I ♥ Eu

Cheese Tarts ♥

2012-05-23T14:08:00.003-07:00

Cherry Cream Cheese Tarts ♥

The first time I ever had a cheese tart was when my mom came home from Tagaytay bringing a bunch of pasalubong -- which means I had a lot to choose from :). There were langka tarts, lengua de gato and a box of cheese tarts. That blueberry topping just caught my attention so I went for the cheese tarts. They were filled with cream cheese and topped with a generous amount of blueberry jam. It was so good and I knew I just had to make them. So this is the recipe I promised to be posted on my blog. I hope you try making them. :)

Crust

Makes 24 tart shells
Shelf life: up to 3 days (store in a refrigerator)

1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon iced water

Make the crust:

1. Sift together the flour and powdered sugar.

2. Cut in the butter using a fork, a pastry blender, or a food processor until you have coarse crumbs.

3. Make a well in the center of the mixture and mix the egg yolk and vanilla extract (you can use clear or tinted).

4. Mix until well-combined.

5. Drizzle with iced water and mix just until the dough holds together. It is important to use iced or cold water so that the butter doesn't soften too much. Add a little more flour if the dough ends up too moist.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

*It is VERY important that you use a really good butter and vanilla extract (it's better to use pure vanilla extract than the imitation) otherwise, the flavor would be just so-so.

Filling

Fills up to 30 tart shells
Shelf life: up to 3 days

1 cup / 8-oz / 225 g / 1 bar cream cheese

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon butter (softened)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

*Topping: Blueberry, Strawberry, Cherry Pie Filling or any fruit of your choice. You can also make your own jam and use as a topping.

Make the filling:

1. Let the cream cheese soften at room temperature or just heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds on high then turn it over and heat for another 10 seconds.

2. Cream the cream cheese until light and fluffy.

3. Add the butter and mix until well-incorporated.

4. Beat in the egg until combined and add in the sugar and vanilla extract.

5. Set aside.

Tarts

Makes 24 cheese tarts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Take the dough out of the fridge and divide into 24 equal portions.

3. Form into round molds, 4-cm in diameter.

4. Poke holes using the tines of a fork and arrange the molds in a wide rectangular pan. Bake for 13 minutes.
*The purpose of this is to let the steam have an escape route so that the tart shells will not puff up. It has the same purpose as blind-baking -- making sure the crust does not puff up.

5. Take them out of the oven and fill with the cream cheese mixture (about 1/2 tbsp. each).

6. Bake again for 10 minutes.

7. Let the tarts cools on a wire rack before topping with your pie filling of choice or your favorite jam.

8. Don't forget to enjoy! :)

*That feeling you instantly get when you bite into a cheese tart... Heavenly. :)*

Late Mother's Day Greeting ♥

2012-05-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

Supposedly eto yung message ko sau mamey (Thelma Riazon) eh kaso di natransfer sa computer agad kasi wala ung usb cable but anyway, I hope it's not too late for mother's day..

Chocolate Fudge Cake ♥

mi happy mother's day.. thanks kasi nagustuhan mo yung cake kahit di gano masarap at maganda.. yung pag pumikit ka lang saka masarap kasi pangit nga.. sabi mo masarap pero syempre kasi MOMMY kita... (saka may nuts yung cake) biggest fan kita eh.. suportado mo lahat ng ginagawa ko.. kasi nga MOMMY kita.. kaya syempre you should only eat the best. kaya pag feeling ko indi masarap yung ginawa ko, hindi ko ipinapatikim sa inyo ni miko o kaya nahihiya akong ipatikim sa inyo.. kaya nga tina-try ko talaga na laging maging masarap ung niluluto ko. Kasi it would mean much more kung galing sakin yung best na yun.. ayun.. basta i love you..

♥ Aya

Hot n' Cold: Apple Pie à la mode!

2012-05-14T12:23:00.004-07:00

"A warm apple pie is good but make it à la mode, it'll be even better. It will be nostalgic."

