throw the whole thing within 3 or 4 days, though, and that was hard to do! I do still have 2 more small bars left that will most likely be consumed today hehe.
Oops! I take that back. I guess I couldn’t wait much longer. I had to go on and eat that first bar.The crust was a bit too salty because I put in too much (oops!), but the filling was perfect. It was so soft and creamy and citrusy. It wasnt too acidic though. The reason I’m calling these bars “double citrus bars” is because I didn’t have any limes in the house, and as I mentioned in the previous post, I was too broke (and tired) to go to the store and get some limes. So, I used my leftover lemons (double amount) and oranges instead. I also used more citrus juice than what the recipe called for to make it more acidic. If you like it sweeter, then use the amount on the recipe. I have posted the triple version of these bars below. Please make these ASAP!
Be sure to eat these with homemade, whipped cream, too!!
Crust:
5 ounces (~1 1/4 cups, crushed) animal or graham crackers
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar (light or dark)
pinch of table or kosher salt
Filling:
2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp grated lime zest (I didn’t use)
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest (I used 3 tsp to replace missing lime zest)
1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest
1 14-oz can of condensed milk
1 egg yolk, room temperature
6 Tbsp lime juice (I didn’t have)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (I used 8-9 Tbsps to make up for missing lime juice)
1 Tbsp orange juice (I used 2-3 Tbsp)
*The total amount of juice in the recipe comes out to 1/2 cup. I used about 2/3 cups.
Garnish (optional):
3/4 cup toasted coconut flakes (I used 1/2 cup and still ended up with way too much leftover. I suggest using 1/4 cup instead)
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut about 12-inch length extra-wide heavy-duty foil; fold cut edges back to form 7 1/2-inch width. With folded sides facing down, fit foil securely into bottom and up sides of 8-inch-square baking pan (I used a rectangular tart pan for (failed) aesthetic reasons), allowing excess to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray (I used baker’s joy).
TO MAKE THE CRUST: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse animal or graham crackers until broken down, about ten 1-second pulses; process crumbs until evenly fine, about 10 seconds (you should have about 1 1/4 cups crumbs). Add brown sugar and salt; process to combine, ten to twelve 1-second pulses (if large sugar lumps remain, break them apart with fingers). Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter, about ten 1-second pulses. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.
TO MAKE THE FILLING: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zests, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add juices and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).
TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.
Loosen edges with paring knife and lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using, and serve. (Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days; crust will soften slightly. Let bars stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.)
Strawberry Cake
It was hard to make this cake. Not because of the recipe, but because of the color of the cake. You see, I’m not a fan of pink because it reminds me of gender stereotypes that are pinned on people from the time most parents know the gender of their child. Gender stereotypes can sometimes hinder people from being and doing whatever they want because of societal expectations, and that bothers me to no end. Yes, all of these feelings surged about because of the color of this cake. Yes, I have problems hahaha. Moving on…
Anyway, I was really craving strawberries and cake, and I kept seeing strawberry cakes popping up on the internet, but they were all made with cake mix as its base and/or looked too dry. I wanted a true, homemade, strawberry cake that was sure to be moist and soft. I decided to use this vanilla cake recipe as a base and go from there. It was fun to experiment with the ingredients, but I was afraid of how the cake would turn out.
Fortunately, it came out almost perfectly. I say almost because I think I put too much purée in the batter and frosting because the texture of both was sort of weird… I can’t explain it. The frosting was sort of gloppy yet smooth enough to place on the cake. Nevertheless, the cake was AMAZING.
I had meant to take a “fork-in-cake” photo so that you could see how moist and soft the cake was but I wanted to take a bite so badly and before you knew it, I had an empty plate with the lone, half-frozen strawberry on the side of the plate. A few hours later, I grabbed another slice. Yes, it was that good. I’m so sorry I couldn’t give you that shot, but this cake was too freaking good. It was exactly what I needed, wanted and craved.
Despite its amazing taste, I need to experiment with the amount of purée required in the batter and frosting. As is, however, it is more than fine. I didn’t get to decorate the cupcakes because I was too busy eating the regular cake. So, I will leave that job for the next man or woman to make 
…
In the frosting, I added lemon extract just to test it out. I loved how it gave a welcomed brightness to the strawberry. Oh, I want another slice right now….so, um, I better end this post now. Here’s the recipe!
Baker’s Joy or Cooking Spray
2¼ cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans
1 pkg (3 oz) strawberry gelatin (about 1/3+ cups)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt (I use kosher)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), softened but still cool
6 large egg whites (¾ cup or 180 grams), at room temperature
1 cup tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 – 1 1/2 cups strawberry purée (I used 2 cups in this cake, so I think 1 to 1 1/2 cups would be better) [1 1/2 cups strawberries with stems removed (fresh or thawed) + 1/4 - 1/3 granulated sugar (depends on how sweet the berries are) + Juice of 1 lemon]
Prepare the purée: Place the cut strawberries in a blender or food processor. Add sugar and lemon juice (without the seeds!). Purée the mixture until smooth. 
The Cake: Set oven rack in middle position (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour (If you use the baker’s spray, you don’t need to do all of those steps. Just spray and proceed to the next step).
Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.
Mix cake flour, gelatin, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
Add all but ½ cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using hand-held mixer) for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup of purée and beat for 30-45 seconds. Then, add remaining ½ cup of milk mixture, and beat 15 seconds more. Add another 1/2 cup of purée, and beat for 15 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed, and beat 20 seconds longer. (Tedious steps but necessary to avoid over-mixing)
Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans (I weighed them out on a scale); using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. (If oven is small, place pans on separate racks in staggered fashion to allow for air circulation OR bake them individually like I did.)
Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes.
The two different types of cake pans yielded two different looking cakes. Re-invert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1- 1½ hours.
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup shortening (can sub more butter for a less fluffy frosting)
3-4 cups powdered sugar (to taste)
1 tsp lemon extract (optional)
1/4 – 1/2 cup strawberry purée
Beat butter and shortening for 3 minutes. Slow down beater or mixer, and add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Once the mixture is well-integrated, add in the purée until desired consistency is reached.
I did a crumb coating but didn’t have time or space to refrigerate it. Anyway, I added the next batch of frosting and being the creative person I am, I plopped a frozen strawberry on top of the crooked, sliding cake! LOL!
The end!Gelato al Limone
When I went to Italy a few years ago, I was able to try my very first gelato al limone (Lemon Gelato). It was a hot, dusty day in Firenze (Florence) and gelaterie were everywhere. I stepped up to the nearest one and asked for un piccolo gelato al limone (small Lemon Gelato). I don’t know why I asked for a gelato void of chocolate or vanilla, but the hot weather was most likely a major factor in my decision.
I dipped the plastic spoon in the already-melting, icy, fruity, acidic, milky concoction and brought a rounded, soft portion of gelato to my eager, dry lips. What happened after that is now a blur. The only next thing I remember is walking up to another gelateria for another gelato al limone. The only difference? I ordered a GRANDE gelato the next time. LOL! This chain-gelato-eating continued a couple more times that day. I was so full off of gelato that I didn’t get to eat hardly any savory items like pizza and pasta! You would think I would have learned my lesson or would have gotten tired of eating gelato, but I ended up doing the same thing on my first day of arrival in Venezia (Venice).
