Cinnamon Orange Swirls

I'm back!! I can't believe it's been over 3 years since my last post! Life is more hectic today than ever being a full time working momma to an active toddler but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

So, I was looking in the freezer to see what I can make and found frozen puff pastry. It was brought to my house by a friend over 2.5 years ago when my son was 1 month old...yikes! Made an attempt to save it by making these easy bite-size swirls. Came out pretty good...can't even tell it's been in the freezer for that long..hahaha

Click to enlarge

Tiramisu

My hubby is not a dessert person but the one dessert he never says "no" to is Tiramisu. Our particular favorite is the family style tiramisu from Buca di Beppo restaurant. I've been wanting to try making it at home but never got around to it. Well..the time has finally come! I was happy with how it turned out but the happiest person of all is....hubby, of course! :)

Ingredients

9 oz. Marscapone cheese
3 oz. Zabaione custard
1/2 C. espresso rum mix
3 Ladyfingers
1/4 C. Cocoa powder
1 Biscotti, crumbled

Cooking instruction:

1. Whip the mascarpone cheese until light and airy.

2. Dip ladyfingers in rum espresso mixture and place in a deep bowl dish.

3. Top with 1 oz. of zabaione.

4. Using a 3 oz. scoop, layer one-third of the whipped mascarpone over ladyfingers.

5. Repeat process two more times with remaining ladyfingers.

6. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

7. Prior to serving, dust with cocoa powder and crumbled biscotti.

Zabaione

When I hear chefs on Food Network shows say "zabaione," it sounds so fancy and sophisticated...and intimidating. What is zabaione anyway? I searched on google and found out zabaione is an Italian dessert made of egg yolks, sugar, and sweet wine...then whipped to make a light and airy custard. It is traditionally served with figs. Surprisingly, zabaione is actually quite simple to make. You can even make it using the microwave, which was what I did. I didn't have figs on hand so I served it over mixed berries.

Ingredients

5 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. Marsala
Mixed berries

Cooking instruction:

1. In a microwavable bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the egg with the sugar until the eggs are thick and lemon colored.

2. Whisk in the Marsala.

3. Microwave on high for 30 seconds.

4. Whisk.

5. Repeat this timing for about 4-6 times, or until the pudding gets thick and airy.

6. Spoon over mixed berries.

Zucchini Bread

I love zucchini in general and zucchini bread is like the icing on a cake. I got this zucchini bread recipe from my co-worker. The first time I had her zucchini bread was at one of our office potlucks several years ago. I think it was the best zucchini bread I ever ate. I was so happy she shared the recipe with me. Now I don't have to wait for the next potluck to take a bite of this scrumptious treat!

Recipe Courtesy of Karri Smith

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

Mix 1
3 C. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
2-3 T. cinnamon

Mix 2
2 ¼ C. sugar
3 eggs
3 t. vanilla
1 C. vegetable oil (I’ve used 2/3 cup oil and the bread is still moist!)

Cooking instruction:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Once Mix 2 is combined, stir in 2 to 3 cups of grated zucchini.

3. Add and combine half of Mix 1 at a time to Mix 2. Pour batter into 2 loaf pans (I used 1 bundt pan).

4. Bake for 60 minutes.

Biji Salak

I'm so glad whatever attacked me earlier this week is finally out of my system. So I was ready for another cooking adventure. This time, I made "biji salak", an Indonesian dessert.

"Biji salak" consist of sweet potato balls swimming in an infusion of sweet palm sugar syrup and rich coconut milk. The name "biji salak" literally means the "seed" of the salak fruit. It is because the shape of the sweet potato balls resembles it.

This was my first time making biji salak. The tricky part was rolling the sweet potatoes because it was a bit sticky but after rolling 10 or so I got the hang of it. Overall I think they turned out pretty good.

Ingredients

3-4 medium size sweet potatoes
1/2 C. tapioca starch, plus more for dusting
1/2 C. palm sugar
4 C. water
2 C. coconut milk
1 t. salt

Cooking instruction:

1. Peel sweet potatoes and steam until soft.

2. In a large bowl, mash the sweet potatoes while they're still hot and let cool. Then mix in tapioca starch.

3. In a large pot, bring water to a boil.

4. Dust your hands with some tapioca starch then roll the sweet potato dough into small balls then shape like "biji salak." Drop them into the boiling water. When they float to the top, take them out and set aside.

