Boston Cream Pie

Some things just don't need an explanation.



Especially when there's cake and presents involved :)



Yup, it's birthday time...Round 2! 60 and fabulous -- that's my mom!! :)



Happy birthday, mother! Looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you in the years to come...
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Buttermilk-Vanilla Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting

When someone turns the big six-o, you better make something good. But when that person turns 60 twice? You have got to make something even better.

Ok, so what lucky duck gets two birthday parties in one year?? Turns out it's my mom, who is turning the nifty sixty this coming fall/winter...but somehow managed to finagle an early birthday celebration this summer as well (I really need to learn from her negotiation skills!).



My sister was actually in town from NYC for her last home visit before moving to Hong Kong next month for work. So of course, we had to send her off the Wong way ;). Besides eating our way through Champa Garden, Boca Nova, Wood Tavern, and Asian Pearl (errrrr...my sister was supposedly "writing a food article" for the WSJ!), we also got together for my mom's early birthday celebration since everyone was around.

Which brings me to these cupcakes. Moist, soft, airy and slightly dense, these cupcakes are versatile enough to go with any type of frosting. It's not an overtly sweet cake due to the buttermilk in it, and its vanilla flavor is actually quite subtle -- almost unrecognizable. But the wonderful texture and "mellow" vanilla flavor works, especially when paired with an intensely rich, dark chocolate frosting. Mind you, this frosting will quickly become the highlight of any cupcake or cake ensemble. Everything about it, from the smooth and creamy texture to intensely chocoholic taste, is perfect. And besides, if this is the "editors choice" for chocolate frosting at Martha Stewart Living, it better to be good.



Lucky for us, these cupcakes were round #1...which means round #2 in a couple of months can only get better! Feliz cumpleanos!! :D

Vanilla-Buttermilk Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting
Recipe from Martha Stewart Living

Buttermilk-Vanilla Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini-muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a mixer bowl. Transfer bowl to mixer, and add egg, yolk, water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until mixture is well combined and smooth, about 3 minutes.

3. Divide batter among liners, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks for 30 minutes. Invert cupcakes onto racks, and let cool completely. (Cupcakes can be stored for up to 3 days.)

Dark Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds best-quality semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 1 month, in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again. Continue reading for recipe...

Magic Bars

Got 10 minutes -- even 5?



Then you can make these magic bars. All you have to do is layer and bake 7 delicious ingredients together in a pan, and voila -- you have these incredibly rich, sweet, gooey, sticky cookie bars that are slightly reminiscent of blondies...only much more decadent from all the chocolate, butterscotch, pecan and coconut goodies piled on top. They are seriously magic, I tell ya ;)



So make these indulgent treats if it's already 10pm at night and you suddenly realize that you need something for your company's bake sale the next day, or if you're craving something sweet but are feeling just a smidge bit lazy...or if your hubby forgets to tell you that his close guy friends are flying in for the weekend until only a couple of hours before they arrive :P

PS - between the three of them, those boys killed the entire batch by Saturday night...word.

Magic Bars
Recipe adapted from the Joy of Baking

3/4 C butter, melted
2 1/4 C graham cracker crumbs (about 18 crackers)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 C semisweet chocolate morsels
1 C butterscotch flavored chips
1 C sweetened flaked coconut
1 C chopped pecans

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Coat 13x9 inch glass baking pan with non-stick cooking spray
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, and nuts. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over mixture.
3. Bake around 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature.
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S'mores

Probably the #1 reason why I go camping.



....although, who needs camping when you can do this at home?? :P



A rainy day treat at its finest. Too bad it rained so much that I had 3 the other day...whoops ;)

S'mores
Recipe by SC

1 graham cracker, broken in half
1 piece of dark chocolate
1-2 marshmallows, depending on taste

Hold marshmallows over flame until nicely toasted (I kinda like them burned). Place toasted marshmallows in between chocolate & graham crackers and indulge!

I think Sachi was scared of the fire, heehee :P
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Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes

6 days! That's how long I was cooped up in our tiny little apartment, sick. I can't even begin to explain how fun that was. Turns out that I had the flu, which then developed into a bronchial infection...which basically meant that I couldn't go 10 minutes without having a major coughing fit. Good times all around.

