Chocolate Meringues

My fondest memories of my grandma involve us baking together.  We always made her two specialties - orange cake and meringues - and I vividly remember the first time my 8-year-old self decided tasting vanilla powder was a good idea.  In honor of my grandma, I made these airy and chewy chocolate meringues.  I loved how they turned out - light and fragile on the outside, yet chocolatey and almost brownie-like in the middle.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup egg whites 
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over a double boiler with simmering water and whisk until the sugar granules have dissolved.  This will take a few minutes.
2. Remove the bowl from the double boiler.  Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and sugar on high speed until medium peaks forms and the mixture is glossy.  It should resemble melted marshmallows. Be patient. This process will take at least ten minutes.
3. Sift the cocoa powder over the meringue.  Sprinkle with the chopped chocolate and gently fold the mixture making sure not to deflate the meringue.
4. Drop the meringue on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in heaping spoonfuls.  Alternatively, pipe the meringue into bite-sized kisses. 
5. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Above: I prefer to use Ghirardelli chocolate products while baking.

Below: The meringue should hold medium to stiff peaks. 

Above: Bite-sized piped kisses on the left.  Big dollops on the right. Larger meringues yield chewier and fudgier centers.

Below: Voila! 

Lemon Ricotta Crepe Cake + Berry Compote

I inherited my baking skills from my mom, who mastered her technique from my grandmother. So lately, I've been on a mission to learn and transcribe all of my grandma's recipes. We started with one of my mom's popular classics - the french crepe, or as we call it - "blinchik." The batter is very simple, but my mom is such a pro that she eyeballs all her ingredients and never uses proper measures. Us inexperienced folk are probably better off using this recipe. (Just substitute the water with milk for a tastier crepe.) I tried my hand at swirling the crepes, but it's no easy task. I definitely ruined a handful of crepes before achieving a perfectly thin and hole-less one. A stack of crepes later, we decided to make a delicious lemon-ricotta crepe cake with berry compote based off of this recipe. 

Making the crepe: Crepes are very delicate, so the key is to immediately swirl the batter after ladling the mixture into the pan. Use less than a ladle-full of batter for a perfectly thin crepe. After a few seconds, once you see bubbles forming, run a sharp knife around the edges and flip with your fingers. Give the other side a few seconds before removing the crepe. And remember, the first crepe is always a disaster. 

The Berry Compote: Frozen berries work just fine for this recipe. Just add half a cup of sugar and a dash of lemon zest to the saucepan and let cool. The sauce will be just fine without the cornstarch.

Assembling the cake: Spread a tablespoon or so of the ricotta spread between each layer. Don't neglect to spread filling on the crispy edges. Repeat until you have about 12 layers.

The Finished Cake: My cake came out to 15 layers. If you want a taller cake, make sure to double the ricotta filling.

Pour the cooled berry sauce over the cake and slice. Bon appetit! 

Classic Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is my favorite pie of all-time. Lucky for me, the advent of canned pumpkins has given me the luxury of enjoying my favorite seasonal treat year-round. For a classic, fuss-free, non-fancy shmancy pumpkin pie, this is my go-to recipe. Although the recipe is simple, here's how to achieve pie perfection:

*blind-bake the pie crust - place a sheet of foil or parchment over the unbaked crust; fill with pie weights, dry beans or rice; bake at 350 degrees for about 15 mins. This half-baking process will ensure that the bottom of the crust does not become soggy upon contact with the wet filling.

*Do not - I repeat - DO NOT - overbake the pie. 

{Overbaked pumpkin pie = super dense.}

{Perfectly baked pumpkin pie = super creamy.}

*Cool the pie thoroughly before serving. Bon appetit!

Tarte aux Pommes

Ina Garten's recipes never fail me. I recently made this foolproof French Apple Tart for Friday night company, and to say my guests were impressed is an understatement. Served with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, this tart is the perfect dessert - simple, rustic, and delicious. 

Slice three large Granny Smith Apples into 1/4-inch slices and arrange diagonally on rolled out pastry dough.

Sprinkle apples with 1/2 cup of sugar. Dot with 4 tbsps unsalted butter. 

