#earecipes

[frommyedibleperspective]

Have to keep a memory of this link since my son loved it!

[frommyedibleperspective]

Weekly grind at home.

I promised my children that I will always make time to cook or bake whatever they want, every week. I’m too busy juggling work, taking the youngest to school, doing all the chores, cook each and every meals and on top of that I make a least one kind of cake or cookies or any pastry they want. 

Like any other week, I had to ask. And this time, they gave me the liberty to pick whatever I want. Nice! It’s been ages that I’ve been craving for Red Velvet cake, or cupcake. :-) I’m not sure with you, but I have this mentality that we eat more when we eat a slice of cake rather than a cupcake. 

I went on looking for my cupcake liner and unfortunately, I couldn’t find it and all I found were the tart/pie liners I used recently for my Portuguese egg tarts. Since we’re to consume the cupcakes at home, I think the pie liners would do.

I’m sharing the recipe below in case you’d like to try it yourself. My sons said it’s soooo good. 

What should we do next week? Ube cupcakes, perhaps?

RED VELVET CUPCAKES 

Makes 12-14 cupcakes

Bake for 25-31 mins at 350°F

¾  c melted butter

1 whole egg

¾  cup white sugar

2 tablespoons red liquid food coloring

3/4 c cream (all-purpose or heavy)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 ¼  cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

½ baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Cool the melted butter. Set aside. In a bowl, mix white sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Add melted butter, egg, and liquid food coloring. Mix well. For this recipe, mixing by hand is fine, but if you do use a mixer, be gentle and avoid overmixing.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 cup (225g) cream cheese

¼  cup salted butter

¼ c powdered sugar

Soften cream cheese and butter. Using a mixer, cream the butter first, then add cream cheese. Sieve the powdered sugar before adding it to the cream cheese mixture. Blend well until well combined. Pipe on cupcake/cake

I use my rosette tip for this. You can use either a Wilton 1M or a Wilton 2D

[frommyedibleperspective]

Happy Birthday, my Love. 

My youngest celebrated his 5th birthday last week and also his first time to celebrate at school since he’s now in Kindergarten. 

We had a countdown starting from “25 more sleeps to my birthday, Mom” to “1 more sleep and I’m 5, Mom”. He’s always been a simple kid. Happy with simple toys and treats. At a young age, he knows that Mom has to work hard so we can live a decent yet frugal life. I’m thankful that I don’t need to explain many times that we have to live within our means. Goes the same for my eldest, who knows that we live on a budget and we cant exceed unless there’s a need to. Thank you,Lord for my children.

Going back, my youngest, on the eve of his birthday, wanted to wait for midnight just so he can say it’s already his birthday. It’s nothing extra but come midnight I got a cupcake and lit a candle on it and sang the birthday song for him. Oh my, he was overjoyed with that small gesture, something that he might forget later on, but to me, it’s a core memory I will hold in my heart forever. His eyes are shining so brightly and said “thank you.Mom” and gave me a big hug like as if it’s my birthday.

The next day, he went to school with the chocolate chip cookies I made for his classmates and the chocolate cake I also made for him (upon his request). He said he wants to bring the cake I make at home and share it with his classmates. We topped it with a planets-and-astronauts themed decor.

So yea, here’s the Moist Chocolate Cake recipe again. I have to put it here for future reference too. :-) 

Cake: 

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp iodized salt

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup corn oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon coffee powder

1 tablespoon plain white vinegar

2 cups room temp water

Frosting: 

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups dark chocolate, chopped

1/8 cup salted butter

In a bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix oil, egg and water then add to the dry ingredients. Mix everything together and add the vinegar and mix well.

Preheat oven to 180C for 15 minutes and  bake for around 45 minutes until firm. Cool first before frosting.

For the frosting, you can make this ahead of time since we need to chill it for a while so it can be pipe-able.  Boil the cream. once boiling, turn off the heat and add the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate and butter. Mix well. Chill for 4 hours or even up to overnight.

Once the frosting is ready to use, use a mixer to blend the frosting before putting in a piping bag. Use this to frost your cake.

