Hungry 4 Sweets

Gnocchi.

2014-09-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

Being that I don't make savory foods as much, I thought I'd like to make some gnocchi. Why not, right? So I looked up a recipe to get the gist of how to make it and get too it. I know that russet potatoes are baking potatoes and have a little less moisture in them and would probably be one of the best potatoes to use for the gnocchi, but being that I only have red potatoes I thought what could it hurt.
And it starts. I take the potatoes and poke it with a fork a couple times and get to work on baking them on a sheet pan covered with foil. I cook them until I feel they are fork tender. But when I start to peel the potatoes, I realize that they are not fully cooked but not raw either. So, somewhere in between the soft pillow like goodness that would turn into some really light and creamy mashed potato and al dente potatoes that you would want to make an gratin with. As you can see I love potatoes! And there was my mistake.
I wish I had cooked the potatoes just a tad more, but life goes on.

Then I take the potatoes and mash them. If I had a food mill or a potato ricer it would have helped, but I do not and so it was a fork for me. I mash the potatoes as best I can with the fork while thinking 'if only I had been just a bit more patient, it would have only taken another 10 to 15 minutes in the oven.' I almost took mashed my fingers a couple of times as well, but I finally got it done. Then come the easier part. I added the egg and salt, then sprinkled the mixture with flour slowly mixing and kneading the dough just until it comes together. Then I clean up the mess that I had made with the flour and dough. It is a sticky dough.

I then take the dough and divide into 3 parts, roll each part into a snake a little bit thicker then my fingers, and then cut them into 1 inch pieces. I get a pot of salt water boiling and throw these suckers in. Once they start to float up to the top I take them out and toss them into a pan that I had already heated up with some butter. I get some color on them and add some mushrooms, salt and pepper. I top it off with some cut up fresh basil that I get from my garden and ta da! Gnocchi. I feel this was a great try but the potatoes were all chunky in the gnocchi and it needed more flavor for sure. But I feel that it was good try on my part.

Here is the recipe that I used:

14 oz red potatoes
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup and 2 Tablespoons flour
5 button mushrooms sliced up
3 Tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste

From this recipe I would change a couple of things tho. I would peel the potatoes and boil them up. It takes less time and once you drain the potatoes, just get them back into the pot and let them dry out just a bit before you do anything. And I would try this with some brown butter. To brown butter, you just heat up the butter until the milk solids start to change color and brown. Another indication of brown butter will be the smell. It will start to smell like toasted nuts.

Well I hope that this is a recipe that you try. Happy Chomps and Nibbles.

Bacon Desserts

2013-09-29T12:04:00.001-07:00

Bacon Desserts. These have been taking over the dessert world for a little while. So I tried to make some today. I tried making a Bacon Bourbon Ice Cream and a Bacon Cream Puff. The ice cream had a really subtle bacon flavoring in the background that was not lost on my boyfriend. He loves bacon and everything made from the pig, so of course his palate will identify the little hint of bacon in anything.

The cream puff is an experiment with the left over pork fat from a time when I made some roasted pork belly. But I think it will come out really great. I just put them in the oven and so I don't really know if it will work but if they do they will be a great addition to a bacon party.

So, the recipe.

1 cup milk
4 ounces of pork fat
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cinnamon
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs

As with the usual pate a choux recipe, scald the milk with the fat and spices. Make sure all of the pork fat is melted. Add all the flour at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and starts to coat the bottom of the pan. This should take a minute or two. Then move to a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until there is no steam dissipating from the dough. If you do not have a stand mixer, a regular bowl, wooden spoon, and some old fashioned elbow grease will work as well, but remember to switch arms in between or one arm will get a great workout while the other does not. ;)
Add the eggs one at a time making sure the egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Then you can either scoop the dough onto a sheet tray fitted with some parchment paper or a silicon baking pad and bake at 400 degrees(F) until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. When done, take thm out and let them cool on a wire rack.

As for the filling for these puffs, I thought I would do a simple vanilla pastry cream.

5 yolks
1 ounce corn starch
4 ounces sugar
16 ounces milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream

mix the yolks, cornstarch, and sugar together. Scald the milk, do not boil the milk. Temper the milk into the yolk mixture. Return to the pot and cook until thickened, add the vanilla extract and cool in the refrigerator.
Once the cream is cooled, whip the whipping cream to hard peaks and fold it into the mixture.

Take the puffs and cut off the tops and fill with the pastry cream filling and cover with the top and serve.

I do hope this recipe comes out great. I can just smell the puffs cooking in the oven and they smell delightful. A little bacon fat goes a long way.

Happy chomps and nibbles.

Saint Patrick's Day

2013-03-24T15:55:00.002-07:00

I've been off this blog for a while but I thought I'd go and make some desserts. Its been a little warm here in Southern California, even thought it is the middle of March. So, for Saint Patrick's Day, I made some ice cream. Two types of ice cream to be exact. One made with Guinness, and the other made with Bailey's. And as a topping, a whiskey chocolate sauce. So in celebration of St Patty's Day... no matter what day it is, put them all together and enjoy a sundae!