Ever year around this time I think about those gelati (the plural of gelato) and weep silently to myself that I’m too poor of a graduate student to just fly to Italy at a moment’s notice just for more. This year, however, I decided to remedy my gelato problem by looking for authentic recipes written in Italian and stumbled on Federica’s beautiful blog, La Cucina di Federica.
You would think that I would have made the gelato immediately after finding the recipe, but I waited a few weeks before I started juicing the lemons. After churning the gelato mixture, I transferred it to a lidded container, and placed it in the freezer. I tasted a bit of the mixture before I put it in the freezer, and it didn’t impress me much. I was starting to get wary…and disappointed.
HOWEVER, after it had frozen and after I took these photos, I took my first taste of this already-melting, icy, fruity, acidic, milky concoction and brought a rounded, soft portion of gelato to my eager, dry lips. Whoa! Didn’t we already see this line before? Yep. Because this gelato brought me back to that day in Firenze when I tasted my first gelato al limone. It was absolutely perfect that I almost cried. I have to say grazie mille to Federica for sharing such a perfect recipe.
This gelato has a perfect balance of acidity and milky flavors, and the bits of lemon zest are a nice, subtle contribution to the texture. I still want to jump on a plane to Italy at a moment’s notice, but not just for the gelato, but also to try out more of the savory items I had missed out on on my first trip!! You’ve got to try out this gelato. It’s easy to make and doesn’t have any eggs, yet it is still luscious with a lovely texture. Lastly, just like the gelati in Italy, this gelato melts a lot faster than ice cream, so take your photos quickly!
translated from La Cucina di Federica (no adaptations were necessary)
Use the ml/litre section in your liquid measuring cup for accurate measurements
juice of 3 lemons (~1/2 cup (120 gr/ml)) including the zest of 1 lemon
~3/4 cup (150 gr/ml) granulated sugar
~1 cup (200 gr/ml) milk
1+ cup (250 gr/ml) heavy cream
Juice the lemons over a strainer or sieve, and remove the seeds.
With a mixer (I used a whisk), mix the sugar, juice, and milk. Cover and allow the mixture to rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Transfer the mixture to an ice-cream maker and pour in the heavy cream as it churns. Then transfer the churned mixture to a covered container and freeze for at least four hours. Now gobble the gelato all up before it melts!
Lemon-Lime Danishes, my First Blogiversary and a Giveaway!
Danish 2: The “fallen” danish
1. Blog Updated!: Instead of focusing on my dissertation proposal, I worked on updating this blog all weekend. I have come to the realization that while most people like WordPress for its snazzy themes, I much more prefer Blogger for its ease in adjustments and settings (I wrote this before it messed up today). I spent literally hours trying to upload a theme to WordPress.com only to find out that you couldn’t upload unaffiliated themes to wordpress.COM, but you could do it to WordPress.ORG! Then, you have to get a domain host before you can download the .ORG version. So, before I found that out, I had paid money to get a new theme. When I found out I couldn’t use that without paying more money for a domain, I felt like screaming. I bought a cheap domain at godaddy.com and still couldn’t move forward because I couldn’t find some authorization EPP code. At this point, I had spent more than 5-7 hours working on this stuff.
I finally gave up and went back to blogger to find a theme to my liking. I was hoping to find one with a three column footer and a dark, simple, sleek background, and I found it…for FREE. I downloaded it in a matter of seconds and then moved things around and was very pleased. Then, I decided to change the header to add my own photos but didn’t know how. I found a great tutorial on Digital Photography School and was finally able to make my header once I figured out what was going wrong with the Rectangular Marquee Tool on my limited, free version of Photoshop. Two hours later, I made the header you see above. I am happy. I am pleased. I don’t ever want to update my blog again….well, not until my next blogiversary. LOL!
Danish 1: The burnt danish
2. FIRST Blogiversary!/Danish Revisited: Anyway, since this is my first blogiversary, I decided to revisit what I made on my very first post: a cherry cream cheese danish braid. Instead of making a cherry danish this time, I made a lemon-lime danish and a lemon-lime danish with fresh strawberries (I’ll explain next while I ended up making two danishes). Both danishes had a lime glaze on top and the last one had candied lime zest as well.
Danish 2: Before it fell
Well, to go along with all the trouble I went through to update my blog, these danishes didn’t turn out as well as I had wanted. The first one I burnt even after baking it a few minutes under the time suggested (remember I always do half the time and then I went a few minutes under that). It still tasted fantastic, but as you can see, it was burnt and the braid didn’t stay together as well as the one on my very first post.
A yummy slice of the burnt danish
I didn’t burn the second one. Instead, I dropped it on the kitchen floor right before I baked it (fortunately, it was covered with clear wrap), and the braid loosened up and just opened up completely while baking in the oven. Everything was a total disaster but still tasted great. After, drizzling a bunch of glaze and candied lime zest on top, you couldn’t see its “lime pastry cream guts” sticking out as much.
Generous portion of lime glaze to cover the damage
I am sorry that I can’t share with you all a beautiful, perfect danish. I will make another one….next year for the next blogiversary (if I last that long). I will do it well enough ahead of time so that I’m not stressed and pressured for time. I will do it before spending hours on fixing up my blog.
The burnt, yet in-tact danish! It was still so good!
3. FIRST Giveaway!!: On a positive note, I am offering my first giveaway. I wasn’t sure what to offer. So, I thought of something related to the theme and feel of my blog, which I hope deals with international culture, foods, and languages. So, for my giveaway, I am giving one of the following cookbooks to one of my lucky readers, lurkers, and/or visitors residing in the UNITED STATES, CANADA, or MEXICO (I apologize to readers not residing in those countries; I am a lowly graduate student and can’t afford much more.). Deadline: Thursday, April 1st at 12 midnight, Pacific Time.
In order to participate in the giveaway, answer ALL of the following questions in the comment section below:
Para participar en el concurso, contesta todas las siguientes preguntas en la sección de comentarios abajo:
1. Which cookbook would you like? ¿Cuál libro escojerías?
2. What international (i.e., outside of the U.S. for me) dish would you like to see on Mangio da sola? OR What international (i.e., any dish not traditional to your country of residence) dish have you prepared?
¿Cuál plato internacional te gustaria ver en Mangio da sola? O ¿Cuál plato internacional has preparado tú?
3. And because I am a linguist, how many languages do you speak? AND/OR What languages would you like to learn, if you could?
Y porque soy lingüista, ¿cuántos idiomas sabes? Y/O ¿Cuántos idiomas te gustaría aprender si pudieras?
If you would like to leave a comment without entering in the giveaway, you don’t need to answer the questions. Just leave some love!
I am submitting this post to yeastspotting!
Lemon-Lime Danish Braid
DOUGH:
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup whole milk
3 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups bread flour
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cardamon (optional)
1 tablespoon butter2 large eggs (beaten)
2 cups unsalted butter (cold)
DOUGH: Pour milk and water into a saucepan; heat to a scald. In a large bowl, add in sugar, salt, cardamon and flour. Add a tablespoon of butter to the scalded mixture. Stir till the butter is melted. Add in two beaten eggs and mix with a whisk. Cook mixture to 110F.
