2010 Aug 29

Adventures in Foodieland

Posted in dessert, food, life

What a weekend! Started off yesterday with the first annual OC Foodie Fest, which was essentially a food truck festival. There were 50 different food trucks that participated and the turnout was madness! Around 8,000 people attended the all day event which resulted in long lines, trucks running out of food early, and sunburns. For these events you have to come with a strategy: 1) Come early 2) Bring a group of friends and 3) Split up, go to different trucks, order an array of food and 4) meet back with your group and EAT! Unfortunately, I didn’t follow this strategy completely (we came late) and so the lines were ridiculously long and the worst part was that some trucks had started running out of food! All in all it was a still a good first experience. I was still able to try a variety of trucks and we were lucky enough to run into friends who offered to order food for us since they were close to the front of the line.  Some of my favorites were Cool Haus, a gourmet ice cream sandwich truck and Dogzilla, a Japanese style hot dog truck.

Today, I continued my foodie adventures and went to LA to try the infamous Umami burger. I tried both the Umami burger and Truffle burger and they were both delicious. But, the Truffle burger wins my top pick. It was AMAZING. It was pretty much just meat and cheesy goodness, but not just any cheese…Italian Truffle Cheese! The burger was bursting with truffle flavor from the cheese and truffle glaze. Afterward, we made a stop at Blanc Haute yogurt, a gourmet frozen yogurt place in Beverly Hills…of course. I wasn’t too impressed by this place. Definitely overpriced and the gourmet toppings didn’t really wow me, but its fun to try something new every once in awhile.

I’m gonna need a break from eating after this weekend. So stuffed. I don’t know how Man v. Food does it.

Great Balls on Tires Truck - Meatball sandwiches

Ciao Balla - Italian Meatball Sandwich

Ball Gogi - Korean style meatball with rice noodles

White Rabbit Truck - Filipino Fusion Tacos

Ludo Truck - Really wanted to try this truck, but they ran out of food!

Dogzilla Truck - Dozilla Hot Dog with avocado, bacon, onions, the works!

Yakisoba Dog!

Cool Haus Truck - Ice cream sandwich truck

Guy making my order

They ran out of cookies, so we had to settle for cookie ice cream sundaes with the broken cookies they had left lol. Top left: Balsamic Fig & Marscapone (my favorite!) Bottom: Dirty Mint (tasted like a Mojito) Top Right: Brown Butter w/ Candied Bacon

Umami Burger

Umami Burger - with cheese crisp, shitake mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, and sauteed onion. In my haste since I was busy devouring my Truffle burger, I didn't take a picture of it.

Blanc Haute Yogurt

Gourmet toppings

More toppings - they even had champange grapes!

I love how they have to mention the chocolate is from France.

My Blueberry Pomegranate yogurt with chocolate covered truffle figs, chocolate pear pieces, and nut toffee nuggets.

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2010 Aug 5

Sugar High Summer

Posted in dessert, food, life

Although, I haven’t been doing much baking lately I’ve still managed to keep busy in the eating sweets department. So far this summer has been full of indulgence. I’ve been a regular at Pinkberry since they started their half priced happy hour and I’ve almost filled up my stamp card (yea, that’s how often I’ve gone in only a few weeks). On top of that the other week I went to the Essential Chocolate Desserts store, where I had a coupon for $35 worth of dessert for $15. I came home with a huge box of goodies: gourmet ding dongs, cake truffles, cupcake, cake, and the list goes on. I haven’t managed to eat through all the goodies just yet since I seem to be collecting dessert in my fridge (cheesecake, cupcakes, etc.) .

As for non-dessert news, I got to check out the Top Chef tour while it was in town.  Richard Blais from Season 5 and CJ Jacobsen from Season 3 were there doing cooking demos and question and answer sessions. It was a lot of fun and the best part was we got to try the dishes they made. So far, I’m having a good summer and the best part is it’s not over yet! Looking forward to more food and fun!

My box of goodies (from left to right) : Gourmet ding dongs, cake truffles, chocolate cupcake, moonpie, lemon bar, and a slice of lemon-coconut cake

Red Velvet Ding Dong - So so good!

