You hear it all the time.
You have to “layer flavors” when you’re cooking. Well, what the heck does that mean? Load up on ingredients? Add tons of spices? Continue reading “Roasted Garlic”
Tag: Baking
Chocolate Decadence Cake
Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or I’m Hangry for Chocolate Cake Day, this sugar-free, gluten-free, guilt-free cake will hit the spot! I used coconut flour to create this recipe, and I know there’s a lot of coconut flour recipe disasters out there. I promise; you’ll be able to truly enjoy this one!
Ingredients:
Zero Calorie Coconut Oil Spray
2 Cups Truvia (best sugar-free option I’ve found)
2/3 Cup minus 1 TBS Coconut Flour (gluten-free)
3/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 1/4 Cup Almond Milk
4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Canola Oil (can use melted coconut oil)
1 TBS Mexican Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Boiling Water
Preheat oven to 350°. Fill a saucepan with water, and bring the unsalted water to a boil on the stove. Spray a 13×9 inch glass dish with zero calorie coconut spray to avoid sticking. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, add Truvia. Remember to remove 1 TBS from the 2/3 Cup of coconut flour. Using a sieve, sift in coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. You will have some bigger pieces from the coconut flour not make it through the sieve. It’s okay. Set aside. The coconut flour is very absorbent, and the balance between the coconut flour, eggs, and liquid is crucial in order for the cake to come out perfectly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the almond milk, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk together to incorporate fully, making sure to get the bottom edges of the bowl. The combination will not be thick and will appear grainy.
Slowly add one cup of boiling water to the mixture and whisk together to incorporate. The batter will be very loose and watery. Add the batter to the 13×9 inch coated pan.
Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool completely for at least 20 minutes. Although the cake may appear slightly wet, it will set up, much like a brownie.
Portion the 13×9 inch cake into 12 slices. Each slice is 138 calories. You read that right. So, enjoy every sugar-free, gluten-free, guilt-free bite!
Top with a decorative strawberry rose, and drizzle with sugar-free caramel and sugar-free chocolate topping if you wish, only adding an additional 95 calories. The full shebang is 233 calories.
Day After Thanksgiving Breakfast Muffins
It’s getting close to Turkey Day, and that means we have some important planning to do.
We have to plan the seating arrangements to ensure all relatives leave unscathed from the annual table conversation (this year should be super fun), and let’s not forget the critical decision regarding which pair of stretchy pants will be worn after the main meal. However, the most important decision you’ll have to make this Thanksgiving is what in the world to do with your leftover stuffing!?!
Have no fear. I’ve got the hookup thanks to my pals over at Empire Baking Company in Dallas, Texas.
Saturday I had the pleasure of hanging out to do a sponsored demo all day at Empire, and I created a recipe specifically for them, featuring some of the ingredients sold at their location. Every Friday from now until Thanksgiving, Tamie, Empire’s manager, is creating different dressings using Empire’s amazing bread and products. This past Friday, Tamie put together her grandmother’s famous traditional Texas dressing to sample (it’s sooooooooo goooood), and just like the day after Thanksgiving, we had some dressing left over on Saturday.
So, our focus was all about creating an easy recipe that utilized the leftover stuffing! And, the coolest part is that this recipe works with any dressing recipe – yours included. (Don’t know if you noticed my alternating “dressing” and “stuffing” – for our purposes, they mean the same thing.)
Let’s get started!
Day After Thanksgiving Breakfast Muffins
Yields approximately 8 dozen mini muffins or 2 dozen regular muffins
Base:
16 oz Sage or Spicy Breakfast Sausage (sub 12 oz Applewood Smoked Bacon, diced)
½ Onion, diced
2 TBS Butter
8 Cups Your Refrigerated Thanksgiving Dressing/Stuffing, crumbled
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3 TBS Valentina Picante Salsa (sub your favorite hot sauce)
Custard:
2 Whole Eggs
4 Egg Yolks
1 Pint Heavy Whipping Cream
2 tsp Chef Milton Atlantic Sea Salt with Rosemary (Found at Empire Baking Company)
Optional Glaze:
Luscombe Farm Jalapeño Pepper Jelly (Found at Empire Baking Company)
Preheat oven to 375°. Butter muffin tins or use a non-stick baking spray to coat the tins.
In a skillet, sauté breakfast sausage until cooked through and set aside to cool. If subbing bacon, cook until bacon is crisp, drain completely, then set aside to cool. In the same skillet, add butter and onion. Sauté until onions are tender and the fond (brown/caramelized goodies stuck to the bottom of the pan) releases from the pan.
Once the onions are tender, remove from pan and set aside with sausage or bacon to cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, yolks, cream, and Chef Milton Atlantic Sea Salt with Rosemary. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add crumbled dressing, shredded cheddar cheese, and cooled sausage or bacon and onions.
Combine thoroughly.
Pour the custard mixture over the dressing mixture and fold until well incorporated. The mixture will be moist.
Add in the Valentina Salsa Picante or your favorite hot sauce to add another layer of flavor and mix thoroughly.
Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop the mixture into greased mini muffin tins.
Bake at 375° for 17-20 minutes or until crispy on top and golden brown.
For some added sweet heat, add a small dollop of Luscombe Farm Jalapeño Pepper Jelly to the top of each muffin right before the last five minutes of baking is up, and place back into the oven to create that amazing caramelized glaze.
For regular sized muffins, bake for 30-35 minutes or until crispy on top and golden brown. Let cool for 7 minutes to allow the muffins to set before removing from muffin tins.
Saturday’s adventure, recipe ingredients, and post featuring specific products were sponsored by Empire Baking Company.
Straight Outta Day One – IFBC
As a great, prolific writer once said, “Today was a good day.”
I may not be “Straight Outta Compton,” but I am straight outta the first day of the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) in Seattle, Washington, and it was pretty darn awesome.
For the last six years, Foodista has held this conference for food bloggers everywhere, focusing on writing, food, and technology. And, this is the first year I’m participating in this phenomenally food-centric gathering.
In addition to the conference, I’m also finding some time to hit a few hot spots in Seattle to check out what the locals enjoy on a day to day. Yesterday, I made it to Stateside and Altura, two amazing visits which will get their own features soon, and today, I swung by Purple Cafe and Wine Bar before heading out to my first event with IFBC.
Taking the suggestion of my server, Jessica, I opted for the trio lunch plate that featured a beautifully created fig and Gorgonzola pizzetta, along with a butternut squash soup and a strawberry and goat cheese salad. I love figs and am a huge fan of pear and Gorgonzola flatbread; so, I knew this was going to be a winner. This pizzetta was out of this world. The buttery crust was perfectly crisp on the outside and nice and chewy where it counted. It was the perfect way to start my day’s adventures.
Now, while tomorrow marks the first official day of conference sessions, today featured a few excursions for the attendees. My particular group went to the Miele USA Showroom for a hands-on cooking class featuring their top of the line appliances, including an induction cooktop which we were able to utilize during the class. Their sleek, German-engineered, stylish ranges, coffee centers, wine refrigerators, and dishwashers were front and center during our class and proved to not only be appealing but functional.
Our group was split into five separate stations where we each made a different dish following Miele recipes while being led by our Miele cooking instructor, Mary. Group number two was where I landed, and I was paired up with Suki, a “super duper fantastic” blogger out of San Francisco who joined me in our take on Pasta e Fagioli. I say, “our take” because we put our own twist on the recipe that may or may not have included adding an entire can of tomato paste to the mix versus a few tablespoons. Whatever the case, the soup rocked, and everyone thought it was a hit!
Together with the rest of our larger group, we created Paella, Steamed Pork Buns, Sliders, Greek Salad, and Gruyere Souffle, a feast fit for kings and queens! Everyone did an incredible job and seemed to truly enjoy our outting at Miele. Now, plenty of food later, it was time for another amazing event, registration and the gift suite expo featuring local restaurants and food businesses.
Now, for me, the highlight of the gift suite expo was meeting the incomparable Armand Batali, father of famed restaurateur and Food Network icon, Mario Batali. Armand, who is actually an icon in his own right with Salumi Artisan Cured Meats in Seattle, was sampling four different salumis, fennel being the featured one in the pic. Not only was the salumi phenomenal, but Armand was, once again, an absolute delight. I’ve actually stood in line for hours to indulge in one of his handcrafted sandwiches made at Salumi, nearly missing my flight many times because I NEEDED that sandwich!
In addition to the ridiculous amount of goodies received, we had the absolute BEST “background” music by this funkalicious Rockabilly group named The Echo Devils. These guys were on FIE-uh! I’m talking blues, funky fab, James Bond groovy jams that took the event to a whole new level.
Now, if all that wasn’t enough, I decided that I would top off the night with a visit to Lark, one of Seattle’s best restaurants that features local ingredients from the very best artisans, produce growers and foragers in the Seattle area. Chef Sundstrom has truly hit his stride at this new location off East Seneca. While my particular service experience was initially questionable, they were quick to resolve any issues, and the food was never in question. From start to finish, the dishes were sheer perfection. Ending the night with a delectable black mission fig puff pastry tart was the absolute highlight of the evening… Told you I was a fan of the fig.
I can’t wait what Day Two has in store…
Note: While all IFBC posts are completely written based on my own experience and opinion, I was offered a discounted rate in exchange for three general posts about the conference.
Ida Claire This a Winner
Holy mackerel, is this place good.
Look, I will be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for anything fried, chocolatey, or bacony; so, Ida Claire already had a leg up on the “OMG! Love!” list with me, but I’m no sell-out. Just because you say you’re deep fried and delicious doesn’t mean I’m taking the bait.
Okay, so technically I had to take the bait because I needed to try it, but that didn’t mean I was gonna like it! Continue reading “Ida Claire This a Winner”
Boredom = Gooey Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Mug
I’ve been a little bored lately, as seen by the blatant, “Hi – she’s lost it – someone please take her,” expression on Cat’s face in this photo.
