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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Snickerdoodles

I have the fondest childhood memories of these delicious cookies, which I used to eat at a friends house. With time the idea of Snickerdoodles had escaped my mind and I had forgotten all about them, I don't know if it's because they're really not common in Puerto Rico or because other cookies are more prominent, but I just couldn't remember them. I found them again one day at Quiznos and couldn't believe it, the taste and smell of them filled my mind, but they didn't taste the same... So, yesterday while I was searching different recipes I found them again and decided that I would try and make them and here it is! This recipe makes pretty thin cookies, which would be the perfect compliment for ice-cream, and even more so if they're warm or right out of the oven! All I can say is that traditional baking rules do apply, I burnt my first batch by leaving it unattended for like 5 minutes, so be very watchful, besides that the results are great! Hope you try this recipe!

Let me know what you think!

Xo

Flor

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Steps

Heat oven to 400F. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, shortening and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 mins or until set. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool.

Pastries with Chantilly Cream

Here's another recipe for the quick recipe box. Since posting the quick Chocolate Cupcakes with Salty Caramel Frosting, I've been thinking about other super easy and fast recipes that you can whip up in just minutes. I keep coming up with the same concept, half store bought and the other half made from scratch. Making pastries is no easy challenge, it takes time, attention and lots of patience, but a great way to skip all that and get great results is using store bought puff pastry. For this recipe I used puff pastry, which I cut it into squares and placed in a cupcake tray and baked until golden. I then filled them with Chantilly Cream, which is super delicious and extremely easy to make, you just need 3 ingredients and your done! This dessert tastes super light, so it's great for summer and it literally does not take more than about 20-25 mins to make! If you're feeling more adventurous you can definitely  switch the vanilla in the Chantilly Cream for orange, lemon or liquor. Another choice could also be grating or drizzling chocolate over the cream. Hope you like it!

Let me know!

Xo

Flor

Chantilly Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons confectioner sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.

Combine all three ingredients and whip until desired consistency. Chill in the refrigerator until moment of use. 

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! 

Miniature Lemon Delights

There's something about lemon sweets that just makes them perfect for summer. I usually wouldn't put Butter Cream Frosting and the word light in the same sentence, but this one is particularly light and refreshing tasting. I used a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, super easy to make, because I wanted it to be about the lemon frosting. I thought of maybe doing lemon cupcakes, but the vanilla ones were really the perfect canvas for the frosting and gave for a more light tasting sweet and not an overpowering lemon taste. I went for miniature cupcakes instead of the regular ones, to keep them bite sized and in the same line of simple and light. This recipe works perfectly for a summer get together, they're petite and refreshing, which is really important in hot summer days. I'll be posting more recipes about lemon treats during the next couple of weeks, I personally think lemon is the way to go during summer, plus I saw a lemon and honey tart that's just calling my name! Hope you like the recipe!

Let me know!

Xo

Flor

Vanilla 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

Directions:

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. Bake 20-25 minutes until cakes are golden brown and springy to the touch. Let cool.

Butter Cream Frosting

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened to room temp

1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar, sifted

4-5 tablespoons lemon juice

3-4 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cream butter until fluffily; beat in sugar, a little at a time, adding alternately with lemon juice. Mix in finely grated lemon rind and salt and beat until satiny and of good spreading consistency.

Banana Oatmeal Loaf

I must admit that I'm a huge bread fan, I usually go for whole wheat breads, but I'll really taste any type of bread I find. I tend to use bananas only in my post workout frappes, but I had a couple of them left and didn't want them to go to waste, so I decided to try out this recipe from a new book I bought. It's a super moist bread that has a bit of a crunch from the crust and texture from the oatmeal. I used and recommend regular oats, because they have more of the nutrients than instant oats have, but if you find oats that have been processed even less those will be healthier, but it really depends on what you prefer. I can see this bread working perfectly for a light weekend brunch, or packing it as a nice snack during a hiking trip or a day at the beach. Hope you like this recipe!

Let me know

Xo

Flor

Banana Oatmeal Loaf Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup regular oats

1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 large)

1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in oats

3. Combine bananas, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Add to flour mixture, stir until moist

4. Spoon batter into an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean

*Source: Cooking Light Way to Cook 

Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm so intrigued by anything that combines sweet and salty; the first time I dared to adventure with this concept was with salted caramel, I'm obsessed with it. Since my introduction to this concept I look for sweet and salty recipes and try them out, until now they've all been great. Chocolate chip cookies are such a staple to our everyday sweet tooth, that I was more than excited to give them the salty twist. This recipe wasn't something I stumbled upon in my drooling routine of looking at recipes, I looked for it and compared recipes, finally settling with this one! Hope you try it, it's delicious... I promise!

Let me know!

