The Devil would approve ;)

I really can't handle hot weather, yeesh... I can't wait until it cools down a bit to the 60s or something like that. Anyway, remember how earlier this week I said I had to bake a bunch of things for a party? #1 was the Key Lime Pie, but #2 was DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES! Normally I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate cake (I'm a die-hard chocolate lover), but this recipe is moist, subtly sweet, and impossible to stop eating! I used this recipe from The Joy Of Cooking cookbook (I highly recommend it; it has all sorts of different recipes for all sorts of occasions), so this is not my original recipe. But it's definitely something you should try out if you enjoy chocolate and/or cake. 

INGREDIENTS

·      4 oz unsweetened chocolate

·      1 cup milk (I used 1%, but anything from skim to whole milk works fine)

·      1 cup packed light brown sugar

·      2 eggs + 1 egg yolk

·      2 cups sifted cake flour

·      1 tsp baking soda

·      ½ tsp salt

·      ¼ cup water

·      1 tsp vanilla extract

·      ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

·      1 cup granulated sugar

Let all of the ingredients come to room temperature (roughly 70ºF). Grease your muffin pans and line with cupcake liners (this recipe can also be used to make a 9-inch cake, so grease your cake pan if you want an actual cake). Combine the chocolate, ½ cup milk, light brown sugar, and egg yolk in a double broiler (this is usually a large pot of boiling water beneath a smaller pot containing the ingredients) and cook until everything is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Combine the cake flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl using a whisk. Combine the rest of the milk, the water, and vanilla extract in another small bowl.

Beat the butter in a large bowl at high speed until creamy like mayonnaise. Gradually add the granulated sugar while beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Separate the two eggs, placing the two whites in a separate large bowl, and add and beat the two egg yolks one at a time into the butter-and-sugar mixture. On low speed, beat in the flour and milk parts, alternating between adding the flour mixture (do this in 3 parts) and the milk mixture (do this in 2 parts), until the batter is smooth. Stir in the chocolate mixture from earlier.

Using clean beaters, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form stiff, but not dry, peaks. Fold the whites into the batter, and fill the cupcake pans, a bit more than ¾ of the way up the muffin pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and leave them to cool to room temperature.

When I made this recipe for the party, I doubled it (the recipe then made 52 typical sized cupcakes) and added some surprise flavors inside! Stay tuned for my recipe for making the four surprise fillings inside! Thanks for reading~ ^_^

Sweetie, this is Sour-y Goodness~

My goodness, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been super busy baking lots of desserts for a friend’s father’s 50^th birthday. While I wasn’t able to update my blog recently, I was able to try out some new recipes and ideas! So since I had to make three of these this past weekend, my recipe for today is KEY LIME PIE! This is the perfect combination of sweet and sour right next to a glass of fresh lemonade (check out my post for that here too!)

The only major problem with this pie is that you have to use key limes for the juice. Regular limes are nowhere near as sour, fragrant, and strong enough of a flavor to replace key limes. They can’t be found in your typical supermarket, so you’d have to order them off of online. If you can’t be bothered to buy key limes from online, then I’ll experiment and see how I can replace key limes with regular limes. 

INGREDIENTS

CRUST

·      ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs

·      2 tbsp granulated sugar

·      4-6 tbsp butter, melted

FILLING

·      One 15oz can condensed milk

·      ½ cup – ¾ cup key lime juice (depending on how strong you’d like the key lime flavor to be)

·      4 egg yolks

·      1 tsp key lime zest

WHIPPED CREAM

·      1 cup heavy cream

·      2 tbsp powdered (confectioners) sugar

·      1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Combine the three ingredients for the crust in a small bowl. Grease a 9-inch pie pan, pour the crumb mixture into the pie pan, and spread it out so it covers the bottom of the pan as well as up the sides of the pan. Place the pan in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust has been browned. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Change the temperature of the oven to 325ºF. Whisk the four filling ingredients together until they’re completely combined. Pour the filling on top of the baked crust and bake it in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the surface of the pie is set but jiggles when shaken. Once the pie has cooled to room temperature, place in the refrigerator until it’s cold. The pie will last up until one day in the fridge.

Combine the whipped cream ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl and whip the ingredients on medium-high speed until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Decorate the top of your pie however you’d like with the whipped cream and add a couple of mint leaves for garnish if you’d like. Cut a slice for yourself and/or your friends and family and enjoy!

I’ve made this recipe multiple times, and the combination of crunchy crust, sour and sweet pie, and the light fluffy whipped cream is absolutely divine every time! ^_^

Prep the prep!

Hello! Hope everyone's enjoying the weather! It's super nice by me; not humid, warm, and a gentle cool breeze~! And here's another tip for you in the kitchen!

