Larabar Review

The first time I ever had a lara bar was after an eight mile race. You know what? They tasted AMAZING! Exactly like the flavor of the bar. Hm, I think it was uh lemon bar I had? Anyways, it tasted exactly like a lemon bar! Some of my favorites...

YUMMY!!! :)

Would you like to buy some Larabars? Like them on fb? Follow them on twitter?

Banana Snacking Cake...banana cake w/o all the oil and butter

I love banana bread, but sometimes all that oil and butter makes me feel a little sick after (maybe it has to do with eating half the loaf... hehehe). Anyways, I wanted to create a simple banana cake without all the added fat. So, thanks to the internet I found a super healthy, yet amazingly tasty banana cake. And, since it has no butter or oil, I called it a "Banana Snacking Cake". Adding the snacking part makes it seem like I can eat it more often without feeling sick!

Banana Snacking Cake
Adapted from Shabbott's Habits
Ingredients:
1 Banana
1/2 cup pear sauce (or apple sauce)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 Tbs white sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg


Directions:
1.  Mash ripe banana and applesauce together until the mixture is uniform.
2.  Add eggs, milk and vanilla extract to fruit mixture.
3.  Add flour, sugar, baking powder and spices to wet ingredients.  Mix until just combined.
4.  Pour batter in a 8 x 8 pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
5.  Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until center is just cooked through.
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

*I halved the recipe and baked it in a smaller pan. This is the full recipe

What I've been doing lately...

Wow, it's almost the end of August! And do you guys know what that means? Ugh, I bet everyone does...school :( Anyways, I've been a very busy gal lately. Actually it's quite the opposite. I spend my last summer days with my feet propped up on a pillow while watching tv. Yea, I'm a lazy bum. Why are my feet propped up? Well...let's just say I had a little accident over a certain little curb while running.....

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture while balancing on only one foot?! Maybe I should've sat down....

What else have I done lately besides totally injure myself and make it hard to walk around the kitchen with a hot pan? Well, I made macarons (FINALLY!!!) and it's all thanks to the Italian meringue method and the cooking class I took in Paris :)

Chocolate Macaron with Raspberry Filling

Fillings: Salted caramel (from Trader Joes), Raspberry Jam, Speculoo Spread, Marshmallow fluff

I bought blue (er Indigo) coloring powder in France and wow, that is a pretty blue. Maybe I should've bought the other colors...oh well, I can always improvise! For the recipe, I used the one they gave us during our cooking course (which I'm pretty sure is Pierre Herme's recipe). I have to so say I loved the class. The teacher was helpful (and spoke English!!) and I was able to finally make a successful batch of macarons...all by myself!

Macaron Shell
Ingredients:
300 g ground almonds
300 g powdered sugar
110 g egg whites
powdered food coloring
-----
300 g sugar
75 g mineral water
110 g egg whites

1. Sift together almonds and powdered sugar in a large bowl
2. Add egg whties and food coloring and mix until uniform (mix well)
3. Prepare the italian meringue (bottom ingredients list)
4. Bring the sugar and water to a boil and cook to 118˚C (244.4˚F). When the mixture reaches 112˚C (233.6˚F) begin beating the eggs with a whisk fitted to a stand mixer. When the sugar reaches 118˚C pour into the egg whites . Whisk until not hot anymore (50˚C or 122˚F)
5. Carefully fold the meringue into the dry mixture (a little at a time). When you pick the mixture up with a spoon and drop it back into the bowl it should slowly blend back in (about 10 sec) but still see lines
6. Put parchment paper on a baking sheet and pipe small uniform (or as uniform as possible!) circles
7. Let stand for 15-30 minutes
8. Bake at 160˚C or 320˚F for 12 minutes

Variation: for a chocolate shell I added 30 grams of cocoa powder

Cherries!

 I can't believe it's August already, gosh, summer flew by so fast! Is it still cherry season? Oh well, fruit seem to be in stores 24/7 now...Don't those cherries just look so plump and juicy? Anyways sorry for the randomness, but I'm going to tell you a super duper ultra short story...

 So there once was a little cherry. He lived happily among his other cherry brothers and sisters in their glass bowl home. One day, he wanted to stand out among his fellow cherry siblings. So he turned himself into a dessert. But not just any dessert, a cherry crumble!

 What do you think of my efforts at creating a story about a cherry? Lame? Well that may be so, but this cherry crumble was definitely not! The recipe came from Eating Well, so it must be healthy, right?

 And the story goes on...but ends once he's eaten! The End.

Fruit Tart for Summer

Ah, I love fruit tarts. Fresh fruit, pastry cream, a flaky tart shell. Yum, three essential components of a fabulous summer dessert. Although the weather, mangoes, and pineapple are great in Hawaii, we have some pretty bad berries (except strawberries!). So whenever I do get really good fresh fruit, I usually just eat it fresh. But.....I just couldn't resist after flipping through Sarabeth's Bakery's cookbook(which is where the recipe is from.)

