Sticky Toffee Pudding

Here's the recipe for my Sticky Toffee Pudding that I've been making for the holidays. It was super popular and everyone loved it. Enjoy!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky Toffee Pudding

For the Toffee Sauce:
2 cups heavy cream
½ c. dark brown sugar
Pinch salt

For the Pudding:
6 oz. pitted dates, chopped (substitute date w/ Dry Apricots if you can't find dates or you just don't like them).
1 c. water
1 tsp baking soda
1¼ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine sea salt
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
¾ c. granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter an 8½-inch porcelain soufflé dish (or similar-sized baking dish.)
2. Make the toffee sauce by bringing the cream, brown sugar and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring often to melt the sugar.
3. Lower heat and simmer, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and coats the spoon. Pour half the sauce into the prepared soufflé dish and place the dish in the freezer, and reserve the other half for serving.
4. To make the pudding, in a medium saucepan, heat the dates and water. Once the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Set aside, but keep it slightly warm.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. (Don’t be alarmed if the mixture looks a bit curdled.)
7. Stir in half of the flour mixture, then the date mixture, then add the remaining flour mixture until just mixed. Don’t overbeat the batter.
8. Scrape the batter into the soufflé dish and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
9. Remove the pudding from the oven, and let cool slightly before serving. Spoon portions of the cake into serving bowls and douse with additional warm toffee sauce. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream is good accompaniments. 

Updates of more cakes!

Hey y'alls!

Sorry I haven't been posting anything lately. Where to begin...well in November it was my nicese's 3rd birthday, and the theme was Minnie Mouse. So I used my Disneyland Candy making skills to uses and made Minnie Mouse Candy Apples, Mickey Cookies and Rice Crispy Treats, OH and a Minnie Mouse Cake. 

For the holidays I Went to Washington DC and New York! Before I left I did a wedding cake for a friend with the help from my partner, Nisie. Then made a lot of Sticky Pudding! Then in New York I got my hands on some macarons from the famous Ladurée! 

Here are some pics of the cakes. 

Ladurée

Wedding cake: Red Velvet w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

left: Chocolate w/ Vanilla Italian Buttercream; right: Vanilla w/ Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

New Catering Gig! Check it out!

Hey everyone! My friends and I are starting up a new catering group call Sweet Thyme Catering. Come check out our facebook page @ www.facebook.com/STCatering 

Salted Caramel Tarts

After making my cupcakes last week. I have a lot of let over caramel and ganache, so I decided to make a tart out of it and it was amazing.  

Salted Caramel Tart

Salted Caramel sauce

1½  cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp Salt

1. Melt the sugar in a sauce pan or pot, until caramel color have been reached 
2. Then pour in heavy cream and stir until the caramel is smooth. 
3. Add in salt, you can change the amount 

Chocolate Gauanche (No Cream)

200g Chocolate

125g          Milk

50g          Butter

1. Heat milk and butter in a pot, until butter has melted and milk starts to boil
2. Then pour hot milk over chocolate and let it sit for a minute, then stir until smooth.

Sweet Pastry Crust

1 1/2 cups    all purpose flour

1/8 tsp         salt

1/2 cup        unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup        sugar

1                 large egg, lightly beaten

1. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour with the salt. Place the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, and beat until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating just until incorporated. Add the flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Flatten the pastry into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or just until firm (can place in freezer for about 10-15 minutes.)
2. Lightly butter and flour, or spray with a non-stick vegetable/flour cooking spray, an 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom. Once the pastry has chilled sufficiently, evenly pat onto the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Lightly prick bottom of pastry crust with the tines of a fork (this will prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes). Place tart pan on a larger baking pan and bake crust for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and continue to bake the crust for about 15 minutes or until crust is dry and lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Putting the tart together:

1. pour in the caramel into cooled tart shell, tapping it to make it even.
2. then pour the ganache on top, covering the caramel and place in fridge to set. About 30 mins. 
3. sprinkle a little bit of sea salt as garnish and enjoy

NOTE: You can make mini tarts too. The pastry crust recipe makes 6 mini tart shells and the caramel and ganache is enough to fill them all too.

My Award Winning Apple Pie & Smores Cupcakes

So this summer at the Orange County Fair I entered the Cupcake Classic Competition, and let's just say I brought home a Ribbon.  Here's my award winning cupcakes recipes for you guys to try.  The recipes are a little long and acquires some work, but it is worth it.

