Bee pollen honey panna cotta

Posted on 6th November 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

Panna cotta means ‘cooked cream’…not that I speak Italian…:) But I always liked the meaning of it because it’s, yes, that easy! You just cook cream, add a little gelatin and let it chill. That’s it! Once you realize how easy it is to make, you can make all kinds of variety of it. You can add buttermilk, lemon, green tea, your favorite Oolong tea, coffee, hazelnut, mint, sage, saffron, midori sour, kahlua, baileys….you name it. I came up with this recipe for my culinary school graduation menu and ever since that, it became one of my dessert cravings. (I [...]

Halloween cupcakes for grown ups

Posted on 25th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

Who said only kids can have fun on halloween? Halloween is the only day where we can dare to wear a hooker shoes and strut down the street, right? Why not make these scrumptious chocolate cupcake (coffee in there- so don’t feed these to your kids) with mascarpone frosting (Baileys in there-so don’t feed these to your kids either) and have some grown ups trick or treat? Ingredients For cake: 1 cups all purpose flour 1 cups sugar 6 tablespoon good cocoa powder 1 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup buttermilk, shaken 1/4 cup vegetable [...]

Matcha banana bread

Posted on 20th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

I have been searching for the best banana bread recipe for a long time. I have made a ‘brick’, ‘gooey’,’dry’….at times I had to toss the entire loaf in the trash. Wasted so many bananas, butter….Is there anybody out there feeling this pain? I personally think banana bread is the hardest quick bread to make it good. But after a few melt downs, I finally made the best banana bread ever. It is super moist and flavorful. I added a teaspoon of matcha green tea. (Don’t get too excited and put more than what you need…It will taste like pot…in a [...]

Blueberry cupcake with maple brown butter frosting

Posted on 17th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

My dearest friend Megan came up to visit me from San Diego. I love when she comes. We workout, cook, eat, yoga, watch chick flicks on the couch…dye each other’s hair… And she made these ridiculous cupcakes for me. She got the recipe from a blog called ‘Ming makes cupcakes‘. What can I say, ‘Ming, I love you. Please keep making cupcakes.’ and thank you for posting. I recreated what she made and gosh it is so good! Let’s just say what can not taste good with brown butter, right? I always try to modify a recipe but just this [...]

Crepe Ool la la

Posted on 16th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets, Main course
by blackdogfoodblog

We had some guests over for dinner last night and had a big fillet of salmon leftover. I got it at the fish market(so fresh!) so there is a no way I am having it go waste. What can I do with it? —I decided to whip up salmon crepe with bechamel sauce. Ool la la And it turned out omg so good. Ingredients Crepe batter: 2 large eggs 3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup flour 3 tablespoons melted butter a pinch of salt Butter, for coating the pan Salmon filling: 1 pound salmon fillet [...]

Buttermilk blueberry muffins

Posted on 15th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

We went to blueberry picking. My husband grew up in a farm so we like driving up north of Santa Barbara to look at ranches, farms and just smell the dirt & cow poop. And what would taste better than fresh baked muffins made with just picked blueberries? See the berry still has its leaf? :) Ingredients 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 1/4 cups white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 pint fresh blueberries – rinsed, drained and patted dry 2 tablespoons white sugar Preparation 1.Cream [...]

Whoopie for Woopie pie

Posted on 15th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

Is it a pie, cake or cookie? Either way, they are so dang good. So what is woopie pie? ………Amish women would bake these desserts (made from cake batter leftovers) and put them in farmers lunch boxes. When farmers would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout “Whoopie!”……… How cute is that story? I’m going to put these in my husband snack pack, so he can go ‘Whoopie’! when he find these. Ingredients For the cake: 1/2 cup butter 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon [...]

Petite raspberry tart

Posted on 12th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

Raspberry tart is my husband’s favorite dessert. We usually get it at a french bakery we go on weekends but I decided to make it myself…so he can be proud of me. Ha It is actually easier than you think. You can top it with your favorite fruits-kiwis, strawberries, blackberries…my husband even had it for breakfast. Better than donuts right? Feel free to make it regular size. I just like mini-bite size tart so you don’t have to deal with cutting it and making a mess that I always do. Ingredients For pastry cream 1 cup whole milk 1/2 [...]

Super Moist Pumpkin Bread

Posted on 11th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

This is very moist and flavorful pumpkin bread. I like dipping it in a cold glass of rice milk….weird huh? But it tastes so good that way. It doesn’t contain butter so I don’t feel so bad after either. Love the smell in the kitchen….feel like I have to dig in the garage and take out the christmas tree already…. ok did I say you don’t need mixer for this? Just good whisk and your tricep! Ingredients 7.5 ounce pumpkin puree (That’s half of 15 oz can) 2 eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup water 1/2 cups white [...]

Citron oolong tea infused lemon layered cake

Posted on 11th October 2011
in Bread & Sweets
by blackdogfoodblog

Are you a cake person or pie person? I am definitely a cake person. I love cake. I would crash weddings just to have wedding cake. A few weeks ago, at my husband’s friend’s wedding, I wowed all the guests by eating 2 plates of wedding cake. I could have gone to plate no.3……. I made this cake for myself really….I was having a craving for lemon cake. Do you remember ‘Sex and the City’ episode where Miranda makes herself pan of box chocolate cake for herself and eat all day and night? Yup that was me. But as I [...]