~Try making it now and I'm sure you'll be getting positive reviews as I did! :)

Apple Pie (à la mode) Recipe

Pie Crust
3 cups flour, plus more for dusting
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. shortening, cold
3/4 cups unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1/4 cup iced water
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
coarse sanding sugar (optional)

Apple Filling
3 large apples, peeled and cored
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice (you can substitute white vinegar if you want)
1 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
pinch of salt

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Make the Pie Crust:
1.) Combine all the ingredients, except water, using a fork or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2.) Add the iced water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.

3.) Divide it into two equal parts and flatten into disks. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Make the Apple Filling:
1.) Slice the apples thinly. In a large bowl, mix all of the filling ingredients.

2.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease six to twelve 5-inch-diameter molds.

3.) Roll out the dough to about 1/8" thick and cut out with a round cutter slightly larger than the mold.

4.) Form crust into the prepared molds and brush the rims with egg wash.

5.) Chill for about 15 to 20 minutes or until firm.

6.) Fill each of the chilled crusts with apple filling and bake for 1 hour or until the filling is bubbly and tops are golden brown.

7.) Serve warm. Preferably a la mode. You can drizzle it with caramel sauce or maple syrup if you want. Enjoy! :)

Apple Pie a la Mode drizzled with maple syrup. :)

I ♥ Eu: Corn Muffin Recipe

2012-04-15T02:52:00.001-07:00

I ♥ Eu: Corn Muffin Recipe

Corn Muffin Recipe

2012-03-17T23:53:00.001-07:00

Here's my favorite of all I've ever baked, corn muffins ♥. I guarantee you that this muffins are so good and will not be like anything you've ever tasted! It is best to eat them after cooling for several minutes on a wire rack. In that way you will have muffins that are crunchy on top, but soft, moist, and creamy inside. :)

Corn Muffin (makes 15 to 16 muffins)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup corn syrup, (you can also substitute glucose or honey)
2 eggs
2/3 cups plus 2 Tbsp. sugar (omit the 2 Tbsp. sugar if using honey)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3/4 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 to 8 drops yellow food coloring
1 can whole kernel corn, strained and juice kept
6 to 8 Tbsp. powdered milk

To make the batter:

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease one muffin pan and line with cupcake liners.

2.) Cream the butter until light and fluffy and then mix in the corn syrup. Add five drops of yellow food coloring (you can always add more depending on how yellow you want your corn muffins to be) then add the sugar, and the eggs.

3.) Mix until well blended.

4.) The original recipe calls for plain or whole milk but I like to make the corn taste stand out even more and at the same time, taste the creaminess of the milk. So to make the milk, mix the juice from 1 can of whole corn kernels and the powdered milk. (you just need half a cup of this so you can save the remaining milk for another batch of corn muffins)

5.) Add the flour, corn meal, baking powder, and salt. Mix while adding the milk.

6.) Fold in half of corn kernels into the mixture. (Save the other half for another batch)

7.) Fill each cup with the corn muffin batter and bake for 25 minutes or until light golden brown.

8.) Let the muffins cool on a wire rack for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Happy eating! :)

Corn Muffins and Macaroni Soup topped with basil.

Fulfilled.

2012-02-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

Hay. I feel fulfilled, although I have not finished a lot of schoolwork these past few days. It's because I've been baking :) I've made apple pies, a chocolate lemon cheesecake, corn muffins, and chocolate blackberry cheesecake. love! I'll be making apple pies tonight so anytime soon I'll be posting the step-by-step recipe, with pictures for those who want to make delicious apple pies. :)

My Apple Pie a la Mode

Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake

Cheese Tarts by EMC ♥

2012-01-29T22:22:00.000-08:00

Cheese Tart ♥

I've always wanted to make sweets. Cakes, pastries, name it. But I haven't had the proper education. The techniques, the basics. I just watch cooking shows or browse the Internet for recipes. But that doesn't stop me from dreaming that one day, I would be a top-class pastry chef. I too would be making my own recipes for other people to try and I too would be making sweets that will make other people happy just like how sweets make me happy.

