Chocolate Orange Cupcakes with Homemade Marmalade

After making margaritas the other day I realized that we have triple sec just sitting around. By we I mean my friends whose house I bake at on a frequent basis. Minor correction. My friends had triple sec sitting around and who knew when we were going to make margaritas again. Too much lime squeezing for poor Migs to merit making them all the time.

Caril de Espinafres (Spinach Curry)

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but I have a new addiction. Portuguese cooking shows. Or rather, one particular Portuguese cooking show, Ingrediente Secreto.

Tres leches cake

It’s funny, I’ve heard Tres leches cake talked about often as a Mexican dessert, but before coming to Chile I can’t say I remember ever eating it.

Pasta Sauce with Meat, Vegan Style

I never thought I would cook with TVP. There. I said it. I lived in a co-op for an entire year with a bin full of TVP and never touched it once.  After all, what would I do with that spongy tasteless stuff known as Textured Vegetarian Protein or TVP for short?  What would I make with it?  Why would I not just cook with meat?  I got my answer when I entered into a life of post-graduation poverty.  I have not bought meat to cook with since being here.  Instead, I eat meat when I’m out or when someone else cooks it but I never buy it myself because I’m trying to cheaply, and creatively acquire my protein without meat.  But I digress.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I’ve gotten into something of a routine since coming here to Chile and as you can see from this post, it’s not always the healthiest.

Saturdays are my day to go to the market.  There I buy all the ingredients I need to cook for the week and a few extra things to do some baking for my friends.  This particular weekend was special, however.  My friend Chris had just returned from a trip to the States and aside from bringing me all the things I’d asked my mom to mail to his house, he brought me a couple surprises.

Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Fresh Herbs

I love simple recipes. It seems like an obvious statement but I think it merits being mentioned, especially when it comes to this recipe.

Cupcookies

Not cupcakes, not cookies, yes you read that right, cupcookies.

Quinoa tabbouleh

Living in a Chilean neighborhood full of street vendors selling tasty looking, cheap fried food, it would be so easy to eat out all the time. But, I’m trying to have self control, at least during the week (see my previous entry for evidence of what I do on weekends) and make healthy dishes which are both tasty and nutritious. This is one of those recipes. In fact, if I weren’t so into trying new dishes every week, I think I would make this for lunch again next week. It was that good.  It's going to be perfect for the hot summer months in Santiago and should be good for all of you up north enduring the toasty summer!

Lemon Sugar Cookies

A few weekends ago it was a fabulous day in Santiago, not simply because of the weather, though it was a fairly nice winter day, but because a day at the market produced the most wonderful results.  On a Saturday, I finally managed to make it out of the house at a reasonable hour, meaning there was time to go to La Vega Central, the huge fruit, vegetable, and all purpose market in the center of the city.

Hummus

Being in a new place like Santiago, here are a few of the things I’ve learned recently:

There’s not a lot of Middle Eastern food in Chile
1 cup of dried chickpeas produces a lot of cooked chickpeas
I’m willing to pay an obscene amount of money for tahini

Pastéis de Nata (Portuguese custard tarts)

Now that I’ve graduated, now that I have my diploma in hand and I’m in the workplace, I can admit to the world what I’ve already admitted to most of my friends. I used my final presentation for Portuguese as an excuse to bake.

Quinoa salad with avocado and lima beans

Don’t be afraid of the title. Lima beans can be tasty. And this recipe proves it. I love quinoa and all year in my co-op, I couldn’t understand why so few people in our house made it.  It’s healthy, it’s easy to make, and it’s a delicious base for so many different meals and side dishes.  As such, for my summer, El Comidista meal, with Summer Lasagna, Roasted carrots and cauliflower with orange, and Arroz con leche, I decided to make a tasty quinoa salad to round out my meal.  I’d had my eye on this recipe for some time, even though it contains those dreaded lima beans.  Rest assured, though, this quinoa comes out delicious and refreshing.

Quinoa salad with avocado and lima beans (adapted and translated from El Comidista)

Yield: Serves 4 people, almost a meal unto itself

Ingredients:  
400 gr. of quinoa
400 gr. of large lima beans (can be frozen)
1 avocado
200 gr. of radishes with their leaves
100 gr. of oak leaf lettuce
1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
2 dried red peppers (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Directions:
1) Begin with the dressing. Using the blade of a knife, crush and peel the cloves of garlic. Mix them in a bowl with 8 tablespoons of olive oil, the cumin, crushed red peppers (for a bit of spice), salt and pepper. Set aside.
2) Prepare the quinoa according to the directions on the package. When it’s finished cooking, set aside and allow to cool.
3) While the quinoa cooks, boil the lima beans in heavily salted water for 4 minutes. Strain and rinse with cold water before using your hands to remove the grey skin that covers the beans. (I forgot to do this and the salad was still good)
4) Remove the leaves from the radishes. Choose the good leaves, wash and dry them, set aside. Then, wash the radishes well and cut them into small pieces.
5) Peel the lemon as seen in this video, and put it in the large bowl in which you plan to serve the salad. Add the avocado, peeled and cut into chunks, and coat it well in the lemon juice so it doesn’t turn brown.
6) Combine the lima beans, quinoa, radishes, radish leaves, and the the lettuce in the bowl with the avocado. Remove the crushed garlic from the vinagrette, pour over the salad, and mix. Salt to taste and serve immediately.