Bailey's Ice Cream

4 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 egg yolks

Scald the cream and milk together in a pot, so it is steaming but not boiling. While the cream is coming up to temperature, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Slowly add the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking as to not curdle the egg yolks. Return everything into the pot and cook until thickened enough coat the back of a spoon. Strain and add the Bailey's Irish Cream. Chill and freeze according to your ice cream makers instructions.

Guinness Ice Cream

8 ounces Guinness stout
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk

1 cup granulated sugar

6 egg yolks

Scald the cream and milk together in a pot, so it is steaming but not boiling. While the cream is coming up to temperature, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl and at the same time put the Guinness into another pot and reduce about by a third. Slowly add the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking as to not curdle the egg yolks. Return everything into the pot and cook until thickened enough coat the back of a spoon. Strain and add the Guinness reduction. Chill and freeze according to your ice cream makers instructions

Whiskey Chocolate Sauce
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons Jameson

Place the cocoa power and sugar in a pot and whisk. Add the water and cook until slightly thickened. Take off the heat and add the whiskey. Chill and serve.

Hope everyone loves the sundaes! Happy chomps and nibbles.

Coconut Macaroons

2013-03-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Macaroons are a type of baked confection that are light little cakes or meringue like cookies. The original macaroon was a sweet cake that consisted of ground almonds, making it almost like the Italian amaretti. Most recipes for macaroons call for egg whites, ground or powdered seeds, and sugar. Almonds, coconut, being a nut, and generally any nut can be used.
There are many types of macaroons, and of the many types there is the coconut macaroon which I love for the flavor. The coconut macaroon is usually found in Australia, the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany. Made from egg whites, sugar, and shredded dried coconut, it is like a soft sweet cookie. A lot of times, the coconut macaroons are dipped in chocolate, usually milk chocolate but sometimes dark chocolate or white chocolate have been used. In Australia, a blob of raspberry jam or glace cherries are hidden in the center of the macaroon.

recipe:
3 egg whites
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons sifted cornflour
3 cups desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 315 degrees. Beat the egg whites with a mixer until soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while the egg whites are constantly beaten. Add the lemon zest and beat until combined. Sift the cornflour then fold into the egg whites. Drop heaped teaspoons onto a parchment lined cookie sheet about 3 centimeters apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

When cooled you can decorate with a drizzle of chocolate or just serve as is.
Enjoy!
Happy chomps and nibbles.

Korean Red Bean Filled Mochi

2012-05-18T00:23:00.000-07:00

I love love love rice cakes! And I found a recipe for rice cakes that are my absolute favorite. They are the korean mochi that are filled with a red bean filling. The filling a made of a red bean paste that is just a little bit sweet without being overly sweet but has the smooth consistency that just fills your mouth. I grew up with these little rice cakes having two for any given meal or just having one as a snack. They are readily available at any korean market, but as with everything, wouldn't it be better to be able to make it at home where you know that all the ingredients are fresh and no fillers were added? Therefore I will try out this recipe and compare them to the ones from my past.

The recipe is pretty simple and it makes plenty. So give it a whirl and tell me what you think. These can be made to be any color and even flavors can be added. Just add a drop of food coloring or 1 teaspoon of green tea powder can be added. As for other flavoring I have yet to test out, but if they are in powder form I'm guessing that it can be added like the green tea powder is.

1 cup dried red azuki beans
3 cups water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 cup sweet rice flour or mochiko powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup starch powder (corn, potato, or any starch can be used)

Put the red beans in a pot after washing them with the 3 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes on high heat. Then lower the heat and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours. If you are not able to mash the beans with a wooden spoon add more water and cook for a while longer.
Mash the beans or use a food processor to mass the beans until smooth. Return to the pot and add the brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and corn syrup. Heat up over low heat until the sugar is melted. Should be shiny and thick, when it is done, set aside to cool.
Mix the sweet rice flour, salt and sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Then add the water (with the food coloring or green tea powder) and mix until well incorporated. Then cover with plastic wrap but leave a little gap on one side and microwave for 3 minutes. Take it out of the microwave and mix, the inside of the ball of dough will not be cooked so you have to mix it to make sure all the rice cake is cooked. Wrap again leaving a gap on one side and microwave for 1 minute again. Take the rice cake out of the microwave and mix vigorously in a circular motion. You should mix for about 100 times to make the rice cakes nice and chewy.
Next, cover a cutting board with a starch powder (like corn starch or potato starch) and flip out the rice cake onto the cutting board. Flatten and shape into a rectangle. Then cut into 8 equal portions. Then you will take a portion and flatten so that a ball of red bean filling can fit inside. Put a ball in the middle of the rice cake and then pinch the sides of the rice cake shut around it. Dust with a little bit of the starch and repeat with each of the 8 portions of rice cake.

This recipe is a little more time consuming and complicated then the others, but the results are the same as the ones bought at the store. I hope that you will try and love them as well.
Happy chomps and nibbles.

