Sunday, August 28, 2011

my first RED VELVET with CREAM CHEESE frosting

A red velvet cake is a cake with a dark red, bright red or red-brown color. It is usually prepared as a layer cake with either a vanilla or chocolate flavor, topped with a creamy white icing. The reddish-brown color of the cake originally was from a reaction of the cocoa powder with an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk, however red food coloring is often added especially if the cake does not contain chocolate.

I made my own RED VELVET CUPCAKES in a hint of chocolate flavor
with CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

 
Ingredients
1 ¼ cup of all Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder
½ tsp of Baking Powder
½ tsp of Baking Soda
¼ tsp of Salt
¼ cup of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
¾ cup of Granulated sugar
¾ cup of Buttermilk
1 Egg
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
Red food Coloring
For the frosting,
2 Cups of Powdered Sugar
4 oz of Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
1 Tbsp of Milk
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract


- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a muffin pan with cup cake liners and set aside.
- In a small bowl mix together the first 5 ingredients and set aside
-In the other bowl , cream together the sugar and butter, add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined and creamy.
- With the mixer running on low, add half of the dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk, make sure its combined and add the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk making sure to combine everything together but not over mixing.
- Using a spatula mix the batter from the bottom to make sure nothing is left stuck to the side of the bowl, add enough food coloring to get the desired red color for your cupcakes.
- Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop the batter evenly in your prepared pan and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until when you insert a toothpick in the center it comes out clean.Let the cupcakes cool completely. 

-To make the frosting 
- simply put all the frosting ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until well combined and it has the consistency of a thick frosting.Frost the cupcakes either with a little spatula or using a disposable piping bag fitted with a plain large tip.
- Let cool in the fridge for about 10 to 15 minutes to set a little before serving (if you can resist them anyway) 

  bake for 18 to 22 minutes in 350 degrees




ENJOY! :)


source: http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/arch/red_velvet_cupcake.html

my homemade MILK TEA


 MY HOMEMADE MILK TEA

 Ingredients:
3 Cloves
3 Peppercorns
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 Star Anise
6 Cardamom Pods
2 Slices of Ginger
2 Bags of Black Tea
 1 cup Milk
Sugar
 Procedure:

-In a saucepan, heat 1 cup water over medium-high heat.
-Place 3 whole cloves, 3 whole black peppercorns, 6 cardamom pods, 1 small cinnamon stick, 1 piece star anise, 2 to 4 thin slices of ginger, and 2 bags black tea into the pan.
-Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let steep for about 5 to 7 minutes. 
-Add 1 cup milk and stir. Heat again briefly.
-Remove tea bags and strain the spices.  
-Add sugar to your liking.



-Serve hot or chilled 
 
Enjoy!




source: http://www.yummy.ph/yummy-lessons/cooking/details/how-to-make-chai-latte

Thursday, August 25, 2011

MINI TACOS

 MINI TACOS


 taquito shells
ground beef
ground pork
taco seasoning mix
lettuce
salsa
shredded cheese
hot sauce

-cook beef in skillet until browned
-drain off fat
-stir in taco seasoning mix
-add beef mixture into taquito shells
-top with salsa , lettuce and shredded cheese
-add hot sauce if desire


Saturday, August 20, 2011

FLEUR DE LYS Patisserie

 FLEUR DE LYS
a heavenly dessert place owned by pastry chef Jackie Ang Po


 They also serve coffee, healing soups and salad, some sandwiches (grilled paninis with your choice of filling and a side of potato chips) ,  pasta creations, waffle wonders (vanilla belgian style waffle with pearl sugar) ,and ofcourse the manifold comforting surprises; the sweets and cakes. :)

 PAVLOVA PICASSO

Strawberry walnut meringue with cream and fresh fruits. A feast for your sense!


 BEST KEPT C-CRET
a light chiffon cake with 3 layers of cream filling 

The yellow on top is the yema custard, the middle is the caramel , the brown part on the bottom is the chocolate, and almonds slivers on the side.
 Not too sweet, its more on the cream side.