Apple Pie Cupcake

Cupcake:

2 cups         all-purpose flour

1 tsp            baking powder

3/4 tsp         salt

2 tsp            cinnamon

1/2 tsp         nutmeg

½  cup         butter, softened

1 cup           granulated sugar

1/2 cup        packed light-brown sugar

4 large         eggs, at room temperature

1½  cups     unsweetened applesauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip together butter, granulated sugar and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 - 4 minutes.
3. Add in eggs, mixing after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add in applesauce. Stir in flour mixture and mix just until combined. Divide batter evenly among 20 paper lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
4. Bake in preheated oven, rotating pan once halfway through baking, for about 19 - 20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Apple Filling:

2                   firm apple, granny smith preferred

1 tsp             cinnamon

¼ cup           sugar

2 tsp             cornstarch

½ cup          water

1. Peel, core, and dice one apple into 1/4″ or smaller pieces. 
2. Put the apple in a bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch. 
3. Toss to coat.
4. Cook over med-high heat until apples are tender and sugar has caramelized, then add water and cook until thickens.
5. Set aside to cool.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces               cream cheese, room temperature

4 Tbsp (½ stick)   unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp                  cinnamon 

¾ cup                   confectioners’ sugar

½ tsp                    pure vanilla extract

1. In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.
2. Then slowly add cinnamon and sugar, remember to scrape bowl.
3. Finally mix in vanilla

Salted Caramel sauce

1½  cup         sugar

1 cup             heavy cream

1 tsp              Salt

1. Melt the sugar in a sauce pan or pot, until caramel color have been reached
2. Then pour in heavy cream and stir until the caramel is smooth.
3. Add in salt, you can change the amount of salt depending on how salty you like it to be.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.

Assemble cupcake:

1. Take a melon baler or small knife and scoop a small well in the center of the cupcake, about half way down.
2. Fill in the well with apple filling
3. Then pipe cinnamon cream cheese frosting on top of cupcake, covering the filling.
4. Finally drizzle caramel sauce on top and enjoy. 

S’mores Cupcake

Graham Cracker Crust

1½ c.        Graham cracker crumbs

3 Tbsp. Sugar

1 tsp cinnamon 

¼ c. Butter, melted 

1. Combined all and set aside 
2. Spoon in a tablespoon of moisten graham cracker mixture into 24 cupcake liners, and press down to tighten. 

Chocolate Cupcake

2 c. Sugar

¾ c. Cocoa powder

1¾ c.        AP Flour

2 tsp.  Baking soda

1 tsp.  Baking powder

2 eggs

1 c. Strong black coffee or 2 tsp. instant coffee + 1 cup boiling water

1 tsp.         Vanilla extract 

1 tsp.         Salt

1 c. Buttermilk 

½ c. Vegetable oil 

1. Combined all the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients and then add the dry mixture until well combined. 
3. Pour in batter over graham cracker crust, filling only ¾ the cup. Repeat to all 24 cupcake liners.  
4. Bake the cupcakes in a preheated oven at 350˚F for 20-25 minutes. 
5. When done let cool completely.

Swiss Meringue 

1¼ c.        Sugar

5 Egg whites

1 tsp         Cream of tartar 

1. In a mixing bowl combined sugar and egg white and place over a double boiler. Stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved and mixture is hot to the touch.
2. When hot remove from heat and place in standing mixer with whip attachment.  Whip on high, when egg whites start to foam put in cream of tartar.  Let mix until meringue reaches stiff peaks.  

Chocolate Gauanche (No Cream)

200g   Chocolate

125g         Milk

50g         Butter

1. Heat milk and butter in a pot, until butter has melted and milk starts to boil
2. Then pour hot milk over chocolate and let it sit for a minute, then stir until smooth.

 Assemble the cupcakes.

1. With a small spoon or knife make a well in the center of the cupcakes and fill it with chocolate ganche.
2. Place meringue in a piping bag with a clean tip and pipe meringue on top of cupcakes.  
3. With a torch, brown the meringue topped cupcakes and enjoy! 

BMW M3

Check out this cake I made! This is the very first curved cake I ever done...not bad if I so myself.

The next few weeks I am going to test out some cupcake recipes, so that I can enter the cupcake contest at the OC Fair. So keep your eyes open for some new posts. 

Ice-Cream you Scream!

Summer is just around the corner that means pull out your ice-cream machines! At my house there is an over load of Mangos, so today I am going to share with you a Mango Coconut Ice-Cream.

Mango Coconut Ice-Cream

3-4 ripe mangos
1 1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
lime juice

1. Puree the mango
2. Add most of the coconut milk, cream, and a little lime juice into the puree mango. Mix and taste to see if flavors are balance. You want to taste the coconut int he background and a little lime just to balance out the flavors.
3. Add more coconut milk or lime if needed. Remember flavors and sweetness will lessen when frozen. 
4. Place mixture in fridge for a few hours to chill
5. Then place mixture in ice-cream machine according to manufacturer's instruction.  This needs double churning time compared to egg-based ice-cream.  Freeze completely or eat soft serve. 

http://thepatternedplate.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/mango-and-coconut-ice-cream/