Almond gelatin with lychee and jackfruit
Almond gelatin with lychee and jackfruit
Citrus Cream Cupcakes
Vote for my recipe at http://www.mixingbowl.com/group/contest/view.castle?g=1728985&pi=9 =)
I was thinking about interesting cupcake possibilities and I couldn’t decide among key lime, lemon meringue, or orange creamsicle so I decided why not make them all? In one cupcake! Originally I had planned to make the cake batter from scratch but I always find the results unpredictable. So I decided to cheat and go with the mix.
The cupcakes didn’t taste great warm, but cooled and frosted they’re super yummy-fresh and citrusy and it goes perfectly with the cream cheese frosting.
Creamy Fruit Tart
I was trying to think of a new way to eat avocado as a dessert (new meaning in addition to the avocado “milkshake” of mashed avocado, sugar, milk and ice) and I immediately thought of bananas. Avocadoes and bananas are pretty similar actually-both creamy, both distinct yet mild in flavor. I wanted to make a version of Filipino turon, which is plantain with sugar and jackfruit wrapped in spring roll wrapper and fried. So I thought of some kind of fried avocado wonton.
Unfortunately, the wonton wrappers in my freezer were all dried out =( So I came up with a different strategy-puff pastry tarts.
As for the filling, avocado and plantain give the tart a decidedly tropical taste, and raspberries and orange zest add tang to cut the creaminess.
1/2 yellow plantain (banana can be substituted)
1 avocado
1 cup fresh raspberries, cut into halves
½ cup condensed milk
2 tbsp orange zest
1 box of frozen puff pastry sheets
1 egg, beaten
sugar
1. Allow the puff pastry to thaw according to the package directions. Cut the sheets to make 3”x3” squares. You should have about 18 squares. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease it.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the condensed milk and orange zest.
3. Cut the plantain in half lengthwise and then into ¼” semicircles. Cut the avocado into similar sized pieces.
4. Assemble the tarts by laying 3 banana pieces on one half of each square (the pastry will be folded over diagonally, so be sure to leave at least ¼” of dough on the edges). Then place 3 avocado pieces on top of the bananas. Top the avocado with ½ tsp of the condensed milk mixture and 2 raspberry halves. Fold the pastry over and seal by pressing down on the edges with a fork. Using a knife, cut two small slits into the top of each pastry. Brush the top of each tart with eggwash. Sprinkle the top with sugar.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden.
Tiramisu Macarons
I submitted these macarons to a bake-off held by Suburban Wine in Yorktown, NY. The shell is coffee flavored and the filling is a mascarpone-amaretto cream. I’ll hear by 5pm today if I win *crosses fingers* The prize is $100 to the store, so maybe I’ll be celebrating a win with a shot of Patron ;)
Yes, that is a styrofoam plate =p
Tiramisu Macarons
1 c + 3 tbsp almond flour
2 c + 3 tbsp powdered sugar
4 egg whites (preferably aged by placing egg whites in a covered bowl in refrigerator for at least overnight)
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
4 scant tbsp sugar
1/4 c instant coffee
Mascarpone Filling (recipe below)
6 oz dark chocolate, shaved
Line two 17-by-12-inch baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside (you may want to fold over the edges to keep the paper flat). You may want to draw 1.5 inch circles one half inch apart in pencil on the underside of the parchment to make piping easier later. In food processor or coffee grinder, grind instant coffee granules into powder.
In a food processor, blend the almond flour, powdered sugar and coffee for 1 minute. Sift the blended almond mixture directly into a medium mixing bowl. Set aside. (This can be made up to 2 days in advance.)
Fill a small saucepan halfway with water. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Place the bowl over the pot of hot water and whisk quickly until the egg whites reach 100 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Remove the bowl from the pot of water and whisk in the cream of tartar. Place it on a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip on medium speed for 2 minutes, then gradually beat in the sugar. Continue whipping for 6 minutes until the egg whites come to medium stiff peaks (tips droop only very slightly) and are shiny.
Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add egg whites to the almond mixture by gently bringing the flat side of a rubber spatula through the center of the egg whites and up the opposite side of the bowl, folding the dry ingredients over the egg whites. Repeat the same motion 50 times, turning the bowl a quarter turn each time.
Fit a pastry bag with a medium round tip (No. 4) and fill with the mixture. On the parchment-lined baking sheets, pipe 1.5-inch rounds (the batter will be slightly wet) by holding the bag at a slight angle and releasing small amounts of batter.