Apricot + Fig + Pecans + Nuts = Granola Bars :)

I absolutely love granola bars. Not only are they portable, but they are also delicious. Sometimes despite the colorful packaging claiming to be "healthy" or "low sugar" granola bars are not always the healthiest. How clever the marketing industry is, as they deceive innocent people in to believing they are making a healthy and good decision when buying a granola bar. There are a few truly healthy bars, but why not just make your own? It's fun, easy, and you can choose exactly what you want to put in.

Apricot and Fig Nut Bars
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup dried apricot
1 cup dried fig
1/3 cup almond
1/3 pecan
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 egg
1/4 cup apple sauce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325˚F and line a 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper
2. In a food processor pulse dried figs and apricot until uniform in size (large crumbs). Set aside
3. Toast almonds and pecans, then roughly chop.
4. In a bowl combine egg and apple sauce. Mix in oats, nuts, and dried fruit.
5. Press in to pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Bumble...bumble...bumbleberry!

Can you believe I've never made a pie before? I know, neither can I. So when I found out pie is one of my mom's favorite desserts, I knew I had to try make my own. Funny thing is, I found out she likes pie a couple years ago. It's just taken me several years to finally make a pie. But I finally did, and boy, am I glad I did bake one. Flaky crust + Sweet berries = The best pie EVER!

Rather than using a single fruit or berry, I chose to make a bumble berry pie. Actually, this pie tasted very similar to one I ate in Washington. I couldn't decide between the peach pie, the strawberry pie, or the bumble berry pie. We got the bumble berry pie because it had a variation of fruit, which we proceeded to devour in the car in under 10 minutes. I have to say, this pie tasted almost as good. My dad said even better, but I think he's just trying to be nice.

Bumbleberry Pie
Adapted from here and here
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups crico
1 egg whisked
5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups frozen mixed berries
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch

Directions:
1. Using a pastry cutter, gradually work the crisco in to the flour until it resembles "course meal"
2. Add in egg, cold water, vinegar, and salt. Gently (!) mix until a dough forms.
3. Divide in to three equal balls (The pie only needs two of the three balls)
4. Place each ball in a gallon ziploc bag and roll out using a rolling pin
5. Place bags in the freezer until firm or needed
6. In a bowl combine berries, white sugar, and corn starch. Place mixture in a strainer and let sit for 15 minutes to drain. Preheat oven to 375˚F.
7. Remove two pie crusts from freezer and allow to thaw for 10 minutes (It's easier to roll out when cold)
8. Roll out and place in a nine inch pie plate. Add in berries.
9. Roll out the second pie crust and place on top. Use a fork to crimp the sides and use a knife to create three small slits in the center.
 10. Bake for 25-30 minutes

Finally. I've finally made macarons!

Finally! I've finally made macarons that turn out how they're supposed to turn out! Hooray! After countless attempts, some I'm too embarrassed to post, I've made strawberry macarons with chocolate ganache. Decadent? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Perfect? Sadly, no. They didn't have the same texture as the ones from Japan, but they were tasty, and my closest attempt to making macarons.

After baking many batches and reading about different techniques, I've discovered a couple tips. When I first started making macarons, I had trouble removing the baked shells. Tartelette had a useful tip of using steam to remove the shells. Just put a little water on the still warm cookie sheet, slide the parchment paper over the water, and peel away!

Oh, and another tip. I've read on other sites and recipes that you should a silpat instead of parchment paper to remove the shells, but I've actually found when I used parchment paper it was easier to remove the shells. When I used silpat, the macarons initially rose, but fell flat and spread out quite thin.

Vanilla Bean Macarons -From Cannelle et Vanille
180 grams almond flour
240 grams powdered sugar
140 grams organic egg whites, aged
3 grams egg white powder
2 grams fine sea salt
80 grams sugar
10 grams freeze dried strawberry powder  (can be made by pulsing freeze dried strawberries)

(Make sure that the egg whites have been separated from the egg yolks the night before. This bit of aging really makes a difference in the macarons)

1. In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar and sea salt. Set aside.

2. Whip the egg whites with the egg white powder until very fluffy, almost fully whipped. Start adding the sugar and strawberry powder slowly while whipping. Whip to stiff peaks but not too much or the meringue will dry out. We want semi soft "ripples" still in the meringue.

3. Add the meringue to the almond flour mixture and fold with a spatula until a shiny mass forms. We want to achieve a batter that makes ribbons. You might have to test it to see if it's done. Pipe a small amount on your sheetpan. If it keeps a little bit of a top when piped, then you have to mix it a bit further, if it spreads really fast, you have gone too far and your macarons will turn out flat.

4. When you have the right consistency, place the mass in a pastry bag with a number 5 tip and pipe small rounds onto sheetpans lined with parchment or silpat. Let them dry at room temperature for at least 45 minutes to an hour.

5. Have the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Place one sheetpan in the oven at a time and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes and rotate sheetpan and bake for another 10 minutes. Test to see if they are done by picking one up and seing if it still sticks to the paper or not.

6. Let them cool and then fill them with chocolate ganache

 

Tips: 

-Use parchment paper instead of silpat 

-If you are having trouble removing the macaron shells, spread a little water under the paper on the warm baking sheet. The steam should help make removing the shells easier (via tartelette)

Bittersweet ganache
from Tartelette

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup bittersweet chocolate

In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the stove and add the chocolate to it. Let stand 2 minutes and then stir until fully combined. Let cool until firm enough to put in a small piping bag.