Once cooled, add in instant yeast. Pour liquid into the bowl of the flour mixture; mix with a wooden spoon. Pour out onto a lightly-floured surface, and knead for 6 minutes or till smooth and elastic. Wrap into plastic wrap and place into the fridge for 30 minutes.
BUTTER BLOCK: Prepare the 2 cups of butter. Place the butter onto some plastic wrap. Place more plastic wrap over the top. Using a rolling pin roll out to a 6 x 12 inch rectangle. If you roll the butter to large, just cut the sides and place the excess butter on top and re-roll. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
DOUGH PACKET: Take the dough out of the fridge, and roll into a 9×18 rectangle. Place the rolled butter onto the bottom 2/3rd of the dough. Fold over the top part of the dough to the middle. Brush off any excess flour. Fold over the bottom half over top the first. Pinch the seams closed. Turn the dough 90 degrees, so the narrow end is facing you. Roll out the dough into another 9×18 rectangle. Brush off any excess flour. Do the three fold again and seal the ends.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and place a black dot or make an impression with your finger on the plastic wrap. Place into the fridge for another 30 minutes. Remove the dough, and roll out again and fold again. Wrap with plastic wrap and place another dot or impression on the plastic wrap. Place back into the fridge for 30 minutes.
Again, remove the dough and roll out again and fold for a third time. Cover with plastic wrap and place another dot or impression on top so you will have three dots to remember how many times you have done this. Place the dough back into the fridge for at least 1 hour or over night. Now the dough is ready to use.
DANISH BRAID:
Remove the Danish dough from the fridge. Sprinkle a little flour on a flat surface and then unwrap and cut the dough in half. Wrap one piece with plastic wrap and place back into the fridge. Roll the dough into a 10×15 rectangle.
Brush any excess flour from the top. Now, place the dough into a piece of parchment paper. Using a pizza slicer lightly score the dough 3 inches from each side. Do not cut through the dough. It’s just to be used as a guideline.
Place your filling into the middle without crossing the score marks. Using your pizza cutter and a rule cut slices down each side on the dough. Do not cut past the score line. It will be about 9 slices down both sides.
Cut off the two bottom pieces and the two top pieces. Fold over the bottom onto the filling.
Beat one egg and 1 tablespoon of water into a small bowl. You will use this as glue. Brush each piece of dough as you create the braid. Begin at the end of the dough and fold one piece of dough over the filling. Brush with the egg wash. Now, take one piece of dough from the other side and fold that over the other piece. Continue till you have created a braid. Brush the top of the braid with egg wash. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour. Remove plastic wrap and egg wash once again. Place into a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Drizzle with some icing over top.
To make the spirals, roll out the other half of the danish dough in a rectangle shape about a 1/4 of an inch thick. Fold in half and using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 1/2 inch thick strips.
Take each piece of dough, gently stretch it slightly and twist it over and over until it is tightly wound. Coil the twist rope into itself.
Place onto a piece of parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof for about 30 minutes. Make an indent in the center of the coil ( I used the bottom of a shot glass to make the indent ) and fill with filling. Brush with an egg wash and bake in a preheated 400F oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Drizzle some icing over top.
LIME PASTRY CREAM:
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
2 cups cream
2 teaspoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I combined lemon and lime)
Mix together egg yolks and cream. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Whisk the egg mixture into the saucepan over medium heat. Whisk every minute or so at first, but as it heats up and starts to boil and thicken, you will need to whisk constantly. This should take about 10 minutes.
Turn the heat to low/medium-low so that mixture bubbles gently and cook until it coats the back of a spoon, or when you can draw your finger through it and the line stays there. Stir in the butter and vanilla, and two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve/strainer to remove all lumps. Because the mixture is very thick, you may have to help the mixture through the strainer by pushing gently with a spoon.
Set aside and let cool to room temperature. Then place in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, with plastic wrap pressed gently against the surface of the cream.
Using a zester, remove the rind from three limes. In a saucepan, add the water, sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a soft boil, and add the lime zest. Continue to boil mixture for 15 minutes. The lime zest with become translucent.
Use a fork, remove the zest from the liquid, and place the cooked zest onto a piece of wax paper. Spread out the zest, and sprinkle on top with a little sugar. Allow to cool and place into an airtight container until ready to use.
LEMON OR LIME GLAZE:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
Stir ingredients together well, and pour or drizzle on top of danish.
Cherry Limeade
In fact, this drink is the only item I like there, so if I’m looking for a quick meal and a limeade, I have to either go to Sonic (for the limeade) plus another fast-food place (for the meal), just buy a drink and make something at home, or just settle for a Route 44oz drink with nothing else. Acquiring the drink is a bit of a hassle, but worth it.
So, in order to remedy my problem, I decided to look for a copycat recipe for this addicting drink, and I found two viable ones that came from former Sonic employees. I had every ingredient but the soda and the limes. It was weird to buy soda at the store since I haven’t done that in a very long time, so I just bought a 2 liter since it was the cheapest out of the other options (Man! Soda has gotten really expensive!! I’m so glad I don’t buy the stuff on a regular basis!)
I started assembling the drink and decided to move all the ingredients to my “photo studio” (hah! I laugh at that. I so don’t have a studio. If you all only knew…) to make some decent process photos. As I picked up the grenadine (a syrup made from pomegranate) to transport it to the living room, I dropped it on the kitchen floor, and the thick, red, liquid splattered everywhere! I cleaned up quickly and proceeded with the photo-taking.
I love how this recipe requires only a few ingredients to become something great. Make sure you stir the mixture for the full effect. Also, you may need to adjust the amount of lime juice or cherry syrup or grenadine to get the right ratio. When I used the amounts on the original recipes (the slightly modified version is below), I was pleased with the taste of the drink, but it wasn’t quite spot on. I added more lime juice and grenadine, stirred the mixture again, and it tasted almost exactly like Sonic’s limeade.
The flavor is definitely close enough to the real thing and will definitely assuage any cravings. Since it contains soda (which I didn’t know it had until I found the recipes), I still won’t be able to make it whenever because I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy soda for the house (I broke the rule this time hehe). If you’re not opposed to soda and are addicted to Cherry Limeade (or you could make other flavors like strawberry limeade!) or are just curious as to how this drink tastes, I highly suggest making it. If you have children, they would have fun making this on their own, too. It is a lovely-looking drink. I love the two shades of colors.
Unstirred (left); stirred (right)Cherry Limeade
adapted by the comment on copykat.com and aldenteblog
Yield: medium-sized Cherry Limeade (20 oz.)
2-4 tbsp of flavored syrup (use cherry snow cone syrup or grenadine)
1 lime, squeezed
1 maraschino cherry (or as many as you like!! I love cherries!)
For a more cherry taste, add more syrup and for a more tart taste, add more lime. Play around with the ingredients to suit your personal taste.