Keep the piped cookies at room temperature, uncovered, for 1 to 2 hours. (This will help form a skin.) If in a high humidity area, place cookies in oven turned off but with oven light on. Remove cookies from oven and heat to 325 degrees, placing the racks in the center and lower shelves of the oven and keeping the oven door ajar with a wooden spoon.
Bake the macarons for 12 minutes, reverse the trays on the racks and rotate. Bake 3 minutes more, or until firm and not wet. Cool on a rack.
Filling:
3 oz + 3 tbs mascarpone
3 oz + 3 tbs smooth ricotta cheese
1-1 1/2 c powdered sugar (as necessary)
1/4 c amaretto
In a stand mixer, beat the cheeses until smooth, 1 minute. Add the amaretto and mix until incorporated. Slowly add powdered sugar to mixer, until filling is thick without being stiff. (The mascarpone should outweigh the sugar flavor.)
Assembly:
Match up fully-cooled macarons for size and shape. Pipe filling on bottom macaron and sprinkle with shaved chocolate. Place top macaron on chocolate and press lightly
Growing up I ate every meal with white rice, jasmine in particular. Breakfast: eggs and bacon with rice; Lunch: chicken adobo with rice; Dinner: KFC with mashed potatoes, gravy, potato wedges, and rice. I completely understand the appeal of white rice-its blandness that allows it to absorb surrounding delicious flavors and its satisfyingly delicate mushy texture.
But in the past few months I’ve learned to appreciate whole grains and now it just seems silly to eat white rice. It has no nutritional value, why eat it? The only reason I would eat white rice anymore is out of tradition, or learned behavior from my Filipino upbringing. So nowadays my rice of choice is wild, gathered from the bulk bins at Wegman’s.
Anything with which I would have eaten white rice, I now eat with wild rice. Seems simple enough…but what about rice pudding? Okay rice pudding isn’t supposed to be healthy anyway (I think that’s the entire premise of Rice to Riches in NYC), but if it can be healthier, why not?
Classic rice pudding recipes call for white rice, whole milk, and cream. My Paradise Rice Pudding uses forbidden rice (dun-dun-dun), skim milk, and light coconut milk. It’s not exactly diet food but probably has fewer calories than typical rice pudding, and at the very least provides some fiber and anthocyanins. And it’s such a pretty color too!
Paradise (Rice) Pudding
Makes about 8 1/2-cup servings:
1 c black (forbidden) rice, uncooked
1.5 c skim milk
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c light coconut milk
1 egg
zest of one orange
1 tsp almond extract
2 tsp vanilla extract
1. Cook the black rice according to the directions on the package (I do it in a rice cooker)
2. Combine the skim milk, sugar, and cooked rice in a pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 mins until it looks like it’s going to thicken (it probably won’t get thick) and it turns a very deep purple color.
3. If the coconut milk is separated, resuspend first with a whisk, then measure out 1/2 cup. In a bowl, whisk together the coconut milk and the egg. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the hot milk/rice mixture to the coconut milk mixture and then add it back to the pot. Add the orange zest to the pot.
4. When the pudding begins to thicken, reduce the heat to medium and cook for ~10 minutes until it reaches your desired thickness. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts and remove from heat. Serve warm. Yum!
Greg’s Famous Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
(aka “The Falconian Dash”)
Bored on a gorgeous blue-skied Ithaca day, Greg and I turn to our default activity: baking. The recipe starts out as a typical cookie recipe, but these are not your average chocolate chip. Extra Hershey’s milk chocolate makes these extra yummy, without making them too chocolatey. Butterscotch chips make them extra special =) Fresh out of the oven, these cookies are moist and gooey. Once they’ve cooled down however, they take on a light crispy texture.
So I’m feeling kind of sick from eating about half a dozen of these, and that’s a clear testament to how good they are.
By the way, they are called “The Falconian Dash” because Greg had to dash to and from the convenience store to pick up Hershey bars (and subsequently return some because he bought too many).
2 sticks butter at room temp
1 c granulated sugar
1 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 c oats
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
6 oz butterscotch chips
9 oz grated Hershey bar
1. Preheat the oven to 375dg. Cream together the butter and sugars with a mixer. Then, beat in the eggs and vanilla until well incorporated.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture. It’s best if you can use the electric mixer for this, but if you have a cheap crappy handheld one like I do then go ahead and use a spoon and some elbow grease.
