best dessert: May 2010

Chocolate Blinis

For May's Chocolate With Francois challenge, Linda at Diva Weigh selected Chocolate Blinis. Traditionally, blinis are made with yeast and are served with caviar and sour cream, but in this case, they are leavened with whipped egg whites, and are definitely more sweet than savoury. Essentially, these are light, fluffy little pancakes, that are incredibly chocolatey.

The batter came together

Piece Montée -also known as Croquembouche

Even the name sounds yummy.... cro-kemmmmmmm-booooooooshhhhh.

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri. I was super excited when I this month's challenge, for a bunch of reasons...

I won't have to make anyone

Nutella Biscotti

Growing up, Sis and I were probably considered luckier than most kids. You see, when Mom went grocery shopping and bought cereal, she always allowed my sister and I to each choose one box of the "good" cereal. You know, like Froot Loops, Lucky Charms, Franken-Berry, Count Chocula, or the mouth-shreddingly good, Cap'n Crunch.

Even today, my sister is a total and complete cereal addict. To

The Fastest Dessert You WIll Ever Make

Recently, I received a flattering invite from the fabulous Mardi at Eat.Live.Travel.Write., asking me to join in the fun for Hay Hay its Donna Day. Denise at ChezUs, who organizes this monthly challenge group) announced Mardi had won April's HHDD event, and therefore gets to host May's challenge, and she selected Blackberry Cheesecake Pots. It wasn't a hard decision to join in the fun - I love

Banana-Apricot Hemp Smoothie

Creamy banana apricot smoothie recipe that is dairy free and vegan

Frosty banana apricot smoothie with hemp milk.

It's been a week of bland soft foods. I've dubbed this week the No Pointy Foods Diet. Mashed potatoes. Creamy rice. Squash puree. No nuts, seeds, or chips. No crunch. No snap. No spices. Talk about not sexy. Suddenly, I'm the Goddess of Bland. Slurping tiny bites of baby food.

Lucky for me, bananas are doable. Especially if they're frozen and whipped into a frothy silky smoothie.

Read more + get the recipe >>

My "When Harry Met Sally" Cake

Harry: "The first time we met, we hated each other"Sally: "No, you didn't hate me, I hated you. The second time we met, you didn't even remember me."Harry: "I did too! I remembered you. The third time we met, we became friends"Sally: "We were friends for a long time"Harry: "And then we weren't"Sally: "And then we fell in love. Three months later, we got married"Harry: "Ya, it only took three

Refreshing Drink - Strawberry Lemonade

This is not a pure traditional Thai beverage, I almost alcohol drinking and everytime need refreshing drink like this in the morning and this is something new for me and I just try and I love it! This Strawberry Lemonade very tasty and extremely easy drink to make it. Just stir together lemonade and frozen strawberries! I have to thank you Emeril Lagasse where I get this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
2 cups cold sparkling water or club soda
Ice
Mint sprigs, garnish
Whole strawberries, garnish

How to do:

In a medium saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.
Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir, and remove from the heat.
Let cool completely, then strain into a clean pitcher.
In a blender, puree the pint of strawberries and add to the pitcher with the lemon juice.
Stir well to combine and refrigerate until well chilled.
Add the sparkling water and stir well.
Pour over glasses filled with ice and serve, garnished with mint and strawberries.

Thai Bubble Tea

There are many variations to making a bubble tea (or boba tea as it is sometimes called). It can be iced or frozen. I prefer mine iced, and I absolutely love the original Thai flavorings, although you can get anything from strawberry to lychee fruit. Or you can buy this drink in China Town or at a mall kiosk. Tastes just as good!

Ingredients:

3 ½ cup water
1/3 cup Thai tea mixture
1 scoop bubble tea sugar syrup
2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp tapioca Pearls

How to do:

To make the tea just heat the water to boiling, then using four layers of cheese cloth as a filter, pour the water through the tea four times or until the tea reaches the right color.
To make the tapioca pearls is starting by boil water in a large pot, adding in the tapioca pearls.
The tapioca pearls should float in the water while boiling for about 25 minutes with the cover on.
Turn the heat off and let the tapioca sit in the water for 25 minutes. Rinse the cooked tapioca pearls in warm water and drain.
Then combine everything by mix together the Thai tea, bubble tea sugar syrup and sweetened condensed milk and shake until little bubbles form on the top of the drink.
Add bubble tea tapioca pearls to a 16 oz. cup, and pour your drink over.

