Pomegranate Moosey

Almost two months ago, I received a case of pomegranate juice from POM Wonderful. I did a review of the juice itself but didn't get a chance to bake with it. Easter weekend I decided to make Pomegranate and White Chocolate Mousse, found on Fotocuisine's blog. As I said in my review, you either love or hate pomegranate juice, no in-betweens. However, the sweetness of the white chocolate mousse makes the pomegranate layer more...bearable? for non-pomegranate people. For example, my brother thought the juice itself tasted like cough syrup. When I offered him the mousse, he ate it no complaints. I think he doesn't like the juice itself because there is no added sugar or preservatives.




I tried taking pictures, but I was in a hurry and the lighting wasn't too great in my kitchen. Fotocuisine has much better pictures plus step-by-step instructions complemented with pictures. You could probably sub any type of chocolate for white. I love dark chocolate, so I might try that next time.

One problem I had with the recipe is the chilling of the gelatin. Once the pomegranate gelatin mix is heated, you have to let it chill in an ice bath. However, if it chills too long, you will have pomegranate jello. You want to take the gelatin off the ice when it thickens into a syrup. I kept checking it every few minutes, but it didn't thicken. As soon as I got distracted, it thickened too much. I tried my best to whisk the hell out of it, but my mousse was left with little jello chunks. It didn't affect the flavor, just wasn't as smooth as intended.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

This week's recipe was Dorie's Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding. I made this for Easter dessert a few weekends ago. Unfortunately, I had to leave for school that evening, so I cut the dessert while it was still hot instead of letting it cool. I ate a small spoonful, but since I was full, I wrapped it in foil and took it to school. Whenever I ate it a few days later, there was oil "leaking" from the bottom. Not sure if that was the recipe or the fact I wrapped it while it was still hot.




I can't really give my opinion since a cooled bread pudding was probably more set and easier to cut than scooping out still hot pudding. It tasted good, I know that much.




I've also been busy wrapping up my final semester (graduation in less than two weeks - eek!), so I didn't read the problems and questions thread on TwD. Some people did use donuts and cinnamon rolls instead of stale bread. Very interesting! For the recipe, check out pages 410-411 of Baking: From My Home To Yours or at Upper East Side Chronicle by Lauren.

Since I am graduating on May 2, anyone who works in video production, please hire me? I'll bake lots of goodies for you! Ok thanks! haha I hope I don't have to drop out of TwD for not being able to afford ingredients this summer...

Cats Have It Easy...

"I think we should have fish for dinner."



"No, really. I can snorkel for you!"



Ok fine, but I'll be here if you change your mind."


That is my snorkeling bag. Can you guess why I haven't put it away yet?

See's Peanut Brittle Ice Cream

A few weeks back, I mentioned See's Candy offered me a sample of anything from their company if I agreed to make a recipe with it. Originally, I had asked for Awesome Peanut Brittle Bars, but I received an email from their lovely staff and was informed that they sent me regular peanut brittle instead. They even offered to send me the bars along with the regular brittle. As tempting as it was, I figured both would be good in ice cream, so I stuck with the peanut brittle.



Honestly, I expected a small sample. When I went home Easter weekend, I was being nudged, both by my cat and my dad, to hurry up and open the giant box. Inside was a 1 1/2 lb. box of brittle. 24 ounces!! I better get to work! I already had in mind a peanut butter ice cream with brittle thrown in. I was debating on adding a fudge swirl, but I decided not this time because I didn't want to cover the brittle flavor. While I was getting everything ready, of course I ate a piece. Mmmm, yummy! Definitely high quality. It reminded me of pecan pralines except peanut and more crunchy.

I definitely endore See's Candy, not only for excellent peanut brittle but for awesome customer service. The guys who emailed me seemed down-to-earth and not stuck-up sales people. Go buy their candy now!



