Thanksgiving Dessert Brainstorming

Pear Cranberry Slab Pie 

Thanksgiving has always been for me, a time that you spend with family, having that last piece of dessert that you probably shouldn't have had, some passing out while watching football and others laughing at the table about old stories. My role in preparing the Thanksgiving feast is always the dessert, I usually go for lemon themed ones, they're great for a daytime desserts...not too heavy, but I thought about switching it up this time. My first thought was pecan pie, and I found an amazing recipe with salted caramel, but I know I'll end up eating most of it, so, I'll probably just daydream about it. I'll probably go with the Bruleed Pumpkin Pie, it sounds super decadent, and I've never done this before, but a Chocolate Pie is rather tempting. I'm obviously not 100% decided, but I'm getting there... and I'll probably test-bake the recipe I choose, I wouldn't want a dessert disaster the night before. Do you already have a recipe?

Let me know!

Xo,
Flor

Bruleed Pumpkin Pie 

El día de acción de gracias, es uno que siempre paso en familia, comiéndonos ese último pedazo de pastel que probablemente no debíamos, otros quedándose dormidos mientras veían "football" y otros riéndose en la mesa contando historias. Siempre me toca el postre cuando viene al menú de acción de gracias y casi siempre escojo uno de limón. Pienso que son perfectos para el día ya que caen "light", pero estoy pensando cambiar la rutina para este año. Lo primero que se me ocurrió fue un "pecan pie" pero la verdad es, probablemente me lo comeré casi completo, así que mejor no. Encontré esta receta de "Bruleed Pumpkin Pie" que parece ser divina y algo que nunca he intentado, pero la idea de uno de chocolate me sigue tentando también. No estoy 100% segura de qué receta escogeré, pero estoy llegando a ella, probablemente intentaré la receta antes para evitar cualquier problema. ¿Saben ustedes que receta usarán? 

¡Me dejan saber!

Xo,

Flor

Mile-High Chocolate Pie

Pumpkin Shortbread- Cookies & Cups

Thought this would be nice to have before the food and after, as a treat. 

Salted Caramel- Chocolate Pecan Pie

Chocolate Chip, Ice-Cream and Chocolate Sauce

I'm a huge Pinterest fan, as I'm sure many of you are! If you're ever feeling rather uninspired to bake or cook, I would really recommend looking through Pinterest for about... 10-15 mins, and I promise you, you will be super inspired! I found this delicious idea there and went about to find a way to do it. It's a huge cookie with a chocolatey center, the idea is for the chocolate center to ooze out when you cut into this. You should serve it warm with your favorite ice-cream and drizzle some chocolate, caramel or any other topping you like. I used mini-pie ramekins, which make a perfect dessert portion, but if you prefer to have them as a snack ,I recommend you use a cupcake pan to make them instead. Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Let me know!

Xo,

Flor 

Soy súper fan de Pinterest, estoy segura que ustedes también. Si algún día se encuentran poco inspiradas para cocinar o crear deliciosos postres, les recomiendo que le echen un vistazo a Pinterest, y encontrarán miles de inspiraciones. Encontré esta deliciosa idea allí, y busqué la manera para recrearlo. Es una galleta gigante con el centro relleno de chocolate, la idea es que cuando cortes el centro chocolatoso corra. Debes servirlo caliente con tu helado favorito y echarle tu salsa preferida por encima, ya sea chocolate, caramelo, frutas, etc. Yo usé unos moldes mini de pie, el cual sirvieron una perfecta porción de postre, pero si prefieres algo más pequeño para tener como snack recomiendo que utilices un molde de hacer cupcakes. Espero que les guste esta receta.

Me dejan saber.

Xo,

Flor

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Steps to create this:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave, it should take about 30 seconds.Create a layer in the bottom of either pan you choose to work with. Pour some of the melted chocolate, but no too much, it'll run to the sides (it happened to me!). After adding the melted chocolate, top off with the rest of the cookie dough, think about it, as the cover. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown, baking time will vary depending which pan you decide to use. I used this: chocolate sauce to top off.