Sharing his cake below. Not the best looking as we were really superrrr pressed for time. No excuses, but I also had to make about 150++ cookies and pack them. All these within a 15-hour window. Whoa!

Still glad with the results coz my son was the happiest that day. He even told me “Mom, you’re the best. You even made me a cake and cookies for my classmates”. That really melted my heart so much. 

I love you, Anak. 

[frommyedibleperspective]

Life lately.

My team finally got the chance to meet up for lunch to celebrate our first work anniversary.  Working with SD went by so fast from Day 1. Maybe that’s how we feel when we have an awesome relationship with  our co-workers. 

I have been wanting to try doing the Portuguese Egg Tarts as requested by my boss. He even asked one of my co-workers to bring home the egg tarts from Bakehouse in HK. That’s for me to taste and try replicating it. My boss really thinks high of my baking skills, which I humbly disagree with. LOL

I tried to check on each and every egg tart recipe online and I wanted to know the base of the recipe is aside from eggs. Came across about 4-5 recipes with good reviews but nothing, not one says that it has cream cheese on it. In my head, I was really thinking that there was cream cheese in the Bakehouse tarts.

So yea, while I took note of all the recipes, I also did my own R&D (wow, that sounded very professional. Lol) and came up with my own just in time to bring to my SD team. In case you wanna try it, I’m putting the recipe below, also the forgetful me told me to write the recipe somewhere that I can see anytime. 

By the way, the pie crust recipe I used for this is the same one I used for my Peach Mango Pie. Here’s the filling recipe.

Portuguese Egg Tart filling:

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

1 cup cream cheese, softened

6 egg yolks

1/2 c plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Preheat your oven to 425-450F for about 15-20 mins.

In a bowl, cream the cheese, add the eggs, heavy cream, eggs and the rest of the ingredients mix well. Pour over your pie crust and bake for around 20 mins or until the top is kind of blackened, not burnt.

Sounds easy, yea? Not so. But definitely worth a try. :-)

By the way, it came out well. My teammates loved it. I also brought some for my parent friends at school liked it too. The cream cheese really hit the spot in this recipe.

[frommyedibleperspective]

Peach Mango Pie FTW

I was never a big fan of Jollibee’s Peach Mango Pie until much later when I got older. Now, I appreciate it so much that I can eat it up to three times a week. Lol.

Coincidentally, my youngest son’s lesson in his Religion is about St. Augustine. I think there was a mention about peached being thrown at him somewhere and my son was so fascinated how a peach looks like. One afternoon after his class, I told him we can try making a copy cat of the Jollibee Peach Mango pie (Yum!) .

Since it’s been a while since I last made pie (Choco pie, that is) I had to search for a good pastry recipe. I checked a few online and tried reading the comments. Good thing I found a very easy All-Butter Pastry from https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/. (Visit the site for more foolproof recipes. Soooo good!)

Sharing the recipe below  so in case you wanna try it.  Also, it can be good recipe we can use also for our pot pies and other pastries.

I included the tips shared also from the same website. 

Only 5 Ingredients in Butter Pie Crust

Flour – The structure of pie crust.

Salt – Flavor flavor flavor. Use table salt instead of coarse salt. Smaller salt crystals dissolve and disperse more evenly throughout the dough.

Granulated Sugar – Pie crust should not be sweet, but adding a little sugar to butter pie crust improves its flavor and enhances browning. The sugar crystals also help break down the hard pieces of butter.

Cold unsalted butter – Supplies the pie crust’s unbeatable flavor and flaky texture. Use unsalted butter. The amount of salt in different brands’ salted butter varies, so for better control over the flavor, it’s best to begin with unsalted and add your salt.

Ice water – The final ingredient, about 1/2 cup of ice cold water holds all the ingredients together. Use just enough so the dough holds its shape when rolling out. Many pie crust recipes don’t call for enough ice water, giving you a dry pie dough that cracks when you roll it out. When in doubt, add a little more water. You’re better off with more water (wet pie dough) than not enough water (dry, cracking pie dough) because you can always work more flour into the dough, but you can’t really add water to the pie dough when you’re trying to roll it out.

