Stardust Chef

Candyland Wedding

2011-09-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

My Super Sweet Wedding was this past august, I had to share the details with you!

It took us forever to figure out what theme to do for our wedding. I needed a theme and I needed a really great and memorable party! I am obsessed with candy and sweets, and my husband loves the game candyland. I love the game just for the pure creativity of it! We figured it would be a really great theme!

I knew I wanted a candy buffet, filled with colorful candies as well as our favorite candies.

Runts, gummy peach rings, sour patch kids, gummy worms, chocolate malt balls, M&Ms, skittles. We had it all! Purchasing candies at a wholesale store made a big difference in the budget. We purchased ours at Economy Candy. All 80lbs worth. We also purchased unicorn pops and swirly pops.

We had clear cellophane bags and seal stickers on the table so that guests could make their own favor bags. I made a little sign that said ‘Please take one’. I liked this idea because it allowed guests to select as much or as little as they wanted and select their favorite candies as opposed to being stuck with a candy assortment which they don’t like. I made the photo frames myself. I purchased some discounted frames at the craft store ‘Michaels’ and bought some chalkboard paper. I cut out the chalk board paper to fit the frame, added some cute candy-themed stickers and voila, a very cute homemade sign.
I needed the cake to be spectacular and fitting with the theme so I asked one of the top cake artists in the United States, Kim Morrison, to create a cake based on the Candyland game. I gave her the board game and asked her to do whatever she liked. The result was the most spectacular cake I have ever seen.

The cake was colorful and had fantastic detail! And did I mention it tasted amazing?
The table settings had to match the theme. Instead of flowers which become too costly we decided to use candy arrangements as the centerpieces. All the tables had different arrangements. This kept them unique and not cookie-cutter like.

The kids were especially happy to have so much candy at their tables, even the adults tried to stuff as much candy as they could in their suit jacket pockets and purses. With 80lbs of candy there is really no need to be shy! We estimated 1lb of candy per guest. Sure we had some left over but we didn’t mind it, as long as we didn’t run out!

I wanted to stick to the candy for the name cards so I bought many small swirl pops with a personalized wedding sticker on them from Oriental Trading, attached the name cards with pink and blue ribbons and stuck them onto a moss covered piece of Styrofoam. The Gerber Daisies which were my wedding flowers also added a floral touch to the moss.
Making all of these items yourself really saves you a lot of money on a party. They require a lot of work but the end result is fabulous, just the way you want it, and very affordable.

Colorful sashes on the chairs also added some fun activity in the room. It turned the plain white chairs into very vivid and bright seats.
So there you have it- a great wedding party that you can transform into a birthday party, christening, bachellorette party, any party were sweet color and fun are required!

Daring Baker's August Challenge: Candies

2011-08-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com/ offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

I LOOOOVE Chocolate so you can imagine how ecstatic I was for this challenge!
I created an assortment of different types of chocolate candies. Truffles, bon bons, and molded chocolates.

My kitten also loved this challenge.. she always gets first dibs (just joking, I am a responsible pet owner and know that you don't feed chocolate to your pets!)

But a few notes from our host first:

What is tempering?

“Tempering is a method of heating and cooling chocolate in order to use it for coating or dipping.

Proper tempering gives chocolate a smooth and glossy finish. Tempered chocolate will have a crisp snap and won't melt on your fingers as easily as improperly tempered chocolate.

Properly tempered chocolate is also great for molding candies because the candies will release out of the molds more easily and still retain a glossy finish.” - Ghirardelli

Why is it necessary?

If you simply melt chocolate and let it cool it will set with unattractive grey streaks or spots, called blooming. If eaten, the texture will be grainy and it won’t melt smoothly in the mouth.

When you temper chocolate the end result is shiny, even colored, smooth melting and with a crisp snap. Basically, tempered chocolate is what you want because it’s better in every way.
The reason for the difference is a bit complicated, it has to do with different types of crystals forming in the cocoa butter at different times, to understand it fully you’d have to learn about the behavior of the chocolate crystals at a molecular level.
For our purposes all that we need to know is that with tempered chocolate the crystals have formed in a uniform way which gives us great looking and tasting chocolate.

What is couverture chocolate?

“Couverture chocolate is a very high quality chocolate that contains extra cocoa butter (32-39%). The higher percentage of cocoa butter, combined with proper tempering, gives the chocolate more sheen, firmer "snap" when broken, and a creamy mellow flavor.

The total "percentage" cited on many brands of chocolate is based on some combination of cocoa butter in relation to cocoa solids (cacao). In order to be properly labeled as "couverture", the percentage of cocoa butter must be between 32% and 39%, and the total percentage of the combined cocoa butter plus cocoa solids must be at least 54%. Sugar makes up the remainder, and up to 1% may be made up of vanilla, and sometimes soy lecithin.
Couverture is used by professionals for dipping, coating, molding and garnishing.
The term "couverture chocolate" should not be confused with "confectionery chocolate", "compound chocolate" or "summer coating": these products have a lower percentage of solids, and they may also contain vegetable oil, hydrogenated fats ("trans fats"), coconut and/or palm oil, and sometimes artificial chocolate flavoring.
Some brands of couverture chocolate are packaged tempered, and others are packaged un-tempered. Subsequent tempering may or may not be required, depending on the usage and the desired characteristics of the final product.” - Wikipedia

Why is it important to use couverture for chocolate making?

It is by far a superior product to the average chocolate bar like Cadbury’s etc. which may also contain ingredients like vegetable/coconut/palm oil, hydrogenated fats and sometimes artificial chocolate flavoring which can have unpredictable results when tempering and used to make your own chocolates.

As far as flavor, couverture chocolate is also superior in this regard as manufacturers like Valrhona, Callebaut etc. are very strict with sourcing their cocoa pods and only buy the best.
Make sure that if you’re using chocolate chips or callets that they are also couverture and specifically meant for chocolate making. For the above reasons as well as that normal chocolate chips have other additives in them that help them maintain their shape in baked goods like cookies. These additives stop the chocolate from tempering properly. If you’re not sure, rather buy your couverture in bars or slabs.
Basically, to get a great end result you need to use the best ingredients that you can get. That applies to all baking and cooking, and especially to chocolate making.
If you can’t get couverture or a higher end chocolate and would simply prefer to get your chocolate at the local market, choose brands like Lindt, Ghiradelli or Green & Blacks. Just remember, don’t get ordinary chocolate chips, they have additives in them that will hinder the tempering process. One thing, Ghiradelli does not liquefy as much as couverture chocolate when in temper, so you’ll have to do a lot of tapping off to get a thin, even coating.
There are other methods of tempering that don’t require a thermometer and can either be melted in a double boiler or in the microwave (we’ve included links at the end for some of these other methods), but we’ve provided you with two methods of tempering that use a thermometer for very accurate tempering.

Tempering
There are many different tempering methods, the easiest is in bowl seeding but if you have a marble slab in your kitchen like I do, that's my favorite way. It's the fastest and you really get to 'play' with your chocolate! Tempering is critical for some of the recipes featured below.