P.S. I've been tempted at trying out chocolate recipes that use avocado in them, have any of you guys tried them before?

Flourless Chocolate Cake

With the weekend almost at our grip, I think I couldn't share a better recipe than this Flourless Chocolate Cake. If you love chocolate mousse, then you'll definitely love this recipe, it's like a super light and moist chocolate mousse, but in a cake. It's a really simple recipe and quite quick, the only down side are the dishes, but it'll be well worth it. You can serve it with whipped cream, ice-cream or any type of sauce you like, I went for homemade whipped cream. Hope you try this recipe & love it!

Let me know!

Xo, 

Flor 

Con el fin de semana casi en nuestras manos, no creo que podría compartir una mejor receta que esta. Si te gusta el mousse de chocolate, te encantara esta receta, es como un mousse súper light y decadente, pero en bizcocho. Es una receta súper simple y bastante rápida, lo único malo son los trastes, pero créeme que vale la pena! Lo puedes servir con helado, whipped cream o con cualquier salsa; yo lo serví con whipped cream hecho en casa. ¡Espero que intenten esta receta y que les encante! 

Me dejan saber.

Xo,

Flor

Flourless Chocolate Cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter,
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 large eggs, separated
1/2 granulated sugar

Steps:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees with the rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 seconds increments, stirring each time, until completely melted. Let cool slightly and whisk in egg yolks.
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. 
Whisk in 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 45-50 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Steps:
Refrigerate a mixing bowl until cold. Combine heavy cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Refrigerate for up to 30  mins.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Le Crepes!

Crepes are one of my fondest memories from my first trip to Europe, you literally saw them everywhere, filled with delicious Nutella, or at least those were the ones that caught my attention. Crepes are like a really thin and airy pancake, that you fill with anything you like, but like the chocolate lover that I am, I decided on Chocolate Sauce. My intention was really to make a chocolate mousse and fill them with that, but my pre-prepping failed me, since, I forgot the heavy cream... This Chocolate Sauce is super rich and easy to make, plus you can use it for this or to pour over ice-cream or a cake. I decided to add the chopped walnuts, because it was missing another taste and texture without it, but you could definitely add chopped hazelnuts or skip them completely. When you make them, don't limit yourself to only sweet options, there are many savory ones, my favorite is Ham & Brie, but the options are endless! My last tip is to try and make them the moment your going to eat them, I pre-prepared ones to take for my boyfriend's house as dessert last night, and they're a million times better when they're fresh! Hope you like this recipe!

Let me know!

Xo,

Flor

Since, I mentioned that I did last nights' dessert, I have to give credit to my boyfriend who made delicious homemade hamburgers filled with feta cheese, oregano and basil (he added sweet plantain to his), with oven baked fries! 

Crepe Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 1/2 cups while milk

4 lare eggs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Steps

In a blender, combine flour, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, and butter.

Puree until mixture is smooth and bubbles form on top, about 30 seconds. Let batter sit at least 15 minutes at room temperature. You can refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 day.

Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly coat with butter, add 1/3 cup batter and swirl to completely cover bottom of skillet. Cook until underside of crepe is golden brown, 2-3 minutes.

Loosen edge of crepe with a rubber spatula, then with your fingertips, quickly flip. Cook 1 minute more. Slide crepe out of skillet and repeat with remaining batter. 

-Recipe from Martha Stewart

Chocolate Sauce

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Steps

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar,corn syrup, and cocoa powder.

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it's just begun to simmer and boil, remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted.

