tres leches cake

Hola!

Hope everyone who celebrates had a fabulous christmas, and everyone else is having a fabulous weekend!

our christmas dinner was amazing, and featured our family's traditional christmas enchiladas, brownies and blondies made by my very talented aunt, tamales, and homemade fruitcake. what we really need to talk about, though, is the tres leches cake.

unfortunately, i forgot to take pictures on christmas, and the cake, while still delicious, is a bit mangled from being stuffed in a tupperware in our very crowded fridge. so i borrowed the above image from myrecipes, but you should really look at Ree's (the pioneer woman) photos too.

Click here to read the original post on thepioneerwoman.com

Tres Leches Cake, from thepioneerwoman.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 5 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• ⅓ cups Milk
• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
• ¼ cups Heavy Cream
• _____
• FOR THE ICING:
• 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. Cut into squares and serve.

-Lola

momofuku milk bar!

last weekend, my mom was in town. we took long walks around the city, went to the museum of natural history, had a celebrity sighting (tracy morgan!), went to a concert (the dandy warhols. they were fantastic) and explored thrift stores in brooklyn. she took lots of pictures of said events. the only two pictures i have from the weekend?

grasshopper pie

candy bar pie

both from momofuku milk bar.
clearly, i have the right priorities.
-Lola

cinnamon sugar pita chips

yo! how was everyone's weekend?

mine involved lots of homework and studying for midterms, seeing the giants win (we're going to the world series!!!), my first legal drink at a bar (happy 21st to my sister rita too!), and delicious chocolate pudding pie and cookie dough cupcakes baked by my friend (i took pictures but they're on my phone and i didn't properly download the necessary software to get them onto my computer. but the cupcakes were lovely, believe me).

anyhoo, onto the chips...

i love when simple things like this turn out amazing. all you need is some leftover pita, cinnamon, sugar, and oil and you're on your way to a crazy addictive snack.

note the one perfect looking chip off to the side.

cinnamon sugar pita chips
*1 whole wheat pita
*2 teaspoons cinnamon
*about 3/4 of a packet of sugar
*canola oil

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
separate pita into two flat, round halves. rip or cut into triangular pieces.
spread pita pieces onto a cookie sheet. drizzle with a small amount of oil and toss, so that each chip has some oil on it but is not completely coated. sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar--again, each chip should have some but not be coated.
bake for about 20 minutes, or until crispy, flipping chips over halfway through.

eat plain or with peanut butter. i bet they'd be good with yogurt too.

-Lola

berry brioche bread pudding

so, we're heading off to the east coast tomorrow, then back to school! we're finally all packed (ok, not all done. but 95% packed). i think we deserve some bread pudding!

we used a recipe from food and wine magazine but subbed blackberries (fresh from a park down the street!) for the blueberries and raspberries. we also added more sugar. we'll say it was to account for the fact that blackberries are less sweet, and not because we weren't paying attention when we halved the recipe. it worked, and was not overly sweet. also, although half the recipe should have been four servings, i was able to cut it into 6 big slices.
i think everybody liked it.
original recipe, with my notes in brackets:
berry brioche bread pudding from food and wine magazine
serves 8 [to 12]

Ingredients

• 1. Unsalted butter, for greasing the dish
  2. 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
  3. 2 cups heavy cream
  4. 2 cups whole milk [we used 2%]
     
  5. 2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  6. 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  7. 4 large eggs
  8. 4 large egg yolks
  9. 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  10. 2 cups blueberries and raspberries, plus more for serving [or blackberries, and if using blackberries add 1/3 cup more sugar to the cream mixture and 1-2 T more sugar to your berries]
      
  11. One 1-pound loaf of brioche, cut into 1/2-inch dice
      
  12. Whipped cream for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter an 8-by-11-inch baking dish and coat the dish with the turbinado sugar.
2. In a large saucepan, bring the cream, milk, 2/3 cup of the granulated sugar and the salt to a simmer over moderately high heat, then remove from the heat.
3. In a bowl, whisk the whole eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Gradually whisk in the hot cream until blended. Strain the custard through a fine strainer into a large bowl.
4. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries and raspberries with 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar. Using a fork, coarsely mash the berries. Let stand until juicy, about 5 minutes.
5. Mix the brioche into the custard. Fold in the mashed berries. Transfer the pudding to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until set in the center. Remove the foil and bake in the top third of the oven for 20 minutes longer, until lightly golden.
6. Preheat the broiler. Broil the pudding for 1 minute, until golden brown [be careful! we burnt the top of ours]. Transfer to a rack [we just let stand in the pan on a counter, not a rack] and let stand for 30 minutes, until cooled slightly. Cut the bread pudding into squares and serve with blueberries, raspberries and whipped cream.