Arroz con Leche (Rice Pudding)

Rounding out my El Comidista meal of Summer Lasagna, Roasted cauliflower and carrots with orange, and Quinoa salad with avocado and lima beans, I decided to divert from the theme a bit and make Arroz con Leche.  It’s a super easy, tasty dessert which won’t break the bank to make (especially important to me now in Chile).  The only thing I might have to worry about is super picky arroz con leche eaters, though I confess I don’t have too many Latino friends here who might be offended by my less than perfect arroz con leche.

While still a cold dish for my Comidista meal, I found this recipe not on Mikel López Iturriaga’s blog, but in my stash from the cooking school I had gone to in Madrid and from which emerged other delicious Spanish foods like, Tortilla de Patata.  I made this dish earlier in the school year for my first cook in my coop and not really been happy with the result, so I decided to make it again for this cook.  I also wanted to surprise my friend who loves arroz con leche.  While I was still not entirely pleased with the result (I need to make it a bit thinner for it to be true arroz con leche) I was glad to see that my friends really enjoyed it.

However, in order to find the desired consistency next time, I plan to follow the advice of Smitten Kitchen.  She suggests you cook this until a certain amount of liquid has been absorbed, I’d say all but 20 percent, and as it cools it will thicken.  This is especially true when you cool it in the fridge, which I recommend doing along with making it the night before.  That way, the arroz con leche has time to both thicken and cool down so the next day you're not waiting to serve your dessert.  As a final tip, I suggest using a very large pot for this recipe so the milk doesn’t accidentally boil over while the lid is on.  Just a piece of advice which I learned from experience...

Arroz con Leche or Rice Pudding (adapted and translated from Cocina Cayena)

Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice (or other short grain rice)
5 cups of whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup of sugar
1 lemon peel
1 orange peel
1 cinnamon stick
ground cinnamon (for garnish)

Directions:
1) In a large pot, heat the milk, cream, sugar, the lemon and orange peel, and the cinnamon stick.
2) Once the milk boils, add the rice and let it simmer for about 20 minutes with the lid on, until the rice is tender.
3) Remove the lid and allow the rice to cool and absorb the rest of the milk and cream
4) Remove the lemon and orange peel, and cinnamon stick. Divide into individual bowls or cups. Top with ground cinnamon and serve.

Roasted carrots and cauliflower with orange

It’s not summer here in Chile (in fact it’s quite cold with none of the buildings having central heating) but I wanted to continue my stream of delicious summer dishes for everyone back in the U.S.   As such, this entry features yet another dish from my Comidista summer dinner, which I introduced with previous entry of Summer Lasagna.  Having free reign to choose whatever recipes I wanted for this meal, I decided I needed to have a theme to narrow down my choices of what to make. Looking over my list of recipes to make, I realized I had a ton of from, my favorite Spanish food blogger, which I’d never had the chance to prepare.  Seizing the opportunity to experiment, I decided my meal theme would be cold foods (for our hot summer weather), using healthy, fresh produce, and recipes from Mikel López Iturriaga’s blog, El Comidista.

One of the side dish recipes I settled on were these roasted carrots and cauliflower with orange. Great for a summer day, these have a zesty flavor and can be served warm or cold.

Roasted Carrots and Cauliflower with Orange (adapted from El Comidista)

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 small heads of cauliflower (one white and the other green or purple or both white if you can’t find other colors)
4-8 carrots, depending on their size
1 large orange
1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of spicy paprika
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1) Fill a large pot with water, salt it, and put it to boil over high heat.
2) Peal the carrots and cut them into pieces. Cut off the trunk of the cauliflower leaving only the florets and break it into pieces. Set aside.
3) Preheat the oven to 445ºF.
4) Boil the carrots in the pot of water for 5-10 minutes or until they’re a bit soft, but not cooked all the way. Remove the carrots from the water. Add the cauliflower to the same water and boil for a minute. Rinse both carrots and cauliflower. Drain well.
5) Cut the orange and the lemon in half and set aside one half of each. Juice the other two halves and mix the juices.
6) In a small bowl, mix 2 teaspoons of the juice with the cumin, paprika, 2 cloves of garlic, crushed, vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper.
7) Place the cauliflower, carrots, and unsqueezed halves of lemon and orange on a baking sheet. Cover with the marinade, using your hands to mix, making sure the carrots and cauliflower are evenly coated. Place in the oven for 20 minutes until the cauliflower is soft and golden. If it’s browning too quickly, put some aluminum foil over top.
8) While that’s in the oven, mix the combined orange and lemon juice with 8 tablespoons of olive oil, the brown sugar, salt and pepper. Toss the dressing with the roasted carrots and cauliflower and serve. If you’d like it a bit bitter, you can add the juice from the roasted orange and lemon to the dressing.