** I skipped half the salt though since I used salted butter, which is a kitchen staple here at home.

TEMPERATURE MATTERS: COLD VS. WARM PIE DOUGH

- Warm dough = greasy disaster. The butter melts before baking, resulting in a hard, crunchy, and greasy crust.

- Cold dough = flaky perfection. The butter melts in the oven, creating steam that separates the crust into flaky layers. The colder the dough, the flakier the crust.

In short, keeping your pie dough cold is crucial for achieving a tender, flaky crust.

Keeping Pie Dough Cold: Tips and Tricks

To ensure a flaky crust, follow these chilling steps:

1. Ice-cold water - Mix 1 cup of water with ice, then use only 1/2 cup for the recipe.

2. Cold butter - Store butter in the freezer and thaw partially in the fridge before use.

3. Chill the dough - Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling out - this step is crucial!

4. Extra chill - Consider chilling your flour and mixing bowl too - it makes a difference!

By keeping everything cold, you'll be on your way to a perfectly flaky pie crust.

I copied the instructions as written on the recipe. :-) 

Ingredients

2 and 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed (Spooned and leveled)

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

1/2 cup (120ml) ice water, plus more as needed

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter on top.

Using a pastry cutter, food processor, or two forks (pastry cutter is ideal, see post above), cut the butter into the dry ingredients until all flour is coated. You’re looking for pea-sized bits of flour-coated butter. A few larger bits of butter are OK

Measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water in a cup. Add ice. Stir it around. From that, measure 1/2 cup (120ml) of water since the ice has melted a bit. Drizzle the cold water in, 2 Tablespoons (30ml) at a time, and stir after each addition. Stop adding water when the dough comes together easily and begins to form large clumps. The dough will feel moist and slightly sticky, but not overly wet. Do not add more water than necessary. I always use about 1/2 cup (120ml) of ice water

Place pie dough on a lightly floured work surface. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour is fully incorporated into the fats. Form it into a ball. Divide the dough in half. Using your hands, flatten each half into a 1-inch thick disc.

Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days before using in a pie recipe.

When rolling out the chilled pie dough discs, use gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the center of the disc and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands between rolls. Smooth out the edges if you notice cracks. Keeping your work surface, rolling pin, and hands lightly floured makes rolling out easier.

Proceed with the pie per your recipe’s instructions.

Once set on a pie pan, wipe with egg wash on top. Pre heat your oven to 350C and bake for  about 20-30 mins.

Ohhh, and here’s my baked pie. My sons said it was yum and even better than Jollibee! 

[frommyedibleperspective]

Today was tiresome

Early riser today - perimenopause or my body clock had other plans! Made breakfast for my little one (chicken nuggets and rice, his favorite). Luckily, it's an asynchronous day, so no school rush.

I baked a Carrot-Pecan cake for a friend's birthday and delivered it in person. Sharing the recipe below in case you'd like to try it.

We spent the afternoon catching up, despite me feeling sluggish and tired.

Oh, and I had a parallel conversation with my son's dad all day - more on that later.

So yea, here's my Carrot-Pecan cake. It's a crowd favorite. :-)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 cup nuts of your choice plus ½ c additional  ( walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans)

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups, carrots, grated

⅓ cup non-fat milk

Mix dry ingredients and nuts.

In another bowl, whisk oil, eggs, and milk.

Combine wet and dry ingredients (use a mixer for easier blending).

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a baking pan and pour in batter.

Bake 40-50 minutes, checking periodically.

Cool on a rack while preparing frosting.

Cream cheese frosting:

¼ cup butter softened

¾ cup cream cheese, softened

½ cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.

Add vanilla and salt, mixing well.

Gradually add powdered sugar on low speed until fully incorporated.

Frost the cooled cake and sprinkle the remaining nuts around.

Tip:

For a smooth frosting, make sure your cream cheese and butter are softened before mixing. If you plan to pipe the frosting, sift the powdered sugar to avoid clogs.