June-July 2012 kitchen adventures

Banana Crunch Muffin

Oven Roasted Garlic Rosemary Chicken with roasted vegetables and homemade gravy

Dalandan Soda Pork Adobo

Veggie Stir fry (top)
Crispy Rosemary Salmon Belly (bottom)

Potato Gnocchi with mushroom in creamy butter parmesan sauce

Chocolate buttercream filled yellow batter cake

my crab omelette

May-June 2012

I know its been more than a month since my last post.

but I have been running out of time lately... 

so i'm sharing pics of some of the goodies i have had the chance to make & enjoy this past month

Banana Muffins

Yellow batter cake layered with black magic chocolate cake and cream cheese filling with nuttela buttercream

carrot crunch muffin

chocolate chip banana crunch muffin

Dynamite Chili

freshly made basil pesto and tuna pasta

chocolate cupcakes

Singaporean Chili Crabs

Red Velvet Cake

Molten Chocolate cake

I miss my sisters (this applies to both my biological sisters and girlfriends)

we used to dine at Cyma and share an order of Skolatina after eating salad, pork chops and gyros, & gossip haha

and because i miss them so, this is for them

ate kay, gelli, diane, tian & worthy

molten chocolate cake

3 eggs

1/2 c sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 stick butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate

preheat oven at 400F

in a double broiler melt together butter and chocolate. I used my Bela's steamer as a makeshift double broiler and it worked hehe. set aside

beat eggs, sugar & vanilla

pour onto chocolate mixture and mix until well incorporated

add flour and mix well until batter is smooth, lump free and shiny

grease ramekins and fill with batter

bake for 12-15  minutes

Churros with White chocolate coco cream sauce

I haven't been in the kitchen for the longest time

have so little time these days that the short time i have for myself i spend on my daughter.

anyway, just so i can make her snack time fun i decided to make her some churros.

CHURROS

In a small pan warm, 2 inches of oil. set aside while you prepare your batter.

In another pan simmer 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup of butter & 1/4 teaspoon of salt

add 1 cup of All Purpose Flour and stir until the dough pulls from the sides and forms a ball

Remove from heat and add stir in 4 eggs

and 1/2 cup sugar. mix until well incorporated.

Fill the pastry bag with a star tip with the batter

and pipe onto the frying pan with oil.

fry each side for 3 mins or until slightly golden.

drain in paper towels.

voila... churros!

for the dip

i melted white chocolate chips and mixed them in my coconut cream sauce 

(coco cream with sugar and heavy cream)

i made a horse shoe shaped one for my daughter and she loved it

enjoy.

Colored Milky Pancakes for my Ysabela

I want to make every snack time a fun activity for my daughter Ysabela. 

And at her young age of 1, I often times let her actively help in preparing her snacks. She especially likes mixing batters for cookies and bars. (disclaimer: the clean up parts is the hardest part but you know we'd gladly mop floors just to see our tots happy)

So today, we made colorful mini pancakes. 

BASIC PANCAKE RECIPE

2 eggs
2 tablespoons of sugar

2 cups while milk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups sifted flour

6 tablespoons butter, melted

In a bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. (flour, baking soda, baking powder)

add the egg, sugar, milk & butter. Mix well until free of lumps.

Divide into bowls and add desired food coloring. (i used yellow, red, blue and green)

mix well and cook on a preheated non stick pan.

enjoy!

Tres Leches Bundt Cake

I got pressured again today.

I just learned that the Bar Exams for this year has been set for October instead of November which means that i just lost a whole month to review. ;( Me, being the me that I am, instead of acting productively and reading at a faster pace, i ran to the kitchen to bake. 

It was very timely that when i checked my Instagrm, my friend posted a picture of a cake she just made. (Thank you to my friend Pepi for sharing her tres leches recipe)

anyhow here it is:

Tres Leches Cake

recipe adapted from Jaypee Plata

For the cake

only fill the pan three quarters up this is too much hehe

6 eggs, separated

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 c sugar

1/2 c melted butter

1 c all purpose flour

1. in a mixer with whisk attachment beat egg whites with salt and baking soda until soft peaks.

2. add in the egg yolks and sugar and beat for 30 seconds (resist the urge to over beat)

3. add melted butter (make sure that it has cooled)

4. divide flour and fold it in (by hand) in 3-4 batches

5. bake for 20-30 mins at 350F or until a cake tester comes out clean at the thickest part of the cake

For the Tres Leches 

1/2 c cream

3/4 c evaporated milk

3/4 c condensed milk

To assemble

While still hot poke holes all over the cake (poke as many times as you can)

spoon in tres leches mixture over the cake and allow the cake to absorb it

and then chill for at least an hour before serving (chill it well)

enjoy

Chocolate Cake Truffles

One time big time as they say... I'll be busy over the next few months studying so I spent my leap day (most of it) in the kitchen baking & cooking coz i think I may not have the chance to do so for the longest time.

A friend of mine tagged me in a photo of cake pops in facebook recently and it has haunted me continuously over the past days. I know i wouldn't have peace until i made some but since I was too lazy to get myself some candy melts, my cake pops went from being pops  to chocolate cake truffles

anyway, these truffles are for my friend Diane who just passed the Bar Exams. I am so much proud of her.