5. Melt palm sugar with 4 cups of water. Add in the "biji salak."

6. In a separate pot, heat coconut milk and 1 t. salt.

7. Serve warm "biji salak" with a few tablespoons of coconut milk.

Gorgonzola Chocolate Truffles

I can't believe the first month of 2010 is almost over and I haven't posted one recipe yet! With the hecticness of the holidays, I've been slightly thrown off my cooking wagon...but I'm back!

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I couldn't think of any better way to represent the essence of the day than through chocolate. Ah yes, nothing blends perfectly than Valentine's Day and Chocolate...but Chocolate and Gorgozola Cheese? I was a skeptic! -- that is, until hubby and I encountered Gorgonzola Chocolate Truffles at Kakawa Chocolate House during our trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico last year. Highly suggested by the concierge at our hotel, we had to stop by this small artisan chocolate company. And, I just had to take a picture in front of the adorable adobe structure!

Inside, we were presented with a variety of decadent and unique truffles, like Olive Oil, Chili, Hisbiscus, and Cardamon, to name a few. I wish I can try one of each but at $3 per truffle, we settled with 4 choices that we thought were the most unique (hisbiscus, olive oil, gorgonzola, and cardamon).

Our favorite was actually the Olive Oil Truffle. The smooth and creamy olive oil infused filling is covered in milk chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt...the blend of sweet, creamy, and a touch of saltiness dancing in your mouth was absolutely divine. Even hubby who's not a big chocolate lover was raving about it.

The Gorgonzola Truffle was second. According to its description, it consists of unsweetened chocolate, Gorgonzola cheese, honey, cream, and dried apples (see picture below). When I first bit into the truffle, I was expecting the gorgonzola cheese to overpower the chocolate, but surprisingly, the saltiness and richness of the cheese complement the chocolate very well.

That visit totally got me inspired to try my first attempt at making chocolate truffles. Because I've actually grown fond of gorgonzola cheese, I decided to recreate the Gorgonzola truffle. I have to admit the process was more time consuming than I imagined. And I had a bit of a hard time rolling the truffles and dipping them in the chocolate so they don't look as pretty. But I can get better at it with practice. :) At this point I was more concerned about the taste so overall, I was quite happy with how they turned out.

Makes about 3 dozens Truffles

Ingredients

1/4 C. heavy whipping cream
6 T. unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
4 oz. Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa bittersweet chocolate bar (shaved)
4 oz. Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate bar (shaved)
5 oz. Gorgonzola cheese (crumbled)
8 rings of dried apples (diced)
8 oz. extra dark chocolate (for dipping)

Cooking instruction:

1. Combine the bittersweet chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and butter in a glass bowl.

2. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour into chocolate bowl. Let stand for 1 minute.

3. Add Gorgonzola cheese and stir until chocolate has completely melted. You can heat the bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, if needed. Cool, cover, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

4. Line a cookie sheet pan with wax paper. Dip a melon baller or small spoon into a glass of warm water and quickly scoop the truffle mixture. Press a piece of dried apple in the middle of the truffle, then form a 1-inch ball. Place onto the wax paper. Repeat with remaining truffle mixture. Return them into the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

5. In a small bowl, melt the extra dark chocolate. Take out chilled truffles from the refrigerator.

6. Place a truffle on top a fork and dip into the melted chocolate, tap or scrape off excess chocolate from the bottom of the fork then place it back onto the wax paper. Top each truffle with a small piece of dried apple. Let cool for at least 1 hour.

7. Serve at room temperature. Or place them in a candy box for a lovely sweet gift! :)

If you're visiting Santa Fe, don't miss:

Kakawa Chocolate House

1050 E. Paseo de Peralta

Santa Fe, NM 87501

http://www.kakawachocolates.com/

Gobble...Gobble...Gobble (Turkey Decorated Cupcakes)

With the Holidays fast approaching, potluck season has officially begun. I love potlucks! It is a time when I get to see fellow kitchen enthusiasts whip up their best dishes/desserts and show off their skills. And if I'm lucky enough, I get to add their recipe into my collection.

I had my first Thanksgiving potluck last Sunday with a group of mothers. One mom in particular has picked up cake decorating as a hobby and she's amazing at it. In fact, whenever I go to one of the kids' birthday party, I've had the pleasure of seeing her talent and creativity at work. This time she brought cupcakes decorated with a Turkey using buttercream icing and candy corns. They're so adorable and the kids loved them. I thought these would be a fun project for kids to do at a Thanksgiving gathering so I asked if she wouldn't mind sharing the recipe and decorating instruction.

