Puff Pastry & Natilla

I've definitely been on a pastry mood lately when it comes to desserts, so here's another recipe to add to those quick and easy ones. For this recipe I used store bought puff pastry and filled them up with a very traditional Puerto Rican treat. Natilla is really similar to custard, and you can serve it alone in little ramekins or use it to fill up pastries. These sweets match perfectly with coffee for a "light" breakfast or midday snack over a conversation. Im sure that if we could actually eat a cloud it would taste exactly like these pastries, super airy and buttery texture with a really smooth and decadent center. I don't know if my subconsciousness is trying to say something related to France, but I'm truly obsessing over pastries. This is a must try recipe! Hope you do try it and enjoy it!

Let me know what you think.

Xo

Flor 

Filling 

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Half a lemons' rind

Place the cornstarch in a saucepan, add a little milk and stir until the cornstarch has completely diluted into the milk. 

Add the egg yolks, and stir well, then add the remaining milk and ingredients. Cook on a moderate heat (if using gas stove a 3 would be perfect), stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until it begins to curdle a little or starts to boil. 

Remove from heat immediately and stir until it reaches a custard like consistency, and fill pastries or pour into little ramekins and refrigerate. 

***Note: I skipped the lemon rind and instead added 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla paste. 

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. 

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. 

Summer Fun

When the days begin to get warm we start to shed our layers, literally... our hemlines get shorter and shorter and our sleeves become almost unrecognizable. We start popping bright colors, even some neons to our wardrobe and some of us bring even the craziest prints, in the end we're all dressing for summer in our own way. Stripes are an iconic summer staple, and skirts are a great option to stay cool and trés chic, so having these two in one is a must for summer. I thought of pairing it with a black & white blouse to pull off a sophisticated summer look, but it was so warm outside that I really wouldn't be able to pull off that blouse without melting, so I went for this greenish-yellowish, cool and light blouse for a really fun and refreshing look! Hope you like it!

Let me know what you think.

Xo

Flor 

Blouse:Elodie, Skirt: My design, Shoes: Calvin Klein, Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim, Shades: Tom Ford