The hot weather had inspired me to make ice cream with my 3 year old twins, and the flavor I was craving was "dreamsicle". Orange and cream!
Surprisingly, there are many variations of the recipe. I picked a simple and straight forward one:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/OrangeIceCream.html
Tons of fat, but nothing too scary. The resulting orange ice cream was tasty enough, but I think I want to find another recipe with more "wow"!
Just found these:
1) This seems promising: http://cookingwithmichele.com/2011/07/beating-the-heat-creamsicle-ice-cream/
2) Hmmmm sweet condensed milk! http://www.ohsweetjoy.com/2012/07/i-scream-you-scream-series-dreamsicle.html
Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Friday, August 12, 2011
Creamy Mexican Pudding
I came across this recipe from Cooks Illustrated when I was making the beef stew. In general I love "Mexican Chocolate" anything.
The recipe involved many ingredients but was very easy to make. Two things I did differently: 1)I accidentally used semi sweet chocolate instead of bitter sweet, 2) I didn't strain the pudding before chilling because it was already 11pm at night.
The pudding turned out rich and spicy but I think it would have been even better had I used the right chocolate. I guess I need to do this again soon!
The recipe involved many ingredients but was very easy to make. Two things I did differently: 1)I accidentally used semi sweet chocolate instead of bitter sweet, 2) I didn't strain the pudding before chilling because it was already 11pm at night.
The pudding turned out rich and spicy but I think it would have been even better had I used the right chocolate. I guess I need to do this again soon!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Ginger Oatmeal Cookies
It was a decision between chocolate chip oatmeal and ginger oatmeal cookies. It should have been a no-brainer, but the ginger one was picked because the husband is on a weight loss challenge and I don't really give my little girls chocolates.
The recipe came from the Cooks Illustrated and there were several variations of the oatmeal cookies. All of my tasters liked the cookies which were rich in ginger flavor and had a good texture of crispy on the outside and chewy in the center. To me, it seemed to lack something, like raisins. Maybe I should try to chocolate chip oatmeal recipe next time.
The recipe came from the Cooks Illustrated and there were several variations of the oatmeal cookies. All of my tasters liked the cookies which were rich in ginger flavor and had a good texture of crispy on the outside and chewy in the center. To me, it seemed to lack something, like raisins. Maybe I should try to chocolate chip oatmeal recipe next time.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Carrot (Cup) Cake
As much as I bake, I have never made carrot cakes before. This time I had way too many carrots in my fridge so I decided to try the "simple" rather than "light" carrot cake recipe from Cooks Illustrated.
Shredding carrots with a food processor was a breeze, and I liked it even better that I got to use the same bowl for making the cake. The recipe called for a metal 13x9 baking pan, which I don't have, so I made cupcakes instead. The cooking time was about 23-26 minutes.
The cupcakes were popular, with or without the frosting. I personally thought it was alright. The texture was lighter and fluffier than I expected, but the flavor was kind of one dimensional. It was tasty but not quite a "wow" piece.
Shredding carrots with a food processor was a breeze, and I liked it even better that I got to use the same bowl for making the cake. The recipe called for a metal 13x9 baking pan, which I don't have, so I made cupcakes instead. The cooking time was about 23-26 minutes.
The cupcakes were popular, with or without the frosting. I personally thought it was alright. The texture was lighter and fluffier than I expected, but the flavor was kind of one dimensional. It was tasty but not quite a "wow" piece.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Taro Tapioca
Asian desserts are very different from American/European/Western desserts. The traditional ones do not have chocolates or cream and they are unlikely to be in cake, tart or pie form. My favorite types of Asian desserts usually involve beans or rice flour and are not too sweet.
Tapioca in the form of little pearls is one of the most popular Asian dessert ingredients. These little balls easily go with coconut milk and any sort of sweet soup made of beans, starchy roots or fruits. In the past two decades a gigantic form of tapioca pearls has been used in non-carbonated beverages called the Bubble Tea, Pearl Tea or Boba Tea. It is extremely time consuming to make these huge tapioca balls well. Too much cooking will turn these chewy delights into slime, and too little cooking will leave an unpleasant chalky center. The proper way of cooking these gigantic pearls is to cook and wait and repeat.
I live only 7 minutes away from a fantastic boba tea shop, so I have absolutely no motivation to make gigantic tapioca pearls in my own kitchen. For this post here, I am talking about the little ones that show up in delightful sweet soups.
Since I have no reliable source of recipes for Asian food (such as a Cooks Illustrated for Asian Food), I looked at several websites and cookbooks. There was one recipe in Joy of Cooking that recommended soaking the pearls in milk overnight. Other Asian sources suggested to soak for some amount of time, cook, wait and dunk in iced water. These pearls definitely should be cooked independently from the "sweet part" of the dessert preparation.
So far this is what worked for me: I soaked the small tapioca pearls in cold water for an hour. Then I drained and dropped them into boiling water and cooked them until they were semi-transparent, about 5 minutes with lots of stirring. After the heat was turned off, I kept the hot tapioca covered and sitting in the pot for 10 minutes or until all the tapioca pearls turned clear.
For the taro soup, I simply cooked 1-inch taro chunks in boiling water until they turned soft, about 5-8 minutes. Then I sweetened the soup with plain granulated sugar and pureed everything. Pearls were then added to the pureed soup and were served warm or cold. The taro tapioca soup is very tasty the way it is, but coconut milk can be added. I don't see the point for additional fat calories though.
Tapioca in the form of little pearls is one of the most popular Asian dessert ingredients. These little balls easily go with coconut milk and any sort of sweet soup made of beans, starchy roots or fruits. In the past two decades a gigantic form of tapioca pearls has been used in non-carbonated beverages called the Bubble Tea, Pearl Tea or Boba Tea. It is extremely time consuming to make these huge tapioca balls well. Too much cooking will turn these chewy delights into slime, and too little cooking will leave an unpleasant chalky center. The proper way of cooking these gigantic pearls is to cook and wait and repeat.
I live only 7 minutes away from a fantastic boba tea shop, so I have absolutely no motivation to make gigantic tapioca pearls in my own kitchen. For this post here, I am talking about the little ones that show up in delightful sweet soups.
Since I have no reliable source of recipes for Asian food (such as a Cooks Illustrated for Asian Food), I looked at several websites and cookbooks. There was one recipe in Joy of Cooking that recommended soaking the pearls in milk overnight. Other Asian sources suggested to soak for some amount of time, cook, wait and dunk in iced water. These pearls definitely should be cooked independently from the "sweet part" of the dessert preparation.
So far this is what worked for me: I soaked the small tapioca pearls in cold water for an hour. Then I drained and dropped them into boiling water and cooked them until they were semi-transparent, about 5 minutes with lots of stirring. After the heat was turned off, I kept the hot tapioca covered and sitting in the pot for 10 minutes or until all the tapioca pearls turned clear.
For the taro soup, I simply cooked 1-inch taro chunks in boiling water until they turned soft, about 5-8 minutes. Then I sweetened the soup with plain granulated sugar and pureed everything. Pearls were then added to the pureed soup and were served warm or cold. The taro tapioca soup is very tasty the way it is, but coconut milk can be added. I don't see the point for additional fat calories though.
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