Decoration instruction courtesy of: Andora Effendi Nguyen

Makes 2 dozens

Cupcakes
1 box cake mix (or your favorite cake recipe)
24 regular cupcake liners
Cupcake baking pans

Follow the baking instruction on the box.
*Tip: pour the cake batter into the cupcake liner using a small ladle for even proportion.

Wilton Buttercream Icing (Makes about 3 cups)
1/2 C. solid vegetable shortening
1/2 C. (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 t. clear vanilla extract
4 C. sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 T. milk

Instruction:

(Medium Consistency)

In a large bowl, cream shortening and butter with an electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in the refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re-whip before using.

Turkey Decoration
Indian Candy Corns
Orange Icing (spread on each cupcake)
Brown Icing (put in piping bag with No. 12 tip)
Red Icing (Put in parchment paper bag and cut a small (about 2mm) opening. No tip needed.
Yellow Icing (Put in parchment paper bag and cut a very small (about 1mm) opening. No tip needed.

Place 5 candy corns side-by-side into a semi-circle shape. Squeeze a big brown dot in the center of the candy corn and a smaller dot above it. Add the beak and wattle (chin) with the red icing. Use the yellow icing for the eyes and feet.

Just for fun, I want to share a few pictures of Andora's amazing cakes:

She made these Disney Pixar's "Cars" themed cakes for her son's 3rd birthday.

She spent hours meticulously piping the grass for this cake. The thought she puts into capturing the scenes from the movie was just amazing. Everything except for the car toys is edible.

Banana Egg Rolls

I don't know about your family but in my household, once bananas get too ripe and mushy, no one wants to eat them raw anymore. And I just hate to throw away food that are completely edible. Here are my solutions.

If I'm strapped for time, the fastest way is to use them to make smoothies. But when I have a bit more time like today, I like to make banana egg rolls. I also add either jackfruit (a tropical fruit you can buy canned at most Asian supermarket) or chocolate sprinkles to the filling for variety. They're a hit and always gone in an instant!

Makes 20 egg rolls

20 spring roll wrappers
5 ripe bananas (cut into 4, lengthwise)
1 can jackfruit (drain, and cut meat into small strips)
1/2 C. chocolate sprinkles
oil for frying

Cooking instruction:

1. Place 1 piece of banana on one corner of the wrapper. Add a tablespoon of either the jackfruit or sprinkles. Tightly wrap the filling like you would an egg roll. Continue until all the wrappers and fillings are used.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry 4-5 egg rolls at a time until skin turn medium brown, turning once. Drain on paper towel. Serve warm by themselves or a la mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Note: Don't use these bananas to make banana fritters because the bananas will melt and you'll end up with oil splatters and a gooey mess (I know from experience :P). If you want to make banana fritters, use ripe plantains. They stay firm during the frying process.

Caramel Apples Dipped in Chocolate

My friend and her husband are anticipating the birth of their second baby (a boy) in less than two months. To celebrate this sweet occasion I decided to make a sweet treat for their baby shower. I thought this would be a great opportunity to experiment making something new.

My mind's totally blank on ideas until last Friday when I was drooling over pictures of caramel apples. Suddenly, the light bulb in my head flashed...that's it! So I got busy browsing for a recipe with easy instruction. I found some that tell you to buy pre-made caramel candy and melt them, some show you how to make them from scratch using a candy thermometer (I need to buy one soon) and some gave tips but refused to share their secret, passed-down from generations caramel recipe

For sure, I didn't want to buy the pre-made caramels but I also wanted something easy to follow. Finally, a caramel apple recipe from bloom.acious intrigued me. The recipe calls for cream cheese and toffee bits, something I didn't see in any other recipes and never even thought they're ingredients in caramel apples. So I got totally excited to tackle my first attempt at making homemade caramel apples.

Since I was making these for a baby shower, I wanted to fancy them up a little by dipping the caramel apples in dark chocolate and drizzle with toppings. I chose chopped peanuts, chopped pistachios, and toffee bits as the toppings. I also got some cute striped blue ribbons at Michael's Craft store to tie on the sticks.

I'm happy to say the caramel recipe was so easy. The cream cheese definitely added some richness to the caramel. The combination of the caramel, bittersweet chocolate, salty toppings, and tartness of the apples in one bite is unbelievable - over the top delicious! And once all dressed up with the ribbons, they looked so adorable. My personal favorite is the one with pistachios topping but the toffee bits were the most popular and were gone first. Hmmm...I see many more homemade caramel apples in my future...

