alfajores dulce de leche

One Sunday, a few friends and myself went to Hugo’s for brunch. It’s not TexMex that’s for sure, but it’s more “authentic” Mexican cuisine. Don’t kill the messenger for calling it authentic. It’s simply what the owner states on their website. ^_^ Anyways, for a nice $30 price tag, we got our Sunday brunch buffet. The food was amazing, but what really got me was the dessert. One of the dessert items were these little cookies called alfajores. Mini butter/shortbread cookies filled with dulce de leche and covered with powdered sugar. I, of course, had to find a recipe for them and make them. Here is attempt one.

I got the alfajores recipe from Nook & Pantry:

• 1 to 1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 c. corn starch
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 stick of butter (room temp)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Dulce de leche (recipe to follow)
• Powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. In another bowl whisk together the flour (starting with 1 cup), cornstarch, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

Add the egg and vanilla to the butter and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat until the dough comes together. Add some of the remaining 1/4 C of flour if the dough is too wet.

Roll out the dough to about 1/8 in thickness and cut into whatever shape you desire. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown. Cool on a rack and fill with a teaspoon or more of dulce de leche (I chose more). Dust the tops with some powdered sugar.

Dulce de Leche from David Lebovitz:

Preheat the oven to 425° F (220° C).
Pour one can (400 gr/14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish. Stir in a few flecks of sea salt.
Set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie plate.
Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. (Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary).
Once the Dulce de Leche is nicely browned and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, whisk until smooth.
Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Warm gently in a warm water bath or microwave oven before using.

Attempt number 2 was on Thanksgiving.  I did not have enough time to make the dulce de leche, so I used Nutella instead. I honestly thought it was 10x better than with the dulce de leche…but in my books chocolate hazelnut > caramel. hehe Either way, delicious!

Happy Holidays to all!!

-chelle

white velvet butter cupcakes

So many moons ago, or so it seems, I made red velvet cupcakes. I now present you with white velvet butter cupcakes! I’ve been making the white velvet butter cake, but decided on cupcakes this time around. The cupcake recipe is from The Cake Bible, and the buttercream recipe is from Gale Gand, although I used hers only as a guide. I had to change it a bit to make it perfect for the cupcakes.

White Velvet Butter Cupcakes:

• 4 liquid oz. of egg whites (I’ve found that 3 large eggs cover it, but you might need a 4th depending on your egg)
• 1 c. milk (1/4th cup for now and 3/4th cups for later)
• 2 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c. sifted cake flour (please use cake flour and not all purpose, I promise it’s better that way)
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter softened

Preheat oven to 350F and fill cupcake trays with cupcake wrappers (I managed to make about 30 cupcakes with this recipe). In a medium bowl, combine egg whites, vanilla and 1/4 cup milk.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix together to blend. Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high if using a hand mixer) for 1.5 minutes. Then add the egg, vanilla and milk mixture in three equal parts, beating for 20 seconds between additions.

Pour the batter into cupcake wrappers. Try to fill each wrapper with an equal amount of batter. I used a 1/4 cup measure and it yielded about 30 cupcakes, all about the same size. Each cupcake wrapper will be about 1/2-3/4  full. Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes. Do the toothpick test for “done-ness”. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• 2 1/2 to 3 c. confectioner’s sugar (aka powdered sugar)
• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter softened
• 4 to 5 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tbsp. vanilla

In a mixer with the whisk attachment, mix together the butter and 1 c. of confectioner’s sugar and 2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream. Mix on med until mixture is blended n light. Add another cup of confectioner’s sugar and another cup of heavy whipping cream. Mix again until ingredients are combined and frosting is fluffy. On the last round, add 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar and 2 tsp. vanilla. Mix again on med/high until frosting is light and fluffy. Taste your frosting. If it’s not sweet enough, add 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar. If it’s not creamy enough, add another tbsp. of heavy whipping cream.

I added food coloring to my frosting, so I’ve got neon green, although they look more like pastel green and hot pink cupcakes. Colors and piping is what I’ll need to work on next ^__^

A bit of advice: If you’ve never tasted the white velvet butter cake/cupcake, I can tell you its flavor is already on the sweet side and does not need alot of added sweetness in it’s icing. If I could serve just the cupcake alone, I would, but it’s just not as pretty. hehe.  Just keep that in mind when sweetening your buttercream.

Til next time!