Lemon Bars

2012-05-13T04:21:00.000-07:00

These lemon bars, I believe are the ones that were sold at a little cafe in Los Angeles. I believe they are really good lemon bars and that they taste unbelievably close to the ones that I had tried at this one place. I don't want to say where but I think that all lovers of lemon bars might know where it was that that they were good. I think that there was a thicker lemon layer in the one that I had tried, but these are so close that you'd probably get the same by adding more of the filling and baking them for a little longer.
I guess the secretiveness of this entry might not be necessary, but I don't want to get into any trouble with anyone so, I think that I will leave the name of this place out, just in case.

Lemon Bars
8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
pinch of salt

6 eggs
3 cups sugar
zest from about 6 lemons
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup flour
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the flour and the salt and mix on low. Flatten the dough into a 8 by 8 inch baking pan, building up a 1 inch edge on all sides. Chill. Bake the crust until very lightly browned. Cool.
Whisk together sugar and flour, then add the lemon juice, eggs and lemon zest. Pour over the crust and bake until the filling is set. There should not be any jiggling when tapped. Then cool and cut and dust with powdered sugar.

They will make you pucker but they will taste sweet and make you want to take another bite. I hope that these will be a staple in your homes just as it has become in mine. Happy chomps and nibbles.

Chcocolate Cheesecake

2012-05-04T10:58:00.001-07:00

So for this week, my project was finding a cheesecake recipe, a chocolate cheesecake recipe that I like. I wanted the recipe to be simple and easy. I found one on epicurious that only has 12 ingredients, which for a cheesecake is a pretty small number. It calls for nuts in the crust but, being that there are lots of people with nut allergies, I decided to omit. And then it called for lemon zest and I thought that with the chocolate and nutmeg to spice it up a bit, it wouldn't need it as well. So the recipe is for a swirled chocolate cheesecake, but who needs the swirl if its all chocolate and delicious? With that said, I changed the recipe as I needed and just made a chocolate cheesecake.

the recipe:
7 ounces oreo cookies
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Lightly butter muffin pan. Finely crush cookies and sugar. Add butter and mix well. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pan.
Melt the chocolate chips in a bowl over simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Using a mixer, beat cream cheese in a bowl until there are no lumps. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream, vanilla, and nutmeg and beat until just combined. Add melted chocolate to batter and mix well. Pour into pan evenly distributing. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, or until the cheesecake jiggles as one unit. Cool completely on rack. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.

I think that everything is always better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream so, I served the cheesecake a la mode. Ice cream and chocolate cheesecake. How can you go wrong with that?

Happy chomps and nibbles.

Panna Cotta

2012-04-25T11:16:00.001-07:00

Got a bit of unflavored gelatin in the cupboard to use up? The perfect dessert that could get that used up is a Panna Cotta. It's a great dessert that doesn't have too many ingredients and its great for a light dessert on a summer day. The first time I tried this dessert, I think that I might of used a little too much gelatin but it was still sweet and tasted great. But with a little less gelatin, its even better.

The recipe:
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups sliced apples
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of one lemon

Place the milk in a saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin into the milk. Let it stand for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to bloom. Stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves, about 5 minute, but do not let the milk boil. Add the cream, honey, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves and remove from the heat. Melt the butter in a sautee pan, add the apples and sautee. Reserve some of the sauteed apples to put into the panna cotta, then add the lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon to the rest. Cook the apples in the sugar down so that the sugar makes a nice thick sauce for the panna cotta. Pour the milk mixture into the dishes that they will be served in then add a little spoonful of the sauteed apples. You should get about 6 serving. Cool slightly then refrigerate until set, about 6 hours. Spoon the apples in syrup over and serve.

I used some silicon molds that I had laying around, but looks elegant in wine glasses or even little bowls. I'd like to say that this dessert is easy and simple and great for anytime. The apples that were just sauteed will add a crispness and the sauce will add another layer of flavor.
Happy chomps and nibbles.

Alfajores

2012-04-18T12:16:00.003-07:00

Cookies! Well today, I thought we could make some Peruvian cookies called Alfajores. Alfajores are a traditional confection found in some regions of Spain and then made with variations in countries of Latin America, including Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, and Mexico, after being taken there by the colonists.
In Spain, there are completely different recipes, but the most traditional contain flour, honey, almonds and several spices, such as cinnamon. It is most commonly sold around Christmas, but in Medina Sidonia, it is sold year-round. The real alfajor was made in this town since ancient times, and their development, called alajú, passed from father to son.
In the province of Cuenca, Spain, its still called alajú and is made with almond, honey and figs, all wrapped in a wafer. Medina Sidonia was the capital of the Arabic world confection, where the alfajor has centuries of history with a recipe that has been transmitted from generation to generation.
In South America, due to the lack of ingredients and habits, alfajores were made totally differently. Nowadays, they are found most notably in Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile, Perú and Brazil. In Argentina, its basic form consists of two round, sweet biscuits joined together with mousse, dulce de leche or jam, and coated with black or white chocolate (many alfajores are sold in "black" and "white" flavours) or simply covered with powdered sugar. There is also one variation, called "alfajor de nieve", that instead of having a white or black chocolate coating, it has a "snow" coating consisting of a mixture of egg whites and sugar. Big alfajores, with 25, 30 or even 40 cm diameter, are consumed as desserts, shared among many people. Peruvian alfajores are usually coated in powdered sugar, and are filled with Dulce de leche. Most alfajores come packaged in aluminium foil. In Mexico, they are made with just coconut, and are normally a tri-color coconut confection. In Nicaragua, they follow more in the lines of the Canary island type of alfajores, and are made with molasses and different types of grains, including corn, and cacao similarly to most chocolate bars, though hand-made are just as accessible and generally packaged in plastic wrap or wax paper. These cookies are delicious, the cookies being a little salty while the filling making the entire snack take on a sweet aspect. Everyone should try making these easy to make treats. Of course the dulce de leche is the traditional filling but any kind of jelly or cream can be used.