Method 1: On marble or granite

Marble slab, chocolate or bench scraper, dipping forks and chocolate thermometer

Tempering Ranges:
Celcius

Dark: 45°C-50°C > 27°C > 32°C

Milk: 45°C > 27°C > 30°C

White: 45°C > 27°C > 29°C

Fahrenheit

Dark: 115°F-120°F > 80.6°F > 87.6°F (note.. NEVER allow your chocolate to go over 120, if it does you have to discard it and start over with a fresh batch of chocolate. But don't throw away the chocolate, you can use it for baking at this point)

Milk: 115°F > 80.6°F > 86°F

White: 113°F > 80.6°F > 84.2°F

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 115°F. It is then poured onto a marble surface and moved around the surface with a scraper until it has thickened and cools to 27°C / 80.6°F. Once cooled it is then put back into the bowl and over heat to bring it back up to 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 87.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re tempering. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

Tempering using a marble surface

• Finely chop chocolate if in bar/slab form.

• Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

• Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water).

Tip: Make sure that your bowl fits snuggly into the saucepan so that there’s no chance of steam forming droplets that

may fall into your chocolate. If water gets into your chocolate it will seize!

• Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly

• Once it’s melted, keep an eye on the thermometer, as soon as it reaches 45°C / 113°F remove from heat (between 45°C-50°C / 113°F-122°F for dark chocolate)

• Pour ¾ of the melted chocolate onto a marble or granite slab or worktop

• Using a scraper or large palette knife move the chocolate around the surface to help it cool

Tip: Keep the motions neat and tidy, if you’re not working with a lot of chocolate you don’t want to spread it too far otherwise you may end up with chocolate that begins to cool too quickly and start to set as well as drops below

• the necessary temperature. Use a motion that folds the chocolate on itself

• Check temperature regularly with a thermometer

• Once it reaches 27°C / 80°F put the chocolate back into the heatproof bowl with the remaining chocolate

• Gently stir together with a rubber spatula

• Check the temperature to see if it’s risen back up to the working temperature of the chocolate (milk, dark or white) as seen in the above chart

• If the temperature has not risen to its working temperature, put the bowl back over the simmering water, stirring gently

• IMPORTANT: You really need to keep an eye on the temperature as it can rise quicker than you think, so as soon as it’s up to its working temperature, remove from heat

• It’s now tempered and ready to use

Tip: If you’re using the chocolate to dip a lot of truffles etc. which means the chocolate will be sitting off heat for a while it will naturally start to thicken as it cools. To keep it at an ideal viscosity for even coating, put the bowl over steam for 30sec-1min every 5-10mins, just do not let the temperature go over the working temperature!

Tip: Having the chocolate in a warmed glass bowl and wrapped in hot kitchen towel can also help keep the chocolate at its working temperature for longer

Tip: It is also easier to keep the heat if you work with larger amounts of chocolate rather than small amounts. Any leftover chocolate can be kept to be used later and then re-tempered

Tip: Remember, don’t let any water get into your chocolate at any stage of the tempering process!

Method 2: With tempered chocolate pieces, also called “seeding”

Tempering Ranges:
Celsius

Dark: 45°C-50°C > 27°C > 32°C

Milk: 45°C > 27°C > 30°C

White: 45°C > 27°C > 29°C

Fahrenheit

Milk: 115°F > 80.6°F > 86°F

White: 113°F > 80.6°F > 84.2°F

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 115°F. Tempered un-melted chocolate is then stirred and melted in until it brings the temperature down to 27°C/80.6°F. It is then put back over heat and brought up to its working temperature of 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 87.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re using. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

Tempering using the seeding method with couverture callets

• Finely chop chocolate if in bar/slab form (about the size of almonds).

• Place about ⅔ of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl

• Set aside ⅓ of the chocolate pieces

• Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water)

Tip: Make sure that your bowl fits snuggly into the saucepan so that there’s no chance of steam forming droplets that may fall into your chocolate. If water gets into your chocolate it will seize!

• Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly

• Once it’s melted, keep an eye on the thermometer, as soon as it reaches 45°C / 113°F remove from heat (between 45°C-50°C / 113°F-122°F for dark chocolate)

• Add small amounts of the remaining ⅓ un-melted chocolate (seeds) and stir in to melt

• Continue to add small additions of chocolate until you’ve brought the chocolate down to 27°C/80.6°F (You can bring the dark chocolate down to between 80°F and 82°F)

• Put it back on the double boiler and bring the temperature back up until it reaches its working temperature of the chocolate (milk, dark or white) as seen in the above chart. (32°C/89.6°F for dark, 30°C/86°F for milk and 29°C/84.2°F for white)

• If you still have a few un-melted bits of chocolate, put the bowl back over the simmering water, stirring gently and watching the thermometer constantly.

• IMPORTANT: You really need to keep an eye on the temperature so that it doesn’t go over its working temperature

It’s now tempered and ready to use
Tip: Another way of adding the "seed" is by dropping in one large chunk of tempered chocolate (the seed). That way you only need to fish out one piece of unmelted chocolate and don't need to fish out several small bits of unmelted chocolate once the chocolate has reached temper.

Champagne Truffles

Ingredients:
4oz Cream
4oz milk
2 oz light corn syrup
12 oz semisweet chocolate (64%)
4oz milk chocolate (38%)
1oz very soft butter
2oz cognac, grand marnier or any other alcohol

dark chocolate for enrobing
cocoa powder, coconut shreds, shredded almonds or any other desired topping for enrobing truffles

Method:
1. Bring cream, milk and light corn syrup to a boil (this breaks homogenization and allows ingredients to re-combine) then cool to 90F.
2. Melt chocolates together and cool to 90F
3. In a food processor steadily pour the warm liquid into the combined chocolates; then add in butter and liquor, very slowly since this can break the ganache.
4. Process smooth for 30 seconds.
5. Pour out ganache onto a tray lined with saran wrap. Cool to 75F
6. Pipe out small dollops of ganache with a large round tip. Chill dollops in the fridge until set.
7. Roll dollops of ganache between hands to form perfect spheres then chill again.
8. Using a chocolate dipping fork or regular fork, dip chilled chocolate spheres in melted chocolate, tap excess then immediately roll in cocoa powder or desired coating.
9. Allow chocolate to set around truffles before pulling them out of the cocoa powder and shaking off excess.
10. Now you are ready to try your first truffle!

Note: Play around with the recipe and change the liquor, or add some powdered ginger!

Earl Grey Truffles
I love tea so these ones are one of my favorite truffles!

Ingredients:
6oz water
1 oz lose earl grey tea (or any other tea)
3oz cream
3oz milk
1 oz light corn syrup
12 oz semisweet chocolate (64%)
4oz milk chocolate (38%)
1oz very soft butter
1oz orange liqueur

dark chocolate for enrobing
ground almonds or any other desired topping for enrobing truffles

Method:
1. Bring the water to a boil, off heat add the tea leaves and let steep for 5 minutes, no longer.
2. Strain liquid and weigh out 3oz of tea.
3. Bring cream, milk and light corn syrup to a boil (this breaks homogenization and allows ingredients to re-combine) then cool to 90F.
4. Melt chocolates together and cool to 90F
5. In a food processor steadily pour the warm tea and the creamy liquid into the combined chocolates; then add in butter and liquor, very slowly since this can break the ganache.
6. Process smooth for 30 seconds.
7. Pour out ganache onto a tray lined with saran wrap. Cool to 75F
8. Pipe out small dollops of ganache with a large round tip. Chill dollops in the fridge until set.
9. Roll dollops of ganache between hands to form perfect spheres then chill again.
10. Using a chocolate dipping fork or regular fork, dip chilled chocolate spheres in melted chocolate, tap excess then immediately roll in ground almonds or desired coating.
11. Allow chocolate to set around truffles before pulling them out of the almonds and shaking off excess.
12. Bon Appetit!