Anyway, cupcakes always seem make everything better -- especially when they are this good. While I actually made these before I almost died, I do remember talking about how these have become one of our favorite cupcakes so far. Some cupcakes are noticeably dense or crumbly; these are extraordinarily soft, delicate and moist. Black coffee (our secret ingredient for everything!) brings the cake's chocolaty flavor to a "where's my @!&*#$ cup of milk?" level, and the Oreo cookie bits in the cream cheese frosting make everything all the more delectable. I mean really, when can you ever go wrong with Oreos and cupcakes?


In other news, we are moving to Rockridge in less than a week!! We can't wait -- especially for our new kitchen which will be ohhh, about 3x times the size of our current one :D

So yeah, posting will be fairly light over these next couple of weeks as we begin to pack, move, and unpack (who wants to help??). Pictures of the new pad coming shortly!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting
Cake recipe adapted from Hershey's Black Magic Cake
Frosting recipe adapted from Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strong black coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 8-0z packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 T vanilla extract
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
5-10 Oreo's, crushed

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (Batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into cupcake tins.

2. Bake about 10-15 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

3. Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Pound Oreo cookies into crumbs, and mix into frosting. Frost cupcakes and serve.
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Cranberry Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

Now that the holidays are over with, I think we've officially gained 10 lbs. Between Christmas cookies, dinner parties, hot appetizer dips, and holiday chocolates -- not to mention an overdose of my mom's deliciously addictive home cooking -- we are ready to kick 2010 off with some healthy, skeeeny food.



But first, this glorious cheesecake :D

I actually stumbled across this in my search for a recipe that uses fresh cranberries. You see, my family likes to buy things in bulk (if you haven't already noticed) -- and my mom had two HUGE bags of cranberries that she couldn't use up by herself. So naturally, we ended up with one of those bags...wondering what on earth to do with it. Good thing we found this, otherwise we would have been drinking cranberry juice for years.



This festive and luscious cheesecake was made for my auntie's "toned down" new years party, which boasted 28 different food dishes. I say toned down because last year, we had 40-something dishes. Why do we insist on gorging ourselves with so much food? I have no idea. But it's always delicious, and has become a tradition we look forward to every year :)


Anyway, this stunning cheesecake is the perfect dessert for holiday festivities. Not only is the presentation impressive, but it's both delicious and easy to make. Chocoholics (like me) love the rich, chocolate wafer crust. And the cheesecake's light, creamy texture and subtle orange flavor provide the perfect contrast. The highlight, of course, is the bright and slightly tart cranberry compote, which pulls all the flavors together beautifully.



While this cheesecake did a great job of using up some of those cranberries in our fridge, we still have a whole 1/2-bag left. At least this bodes well for our urinary tracts, right? ;)

Cranberry-Orange Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2002

Crust
1 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies, broken
2 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 large eggs
3 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

For crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Finely grind cookies and chocolate in processor. Add butter; blend until moist clumps form. Using plastic wrap as aid, press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1 1/4 inches up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.

For filling:
Increase oven temperature to 350°F. Wrap 2 layers of heavy-duty foil around bottom and up sides of springform pan. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light. Beat in flour. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, just until blended. Beat in orange peel and vanilla.

Pour filling into crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake until filling is just set in center but still moves slightly, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove cake from water bath; transfer to rack and cool completely, about 4 hours. Cover and chill overnight.

For topping:
Stir sugar and water in medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; add cornstarch mixture and bring to simmer. Add cranberries; cook until beginning to pop, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Stir in orange peel. Cool completely. Cover and chill overnight. (Cheesecake and cranberry mixture can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Run knife around top edge of cheesecake to loosen. Release pan sides. Top cheesecake with cranberry mixture. Chill until set, about 1 hour.

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Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

No Christmas is a real Christmas without cookies. And now that it's practically here, I had to make this cookie recipe that I'd been eying for a while. Not that these are necessarily Christmas cookies, but they are equally special and decadent -- if not better.