-chelle

amy’s ice creams

On the corner of Shepherd and 59 lies Amy’s Ice Creams (http://www.amysicecreams.com/). You’ll see the cow sitting atop the shop with neon red lights. This lovely ice cream shop has been there for years and I can say I’ve only been a handful of times because, until recently, I lived too far. Based in Austin, the location off of Shepherd is the only location in Houston. Thanks to Miss Emmarose’s mention of it in a comment, I craved it and managed to convince a friend to come with and buy me some this Saturday night. Thanks Joseph ^__^ I am now a happy camper.

There’s a variety of flavors to choose from and the menu will often change as all ice creams are home made. Now, while you can pick and choose your ice cream flavors and toppings, they have some ice cream concoctions that are already pre-set. One such example would be the Cookie Monster. Your choice of ice cream with 3 different types of cookies mixed in.

Amy’s carries non-fat non-sugar yogurts, smoothies, fruit ices, etc. I have yet to venture from the ice cream, but I’ve been told the fruit ices are pretty delicious. Well, I’m sure the guy making the Cookie Monster was wondering why in the world I was taking photos of him smushing cookies into ice cream, and if he ever reads this he’ll stop and say, “Ahhh…that’s why…”. Tonight, I decided on sweet cream ice cream, with bananas and topped with hot fudge. Why not get a banana split you say? Because Amy’s says I don’t have to be like everyone else and get a banana split. I can get it mushed. And Marie had the rose ice cream. It actually tasted quite rosy.

Amy’s is fun and the decor is bright and even has a brick wall where people have left there mark at Amy’s with their permanent markers. It makes me wonder why so many people walk around with markers in their possession. Go. Get some ice cream. Go to Amy’s. They’re open late on weekends. =D

–chelle

treebeard’s butter cake

There’s this restaurant in town called Treebeard’s (http://www.treebeards.com) and I tend to go there for Friday lunch with the coworkers, because Friday is pot roast day. Oh yes, their pot roast is spectacular, but that’s not what this post is about. Today is about their butter cake. It’s a sweet lil moist piece of heaven that I get every time I go. So I search online and found the recipe. This is my 3rd attempt at this recipe and I think I’m finally happy with it.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Pillsbury yellow cake mix (the one with pudding in the mix)
• 1 stick of butter (melted)
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. of vanilla
• 1 8oz. package of cream cheese (softened)
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp. white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix the yellow cake mix with 1 egg and the melted butter. You should mix until it has a dough like consistency.

In a 9×13 rectangle baking pan, grease the pan with butter and sprinkle the white sugar around. I say 1tsp of white sugar, but make sure it’s enough to thinly cover the bottom of the pan. Place the mixture in the pan and flatten, being sure to distribute the “dough” evenly.

In another bowl, add the softened cream cheese, vanilla, and start off with 1 egg. Mix on medium speed until all ingredients are incorporated. Add 1 cup of confectioners sugar and mix again until smooth. Add another egg and another cup of confectioners sugar, mix until smooth and repeat one more time with the last egg and last cup of confectioners sugar

Pour mixture over flattened “dough” in pan. Place in the oven and bake anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven. When removed, the top should be a light brown and look a little flaky. Also, the middle should look like it sunk in. Let cool, cut and enjoy!

It felt really good to bake again.

–Chelle

Clafoutis or Flognarde (blackberry and coconut milk)

According to wikipedia, clafoutis is made with cherries, while ones made with other fruits; are called ‘flognarde’. It’s supposed to be something in between a cake and custard. I tried using a Donna Hay recipe for Plum Clafoutis but I had only two eggs (called for three), no heavy cream and blackberries instead of plums. So with two eggs and a can of coconut milk I manage to make something clafouti-like; it’s on the creamy custard side but still holds it’s shape (not runny).

Blackberry Coconut Clafoutis (or Flognarde)

• 1 can (14oz) coconut milk (full fat)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 pint blackberries (fresh or frozen)
• organic shortening or butter for greasing pan
• sugar to coat pan

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix everything (except blackberries) till smooth. Grease a pan (I used an 8in square glass dish, but a large oval baking dish would be prettier), add about 2 tablespoons of sugar to the dish and swirl it around to coat. Pour batter into dish, and stud with blackberries. Bake for 40-45min till top is browned.

        Fresh organic blackberries aren’t on sale yet, and frozen ones work great here.