Source: Bloomacious

Ingredients

10 small Granny Smith apples
10 sticks (wooden or lollipop sticks)

Caramel
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8-oz.) package toffee bits (I used Heath toffee bits/chunks)
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate and Toppings
4 C. Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips
1 C. chopped pistachio nuts
1 C. chopped peanuts
1 C. Heath toffee bits

Cooking instruction:

1. Wash apples in lukewarm water to remove some of the wax then dry. Place them in the refrigerator.

2. Stir caramel ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat until blended and allow to cool a bit.

3. Dip apples that have been fitted with a stick and set aside until the dip sets up.

4. Place each topping in a separate plate.

5. Pour chocolate chips in a glass bowl and melt in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and heat in 15 seconds increments, if needed, until chocolate is all melted and smooth. Dip caramel coated apples in the melted chocolate. Sprinkle with toppings.

Note: Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper and grease lightly with cooking spray. This will allow you to easily peel off the wax paper from the bottom of the caramel apples.

Pandan Bread Pudding Topped with Bananas and Butter-Rum Sauce

They say when life gives you lemon, make lemonade. So, when a recent BBQ left me with a couple of dozens extra hot dog buns, I made bread pudding. Ideally, bread pudding is made from day-old french bread or brioche. But there was no way I could eat 24 buns in time before they start to mold.

Instead of making the typical "American" bread pudding, I adapted an "Indonesian" version that my oldest sister learned from her mother-in-law by using Pandan essence and coconut milk. My sister usually mixed banana slices into the bread pudding but I decided to use them as toppings with a Butter-Rum sauce. The result: Heavenly!

Makes (1) 9"x13" baking dish

Ingredients
8 large eggs
3 C. coconut milk
1 T. pandan essence
1/2 C. sugar
1 t. salt
15 hot dog buns (1 loaf cubed french bread/brioche)

Bananas with Butter-Rum Sauce
4 medium bananas (sliced 1/2" thick)
1/2 C. (1 stick) butter
1 egg
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. Rum

Cooking instruction:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, pandan essence, sugar, and salt.

2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Add cubed bread into the mixture and let them soak through for at least 10 minutes.

3. Butter the inside of a 9"x13" baking dish. Transfer the bread pudding mixture into the dish and spread evenly. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stick a wooden skewer in the middle of the pan and if it comes out clean, it's done.

4. Whisk butter, sugar, and egg in a saucepan under medium heat until bubbly and sauce thickens. Add banana slices and Rum and cook for about 1 minute.

5. Place a slice of bread pudding on a small plate and spoon banana slices and Rum sauce on top. Serve warm.

Sunset Granita

We've been baking in three-digit temperatures the last few days and the heat is not going to let up anytime soon. So, before I start melting, I decided to make my first Granita.

Granita is a dessert consisting of sugar, water, and flavoring. It is then frozen in a shallow pan, then scraped to create its coarse texture. Granita originated in Sicily but can be found all over Italy so "Italian Ice" is another common name for it.

Granita is very versatile. You can make it with syrup, fruit puree (i.e. apple, watermelon), coffee, cocktail mixers (i.e. margarita or mojito), and even add alcohol. I decided to make two versions. The first one was made with orange, lime, and Triple Sec, and the second with Coco Pandan syrup and Vodka. The two colors combined gives it a sunset hue so I'm calling this my "Sunset Granita" :)

Orange-Lime Granita
Juice from 1 large orange
Juice from 1 lime
2 T. sugar
1/2 C. water
Triple Sec (optional)

Coco Pandan Granita
3 T. Coco Pandan syrup
1/2 C. water
Vodka (optional)

Pour each mixture in a shallow baking pan and place in the freezer. It should freeze in about 1 hour. If it doesn't check every 15-20 minutes. After it's frozen, take them out and start scraping the ice using a spoon or fork.
Serve a spoonful of each flavor in a cup. Ahhhh....refreshing! It's the perfect 'grown-up' treat to beat the HEAT! :)

Beet Konnyaku Jelly with Lychee

After making Pickled Beets I ended up with a few cups of beet water left and I just couldn't find the heart to throw them down the drain. They're full of nutrients and the color is just amazing. So I decided to experiment and made Konnyaku fruit Jelly out of them by adding a packet of Konnyaku jelly powder, sugar, lime juice, and Lychee juice. I placed Lychee fruit around a mold then poured the mixture. I also used my adorable fruit shaped ice cube trays to make some bite-size ones. Who knew beet can make a wonderful dessert? And I was so pleased with how sweet and pretty they came out.