Chocolate, Cherry, and Hazelnut Biscotti

As I’m embarking on my trip to a new job, (in the New York airport right now in fact), I’d like to use this recipe to reflect on last summer. 

One of the wonderful things about any good job is great co-workers. Last summer, I had many of them since I had two jobs. However, a truly awesome co-worker is one who, among other things, also gives you tasty recipes.  The office manager at Kingston Family Vineyards, is one of those people. A wonderful cook, Barbara gave me some great recipes last summer, many of them which I have not even had the chance to try yet. However, in my last cook ever at my co-op, I decided to try something totally new and make one of Barbara’s recipes. It did not disappoint.

Though I was somewhat nervous about trying my hand at making biscotti for the first time ever, on such an important occasion, I decided to do it. It wasn’t the easiest dessert to make, but it certainly wasn’t one of the most complicated I’ve made either. It also, unsurprisingly, went over well with my co-op mates. Now that I’m over my fear of making biscotti, I’ll probably be making this, and other kinds, again soon. Thanks, Barbara!

Chocolate, Cherry, and Hazelnut Biscotti (adapted from Donata Maggipinto)

Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients:
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup port or other sweet red wine
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (I didn't have any and it didn't seem to be missing anything)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F.
2) Place hazelnuts baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring once. Turn nuts out onto a towel. Roll up towel; rub off skins. Chop nuts.
3) Pour wine in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 1 minute. Add cherries, and let stand for at least 30 minutes. Drain well.
4) Place sugar and chocolate in a food processor; process until chocolate is finely ground.
5) Place vanilla, egg, and egg yolk in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended (about 1 minute). Add sugar mixture; beat 1 minute.
6) Combine flour and remaining dry ingredients. Stir with a whisk. Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture, beating until blended. Add hazelnuts and cherries; beat just until blended. (The dough will be very stiff.)
7) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly several times. Divide dough in half; shape each portion into an 8-inch-long roll. Place rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; pat each roll to a 1-inch thickness.
8) Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on a baking sheet for 10 minutes.
9) Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
10) Cut each roll diagonally into 12 slices. Place, cut sides down, on baking sheet.
11) Bake at 325° for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Cool completely on wire rack.

No-Bake Summer Lasagna

Finally, time to write. It’s been another several weeks since I’ve been able to post anything and my excuse is: graduation. I can’t believe it’s all over so quickly, and my extra week in California too, but now, I’m on my way back home for a short visit. After that, it’s off to Santiago, Chile to start my life in the real world.

While I’m sad college is over (though don’t get me wrong, I’m soo happy to be done with writing research papers) I’m excited to be moving on to something new and a whole new world of food to explore. Even though most people tell me that Chilean food is nothing to write home about and Santiago is simply not their favorite city, I’m determined to like it. I think it will be adventure to try some of the local cuisine and take advantage of the fresh produce. I was reading on Liz Caskey’s blog, Eat Wine, that she has never seen anywhere with such great fresh produce other than California. As such, when I get to Chile (even though it won’t be summer) I’ll probably be making this no-bake lasagna to make use of the tasty produce. And now that it’s summer in the States, I hope you’ll try it too.

I made this lasagna for my co-op thinking that it would be nice to have a cold meal on a hot summer day and hoping to finally try out some of the recipes on my favorite Spanish food blog, El Comidista. His recipes did not disappoint and had everyone complimenting our food.  If you'd like to see the Spanish version of this recipe, simply scroll to the end or click on the "Para ver la receta en español, haz clique aquí".

No-Bake Summer Lasagna (translated and adapted from El Comidista)

Yield: Serves 4 people
Ingredients:
12 sheets of lasagna pasta
2 large ripe tomatoes
1 zucchini
150 gr. of dried tomatoes in oil
100 gr. of ricotta cheese
50 gr. of grated parmesan
50 gr. of hazelnuts
1 handful of basil
1/2 lemon
White vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Directions:
1) Using a mandolin, a peeler, or a Salad Shooter like the one my co-op bought near the end of the year, cut the zucchini into super thin slices. Mix the lemon juice, with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper. Then, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the zucchini with the lemon juice and allow it to marinate at room temperature for about half an hour.
2) In a blender, combine the hazelnuts, basil, a tablespoon of vinegar, and 150ml of olive oil. Add the grated parmesan cheese and blend again. If the mixture is very thick, add a bit more olive oil until it’s about the consistency of pesto. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 
3) Peel and cut the tomatoes into thin slices (I didn’t peel my tomatoes and it was still fine). 
4) With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the ricotta cheese with a bit of olive oil until it is creamy. Salt to taste. 
5) Following the instructions on the package, cook the sheets of lasagna until just al dente. 
6) In a deep dish, begin assembling the lasagna. In the first layer, place four pieces of lasagna side by side and cover with half of the ricotta cheese. On top, place half of the zucchini, tomato, and sun dried tomatoes in pieces. Drop a bit of the pesto sauce on top in small dollops. Cover with another layer of lasagna sheets and repeat the above steps. Finish with a layer of lasagna sheets and cover with more pesto and some sun dried to tomatoes. Serve at room temperature.