Cocoa Almonds

Ingredients:

400g whole almonds

130g granulated sugar

45g water

1/2 vanilla bean

120g tempered semisweet chocolate

cocoa powder or confectioner's sugar for dusting

Method:

Toast almonds at 300F to warm slightly
Cook the sugar, water and vanilla to 240F
Add almonds to the sugar and continue to cook, stirring constantly. The sugar will begin to crystallize as soon as the almonds go in, so you must stir vigorously.
Pour almonds onto parchment paper and allow them to cool.
Once cooled, separate the almonds.
Pour almonds into the tempered chocolate. Stir so they are all well coated.
Drop the almonds into sifted cocoa powder or confectioner's sugar and coat.
Place almonds in a large flour sifter so that excess cocoa powder falls off.
Enjoy!

Limoncello Chocolates

Ingredients:
4oz cream
4oz milk
2oz light corn syrup
zest of 3 lemons
8oz semisweet chocolate (64%)
8oz milk chocolate (38%)
1oz very soft butter
1oz white rum
1 tsp Boyajian lemon oil (no more than 1 tsp, this is very very strong)

Tempered dark chocolate for enrobing

Method:
1. Bring cream, milk and light corn syrup to a boil (this breaks homogenization and allows ingredients to re-combine)
2. Add lemon zest and allow to steep 10 minutes. Remove zest from liquid and then cool to 90F.
3. Melt chocolates together and cool to 90F
4. In a food processor steadily pour the warm liquid into the combined chocolates; then add in butter, liquor, and lemon oil very slowly since this can break the ganache.
5. Process smooth for 30 seconds.
6. Pour out ganache onto a tall rimmed tray lined with saran wrap. Chill till firm.
7. Unmold onto parchment, cut 1 inch squares then enrobe in tempered chocolate.
8. Allow excess to drip off and place on parchment paper to set.
9. At this point you can garnish the top with a candied lemon rind, or place a gold leaf on top, or even press a 1 inch square of chocolate transfer paper over the chocolate and allow it to set like that.
10. Once the chocolate has cooled and set, carefully remove the transfer paper and you have a beautiful design on top of your chocolate!

Chocolate Bonbons

If you have a chocolate bonbon mold then you should give this one a try.

Start off with very clean and dry molds.
Drop some tempered chocolate into the molds until all crevices are entirely coated.
Tap out excess and allow chocolate to cool (don't put it in the fridge or it might mess up your temper)
Fill the molds with your desired filling, ganache, marzipan, peanut butter, etc. Leave a little room on top for the last layer of chocolate.
Fill the remaining of the cavities with the tempered chocolate and scrape off excess chocolate from mold.
Allow to cool
Once the chocolate has cooled, it contracts so if your mold is clear, you will see the chocolate pull away from the cavity. When you turn it around the chocolate should drop straight out. If a few remain, tap the chocolate mold on a table a few times.

Chocolate Bark

Once you've mastered the art of chocolate tempering, making bark is the simplest way to keep practicing that technique. Just temper some chocolate, pour it into a plastic lined tray, throw some chopped up nuts and dried fruits on top, and allow to cool. This is also a great way to use up extra tempered chocolate.

Baked Cannoli

2011-08-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

For those of you who would like to enjoy a cannoli on the lighter side, or are like me and can't digest fried foods, here is a great alternative: Baked Cannolis!

Cannolis are originally Sicilian and mean little tubes. Traditionally these pastries are filled with a creamy ricotta filling.

Here is a recipe to make your own healthier cannolis.

Shells

Ingredients:

7oz flour

2tsp sugar

1tsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 fluid oz vegetable oil

1/2 fluid oz vinegar

3-4 fluid oz Marsala or other fortified wine

Method:

Mix dry ingredients together and rub in the oil.
Mix vinegar and marsala and stir into dry mixture. The dough will be firm and dry.
Form the dough into a rough rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for about 1 hour.
Flour the dough and roll it out through a pasta machine to a 1/4 inch thickness. Pass through machine about 15 times to achieve smooth texture.
Rest dough again for 1 hour.
Pass dough through pasta machine starting with thickest setting and ending at the thinnest. This will take a few times of going through.
With a round cutter, cut rounds of dough. Disk should be about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the tube it will be baked on.
Lengthen each round to an oval and then wrap the edge around the tube, sealing with a little bit of egg white. (don't let the egg white drip onto the tube or the dough will become stuck.
Place cannoli on sheet trays lined with parchment and bake at 350 for a few minutes. Wait until dough is cooked through.
Using tongs remove the tubes from the shells as soon as possible since dough will shrink as it cools.

Filling

2 pounds ricotta

1/2 pound confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1oz chopped semisweet chocolate

1oz chopped candied orange peel

chopped, blanched pistachios for garnish

Method:

Whip ricotta and sugar will light and fluffy.
Whip in the vanilla and cinnamon.
Stir in the chocolate and orange peel.

Assembly

Right before serving, fill shells with cream using a pastry bag. Sprinkle the ends with chopped pistachios.
Dust with sprinkled sugar or melted chocolate.

July Daring Baker's Challenge: Fraisiers

2011-07-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

I decided to do a summery peach dessert. I just love peaches in the summer.

Basic Sponge Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (270 ml) (5½ oz/155 gm) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (4 gm) baking powder
3/4 cups (180 ml) (6 oz /170 gm) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2½ ml) (1½ gm) salt, preferably kosher
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (3.17 fl oz/95 ml) water
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon (3¾ ml) (3 gm) lemon zest, grated
5 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1 gm) cream of tartar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to moderate 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3).
Line the bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan since the cake needs to adhere to the sides for lift.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons (45 ml.) of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.

In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly.

Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.
Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.
Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Removed the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper. Refrigerate for up to four days.

Pastry Cream

Ingredients:

2 oz cornstarch

16 fl oz milk

4 oz sugar

1 egg

4 yolks

2 oz butter

1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract

Put sugar and 7/8ths of the milk in a pot and boil till the sugar dissolves.
Meanwhile, whisk cornstarch and remaining cold milk together (note, cornstarch only dissolves in cold liquids, not in hot.)

3. Whisk the eggs and yolks together with the cornstarch mixture.

4. When the milk and sugar are boiling, pour into the egg- cornstarch mixture and whisk constantly. Bring entire mixture back to the pot over heat. Always stir, never stop stirring!

6. Allow the mixture to thicken and come to a boil (it will bubble lightly) but stir constantly!
7. Pour the cream into another bowl and add the cut up butter and vanilla, whisking till it incorporates.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool. (put little wholes or cuts in the plastic wrap to allow steam to escape.)

Assembly

Split the sponge cake in half. I moistened it with the canned peach syrup since it added more peachy flavor to the layer.

In a prepared ring mould with plastic wrap, place a layer of the sponge, then spread a thick layer of vanilla pastry cream over the cake.

I topped the cream with sliced peaches all over. I placed another layer of sponge cake, and topped it with pastry cream.

Top the pastry cream with another layer of moistened sponge and a small thin layer of pastry cream, then knead some almond paste and roll it out to a flat disk over a powdered sugared surface. I placed it on top of the pastry cream directly.

At this time you would freeze your cake so that you can disassemble it and it holds it's shape. I was pressed for time so I used acetate on the outside so that I could unmould the cake right away. The presentation looks nice and you don't have to worry about spilling over.

I then decorated the top with peaches, some sanding sugar, and buttercream.

And voila!

July Daring Cook's Challenge: Handmade Pasta

2011-07-14T03:11:00.000-07:00

Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks' July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine. She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!