Bear’s out of town. (clearly) I had just wrapped up an assignment, missed a family hang by minutes and had already cashed in all my “fine, I’ll humor you” cards with Cat.
As you can imagine, the stale late afternoon only poked at my boredom, teasing it into a whirlwind of creative energy demanding to be utilized. After writing a song, cleaning our place, finishing a painting and walking with a friend, there was only one other thing to do – make chocolate cake.
But, the only problem was I had just cleaned the kitchen. (see earlier energy outlet activities) So, I needed an easy, no frills cake that would not ruin my freshly sanitized Fortress of Solitude. I needed a cake in a mug recipe.
So, I found this quick and easy recipe on the Food Network and molded it into what I needed. Recently, I’ve been trying to eat better so I don’t feel like I’m dying when I’m tying my shoes. So, I had to figure out how to tweak this bad boy without removing any of its decadence and delight, two things absolutely necessary for an enjoyable chocolate cake experience.
Here’s the original as I wrote down from their site – the parenthesis was my scribble-scrabble for myself. I’ll explain in the revised version.
Side note: the day before I’d made an easy cherry almond crumble – seen here:
And, I had some leftover cherry filling I’d made.
Super Easy “Sugar-Free” Cherry Filling
1 Cup – Fresh Pitted Black Cherries
2 tsp – Unsalted Butter
2 tsp – Stevia powder
1 tsp – Cornstarch
Dash of Nutmeg
Dash of Salt
Good Splash of water
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat on medium until thickened.
So, I had about 1/2 cup of refrigerated cherry filling left since my crumble was an individual portion. I knew I could make a killer Gooey Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Mug with what I had left.
Here’s my healthier, cherried-up version of the cake:
Gooey Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Mug
¼ Cup Flour
3 tsp Stevia Powder
2 TBS Cocoa Powder
1 Egg
3 TBS Almond Milk
3 TBS Melted Coconut Oil
1 tsp Mexican Vanilla Extract
Dash of Salt
Dash of Chipotle Chile Powder (substitute or add a dash of cinnamon for more depth)
Super Easy “Sugar-Free” Cherry Filling
Whisk all but the cherry filling together in a medium sized bowl until well combined. Add cherry filling into the bottom of a large mug. Pour combined cake batter over cherries. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. I like mine gooey, but you can microwave for another minute if you want yours without the muddy goodness.
My substitutions are the healthier alternatives and don’t take away any of the decadence or flavor. The addition of the chipotle chile powder is also just another layer of depth that adds to the cake. It’s that extra “something” that tickles the throat without creating a burn. Since the cherries already had nutmeg in them, I didn’t add more cinnamon. If you wanted to remove the cherry filling altogether and just add cinnamon, you’d have a wicked Mexican Chocolate Cake in a Mug! Plus, you probably won’t need that additional minute in the micro to avoid the gooey. And, you could add some sweetened condensed milk or cajeta (caramelized condensed milk) over it to really take it to another level!
Enjoy whatever version you decide to make!
I know I enjoyed mine, especially with my cafecito!
Tips from OMG’s Culinary Circle
My friends and family rock – mostly because they tolerate me and encourage (sometimes enable) my addiction to bacon. But, they also rock because they all love food and are pretty much geniuses in the kitchen. And, those who opt not to cook or bake, happily serve as taste testers and provide honest and thoughtful opinions. So, all around, these folks are pretty much the best group to provide some killer (as in good, not lethal) cooking and baking tips.
I sent a shout out to my peeps and asked them to offer up their best cooking or baking advice, and boy, did they deliver! And, they covered the gamut. From basics like knives and equipment, to things I didn’t even have on my radar (see #3), this top six list is a culinary quick-stop resource for anyone who ventures into the kitchen.
Along with my own advice, I’ve combined some of the feedback into topics since some of us hit on the same subject – great minds think alike and all. So, here is my inner culinary circle’s gift to you…
How to Bacon… I Mean, BAKE VEGAN. Sorry, Hard Habit to Break…
I am not necessarily known for my love of vegetables; although, I do love veggies when seasoned with bacon. And, while I am a lover of all food, I rarely have had the desire to venture into the land of the vegan. This all changed when I met “Eric”, a co-worker of mine whose named has been changed to protect the innocent, or in this case, just because I’m not sure he wants to be forever known as “The Vegan” in my blog.
So,everyone at work knows I bake, and when I have an audience, I feed the audience. Every birthday I offer to bake the birthday person’s dessert of choice, and having recently joined this team at work, I had a new group of individuals for whom I could provide delicious treats. Normally, we’re talking cakes, pies, cookies – things that involve milk, eggs and other mainstream ingredients. However, on my new team is Eric. He and his wife have been vegans for a few years now, and they made the switch to the vegan lifestyle for a number of reasons and have benefited greatly from this decision. I like Eric. He’s nice, and I knew when he told me he was vegan that I was going to both learn something and challenge myself to expand my foodie repertoire. Continue reading “How to Bacon… I Mean, BAKE VEGAN. Sorry, Hard Habit to Break…”
OMG's DFW Food 
