Delights & Deliciousness

INGREDIENTS

3 Cups Milk

2/3 Cup Sugar

3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Cornstarch

1 Cup Chopped Oreos

DIRERCTIONS

1. Bring 2 cups of milk to a simmer, or until you see steam rise from the sauce pan.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and 1 cup of milk until combined.

3. When the milk is steaming, pour chocolate mixture into the sauce pan. Mix constantly until it starts to thicken and boil.

4. Remove from heat, and pour through a sieve into a large bowl. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap making sure it touches the mixture to prevent a skin from forming.

5. Chill for 4 - 5 hours. Assemble your ice cream maker, pour in your mixture and turn it on stir.

6. Stir for 30 minutes, and add any mix-ins after 20 minutes of mixing.

(Source: delightsanddeliciousness)

Homemade gelato. Who knew it could be so easy? I actually wouldn’t have stumbled upon this recipe/idea if I didn’t have an abundance of heavy whipping cream I didn’t know what to do with. Ever have that problem? You buy an entire carton for a recipe and end up with 3/4 of a carton leftover. I spent an afternoon thinking of ways to use my leftover heavy cream other than making all sorts of whipped cream. So I did what I always do and turned to Google, and it directed me toward ice cream. Of course!!! Who needs to buy ice cream when you can just make it?! My mom had bought me an ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid and had been hinting at me to make some ice cream ever since, =). In my search I found a pretty simple recipe with just 4 ingredients! Unfortunately this didn’t call for heavy whipping cream, but I’m sure my next batch will include some in place of milk, :9.
I was so excited for my very first batch of homemade gelato that I blew up instagram with all my pictures of each stage, and stood watching the mixture churn for the entire half hour, lol. I also found an extra sleeve of Oreos in my pantry, so I chopped some up and mixed it in. It turned out fantastic!! This is definitely going to be a keeper. I already put my attachment back in the freezer for my next round of homemade gelato, =).

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups  All Purpose Flour

7 tsp  Sugar

1 Tbsp  Orange Zest

2 tsp  Baking Powder

1/4 tsp  Baking Soda

1/2 tsp  Salt

1/3 Cup  Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed

3 oz.  Cream Cheese, cubed

1  Cup  Dried Cranberries

1/3 Cup  Orange Juice (fresh squeezed or store bought)

Orange sections from half an orange

1/4 Cup  Lowfat Buttermilk

1 Large  Egg

1 Tbsp  Milk

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine cranberries and orange juice and set aside.

2. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, orange zest, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Cut butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Add buttermilk and egg to the cranberries, then pour all into the flour mixture.  Mix until combined and a soft dough forms.

4. Preheat oven at 400 degrees.

5. On a lightly floured surface, gently knead the dough 8 - 10 times.  Form a circle and cut into 12 small wedges.  Separate wedges and fold in a few cubes of cream cheese.

6. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush with milk and bake for 13 - 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

7. For the icing:  Combine 1 Tbsp orange juice with 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar and drizzle on top of cooled scones.  To  make it thicker, just add more sugar.

(Source: delightsanddeliciousness)

When life gives you 4 pounds of oranges….you make cranberry orange scones!

I was walking through Trader Joes one day, ok I wasn’t even in the store yet, and this sign caught my eye.  It said, “4lb. bag of oranges 2.99/bag”.  Umm, who can resist something like that!  Later at home, reality set in and I thought, “what am I gonna do with all these oranges?”  I sure as heck cannot eat that many oranges by myself.  So, I summoned my baking palate and figured out the best way to utilize these juicy fruits…Scones =)

I found a fairly easy recipe online, and added a few touches of my own.  I increased the amount of orange juice in the recipe and soaked the cranberries in it before mixing it into the flour.  I also sectioned out a handful of orange slices so I could get some fresh bites into the scone.  To give it something more, I cubed up cream cheese and folded it into each triangle.  These changes turned out fresh, moist and simply delicious cranberry orange cream cheese scones, ^^.

CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

INGREDIENTS

3 1/2 Cups All-purpose Flour, sifted

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature

8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature

3 Cups Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

6 Eggs, room temperature

1 Cup Milk, room temperature

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and line (with parchment paper) two 9 x 5 loaf pans, or one 9 x 13 cake pan.

2. Sift flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Using a mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar for about 5 minutes until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

4. Add vanilla and milk, mix until combined.

5. Add flour mixture and mix until completely combined.

6. Pour into greased and lined pans.  Bake for about 60 minutes or until done.

7. Once cooled, cut into two layers (should be about 1 inch thick).  Then frost with Chocolate Cream (recipe follows).

CHOCOLATE CREAM

INGREDIENTS

1 Stick Unsalted Butter, softened

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Tbsp All-purpose Flour

1 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 oz Dark Chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

DIRECTIONS

1. In a microwave safe bowl, add the dark chocolate.  Heat in microwave at 30 second intervals, mixing between each 30 seconds until smooth.  Place on the side to cool

2. In a saucepan, whisk milk, flour and cocoa powder until there are no lumps.

3. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil.  Continue whisking until mixture thickens into a paste.  Remove from heat and place in the refrigerator to cool.