My version was a whole wheat ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and sun dried tomato, topped with caramelized onions and truffle pate. It was delicious! Despite it historically being a poor person's food I love the little surprise you find when you bite into a chunk of ravioll, with so many different fillings you never know what you'll find. So i have to hand it to the ingenious people who tried to re-use leftovers inside their pasta.
So far as Italy is concerned, the earliest records of ravioli appear in the preserved letters of Francesco di Marco, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. The pasta is described as being stuffed with pork, eggs, cheese, parsley and sugar, and during Lent a filling of herbs, cheese, and spices was used. There were both sweet and savory kinds. The city of Cremona claims to have created ravioli. But Genoa claims that too, insisting that the word ravioli comes from their dialect word for pasta, rabiole, which means "something of little value" and referred to the practice of poor sailors who suffered leftovers into pasta to be eaten for another meal.

Remember to make the filling and topping for the ravioli before the pasta dough.

One of my instructors in pastry school has her own cooking school specializing in Italian cuisine. She taught me that making pasta is really dead easy. It seems intimidating but it is just time consuming, not fought at all. There are only two ingredients to making pasta, flour and eggs.

I used 500g flour and 6 large eggs.
The ratio is typically 100g flour to 1 egg, but whole wheat flour is drier and needs the extra boost of egg. No matter what, the main ingredient is the flour, not the egg, so if your dough looks fine and you still have one egg to dump in, don't! The dough will look a little like bread dough if you've ever made it before.
Use the hook in a stand mixer and mix till elastic and shiny.

Separate the dough into 3 parts if you are using a pasta machine, handling too much dough at once will cause it to tear. And if you have someone to help you out, even better.

Clamp down the pasta machine and make sure it doesn't wiggle. If you don't have one, just use a rolling pin and roll the dough out very thinly over a flour dusted surface.

Dust a little flour on either side of the dough to prevent it from sticking inside the machine.
Stretch a few times and fold over itself until you get a smooth consistent dough. Only after should you start putting the dough through thinner settings.

Once you have the desired thickness (leave a little thicker for ravioli since it can tear with a filling) place the filling (recipe follows) in the centre of the dough. Fold the dough over sealing the edges with water. And cut.
At this time, either cook or freeze with parchment paper separating the different ravioli.

Boil water. Gently lower each ravioli in one at a time.
Cook till al dente. The time varies depending on the thickness of your dough. It could be anywhere from 2 minutes to Over 5.

Place raviolis onto a serving dish, top with caramelized onions and a teaspoon of truffle paste and dig in!

Filling:

Hydrate 1 cup of sun dried tomatoes with hot water. Drain and chop into little pieces.

Mix with 1 cup of ricotta cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Stir together.

Variations: try a pumpkin ravioli by mixing ricotta, pumpkin puree and nutmeg for a filling. Then top with a béchamel or a light cheese sauce.

Underwater Barbie

2011-07-03T15:49:00.001-07:00

Personality: Moist vanilla cake with silky vanilla frosting, coated with glittery fondant layers and embelishments.

What's Baking?

2011-07-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Summer Birthdays are keeping us busy with many fun cakes, here are some of the latest.

Elegant Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. Covered with fondant and adorned with gumpaste flowers.

Super fun vanilla cake with chocolate fudge filling. Topped with a fondant octopus and sugar silver pearls.

Daring Cook's June Challenge: Healthy Potato Salads

2011-06-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

There are a million recipes for healthy potato salads, my favorite one is actually the Russian "Selyodka pod Shuboy" or "Herring under Fur Coat."It is a delicious and nutritious salad with many vegetables and a beautiful presentation when you slice through and see all the different colors. It reminds me or a rainbow really!

As always, I made a few changes to the original recipe. I made it healthier and just as tasty.

The ingredients are as follows:
2 large potatoes
4 eggs
4 medium carrots peeled
1 can sliced beets/ or 2 beets
5 large slices of smoked salmon (the original recipe uses herring, but it can sometimes be hard to find and it is very oily)
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
2 TBS nonfat yogurt
Salt and Pepper as needed

1. Boil the potatoes and carrots together. You can choose to leave the skin on the potatoes or not, i find it helps them hold together during cooking. When soft, drain and allow to cool.

2. Boil the eggs

3. If you are using raw beets, roast them or boil them until soft. If using canned, skip this part.

4. When vegetables are cooked, shred them with a grater.

5. When the potatoes, beets and carrots are shredded, set them aside.

6. With the back of a fork, crush the egg with the mayonnaise and the yogurt. If you have an egg slicer, slice the egg into strips by cutting once and then cutting parallel. Even though the mayo is light, add a little yogurt to make it creamier without the added fat and calories. It tastes just as good. Season with salt and pepper.

7. When you have all of your components ready, arrange them into separate bowls to make it easier to assemble your layered salad.

8. You can assemble the salad in clear glasses like I did, or place them in a deep dish that you can then unmould and slice. It will look beautiful when you arrange all the layers carefully.

9. Arrange a layer of salmon to cover the bottom of the dish, then top with potatoes, egg mixture, carrots, potatoes, egg mixture, beets, egg mixture. The order doesn't really matter and if you want to double up on some layers of your favorite vegetable, do so. They key is to make it as colorful as possible so that it looks like an edible rainbow! In the original version of this recipe there is a layer of mayonnaise between each vegetable layer (to hold it all together when you unmould). I decided to mix the mayonnaise with the egg so that we have more flavor in a smaller bite. It's really super flexible and did I mention it takes only 20 minutes to make?

Underwater Barbie Doll

2011-06-13T07:09:00.001-07:00

Personality: Moist vanilla cake with silky vanilla frosting, coated with glittery fondant layers and embelishments.

Daring Baker's May Challenge: Chocolate Marquise on Meringue

2011-05-27T05:06:00.000-07:00

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

I was excited to try this challenge because of the different textures involved. I decided to do my own twist on this, Chocolate marquise with candied cashews and torched meringue with lime zest. It was refreshing and really easy to make, It looks intimidating with all the steps but it will take you about 1 and a half hours total to put it together! Enjoy!

Chocolate Base
Servings: n/a - this is an ingredient for the chocolate marquise, not meant to be used separately

Ingredients
12 oz (340 grams/ 1½ cups) bittersweet chocolate (about 70% cocoa)
12 oz (355 ml/ 1½ cups) heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup (60 ml/ 2 fluid oz.) tequila
1/4 cup (60 ml/ 2 fluid oz.) light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons/ less than an ounce) cocoa powder (we used extra brut, like Hershey's Special Dark, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 oz unsalted butter (2 tbsps./30 grams), softened

Directions:

Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.
In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.

Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe.

Chocolate Marquise

Servings: 18 2.5"x2.5" cubes
Ingredients
11 large egg yolks at room temperature
4 large whole eggs
2/3 cup (150 grams/ 5.3 oz) sugar
1/3 cup (2⅔ fluid oz/ 80 ml.) water
Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
2 cups (16 fluid oz./ 500 ml.) heavy cream
2 cups Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling) (Note: We used extra brut, like Hershey's Special Dark. Make sure it's a Dutch processed cocoa, not a natural cocoa powder.)

Directions:

Before you begin, prepare your mould, weather a pan or a tube like mold. Cover it with plastic wrap and spray with pam so that the chocolate mixture will slide off easily.

I made tubes and a circle. If you want you can even use a tupperware covered in saran wrap.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high speed until very thick and pale, about 10 - 15 minutes.

When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil and then cook to softball stage (235F/115C).

With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.

When all of the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.

When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all of the air you've whipped into the eggs.
Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour or pipe chocolate into the prepared moulds and freeze.