I got this recipe from the lovely Dorie Greenspan, who says: "These cookies are chocolate sables, French shortbreads, but because they've got more brown sugar than white in them, they've got more chew than most shortbreads. They've also got a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks and enough fleur de sel (moist, coarse-grained French "finishing" salt) to make them noticeably salty and completely addictive, in the way so many good things with salt are."


She had me at French shortbreads -- I was looking for a rich, buttery cookie with a crisp yet crumbly texture. But when I read the words chocolate and fleur de sel? I got pretty excited; you can't get a better combination than that.

While the contrast between sweet and salty is definitely prevalent in this cookie, it's really the intensity of the chocolate that makes it so addictive. The fleur de sel is what does it -- with just a pinch of salt, the complexity and flavor of the dark chocolate really comes out without being overwhelmingly sweet. Bonus points for the little bits of bittersweet chocolate pieces that are mixed into the cookie as well.



Good thing I made this while our close friends were staying with us this past weekend. Otherwise, it would have been a very dangerous Christmas for our tummies...;)

World Peace Cookies
Baking: From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup high quality, unsweetened cocoa powder such as Valrhona or Scharffenberger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Mix in the flour until it disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

SERVING: The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — I prefer them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.

STORING: Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days; they can be frozen for up to 2 months.
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Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie

A belated happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone got their fill of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, and of course apple/pumpkin pie this year :)



I know...this doesn't look like your typical pumpkin pie. But I can explain; my mom's side of the family is apparently averse to pumpkin pie -- if you can believe that. So given the lack of one of my favorite desserts during this Thanksgiving holiday (though we did have apple pie!), I knew it was absolutely imperative to have an insanely indulgent and delicious substitute on hand to distract me from any pumpkin pie envy. This seemed to do the trick.


After literally inhaling the biggest meal of the year, there's something really appealing/comforting about taking on a slightly lighter kind of dessert. Because even though you've deliberately worn your fat pants to dinner and feel like you're on the verge of upchucking everything you just ate, you can never say no to dessert...especially when it's Thanksgiving.

This stunning black-and-white dessert combines delicate banana cream filling with a dense chocolate bottom for a lighter but equally decadent treat. There are essentially 5 layers to it -- a rich chocolate wafer crust, an intense and velvety chocolate ganache, sweet banana slices, creamy vanilla custard, and fresh and airy vanilla whipped cream. Now what is this nonsense about pumpkin pie envy?! ;)



Anyway, my apologies for the lack of pictures. What's missing is the layer of vanilla custard and whipped cream on top of the bananas. Those steps were hastily done in about 2 minutes as we were madly rushing out the door (this unfortunately seems to be a trend for us)...

Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie
Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 1998

For crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 7 ounces)

For chocolate ganache
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ripe bananas

For vanilla pastry cream
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For vanilla whipped cream
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make crust:
Butter 9-inch-diameter glass or ceramic pie dish. Stir butter and chocolate in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Mix in cookie crumbs. Press onto bottom and up sides of prepared dish. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Make chocolate ganache:
Heat cream and butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until mixture is hot (do not boil). Remove from heat. Add chocolate and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Reserve 2 tablespoons chocolate ganache in small bowl at room temperature; pour remainder over crust. Chill crust until chocolate ganache is firm, about 30 minutes.

Thinly slice 2 bananas. Arrange banana slices over chocolate.

Make vanilla pastry cream:
Bring half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk sugar, eggs, egg yolk and flour in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot half and half. Transfer to saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until mixture thickens and comes to boil, about 2-3 minutes. Pour into medium bowl. Stir in vanilla. Press plastic onto surface of pastry cream. Cover; chill until cold, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)

Whisk Vanilla Pastry Cream until smooth. Spread pastry cream evenly over bananas. Drizzle reserved chocolate ganache over pastry cream. Draw toothpick through pastry cream and chocolate to marbleize. Refrigerate until pastry cream is set, about 3 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Spoon Vanilla Whipped Cream around edges of pie, or spoon whipped cream into pastry bag that's fitted with large star tip and pipe cream around edges of pie. Slice remaining banana. Garnish pie with banana slices.
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Double Chocolate Birthday Torte

It was someone special's birthday this past week. And like me, this person LOVES chocolate. So what better way to celebrate than with a sinfully rich, double chocolate torte?