The ice cream turned out really well. The peanut butter base came from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream book. I was skeptical because it only calls for 1/3 cup peanut butter, but it's enough without overpowering. Now, I was a little concerned because they don't cook their eggs. After a discussion on Live Journal, salmonella is found mainly on the outside of the egg and doesn't affect that many people. As long as you don't drop shell into the mix, it should be fine. Unless you have someone with a poor immune system.

I freeze my ice cream by hand because I don't have room for an ice cream maker. Hasn't failed yet! I included those instructions below.


See's Peanut Brittle Ice Cream


1 egg
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup broken peanut brittle chunks

1. Beat egg until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Beat in sugar, little at a time. Beat 1 minute more. Pour in cream and milk. Beat in peanut butter. Place in a freezer-safe bowl and freeze 45 minutes.

2. After 45 minutes, bring out ice cream. Beat for 1-2 minutes to break up any ice crystals forming. Repeat every half hour for 2-3 hours. When it looks almost firm, stir in peanut brittle. Freeze for another 30 minutes then serve if ready. If not, keep freezing.

Makes 1 pint.

Source: Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream and Dessert Book

Virtual Great American Bake Sale - Cupcakes!

Welcome to the Virtual Great American Bake Sale! 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these ebooks will go toward Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale program. Funds raised through Great American Bake Sale are donated to after-school and summer feeding programs - food programs that many kids depend on when school is not in session. Great American Bake Sale is a program of Share Our Strength, a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.

This Virtual Bake Sale is sponsored by Cooking During Stolen Moments. I contributed Cookies and Cream Cupcakes to this great cause. To clear up some confusion, purchasing an ebook is not necessary to view all of the recipes bloggers have contributed. This ebook is a more convenient way to save all of the recipes in one spot. Think about it - how many recipes do you have bookmarked? This is just one file saved onto your hard drive for easy access. If you want to see the individual recipes, please visit the virutal bake sale table.

To purchase an ebook, please read the information posted after the recipe.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes



2 1/4 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites
1 cup Oreos, crushed

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbsp cocoa
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk
12 Oreos, cut in half

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners or grease really, really well.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add milk, butter, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg whites; beat another 2 minutes. Stir in crushed Oreos. Spoon batter evenly into cups. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.

3. For frosting, beat together sugar, cocoa, butter, and vanilla. Add milk. Frost cooled cupcakes. Place halved Oreos on top for garnish.

Source: Recipe Zaar

Makes 24 cupcakes.

This is just one recipe you'll find in the ebooks. The ebooks are a compilation of recipes from submitters across the blogosphere and beyond. They are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer's choosing.

The Complete 2009 VGABS Recipes Ebook

Features all 170 of the submitted recipes. Many of the recipes include pictures.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.


Shopping cart courtesy of E-Junkie.

Because we know file size may be an issue for some, the below ebooks have split the 170 recipes into 4 categorized ebooks so that you can choose just 1 or 2 of your favorites, if you'd prefer. Just like for the Complete ebook, many of these recipes include pictures. And again, they are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer's choosing.

Muffins & Breads

Features 24 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & Brownies

Features 50 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Desserts

Features 49 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Beyond Baked Goods (Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, etc.)

Features 47 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Banana Cream Pie

This week's pick was Banana Cream Pie. I was excited to make this because my parents love banana cream pie. However, this isn't your typical banana pudding and meringue pie. It's a pastry cream filling with whipped cream on top.

I didn't make the pie crust, so I bought one pre-made. I wanted to, but I had a super-packed weekend two weeks ago (when I made this pie) and was too exhausted. I barely finished making this pie before running off for the night. Plus I usually end up with a tough pie crust. I don't even like eating pie crust.



This recipe I used fresh nutmeg for the first time, thanks to Marx Foods. They mailed me samples of six spices a few weeks ago. The people there are just awesome. Now if I can find a good recipe to use the rest of my spices. Any recipes with grains of paradise, tellicherry or scheuzan peppercorns? Anyway, back to the nutmeg. Now I know why you should use fresh - it's very powerful! I'm definitely going to consider using fresh nutmeg when possible.



