Mini Almond Cake

I heart the flavor of almond! Here, I've created an almond cake filled with creme chantilly in the center and topped with a toasted almond. Sounds yummy doesn't it? It is indeed scrumptious and of course, you can always fill the center with another filling. Lemon custard would be a nice filling to try one day since lemons are in season. Enjoy! (Portion control :P)

Mini Almond Cake
Serving:  7-8 pieces

Ingredients 
1 large - Egg, at room temperature (makes cake fluffy, maximum volume, and soft)
1/3 Cup - Sour Cream, split in 1/2
1/4 tsp - Almond Extract
1/8 tsp - Vanilla Extract

2.75 oz - Cake Flour
0.75 oz - Almond Meal
3.25 oz - Granulated Sugar
1/4 tsp - Salt
1/4 tsp - Baking Powder
1/4 tsp - Baking Soda

3.00 oz - Butter, soften

Procedure
1.  Mix egg, 1/2 sour cream, almond extract, and vanilla extract altogether and set aside.

2.  Mix all the dry ingredients together until combined, whisk in butter and remaining sour cream and beat until light and fluffy (approx. 1 1/2 minutes).

3.  Add the Egg mixture into the flour mix and combine until incorporated.  Place mix into a piping bag and pipe into silicone mold or cupcake pan of your desire.

 4.  Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes, depending on the type of mold use.

Mac & Cheese w/ Broccolini

Another day of my pasta adventure.  The last time I made Mac & Cheese with skim milk and soy cheese, the flavor and texture wasn't there.  Hopefully this will turn out better.  Sounds like a lot of carbohydrates for the week already, but everything is good in moderation.  Let's hope this turns out yummy!!!! 

Mac & Cheese w/ Broccolini
Serving:  Approx. 8

Ingredients

12 oz - Whole Wheat Elbow Pasta, follow package instruction and reduce 2-3 minute cooking time
1 bundle (5 oz) - broccolini, chopped and blanched in hot water for 45 -60 sec

Cheese Sauce
1 3/4 Cup - Milk, can use non-fat but will have a lighter taste (I used skim milk)
3/4 Cup - Heavy Cream, can use half & half as substitution
1/4 Cup - Flour
2 tsp - Dijon Mustard
3/4 tsp - salt
1/4 tsp - white pepper, because of color and bolder flavor
2 1/4 Cup - 3 Cheese, light
1/4 Cup -Parmigiano Reggiano

Crumb Topping
4 Tbsp - Panko breadcrumb
3/4 tsp - Paprika
1/4 tsp - Salt
2-3 tsp - Olive Oil, drizzle on top

Procedure
1.  Pre-heat oven to 400F, coat the baking dish with butter.  Prepare elbow pasta as instructed by package but reduce 2-3 minutes of cooking time because we will baking it later and  cooking the pasta through will make the pasta too soft.

2.  Blanch the broccolini with the same pasta water used with the remaining 1 minute.  Broccolini should be crisp and tendor.  Drain pasta and broccolini and return to pot.

3.   Prepare cheese sauce:  Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring often until hot, set aside.

4.  Whisk together the heavy cream, flour mustard, salt, and white pepper in a medium bowl until completely smooth.  Whisk this mixture into the steaming milk and bring to a simmer whisking until smooth and thickened.  Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese.

5.  Stir in the cheese sauce into the pasta and transfer to the prepared baking dish.

6.  Stir together the breadcrumb, paprika, salt, garlic powder and sprinkle the crumbs over the pasta.  Drizzle the olive oil above crumb topping and bake until the pasta is bubbling and the topping is golden 15 - 20 minutes.


OMG, DELICIOUS!!! 

Cilantro Pesto Pasta w/ Parmigiano-Reggiano

Mmm...I've been craving for pesto pasta and since cilantro is what I have in the fridge, I'm having pasta with Cilantro Pesto rather than our typical Pesto made with basil.  Hope you'll enjoy this!

Ingredients
3/4 Package - Whole Wheat Pasta (follow package instruction)

Cilantro Pesto
1 Bundle - Cilantro, washed
6 Cloves - Garlic
1/2 - 1 tsp - Salt
1/2 tsp - Black Pepper
1/4 Cup - Olive Oil

Minature Pavlova

Minature Pavlova

Ingredients
4 Large - Egg Whites, @ room temperature
1/4 Cup - Sugar
1/4 Cup - Sugar
1 1/2 tsp - Cornstarch
1 oz. Pistachio Nut, ground
1 oz. Pistachio Nut, chopped for garnish
Assorted fresh fruits for topping


Procedure
1.  Beat egg whites until soft peak forms.  Add the first 1/4 sugar and mix until medium peaks form.
2.  Combine the 1/4 sugar with cornstarch and sift into egg white mixture and beat until stiff peaks form.  It should look shiny.
3.  Fold in 1 oz. ground pistachio nut.
4.  Pipe 2" diameter circles and baked at 300F for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 275F and continue to bake additional 30 minutes, let pavlova stay in the oven for additional 30 minutes inside.  Then open oven door and allow pavlova to air dry for another 30 minutes.
5.  Top miniature pavlova with desired fruits and whipping cream(optional) and garnish with chopped pistachio nuts.