SUGAR-FREE: You can also make this drink sugar-free with a sugar-free cherry syrup (if you can find it) and Diet Sprite.
- 20 oz gets 2 limes and 1/2 oz syrup or grenadine
- 32oz gets 3 limes and 3/4 oz syrup or grenadine
- 44oz gets 4 limes and 1 oz syrup or grenadine
Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies & Bars
They taste very good with or without a cinnamon sugar glaze on top as well. Just be sure not to overbake them, so that they stay soft and chewy. 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.
Cookies: Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered. Bars: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan (or 9×9 if using half of the dough). The dough will be hard to spread, but it will eventually happen. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. 24 BARS. HIGH ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: Increase flour to 1-3/4 cups and bake as directed.
I’ve been working on my paper these past few days (deadline was extended to the 28th), but I’ve been cooking, too. I don’t have much time to write on here as before, so I’ll just post mostly photos and the recipe for now. Those are the most important parts anyway, right?
I made oatmeal raisin cookies and bars using the well-known recipe, Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, from the Quaker’s Oatmeal canister. They were as good as usual.
If you don’t like scooping out cookie dough, it is much easier to make the bar version.
Oh my!
Yum!
O-M-G! Look at those raisins!
Enjoy!
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) (I had only 1 1/4 cups, and it worked fine)
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional; omit cinnamon)
Rosca de Reyes
¡FELIZ DÍA DE LOS REYES!In Mexico, many other Central and Southern American countries, and some parts of the U.S., they celebrate el Día de los Reyes on the 6th of January, which is TODAY! Traditionally, on the 5th of January, children leave their shoes out by a miniature nativity scene so that the three kings can place gifts in them. They also leave food, hay, and water for the kings and camels to express their gratitude for gifts. Later, everyone celebrates this day of epifanía or Epiphany by sitting around an oval-shaped, chewy, lightly sweetened Rosca de Reyes and Mexican hot chocolate or atole.
The rosca is shaped this way to symbolize the crown of Jesus; the candied fruits represent the jewels on the crown. Traditionally, the rosca is filled with baby Jesus figurines. The people who get the slices of rosca with the baby Jesus figurines in them will have to make and serve tamales (or whatever else you want to serve) on the 2nd of February (I still owe a party or two…oops!)!
Aren’t they cute?!! I bought these from a grocery store that specializes in Latin-American food for 50 cents each.
After doing a bit of research on rosca recipes, I realized that there are many disparate versions out there depending on which region you follow. So, based on the knowledge I acquired, I created a “new” version. My goal with this version was to recreate the rosca I remembered eating while living in East L.A. There was no edible filling like raisins or cajeta, so I didn’t include that, but I did post it in the recipe below as an option add-in, along with directions on how to add it, for anyone who would like to include it.
I made a lot of mistakes on this rosca, so bear with me through this post. I’m glad that it looks pretty well, though. I’ll do better next year!
I made the bread a bit sweeter by adding sugar to the baño (literally means “bath”, but is the glaze, in this case) that goes on top of the bread. The pasta (sugar/flour paste) browned a lot because I didn’t realize that I was supposed to put it on until after it was done baking! DOH!
Also, I candied the pineapples myself from a fresh pineapple. I also candied the cherries. Not surprisingly, I couldn’t find fresh papaya, so I bought the candied papaya. The candied papaya was dry and kept poking and popping out of my rosca. The fruits I candied, however, looked shiny and beautiful and were sticky enough that I didn’t have to worry about them popping up.
Candying sugar is a lot easier than I thought it would be. If you ever make this rosca, I highly suggest you candy your own fruit instead of buying it. If you can’t find fresh papaya (I couldn’t around this time of year), try dipping the store-bought kind in the leftover sugar syrup from the other fruits so that they adhere to the rosca. I followed this recipe to candy the fruits.
I am submitting this bread to yeastspotting!!
Rosca de Reyes
adapted from various sources
Dough:
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 c warm water (105-110°F)
1/4 c warm milk (can put both milk and water in one measuring cup and microwave mixture for 30-45 seconds. Check the temperature!)
1 Tbsp sugar
4 – 4 1/2 c AP flour (I needed 4 1/4 cups. You could also use half wheat and half white flour. Be prepared to make adjustments with the liquid, though!)
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c milk (I used whole)
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
Zest of one orange (optional)
Zest of one lemon (optional) (I used orange zest only)
1/4 c leche condensada
1 tsp vanilla extract (I forgot to add this!!)
Baño:
1 egg whites (use the white from the pasta below)
2 Tbsp powdered sugar (I accidentally used granulated sugar. Don’t make my mistake.)
After baking, add the pasta:
Pasta (I halved this part of the recipe from What’s Cooking and still had more left):
1/2 c sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 c flour
1/3 c butter, softened
Add-ins:
3-5 Baby Jesus figurines (I used 4)
Raisins
Cajeta or dulce de leche
Melted chocolate
Proof yeast in 1/4 cup of water and milk (105-110°F) and 1 Tbsp of sugar. While yeast mixture is proofing, mix the flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl or on a table, and form a well (alternatively, you can use a stand mixer). In the middle of the well, put in the yeast mixture, butter, egg yolks, whole eggs, condensed milk, and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients together and then gradually blend in the flour until you form a ball. Knead the dough or use a stand mixer for about 8-10 minutes. Cover the dough with a clean towel, and allow the dough to sit in a warm place in a greased bowl for one hour or until its doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled, take out the dough and knead the dough for a few seconds to remove the air out of them. Roll the dough back into a ball, place a dough scraper or knife in the middle of the ball to create the rosca, which should be oval-shaped with a large hole in the center. Make sure the hole is larger than you would think it should be since the hole will close up after the second rising. Allow the shaped dough to rise for about 45 minutes.
If adding cajeta, dulce de leche, or melted chocolate: Once the dough has doubled, take out the dough and knead the dough for a few seconds to remove the air out of them. Roll the dough back into a ball, and then roll out the dough to form a long rectangle. With the long part of the rolled-out dough in front of you, pipe or spread the filling on one side of dough. Add raisins on top, if desired. Brush egg wash on the side facing you. Fold the opposite side of the dough on top of the egg-washed side. Then, roll the dough into a thick, snake-like shape, pinching the ends together really well so that they don’t come apart (the dough should now look like in the photo above).
Mix the baño mixture with beaters or in a mixer, and brush it on top of the shaped, risen dough. This mixture will also help the dried fruit adhere to the rosca (it didn’t help at all for me).
I actually allowed the rosca to rise with the decorations on them. Don’t make my mistake. The dried candy from the store kept lifting up after baking.
Bake the rosca for 25-30 minutes in a 350°F oven. Next, spread the pasta in 6-8 sections on top of the rosca, leaving enough space in between them for the fruits. Cut the fruits and place them on the rosca to the left and right of the pasta.
Allow rosca to cool for 5-10 mins, and add in the figurines, if using, underneath the rosca by punching a hole at the bottom with the figurine itself. Tuck the figurines in the rosca well so that they don’t fall out.
Reclining on top of the rosca; awww, can you see his little feet poking out?