Back to the pie itself. The pastry cream confused me. I was expecting silky smooth, like eclairs. Especially since banana cream pie normally has that smooth pudding. Wrong (unless I overcooked it??). It was thick and kinda gloopy, but it was still smooth. It spread easily over the bananas, so I guess I did it correctly? It tasted like pumpkin pie with the nutmeg and cinnamon. Since I was running short on time, the cream only chilled for an hour in the fridge and was still pretty warm. Didn't notice much of a difference since the assembled pie chilled in the fridge overnight.



As for the topping, the whipped cream was different. Good, but I prefer the traditional meringue. Plus you are left with 6 egg whites, so might as well use some making meringue. I used some of the whites for cupcakes (will post on April 13 for the virtual bake sale!)

Thanks Amy of Sing For Your Supper for picking this delicious pie! It lasted only 2 days with four people. You can find the recipe on pages 342-343 of Baking: From My Home To Yours or on Amy's blog.

Pistachio Recall

So apparently there has been a pistachio recall. I didn't know this until I received an email about a handy web site. Not all pistachioes were contaminated, so check out PistachioRecall.org for safe brands.

How (Not) To Zest A Lime

Whenever I was in San Salvador a few weeks ago, I bought a postcard with a Bahamian rum cake recipe. I don't like drinking rum but I needed to buy an even number for the price. Whenever I was waiting at the airport in Nassau, I had samples of rum cake. The original version was alright; I could definitely taste the rum, but I did like it. Then I tried the key lime version. It was amazing! The rum was an undertone flavor because the lime really took over. This made me a little more excited to try my rum cake recipe.



Back in August, I bought a bottle of Puerto Rico golden rum for a Tuesdays With Dorie challenge. It sat in my room for about six months, so I gave it to my best friend. She ended up never drinking it, so we decided to use that rum. The recipe actually calls for dark rum, and after doing some research, dark rum really does matter in the flavor, but I went with the golden rum anyway.

I stopped at the store to buy a lime, and while I was driving to my friend's house, I thought, I hope she has a grater. Yea, she should. Most kitchens have one. Yea, MOST kitchens. Not all. We dug through her cabinets but no grater. Now how do I zest my lime? Her boyfriend suggested a fork. Didn't work, so I went for the vegetable peeler. Ahem.



Ok so we have big chunks of lime. Now what? Let's use the food processor! Oh wait, it won't turn on. How about the blender?


The motor is running, but the blades aren't turning!


Fine, we'll just use a knife (her pretty nails, not mine)


FAIL!

We really shouldn't be baking together. We can't zest a lime, assemble a cake, read directions, or bake giant snickerdoodles. Better yet, I blame her kitchen. It always goes wrong in her kitchen haha

As for the recipe, it was written for a regular-sized bundt pan. I bought two baby ones at Wal Mart, so I somehow scaled it down (successfully too!). There was way too much lime in ours, but that's because it was chunky and I forgot to scale down the lime when I scaled down the recipe. Whoops. Next time, I want to buy a small bottle of dark rum and see if there is a difference. I may throw in coconut at some point.

I will write both recipes in case you can't read the postcard above. We didn't make the glaze because the cakes were fine without it.

Bahama Rum Cake



Regular Bundt Cake:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts/pecans
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
Zest and juice from one lime
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup dark rum
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
--
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mini Bundt Cakes:
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts/pecans
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
Zest and juice of 1/4 lime
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp dark rum
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp raisins
--
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp dark rum
1/8 tsp vanilla

1. Cake: Preheat oven to 325F. Grease bundt pan(s). Line the base with nuts.

2. Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs and add lime. Mix in flour, baking powder, and milk. Add rum, vanilla, and raisins. Pour mixture into pan(s) and bake 1 hour for large cake and 20-30 minutes for mini cakes. Cake(s) are done with a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan(s).

3. Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Add water and sugar. Boil and stir 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat; add rum and vanilla. Pierce cake and brush glaze over top and sides. Repeat. Steep cake in pan.

Makes: 1 large cake or 2 mini cakes

Source: San Salvador postcard