DULCE AND GABANANA
Fresh banana tart with chocolate dulce de leche filling on gingersnap crust. Topped with whipped cream, caramel and chocolate syrups.
 I just liked the cream on top with the caramel an chocolate syrups, it has the right amount of sweetness but didn't like the tinge ginger flavoring in the crust.


 Jackie Ang-Po's best sellers are 
Dulce & Gabanana tart , Pavlova Picasso , Best Kept C-cret,  
 The Next Big Thing(a warm chocolate cake filled with caramel and served with  a scoop of French vanilla ice cream. Chocolate melts in your mouth)
Strawberry Pie (Fresh strawberries, chocolate ganache and cream all in one pie!)


Fleur de Lys
F.L.P Bldg.
305 Tomas Morato Ave., Q.C., beside Belo Medical Clinic.
+632-372-0631

Thursday, August 18, 2011

HELL PIZZA , New Zealand

HELL PIZZA








 Pizza is perfect with a side of churros 

 


Churros ($4.00)
 The Spanish Donut - 32 inch broken into 6 manageable pieces - served with chocolate sauce.


 PIZZA:
Lust
Venison Pepperoni, Salami, Ham, Bacon & Cabanossi, Lashed With Your Choice Of Sauce. e.g, BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Smokey BBQ or Tomato .

Greed
Double Ham, Double Pineapple & Double Cheese.

Envy
Salami, Ham, Bacon, Onions, Mushrooms, Pineapple & Bacon.

Wrath
Venison Pepperoni, Onion, Capsicum, Tomatoes, Chilli. Optional: Kalamata Olives, Jalapeno Peppers & Anchovies.

Pride
Onions, Mushrooms, Capsicum, Tomatoes and Pineapple. Optional: Kalamata Olives, Garlic, Feta and Jalapeno Peppers.

Sloth
Tuna, Onions, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Garlic Mayo and Lemon Pepper.

Gluttony
Onion, Garlic, Salami, Ham, Mushroom, Pineapple, Capsicum, Tomato, Bacon, Black Pepper.

Pandemonium
Chicken, Cranberry sauce and Camembert.

Grimm
Apricot Sauce, Chicken, Pine Nuts, Spring Onions, Cream Cheese & Rosemary.

Mayhem
Peanut Satay, Sweet Chilli, Chicken, Capsicum & Onions.

Trouble
Salami, Onions, Bacon, Pineapple, Chicken & Camembert.

Brimstone
Avocado, Onions, Salsa, Tomatoes, Cajun Chicken & Sour Cream.

Mischief
Cabanossi, Chicken, Onions, Garlic, Chilli, Tomatoes, Cajun Herbs & Capsicum. Optional: Kalamata Olives.

Cursed
Honey Mustard, Ham, Onions, Gherkins, Chicken, Bacon & Smoked Cheddar.

Mordor
Smokey BBQ Sauce, Venison Pepperoni, Chicken, Onions, Capsicum & Bacon.

Purgatory
Onions, Garlic, Mushrooms, Sundried Tomatoes, Fresh Spinach & Feta. Optional: Kalamata Olives.

Limbo
Blue Cheese, Mushrooms, Caramelised Onions & Tomatoes. Optional: Kalamata Olives.

Damned
Onions, Mushrooms, Fresh Spinach, Cashews, Avocado, Pineapple, Sundried Tomatoes & Camembert.

Sinister (Vegan)
Refried Beans, Avocado, Onions, Salsa, Tomatoes, Jalapeno Peppers & Capsicum. Comes Without Cheese.

Serpent
Smoked Salmon, Spring Onion & Cream Cheese. Optional: Capers, Avocado.

Underworld
Smoked Mussels, Calamari, Shrimps, Onion Garlic and Lemon Pepper. Optional: Tomatoes or Seafood Sauce.

A Snack Pizza With 1 Topping For Your Little Devil.