When frozen, cut your marquise into cubes or desired shape and roll them in cocoa powder. These will start to melt almost immediately, so don't do this step until all of your other plating components (meringue) are ready. The cubes need to sit in the fridge to slowly thaw so plating components can be done during that time. They don’t need to be ready before the cubes are rolled in the cocoa powder.

Torched Meringue

Servings: Makes about 2 – 2½ cups of meringue. If you aren't planning on serving *all* of the marquise at once, you might want to scale this recipe back a bit.
Ingredients
6 large egg whites
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (210 ml) (7 oz or 200 gms) sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Candied Cashews

Ingredients1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp water
1 cup cashews
1 pinch Cayenne pepper
1 cup powdered chocolate

Toast the cashews with the Cayenne pepper until browned.
Meanwhile make a caramel with the sugar and water until soft ball stage.
When the caramel is ready, take off the heat and stir in cashews. Stir immediately
Pour into the cocoa powder and let it coat.

Sift the excess off with a sieve.

Plating

Place the meringue on the plate and torch it.

Put the marquise on the plate and all the other components. I also added some lime zest. It was really refreshing with the meringue. A little goes a long way!

Stardust on TV

2011-05-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

I was asked by Linda Kaye's Partymakers to help out with their TV segment on TV Land's best night in.

Check it out!

Daring Cook's May Challenge: Gumbo

2011-05-14T01:12:00.000-07:00

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

I've never really had Creole food so this was an exciting challenge. Gumbo.. it's so raved about by everyone that I was thrilled and eager to get my hands dirty! After a little research I found the definition of a gumbo to be a thick, dark soup containing a mixture of rice, vegetables, and meat or seafood. The vast majority of gumbos fall into one of three categories: Seafood Gumbo, containing some combination of oysters, shrimp, crawfish, and/or crabs, and more often made with okra than filé; Poultry and Sausage gumbo, which uses either chicken or turkey in combination with pieces of andouille or other smoked sausage, and more often made with filé than okra; and the increasingly rare Gumbo Z’Herbes, a meatless soup created for Lent that incorporates a wide variety of greens. The greens symbolize different things to different families. Most often the number of greens a person uses represents the number of new friends he or she is supposed to make that year.

I decided to go for a seafood gumbo and throw as many veggies as I could find (I want to make a lot of new friends this year!)

I also wanted to make the seafood stock myself but when I went to the supermarket and couldn't find any shrimp or fish heads, I decided to get the cheapest fish and use that to make the stock. So catfish bits were my make shift shrimp. Now for all those people who know me well, I hate hate HATE celery so none of my recipes will ever have that in them, so I will list the ingredient list and recipe as if the celery was in there for all of you celery lovers, but note I ommit this in all my recipes..

Shrimp Stock

Ingredients
¼ cup (120 ml) canola oil
Shells and heads (about 1 ½ pounds (700 gm)) from 4 pounds (2 kg) shrimp (prawns) ( I used catfish chunks instead)
1 tablespoon Basic Creole Spices (recipe below)
1 large onion coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped ( I ommited)
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
6 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (5 gm) black peppercorns
2 cups (480 ml) dry white wine (optional)
3 ½ quarts (3⅓ liters) water
Directions:
1. Heat the canola oil in a large stockpot over moderate heat. When the oil begins to smoke slightly, add the shells and paprika. Stir continuously, for 2 minutes, until the shells crisp up and turn pink.

2. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.

3. Add the white wine (skip this step if not using wine) and bring to a boil. Allow the wine to reduce for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Add the water and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, skimming off any foam or oil that rises to the surface, for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

(This is my version with fish instead of shrimp)

5. Strain through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Discard all the solids. Allow the stock to cool, cover and refrigerate, then skim off the fat. Use immediately, or freeze for later use.

Seafood Gumbo

Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Servings: 10

Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) canola oil
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
2 large onions, diced
6 jumbo blue crabs, each cut into four pieces (if unavailable, omit, or substitute another type of crab)
1 pound (½ kilogram) spicy smoked sausage links, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick (optional, but encouraged if you eat sausage)
1 stalk celery, diced ( I ommited)
1 green bell pepper (capsicum), seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (240 ml) (160 gm) (5½ oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available). If fresh or frozen is unavailable, you can leave it out because the roux will provide enough of a thickener.
Leaves from sprig of fresh thyme
3 quarts (3 liters) shrimp (prawn) stock (recipe below)
2 bay leaves
1 pound (½ kilogram) peeled and deveined medium Louisiana or wild shrimp (prawn) (Note: If you are buying whole, head-on shrimp, which you will need in order to use the heads and peels for stock, you will then need approximately 4 pounds (2 kilograms) of shrimp to yield enough heads/shells for the stock. Although the recipe only calls for 1 pound (½ kilogram) of shrimp, you will end up with a little over 2 pounds of cleaned shrimp (1 kilogram), which I found was perfect for this size pot of gumbo)
1 pint (475 ml) (450 gm) (16 oz) shucked oysters
8 ounces (225 gm) lump crabmeat
1 cup (240 ml) (100 gm) (3½ oz) minced green onions (scallions, or spring onions)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Basic Creole Spices, to taste (recipe below)
Worcestershire, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)
Directions:
1. Prepare shrimp stock, if using (recipe above).
2. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.

4. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.

5. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.

6. Add the blue crabs and smoked sausage and stir for a minute before adding the celery, bell peppers, garlic, and okra. Increase the heat to moderate and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes.

7. Add the thyme, shellfish stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
8. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.

9. Add the shrimp, oysters, crabmeat and green onions to the pot and cook for 15 minutes. Make sure everything is ready to serve before adding the shellfish to the gumbo. DO NOT OVERCOOK your shellfish.

10. Season with salt and pepper, Creole Spices, Worcestershire, and Tabasco.
11. Serve in bowls over rice. I placed mine in see through containers to give it a more elegant look, and garnished with some fresh parsley.

Sara in Wonderland Birthday Party

2011-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yes yes, it was my birthday and I had been planning this birthday party for at least 5 months! Nuts right? But I am so pleased with how it came out... I had to share with you. Recipes included of course!!

I’ve always loved everything whimsical, and although Alice in Wonderland isn’t my favorite Disney Movie, it had the most creative and colorful ideas! I wanted my very own mad hatter tea party. I even asked the guests to come dressed up in their best mad tea party costumes. They all complied, and even agreed to wear the oversized accordion hats that I found online at Oriental Trading.

I wanted the table spread to be colorful and somewhat cluttered like the movie. I didn’t want the table to look prim and proper, I wanted it to miss match and call out for attention. I used an assortment of cake and cupcake stands to create height and different levels for the food items.

I also baked all of the food myself (some recipes at bottom of the page), the bread for sandwiches, the scones, the quiche, chocolate macarons, the birthday cake, and I even dipped the dainty little strawberries in white and pink chocolate. I wanted the food to be very much what you would eat at a tea party, all finger food.

I also used food coloring to paint phrases such as ‘eat me’, ‘bite me’, ‘try me’, and ‘drink me’ which the guests found quite irresistible.

When it came to the signature drink of the party, I didn’t do tea because most of my friends aren’t tea drinkers, so my I made my dad’s signature drink, his ‘Sandia’ which means watermelon in Spanish. It is a drink made with watermelon juice, quite a few different mixtures of liqueur, and served inside the watermelon itself.