Apple Breakfast Puffs
Pioneer Woman calls these delightful muffins “French Breakfast Puffs” because she got the recipe from her French teacher in school. So, since I added apples to these addicting balls of bread and didn’t get these from a French teacher (well, not directly), I renamed them “Apple Breakfast Puffs”. I bet these would also be good with other types of fruit like blueberries or cranberries!
Although they are called “Breakfast Puffs”, you will want to eat them all day long. They are so good. The soft, warm interior of the puffs is so comforting. The apples add another dimension to these puffs making them even more comforting. And the butter and cinnamon topping? O-M-G!! So good! These puffs are so soft. Other tasters of these puffs suggest making them in mini muffin pans. I don’t have such a pan, so I can only imagine how good those versions taste.
Not only did I add chopped apples, I also used buttermilk instead of milk to make it richer. They were perfect and very quick to make. I halved the recipe, but I posted the full recipe below. I wish I would have thought to take a photo of the inside of the puffs. I guess I will have to make them again in the near future in order to do that. You know, I have to make these sacrifices for my readers.
adapted by Pioneer Woman
(This recipe can be easily halved, but these are so good you may want to use the full version below and freeze the leftovers in a ziploc, freezer bag.)
3 cups AP flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening (Crisco)
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I used buttermilk)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 sticks butter
1 apple (peeled, cored, and diced into small cubes)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups (I used “Baker’s Joy”, like Pioneer Woman). Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk mixture, and set aside.
In a different bowl (I used the stand mixer bowl), cream together sugar and shortening, then add eggs and mix. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to creamed mixture, beating (until the flour is mostly incorporated) after each addition and ending with the flour. Fold in chopped apples. (Make sure you do not overmix so that the puffs do not come out tough.)
Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden. In a bowl, melt 1 1/2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Carrot Cake Bars
Since I was a child, I have questioned my biological relation to my mother because it seems like we are from different planets. I now jokingly tell her that she’s not really my mom and start listing reasons why:
1. She is an extrovert in any situation; I’m a major introvert around strangers. She claims that she was shy as a child, but I don’t believe that for a second.
2. She is short and pear-shaped; I’m tall and apple-shaped. This means that even when she gains weight, she looks slim. I don’t have such luck. I tower over people horizontally and vertically.
3. She has a slim face, and her Native-American, facial features are salient. I have a round face, and I look more like my father.
4. She is not..um..very abundant in the chest area, and well, I am. She has short fingers, small eyes, and small ears; I don’t.
5. She was raised in the country with a bunch of siblings, and I’m an only child on my mother’s side, and I was raised in the city.
6. She uses a lot of country jargon, like “doggone” as an adjective (e.g., “Turn off that doggone cellphone.” or “My doggone student had the nerve to complain about the doggone pop quiz.”). When people hear me talk, however, they think I’m from California or from another country, especially when I speak Spanish or Portuguese.
7. She has a grad degree in English Literature; I have a grad degree in Spanish Linguistics. Also, she speaks a little Spanish, but I speak 3.5 languages (but she would tell you that I speak 7 or 9 languages).
8. She knows how to burn food; I know how to cook food.
9. She LOVES nuts and carrot cake; I DETEST both items.
Despite our differences, we have many important features that are the same and most of them supersede all the abovementioned differences:
1. We both love the Lord.
2. We both value education.
3. We both talk fast.
4. We both gain and lose weight over and over again.
5. We enjoy talking to each other every day (when she is paying attention to what I’m saying).
6. We love each other very much, and even if i were to find out that my mother was not my biological parent (which I now believe is NOT true), I would still love her more than any mortal in this world.
So, since I love her so much, I got over dissimilarity #9 and made her these carrot cake bars; they’re much easier to ship than carrot cake with cream cheese icing. These doggone carrot cake bars are for you, mom. I shipped them to you yesterday. They are full of those (yucky) doggone nuts you like so much.
Packaged and ready to go!
I tried to taste a little “nut-less” crumb so that I could report if they are good or not, and they seemed to be pretty good. I guess my mom can provide a better review of the bars once she gets them. Enjoy, mom!
(I suggest grating the carrots and chopping the toasted walnuts before or right after making the shortbread crust.)
Shortbread Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsps granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoon-size chunks
Set rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a 9×13×2-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an inch of overhang around the top edge of the pan. Smooth out wrinkles and lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray. [I halved the recipe and used an 8x8-inch pan.] Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. With metal blade, pulse in the butter until the mixture just starts to ball (15-20 seconds). Pat crust evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Prick the dough with a fork. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes or unti lightly browned and firm to touch. Let cool on wire rack before topping, at least 30 minutes.
Carrot “Cake” Topping
2 1/2 tbsps all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (about 1 cup + 3 tbsps)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsps light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and shredded
1 1/2 cups walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped (forgot to toast)
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried pineapple pieces, finely chopped (did not use)
1/4 cup powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)
Combine the flour, spices, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla together. Beat until well combined. Gradually incorporate the flour mixture and stir in the carrots, walnuts, raisins, and pineapple. Pour the mixture over the crust and spread evenly. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the edges are caramel-brown and top is slightly puffy. Let cook completely on a wire rack before cutting. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Makes 2 dozen (1 3/4-inch squares).
Apple Puff Pastry Tart
Yes, I made more dessert two days after the pecanless pie. To my defense, though, the dessert was not for me. Saturday was Chuseok/Chusok (Thanksgiving Day) in (most?) Asian countries. My friend from Korea told me that she and another Korean friend would be celebrating this special day at the library where we were going to study. They were both planning on bringing traditional, Korean dishes, So, I told her that I would bring dessert.
I started doing a search on the internet for Korean desserts, but almost all of them involved glutinous rice, rice or malt powder, and other ingredients I didn’t have. So, I decided to pull out my leftover puff pastry from the freezer and put it in the refrigerator to defrost until the next morning and make apple puff pastry tarts.
I woke up around 11 something, prepared the apples, cut the block of dough in half, and rolled out each piece one at a time and chilled the other. I had to have everything ready by 12:30, which was the time she was going to pick me up. By the time I finished baking both tarts, it was 12:35. She called me, and I told her I needed 10 more minutes. Why did I need more time when I was done baking? Because I needed to take photos for the blog! I took the photos during a cloudy, dreary day. That is one of the reasons the photos don’t look so great. Oh well. At least I have proof that I made this scrumptious dish.
My friends were very impressed with the dish. I was proud to not have to use store-bought puff pastry, even though this dough came from my failed attempt (the one with too much butter). That is why it didn’t puff up as nicely. Despite that mistake, the pastry was great. I ate only a small piece because I’m so tired of puff pastry. I gave the rest to them, and I had made a lot for two people (one large and one medium-sized one). They happily accepted my offer, too.
The large version with two columns of apple slices
I also took my first bite of Korean food, and I’m very selective about new foods (and I consider myself a xenophile). I liked one of the noodle dishes called japchae, but I was not crazy about these rolls, called gimbap, that looked like sushi (I’ve never had sushi either!). I also ate half of a songpyeon, which I didn’t like because the rice part was not sweet, and it was too sticky. I’m all about a good texture when it comes to food. It took me about 5 to 10 minutes to muster up the courage to eat every new item I tried haha. Fortunately, my friends were very patient and understanding.