3. Finally, stir in the chocolate and butterscotch. You can also add nuts if you’d like. We made some with walnuts but didn’t find that they added anything. Pecans might be good though. Pecanes taste AMAZING with butterscotch =9
4. Roll the dough into balls the size of your chioce and arrange them on parchment lined baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for about 11-12 minutes until golden brown.
Amaretto Chocolate Mousse Cake
This cake was inspired by one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever tasted. It boasted rich hazelnut mousse, moist chocolate cake, and chocolate ganache glaze but what really set it apart was the crisp wafer layer on the bottom of the cake. I googled everything I could think of to try to figure out what this layer was. Instinct tells me that it has something to do with praline and somehow I came upon the term “praline feuillete,” which I can best define as a crunchy, chocolately mixture that apparently is found layered in some French mousse cakes.
I used this recipe from Saffron & Blueberry as a guide to make the praline feuillete. My praline feuillete tasted nothing like the crispy wafer from the inspiration cake, but was delicious nonetheless. Recipes for praline feuillete call for praline or praline paste, and gavotte (French wafers), neither of which I had nor wanted to make so I substituted praline with crushed heath pieces and crushed pecans, and gavotte with Belgian butter cookies (I figured it would taste better than the recommended rice krispies). Ah, much simpler.
I don’t know how bad this is, but I kind of eye-balled the ganache. I used about 1 cup of heavy cream with 7 ounces of dark chocolate.
And I’m sorry to say that I cheated again and used box cake mix for the cake layers…but hey it tasted great (moist and chocolatey and not too sweet) and I think the mousse was really the more important element of this cake. I flavored the mousse with Disaronno amaretto liquor because Frangelico is quite expensive, and it came out fantastic =)
Chocolate-dipped Madeleines
Back in high school I went through a pretty long baking phase which included a period of time during which I became obsessed with madeleines. I have 5 madeleine pans, including one to make cute nibble-sized shells. This Christmas I decided to revisit the madeleine. Unfortunately I lost my tried-and-true recipe and had to hit the internet for a new one. I decided to go with the one from 101cookbooks and they came out great!
I read up on other sites which suggested letting the batter cool and using cold pans…sounded like hogwash to me but I had to take a break between batches so I experimented a bit by letting some of the batter cool in the bowl, and letting some of the filled pans cool for 2 hours in the fridge before I baked them. I did not notice any difference between any of the batches. So for future reference, there is no need to refrigerate. But if you need to, it should be fine!
Though plain madeleines taste great on their own, I wanted to dress them up a bit so I dipped them in melted dark chocolate, toasted pecans and sprinkles!
I made these 2 days before Christmas and they were very dry by the time Christmas rolled around, so make them the day you plan to serve them.
Snowhead Brownies
Several weeks ago I stumbled upon the holiday catalog for Williams-Sonoma. They sell the cutest and most delicious-looking goodies for the holidays, including these adorable snowman brownie pops. However, at $5 a pop (6 for $30) there’s no way I’d ever get to taste one. So Greg and I decided to create our own!
This was essentially a construction project, with little original creation. Normally I never bake from the box, but in my experience, boxed brownies tend to come out as good or better than homemade. I hope that doesn’t make me a bad person…
Like most white-chocolate treats, these snowheads are very, very sweet so I advise that they be shared, despite their small size.
Here’s how we made them.
1. Baked Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie mix and cut into 18 squares.
2. Prepared peppermint white chocolate ganache:
-Bring 8 oz heavy cream to just a boil and pour over 17oz white chocolate chips. Add 1 tsp mint extract. Allow to sit a minute before stirring together until smooth.
3. Hand-roll brownie squares into spheres and set on foil. Carefully drizzle the ganache over the brownie balls. (The ganache recipe I listed above makes too much for the snowmen but you should find something delicious for which you can use the rest!)
4. Melt white chocolate chips by your favorite method (I use double boiler but I know a lot of people who swear by the microwave). When the ganache is set, dip the brownie balls into the white chocolate using chopsticks or forks.
5. Decorate!! I piped melted chocolate to make snowman faces and melted butterscotch chips for the noses. Unfortunately out of 18 balls, we only got 4 of them to look pretty enough to make into snowheads (the others had brownie bits in the white choocolate) so we hid the rest in toasted pecans and sprinkles.