For the cake
1 3/4 c all purpose Flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 c boiling water
1 tsp vanilla

bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

for the Frosting
3 cups icing sugar
8oz cream cheese
1/2 c melted semisweet chocolate
1 tsp vanilla

For the chocolate coating

melt 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate on a heat proof pan and mix until glossy

crumble the cooled cake

mix in frosting adding half a cup first and then more until you get the desired consistency

its good when you get a crumby dough like consistency

using the palm of your hands shape them into balls and then freeze for at least an hour
coat with melted chocolate and then freeze

Voila!!!

Strawberry Swirl Cupcakes

Ambitious little me. 
I'm in the process of convincing myself that i can bake. 
note to self: "yes tanya, you can bake". 
So even if im not really a huge fan of cheesecakes, i decided to try making mini cheesecake cupcakes. 
(why mini? honestly, im just scared that I'd fail and that an actual cheesecake might not set.)

The original recipe was for a raspbery swirl cupcake but i used strawberries in mine.

i love the swirling part. 

Making small dots and then swirling them with a toothpick

STRAWBERRY SWIRL CHEESECAKE CUPCAKE

adapted from Annie

Crust:

1 1/2 c crushed graham

4tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 tbsp sugar

press one teaspoon on each cupcake liner

bake in 325F for 5 minutes

just until it sets

for the Strawberry swirl

blend 6oz fresh strawberries and 2 tbsp sugar

strain through a fine mesh sieve

set aside

for the filling:

2 lbs cream cheese

1 1/2 c sugar

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

3 large eggs

to assemble fill the cups with 3/4 filling

make dots using the strawberry sauce

and swirl using a tooth pick

bake at 325F for 15-18 minutes or until set.

the cupcakes will create a dome at first but it'll flatten and deflate one cooled.

chill before serving 

enjoy

Colorful Cinnamon Meringues

Oh what a delight when upon checking on today's top 9 the first picture i saw were of pretty cinnamon meringues from Scarletta Bakes. 

I have been fond of merengues since i was a little kid but have never tried making my own. I never realized how easy they were. and how cute they could be.

CINNAMON MERINGUES

adapted from Scarletta Bakes

6 large egg whites

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 c. confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon (the original recipe called for Canela, which i didnt have)

just mix cream of tartar, cinnamon and egg whites and in a mixer with whisk attachment

until frothy

add sugar and continue whisking til soft peaks form

bake in a baking sheet lined baking tray at 200F for 25 minutes or until meringues are slighty browned.

enjoy

Chocolate cupcake with chocolate cream cheese frosting

i made these for my cousin  mike and his wife martha.

who'll be paying Bela and I a visit tomorrow morning with their beautiful daughter, Cloie.

i made chocolate cream cheese frosting for a change. I melted 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave and folded it in my cream cheese frosting

8oz cream cheese, 2 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp unsalted butter

CHEESE PUFFS

I love the cheese puffs from Conti's. 
that's why i decided to try and make home made
cheese puffs for myself now that i have some puff pastry
handy in the freezer.


it's my first time to handle puff pastry
i also don't have a rolling pin yet so i used one of gelli's plastic glasses from school
as my rolling pin. luckily our kitchen counters are made of solid marble so i just cleaned an area and dusted it with flour

CHEESE PUFFS


Cheese, i used whats in the fridge cheddar and kraft american sliced cheese
Sugar
Eggwash
Puff pastry

i decided to make puff stick swirls, sugar palmiers and cinnamon sugar palmiers while i was at it =)

here are the pastries waiting their time in the oven

yet another kitchen experiment - Spiced Fudge Velvet Brownies

I wanted to make a twist on the red velvet brownies and make them into spiced brownies 
so i tweaked on the recipe for a more fudge-y and spiced batch.










they turned out beautifully and oh so yumm-y.next time i'll try to make one with espresso =)


1/2 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp red food coloring
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (i used hersheys)

Oreo Cheese Cupcakes

I made an EFFORT to wake up extra early today so I can walk to and from church,
exercise early and be up and about for my first day of intensive reading for the coming bar exams.

My morning was quite productive, i was surprised at how my reading pace started alright,
but by midday my productivity rate started dwindling and the only goals and milestones i have been hitting are
1.) finishing a bag of Lays Sour Cream and Onion potato chips
2.) opening a bag of Chicharon (LAMAN)

It also didn't help that i checked on the materials my friend bee brought me weeks back...
i panicked when i saw her sisters' note indicating her reading schedule "12nn-12mn target 600 pages"
there i was 9 hours into my reading and so far i have only read about 60 pages uh oh...

i dont know why but whenever i feel pressured, the more i become lazier...

anyway at around 5pm i decided i'd rather tweak my old oreo cheesecake cupcake recipe to incorporate melted white chocolates. I needed freshly baked goodies to give my Best friend, Len, who's now 18 weeks on her way.

i ended up with these gorgeous babies

unbaked cheesecake batter

couldnt wait for them to finish baking

baked oreo cheesecake cupcakes


16 oz cream cheese
1/2 c sugar
4 oz white chocolate
6 pcs crushed oreos
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
filling of 12 oreo cookies

for the crust
12 pcs oreo cookies