Recipe:
580 grams cornstarch
284 grams all-purpose flour
6 grams baking powder
8 g salt
454 grams butter, at room temperature
136 grams powdered sugar
60 grams pisco
10 grams vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Sift the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix briefly and add the softened butter. Mix until the butter is incorporated. Then sift the powdered sugar and add to the mixture with the pisco and the vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated and portion into 2 equal logs measuring 2 inches wide.Wrap the logs and chill for at least 4 hours. Cut and bake on a sheet tray with parchment paper, for 15 minutes, turning them halfway. Once cooled, sandwich some dulce de leche between two cookies and dust with powdered sugar.

Note: Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored grape brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. And dulce de leche can be bought but if none is available, you can cook a can of sweetened condensed milk in a pot covered with water for about 4 hours. But the water level has to be watched constantly, if the water level drops too low there is a danger of the can exploding.

Try these out, especially with a chocolate ganache filling or a raspberry jam filling. Delicious!
Happy chomps and nibbles!

Brownies? Churros? Funnel Cake?

2012-04-10T22:24:00.001-07:00

So, this weekend me and my boyfriend will be throwing a housewarming. We just moved into a new place and we love it! And being that I am addicted to sweets, I cannot decide what kind of dessert to make! I could make some funnel cakes, which everyone loves with some ice cream and cooked fruit. Or a brownie of sort which would always be a delight for the chocoholics, but what about those who do not like chocolate? Then there is the churro, which is good and simple, but it is fried and that means lots of oil. After thinking about all of these choices, I decided on a deep fried ice cream. Taking the idea of the brownie and wrapping the ice cream with it, and then dipping it in a batter and deep frying. But that will just be the end result. I want to share with you the recipe for the brownies that I will use.

12 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter

6 tablespoons butter
9 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoons vanilla

6 eggs
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoons vanilla
3/4 teaspoons almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt chocolate and 1/2 cup butter and set aside to cool.

To make the cream cheese batter, with a whip attachment cream 6 tablespoons butter than add the cream cheese and continue mixing. Add the sugar, beat until fluffy then beat in the eggs, then flour, and vanilla. Set aside.
For the chocolate batter, in a separate bowl whip the eggs and sugar until fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and mix into egg mixture. Mix in the melted chocolate and butter, and the extracts.
In a rectangular pan, lined with parchment, spread half the chocolate mixture. Spread the cream cheese layer over that to cover, then drop remaining chocolate batter by spoonfuls on top then swirl with a knife. Bake for 40 minutes.
Once the brownies are baked and cooled, I just cut them into thin slices and wrap scoops of ice cream with them. Then make sure to freeze the prepared ice cream for at least a couple hours, then drop them into a batter, beer or sweet, then fry them up in some oil that has been heated up to about 350 degrees. But make sure not to fry them for too long, about a minute should be enough.
I’ve made these before for other parties and they have always been a favorite. But I made sure to make a couple with pound cake as well, just so that everyone has something that they’d like. The first time I decided not to make these for a party, I had a couple of friends asking for them and I made a quick batch out of regular brownies. So I hope you and your friends enjoy them as well.
Happy chomps and nibbles.

Cream Puffs

2012-04-03T21:51:00.001-07:00

So, I was out and about with the boyfriend, and we wanted to get a snack. We're looking around and we see a Beard Papa. Cream puffs. They seem to have become the dessert of the time a couple of years ago and now, they are EVERYWHERE. I think that I was just picky about the ones that I had at Beard Papas just because I saw that they filled a whole bunch and just took some of them out of the fridge when we bought them while others were filled to order. But, that's besides the point. I like them when they are fresh, and not so much when they are soggy from being filled in advance. The idea to sell cream puffs and only cream puffs was a brilliant one, but maybe not the easiest to do, but, like I said earlier, that's besides the point. After the little outing and the cream puffs, I got back home and decided that cream puffs were going to be my next project.

Cream puffs:
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs

Pastry Cream filling
5 egg yolks
2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cream puffs, combine everything except for the flour and eggs into a pot and bring to a boil. Once it has come to a boil, add the flour all at once and stir. Continue to stir over medium heat until it becomes thick and it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny. Transfer the paste to a medium bowl, and beat with a wooden spoon until cool to the touch. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one thoroughly before adding the next. Continue to add the eggs until mixture, when taken between your forefinger and thumb can be stretched all the way. Place in piping bag, and pipe onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Or a scoop can be used to portion the pieces equally. Then bake in a oven preheated to 400 degrees until browned and light and airy.