I carved the watermelon to look like the Cheshire cat, since it already had stripes of its own. The drink was a hit! When the drink was finished my friends asked me to break open the watermelon so they could eat the flesh! Although this drink has a lot of alcohol, you can always make it kid friendly by making a mocktail mixture and serving it inside the watermelon.

The only real tea at the party was the jasmine blooming tea displayed inside a clear apothecary jar that sat in the centre of the table. It was more decorative than functional, but it looked beautiful through the clear glass.

There was also a multitude of tea cups of all sizes laid out on the table. I bought a few teacup shaped flower planters and painted them with bright colors, and some with themes from the movie such as the Cheshire cat’s smile and the suits from a deck of cards. The largest planter I found at a supermarket in the gardening isle of Shop Rite. It was quite a find! It was so large that I could fit a regular bowl in it, so I decided to serve the salad inside it. Most of the guests didn’t realize it was a large teacup until the bowl was almost empty. The middle sized teacup planter I used to put the silverware inside so that the guests could find them more easily.

I am also raving about the newly popular teacupcakes. They are made out of silicone and you can bake cupcakes right inside them. They come with a saucer too so that you get that perfect teacup look. Unfortunately the molds only come in white as of now, but you can always use an edible airbrush paint to color them after they’ve been baked! I loved this look and even used one of the tea cupcakes to top off the birthday cake

The birthday cake is one of our Stardust favorites, it’s the black forest cake. I wouldn’t typically place a black forest cake underneath a fondant layer, as many Pastry Chefs will tell you, whipped cream under fondant is a very dangerous and risky venture, but since it was my favorite cake I decided to alter it a bit to make it work. It wasn’t a very elaborate cake since there was so much on the table that would detract from it, but it had a nice height with the rest of the items.
.

The place settings were just as bright as the rest of the food. The bright blue table cloth contrasted with the bright pink plates, and the black hexagonal cake plates. I also used bright yellow napkins with a large fake gerbera daisy on top to top off the setting. And instead of teacups to serve beverages, I used neon colored margarita glasses. They worked really nicely by adding that different height effect I was trying to achieve.

To achieve the party setting in the room I had to add a lot of color without destroying my walls, so I bought a set of balloon wallies from the online Wallies store. They are great because they stick nicely to the wall without damaging it and come off very easily and don’t peel the paint.

I also loved Martha Stewart’s poms and the effect they added to the room. They are very fun and festive, and are so easy to assemble. They have a multitude of colors and sizes too.

And no party is complete without balloons. I ordered a few helium balloons to decorate around the room and on the side of the chairs. My husband Todd had a great idea for the back of our white chairs. We made them look like decks of cards by adding the suits to each opposing corner. I also added some ribbon to enhance the color effect. It was perfect!

Even the bathroom didn't get missed, we picked the queen's favorite quote 'Off with your head' and turned it into 'Off to the head.'

It was really quite a party, and with the Alice in Wonderland movie playing in the background, even those who had never watched the movie became familiar with some aspect of the movie. An amazing birthday party it was!

Macaron Recipe

2 3/4 cups almond flour
2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup egg whites
pinch salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Gel paste color

1. Sift the first 2 ingredients together. (this is super important!)
2. Whip the whites with salt to soft peaks.
3. Add granulated sugar and gel color (any color) and whip to stiff peaks.
4. Fold the dry with the whites till well incorporated.

Using a large/ wide tip, pipe dollops onto a piece of parchment. (Make sure the tip is wide, a small tip will deflate the whites.)

Let them rest for 30 minutes or until they feel dry when you touch them. Or at least make sure they don't stick to your fingers! This way you will be guaranteed lovely 'feet.'

When you bake them at 300F make sure they are well spread out. Bake for 15 minutes. After the first 5 minutes let the steam out of the oven for a few seconds.

Allow them to cool on a rack before pulling them off the parchment!

Fill them with any desired filling (it must be creamy or you can't spread it on)

You can decorate them any way you like.

Greek Fare with a little help

2011-05-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Groupon? If you live in the United States you should certainly sign up, the website has amazing daily deals for a multitude of services, stores and restaurants where you get discounted stuff. You pay up front at the 50% rate and have a certain time to use your purchase. I've used it for many different services and was very very pleased.

This weekend I decided to use my Groupon for Thalassa Greek Restaurant down in TriBeCa my review in one word.. 'Spectacular' and in two words 'worth it'! The restaurant is a little hidden by all the well known restaurants in the area, they are also repaving the main road in front of it so it is not as visible to the public.
I walked in not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised! The restaurant has earned some great awards and the atmosphere if very inviting!

My first exciting moment was when I saw the icy mountain with fish, shellfish and gorgeous fresh vegetables displayed for all to see. You can literally pick your dinner!
We went with the prix fix 4 course menu with the perfect portion sizes.

To start us off we had a little amuse bouche of phyllo and cheese. It was crunchy and not saturated in butter. It was our first introduction to this restaurant and it left us craving for more!

There was also an assortment of 4 breads to chose from, served with hummus, olive oil and some marinated olives. The focaccia was slightly sweetened by caramelized onions and tasted a little like cornbread too. It was delicious! Their olive bread was also, as expected, delicious!

The best dish was this first appetizer, the most perfect and most amazing scallop I have ever eaten in my life. I dare any chef to make one better! I've eaten many scallops before but never one so perfectly cooked. It was wrapped in hair thin strands of phyllo and drizzled with an amazing refreshing sauce. 10+ points on this one!

The next appetizer was the rice and meat stuffed grape leaves. the flavor was much milder than the first appetizer. Still tasty, not overly vinegary like most grape leaves. I loved the kale in this dish too it made it different!

The main courses were filet mignon or fish. The filet mignon was cooked perfectly and was moist. The mushrooms were also a great side dish to it.

As for the fish, it tasted farmed to me. It laked flavor and the capers overpowered it a little. The spinach was also plain and the meager portion of baked potato was undercooked. This was the only complaint I had with this meal. But the meat dish was top notch.

And my favorite part as always, dessert. We had a little assortment of desserts on our plate, a pistachio Kataifi and Ekmek (Traditionally, the dessert Ekmek is made with a base of ‘Kataifi’ pastry. This pastry resembles angel's hair pasta or vermicelli as it is cut into very thin strands.) Cream ball covered in valrhona chocolate, with a small piece of baklava (to my delight, not overly sweet as most), and a little dollop of yogurt cream. It was another 10 score!

And I loved the little cookie box they gave us on our way out. I devoured it on the steps of the restaurant, why wait?

Do check out the restaurant's website. They also post a recipe of the month. Here is this month's. Lavraki Tartare. Lavraki is a Mediterranean sea bass.

Lavraki Tartare
Ingredients
2 thin slices of lavraki (Mediterranean sea bass) approx. 4oz.
1 tbsp Scordalia (garlic almond mousse)*
¼ inch thick sliced of a peeled cucumber
¼ inch thick slice of a roasted red pepper
¼ inch thick slice of a roasted beet
6 pcs poached grape leaves
½ tsp lemon and orange zest (mixed)
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Lay out the poached grape leaves, to form a square, and spread the scordalia on one side. Place the lavraki about one third in from the edge and on top of the grape leaves covering the entire length. Place cucumber, pepper and beet over the lavraki. Add zest and salt and pepper to taste. Take hold of the grape leaves and roll the entire length gently, but tight enough to avoid spillage.
Mise en Plate
Cut into 1 inch pieces, and place on serving dish.
Top each piece with tobiko caviar.