Tip: The apple juices and sugars will ooze out and burn on the pan. But have no fear! The bottom of the tart will be fine. Just learn from my mistake and make sure to bake the tart on parchment as opposed to directly on the pan. While the tart is still very warm, generously brush warmed apricot jam or jelly. 

Bon apetit! 

Mixed Berry Galette

I had a pint of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream, a bowl of berries, and a pie crust sitting in my fridge, so the only logical thing to do on a Sunday afternoon was marry these ingredients for a perfect mid-day snack. Galettes and crostatas can be made with virtually any fruit - berries, figs, apples, peaches, whatever is in season.  I improvised with ingredients on hand, and the result was a refreshing, indulgent and guilt-less snack. (see recipe below).

Mixed Berry Galette

Ingredients:

one store-bought or homemade pie crust (I used Pillsbury)

a couple tablespoons granulated sugar (adjust this based on the sweetness level of the fruit)

one teaspoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice + some of its grated zest

Directions:

Roll out the thawed pie crust on a heavy duty pan. Toss the berries with the lemon juice, zest and sugar. Let the berries macerate for about ten minutes or so. Pile the berry mixture onto the middle of the pie crust, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. (Make sure to pour in all the juices!) Fold over the crust and sprinkle the edges with sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees until crust is golden brown and berries start to bubble. Serve with ice cream. Bon appetit!

Villa Blanca

My best friend and I started a new tradition this year. Instead of giving each other birthday gifts, we agreed to treat each other to a day of fun on our respective birthdays. So this year, we kicked off our new tradition by trekking every square inch of LA, getting lost, missing freeway exits, pampering our nails, and feasting on some of my favorite foods. One of our stops was at Villa Blanca, a charming dining room in Beverly Hills that serves the best calamari I've ever tasted. After stuffing ourselves, we headed over to La Provence for, what else, macarons.

Life-like and sparkly Bvlgari advertisement spotted in Beverly Hills on our way back from Villa Blanca.

Sugar Overload

I've been eating very healthy lately...

salted caramel. matcha green tea. rose. earl grey. violet.

red velvet pancakes at Larchmont Bungalow.

pear, Meyer lemon, pistachio pancakes with vanilla creme at Square One.

fancy chocolate from Koko.

This Cake is Bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

All you banana-haters out there must try this recipe! I hate throwing away overly-ripe bananas that are on the verge of attracting tiny fruit flies. So I'm always on the lookout for some innovative banana recipes because banana muffins and banana bread just aren't cutting it anymore. I was very pleased with how this amazingly moist and surprisingly cake-y (not dense bread-like) banana cake with cream cheese frosting turned out. The best part is I didn't even have to use a mixer. Also, I halved the recipe, but feel free to make a more traditional 2-layer cake with the full recipe.

 clockwise from top left: A touch of cinnamon added a nice subtle touch to the cake; the consistency of the batter was kind of odd and funky, but the mashed up bananas (I know it looks gross, but trust me on this one) loosened the batter up a bit; butter and flour the pan and the baked cake will pop right out.

chop chop: try adding the nuts into the batter next time!

I had to try really hard to not eat the frosting on its own. It's very tempting, but you must restrain yourself.

Isn't it beautiful?

Sweet San Diego

Art or food?

Spring Break means time spent catching up on my studies, but I was in such a desperate need of a break from my exhausting school schedule, we decided a San Diego trip was in order. Going back to my city of four years is always a relaxing change from the hustle and bustle of LA, and not surprisingly, our itinerary the entire weekend revolved around food and restaurants (and some of my favorite beach spots, which I'll post later). I strategically scheduled breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts so that we'd be able to hit up all of my favorites, especially the church I worship - Extraordinary Desserts. 

Left: As seen on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," the Dulce de Leche Cake is an extremely moist chocolate cake with crunchy milk chocolate layers, topped with dulce de leche. Basically, heaven.
Right: The chocolate version of my favorite Lindzer Danish also seen in this post. 

I hate waiting in line at the LA Sprinkles,
so we made a final stop for some sugar at the La Jolla Sprinkles.

Black and white cupcake from Sprinkles.