-lola

mixed berry compote

pictured with plain greek yogurt. it was way prettier in person, trust me.

our family really loves chocolate. it is practically blasphemy to serve a dessert without any chocolate. however, when making dessert for a recent dinner party, we were craving some birite vanilla ice cream so we decided to risk it. we made a warm mixed berry compote to serve over. i think we were forgiven for the lack of chocolate.

mixed berry compote, from gourmet via epicurious
*3 cups mixed berries (we used blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries)
*3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
*1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
*2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Melt butter in a skillet over moderate heat. Stir in brown sugar and lemon juice until sugar is dissolved. Add berries and cook, tossing gently (try to keep most of them from breaking up), until berries are warm and juices begin to be released, 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

-Lola

vegan chocolate pudding

look at me, posting 2 days in a row! now lets see if i can keep it up.
i LOVE chocolate pudding. it's probably my favorite food ever (although i do say that about many foods). i remember when i was younger and went camping with some friends, we created a whole mythology around the dining hall's chocolate pudding. I don't recall the entire story, only that my friend N. was crowned the pudding queen and the rest of us had to say "I am mere whipped topping in your pudding presence".last week i decided it was time to say goodbye, at least for now, to jello instant pudding mix, and make my own pudding. my first attempt was a spectacular disaster. it started out promisingly enough. just look at this recipe. while i'm sure deb's caramel pudding was amazing, i burnt my caramel and my pudding was filled with unappetizing lumps, rendering it completely inedible.
so i threw it out, took a trip to whole foods, and tried again, this time with a recipe that requires no slaving over the stove and patiently stirring in cornstarch.
yum! this pudding is rich, thick and chocolately. if you're serving it to tofu-phobes, don't tell them its vegan and they'll never know. and remember...

vegan chocolate pudding from veg news, with a few small changes from me
serves 4
*1 cup vegan chocolate chips
*1/2 cup powdered sugar
*8 ounces silken tofu (half a standard 1 lb/16 ounce box)
*1 teaspoon vanilla
1. place tofu in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
2. add sugar and vanilla to blender/processor. stir once or twice.
3. melt chocolate chips in microwave or a double boiler (it took 2 minutes in my microwave.) stir to make sure all chips are melted. add to blender/processor.
3. blend until smooth and combined. you may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.
4. portion into 4 individual serving bowls and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. add toppings such as whipped cream, crumbled cookies, fruit, or chocolate chips if desired.
-Lola

p.s. how amazing was the US vs. Algeria match this morning? go USA!!!

strawberry shortcakes...

...are deliciousand even more so when they're chocolate.
from Bon Appetit
you can clearly see that our biscuits are way flatter than the one in the Bon Appetit picture. they were more like slightly fluffy cookies, perhaps because we made 7 biscuits instead of 6. oh well, they still tasted good. i suppose they were extra-short cakes =)
ingredients
Biscuits

* 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup chilled whipping cream
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberries

* 2 pounds small strawberries, hulled, quartered (about 3 1/2 cups)
* 8 tablespoons powdered sugar, divided
* 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
* 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
* 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
* Pinch of salt
*
* 1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
* 1/2 cup chilled sour cream

Preparation

biscuits
*
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment. Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat cream and vanilla in medium bowl until firm peaks form. Stir cream into flour mixture until moist clumps form. Transfer mixture to lightly floured surface and knead gently until dough forms ball, about 10 turns. Pat dough out to 3/4-inch thickness. Using 3-inch cutter, cut out biscuits. Gather dough, pat out again, and cut out total of 6 biscuits. Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet.
*
Bake biscuits until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 6 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

strawberries
*
Stir strawberries, 6 tablespoons powdered sugar, and next 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.
*
Using electric mixer, beat chilled whipping cream, sour cream, and remaining 2 tablespoons powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Place 1 biscuit on each of 6 plates. Place large spoonful of berries with juices atop biscuits. Top with whipped cream. Pass remaining berries alongside.


Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2007/06/chocolate_strawberry_shortcakes#ixzz0p3UPGv6r
-Lola

avocado strawberry smoothie

one of my favorite things about growing up in san francisco was getting to try an amazing array of ethnic foods. i have an obsession with asian desserts (actually, i've barely scratched the surface in terms of trying those. but i still love them madly and frequently try to convince my friends from the mid-west and the south that shaved ice with red beans, grass jelly, and condensed milk is a perfectly acceptable, and delicious, thing to eat. if you've never experienced the magic of asian desserts, here are a few more for you to look into: sago pudding, eggettes, and anything with red bean paste). one dessert that i have always been intrigued by but never tried is the avocado milkshake. unfortunately, we had no ice cream on hand, so i decided to try an avocado smoothie instead. with strawberries, which may sound weird but is delicious, trust me.
avocado strawberry smoothie makes 1 large smoothie
*1 1/2 cups soy milk (i used plain, but i think vanilla or even chocolate would be good)

*1/2 a ripe avocado

*frozen strawberries (start with a medium handful and add more to taste)
blend all ingredients until smooth and combined.
1/2 of the smoothie, partially frozen (i was impatient) and topped with cereal, dark chocolate chips, and a dollop of peanut butter. yum!!!
-Lola

Key Lime Pie

for the past few years we've made a birthday dinner as a present to our dad. This year, we were about to go to Ft. Lauderdale, so we made it Florida theme, with Cuban food for dinner and a key lime pie for dessert. The pie took a while, but it was pretty easy, and turned out delicious with a very strong lime flavor. Also it was pie. And you really can't go wrong with pie, especially when it is topped with homemade whipped cream.