Orange Ricotta Cookies with Dark Chocolate

Ahh! I have completely broken my promise to myself to post once a week this quarter! I can hardly believe the time has flown so quickly though! I have now cooked so many things that I have a backlog of recipes. No promise I’ll post once a week until the quarter ends, but here’s a super tasty cookie recipe after a long hiatus.

Several weeks ago, when my co-cook, Laura, and I started planning a menu for our previously mentioned picnic meal, I knew that I wanted to make Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes as my centerpiece. For dessert, I also knew I had to make something delicious and portable because, after all, you're more likely to take a cookie on a picnic than a rack of cupcakes or a pie.  So I dug up my list of cookies to make and ran across these amazing Orange Ricotta cookies with dark chocolate drizzle.  Just the name of these cookies was enough to elicit oohs and awws from the people who passed through the kitchen.

What's more, I was able to use local ingredients to make them. And when I say local, I mean outside our front door. Fortunately for me, my house boasts both an orange tree and a lemon tree simply laden with fruit this quarter. It was an awesome resource for our entire picnic meal and especially great for these light, summery cookies. As an aside, this recipe is great for a crowd, in fact just one recipe made enough cookies for my entire house of 40 so if you’re making for fewer people I suggest halving this recipe. Also, this recipe works with all kinds of citrus fruits so if you don’t have oranges but have lemons or grapefruits, don’t sweat it, just use those instead!

Orange Ricotta Cookies (lightly adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod)

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 orange, zested

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375º F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. 2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk until ingredients are combined. Set aside.
3) In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, combine butter and the sugar.  Beat the until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated.  Add the ricotta cheese, orange juice, and orange zest.  Beat to combine.
4) Stir in the dry ingredients. Spoon the dough (about 1 tablespoon for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Orange Glaze
Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup chopped dark chocolate, melted

Directions: 
1) Combine the powdered sugar and orange juice in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.
2) Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread.
3) Let glaze harden for about five minutes. Using a plastic bag with a small hole cut in the corner or a pastry bag, drizzle cookies with dark chocolate stripes.

Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I'm aware that I'm really terrible about posting recipes other than desserts but I want people to know that I actually do eat things other than cupcakes and cookies.  This blog might suggest otherwise, but I swear it's true and here's the proof.  I would attribute my lack of real food dishes partly to the fact that it's extremely difficult, at least for me, to take pictures of non dessert items.  As it is, my dessert pictures don't always turn out.  One day I'll get photography lessons and have a kitchen made for food blogging like this one.  The kitchen has special nook in which to take pictures of your culinary delights and lighted circles within it so you don't even need plates to photograph the food!  Completely ridiculous, yet so awesome!  And since I don't have this kind of kitchen yet, for me it's easier to save dessert items and photograph them later.  Other stuff not so much, especially when it's quickly scarfed down by my hungry co-op mates.

However, I finally made a non dessert item and remembered to photograph it, because it's really worth making.  Especially if you're trying to make a good impression.  When I made this pasta salad for my house last week I got rave reviews, which is saying something because our menu was for a “Picnic Dinner” and included pasta salad and burgers.  Sounds boring, right?  That's what my friend thought, at least until until she tasted this pasta salad.  It's more of a gourmet side, or something along those lines, pasta salad just makes it sound so dull.  And this pasta is anything but, with ingredients like sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil.

Pasta Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (adapted from Ina Garten)

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 pound fusilli  pasta (spirals)*
Kosher salt
Olive oil
1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced
3/4 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, medium-diced
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup packed basil leaves, julienned

For the dressing:
5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained                             1 garlic clove, diced     
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar                                   1 teaspoon capers, drained
6 tablespoons good olive oil                                        3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt

 Directions:
1) Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool.
2) Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. 3) For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.
4) Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and basil, and toss well.

* We didn't have any spiral pasta but I would use it because the spirals look prettier

Butterballs (also Mexican Wedding Cakes or Russian Teacakes)

At the end of last quarter one of my friends was having a pretty hectic cook in our co-op and I decided to help him out a bit by making dessert.  Knowing that we didn't have a lot of ingredients left at the end of the quarter I decided to go for a super simple cookie which would be quick to make.  So I made these.  It seems to have been a pretty great decision.

Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes

It was my birthday several weeks ago which I decided to use as an excuse to throw a party and get all my friends together.  The theme of the party was to be Portuguese/Spanish because I was in Lisbon on my birthday last year (on a trip while studying abroad in Spain) and I wanted to replicate the awesomeness of that birthday.  The theme was twofold also because of my inability to find many Portuguese foods.  So some of the things I offered were Spanish.  The menu for the party had 3 sections, tapas, drinks, and desserts.  The tapas consisted of toasted baguette slices, Spanish cheese triangles, stuffed olives, and Spanish bar nut mix.  The drinks were varied but stayed mostly within the theme only varying with regards to the homemade limoncello (which my coworker gave me).  Other than that it was all port wine, Portuguese vinho verde, and Spanish wine.  The desserts strayed from the theme entirely, however.  They consisted of flourless chocolate cake with ganache frosting (which my parents ordered me for my birthday), Ferrer Roche chocolates in 3 flavors (which my aunt had given me as a birthday gift), fresh strawberries, fresh blackberries, and these Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting.

After seeing these on Ming Makes Cupcakes (aka the link that ruined my life for a week because of my desire to make these Chocolate Chambord Cupcakes instead of doing work) I knew that I had to make them at some point.   However, I wasn't quite ready to randomly splurge on the specialty ingredients required such as, port wine, cherries, and mascarpone.  Then my birthday rolled around and I decided to ignore costs (for the most part) and make these cupcakes.  The response to them was well worth it. Though I made around 22 cupcakes (and there were not that many people at my party), I still ended up with just a few cupcakes leftover and tons of compliments.

As good as these were, it took a bit of tweaking the original recipe to produce the exact cupcakes I wanted. Instead of making chocolate cupcakes with chunks of cherries inside (I didn't like the idea of having chunky cupcakes) I decided to make plain chocolate cupcakes and soak them in cherry port wine sauce before frosting them. Next time, I also think I'll add more cream to the frosting recipe and double it because I ran out, and I hate skimping on frosting!

Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from Nosh With Me)
Yield: About 30 cupcakes (but I ended up with just 22 because I made enormous cupcakes)

Ingredients: 
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
 ½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions: 
1) Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350 F.
2) Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
3) Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
4) Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
5) Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Cherry and Port Wine Reduction Sauce (adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
1 cup port wine
¾ cup jarred Morello cherries (I couldn't find these so I just used jarred bing cherries)
Directions:
1) While the cupcakes are baking, simmer port and drained cherries in a saucepan for 5 to 10 minutes.
2) Using a toothpick, poke holes into each cupcake before carefully spooning port wine liquid over top.  3) Reserve cherries to use as decoration after frosting with Mascarpone Frosting.

Mascarpone Frosting (adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
8 oz. mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
½ - ¾ cup heavy cream
½ cup confectioners sugar
Directions:
1) Beat ingredients together at high speed for 2-3 minutes or until soft peaks form.
2) Spread on cupcakes and top with port wine soaked cherries.

Almond Lovers Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another of the cookies that my sister and I made on our marathon day of cookie making were these Almond Lovers Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I had wanted to try them for some time and even tried to make them for my co-op but unfortunately, we couldn't get any almond paste.  My guess is they don't sell it in bulk.  Fortunately, my sister found it at the grocery store and were able to make these tasty cookies, plus a batch of them for her to freeze.  In any case, I wanted to try them because I love almond flavored things, especially marzipan, which is essentially what the almond paste tastes like.  Tearing the almond paste into chunks, we added it to these cookies. They were very good, but perhaps not as almondy as I had hoped.  But, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try them.  I would still make them again, just with a few alterations to make them have a stronger almond flavor.  However, if you're alright with a very subtle almond flavor, make them as is without my following corrections.  Maybe next time I'll add more almond paste, or almond extract instead of vanilla extract.  I will also probably get some raw almonds and cut them into chunks to add to the cookies instead of the almond slices we had.

Almond Lovers Chocolate Chip Cookies (lightly adapted from Picky Palate) 

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients 
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 oz Odense Pure Almond Paste (package is 6 oz, can just be cut in half)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 oz bag chocolate chips
3/4 cup roughly chopped almonds

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) In a stand or electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until well combined, light and fluffy. Add the almond paste in pieces until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
3) In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.
4) Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just golden crisp on the outside. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the days I was visiting my sister in Georgia for Spring Break, we had a marathon cookie day. We made two different kinds of cookies and contemplated a third. The reason we decided to make so many was so my sister could freeze some dough for later. She's nine months pregnant now and due any day so likely, after her baby is born, she won't have much time for cookie making. But, with the frozen dough we made, she can just unfreeze and bake. In fact, cookie dough for just about any type of cookie (except madelines) can be frozen for between three to six months. What we ended up doing was separating the dough into equal portions, then we flattened it and wrapped it once in wax paper (so it wouldn't stick) and then wrapped it twice in plastic wrap. We then labeled the cookies with the name, date made, date good until, and baking instructions to make it super easy to just pull out a disk and bake up some cookies.

I thought her idea to do this was a pretty good one and I had some cookies in mind which I had been dying to bake. First on the list were Olive Oil Chocolate Chip cookies. While searching through food blogs some time ago, I somehow ran across this recipe and was really curious to try it. I was especially interested in these because they replace butter with olive oil, sounds healthier to me. As curious as I was though, I admit I was a bit wary about how these cookies would taste, especially when I was tasting the dough before baking. It had a slightly grassy flavor like the olive oil which my sister enjoys so much. At that point I sort of wished we had just used some plainer olive oil, like that “light in flavor” olive oil that I don't know why anyone would buy. However, I was pleasantly surprised when these cookies came out of the oven tasting nothing like olive oil. They were just like regular chocolate chip cookies, maybe even better. They were slightly puffy yet crunchy on the outside and pleasantly chewy on the inside. Perfect. I'll definitely be making these again. I say try them, besides, they're healthy for you!