Xo
Flor

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup light brown sugar 
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract 
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

Add egg yolks, egg and vanilla. Beat, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low, slowly add dry ingredients, mixing just to blend. Using spatula, fold in chocolate.

Spoon rounded tablespoonful's of cookie dough onto 2 parchment paper lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 10-12 minutes.

*Source: Bon Appétit

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm convinced that some of the best pictures to look at are about baked goods. A couple of days ago I was looking at some of the people I follow on Instagram and saw the most delicious cupcakes I've ever seen (at least they looked that way) and immediately had this need of baking cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes aren't usually my go to, just because I prefer vanilla, but I was craving some chocolate deliciousness. I know that summer is just around the corner, and we're supposed to be watching our waistlines so I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese instead of regular cream cheese for the frosting, the consistency is a bit different, but in taste it's really great, and wherever  you can cut some calories without sacrificing taste is a win win for me. Hope you like the recipes!

Let me know!

Xo

Flor

Chocolate 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

2 (1 ounce) melted squares unsweetened chocolate 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. 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.

2. Add egg and vanilla, melted chocolate and vanilla and beat slowly 1 1/2 minutes. Bake 20- 25 minutes. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

12 ounces cream cheese, room temp * I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla

1. Beat butter & cream cheese with mixer on median-high speed until fluffily, about 2-3 mins. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, then vanilla and mix until smooth.

Butterscotch Blondies

I was browsing through the recipes on this new book I bought and I couldn't help but to go back to this recipe. I must admit that I tried it out of pure curiosity... Butterscotch Blondies does sound particularly delicious. The result is this magnificent chewy and super moist dessert, they're sweet, but not too sweet and they have this delicious hint of butter taste. I know the part of browning the butter might seem a little intimidating, but it's really simple and just make sure that you watch the butter closely so it doesn't go from browned to burnt. I actually bake brownies every other night and this is a nice change to the routine, they resemble brownies without being so heavy; they would go perfectly with a nice ice-cream scoop.  Hope you try out this recipe!!!

Let me know what you think!

Xo

Flor

Butterscotch Blondies

9 ounces all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cu[s firmly packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 large egg whites

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Place butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook 6 minutes or until lightly browned, and cool for 10 minutes. 

Combine butter and egg whites, stirring with a whisk. Pour butter mixture over flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into a 13x 9-inch metal baking pan coated with cooking spray; smooth top using a spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Mississippi Mud

I've already expressed in a previous post my love for brownies and all the memories that pop up when I'm baking them, but the star in this post is the Mississippi Mud. I learned to do this from my mom when I was about 7, it's pretty messy, but it's really worth it. Mississippi Mud is the delicious result of combining chocolate sauce and marshmallow fluff... so delicious!!! You definitely can't be counting calories for this one, it's an eat and enjoy kind of moment. It's really simple to make and if you have kids it'll be a total hit with them, and if you're tight in time it's a great way to dress up boxed brownies! Hope you try this recipe!!!

Xo

Flor 

Chocolate Sauce:

In a saucepan heat 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, and 2 tablespoons butter over low heat just until melted, stirring occasionally; set aside.

In a heavy small saucepan bring 1/2 whipping cream and 2 teaspoons light colored corn syrup to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate mixture. Cool to room temperature before using. 

After making the chocolate sauce add in the marshmallow fluff and stir to combine. If you can't find the marshmallow fluff you can just buy regular marshmallows and add them to the sauce and they will melt in it. 

Find the Fudgy Brownie recipe here

Chocolate Mousse

I rarely eat Chocolate Mousse, but every time I do I'm amazed by its silky and light texture. It really feels like your eating a piece of chocolate heaven. Like I mentioned before, I'm sharing all these chocolate dessert recipes in honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day. This Chocolate Mousse could be perfect for a romantic dinner for two or a group of friends celebrating their new found empowerment! You should really try this recipe, either for Valentine's or for any other occasion; it's a really simple recipe and the results are magnificent, it's really silky and not too sweet! Ideal for any chocolate lover. Let me know your feedback!

Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Mousse
6 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate or 1 (6 ounce) package semisweet chocolate bits
2 tablespoons hot water or strong black coffee
5 eggs, separated 
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Chocolate Curls* (optional decoration)

Directions
Place chocolate and hot water in the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, and heat and stir until chocolate is melted.
Lightly beat yolks, add a little hot mixture, then stir back into pan and heat and stir over simmering water 1-2 minutes, until no raw taste of egg remains.
Off heat, mix in vanilla. Beat cream until very thick and glossy (it should almost form soft peaks) and fold into chocolate mixture.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and fold in, a little at a time, until no flecks of white show.
Spoon into a serving dish, over, and chill at least 12 hours. Scatter with chocolate curls, just before serving.