Butter Mochi Cake

Our lovely friend, Vynsie, invited us to her aunt and uncle's house for a Memorial Day crawfish boil.  I didn't want to show up empty-handed, but I didn't have much in my cupboard to make.  Earlier in the week, she invited us (although only I went) to go eat tofu and shop at Super H Mart. I picked up a box of Mochiko - not sure why, just thought it would be a good thing to have on hand.  So when the day came, I found a recipe for Sweet Butter Mochiko Cake from Yochana's Cake Delight. I converted the grams to cups using Gourmet Slueth's conversion.  Instead of Vanilla extract, I used almond, and I baked it in 2 round 8" cake pans, and used a 1.5" round cutter to cut it into the perfect size round mochi.  It was custardy, and springy, but not as springy as mochi I've had before (usually with the bean paste in the middle).  It was like chewy creme brulee. 

Happily, they were a hit! I believe Vynsie's dad said they tasted Asian, and according to Vynsie, that was the highest compliment that could be paid! 

Here's the recipe: Butter Mochi Cake.

Speaking of H Mart, I also got this adorable rice paddle and holder: 

Bisquick Blueberry Pancakes

A couple of years ago, I signed for Allrecipes.com.  I love Allrecipes, but I submitted recipes and they never left "In Review" status.  That is is the main reason I started this blog! 

I recently ran across yet another social networking tool, GroupRecipes.com, so I thought I'd give it a try.  It's not so picky as Allrecipes, and it go straight to being published.

My first attempt was to publish my Bisquick Blueberry Pancakes recipe.   I was unsuccessful at posting a picture (I probably have to re-size).  Just click on the title for the recipe. I like that you can print it in different sizes and email it.

For the Bisquick Blueberry Pancakes, I altered the recipe for Bisquick's Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pancakes.  I added, lemon zest, vanilla, and blueberries, of course.

Brian likes them so much he made them this morning!

Eggplant, Sundried Tomato, Goat Cheese Pizza

Bored of the same-old pizzas I make, I tried this one. I think Brian agreed - it was way better than any gourmet pizza you could get at a restaurant... Not braggin' or anything, but yeah, I'm bragging.

Eggplant, Sundried Tomato, Goat Cheese Pizza

Pizza Dough (lately I've been substituting 1 cup of white flour for whole wheat flour)
Pesto (Brian or I usually make pesto, but I bought a big jar at Costco, and it was really good)
Mozzarella
1 Japanese or Chinese eggplant, sliced thin
Sundried tomatoes, sliced thin
onion, sliced reaaaally thin
pine nuts
goat cheese

Assemble.

Bake at 500 degrees until done.

yum.

Mexicanish Salad

I've posted my Taco Salad before, but here's a Mexicanish salad. I didn't have any French dressing, so it's just a vinaigrette with taco seasoning, and I didn't have tortilla strips.  This one has:

Spinach

corn

black beans

chopped tomato

chopped onion

chopped bell pepper

Toss all ingredients together with vinaigrette. Top with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Brian loves Chocolate and Peanut Butter.  Together. Forever.

The last birthday cake I made him was in 2007 (we were in NYC in 2008). I made him this one:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese and Butterfinger Frosting

Begin preparing the cake one day ahead.  

Filling

2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter 

Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter

1 pound golden brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk 

Frosting

1 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, divided

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

Butterfinger candy bars, coarsely chopped

For filling:

Bring cream and sugar to simmer in saucepan, whisking to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter. Chill uncovered overnight. 

For cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions. 

Divide batter among pans and spread evenly. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely. 

For frosting:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Whisk whipping cream and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in bowl until mixture holds medium-firm peaks. Fold into cream cheese mixture in 3 additions; chill until firm but spreadable, about 1 hour. 

Place 1 cake layer, bottom side up, on 9-inch tart pan bottom. Spread with half of filling. Place another layer, bottom side up, on work surface. Spread with remaining filling; place atop first layer. Top with remaining cake layer, bottom side up. 

Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before continuing.) Press candy onto top of cake. 

Makes 12 servings.

Bon Appétit

Time For Dessert

March 2005

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved

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You can find the recipe on www.epicurious.com, with reviews.  Some of the reviewers claimed the filling was oozy, and I had the opposite problem.  I made the three parts on Friday, and assembled it on Saturday morning.  The filling was so hard I could barely get it out of the bowl.  I worked with it like a modeling clay, and then took a piece of wax paper to gently press it in and make it even for the next section of cake to set on top.

Brian showed me how his mom iced cakes - used a knife and starting from the top.  He was right, this definitely worked better than my rubber spatula.  I have admired those cake spatula at William-Sonoma many times before, but I honestly don’t make cakes like this that often.

I didn’t get a picture of the cake until later, but here it is after 2 days of refrigerator storage (yes, it looked terrible! but it was still good - I recommend microwaving a slice for 30 seconds on a low power before eating it):

And here's the magazine photo:

This year, I made him the Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze from Sky High. I first saw it on the Food Librarian's website, and it's been a popular one!  So popular in fact, I see no reason to transcribe the recipe.  You can check the book out from the Colleyville Library, or google "Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze" and you'll find it over and over again.

Here's Brian's cake!

It was an easy one too... The cake is made in one big bowl.  It was delicious, and I can't wait to try it again!  I'll even use the cake recipe with other frostings!

Strawberry Cocoa Salad

For the last couple of months when I get home I've just relied on the same old things to make. I've been getting very bored, so I've tried a few things lately.

The first thing I tried was Strawberry Cocoa Spinach Salad. Sounds disgusting right?

A couple of years ago my parents went to Hershey, PA, and ate at the restaurant. They put chocolate in everything, in every course. My mom was raving about this salad with Cocoa Balsamic Dressing and dried cherries on micro greens. She tried to duplicate it when she got home, and although I can't say how it compared to restaurant's, I thought it was pretty good.

The other day I was at the store, and the strawberries were beautiful, and cheap! So I picked some up and thought I'd make a strawberry spinach salad (because I saw a pre-packaged one at Whole Foods and it inspired me). So I thought I'd try the Cocoa Balsamic dressing.

Strawberry Cocoa Salad
serves 2 (amounts are approximate - just do what looks right to you)

3 handfuls baby spinach or mixed greens
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/4 cup chopped or slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup feta cheese
Cocoa Balsamic Dressing
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss spinach and onion with dressing. Fold in strawberries and almonds. Top with feta.

Cocoa Balsamic Dressing

(amounts are approximate - taste and adjust)

3 TBSPs Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp unsweetened Cocoa (I used Ghirardelli Natural Unsweetened Cocoa)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSPs Olive oil, or more

Mix vinegar, cocoa and garlic powder. While stirring, drizzle in olive oil until emulsified.

Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

I was clicking through Food Gawker one day, and I ran across a picture ofthese Caramel Thumbprint Cookies that looked absolutely delicious.

I followed the recipe except I used Kraft Caramel Bits instead of unwrapping the caramels.

Mine didn't look as pretty - they ran out all over themselves. They were easy to make, and they were good, but not all that great. Brian didn't like them. His response was, "They seem too manufactured." Basically, they looked and tasted like store-bought. He didn't think the caramel had enough flavor to make up for the bland cookie. "They had no punch," he said.

Oh well, worth a shot. I may make them again one day, just tweak them a bit. Maybe do Dulce de Leche Thumbprints instead of caramel?