When cooking or baking, it's best to give yourself extra time that a recipe specifies in case preparations take longer than expected or in case preheating pans or the oven takes a while, etc. Even if you're really confident and have the whole recipe outlined in your head and you know exactly what to do, you will most likely end up needed more time than that (believe me, I've done the same recipes over and over again, and even though I know what to do and exactly what is needed, I STILL take extra time). Save the confidence for the taste of your dish, not for racing the clock.

Enjoy the rest of your day! ^_^

Watermelon-Pineapple Drink

Hello again! It is a hot one today for me, and it’s making me crave a fruity drink to keep my energy going throughout the day. I immediately remembered a drink that I found in a Thai cooking book, and it is such a refreshing and sweet drink that I decided to share it! This Watermelon-Pineapple drink uses four basic ingredients and a blender to generate this slushie-like drink~

INGREDIENTS

*** NOTE: the ratio of watermelon to pineapple should be roughly 3:1, but have extra of both fruits on the side so you can add more to taste ***

·      Watermelon chunks, about 1-inch chunks

·      Pineapple chunks, about ½-inch chunks

·      Simple syrup à ½ cup sugar + ½ cup water and boil on high heat until sugar dissolves

·      ½ cup to ¾ cup ice cubes

Add the watermelon chunks, pineapple chunks, about ¼ cup of the simple syrup, and ½ cup ice cubes to a blender and blend all of the ingredients together. Use a spoon to scoop up a bit of the liquid, taste, and add more of all the ingredients to taste. Pour into tall or fancy glasses and enjoy!

Simple enough of a recipe, right? It occurs to me that I should probably start posting pictures of my recipes, so I’ll get on top of doing that soon! Thanks again for reading, and have a great week~ :)

Cheese, sauce, dough... Oh my~

Hello! Sorry for taking so long to do another post; it’s been a busy week. I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July! Today’s post is… PIZZA! This is my favorite pizza recipe, and it is simple, fun, and yummy! I’m a believer of the idea that food tastes better when you make it yourself, and pizza already tastes amazing, so pizza + homemade = A+ deliciousness~

Ingredients:

DOUGH

·      2.5 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for kneading (about ½ cup extra)

·      2.5 tsp salt

·      2 tsp sugar

·      1 package (about 2.25 tsp) high-rise yeast

·      1 cup warm water (roughly between 110ºF and 125ºF, or just warm to the touch)

·      2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus 1tsp vegetable oil

TOPPINGS

·      2 tbsp vegetable oil

·      Tomato sauce (as much as desired)

·      Grated mozzarella cheese (as much as desired)

·      Salt and pepper, to taste

·      Any other toppings you would like to put on your pizza

Add the 2.5 cups of flour, salt, sugar, and yeast to a medium sized bowl and stir to combine. Pour the water and the 2 tbsp oil into the dry ingredients and mix until a sticky dough forms. Dust your workspace with flour, dump the dough and any extra dry ingredients from the bowl onto the area, and begin kneading the dough until the dough is no longer sticky (should take between 15-20 minutes). Wash out the bowl you used for the dough and pour the 1 tsp oil into it. Use your hand to spread the oil around the bowl, place the dough ball into it, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and put the dough in a “warm place” for about 45 minutes. For this step, I set my oven up by selecting “Proof,” then “Light Batter;” the oven temperature should be about 110ºF.

Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and preheat the oven to 425ºF (if your dough is in the oven, remove it before preheating). Divide the dough into two pieces and flatten them into rectangles or circles on the aluminum-lined trays. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil onto each pizza dough piece and spread it out. Add tomato sauce on pizza dough as you would like it, making sure to leave edges of the dough untouched by sauce for the crust! Cover the sauce areas with mozzarella cheese, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste over the cheese, throw on your favorite pizza toppings, and put the two trays in the oven for 10-12 minutes. After pulling the trays out of the oven, let them cool for 5-10 minutes (the pizzas will be super hot!), cut slices using a pizza cutter or knife, and enjoy your homemade pizza!

That was definitely a very long set of instructions, but thanks for hanging in there! I hope you love this recipe just as much, if not more, than I do!

Juicy, tender meat~

I hope everyone is having a good week so far! Here is Tip #2~

If you want a tender piece of meat (such as chicken, beef, pork, or fish), sear the meat on its two largest sides on high heat (2-3 minutes each side) and place the meat on a baking tray. Drizzle a bit of the marinade or sauce that you want to go with the meat and roast it in a preheated oven (depending on the meat, between 350ºF and 400ºF) for an allotted time (depending on the meat, between 15 minutes and 45 minutes. For example, I made a salmon dish that I baked at 400ºF for 15 minutes and a pork dish at 375ºF for 45 minutes). This method for cooking creates a shell around the meat (searing step) which traps the juices inside the meat while the majority of the cooking is being done (baking step). I'll post some exact recipes and more examples later for you to take a look at!

Hope you enjoy your weekend, and have a wonderful and exciting Fourth of July!!!