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies (Lightly adapted from Culinary Couture)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda.
3) In a larger mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add olive oil and beat until completely mixed with eggs.
4) Add sugars, vanilla and mix until combined. Beat in dry ingredients slowly. Fold in chocolate chips, if using.
5) Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets using a tablespoon. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes until bottom of cookies are golden brown and the tops are pale blonde. Let stand for 2 minutes, then place on wire racks to cool.

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted a recipe!  Eek!  I guess I've just been super busy with finals for this quarter and searching for jobs.  The nice thing is, next quarter I should have more time for posts and I'm going to make a promise to myself to post at least once weekly.  Hopefully this post, which I finally had time for over Spring Break, (though I have the nagging feeling I should be applying for more jobs right now...) will be the start of my weekly posting promise.

I made this cake with the help of my brother-in-law Carlos, who suggested we use up the Meyer lemons he and my sister had just sitting in the fridge.  Knowing it was a tragedy to let them go to waste, we decided to put them to use to make this light yet rich cake which Carlos has made before.  You serve it in slices with heavy cream and top it with fresh berries.  The perfect and easy summery treat to go along with the recent warm weather!

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake (lightly adapted from Epicurious)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sugar, divided
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites

Whipping cream
Assorted fresh berries

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish.
2) Blend buttermilk, 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice, flour, butter, and salt in blender until smooth.
3) Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Gently fold buttermilk mixture into whites in 3 additions (batter will be runny). Pour batter into prepared dish.
4) Place dish in larger roasting pan. Then place dish and roasting pan in oven.  Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of dish.
5) Bake until entire top is evenly browned and cake moves very slightly in center but feels slightly springy to touch, about 45 minutes. Remove dish from roasting pan. Cool cake completely in baking dish on rack.
6) Refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours and up to 6 hours.
7) Spoon pudding cake out into shallow bowls. Pour cream around cake. Top with berries.

Nearly Flourless Chocolate Cake

It's been weeks since I made this cake, and I was meaning to put it up as an easy thing to make for Valentine's Day, (yes, that's how long I've been holding onto this gem) but unfortunately, life intervened.   I know, it has basically been forever since I last posted, but I guess it's for a good cause. Most of the time, instead of writing, I've been trying to get a job.  I still haven't gotten a job, but I'm working on it, and since I was so diligent this weekend (more or less) I've finally decided to let myself write this post.

I've made this cake a few times and I really like it because it's simple, it's nearly flourless, and it's super versatile.  And by versatile I mean that you can serve it in many different ways.  For instance, one time I made this I topped it with some lightly sweetened, homemade whipped cream (as the recipe suggests to). Another time, I filled in the dent in the middle with blackberry and raspberry jam.  This time, I made it for a house cook (I made four of them actually) and we topped them with homemade caramel, made by my co-cook, Juan Pablo.  I think I'll need to make it again with JP's recipe, because the caramel was absolutely to die for.  But actually, because there is quite a lot of butter in this and the caramel.  Oh well, still delicious and totally worth it if you ever need to quickly whip up a cake.

Nearly Flourless Chocolate Cake (recipe lightly adapted from Orangette)

Ingredients:
7 ounces (200 grams) best-quality dark chocolate
7 ounces (200 grams) unsalted butter (this recipe calls for European style butter so you could try it with that, but we didn't have any and it turned out just fine)
1 1/3 cup (250 grams) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 Tbs unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375ºF, and butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment, and butter the parchment too.
2) Finely chop the chocolate (a serrated bread knife does an outstanding job of this) or use high-quality chocolate chips, and melt it gently with the butter in a double boiler, stirring regularly to combine.
3) Add the sugar to the chocolate-butter mixture, stirring well, and set aside to cool for a few moments.
4) Then add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each addition, and then add the flour. The batter should be smooth and dark.
5) Pour batter into the buttered cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the center of the cake looks set and the top is shiny and a bit crackly-looking. (You’ll know it’s done when it jiggles only slightly, if at all.)
6) Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 10 minutes; then carefully turn the cake out of the pan and revert it, so that the crackly side is facing upward. Allow to cool completely. The cake will deflate slightly as it cools. (I used this little deflated part in the middle for raspberry or blackberry jam)
7) Serve in wedges at room temperature with a dollop lightly sweetened whipped cream, jam, caramel or any other fun topping.

Note: The recipe says that this cake is better the day after it's made so try making it the night before serving it.  That is, if you can stand to wait that long....