3.  In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and glossy.  Add the cooled flour mixture, vanilla and melted chocolate and beat for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

4. Evenly spread chocolate cream over the cake, then place in the freezer.  Once set, use a warm butter knife to make the top of the chocolate cream as flat as possible.

5. Using a clean ruler, measure the cake and cut into 1 x 1 inch squares.  Cover with plastic wrap and place back in the freezer.

POURED FONDANT

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Water

1/4 Cup Corn Syrup

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan, heat sugar, water and corn syrup to the soft-ball stage (around 235 degrees F) on your candy thermometer.

2. Pour into the food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Wash your candy thermometer well and reinsert into the syrup.  Let the syrup cool in the processor about 30 minutes or until it reaches 140 degrees F. Remove the thermometer.

3. Add any coloring or flavoring and process 2 to 3 minutes, until the syrup completely converts from a glassy syrup to an opaque paste.

4. Pour into a work bowl and you are ready to dip your petit fours!

DIPPING PETIT FOURS

There’s really no right or wrong way to dip your petit fours, but if you have candy dipping tools, use them!  Things will get messy real quick so make sure you line your counter top with parchment paper before you place your dipped petit fours on the cooling rack, =).

(Source: delightsanddeliciousness)

Recently I decided to take my baking to the next level and challenge myself with making petit fours.  Let me tell you…it is no easy feat!  It involves a lot of mixing, layering, measuring, dipping, and not to mention patience.  The end product is definitely worth all of the work put in, but this will probably be a first and last attempt for me, :P.  However, if you have tons of patience and like to get your hand dirty, definitely try this recipe!  You’ll feel super accomplished once all of the one-inch delights have settled into beautiful bits of deliciousness, ^^.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg Yellow Cake Mix

3/4 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

1 tsp Lemon Extract

3 Eggs, separated

1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar

Lemon Curd

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl beat together cake mix, water, oil, lemon extract and egg yolks until smooth.

2. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites till foamy.  Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form.

3. Pour egg whites into the bowl with the cake mix mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.  Careful not to deflate the egg whites.

4. Pour batter evenly into 2 round greased and floured 8-inch pans lined with parchment paper (grease parchment paper as well).

5.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched.

6. Cool completely.  Spread a thin layer of lemon curd over the first layer and spread lemon whipped cream on top of the curd.  Place the second cake layer on top and repeat.

7. Crush up a handful of Nilla Wafers and dust your cake.

Lemon Whipped Cream

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/4 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar

1/2 tsp Lemon Extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Pour heavy whipping and lemon extract into a large bowl.  Begin whipping and slowly add confectioner’s sugar.  Continue to whip until stiff peaks form.

(Source: delightsanddeliciousness)

It was my grandma’s birthday the other day, but I wasn’t home to celebrate with the family, =(.  So, on her birthday weekend I decided to do something special and bake her a cake.  I know she doesn’t care for chocolate (except See’s candy, lol) or anything really sweet, so I figured I would make a lemon crunch cake.  In Aiea, at the Alley restaurant, they have an amazing Lemon Crunch Cake.  I was attempting to mimic it, but I didn’t want to make the toffee crumble coating.  However, without something dusted on the frosting, it just looks too plain.  My quick and easy solution to that was crushed Nilla wafers, ^^.  They made the perfect substitution!  Even though it wasn’t crunchy it had a great vanilla flavor that enhanced the lemon in the cake.

(Source: delightsanddeliciousness)

Let’s talk semi homemade.  When you’re in a hurry to make dinner for your family but want something that still tastes fresh, reach for some pre-made pizza dough and your favorite toppings.  The awesome thing about pizza is that the dough is a perfect vessel for any medley of your favorite veggies, meats, cheese and sauce.  My favorite is a Pesto Chicken Pizza.

I rolled out my pizza dough with a tablespoon of dried Italian herbs and smothered it with garlic and pesto sauce.  I used my food processor to slice up some zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes and tossed it on my pizza with baby spinach and slices of oven roasted chicken.  To finish off the toppings I piled on a bunch of good ol’ shredded mozzarella cheese.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes, or until the crust is crunchy and the cheese is melted.

(Source: delightsanddeliciousness)

Since I’m on a role with easy recipes, let’s talk bananas, =).  If you’re craving a healthy snack that’s absolutely delicious, toss a couple slices of whole grain bread into your toaster and slice up some apple bananas.  You can use whatever peanut butter you have on hand for your Honey and Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich, but I think crunchy peanut butter gives it something extra.  Once the toast is finished all you have to do is assemble.  Spread your peanut butter on one slice, top it with the apple bananas, drizzle on some organic honey and place the second toast on top.  And you’re finished!  How easy was that to make a great-tasting, healthy meal? =)