*Ingredients & Preparation for Garlic Almond Mousse
Makes enough for four cups, which and be refrigerated and used in other dishes, or as a garnish for almost any grilled fish.
1 oz fresh garlic
½ cup blanched almonds
1/3 cup vinegar
½ tsp white pepper
1 tsp sea salt
½ lb Country loaf (crust removed), soaked in cold water and squeezed dry
3 oz extra virgin olive oil
4 oz cold water
Add all ingredients (except the olive oil) to a food processor and blend for 3-4 minutes. Continue to blend while adding the oil in a slow stream. After completely blended, store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Daring Baker's April Challenge: Edible Container and Maple Mousse

2011-04-27T01:43:00.000-07:00

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com/!

I chose to make my edible container a Pumpkin Tuille. Maple syrup is something fall-ish to me so it seemed to go well with pumpkin.

I am not a fan of Maple syrup but since it was the challenge, I went out and bought my first jar of Maple Syrup. That stuff is a lot runnier than I thought! When it came to the mousse, I didn't want to use all that heavy cream for fear of not being able to eat it so I substituted it with Greek yogurt. It was great because it gave the mousse a tangy taste that contrasted the sweetness of the maple.

Maple Mousse:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (240 ml/ 8 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)

• 4 large egg yolks

• 3 sheets unflavoured gelatin(bloomed in ice water)

• 2 cups greek yogurt (substituted for 360 ml. whipping cream)

Directions:
1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).

3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.

4. Add bloomed gelatin leaves and whisk till dissolved.

5. Allow mixture to cool and whisk the yogurt ( or 1/3 of the heavy cream, if using) into the maple syrup mixture.

6. Pour into a large bowl and allow to set in fridge if using yogurt, if not, whip the remaining cream and fold it into the mixture and refrigerate until set.

Pumpkin Tuille Container:

Ingredients

1 can pumpkin

1/4 C corn syrup

1. Whisk two ingredients together.
2. Using a spatula place a thin layer of puree on a silpat. (try to make this as even as possible so it all cooks the same)

3. Bake at 350F until the puree is dry. 30-40 minutes
4. As soon as it comes out of the oven cut and curl into desired shape. (Do this very fast, as the pumpkin sheet cools, it will harden)

To assemble dessert, do so right before serving. Place mousse in a piping bag and pipe into your cylinder or container.
The container will soften with time so make sure to do this right before serving.

Hot Cross Buns

2011-04-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

In many historically Christian countries, Hot Cross buns are traditionally eaten hot or toasted on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of The Crucifixion of Christ.

They are a delicious sweet bread with candied fruit and raisins, best served the day they are made.

I went all out this easter and made all the traditional foods, not what we would eat in Portugal since we have Folares de Pasqua, but this British tradition is pretty tasty too!

I adapted my recipe from King Arthur Flour's Easy Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Buns

2 ounces rum
2 3/4 ounces mixed dried fruit
2 3/4 ounces raisins or dried currants
10 ounces milk, room temperature
3 large eggs, 1 separated
3 ounces butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 7/8 ounces light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
21 ounces flour (plus more as needed)

Topping

1 egg white (Saved from above)
1/2 ounce milk

Icing

4 1/2 ounces confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 teaspoons milk, or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing

Directions

1) Lightly grease a 10" square pan or 9" x 13" pan.

2) Mix the rum or apple juice with the dried fruit and raisins, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave briefly, just till the fruit and liquid are very warm, and the plastic starts to "shrink wrap" itself over the top of the bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Note: If you worry about using plastic wrap in your microwave, simply cover the bowl with a glass lid. 3) When the fruit is cool, mix together all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and knead, using an electric mixer or bread machine, till the dough is soft and elastic. Mix in the fruit and any liquid not absorbed. 4) Let the dough rise for 1-2 hours, covered. It should become puffy, though may not double in bulk.

5) Divide the dough into billiard ball-sized pieces, about 3 3/4 ounces each. A heaped muffin scoop (about 1/3 cup) makes about the right portion. You'll make 12 to 14 buns. Use your greased hands to round them into balls. Arrange them in the prepared pan. 6) Cover the pan, and let the buns rise for 1 hour, or until they've puffed up and are touching one another. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F. 7) Whisk together the reserved egg white and milk, and brush it over the buns. 8) Bake the buns for 20 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool. 9) Mix together the icing ingredients, and when the buns are completely cool, pipe it in a cross shape atop each bun. OR you can just do what I did and drizzle the delicious topping all over! Yum!

Lamb of God

2011-04-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why we eat lamb during Easter Sunday? If you are a regular at mass you will recall hearing "Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world." The Christians often refer to Jesus as The Lamb of God, the lamb that fell to save the sheep, so it seems appropriate that we celebrate Easter with this special meal.

This year I cooked my first leg of lamb (no joke- I had never done it before) and I have to say it was delicious. I adapted a recipe from The Flavor Lab and it was the most amazing lamb ever! Scroll down for this succulent Easter meal.

For Crust:

1 slice of bread

2 TBS Oregano

1 bunch of fresh parsley

3 TBS Dijon mustard
50g Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup walnuts
3 TBS olive oil

2 TBS minced garlic

1. Blend all these ingredients in a food processor untill it looks like crumbs.

Lamb Ingredients:

Crust recipe above

1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper

1 leg of lamb

1. Place the leg of lamb in a deep cooking dish. Cook the sides of the lamb to seal it, just a few minutes.

2. Rub the crust all over the lamb and leave it in the fridge (lid closed or wrapped in plastic) for 2 days.

3. When ready to cook the lamb, pour the white wine in the dish and bake in the oven with the lid on top at 220F until the meat is cooked and no longer red, you want the eat to be slightly pink. (1.5-2 hours).

Enjoy with some Israeli couscous for a final Mediterranean touch.

Tiki Cake

2011-04-18T19:47:00.001-07:00

Name: Tiki Cake

Personality: Moist Yellow Vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream, fenced with hazelnut pirouette cookies.

Thomas the Tank Engine is More Popular

2011-04-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Name: Thomas the Tank for 70

Personality: Moist vanilla cake with silky vanilla frosting, coated with a shiny fondant layer. Bottom layer filled with vanilal pastry cream and fresh strawberries.

Daring Cook's Challenge April: Edible Savoury Containers

2011-04-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com/!

I wanted to make something difficult and time consuming for this challenge. Crazy right? And I had this idea of making a bread bowl.. and then I started thinking about all the things I loved to dip in bread. And my husband's favorite pasta dish came to mind. It's a Portuguese dish that my mother used to create for me as a child and I loved it, and when I made it for my husband he devoured it!

Then I started to worry about the sauce seeping through the bread and making it fall apart. So I needed a back up plan, and I created a delicious salad to go in the basket.

The bread basket is what you are probably the most curious about so here it is.. I made a basic pizza crust and weaved it into a lattice pattern.

Basic Pizza Crust

Ingredients.
15 oz all purpose flour
5 oz whole wheat flour
0.5 oz salt
1 tsp instant yeast
2 oz olive oil
14 oz water

1.First you mix all the ingredients in a bowl except for the water.

2. Then you add half of the water. Never add all the water in at once, Chances are you will not need the full amount. Mix on first speed with a dough hook. You can also make this dough by hand by kneading it. It will take a few minutes longer but it works just as well.

3. When the dough feels hydrated and not slippery wet, that's when you stop adding water. But do it at minute intervals as it takes a while for the starch to absorb the water. If you add it all in at once the chances are you over wet the dough. If this happens, add more flour gradually until the dough is not slippery wet.
4. When the dough starts to rise up the hook and peel off the sides you are in very good shape.