Tofu Brown Fried Rice

Aside, from baking, I love cooking too. My sister and I are giving up meat for the month and it's been going well. I do indulge seafood every now and then, but not all the time.  My sister is quite hardcore; she's giving up seafood too (that's probably because she doesn't like seafood too much, perhaps it's easy for her :D). I made Tofu Brown Fried Rice! Hope you'll enjoy!

Tofu Brown Fried Rice
Ingredients:
1 Package Extra Firm Tofu
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Small Onion
2 Large Carrots
3 Large Egg Whites
3 Cups Cooked Brown Rice
1/2 Cup Edamame
1 Large Tomato, diced

Seasoning to taste:
Cayenne Pepper
Black Pepper (home grown)
Soy Sauce (you can use the Maggi Brand - it has better flavor, I just used whatever I had in hand)
Salt

 Instructions:

 1.  Cut tofu into cubes

 2.  Pan Fry tofu until golden, set aside.

 3.  1tsp Olive old w/ Garlic, Add onion and carrots til' onions translucent, then set aside. (Salt & Pepper)

 4.  1 tsp Olive Oil, Scrambled egg whites and add Brown Rice.

 5.  Add Carrots and Onions to the Brown rice mix.

 6.  Add cooked edamame, tomatoes and desire seasoning: soy sauce, cayenne pepper, salt pepper.

SO DELICIOUS!
 

Sunday Dessert Adventures

I woke up with the sun beaming through my window filled with warmth and comfort. What a beautiful day to go to the beach and enjoy the sun! As we were getting closer to Los Angeles (10W Fwy), it looked cloudy and cold. A bad mistake to be wearing shorts on a colder weather in Santa Monica, good thing David and I bought our sweaters. We decided to park our car at the 3rd Street Promenade parking structure (new outdoor shopping center) and take a walk to Urth Caffe to throw in some workout for the weekend aside from consumption of sweets and goodies. As we were getting closer to Urth Caffe, we saw the “Santa Monica Cummunity Garden.” The place was open to public to walk through and view, just don’t pick on other peoples plants. It’s a cute place, but it makes me think about the plentiful land in my backyard and how I am not making much use of it. Hopefully, I’ll make good out of our backyard this year!

Santa Monica Community Garden
2415 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90404

As we approach to Urth Caffe, the line was so long, yet went by quickly. The desserts display was amazing and they had this Matcha Brioche that I really wanted to try, but since I was planning to get a Green Tea Latte, I didn’t want to consume too much Matcha for the day. Instead, we settled for the Pineapple Prana Cake (Vanilla cake topped w/ Caramelized Pineapple). David and I shared a breakfast entrée called “Egg Salmone.” The toast on the bottom of the medium poached egg was buttery delicious. Strawberry on the side was sweet but the cantaloupe was not as great since it wasn’t in season. David had the Spanish Latte w/ Almond Milk and I ordered myself a Sugar-Free Green Tea Latte w/ Almond Milk as well. We both got a size large and it was HUGE. I may need to settle for a medium cup next time, but David said, “It was only twenty-five cents extra!” It’s okay, we just took our time to enjoy the cold weather sipping on our lattes while watching people walking by with their cute dogs. I like this place, but I think I may order my drink less sugar next time.

Urth Caffe
2327 Main Street
Santa Monica, 90404

The pie looks so CUTE!

The Egg Salmone

Sugar Free Green Tea Latte w/ Almond Milk

Spanish Coffee Latte w/ Almond Milk

We continued to walk further down and saw the Farmers’ Market along Main Street. It was our first time going to the Sunday Farmer’s Market. There were food vendors along with organic produce and goodness. Then we continue to walk onto Barnard Way and made a right to walk along the beach as we head back to our car. We left Santa Monica and head to Little Tokyo to have some Sushi and Paulette.

Paulette was our next adventure after some munchies from Mitsuru Cafe.  Paulette was empty inside, I like how it’s not crowded, but it was appoximately 4:00PM.  We decided to grab it to go and ordered ½ dozen. The color was so vibrant and appealing! When I took the first bite of the Almond Wedding flavor, I was in love with their macarons! An marvelous texture and they did their macarons well!

Paulettes
333 S. Alameda Street
Suite 103
Los Angeles, CA

 Caramel/Coconut/Almond Wedding/Earl Grey/Coffee/Pistachio