Gut Instinct

Gut Instinct

Nine days in the hospital. This is what a monkey gut can do. Nagging, for years, with its hot little protests and complaints. You blame gluten, or milk, or a parade of assorted culprits, from chili peppers to chai. And while these offenders may indeed play a part in the long burning dance of your life with food, a new realization begins to poke its way into existence.

Your brain has a twin.

And it lives in your gut. The Second Brain.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Brioche... My Nemesis. Part II

Since my less-than-stellar attempt to make brioche a couple of weekends ago, I have moved on to a couple of other more successful recipes. I soothed my bruised ego with a batch of good ol' back-to-basics Chocolate Chip Cookies, put together a pretty decent Bread Pudding from the least disastrous batch of brioche, and padded down memory lane with some paw-printed Macarons for my May Mactweets

Big Red Macarons

It's that time again.. MacTweets Challenge Time! I have to admit, with April being little more than a blur to me, the date for our monthly macaron bake-off completely snuck up on me.

This month's challenge was a bit of a thinker for me; "MacTell Me A Story! Storybook Macarons". I really had a tough time wrapping my brain around this one, until this morning. Waking up early to roll out and

Salvaging Mediocre Brioche

April showers bring May flowers, but I don't know what the hell April snowstorms bring... misery perhaps? An incredibly strong urge to head for the airport, passport and credit card in hand? Ok, so technically it's May now, but that doesn't make a spring snowfall any more welcoming. In just 24 hours, I went from wearing sandals & enjoying a coffee in the morning sun, to shoveling my car out

Recipes for a Vegan Cinco de Mayo

Gluten-free vegan guac with tomatillos and lime #guac #vegan #glutenfree

Best guac ever. Gluten-free and vegan.

In the spirit of fiesta, I thought I would gather some of my favorite New Mexican inspired vegan recipes to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Because if you're looking for a carnitas recipe, or how to stuff a spicy beef burrito, there are food blogs galore that feature carne autentico. Just browse Food Blog Search.

But if you're a vegetarian, or a gluten-free vegan, have I got some recipes for you, Babycakes.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Curried Carrot Soup with Pan Toasted Cornbread Croutons

Curried Carrot Soup with Pan Toasted Cornbread Croutons

Easy carrot soup topped with cornbread croutons.

Comfort in a Bowl

What I love about slow cookers? The obvious. It's a no-brainer. (Such an odd expression. I mean, if I had no brain would I care about soup?) Wait. Are zombies no-brainers? If so, I can relate. Totally. I've been feeling zombie-ish again, assaulted by the second wave of pollinating hostile trees here in my hip little hamlet of Santa Monica by the sea. Excuse me while I honk.

The dreaded oak. My nemesis.

In spite of hopeful neti pot usage I am brainless once again. Shambling. Screwing up paintings. Too tipsy for kettle-bells (I visualize my zombie-pitiful grip during a swing, letting the kettlebell fly out my fifth floor apartment window like a missile and knocking out some poor soul in the street below; if you read about a kettle-bell incident in the news, I swear I'm innocent).

And craving comfort food in a big way.

That is, easy comfort food. Not complicated comfort food. Who wants to stand at a stove right before dinnertime, chopping and stirring and simmering, when you can chop and toss in the morning and let a Crockpot do the work for you? Zip. Boom. Bonjour! The slow cooker must have been invented by a woman, right? Or maybe a zombie who had better things to do than sauté.

Free time. It's a gift.

Ask any zombie.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Brioche... My Nemesis. Part I

Baking inspiration is all around me, and every where I look these days, I'm being inspired to make brioche. Magazines, menus, blogs... I can take a hint - brioche is begging to be made! So, after a less than spectacular day where anything and everything seemed to go awry, I came home and set about making some delicious, rich, buttery bread for hubby and I to enjoy in the morning. I admit, it