A look inside

Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory - Decadent all the way

Top Chef Tour

Richard and CJ doing their cooking demo

Brussels Bistro - Pot of mussels and Belgian pommes frites. I have a weakness for mussels and fries. Delicious!

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2010 Jun 27

Lemon Cupcakes

Posted in baking, dessert

These lemon cupcakes were a nice refreshing change to the usual cupcake flavors I bake. The cake was soft and moist and the sweet tangy frosting was so addicting. I must admit I was a little sad when the last cupcake was gone. I could not get enough of these cupcakes! Next time, I’m definitely making the whole recipe instead of halving it.

Lemon Cupcake

Lemon Cupcakes
(adapted from allrecipes.com)
makes about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • zest of 2 medium lemons
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups sour cream

Frosting:

  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 4 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest of 1 medium lemon
  • 2 tablespoons milk
Directions:
  1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add lemon zest and vanilla; mix well.
  2. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).
  3. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
  4. For frosting, cream butter and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon zest and milk; beat until smooth. Frost cupcakes.

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2010 Jun 3

Hello Again

Posted in baking, dessert, life

Wow…1.5 months no blog! I must apologize for the lack of activity on my blog, unfortunately life gets in the way sometimes (the good and the bad). Anyway, the good news is I am back and do not expect anymore interruptions in the near future.

In the last month, I discovered (actually a friend told me) about a hole in the wall baking supply store that has become my new favorite store. I love how the store front can look so deceivingly small, but once you enter its like a whole other world. They have pretty much everything imaginable there, a baker’s dream. Quite the selection of cupcake liners, all kinds colors and patterns and an impressive array of bakery boxes to hold cakes and cupcakes. I could spend hours in there. My friend’s birthday gave me the chance to bust out my window cupcake box that I just bought from there and I absolutely love it! It’s got the Sprinkles vibe with the brown cardboard box look, but the best part is the window and the holders inside.I made dark chocolate cupcakes with pink vanilla bean frosting and H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y candles on top. I guess the box made it look so legit that my friends thought I bought cupcakes from a real bakery haha. So, thank you to my new baking supply store for helping my cupcakes step it up a notch in the presentation department!

Dark chocolate cupcakes with brown liners like Sprinkles!

Pink vanilla bean frosting

Cupcakes placed in their holders

Cupcakes placed in the holders

Check out the window!

Love these candles!

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2010 Apr 15

The Baked Brownie

Posted in baking, dessert

Dark. Rich. Decadent. This brownie is over the top from its high quality ingredients to all its acclaim as the “Best Brownie”. Oprah even named it one of her favorite things and for some reason when Oprah says its her favorite somehow its gotta be a favorite of ours too. From the moment I saw this recipe in my newly purchased Baked:New Frontiers in Baking cookbook I knew I had to find out what all the fuss was about.

Let’s start with the ingredients. This recipe required quite a few specialty ingredients: quality dark baking chocolate, Valrhona cocoa powder, and instant espresso powder. Took a few phone calls to find the elusive Valrhona cocoa powder, but I finally tracked it down at my local Sur la table. Next was the dark baking chocolate which I also found at Sur la Table. I decided to go with Scharffen Berger Dark Baking Chocolate (62% cacao) which was one of the suggested brands. Buying the best ingredients comes at a hefty price. One 6 oz. Scharffen Berger bar was $8.50 and a box of Valrhona cocoa powder was $10.50. Taking another look at my shopping list I realized I needed 11 oz. of chocolate, so I had to grab one more bar and that brought my total to $27.50 for just those two ingredients. Ouch. This is when the fear started to set in. What if it doesn’t turn out? What if I completely hate it? I’d hate to waste the most expensive brownie I’ve ever made. Not gonna lie here, I’m a brownie mix type of girl. Betty Crocker $2.99 box mix to be exact and I think it tastes better than some of the from scratch recipes I’ve tried in the past.