the pie about to be attacked by a mysterious hand

with home made whipped cream on top
the recipe, from Southern Living
-Rita

homemade peanut butter cups

happy 2010 everyone!
my dad loves reese's peanut butter cups. i send him emails whenever i spot a new variety, and he sends me back a review (there are more types of reese's than you might think. i believe his favorites are original and peanut butter lovers'). so when rita and i spotted averie's homemade pb cups, we knew we had to make some for our dad's christmas present.
they were delicious! my dad kept asking how we made them and said they were "even better than reese's". high praise indeed.
they're also super easy. just melt some chocolate chips (use a microwave or a double boiler). spread some of the chocolate on the bottom and sides of paper muffin liners. let harden for about 10 minutes, then add a small spoonful of peanut butter to each cup. top with more chocolate (we added sprinkles too, because sprinkles make everything better. it's a fact), then freeze until hardened. (averie has better instructions than we do...with pictures too! click the link above. also, we used semi sweet chocolate chips and natural crunchy peanut butter).
-Lola

vamanos a la mission!

(i hope i said that right. i haven't taken spanish since 7th grade)

like any good san franciscan, i am absolutely in love with my city. if you ever come to sf and need a tour guide, i'm your girl. one place i would most definitely take you to is the mission, our mexican neighborhood.

mr. burbujas can't wait to see you!


if you are in the mission on a weekend and you see this delightful, yet disturbing, art work outside of la gallinita, go in immediately and get yourself some tacos and quesadillas!. during the week, la gallinita is a butcher shop, but on weekends they serve food.

a satisfying lunch. you've got a taco (pictured here: cabeza, which means "face" and is cheek meat. just try it, it melts in your mouth) and the completely genius creation of chorizo and potatoes wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried.

OMG!

you can also go with carne asada (grilled steak) for your taco. or a number of other fillings, including chorizo (my favorite) or sesos (brains. yum!)
after lunch, stroll around a bit, checking out mexican markets, a multitude of murals, and some great dollar stores, before returning to 24th and harrison for the amazingness that is humphry slocombe ice cream.

pictured: 1 scoop of peanut butter curry + 1 scoop of oolong tea.

brownies!

Back in high school, my friend Onjira would sometimes bring in home-made brownies for all of us. We all loved them, especially Eva, who would always take at least 5. So a few days ago, a friend from high school came over and we decided to bake brownies to bring to Onjira's birthday party the next night. We put almonds in them to deter Eva (she hates nuts), but it turned out that was unnecessary, since they were so good we ended up eating them all ourselves. Here's the recipe we used: best ever cocoa brownies from epicurious.

father's day extravaganza! mussels+fries+parsley aioli+french bread+strawberry granita

many years ago, we made a father's day card for our dad, promising him a "leon de bruxelles style meal". leon de bruxelles is a chain of belgian restaurants specializing in mussels, which we visited while in paris.
anyway, yesterday, we finally provided him with the promised meal. only 10 years too late. but worth the wait!
we started with this recipe:mussels and fries with mustard mayonnaise

very tasty! we doubled the recipe to serve four, but ended up with many leftover mussels. probably 3 pounds would be enough to serve four if its part of a many course meal like ours.
the recipe called for frozen french fries, but we decided to make our own.

we used this recipe: garlic fries, but halfed it.
instead of using the mustard sauce the mussel recipe called for, we made our own parsley aioli.
since this was a special occasion and we were making everything from scratch, we also had to make our own bread to go with. again, the recipe is halfed.

the first stage of baking took about 20 minutes, instead of the stated 35. also, we used about 2/3 white flour and 1/3 wheat, just because we ran out of white. french bread
all this was served with a lettuce salad.
and the grand finale...

strawberry granita
served in margarita glasses. we're hella swanky.
everything was very tasty.
and finally...

...the end!
or is it? stay tuned for our next post to see what we made with the leftover mussels.

mother's day dinner: huevos rancheros + flan

los huevos con avocado

now that the whole family had arrived back home, it was time for a belated mother's day dinner.

Since the mom loves mexican food, and we are big fans of brennar (breakfast for dinner), we decided to make huevos rancheros.

the egg came out overcooked, so it was more hard boiled than the intended poached, but on the whole, a delicious and easy dish. next time, i would serve it with warmed tortillas, but i forgot them this time.

note: "huevos"=eggs, "jueves"=thursday. just so you don't, as the mom once did, order "scrambled thursdays" when in mexico.

and for desert, flan! this was our first time making any custard type thing--ie flan, creme brulee, creme catalan, etc.

while we panicked a bit about the time, and the fact that we had to make them in individual dishes instead of one big one, we decided to go ahead with it.


note the one perfect one in the middle of the messed up ones

they all came out weirdly flat, yet delicious. the one pictured is the least flat flan, so the rest of them were like flan pancakes, or perhaps mini frisbees. but they tasted good, which is the most important part.

and now, the moment you've all been waiting for, recipes!

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=521440

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1036057