Chocolate Chambord Cupcakes

All this week I have been dying to bake.  A fact that I blame on my friend Dan and his cruel decision to send me this link on Tuesday night.  After all, how was I supposed to work after going through an endless page of cupcakes with names such as Coconut Rum Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting or Port Wine and Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting?  Swoon.  And please just tell me how I was supposed to continue working with the knowledge that we have chambord and Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Chambord Frosting were just waiting to be made.  

It was tough.  I needed a lot of self control to make it through the week without making these cupcakes. But Friday, I broke, and fortunately my friends, Dan and Micah, were willing to help me make these cupcakes which received so many compliments throughout my house.  The frosting was the best part though (In part, I think, because of how beautiful it looked as a result of my new frosting piping bags! Thank you Mamá).  I think I may swap out the cake next time since it was just so-so in my opinion, but my edits to the frosting definitely resulted in one of the most delicious frostings I've ever had.  The key was just extra cocoa powder instead of using the pound of confectioner's sugar it called for.  So, even if you don't make the cupcakes, make some kind of cake or something to spread this frosting on because it is so good.

Chocolate Chambord Cupcakes (lightly adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes)

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp berry jam
1 Tbsp Chambord liqueur

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350ºF
2) Mix flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl
3) In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy
4) Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and egg
5) Add milk and dry ingredients alternately while still mixing
6) Mix in jam and liqueur
7) Pour batter into lined cupcake pans, fill about ¾ full
8) Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out almost clean

Frosting Ingredients:
½ cup butter (1 stick)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup milk
1/8 cup Chambord liqueur

Directions:
1) In a saucepan or in the microwave soften the butter until almost melted
2) Using a hand mixer, mix in cocoa and confectioner's sugar
3) Add milk and vanilla and continue mixing on low speed
4) Add in Chambord and mix until frosting is smooth
5) Frost cupcakes and top with a dollop of jam (or fill cupcakes with jam before frosting).

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

Making dinner for forty people is always an ordeal and this first cook of the quarter, was no exception. It took some time but I think the result was pretty darn good based on the reviews we received afterwards. We ended up with reviews like “this was my favorite meal of the quarter so far” and “dinner tonight was awesome!” and “Your food is always so good!” I even got demands for this recipe. But it was a close one, dinner could have gone either way, especially after a couple of emails telling us we wouldn't be able to get all the ingredients we wanted (no asparagus, no zucchini, pine nuts were outrageously expensive, no tahini etc) So a change of plans was called for. The risotto recipe had to change, we added in caramelized butternut squash (I will never do that for forty people again, peeling and cutting butternut squash, not fun) and these cookies. I'd say we ended up with a pretty delicious meal which consisted of barley risotto with broccoli and hazelnuts, caramelized butternut squash, hummus, salad, and these chocolate chip shortbread cookies.

I learned how to make them from my godmother a while back and they've been my go to cookie every since. They are literally the easiest cookies you could ever make (okay, almost). You don't need a mixer, you only need a few ingredients, and they're pretty difficult to mess up. I made them in Spain with less than ideal ingredients (try a bar of 1 dollar grocery store chocolate) for my co-workers at my internship, and lets just say the reviews were awesome. My co-worker raving about them was enough to send over a co-worker from the office next door saying he and all his office mates were drooling over the description. With that and the simplicity of the cookies, I knew that I would be making these for my co-op sometime this year. So after the difficulty of getting ingredients for the cookies we wanted to make, I turned to this simple recipe. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies (credit to my godmother, Monica, for this recipe)

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened (226 gr de mantequilla)*
1 cup of confectioner's sugar (125 gr de azúcar glas)
1 teaspoon of vanilla (1 cucharadita de vainilla)
½ teaspoon of salt (½ cucharadita de sal)
2 ¼ cups of flour (225+ gr de harina)
1 cup of chocolate chips (175 gr de gotas de chocolate)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375°F/190ºC.
2) Simply using a wooden spoon, cream together butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3) Mix in flour then add chocolate chips. Note that you may need to use your hands to thoroughly combine this dough since it tends to be crumbly
4) Roll dough into 1 inch balls, place on a cookie sheet, and press down about halfway with a fork. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are just barely golden

*Note: This recipe comes with ingredient conversions from when I was baking in Spain.

Champagne Punch

Since it was the first weekend of the quarter we, naturally, had a progressive in our co-op to get to know our new housemates and catch up with old ones.  The theme this time was “Decades” meaning that each room had to represent a different decade.  My roommate and I decided to be the 1920's because we could dress like flappers and play classy music.  I also happened to have a flapper sort of dress and wanted to wear it, so we settled on that.  Seeing as it was a classy sort of era (aside from the bathtub gin and probably grimy speakeasies) we decided on a glamorous drink that was probably totally wrong for the age, Champagne Punch.