-L

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I was in a cupcake mood this weekend. I wasn’t in the mood to eat them, just make them. As you can see, I did take a bite out of that one above. I looked on foodtv.com and found Paula Deen’s red velvet cupcake recipe.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. cocoa powder (the recipe called for 1 tsp., but I remember someone saying that there was no distinct taste to red velvet cakes and so I added more cocoa powder for flavor and it helped)
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1 c. buttermilk, room temperature
• 1.5 tubes of red gel food coloring (apparently, I can only find the gel food coloring at the grocery now and for the redness, I needed 1.5 tubes. use 2 tbsp. if you can find the liquid food coloring still)
• 1 tsp. white distilled vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cream cheese icing

• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened (it wouldn’t be a Paula Deen recipe without the butter)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 c. confectioners sugar, sifted
• sprinkles, pecans, choco chips, strawberries or whatever else you’d like to garnish the cupcakes with

*Note: If you’re not a fan of tons of icing, you might want to cut this recipe in half. I had a little leftover, but the kids wanted tons of icing. Someone commented and said it was much more than what they needed, so I figure I’d put that info. here.*

Procedure

• Prehead oven to 350 degrees farenheit
• In one bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt together
• In another bowl, mix the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar & vanilla on med to low speed
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth & well combined
• Pour batter into cupcake paper/pan and fill each about 2/3
• Bake in oven for 20-22 min. turning the pans once at the halfway mark. Test cupcakes with toothpick to see if done.
• Remove from oven and completely cool before frosting

Cream Cheese Icing

• In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. It helps if you’ve got an electric mixer. Add the confectioners sugar and continue to mix on low speed. When the sugar is incorporated, change the mixer speed to high and mix until light & fluffy

Add your toppings and then it’s all ready to eat. ^__^ It was fun making them, but it took a long time. My first 12 cupcakes were more like pink velvet rather than red because I didn’t use enough food coloring. If you’re pressed for time, I’d say stick with the Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix and then make your own icing. heh.

–Chelle

simply simple cheesecake

I picked this as my first baking task because it’s very simple to make. Make sure you add the exact amount of ingredients and mix everything thoroughly. All of my suitemates love it because it’s not too sweet like the ones you get from bakeries. (Trust me, they are super picky when it comes to cheesecakes.)

Ingredients

• 8oz Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1 1/2 tsp (about 1.3oz) butter
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 can condensed milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp lime juice (optional)
• 1 ready pie crust (9.5in)

Procedure

• Mix butter and cream cheese in bowl for about 5~10 minutes
• Add 2 tsp of sugar and mix
• Add 1/2 can of condensed milk and beat until smooth
• Add two eggs, one at a time, and mix thoroughly
• Add 1 tsp of vanilla (optional: and a little lime juice if you don’t want it to be too sweet) and mix
• Preheat oven to 350ºF
• Place the cake mixture into the ready pie crust
• Put the whole pie into the oven and bake it at 350ºF for 40 minutes
• Refrigerate the cake overnight or until it holds its shape

By Nats;  college student, cranky resident of NYC. She enjoys traveling, cooking, gaming, and surfing youtube at 3am in the morning. Also, she has a special interest on drop bear koalas <3.

The Chocolate Bar

No, not a bar of chocolate, but a bar for chocolate. I first visited The Chocolate Bar ( 1835 W Alabama St., Houston, TX 77098) a few years ago when a friend of mine mentioned it to me. Since that one time, I have absolutely loved the place and take anyone who hasn’t been there yet. So, when an out of town friend told me she liked chocolate, I thought what better place to go than The Chocolate Bar.

This place has its own chocolate shop adjacent to the “bar” area where you can find an assortment of chocolates, from seasonal designs to your chocolate covered bon bons. But, I must say my favorite area is the bar area. The walls are a bold purple, adorned with candy inspired movie type posters and randomly placed disco balls hanging from the ceiling. There’s plenty of seating, although it doesn’t seem like plenty on a busy Friday night.

So since we were full from dinner, we decided to share a slice of cake. Do you see how gigantic that happy slice of heaven is? Do you see the bottle of milk behind it? You’ll surely need it to get through your decadent dessert. We decided on a slice of Uncle Darryll’s chocolate cake. This moist, 4 layer chocolate cake had the richest, yet lightest chocolate filling. It was covered with what seems like a chocolate ganache and then topped with toffee bits. It was fantastic. Between the two of us, we still couldn’t finish it.

Besides their different varieties of cakes, they also serve their own home made ice cream. I’ve had it in the past, and I think the one I’ve deemed my favorite is the one with white and dark chocolate bits in it. It was just all sorts of yum, and if it wasn’t so chilly, I probably would have had some tonight. I have yet to try everything on their menu, but one of these days I will. There is also fresh brewed coffee and a killer hot chocolate. The staff has always been friendly and helpful and my trips have always been pleasant. I believe the desserts are moderately and reasonably priced, anywhere from $6.95 and $9.95, for the portion of cake/pie you get. Others may disagree, but I have no problem throwing down for some good old chocolate cake.

