Dec 20, 2011

Baking 101: Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

My hibernation from the blogsphere stopped when Christmas songs are constantly playing everywhere. I realized that I have not posted anything since August.  My workload is preventing me from posting and cooking! Haha! Seriously, It was simply "no time to cook and experiment". Though there were days that I cooked, but was to tired to write about it. 

Since it's almost Christmas, I forced myself to cook...er bake. Every year, I am giving my office friends my homebaked goodies. This time, I whipped a new found recipe, which i am loving to the max, Dulce de Leche cupcakes. 

I can say that this cupcake is very close to us Pinoys. When you taste this, you'll be reminded of our favorite pinoy candy...the infamous yema.

To make this cupcake, you have to make Dulce de Leche by simmering a can of condensed milk over low fire for 2 hours. But I found out that when you simmer a can of milk, there's a tendency for it to explode. So, what I did is cooked it the yema way - opened the can, poured in a pan and simmer while continuously whisking it to prevent the bottom from burning. The problem was, I overcooked the poor milk and still did not achieve the dark golden color of Dulce. The milk became close to solid hehehe. So to make it thin and pourable again, I placed them under low fire and added water and continuously mixed them until the hardened milk melted, then the dark golden color was also achieved.

The dulce de leche was added to the buttercream and made the tast of the cing milky-caramel-y. Wondering if it's too sweet? All I can say is that it complemented well with the cake (the cake itself is not too sweet).

The cake? I don't know how to describe it, but it's dense ala pound cake, but soft. You know what I mean? And I really enjoyed eating the cuppies.  

   

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes
makes about 27 regular sized cupcakes

Cupcakes
3 cups All purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used the regular pour and drink milk)

For the Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
8oz cream cheese
3/4 cups dulce de leche, plus more for topping
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups confectioners sugar

Dulce de Leche
2 cans of regular size condensed milk

Instructions

1. Prepare dulce de leche. Pour the milk in a saucepan and continuously mix it ove low fire until thickened but still pourable. Set aside then cool. You can prepare this a day before you bake the cupcakes.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

3. In a bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and powder and salt. Set aside.

4. In another bowl, using a mixer (or a beater, if you have powerful arms) beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

5. Add 1 egg at a time, beating them for 1 minute after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.

6. Add half of the flour mixture and slowly mixed them until incorporated. Add the milk. Add the rest of the flour mixture, then mix them until just combined.

7. Pour the batter into cupcake pans, about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean.

8. Cool the cupcakes in a wire rack completely before frosting. 

Frosting

1. Place butter in a bowl and beat using a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and dulce de leche and beat them together until smooth. Add the salt. Add the powdered sugar in batches, mixing well after each addition. 

2. Pipe the frosting or generously smear them onto the cooled cupcakes.
3. Drizzle or pop a small dollop of dulce de leche on top of the frosting.

Why not share this with your friends and love ones this Christmas?

Merry Christmas everyone! Love y'all!!!




Aug 11, 2011

Easy Peasy Beef Enchilada

Enchilada is made from tortilla dipped in spicy tomato sauce and stuffed with your choice of meat. A popular Mexican dish, the term enchilada means dipped in chili.

Because of the popularity, there are so many versions of enchiladas nowadays, depending on the preference of the cook.

Well, my version is a non-traditional enchilada, because it is not spicy. My husband is not into spicy food, so I omitted the chilis.

But nevertheless, this dish turned out to be a cheesy, flavorful and wonderful version. This might be a pinoy version of enchilada, since I added a bit sugar into it.

Here are the recipes for the beef filling and tomato sauce. You can make (approximately) 3-4 enchiladas.

Beef filling
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium size onion, chopped
250g. ground beef
salt
pepper
half a teaspoon of dried basil

1. Saute garlic and onion, add the meat. When the meat is no longer pink, season with salt, pepper and herb. When the liquid has evaporated, turn off the fire and set aside.

Tomato Sauce
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium size onion
1 can of dice tomato
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
salt
pepper
about a teaspoon of sugar to remove the acidity of the tomatoes (or more if you want it sweeter)
chili flakes / chili powder (this is a must! but i omitted it)

1. Saute garlic and onion. Add the tomatoes. Season with dried herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer until the mixture reduced in half. Add the sugar.