For the filling, scald the milk and while waiting for the milk, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a bowl. Whisk the cornstarch mixture to get all lumps out, then add the egg yolks and mix well. Temper the milk to the egg yolk mixture, and then return to the pot and cook until thick. Take the custard off the heat and mix in the vanilla.

To fill the cream puffs, there are two methods. You can cut off the top of the cream puff, fill and place the top back on. Or you can make a little hole in the bottom of the cream puff and pipe the filling in from a piping bag with a small tip. Both ways are good, but the first cannot be covered with a chocolate glaze.

So with the I had some fresh cream puffs today. I also played with some ideas and had some fun with the bag of pate a choux, or cream puff dough.
Happy chomps and nibbles.

Berry Almond Tarts

2012-03-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

This tart is a very simple recipe that I turn to whenever I need a simple dessert that doesn't need too many ingredients but I want something delicious. The ingredients needed are puff pastry, butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, almonds, flour and berries.

The recipe:
1/2 sheet of puff pastry
20 ounces butter, softened
3 cups sugar
12 eggs
8 tablespoons lemon zest
2 2/3 cups almond meal
8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
20 ounces raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries

Take the sheet of puff pastry and roll it out to be about 12" x 16". Take a fork and dock the dough all over to keep it from puffing up too much, as well as keep the baked puff even. Place the dough on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake until golden in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter, lemon zest and the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well to make sure the egg is incorporated well. Fold in the almond meal and the flour.
Spread half of the almond mixture onto the cooled puff pastry that was baked. Then add the berries, being sure to spread all over. Then spread the remaining almond mixture on top of the berries and bake. Bake at 325 degrees until the tart is set and the middle does not jiggle.

Note: If you cannot find almond meal, you can take blanched almonds and process them in a food processor until they are ground finely.

Now that I've shared this recipe with everyone, I better make one to get my craving for this tart out of my system. This whole writing about food and recipes does not seem like a great idea, especially since I've been making all of my favorite desserts and eating them all.
Happy chomps and nibbles.

Apple Streuselkuchen

2012-03-24T23:17:00.001-07:00

So, this week I decided on trying something a little more out of my culture range and went German. I was just searching the internet for something interesting to make and fell upon a recipe for a cake called the Streuselkuchen. The name is a bit of a mouthful, but seems interesting enough to give it a try. Besides I adore apples and so I think I would love this cake even if it wasn't so great.

1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 ounces butter, melted
2 medium sized apples
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 5/8 cups cake flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 ounces butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Peel, core and slice the apples 1/8 inch thick pieces. Then toss the apples with the cinnamon and cloves.

Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add melted butter and stir with fork until moist clumps form.

Preheat to 325°F. Butter and flour 10-inch-diameter springform pan. Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt into another bowl. Combine butter, powdered sugar, and lemon peel in large bowl; scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. (Note: I could not find my zester for the life of me today, so I took a peeler and just took the rind of the lemon off and chopped it up finely. Nice little back up plan when needed.)

Using electric mixer, beat butter mixture until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition; beat in egg yolk. Add flour mixture and beat just until blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan (cake layer will be thin). Slightly overlap apple slices atop batter in concentric circles. Sprinkle streusel evenly over apples (streusel will cover apples).

Bake cake until streusel topping is crisp and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes. Remove pan sides; cool to lukewarm. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature.

This cake was delicious. I added a little berry coulis to give it some flare and color. The coulis was made with strawberries and raspberries so that the tartness would help cut some of the sweetness without overpowering the dessert. I hope everyone tries this dessert and loves it as much as I did.

Happy chomps and nibbles.

Toffee

2012-03-12T08:15:00.001-07:00

So with a craving for some sweets, I made some toffee. But it can't just be a regular toffee, it has to taste good and make flowers and everything nice appears when tasted. I love the taste of coffee with anything that is sweet and so hopefully, the coffee toffee will make the world a little nicer for today.
Of course there are many types of toffee and it can be made to taste many different ways, but I like to keep it simple. Coffee maybe just a little plain and simple, but how can you go wrong with something that just tastes good and everyone loves? The recipe follows.

½ cup butter, cut in chunks, plus more for pan
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1 ½ tsp instant coffee

Butter a rimmed baking pan. Measure out vanilla and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium low heat, stir sugar, butter, 1/4 cup water, corn syrup, and espresso powder until butter is melted and you no longer see sugar crystals. Increase heat to high and boil, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. Quickly remove from heat and carefully stir in vanilla (mixture will bubble up). Immediately spread thinly on prepared baking pan and let cool until hard, about 20 minutes.
Flex pan to release toffee. Break toffee into small chunks and store in an airtight container at room temperature, should be good for up to 1 week.

Its simple and good. I hope this brings smiles to everyone's faces on these somewhat cold last days of winter.