The Chocolate Bar is a place “Where every hour is happy hour” (yups, that’s their motto). It truly is. Sitting there and enjoying good chocolatey desserts and good company makes a cold Friday night feel remarkably warm.

–Chelle

Té House of Tea

Té House of Tea (http://www.tehouseoftea.com/ 1927 Fairview St. Houston, TX 77019) is snuggled between Montrose & Shepherd, right on the corner of Woodhead & Fairview. The ambience is very mellow, and I noticed that the second we walked in today, with the soft reggae playing over the speakers. There’s a butterfly hanging from the ceiling, photos (for sale) hanging decoratively along the walls, and the cutest tea pots/sets/cups displayed throughout the cafe. The seats are comfy and the whole place gives off this cozy vibe.

It’s definitely a place I’d go to on a relaxing Saturday morning or afternoon for some tea. However, as I learned today, it’s not somewhere I’d go for my quick one hour lunch from work. This place is really just somewhere you go and meet friends, have a good talk, share a crepe (or get your own, because those things are DELICIOUS). I had eyed the menu before heading over there, and decided on the roasted chicken & brie panini, which comes with a salad, all for the lovely price of $5.95. I did not know there was going to be cranberry sauce on my panini. I’m not a cranberry sauce kind of girl, so my friend was kind enough to share her margherita panini with me (pictured above). It was divine. The fresh tomato, melted mozarella, and basil served on a perfectly herbed foccacia bread really hit the spot. OH!! The salad was great too. I’m not sure what type of vinaigrette they used, but I really liked it.

I should have gotten tea, but didn’t this time. I wanted to be able to enjoy it, and not be in a rush to finish it. My friend did get a small pot of their Strawberry Fields Green Tea. She’s not a tea drinker, so it really wasn’t her cup of tea. It did smell fabulous, though.

So I leave yall on a happy note. The highlight of my meal was the crepe with chocolate spread, topped with fresh strawberries, whip cream and powdered sugar (see below). It was like a taste bud orgasm. You can choose from a variety of spreads and fresh fruits. That crepe was certainly the best I’ve had. I’m definitely going back for more.

–Chelle

we all scream for…yogurt?

Honestly, the only frozen yogurt I’d ever known was TCBY, which I love, but I never really considered it a healthy alternative, because it tasted way too good to be healthy. ha! So tonight, I was driving to the Edwards Cinema off Weslayan & 59, and I saw a sign for berripop frozen yogurt (http://www.berripop.com/index.html). You’ll find it right off the corner of Richmond & Weslayan, in the little center between Chipotle & Collina’s Italian Cafe. Mind you, it’s about 37 degrees outside, and for Houston, that’s kind of chilly. Something frozen wasn’t going to warm me up, but this place looked interesting, so I asked my friend if we could check it out before the movie started. By the way, and so off topic, but 27 Dresses was a really cute movie.

Anyways, it’s a cute frozen yogurt shop with bright green walls, sunshine yellow tables and a variety of frozen yogurts that change daily. The menu seems pretty basic, choose the size you’d like, the type of frozen yogurt you want (pictured above is the original tart), and as many toppings as you’d like, for $.85 a topping. Hey, you even get a deal. Buy 2 toppings and get the third free. There are tons of toppings to choose from..from breakfast cereal like Cap n Crunch to fresh fruits to an assortment of nuts. I chose fresh strawberries and mangos for my first try.

The frozen yogurt tasted more like what frozen yogurt should taste like. The original tart was really light and, as the name states, just a little tart. I totally wanted to try the breakfast foods, but I opted for the fruits and it was fantastic. I enjoyed the fact that eating the tasty dessert didn’t make me feel fat afterwards. Nutritional info is even posted up in the store. 1 oz. frozen yogurt = 24.5 calories. How fantastic is that? They also serve what they call their “Berri Snow”, which is shaved ice topped with the frozen yogurt of choice and then toppings. Then they have a smoothie, too.

I’ll definitely have to take everyone else there. It’s so close to work, and I think this will satisfy my sweet tooth enough. Plus, it’s healthy. Well, healthier than my normal cheesecake ice cream w/oreos mixed in from Marble Slab. ha! Woo for healthy!!

-Chelle