5. Poke the dough. If it springs back up then you are done and ready to rest the dough. Rest it until it doubles in size (covered with plastic wrap so the dough doesn't dry).

6. When the dough has rested, portion it into small uniform falls and rest for 5 minutes (covered with plastic wrap so the dough doesn't dry).

7. Roll the balls into long serpent-like shapes and allow the dough to rest another 5 minutes, covered, before you begin to weave it.

8. Once weaved into a basket, allow the dough to rest, covered, for another 30 minutes.

9. Bake for 15 minutes, on until done, in a preheated 500 degree oven.

Now for the Pasta Dish:

1 lb stew meat

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tbsp Olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1 can diced tomatoes

2 buillon cubes

1/2 C white wine

Water as needed

salt

pepper

1 lb pasta

Directions:

1. Sautee onions, garlic, bay leaf and a little pepper in the Olive oil.

2. When golden brown, add the tomato paste and tomatoes. Sautee 3 minutes.

3. Add meat and cook for 3 minutes.

4. Add wine, buillon cube and just enough water to cover the meat. Cook on low heat for 4-5 hours until the meat is tender. You may need to add water as the meat cooks.

5. When the meat is done add some water to the pot and cook the pasta in it. The pasta will absorb much of the water.

6. Season with Salt and Pepper and pour over the bread bowl.

7. Devour!!

Peny's 1st Birthday Party

2011-04-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

I always love an excuse to throw a party! Well, this time it wasn't much of an excuse, it was my kitten Penny's first birthday party, and being the adorable little furball she is, I wanted to make her day special. You know how 1st birthdays are mostly for the parents since the children have no awareness at that point? This is the same idea!

We went with the Safari theme since Penny is adventurous and no little sugar plum. We did all the works, the food, the decorations, the balloons, we even had Safari hats for the guests! I invited some of my close friends who had met Penny on some of our Pennsylvania trips.

Since discovering customized water bottle labels I've been dying to use them. I made a set of mini pod water bottles with Penny's 1st Birthday written on them. I used different mismatched serve ware and regular kitchen plates to serve the different assortment of food. The labels are what really brought everything cohesively together.

I made 'Jungle Juice' which was really sangria for the adults. I served it in an apothecary jar, I love the unique look it gives the table. If you want to make your own version, I added 1 bottle low quality red wine, 1 bottle prosecco, 1 cup black currant concentrate (substitute with grenadine), and lime margarita mix. Add 2 chopped up apples and 2 oranges and let soak overnight! It's not too strong of a beverage but it's refreshing!

I made the food labels sound very wild and jungle-y and mostly items that Penny likes. There was Fishy Mush which was really Fish Terrine, Penny's Favorite: Mix 2 cans of tuna and 2 cans of salmon, mix with 5 eggs, some sauteed onions and tomatoes, bake in the oven in a waterbath and chill overnight before unmolding. It's as easy as it sounds!

Chocolate chip cookies were my Albino Ladybugs, a little sweet munchie before the cake was cut.

Snake Eyes were my deviled eggs; Penny always tries to eat my husband's eggs in the morning so it's on her top favorite list. I made them the night before and to beat off that little crust that they formed on top of the yolk, I put them in the oven right before the party. Great trick in case you ever have a crusty problem!

We also had Safari Mix which was trail mix served in a little green bucket: Penny typically plays soccer with my trail mix, Green Moss which was green pea dip, Giraffe Spots which were an assortment of tortilla and pita chips, Ant Hills which were duchess potatoes, and my absolute favorite, Monkey Poop which was turkey meatballs in a delicious tomato sauce, a little more time consuming to eat but Penny loves them!

And of course no party is complete without some cake. It was a pistachio cheesecake with some buttercream decorations and fondant safari animals. I wanted something different, no regular vanilla cake with buttercream for this party! We sang Happy Birthday to the birthday kitty and she ran away right after, leaving the adults to the sugar high.

I was thrilled that the adults wore the safari hats, very festive!

It was a great party,but Penny's little brother, Toby, was quite exhausted from all that partying!

Thomas the Tank Engine

2011-04-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

You all know this little choo choo train! Here is a Birthday Cake I just made for a 5 year old!

Name: Thomas the Tank

Personality: Moist vanilla cake with silky vanilla frosting, coated with a shiny fondant layer.

King Arthur's Pizza

2011-04-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

I am one of those people who is stubbornly against ready made mixes. Cake, Bread, Cookie, you name it.. I am so anti, but I heard so many raving comments about King Arthur’s Mixes that I gave in and decided to try. I had to make something that I couldn’t make on my own from scratch, so when I found the gluten free pizza base I decided to go for it. I am no expert on gluten-free flours so this was new and different!

The mix was incredibly easy although the consistency was that of cake batter which didn’t leave me too convinced. If this was regular flour and water I would just increase the flour ratio but in this case, I couldn’t! So I decided to use a spatula to spread the incredibly soft batter. I put my regular pizza toppings, Portuguese Queijo da serra, marinated artichokes and olives, and some anchovies. The pizza baked for slightly longer than a regular flour pizza, but let me just tell you the result was AMAZING! My husband said it was like eating a biscuit with toppings. I don’t have celiac’s disease but I think I could get used to this pizza crust. Don’t tell the Italians but I might like this one better!

C is for Cookie Monster!

2011-04-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

I'd been wanting to make these for a while and when a client asked for them, I was thrilled! They are mini cupcakes, the size of a quarter.

I love the cookie monster cupcakes. So easy to do. All you need is a 233 Tip.

Wilton does a great job of tutoring non bakers on this. I use this tip for grass finishes and cookie monsters!

For the cookie monsters, just top his mouth with a chocolate chip cookie and dot some googly eyes and you are all set!

Get the kids to help you out on this one, they are going to love it!

Ice Cream Cupcakes

2011-03-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

I was asked to make the Ice Cream cupcakes featured on Linda Kaye's Bake a Cake Party Book for her TV shoot. They are very cute and an adorable idea for a kids birthday party!

The Bake a Cake Party Book features one easy recipe that you can use for all the cake ideas. The cake batter has to be dense enough that it won't make the ice cream cone all soggy. Don't use a batter if it looks too liquidy like glue. It should be a batter that is thick and doesn't pour easily. You can use a cake mix too if you are short on time!

Make sure to beat the ingredients well with a mixer to avoid any lumps. There is nothing worse than biting into a lump of flour!

Prep all your empty ice cream cones (note these have to be flat bottomed cones, not the waffle or sugar cones) and place them on a muffin tin. This holds them in shape without risk of toppling over and baking into each other. If you don't have a muffin tin, use a cake pan but be gentle when moving it into the oven so the cones don't tilt.

You can fill the cones with a pastry bag for a clean rim, or you can use an ice cream scoop or spoon.

You don't want to fill the cones up too much or the batter will overflow. Allow half an inch on top.

When baked, the cupcakes will not all be perfectly smooth, they will be uniquely cracked, which is fine since we want to frost them and that way it gives them a more unique ice cream look! If you are a stickler for perfection and want perfectly round tops, don't fill the cups as much, allow 3/4 of an inch of space, and don't bake as many cupcakes at once. Spread them out more in the muffin tin so they aren't close together, this will alow the heat to reach all of them more evenly.

When the cupcakes have cooled (you can cool them in the fridge or freezer) make your frosting and color it with as many or as few colors as you want!

When your army of frosted ice cream cupcakes is done, you can chose to decorate the top. You can write letters as shown in the Bake a Cake Party Book, or you can add sprinkles, flowers, whatever you wish.