Happy chomps and nibbles.

My Favorite Carrot Cake

2012-02-29T08:32:00.002-08:00

I wanted to make a cake that was somewhat healthy for you while being delicious and moist. I decided that anything that had vegetables or fruits in it would be healthy to narrow the choices down a bit. Then I came upon this recipe for carrot cake and thought: carrots, what could be healthier than carrots? So I made some to enjoy with my boyfriend, and to also show him that carrot cake could be yummy and just as good as any other cake out there. But just in case he didn't agree with me, I added a little marzipan carrot on top to make them just a little more appealing.

My recipe
4 eggs
6 ounces vegetable oil
14 ounces sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 ounces all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 lb grated carrots
2 1/2 ounces chopped walnuts

Whip the eggs, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder. Fold the dry ingredients into the eggs and oil mixture in 3 batches and then fold in the carrots and the walnuts. Place in pan and bake.

Of course there has to a frosting on it and of course it has to be a cream cheese frosting otherwise it wouldn't be a carrot cake.

1 pound cream cheese, softened
12 ounces butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then add sifted powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth again.

I made these into individual little cakes by baking them on a sheet pan and using cookie cutters to cut out the shapes and assembling them. But they can be made in a 9 inch cake pan to make a delicious 9 inch cake and decorate with marzipan carrots and the like. Hope this recipe is found to be one of your favorites as well.
Happy chomps and nibbles.

Doughnuts...or is it donuts?

2012-02-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

I woke up today with a craving for doughnuts. Or is it donuts? I can never remember which was correct. Anyways, I want some doughnuts, so I make some. I know there are like a million doughnut shops out there, in fact, there's one just across the street from me. I just can't seem to make them like those doughnut places. But how can I not try my hand at doughnuts especially if I find a recipe that has an out of place ingredient? I saw that the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of mashed potato and I had to make it.

I googled doughnut recipe and found a website that was called secret donut recipe, how could I not check that one out? Everybody loves to know a secret, right? So I check, and watch the video and all that, and I got the recipe. It is simple and all the ingredients are pretty much in the cupboard at any time which make it convienient. So here is the recipe that I found that seemed most simple.

2tablspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
5 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup milk

Warm the milk to just above body temperature. Then add the yeast and mix until dissolved. The milk should not be too hot or it will kill the yeast. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, and potato. Then add the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick and cut out the doughnuts. Fry them in oil that has been warmed to about 375 degrees F until golden brown.

So I make the recipe and it is delicious. I didn't even make a glaze for them. I just topped it with a sprinkle of sugar and that was done. Now the next time I try making these suckers, I might go with a green tea glaze or some maple with bacon flavorings, but for this week, enjoy the doughnuts.
Happy chomps and nibbles!

Steamed Rice Cake Muffins

2012-02-16T01:18:00.000-08:00

This week I tried to make a steamed rice cake muffin. I had just tried some Putuhan, a Filipino steamed rice cake, and had really enjoyed it. Even if it was just a plain rice flavored one. But I wasn't allowed to have more than a couple of these little bite sized treats. I wanted more but since my boyfriend wanted to take some to work the next day, couldn't, so today I made some. But since I didn't want to do one that was just rice flavored, I chose to do one that was green tea and chocolate flavored. The first attempt needed a little bit more of the green tea flavor so in the next batch I doubled the green tea, but also reserved some of the batter to add some cocoa powder. I think these came out great, but the second batch was a bit dryer and a bit more dense. I forgot to take into account the cocoa powder.

Overall, they were delicious and I thought they were good enough to share. I did not come up with the recipe that I started with but, as always made it my own. I found it on asiarecipe.com/phidesserts.html.

2 cups rice flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons green tea powder or 2 Tablespoon cocoa powder and 2 Tablespoons more milk

2 cups milk

Sift the first five ingredients together. In a mixing bowl, add milk to sifted ingredients and blend well to make a smooth mixture. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Cook in a steamer for 40 minutes. Test for doneness, muffins are done when toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Hope you enjoy! Happy nibbles and chomps!

Maple Bacon Mille Fuille FTW!

2012-02-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

I made a Maple Bacon Mille Fuille for this past Sunday's Superbowl Party. I think it was a great success, but you will have to try it out and see.

I guess I should start with a definition of a mille fuille, or napoleon. A napoleon is a layered dessert that came from France (but with the vast knowledge of the world at your fingertips, google helped). Traditionally it is 3 layers of puff pastry and 2 layers of pastry cream, but of course there are lots of different variations now. My version had a Maple diplomat cream and some caramelized bacon with the 3 layers of puff pastry.

I made a Maple Diplomat Cream, or a Maple pastry cream that was folded into some whipped cream and some caramelized bacon to make the dessert. The diplomat cream had just enough sweetness with the maple flavor to make it a dessert. But the best part was the bacon. I essentially made a bacon candy. It was coated with sugar and then baked in the oven until the bacon was coated with a nice layer of candy. It was sweet and bacon-y. But I do have to say that I did cheat a little. I used frozen puff pastry that I bought at the store instead of making my own. Of course, making puff pastry can be done at home, but with all the layering of the butter and the dough, it takes some time. But if the dough is made at home, I will say that the end result tastes a lot better than just using the store-bought stuff.