Anyway, if you other Daring Bakers need another dish to use up your leftover puff pastry, try out this simple, quick recipe. I had it memorized after looking over it one time. I got it from Pioneer Woman, so you can see detailed photos on her site. My changes: I added cinnamon, nutmeg and more lemon to my filling.
1-2 sheets of puff pastry (homemade or store-bought)
3-4 apples (I used 3 small granny smith apples and still had some leftover after making 1 large and 1 medium-sized tarts)
1/2-1 lemon
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
Make the filling first so that the puff pastry does not get too warm. Core the apples with a pairing knife or a corer. Slice the apples in half. With the half face down, cut thin slices. (Next time, I will peel the skin to make it look prettier and to make it easier to eat.) Squeeze 1/2 of to a whole lemon over the apples, and mix them around (prevents browning and adds flavor). Add the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir the mixture, and allow it to sit while you prepare the dough.
Take the homemade dough* out of the refrigerator (Make sure you defrost it in the refrigerator one day before using it for this dish). If you have a big block of dough, cut it in half, and put one-half (wrapped) back in the refrigerator while you roll out the other half to 1/4-1/8 inch thick. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, shape the dough to your liking. You can make it big enough for two rows of apples or one. Then place the dough on a Silpat or parchment paper and a baking sheet BEFORE adding the apples (see photo below).
Place the apples in a row, overlapping each other, and then cover it. Place the baking sheet back in the refrigerator, and prepare the other piece of dough. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Once you are done with the second piece of dough, take out the first baking sheet, and place it in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Place the covered, second piece of dough in the refrigerator while the first one bakes. Repeat with the second one. Enjoy!
*For instructions on how to use the store-bought variety, visit Pioneer Woman’s site.
Cherry Frozen Yogurt with Chocolate Stracciatella
I had a bag of cherries. I needed to use them. I pitted them with a pastry tip, and there was no mess because I pitted them in a deep bowl. However, my thumb was very sore. Anyway, I found the recipe for this yogurt off of Mike’s Table. The cherry flavor was as intense as it looks in the photo. In fact, the cherries in my yogurt look a lot darker than they do in Mike’s. The chocolate bits toned down the intense, cherry flavor, but I still could eat only a little bit at a time. Hence the reason I still have a lot left sitting in the freezer.
I was surprised about how well the chocolate and cherry complemented each other. If you really love cherry, you should try out this recipe. I am entering this recipe in for the Ice Cream Social Challenge hosted by Scotty Snacks, Savor the Thyme, and Tangled Noodle.
adapted from Mike’s Table who adapted it from Perfect Scoop and Amateur Gourmet
- 3 cups cherries
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 1 Tbsp cognac (OPTIONAL since I don’t drink alcohol, I subbed honey for consistency)
- few drops of almond extract
- Optional: 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate
With all of your cherries pitted, toss them with the sugar in the saucepan, and crank up the heat to medium-high. Stir this periodically, and the cherries will begin to soften and surrender their juices while the sugar will dissolve and form a delicious syrup. After about 10 minutes or so, the cherries ought to be fairly tender and you should have a good bit of juice. Remove from heat once you do.
Now, while the cherries are hot, transfer this to the food processor or blender. If you want cherry chunks in your final frozen yogurt, don’t purée just yet, but maybe give a quick few pulses. If you’d rather have the cherry completely mixed in to your final frozen yogurt, purée this mixture well.
Let the mixture cool to room temperature before you go any further. To speed things along, you can set the mixture in a bowl over an ice bath for about 20 minutes. Once the cherry mixture is sufficiently cool, add the yogurt, cognac (optional), and almond extract and stir everything together or put in the blender/food processor until well mixed.
Set this aside in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (press it right against the surface), and let this rest in the fridge for about 2 hours so it can cool down.
Once time is up, churn this in your ice cream maker according to the directions that came with your machine.
If you choose to add the stracciatella, about 2 minutes before the churning is done, melt your chocolate in a bowl in the microwave (30 seconds, stir, another 30 seconds, stir, and repeat if necessary until totally and nicely melted down). Once the chocolate is in liquid form, pour a very thin stream into the churning ice cream maker, doing your best to avoid the dasher (but let’s be realistic…). The thin stream of chocolate will resolidify into little chunks on contact with the cold yogurt and it will be quite nicely dispersed throughout the frozen yogurt. Transfer this to an air tight container and let it rest in the freezer over night.
Orange Chicken
I was craving Chinese food, specifically Orange Chicken. I’ve been trying to save money, so I opted to make this dish myself instead of going out to a restaurant. Fortunately, I had every ingredient. This dish tasted even better hours later. You should definitely make this. Just allow time to fry up the chicken bits; that part took the longest.
Ingredients:
Chicken-
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour or cornstarch
1 eggs (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Oil (for frying; I used vegetable or canola oil, but peanut oil is the best for frying)
Orange Sauce-
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)
½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
Step 1: Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.
Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.
Step 3: Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions.
Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
Don’t cha wanna a piece?
Words cannot begin to describe how utterly sinful and delicious these rolls were. I miss them so much. *tear* While they take a bit of time to make, I highly suggest you make these NOW!
Sexy, naked, and begging for icing hahaI prepared the dough the night before and then baked the rolls the next day. They tasted just as good the next day and the next. If you’re planning on having them around longer than that, I suggest freezing them without the icing. In fact, I only put the icing on my rolls when they are being served.
So tempting…Please. I beg you. Try. these. rolls. NOW! Thanks, Joy! Also, check out other yummy baked goods at Yeastspotting!
Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from Joy the Baker, which came from Saveur
For the Dough:
1 package or 2 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon, plus 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk or half-n-half at room temperature
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for kneading
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan (or spray)
For the Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans (I omitted)
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (I omitted)
1/4 cup raisins (I doubled)
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 Tablespoons maple syrup (I subbed 1 Tbsp each of honey and corn syrup)
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the Icing:
1 1/2 – 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk (?? I wasn’t sure about using buttermilk, and I didn’t have whole milk, so I used half-n-half)
Making the Dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine yeast, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 cup water heated to 115 degrees F. Stir to combine and let sit until frothy and foamy, about 10 minutes.
Add remaining sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat with a wire whisk until well combined. Fit the bowl onto the mixer, fitting with the dough hook attachment. Add the flour and salt and mix on medium speed until the dough just begins to come together. Turn the machine on medium-high and knead the dough for 4 minutes.
Add the butter and continue to knead for about 6 minutes. The dough will the wet and sticky. Place the dough on a well-floured work surface, and knead about 1/3 cup all-purpose flour into the dough. Don’t worry, the dough still might be a little sticky. It’s ok. Just set the dough to rest in a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
While the dough rises, make the filling. Combine the sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, salt and cloves in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in the maple syrup. Set aside.
When the dough has doubled in size, dump if from the bowl onto a heavily-floured work surface. Gently knead the dough until it is no longer sticky, adding more flour as needed (about 3 Tablespoons of flour). Work the dough for about 1 or 2 minutes. Once it’s no longer sticky, place a kitchen towel over the dough and let rest for 5 minutes before you roll it out.
Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10 x 10-inch square.
In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese with an offset knife until it’s smooth and spreadable.
Spread the cream cheese evenly over the dough square. Fold the square into thirds like you would fold a letter to fit into an envelope. Take the open ends of the rectangle and fold into thirds again, to make a smaller dough square. (There are detailed photos of this process on Joy’s site)
Invert the dough so that the seam is face down and, using the rolling pin, gently roll it into a 10 x 20-inch rectangle. You make find that some cream cheese sneaks through. Be as gently as possible with the dough, but continue to work it until you reach the size you need.
Turn the dough so that the short sides are parallel to you. You’re going to roll from the short sides of the dough.
Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter. We’ll use the rest of the butter after the rolls are baked.
Pour all of the filling onto the dough. Spread evenly, leaving a 1-inch boarder at one of the short edges of the dough so the roll can be properly sealed. Lightly press the filling into the dough.
Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder. Place dough cylinder seam side down on a cutting board. Using a sharp, thin knife, trim off the uneven edges (This step is optional. I kept everything).
Cut cylinder into 8 equal slices (I used sewing string to cut them nicely without squishing down the rolls). Nestle the slices, cut side up and evenly spaced in a butter 9 x 13-inch (light colored) metal baking dish. Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 2 hours. You may also refrigerate rolls overnight.
Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover the rolls. If you refrigerated the rolls, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Make the icing: While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar and buttermilk, milk, or half-n-half in a small bowl until smooth.
Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack. Brush with remaining butter (I used 2 Tbsp). Let cool for 5 minutes. Dip the tines of a fork into the icing and drizzle over the rolls. Serve immediately.
Banana Pudding
Not the most photogenic dessert in the world, but it sure is good!
Woah, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here. There are too many other food blogs out there for me to have to write the usual apology for not posting more regularly, so I will just get right to writing about this yummy banana pudding!
I had been seeing quite a few recipes for vanilla wafers on the blogosphere, so I had been planning to make this pudding with said wafers for a long time. I finally got around to it today. I made the wafers (of varying sizes), the egg custard for the pudding, and then put everything together. The wafers were good, but the buttery flavor was too salient for the pudding. I think I will either use less butter in the wafers or try another recipe next time. The wafers by themselves were good, too. I didn’t take any pictures of the cookies because they looked pretty plain, but you can still see them poking out of the homemade whipped cream (I don’t like meringue.) and custard. YUM!
*UPDATE*
After sitting in the refrigerator for a few hours, this banana pudding has gotten a lot better. Now you can barely taste that heavy buttery taste I mentioned previously, so everything has melded together very well. This pudding is divine!
I got the recipe from my favorite southern food blog, Southern Plate. Every single thing I’ve made on this site has been so good. From the chicken crockpot dressing to this banana pudding, she knows what she’s talking about. I also love how she uses generic basic ingredients. Because of her, I own a generous size of generic, Wal-mart brand vanilla extract that only cost me .98 cents .
Here is the recipe. Since I live alone, I halved the recipe (full recipe is shown below),and it still procured a generous portion. In order to add in 1 1/2 egg yolks, I usually stir the yolks (you can do the same thing with whole eggs), and then I pour in what looks like over half of the stuff. It works perfectly every time.
All gone!
Homemade Banana Pudding
adapted from Southern Plate
1/2 C Sugar
1/3 C Flour
3 egg yolks (I saved and froze my egg whites for my new go-to white cake recipe. I will post about that later)
2 C milk
2-3 dozen vanilla wafers* (or 1 box Nilla Wafers)
5 bananas (I used 2 bananas in my half version, and it was perfect)
1/2 tsp Vanilla
dash salt
Place a layer of Nilla Wafers in the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl. Slice a banana over the top. Repeat two more times with another layer of wafers and remaining bananas.
In sauce pot (or double boiler) on medium low heat, add all ingredients except for vanilla, bananas, and wafers. Stir well with wire whisk and then switch to a wooden spoon. Allow to cook, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until thickened – about ten to fifteen minutes (Do not rely heavily on the time; rely more on the thickness of the custard. You don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs!). Once the custard coasts the spoon, turn off the heat. Add in vanilla and stir. Immediately pour over wafers and bananas. Let sit for about five minutes or so before serving, to allow wafers time to absorb pudding. Top with meringue (or whipped cream), if desired.
For a basic recipe for Whipped Cream, you can go here. I made mine with 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 2 Tbsps of sugar, and 1/2-1 tsp of vanilla extract.
*Vanilla Wafer Cookies
adapted from Baking Bites
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
Sift flour, salt and baking powder over the butter mixture and stir to combine. Scrap dough into a pastry bag fitted with a plain piping tip. Pipe the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, making each cookie the size of a large chocolate chip. Cookies will spread, but only a little space is needed between cookies. (IMHO, the dough was too thick for the piping bag, so I just used a teaspoon and dumped the dough onto the pan. Since it would be covered with custard and cream, I wasn’t worried about them looking perfect.)
Bake at 325 F for 10 to 15 minutes, until cookies are a light golden brown. Baking time will vary depending on the exact size of your cookies. Mine were a bit tall, but slightly smaller than a dime. They spread slightly to about dime-size. Cool on baking sheets. Store in an airtight container.
Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel)
My first slice accompanied with homemade vanilla ice cream. YUMMY!The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.
As you can see, I forgot to peel the apples, but it didn’t throw off the taste of the strudel.
Mise en placeI was really excited about this challenge when I first heard about it because I’d never made apfelstrudel. Instead of soaking my raisins in rum, I soaked them in apple juice since I don’t drink alcohol. I halved this recipe, ate two slices, and then gave the rest away to my neighbor/colleague. It looked really ugly before and after putting it in the oven (hence the absence of out-of-the-oven pics); however, the powdered sugar covered any imperfections. The taste of the strudel reminded me of apple pie, which is something I’ve yet to make. This was my first apple-based pastry. Thanks for the challenge, Linda and Courtney!
To-Try Recipe: Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream UPDATE!
UPDATE: I finally tried out this recipe, but I didn’t like it. I ended up throwing it all away after two small servings of the stuff (on two different days). It was creamy; it was choppy and tasted like strawberry with no cheesecake. I couldn’t even taste the graham crackers because they were overshadowed by the fruit. If I get another hankering for this type of ice cream, I think I will try the custard-based version next time. I could have done something wrong, so don’t let my experience stop you from trying these recipes out. (I apologize for the awful photo above; it was late at night when I took it.)
Here is a recipe I want to try very soon. I’d thought I’d share it with you all prematurely. The ice cream base comes from Epicurious and the graham cracker section from Closet Cooking. I chose a different ice cream base than the one on Closet Cooking because I’m not crazy about using only one part of an egg. I just never get around to using all those egg whites. In fact, I have two ice trays full of egg whites already. *sigh* I guess I could make my healthy fried rice or a healthier version of pasta alla carbonara to use them up, since i’m not a fan of meringue or other egg white frostings. Hmm…
Well, tell me what you think about the below ice cream combination if you try (or have tried) this out!
Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
adapted from Epicurious and Closet Cooking
Ice Cream Base:
3/4 pound (1 quart) strawberries
8 ounces softened cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1. Purée the strawberries with the cream cheese, sugar, milk, lemon juice, and salt.
2. Stir in the heavy cream.
3. Chill completely.
4. Freeze in an ice-cream maker.
Graham Cracker Crust:
1/4 cup graham wafer crumbs
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1. Mix everything in a bowl.
2. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a baking pan.
3. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
4. Let cool completely.
Mix the graham cracker crust bits into the ice cream base after churning and transferring it to a container. Then freeze the ice cream for a few hours.
Cherry "Pie-let"
Every Wednesday during the semester (which has just ended), my friend would pick something from my bookmarked recipes for me to make for her. Since I love to bake, and she enjoys my treats, it was a win-win situation! This past week, she asked me to make her the cherry pie from Smitten Kitchen.
I was happy to do that dessert because I wanted to try out another pie crust recipe. The first time I made pie crust, I used the one from Pioneer Woman‘s site, which originated from one of her readers, Sylvia L. While it was really flaky, delicious, and easy to put together because it did not require many cold ingredients, Smitten Kitchen’s version had a mixture of (cold) butter and shortening in it. Therefore, it was very flaky and buttery. Her recipe, however, was a little harder to put together only because the ingredients had to stay cold in my warm apartment.
Since my friend lives alone, she wanted a small pie because I was overloading her with too many sweets every week haha. Consequently, I had to go to Bed, Bath, & Beyond and buy some tart pans. (*sigh* the things I do for my friends hehe. Nah, it was really an excuse to buy a new kitchen accessory!). *I found cheaper ones on Amazon*
I made two “pie-lets” that were intended for her. However, I made the first one so late at night, that I was too tired to put the top crust on the second one and bake it. I decided to just make the second one the next day and reserve it for me . I forgot to take a picture of her pie since it was so late. It was so pretty. I guess the second one didn’t turn out too badly either (it is the one pictured); the first one was much prettier though. I didn’t put the egg wash on my pie-let because I simply didn’t want to crack another egg just for a egg wash when the pie-let was just for me.
You should definitely try out this recipe. It is pretty rich. My friend said she really enjoyed it but was unable to finish it all in one sitting. I agree that it was very filling, yet so delicious.
Sweet Cherry Pie
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Dough for a double-crust pie
For crust
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water (I used exactly 10, but I think it could have used one more tablespoon)
Make crust: Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor or a big bowl. Cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms with the processor (off/on spurts), two forks, a pastry cutter, or your hands (work quickly, if you pick the latter). Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half (I managed to make three sections). Flatten each half into disk (with a rolling pin while in an open ziploc bag). Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling (~15 minutes).)
4 cups pitted fresh cherries (about 2 1/2 pounds unpitted) (I used canned cherries; frozen ones would work, too)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar (adjust this according to the sweetness of your cherries)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits (I used 2 Tbsps)
1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water (optional, IMO)
Coarse sugar, for decoration (I used granulated sugar)
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon and almond extract gently together in a large bowl.
Roll out half of chilled dough (use larger piece, if you’ve divided them unevenly) on a floured work surface to 13-inch round. Gently place it in 9-inch pie pan, either by rolling it around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pan or by folding it into quarters and unfolding it in the pan. Trim edges to a half-inch overhang.
Spoon filling into pie crust, discarding the majority of the liquid that has pooled in the bowl. Dot the filling with the bits of cold butter.
Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Brush the egg wash over over pie crust, then sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Cut slits in the crust with a sharp knife, forming steam vents, and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. and bake the pie for 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie cool on a rack.
Daring Kitchen Challenge: Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake
Interesting Daring Kitchen conversation about the name of this cheesecake:
Daring Baker (DB) 1: Are you sure you mean infamous and not famous? Infamous means “having a reputation of the worst kind: notoriously evil’! Big Grin”
DB2: Ha, you haven’t met my friend Abbey. *grin*
Me: Then if Abbey is the infamous one, shouldn’t it be called “Infamous Abbey’s Cheesecake”? The cheesecake is not the infamous one, unless you are personifying it.
DB3: hahaha. I love the vocabulary battle!
So yeah, I still don’t quite understand why this cheesecake is being referred to as infamous, but that is the name! haha
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
This was my first Daring Kitchen challenge, and I was hoping to get something more difficult and new like the lasagne from last month. At least I got to try another cheesecake recipe! Also, I was afforded the opportunity to jazz up a plain cheesecake, which aside from strawberry toppings or glazes, was something I had never done before. This was the first time I’d ever used a real piping bag, as opposed to a Ziploc bag. So, I will need to practice a lot more to get it perfect.
Since I already have a go-to cheesecake, I was sort of doubting that this cheesecake was going to knock my socks off.
I decided to spruce it up by making it a key lime cheesecake. It was good, but not great. In fact, I gave almost the entire cheesecake to my neighbor/colleague. If I had never been exposed to Greenspan’s Tall and Creamy Cheesecake, I think I would have really enjoyed this cheesecake, though. It was creamy, and the crust was really good. I doubled the crust and halved the filling because I love graham crackers!
As you can see, I didn’t put much effort into decorating it because we are nearing the end of the semester, and I have way too many other things to do. Aside from adding 1/4 cup of key lime juice and some lime zest, I followed the recipe exactly. You may get the full recipe here.
Thanks, Jenny! Be sure to check out the other Daring Bakers results: Daring Bakers Blogroll
Key Lime Pie
For months I have been craving Key Lime Pie. I don’t know what prevented me from making it. I guess it was because I didn’t want an entire pie in my house, because I know I will end up eating all of it instead of sharing it with my colleagues. [Hey! I'm an only child (on my mother's side)! I'm not used to sharing! That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.]
I cheated with this recipe by purchasing Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice and an already prepared graham cracker crust from my favorite store, HEB Central Market. I also used the recipe on the bottle and added some lime zest.
Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Pie
adapted from Nellie & Joe’s
9″ graham cracker pie crust
14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1-2 tsp lime zest (optional)
½ cup Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice
Combine egg yolks and lime zest. Then add in the milk and the lime juice. Blend until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before refrigerating. Just before serving, top with freshly whipped cream and garnish with lime slices.
The whipped cream on top was homemade, of course. After my first batch of homemade whipped cream, I vowed to never ever purchase or taste Cool Whip again. The homemade stuff is so good and has a softer, creamier, more luscious texture. The taste is just unbelievable, and it is so easy and fun to make!
Homemade Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Place the (mixer) bowl and a whisk (or the whisk attachment) in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Afterward, pour the heavy cream into the (mixer) bowl and start whisking vigorously or on med-high. Once the cream reaches the soft peak stage, add in the sugar and vanilla. Continue to mix until it reaches the firm peak stage. Don’t mix too long, or you will end up with sweet butter and buttermilk. After the mixture reaches the soft peak stage, I stop and start the mixer every few seconds to make sure I don’t over mix it. Then, dip your finger in the cream, put the cream in your mouth, close your eyes, and savor the best whipped cream in the world!