Flourless chocolate cakes are usually my standard go-to for really intense and dense chocolate cakes. But for this special occasion, I was looking for something a bit more impressive and luxurious. I really didn't think that was possible until I laid eyes on this.


Good thing we live in SF, home to Girardelli and Scharffen Berger, because this recipe called for a lot of chocolate. There are essentially 3 different layers in it -- the bottom an intensely rich and dense chocolate torte, the middle a smooth and creamy chocolate mousse, and the top a light and airy whipped cream -- that together, create a decadent explosion of flavor. The velvety chocolate texture just melts in your mouth...and when your eyes are closed, it tastes even better (imagine that!). There were definitely a lot of oohhhhhs, ahhhhhs, and mmmmms that night ;)

Despite the fact that "small serving sizes are highly recommended" because of the cake's rich flavor, every single plate on the table was licked clean. Funny how that always seems to happen at our place...



Happy birthday, Mom! We're so lucky to have you -- love you lots :)

Double Chocolate Torte
Adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2000

Cake
8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup all purpose flour


Mousse
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 cups fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons red currant jelly melted with 1 tablespoon water

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan; dust with sugar. Melt chocolate and butter in heavy large saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool to lukewarm. Whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time, blending well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and salt, then flour. Pour batter into pan. Bake until cake just rises in center (tester inserted into center will not come out clean), about 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack. Cover; chill while making mousse.

For mousse:
Melt butter in medium metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Whisk yolks, 1/4 cup cream and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk yolk mixture into bowl with melted butter. Whisk constantly over simmering water until thermometer registers 150°F, about 6 minutes (mixture may appear broken). Remove from over water; add chocolate and stir to melt. Set aside. Beat egg whites and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl to medium-stiff peaks. Whisk 1/4 of beaten egg white mixture into warm chocolate mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining egg white mixture. Pour mousse over cake in pan; smooth top. Chill torte until mousse is set, at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.

Run sharp knife around edge of pan to loosen torte. Release pan sides. Transfer torte to platter. Using electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup cream in medium bowl until peaks form. Spread whipped cream over torte. Top whipped cream with raspberries. Brush red currant jelly mixture over raspberries. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar.
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Homemade Dark Chocolate-Matcha Green Tea Truffles

This was another treat that we brought with us to NYC...and thank goodness we did. Because if we had kept these for ourselves, they would have been gone in 5 minutes. No joke.


Lately, I've been on this crazy matcha green tea kick where I seem/want to think that it goes with everything -- green tea granola, marshmallows, yogurt, chocolate, noodles (kidding...well, kinda). I blame it on my heritage, but in reality, it's a flavor that is gaining increasing popularity and appeal. I mean, if Starbucks is now serving matcha green tea beverages, it must be good!



Anyway, I think dark chocolate + green tea is a delightful and elegant flavor that gives classic duos like salt-caramel or chocolate-raspberry a run for their money. This truffle's creamy chocolate ganache is infused with a delicate green tea flavor, and the matcha powder coating heightens the intensity of both the dark chocolate and green tea. Unlike Godiva chocolates that have a too hard exterior and too runny interior (in my opinion), these indulgent ganache truffles have a more consistent texture where the entire truffle is this little soft morsel that literally melts in your mouth.



Isn't it pretty? Oh, and did I mention that dark chocolate and green tea are also healthy for you? Maybe we should have saved these for ourselves after all... :)

Green Tea Dark Chocolate Truffle
Recipe from The Food Channel

1/3 C heavy cream
1/4 C sugar
1/2 t matcha green tea
7 oz high quality Dark Chocolate (I used 70% Scharffen Berger), finely chopped
Matcha green tea, as needed to coat truffles

Combine cream, sugar, and 1/2 t matcha green tea in nonstick sauce pan and whisk to blend. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Immediately add 5 ounces fine chopped chocolate to hot cream mixture and gently stir to blend. Spread chocolate/cream ganache mixture in shallow dish and refrigerate until firm to touch.