For the Diplomat Cream:

5 egg yolks
1 oz. corn starch
4 oz. sugar
16 oz milk
2 Tablespoon maple flavoring
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Scald the milk over medium heat, you should heat the milk until it starts to steam. Mix the cornstarch and the sugar together to get the lumps out of the cornstarch and the sugar. Then add the yolks to the mix and whisk. Do not let the sugar sit on top of the yolks, or it will burn the yolks. Once the milk is warmed, ladle some of the milk into the yolk mixture while whisking. You want to temper the milk into the yolks without curdling the egg yolks. Keep adding the milk into the egg yolks until about half has been added. Then pour the mixture back into the pot and cook while stirring constantly, until thick. It should end up at the consistency of pudding. Add the extract last and mix until combined. Place in a bowl with plastic wrap directly on top of the cream and refrigerate. Meanwhile whip the cream until stiff, when the pastry cream is cooled all the way through, about 30 minutes, fold it into the whipped cream.

Caramelized Bacon:
Take the bacon and cover with sugar, then place bacon on a sheet tray with a sil-pat and bake until it is almost cooked through. At this point take the tray out of the oven and sprinkle sugar onto the bacon. Make sure that the bacon is covered on that side. Bake until the sugar is melted and the bacon is crisp.
Chop up the bacon into small pieces so that you can put it into the Mille Fuille.

Mille Fuille
Take the puff pastry and thaw it, then take a fork and poke it all over evenly. Take the puff pastry, and bake it until golden and flaky. Then cut it into 3 equal sized portions. Take two and place them on the plate, then pipe the diplomat cream over it, make sure to cover the both pieces, and it can be decorative or just lines, but make it even. Sprinkle the caramelized bacon onto it then place one piece of the puff over the other. Then cover with the last piece of puff pastry and dust with powdered sugar. Freeze or refrigerate to stabilize the cream and serve. Of course, the puff pastry pieces can be cut into individual serving sizes and then assembled, but the procedure should still be similar.

So that was my dessert for the weekend, and I felt like they were fighting over the 10 pieces that I could cut out of it. I think I only have pictures of this dessert as it is being devoured or the empty plates that had held these desserts just a few minutes before. Then I had an idea, since my friend was just eating the diplomat cream from the piping bag, I should just topped off all the pieces with even more of it. As you can see in the picture above, we were using paper plates, and though it is a bit messy, it was delicious. But I hope it is a dessert that everyone can enjoy.

Happy chomps and nibbles!

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes??

2012-02-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

So I saw this on the cover of a magazine once. Cinnamon rolls that were baked in a cupcake pan so that they look like little cupcakes. They were adorable, of course they weren't just normal cinnamon rolls. I mean how can a magazine just make cinnamon rolls and put that on the cover like they made something just so different and new? They can't. But the idea came back to me as a little project.

Sure they won't be that special, but they will be tasty little treats and beautiful little creations with the white icing on top and the paper liners on the bottom. I looked back at all the recipes that I have collected and found one that I remember making and remember that they tasted awesome.

Cinnamon Roll Dough...
2 1/2 oz. compressed fresh yeast
16 fl oz. milk
4 oz. sugar
5 1/2 oz. butter
2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 large eggs
2 pounds of All-Purpose Flour

Filling
16 oz. brown sugar
4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
5 1/2 oz butter, melted

Icing
8 oz. butter
4 oz. cream cheese
16 oz. powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the dough, mix the yeast and milk. Then add the eggs and sugar. Add half the flour and mix until all the most of the liquid is absorbed. Add the salt and add the rest of the flour. Then slowly add the softened butter and mix until dough is uniform. Be careful not to overmix. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let rest for about 1/2 an hour.
In the meantime, make the icing. Cream the butter and add the room temperature cream cheese. Then add the salt and vanilla.Then add the sifted powdered sugar and mix until just incorporated.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle, thinner the better. Then spread melted butter evenly onto the dough leaving one clean edge, a border about 1 inch thick on a longer side. Then mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle that onto the butter. Then starting with edge across from the butter-less border, roll tight. Then cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces and into paper liners in a muffin pan. Proof until double and bake at 375 degrees.
When they come out of the oven, smear with half of the icing. Then when cool, smear the rest of the icing on top. Or drizzle a bit of caramel sauce on top and enjoy!

Now you have to cut that recipe down, of course or you probably will end up with 4 dozen of these little suckers. But then again, is that really a bad thing? 4 dozen cinnamon rolls cupcakes? I think not.

Happy chomps and nibbles!

Reversed Chocolate Toffee?