Regardless, the drink was still really good and we got tons of compliments on its deliciousness.  My roommate and I now think it will be our go to drink for any party.  The other great thing about it is that although it requires a lot of ingredients, it makes a lot of punch, and it can be made with cheap ingredients (cheap champagne, cheap pineapple juice, cheap chambord, on sale ginger ale, etc) and it still tastes really good!  But, if you want it to be super classy, you can use all the expensive versions of the ingredients it calls for.  It really is a very versatile and tasty drink.  One final note, the color is, well, probably not the most appetizing, so if it's worrysome to you, try adding a couple drops of red food coloring and you should have a nice punch color.  I think I'll try that next time...

Champagne Punch (lightly adapted from Gourmet)

Yield: about 16 cups or 12 servings

Ingredients: 
1 cup Triple Sec
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup Chambord (raspberry liquor)
2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1 quart chilled ginger ale
2 chilled 750-ml. bottles dry champagne

Directions: 
1) In a bowl combine the Triple Sec, the brandy, the Chambord and the pineapple juice and chill the mixture, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2) In a large punch bowl combine the Triple Sec mixture, the ginger ale, and the champagne and mix.
3) Serve over ice in classy glasses and enjoy!

Rum Balls (YUMMMMMM)

Okay, so I know that Christmas is over and I should have posted my recipes for Christmas cookies beforehand (trust me, I had plans to but...things got a bit busy) however, these are some of my favorites and I wanted to post the recipe.  Plus, I think these could be cookies for other times of the year.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

I learned a lot of things over this winter break.   One of them is that baby showers are a lot of work to do well.  Making cake balls added a bit to that difficulty.  It was my third, maybe fourth time making cake balls and I had never made them from scratch before.  That is to say, I had never made a cake with the intention of crumbling it to pieces to make cake balls.  But, I had told my sister I would do such a crazy thing and decorate them in either blue or pink, dependent on the sex of her baby.  As luck would have it, blue became the color to decorate in.  So I, in a moment of brilliance, decided that the cake inside the cake balls should also be blue. Blue velvet cake as a matter of fact, since I already had a recipe for red velvet cake.

And so I learned my second lesson of break, there are reasons why people make red velvet cake and not blue velvet cake. First off, they don't sell huge bottles of blue dye at the grocery store. They sell red, they sell green, they sell yellow in the large 2 oz bottles you need for red velvet cake. And finally, they sell black.  Not blue.  Black.   Ridiculous.  Who dyes frosting or cakes black? That's just unappetizing. So I had to settle for buying a second set of red, yellow, green, and blue dyes in .25 oz containers.  In all, I had maybe .5 oz to dye a large cake blue.  It was in this way that I learned why you don't really see many blue velvet cakes around.  As it would happen, chocolate wants to turn red, not blue.  It seems obvious, but really, I thought it would be easier to make blue velvet cake than it was.  I eventually got blue velvet cake by adding highly concentrated gel dye, but it was a darker blue than I was envisioning.

Oh well, you live, you learn and because they're delicious, people still eat your funny looking blue velvet cake balls.

*Red Velvet Cake (lightly adapted from eatfirst)
Ingredients
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 C buttermilk
1 oz red food coloring (I recommend sticking to just red!)
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 T distilled white vinegar
2 C all purpose flour
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t salt

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease an 11 x 7 inch pan.
2) In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, buttermilk, food coloring and vanilla. Stir in baking soda and vinegar.
3) Combine flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir into batter until just blended.  Spread evenly in pan.
4) Bake for 25-30 minutes.

*Even though I would highly recommend this red velvet cake for making cake balls, I'm not sure I'd make it to eat on its own, every time I've made it, it's taken forever to bake on the inside and almost burns on the outside. It's fine for cake balls though!

Cream Cheese Frosting (also from eatfirst)
Ingredients
16 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 C (1 stick) butter at room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
2 C sifted confectioners’ sugar

Directions
1) In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the cheese and butter until soft and smooth.
2) On low speed, beat in the vanilla and sugar, then beat on high speed for a few minutes until smooth.

Red Velvet Cake Balls (adapted from Bakerella)
Yield: 80 small or 60 large cake balls

Ingredients
One 11 x 7 inch red velvet cake (see above cake recipe)
16 oz of cream cheese frosting (see above frosting recipe)
24 oz of chocolate, separated (milk, white, or dark chocolate)
Parchment paper
Directions
1. Cool cake completely and crumble into a large bowl.
2. Add 16 oz of cream cheese frosting, or less if you want a more cake-like texture to the cake balls, and mix with the cake. You'll need to end up mixing it with your hands. Even though it's messy, it ensures the
3. Roll mixture into 1 inch balls, as though you're making meatballs, and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Chill for several hours in the refrigerator. Do not put them in the freezer or they will be too hard and may get frost on them, which is not good when it unthaws inside it's chocolate shell.
5. Using a double boiler, melt enough chocolate to dip 1/3 of the balls in chocolate, about a cup. Then, melt more chocolate for the rest of the chocolate balls. (I like to melt it in a few batches because the chocolate firms up pretty quickly and then it's difficult to work with)
6. With a spoon, roll balls of cake in melted chocolate and lay on cookie tray with parchment paper until firm.
7. Store in a plastic container and refrigerate up to a week.