Shape chilled chocolate ganache mixture into balls (using a melon scooper) and arrange on plate or baking sheet lined with wax paper. If chocolate ganache gets too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate briefly.

Freeze truffles until firm. Melt approx 2 oz chopped chocolate in top of double boiler. Dip frozen truffles in chocolate to lightly coat. Cool. Roll cooled truffles in matcha green tea powder to lightly coat. Store truffles in refrigerator until ready to serve.


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Matcha Green Tea Marshmallows

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful holiday -- I know I did! AC was actually in Seattle this weekend, so good ole' Sachi and I got the entire apartment to ourselves. This was the first time AC and I had been apart since we got married, and at first it was a little weird. BUT, I was able to make homemade marshmallows in his absence...and go on guiltless (well kinda) shopping sprees, watch chick flicks, and have girl time as well :D

Anyway, I've been wanting to make homemade marshmallows ever since I walked past Miette Patisserie and saw how ridiculously cute and trendy their homemade marshmallows were. How could you not want lavender, honey or vanilla flavored clouds of fluff? The sophisticated flavors worked well with their light and airy textures, and I couldn't stop thinking about how tasty they'd be as smores, or in a hot beverage, or in my mouth...again.

With that inspiration in mind, I was determined to make my own version. Only, it didn't go quite as smoothly as I had envisioned. Between beating the marshmallow mixture into a fluff and transferring it to a baking pan, I somehow managed to make a complete mess. And I don't mean flour all over the kitchen kind of disaster. This was much more serious where there were cobwebs and cobwebs of gooey, marshmallowy strings EVERYWHERE. In my hair, on the counter tops and floor, shirt, pants -- not to mention my hands, which were so covered in sticky goo that anything I touched (like the sink faucet to wash my hands in) became part of my cobwebbed mess.



What, this picture doesn't make you want to run out and make homemade marshmallows yourself? :P You know when you bite into a marshmallow, and your eager fingers accidentally touch the sticky center and become glued together for the rest of the night? That's exactly what this was like, only ten times worse because the entire marshmallow mixture was sticky...which meant that if you somehow ended up touching any of it, you were doomed. So lesson learned (the hard way): refrain from using your fingers to scrape/wipe off any stray batter!

However, despite the mess (and panic) that was created, I was able to regain composure and churn out a pretty respectable marshmallow given the hurricane my kitchen went through. :) Light, fluffy and delectably soft, they were exactly as I had envisioned if not better. I also dipped a couple of them in milk chocolate to mitigate the slight bitterness of the green tea, which turned out to be a fantastic idea. If only I had some graham crackers...



Homemade Marshmallows
Adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2008

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 cup cold water, divided
3 1/4-ounce envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons matcha green tea powder

1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t matcha green tea powder

Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil.

Coat foil lightly with nonstick spray. Pour 1/2 cup cold water into bowl of heavy-duty mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Sprinkle gelatin over water. Let stand until gelatin softens and absorbs water, at least 15 minutes.

Combine 2 cups sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup cold water in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over mediumlow heat until sugar dissolves, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush. Attach candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat and bring syrup to boil. Boil, without stirring, until syrup reaches 240°F, about 8 minutes.

With mixer running at low speed, slowly pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture in thin stream down side of bowl (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk, as it may splash). Gradually increase speed to high and beat until mixture is very thick and stiff, about 15 minutes. Add 2 t matcha green tea powder and beat to blend, about 30 seconds longer.

Scrape marshmallow mixture into prepared pan. Smooth top with wet spatula. Let stand uncovered at room temperature until firm, about 4 hours.

Stir cornstarch, powdered sugar and 1/2 t matcha green tea powder in small bowl to blend. Sift generous dusting of starch-sugar mixture onto work surface, forming rectangle slightly larger than 8x8 inches. Turn marshmallow slab out onto starch-sugar mixture; peel off foil. Sift more starch-sugar mixture over marshmallow slab. Coat large sharp knife (or cookie cutters) with nonstick spray. Cut marshmallows into squares or other shapes. Toss each in remaining starch-sugar mixture to coat. Transfer marshmallows to rack, shaking off excess mixture.
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