2012-01-26T21:55:00.000-08:00

So there is this idea that my boyfriend came up with, chocolate inside of an layer of toffee. I thought it was totally impossible to make, but maybe there is a way to do so. So after a lot of pondering, I came up with a plan. Make the toffee... then simply wrap some chocolate chips inside the toffee before it gets too hard. I try out this plan but as I try to work as quickly as i can, I realize I am not fast enough.
The first one was a bust because the sugar was so soft that chocolate just oozed out...
The second one was a kinda a bust, but it was only because I wanted them to look like little truffles, round like a ball and when I set it down on the silpat, it became a mound that had a flat side...
The third, fourth, fifth and sixth came out good though. They were round like balls and the chocolate was totally enclosed...
The last one I tried to make came out like a little wrinkle of toffee around some chocolate...
All in all it was a fun little experiment and I had fun and the toffees were delicious. Maybe next time I'll add some chopped up almonds or walnuts and make some Reversed English Toffees. ;D

Happy chomps and nibbles!

Mocha Bread...(Part 2)

2012-01-23T21:09:00.000-08:00

Vegan Mocha Bread...Is it a winner or a big old flop?

I think that my version was very successful. The bread was soft and moist and delicious while the biscuit cookie top was a little different from the original store bought mocha bread, it was still good. I even think that the bread is better than the original bread. It was extremely moist and soft. But I will say mixing and matching the two would be the best.

So onto the new and improved Mocha bread recipe
400 grams AP Flour
60 grams Sugar
8 grams Salt
6 grams Instant Coffee
12 grams Dry Yeast
40 grams Margarine
1/2 cup applesauce
114 grams Luke Warm Water

90 grams Butter
70 grams Sugar
1 Egg yolk
24 grams Milk
1 tsp. Instant Coffee
186 grams AP Flour
4 grams Baking Powder

Hope this bread comes out great for everyone!

Happy chomps and nibbles!

Korean Mocha Bread

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

I came home to find a Korean Mocha Bread sitting on the counter in the kitchen. I didn't think much of it, but thought it'll be a good snack with some tea or some hot chocolate. It was so delicious that I ate half a loaf in one sitting. Of course I had just taken 2 slices upstairs at first and had to make a couple of trips downstairs to get more. So I hope that I burned some of those calories from the trip up and down the stairs.

But as I finished the loaf the next day, I thought maybe just maybe I could make it at home. Make more of the bread that I was hooked on and make it more delicious. So I went hunting on the internet for a recipe to start with. Its a pretty easy recipe. I found it on www.misscooktocook.blogspot.com. I think that it tasted great but I thought that the biscuit topping was a little too dry and needed a little more sugar. So I tweeked it.

So now the recipe is as follows:
400 grams AP Flour
60 grams Sugar
8 grams Salt
6 grams Instant Coffee
12 grams Dry Yeast
40 grams Butter
2 Eggs
114 grams Luke Warm Water

100 grams Butter
70 grams Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
24 grams Milk
1 tsp. Instant Coffee
186 grams AP Flour
4 grams Baking Powder

So I set out to make this bread a second time. But of course I run out of eggs. So I thought maybe I should take this as a chance to make it without eggs, make it vegan. So I pondered and pondered, and searched google to find a way to do this. I learned that eggs can be substituted with bananas or applesauce. So I tried it by substituting the 2 eggs with a banana or a quarter cup of applesauce, the egg yolk with a quarter of a banana, replacing the milk with just water and the butter with margarine. I am in the process of trying this recipe out but I will be back with the results soon.

Happy chomps and nibbles!

Apple Salad

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

When I was younger, my mom used to make this fruit salad that I just loved. It was creamy, while crisp and sweet and overall just delicious. The funny thing is that I was reminded of this salad when I heard a radio segment about different foods and dishes that remind others of the holiday season. One of these dishes that the callers called in about was an apple salad. It had apples, raisins, and peanuts, but the kicker is that it was mixed with mayo. The story was that while trying to make an ambroisa salad, she realized that she didn’t have all the ingredients. All she had was apples, peanuts, raisins and mayonnaise. So she went with it and made that as the salad. When everyone had tried it at the dinner table, everyone loved it and in so becoming a staple on their holiday table.

But my family’s version is a bit different. My mom used to make a fruit salad with any type of fruit, nuts and raisins. To bring the whole salad together, my mom used mayonnaise as the dressing but to add a little sweetness and creaminess she also added a spoonful of non-dairy creamer in powder form. I just love the apples and raisins that are in this salad, and the nuts always bring a crunch too.

This maybe one of the weirder sounding salads, but it is delicious and worth a try.

Happy chomps and nibbles!

Sweet Tooths and Sweets

2011-12-28T11:56:00.001-08:00

After spending another 9 hours at work, I was thinking on the way home ... while driving through traffic that makes me want to pull my hair out. From the time that I was thinking, I came to the conclusion that I should try and get some of the recipes that I use or experiment with out to the public. Of course these recipes are of no means perfect, but they come about and some work out to be great, others not so much.

I don't know how many people will read this but it will serve as a way of documenting my experiments with sweets. I will use this blog as a way of keeping all these stories and recipes safe, and to share recipes that I have had to experiment to find. I want to make it so that everyone can make delicious desserts and enjoy them with everyone that they care about, or even some that they don't.

Happy chomps and nibbles!