A Snack Pizza With 1 Topping and a Kids' Drink For Your Little Devil

CreatorCreate Your Own Masterpiece: Up To 8 Toppings
 

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

CHEWY JUNIOR "you gotta love it"

 CHEWY JUNIOR
the cream puff that you gotta love!

  Chewy Junior is home of freshly baked cream puffs, yes! baked, not fried, that makes this to result a healthier baked good. It's not an ordinary or typical cream puff that you can find anywhere, but these puffs were just to die for!
and the uniquness is Chewy Junior has It's crispy on the outside, yet soft and chewy on the inside pastry.


 from top to right:
Blueberry Cream Cheese , Cheese Lover, Cookies and Cream
  Chocolate Almond Crunch,  Cheese Lover again, Strawberry Cream Cheese
 Almond Sweetheart, Chewy Original, Cheese Lover again ofcourse!
 I have tried all the flavors and they are all good, 
but the Cheese Lover and the Sweetheart Almond are the best! :)

 They have two general varieties of fillings, the vanilla cream and chocolate cream.
Try it and I'm sure you gotta love these cream puffs.
 Chewy Junior has branched out from Singapore to Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam with pioneer outlets set to open in the United Kingdom and the Middle East.


Chewy Junior (Philippines) offers the following flavors here:

Chocolate Almond Crunch
Chocolate Madness
Cookies and Cream
 Peanut Butter Crunch
Coffee Raisin Crunch
Almond Sweetheart
 Chewy Ensaymada
Blueberry Cream Cheese
 Strawberry Cream Cheese
Apple Cream Cheese
 Apple Delight
 Cheese Lover
 Sugar Pop Crunch
 Chewy Original

 Strawberry cream cheese  and Apple cream cheese
Chewy Ensaymada and Almond Sweetheart

Try it yourself as Chewy Junior is now here in Philippines!
You can find Chewy Jr. in Manila ; Trinoma, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, Greenbelt and Cebu; SM Cebu

Chewy Junior will launch 11 new sweet flavors, 4 savoury flavours and the new Chewy Jr Mini Puffs soon, so watch out for it. :)

Monday, August 15, 2011

MY HOMEMADE PANIZZA

 I just made my own panizza at home, using puff pastry sheets for the crust, topped with lots of cheeses, bacon, onion, bell peppers.

 Panizza 
- a very thin pizza sliced diagonally and rolled up with some Alfalfa sprouts and Arugula leaves ,
It's similar to Yellow Cab's dear darla and Uncle Cheffy's panizza.

 you have to top the baked pizza with some alfalfa sprouts and arugula leaves before you roll it up and eat :)
 

 
 The Arugula leaves has a "peppery-mustardy" flavor, or has a little bitter taste.
If you can't find any arugula leaves you can substitute it with any other green leaves vegetable.
 

The mixture of all the ingredients is just PERFECT! :)


Thursday, August 11, 2011

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA

 CHICKEN PARMIGIANA
chicken breast layered with some cheese and tomato sauce.
It can be baked or not, but
this chicken parmigiana I made was not baked, I just fried the chicken
and  while the tomato sauce is still hot, I layered it with cheese, 
so it will easily melt on top and no need to oven it.


 Ingredients:
Tomato Sauce:
Onion
Garlic
Crushed Tomatoes in can
Salt
Pepper

 Heat oil in a cooking pan on medium heat, 
saute onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes
add the crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil, reduce heat 
and simmer for minutes add salt and pepper to taste.

 Chicken breast fillet
Egg
Flour
Japanese breadcrumbs
Salt
 Pepper


 any kind of cheese will do
 but it will be good if you use soft cheese or easy melting cheese like mozzarella 
 in this recipe I used colby cheese, processed cheese, brie and mozarella.

 Procedure:
 Season the chicken with salt , dredge in the flour, dip in beaten egg
then lastly dredge in breadcrumbs then fry in heated oil until golden brown.


Put sliced cheese on top of the fried chicken breast.
 layer it with tomato sauce
 add more cheese on top
 let the cheese melt ,
then serve and enjoy.

 I love making this for dinner, and it is best served with pasta on side or rice and some green veggies.