High end ingredients in hand, the moment of truth was just a recipe away. The process was relatively simple: combine dry ingredients, melt chocolate, mix, and bake. I made sure to be extra careful, following the directions closely and rechecked that I didn’t leave out any steps or ingredients. About 27 minutes later my brownies where baked and ready to be cooled. The aroma of deep rich chocolate filled my kitchen and it smelled so delicious. It was hard to be patient and wait until the brownies cooled before I could cut myself a piece, but when I did let me tell you it was unlike any other brownie I’ve tasted. So chocolately, so fudgy, so moist, and oh so yummy! I could really taste what a difference quality chocolate and cocoa powder could make. The chocolate taste was much more richer and deeper. I absolutely love dark chocolate and this brownie exudes dark chocolate to the point that I can’t help but love it. So, know I now exactly why this Baked Brownie was dubbed the “Best Brownie” and why it’s Oprah’s favorite and now it’s mine too. Don’t get me wrong, I still have love for my Betty Crocker brownie mix which is much more wallet friendly, but now I’ll have a favorite brownie recipe for those special occasions that will help it make it even more special and decadent.

Love my new cookboook

The Baked Brownie

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2010 Apr 4

A Dozen Easter Cupcakes

Posted in baking, dessert, holidays, life

Happy Easter! It’s been a long 40+ days and I’m excited to finally eat chocolate today! Giving up chocolate for lent was no easy task, but I made it and I’m definitely going to go on a chocolate binge for the next few days. It was interesting to not be able to have anything with chocolate. Whenever I crave something sweet I usually reach for a piece of chocolate, but I found myself replacing it with more healthy treats like fruit and yogurt or maybe some peanut butter on a banana. I guess I could have eaten candy instead, but I’m not much of a candy person anymore (can’t eat sour patch kids like I used to when I was little, and warheads, remember those?).

Although, my first instinct is to pick something with chocolate, giving up chocolate helped widen my view about desserts I would’ve never chosen otherwise. I was able to try all sorts of yummy non-chocolate desserts (strawberry tiramisu, salted caramel macarons, maple bacon donuts) on various outings and it didn’t make me miss chocolate at all. Maybe I’ve changed? But, then again I think I would still have to fight the urge to pick something chocolate over a non-chocolate dessert. At least I feel like I’ve tried a lot of new things and I know that I can live without chocolate, but in all honesty I wouldn’t really want to haha.

For Easter, I decided to make mini cupcakes (vanilla with vanilla frosting, it wasn’t Easter yet when I made this hence no chocolate). To make them egg-stra special, I decided to color the frosting with some nice pastel colors and arrange them in an egg carton. This makes for a great gift idea; easy to whip up and cute packaging!

On a side note, if you’re wondering what my first chocolate dessert will be, its a Sprinkles’ Red Velvet cupcake. I also picked up one of their flavors for the season, Brown Sugar Praline, which is really good. Love that praline topping! Too bad its seasonal, I think they should make it one of their regular flavors.

Looks like a regular egg carton from the outside...

Surprise!

A Dozen Mini Cupcakes - Ready for Easter

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Top Row: Brown Sugar Praline and Vanilla Cupcakes, Bottom Row: Red Velvet with a cute bunny

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2010 Mar 21

Bananas Fosters Ice Cream

Posted in dessert, news

Haagen-Daz has new limited edition flavors and one of them happens to be bananas fosters flavor. I was excited to see this at the store and couldn’t wait to try it. I was a little hesitant at first because sometimes banana ice cream can taste so artificial, but to my surprise it was so tasty. Love love love! Totally tasted like bananas fosters, but in ice cream form. Now. if they would only bring back their sticky toffee pudding ice cream. These two flavors would definitely be stocked in my freezer all the time.

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2010 Mar 17

Lucky Green Tea Cupcakes

Posted in baking, dessert, holidays

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In honor of St.Patty’s day, I made green cupcakes, but went the non-traditional route and decided to make green tea cupcakes. Not very Irish at all, but what better excuse than to try something new and green for this holiday.

After doing some research, I decided to try to use a regular vanilla cupcake recipe and add some green tea (matcha) powder. Luckily, for me it turned out well and the combination of the vanilla and green tea tasted good. The best part about these cupcakes was definitely the frosting.  It’s like a lighter more heavenly version of a buttercream frosting. I used a green tea frosting recipe from the Baked cookbook and I’m so glad I decided to try it. This frosting recipe definitely requires more effort, but the results are worth it! The frosting + cupcake made for an excellent pairing. I think everything had the right amount of green tea flavor. It was subtle and not overpowering.