To assemble you will need the following:
a pack of corn tortilla, but I used flour tortilla.
beef filling
tomato sauce
quickmelt cheese, grated
parmesan cheese, optional.

The picture below is the process on how to prepare the enchiladas.


We loved them much!!! 

Aug 7, 2011

Baking 101: Fudgy Revel Bars

My world stopped. There is no turning back, I can smell the aroma...the warmth...I am so into it...so addicting. I found myself slowly and gently biting it. Then felt the sudden burst of that warm and sticky-gooey filling. So delicate and sweet and...CUT!!!

Now that's food porn! hahaha!!!

That is exactly what I felt when I ate my homemade revel bars. Revel bars include chocolate and oats...it's like sinner or saint! Junk yet healthy food.





Whatever it is, this recipe is worth a try. Some said, these are best eaten cold, but I still go for the warm revel bars. 

Here's the recipe. This recipe is good for two 8x11 pans or 48 bars.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 tsps. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 can condensed milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

1. Set aside 2 tbsps of the butter. Beat the remaining butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add the eggs and 1 tsp vanilla and beat again.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and the baking soda. Add the oats and mix until well combined.
3. In a saucepan, over low heat, melt the chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons butter and condensed milk.  Add the remaining vanilla. Remove from heat then set aside.
Assembly
1. Set aside a quarter of the oat batter mixture. Divide the 3/4 part of the mixture into two, then gently press in the 2 pans. 
2. Generously spread the chocolate filling on top.
3. Course crumble the remaining oat batter on top of the two pans.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. Cool completely before slicing. But since I want my bars warm. I did not wait for it to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Cake Pop Project: Mickey Mouse Silhouette

Cake pops are simply crumbled cake, mixed with frosting, shaped, stuck in lollipop sticks and dipped in melted chocolates. From the single recipe of your favorite cake recipe, you can create so many shapes and characters...the possibilities are endless.

Next to cupcakes, this is I think the latest craze now.

Remember the time when you enjoyed playing with your clays? Yup! It is as fun as making these treats...the only difference is you got to eat your "creations"! How fun is that?

Got the inspiration from Angie Dudley of Bakerella, the Queen of all cake pops! Her imagination is crazy awesome!!! Since I discovered her blog, I have been dreaming of making my own cake pops. And when I completed all the ingredients, including the "courage", and found the perfect time, I made a batch...and lookie!!!


Sorry for the picture, heheh! Looks pretty decent for a first timer huh?  '

For instructions on how to make these, please check this link.

Note:
1. I used Pillsbury Devil's Food cake mix.

2. In the recipe, they used Wilton candy melts for the dip and sadly, the brand is no longer available in Living Well (slow moving daw), I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips instead. If you'll be using the white chocolate, you need to color it but please make sure to USE OIL-BASED FOOD COLORING. I found Wilton food coloring from living well and it costs P200+ for a set of 4 colors.

3. For Mickey's ears, I bought Goya Easy Melt Chocolate buttons.

4. Betty Crocker frostings are available in major supermarkets. This is the one that I used.

If you want homemade, please check here.

5. Will the frosting make the cake too sweet? Nope, just the right sweetness.

Enjoy!

Jul 7, 2011

Mochi Buns

These korean mochi buns are crunchy outside but super chewy inside. This is because of the glutinous rice flour included in the ingredients. It's like having fried "palitaw" with a twist. Best serve with condensed milk...

First tasted this in Chicken Park Petron Eastwood. They are selling these at P20.00 (?) each. For the dip, you can choose condensed milk or chocolate syrup. We chose the condensed milk and the combination is to die for. Actually, i suddenly remembered my nutribun-condensed milk combo that i had when i was in grade school...hehehe!

My officemate found the mochi bun mix from the grocery, tried it and here's the end-product.

YUMMY!!! 




Here's the box of the mochi bun mix, i just can't read the brand heheh!
image courtesy of happyhomebaking.blogspot.com
Enjoy!