Fig Bread

Whenever I'm not busy on a Saturday morning, my mom and I bike/drive to the KCC farmers market. Actually, we usually drive there. We buy too much stuff to bike! But anyways, we usually buy a loaf of bread from Ba-le bakery. My dad loves figs, and so our usual choice of bread was their fig and walnut, at least until recently. I think they've changed their recipe or something because, well, let's just say it's more of a walnut bread than a fig walnut bread.

Disappointed by the last loaf we tried, I set out to make my own, and this time the bread would be chock full of figs. So I made the bread, and let's just say my mom and I will be buying a different loaf. The fig bread wasn't bad, it was just too much work. Okay, maybe not a lot of work. I accidentally left a pan of water in the oven, and so there was an extra extra crunchy (almost too hard) crust on the bread.

The bread itself was a little too spongy, and wasn't the dense whole grain loaf I wanted. I'll probably tackle a fig bread recipe soon, but until then I think I will be at the farmers market on saturdays!

Fig Bread
Adapted from Pastry Pal
Ingredients:
4 cups (454 g) all purpose flour plus 1 teaspoon for sprinkling
1 cup wheat flour
2 1/2 (12 g) teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon (4 g) granulated yeast
2 1/3 cup cool tap water (about 70 degrees F, a comfortable room temperature)
1 cup dried figs, chopped

1. Combine flours, yeast, and salt
2. Add water and knead until forms a stick ball, continue kneading. Knead in figs pieces
3. Allow dough to rest for 12-14 hours
4. Punch dough down and place in on a parchment lined baking sheet
5. Allow to rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours
6. Preheat oven and baking stone to 425˚F
7. Spritz water in to oven or leave a small baking dish filled with water inside the oven while preheating
8. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 400˚F and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

Daring Bakers: Christmas Stollen

This month's challenge was hosted by Penny over at Sweet Sadie's Baking. She chose Christmas Stollen as this month's recipe. I've never even tried stollen, so I was excited to try making it. When I looked over the recipe, it reminded me of a fruit cake in bread form. I'm not much a fan of the whole fruit and nut combo, so I chose to use dried cranberries and no nuts instead. I love the wreath-shaped look of stollen, but had a little trouble shaping it at first. Mine didn't turn out perfect, but it was still tasty.  Actually, my dad loved it, and even before I put the powdered sugar layer on he had already eaten some!

Recipe over at Sweet Sadie's Baking

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. I like the holidays, but don't you guys think it becomes way too stressful? Buying the perfect gift, decorating the house, and semester exams. Ugh, don't even get me started about exams! Mine isn't until After winter break, so instead of relaxing I have to study! Yuck. At least I get more time to study, though, right?

Do you see these cookies here? These aren't any old cookies. They're Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies..in other words the carefree, relaxing, melt-your-worries-away cookies. Buttery soft oatmeal cookie dough and tart dried cranberries are the perfect match. Who ever invented this combination was a genius!

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Adapted from Flour 
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Directions:
1. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs until combined
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ground ginger, whisking until combined
3. Mix the flour mixture in to the butter mixture.
4. Stir in the cranberries
5. Place the dough in an airtight container, and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours
6. Preheat oven to 350˚F
7. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough on a cookie sheet, and bake for 16 minutes or until edges are golden brown
8. Enjoy!

Upside Down Pineapple Cake

Whenever I get a new cookbook I make a list of every single thing I want to make. Along with Flour's famous sticky buns, this upside down pineapple cake was at the top of the list. Caramelized pineapple and a buttery cake batter. Who could resist? Plus, there was a picture of the cake, and the minute I saw it my mouth started to water and I knew I had to make it!

The cake was very moist, and paired perfectly with the sweet pineapple slices. At first I was a little scared because there are several components, but after tasting this cake, I knew it was totally worth it! Btw, does anyone know how to cut these things? Cause when I sliced it, I couldn't cut through the pineapple slices and ended up slicing between the pineapple...which then led to kinda funny shaped pieces of cake!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Upside Down Pineapple Cake
Adapted from Flour Bakery
Ingredients:
1 pineapple, sliced in to 3/4 inch thick slices
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a saucepan mix 3/4 cups sugar and water. Heat until boiling. Allow to boil for 3-4 minutes, or until it begins to caramelize. When it turns light brown, gently swirl the pan.
2. Turn down the heat, and whisk in 6 tablespoons of butter. Add in pineapple, coating with the sugar mixture. Allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Using a fork, place the pineapple on a plate. Heat the remaining sugar mixture until thick and syrupy
4. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and butter a 9inch round pan
5. Arrange the pineapple in the pan, cutting the slices in to smaller pieces to fill any cracks. Pour the thickened syrup over the pineapple.
6. In a bowl beat remaining butter until creamy. Add in sugar and eggs.
7. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in to butter mixture.
8. Pour the batter over the pineapple. Gently tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
9. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until top is golden brown
10. Once the cake is cooled, invert onto a plate