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Midnight Snack

I have always wanted to make homemade doughnuts, but the process of frying them always stops me from making them, so when I stumbled upon this oven baked recipe I knew I had to try it. These doughnuts were literally my midnight snack, and what helped me stay up to wright this post! They're shockingly light and airy, which makes them perfect for a quick snack, and they would be even more ideal with a delicious cup of hot chocolate (it just occurred to me). It's definitely a great healthier option for substituting doughnuts, obviously keeping in mind that they won't taste exactly like everyday doughnuts. The best part of this recipe is that you can really personalize it, you can make a glaze, dust them in confectioner sugar and cinnamon like I did, make a delicious filling or  even prepare a hazelnut dipping sauce... so decadent! I used a mini muffin pan because I didn't have a doughnut pan, but you can use either one. I still have making traditional doughnuts in my bucket list, but for now this is a great recipe. Hope you try them! 

Let me know what you think.

Xo

Flor   

Photos by RaRod

Ingredients:
5 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Steps:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter a mini muffin pan or doughnut pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add the egg, milk and vanilla, mix until combined. Mix in the baking powder and salt, then mix the flour just until combined. Fill mini muffin pan or doughnut pan half full. Bake for 8-10 minutes. 
I combined confectioner sugar with cinnamon and rolled the doughnuts in it. 

Baking Post for the Busy Girl

Women are busier than ever, many of us juggling work and school or work and family life, so we don't always have time to bake delicious goods. Imagine yourself preparing for that monthly dinner date with your friends or for that special someone, but you just got out of work and you still have to tidy up, finish cooking and prepare yourself, do you really want to be about 2 hours preparing the dessert? I can surely answer that for you.... NO! So this is the post for that busy girl on the go. Chocolate Cupcakes with Salty Caramel Frosting have never been easier to bake.

Heres the trick, choose your favorite brownie mix and prepare as directed, but instead of pouring it on a brownie pan use a cupcake tray lined with baking cups. Once ready and cool, top them with Salty Caramel, to take them up a notch. Making this caramel is much easier than what it seems and you'll only use a fraction of the time of what it would take you to make everything from scratch. So go ahead and mix half homemade with completely from scratch and I promise you the results will be sheer perfection!


Let me know what you think

Xo
Flor

*I used Ghirardelli Brownie Mix for the Chocolate Cupcakes

Salty Caramel Frosting from New York bakery, Baked

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon fleur de sel

1/4 cup sour cream 

Combine 1/4 cup water, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the mixture reaches 350 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 10 mins.

Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, mix together cream and salt. Bring cream to a boil and cook until salt has dissolved, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

When the caramel mixture has reached 350 degrees, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Carefully add the hot cream to the caramel; stir to combine. Whisk in sour cream. Cool, and store in an airtight container, it can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

***Notes:

- You can make mini brownies for a lighter desserts or drizzle the Salty Caramel instead of frosting

- After adding the cream and sour cream the caramel may be too liquid, just heat it up again until it reaches a thicker consistency or the one you desire, but always being careful not to burn the caramel

- I dusted some cocoa powder over them for styling purposes

Coffee & Hazelnut Cake

This Coffee and Hazelnut Cake tastes like heaven! Super moist with just the right amount of buttercream to hazelnut ratio. I won't say it's super easy to make just because it's pretty time consuming, but if you have skinned hazelnuts then it's not so time consuming. You can swap the hazelnuts for some delicious macadamia nuts or go for something that you probably already have in your pantry, like some walnuts. This is a nice twist to the more usual chocolate or vanilla cakes, it's always nice to change things up! If you really like a lot of frosting on your cake or you're baking it for someone who does, you'd probably would like to double the frosting recipe, I personally love the look of just frosting the top and the center of the cake, it looks really effortless and homey, Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Let me know what you think!

Xo

Flor

Coffee & Hazelnut Cake

1 cup skinned hazelnuts

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons very strong brewed coffee, cooled

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter two 8x2" round cake pans, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Bake for 5-1o minutes until lightly roasted, shaking sheet once and watching carefully to make sure they don't burn. Let cool. Finely chop 2/3 cup of the hazelnuts and set aside for the cake. Coarsely chop the remaining hazelnuts and reserve for the garnish.

Sift together flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until very light and fluffy.