This is the first time I've ever made a cheese tart. Well I've tried making a cheesecake (Bobby Flay's Caramel Apple Cheesecake) but it failed to pass the standard (my standard :D). So I felt disappointed and discouraged. I thought to myself,"What was I thinking --trying to make a cheesecake that Bobby Flay did? I'm not even a pastry chef yet."

Then one day when my mom came home from Tagaytay, she had pasalubong with her. Langka tarts, Lengua de gato, and Blueberry Cheese Tarts. And so, the sweets-lover I am, I immediately opened the box and ate one of the cheese tarts. I should say that it was really good--"parang mini cheesecake!". Immediately, I felt restless inside with a lot of excitement. I told myself,"kailangan ko ring makagawa nito!".
Since I already have a cream cheese filling recipe that I made --from my walnut swirl brownie recipe--all I needed was how to make the dough. So when I found a recipe on the Internet, I started making my cheese tarts. The recipe said that I should use butter but instead I used shortening because I thought we're all out of butter.

The first batch of cheese tarts I made turned out to be a disaster. I can't even unmold the tarts because the crust kept breaking or crushing when I tried to, but I still managed to eat them (hahaha). I eventually found out that we still had half a cup of butter left (kainis!) when I refrigerated the tarts. It turns out that when I expose them to a cold temperature, it would be easier to get them out of the molds.

With the half cup of butter I found in the fridge, I had my second shot at making cheese tarts. And so, after they were baked, I let them cool in the pan for about 5 to 10 minutes--trying my best not to be impatient this time. Still waiting until just a few seconds left.. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and my cheese tarts are done!

Well I don't want to brag but, I must say they taste heavenly! :)

Can't Sleep.

2012-01-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Kahit patayin mo pala yung gripo kapag puno na yung timba,
kahit patayin mo yung ilaw o yung computer kung matutulog ka kahit sandali,
kahit pa hindi ka manood ng tv ng isang buong araw at magbasa lang ng libro,
kahit pa matuto kang magsegregate ng basura into biodegradable, non-biodegradable, at recyclable,
kahit pa itapon mo yung basura mo sa tamang tapunan at hindi sa kalsada o canal, ilog o dagat,
kahit gaano ka pa maging ka-eco-friendly..

..kung ikaw lang naman mag-isa, the earth will only be one less ignorant person
and one more mindful human being of his or her environment. Well at least it helps, but I guess not enough.

~if some 3 million tons of hazardous waste go off-shore and get dumped at sea each year, and if other wastes do not get disposed or managed in an environmentally sound manner, we might as well just live our lives to the fullest now because we only have until December 21st of 2012 because we ourselves are fulfilling the Mayan predictions, one by one, that the world would be ending in 2012. What date is it nga pala ngayon? January 1, 2012. (Technically it's January 2 already. Late post. tagal kasi gumamit ni miko ng computer)

Di ako makatulog. actually 9 am of January 1 nung nasulat ko ito - after finally giving up on reading my never-ending executive summary of The Basel Convention report. But it was worth reading. I just hope that the Khian Sea disposal incident, also the Koko beach disposal incident in Nigeria that caused deaths of innocent people because of dumping their toxic wastes at sea would serve as warnings that turning off the faucet when brushing your teeth, or even celebrating earth hour by turning our lights off and electronic gadgets off for one hour isn't enough to stop global warming (Well, I address this to the industries and future business owners and workers). Each year our earth gets hotter by 0.6 degrees. And if you have not seen the documentary "6 degrees Could Change The World", I guess it's time that you do (links are at the bottom of this post, please do watch Severn Suzuki's speech too at the earth summit). We owe it to ourselves and to future generations the good life and the preservation of our environment.

haay.. what am I saying? Stop the NIMBY Syndrome or the Not-In-My-Backyard syndrome and be responsible of your own wastes! Also, be mindful of our environment because one person can only help so much. I just hope that there is someone out there, by choice or by chance, reading my post and sharing the same feelings and thoughts that I have.

Severn Suzuki's speech at the Earth Summit in 1992
6 degrees Could Change The World