One more thing before I go and eat another cupcake, if you are wondering where you can buy green tea (matcha) powder, you can usually find it at specialty food stores or better yet at Japanese markets if there’s one in your area. If you still can’t find it, you can also order it online. Just make sure you buy unsweetened green tea (matcha) powder. Also, the higher the quality green tea (matcha) powder you purchase, the brighter green your baked goods will turn out. Good luck!

Green Tea Cupcake

Green Tea Cupcake

A peek inside

A Peek Inside

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2010 Feb 27

Julie & Julia: The Bruschetta Recipe

Posted in cooking, food

One of the most memorable moments of the Julie & Julia movie was the scene where Julie and her husband are devouring this mouth watering bruschetta, made with rustic pan fried bread and brightly colored heirloom tomatoes. It literally made my salivary glands go haywire. Now that I think about it, it would’ve been awesome to be an actor on this movie set enjoying all that delicious food.

Thankfully, the food stylist, Susan Spungen shared this bruschetta recipe which she developed for the film in an article. I tried it and it tastes exactly how the actors portrayed it in the movie, delicious! At first I made a small batch just to test it out, but I had to make more because I couldn’t get enough. It was that good. So, if you haven’t seen the Julie & Julia, I suggest you make some bruschetta or something just as delectable and watch as you eat, because you will definitely get hungry watching this film.

Beautiful Heirloom Tomatoes

Beautiful Heirloom Tomatoes

Love the colors!

Love the colors!

Tomato & Basil Mixture

Tomato & Basil Mixture

Bruschetta

Bruschetta

Julie & Julia’s Bruschetta Recipe
(adapted from Susan Spungen’s recipe)

Ingredients

  • Provincio Artisan Roasted Garlic Bread (this can be found at Costco in a 2 loaf pack)
  • olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • ground pepper
  • heirloom tomatoes
  • fresh basil

Directions

1. Cut tomatoes into chunks and tear lots of basil leaves into medium-small pieces. In a bowl, toss tomatoes and basil with a good quality olive oil. Marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.

2. Cut bread into slices about 3/4 inch thick

3. Pan fry the bread in olive oil  to get it toasted on the outside while retaining some softness in the center. After pan frying, sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

4. Season tomato mixture with salt and pepper about a half hour before serving. The salt makes the tomatoes release their juices and you don’t want that happening too soon.

5. Top bread with tomato mixture. If the bread is really crunchy, let the tomatoes sit for a few minutes before serving to soften the bread.

Note: I used the roasted garlic bread as a shortcut which I highly recommend because that bread is amazing, but if you can’t find it just substitute with any rustic loaf with a stretchy interior with lots of holes and a crisp crust. If you go the regular rustic loaf route, the original recipe tells you to rub a whole garlic clove onto the pan fried sliced bread. That’s the only difference.

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2010 Feb 14

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Posted in baking, dessert, holidays

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I thought it would be perfect to make mini heart shaped red velvet cheesecakes for V-day and I’ve been dying to make them ever since I tried it for the first time at Magnolia’s Bakery in NYC. I had to make up my own recipe because I couldn’t really find any red velvet cheesecake recipes. I guess they aren’t that popular yet.

I was scared that this project would become a complete fail for several reasons: 1) I’ve only made one other cheesecake before and that time I had an actual recipe to follow 2) I couldn’t find instructions on baking times for mini cheesecakes, so I had to guesstimate and 3) did I mention that I’ve never done this before?!? Experimenting makes me feel really out of my comfort zone haha.

Anyway, after all my worrying and stressing and peeking into the oven every 5 minutes, the cheesecakes came out a beautiful shade of red and there were no cracks at all. Success! The final test was the taste test and it was…GREAT! It really reminded me of Magnolia’s version (maybe even better? haha) and I’m so excited that I don’t have to fly 3,000 miles to get some now. I topped it with some whipped cream and it complemented the cheesecake perfectly. Make sure to make these for your sweetheart because there’s nothing that says I love you more than a Red Velvet Cheesecake <3

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake

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