Add eggs very slowly,with the electric mixer running, adding 1 tablespoon of flour during the process to prevent curdling. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the remaining flour, finely chopped hazelnuts, milk, and coffee until well blended.

Spread evenly between the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cakes spring back to the touch or wooden toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool slightly in the pans. Turn out on wire racks and remove paper and let cool completely. 

Buttercream

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons very strong brewed coffee, cooled

Directions

Cream butter and sugar together for at least 5 minutes or until really light and airy, then add the coffee. Mix well. 

Spread half the buttercream on to the base of one cake, lay the other on top and finish with remaining buttercream. Sprinkle the coarsely chopped hazelnuts and voilá! 

Tembleque

Try to imagine the most delicious, silky and smooth dessert ever, full of coconut flavor... this is "Tembleque". It's a traditional dessert served in Christmas here in Puerto Rico, and by far my favorite. Don't get me wrong, it's not only reserved for holidays, but it's a time when you know for sure it'll be present. It's called "tembleque" because it shakes and kind of wobbles when you serve it, but it's amazing. If you like coconut or wan't to taste it in all its glory, you need to try this dessert, plus it's really easy to make!

"Tembleque"
3 cups Coconut Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
4 tablespoons Cornstarch
Pinch of salt

Directions:
Combine coconut milk, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a sauce pan. Cook at medium heat while constantly stirring until mixture thickens and covers the wooden spoon. 
Pour in a glass bowl, let cool. Once cooled dust with cinnamon.

Enjoy! 

* TIP: Tradition calls for a large wooden spoon. 

Fudgy Brownies

You probably already had an enormous amount of chocolate, but who can resist chewy fudgy brownies? I know you might be thinking "Why would I ever bake brownies from scratch when the boxed mix is so good", well there are some recipes that are worth it. This is another back to basics recipe and it's delicious. A common mistake in baking brownies is over baking them, so be sure to take them out when the knife comes out almost clean. I know it may sound kind of confusing, but when it comes out with some brownie pieces that look moist, they are ready! I have the fondest memories of baking brownies with my mom and being so excited about licking the spoon and finally taking them out of the oven, and to this date baking brownies are is still my favorite moments. What are your favorite moments baking with love ones?

Xo
Flor

Recipe Fudgy Saucepan Brownies
3/4 cup butter or margarine
4 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups unsifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 3/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans (I omitted the pecans)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt butter and chocolate in a large, heavy saucepan over lowest heat. Off heat, mix in remaining ingredients in order listed, beating well after each addition. 
Pour batter into a greased 9'' X 9'' X 2'' pan and bake 40 minutes until brownies just begin to pull from sides of pan. Cool pan of brownies upright on a wire rack to room temp, the cut into squares.

Black & White Cupcakes

With Valentine's Day a mere 17 days away I've been inspired to share some recipe ideas for you to enjoy with loved ones. Of course Valentine's is synonymous with chocolate but that does not mean that all other desserts are scratched out! This Vanilla Cupcake recipe makes the most moist and delicious cupcakes ever. I made a Chocolate Ganache layer for this cupcakes and then made Butter Frosting to top it of. I usually find Butter frosting too sweet but this Chocolate Ganache is so full of flavor that it balances out the sweetness.  Hope you enjoy this post! Let me know!

Yellow Cupcakes

1 1/3 Cups sifted flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together into a large mixing bowl.

Add shortening and milk, stir to blend, then beat slowly about 1 1/2 minutes with an electric mixer.

Add egg and vanilla and beat slowly 1 1/2 minutes. 

Spoon batter into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers, filling half full. Bake 20-25 minutes until cakes are golden brown and springy to the touch.

Remove cakes from pans and cool upright on wire racks. Frost as desired. 

Butter Frosting

1/3 cup butter

4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Additional milk

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.

2. Gradually add remaining powdered sugar, beating until combined. If necessary, beat in a little additional milk to make frosting that is easy to spread. Tint with food coloring as desired. Transfer unused frosting to a storage container and chill for up to 1 week.