sweet – Page 13 – morestomach

ultimate white cake

Published on March 4, 2014March 5, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach29 Comments

when she was a girl, and still growing, ravenous, whenever there had been a cake – a sponge cake, dusted with sugar, which mrs. hill had conjured up out of eggs and flour and creamy butter — sarah would never even herself look at it, because she knew that it was not for her… so sarah would stare instead at the carpet underneath her feet, or the rippled yellow curtains in the parlour, and would do her best not to breathe, not to inhale the scent of vanilla or lemon or almonds; even to glance at the cake was an impossible agony.

and for months, she realized, james had hardly looked at her at all.
~Longbourn by Jo Baker

this book
just read it
i will freely admit
to feeling anger towards
elizabeth
even jane
and mr. darcy
the book is written from
the perspective of the servants
in Pride & Prejudice
and our hero & heroine
are not painted in the most
forgiving light

anyway
just read it
you’re welcome

chocolate kissed white cake (dairy free)
inspiration attire
adapted from garlic girl

*note: one of my hires is expecting a wee lass. we’re having a shower for her today and this was one of my contributions to the fete. i’m not for superlatives but i will say that this was one of the easier white cakes i’ve dealt with, the last one being nuria’s wedding cake which was a chiffon cake. that was a more involved cake and i need something quick to fall back on. this just might be that cake that i turn to.

5 large egg whites, room temp
1 cup soy milk cream, room temp, i used organic valley
345 grams cake flour, sifted
350 grams sugar
1 TBL + 1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks soy margarine cut in cubes, room temp, i used earth balance

preheat oven 350F

prep two 8″ round pans, grease/flour/whatever

in a glass measuring cup mix the egg whites with 1/4 cup of the soy creamer. set aside

in mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. add in the butter and remaining soy creamer and mix until moistened. in increments of 3 add in the egg/soy creamer mixture to the batter, scraping down the sides continuously. beat on medium until batter is fully incorporated

divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans.

bake for 25-35 minutes. i checked on them at 30 minutes and kept them in there for another 5 minutes. the cakes do rise to the very brim of the pan (my pans are 8×2″). allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, the cakes will pull from the sides just slightly. invert onto wire racks and cool completely. cover with plastic wrap, can be left out at room temp for 2 days, in fridge for 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.

vegan cream cheese frosting

12 oz tofutti cream cheese, room temp
1 stick of vegan margarine, i used earth balance
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
optional: coloring gel. i used a dab of wilton’s pink

in a standard mixer, beat the cream cheese and margarine until fluffy and incorporated. gradually add the powdered sugar, scraping down the sides often. use your best judgement on consistency. you can add more or less powdered sugar depending on how warm your house is, or how comfortable you are with thicker frosting.

chocolate glaze

6oz of good chocolate, at least 70% cacao
half stick of margarine

place ingredients in a heat safe bowl over a pot of simmering water. be sure that not a drop of water gets into the bowl. it’ll make the chocolate seize and that shit’s just ugly. mix well. mixture will be shiny and smooth.

to assemble

i made this a 4 layer cake, so dw halved the two layers for me into equal 1″ layers. stack the layers accordingly, with frosting between. crumb coat, leave in fridge for 30 minutes. do final coat of frosting as smooth as you can. finally, pour the chocolate glaze over top, do this slowly, and smooth out the top so that it spills artfully over the sides. believe me when i tell you that it’s not as easy as it sounds, just be patient.

BAM!

another of my cakes: minty snow cake

lychee jelly hearts

Published on February 14, 2014February 13, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach21 Comments

just days ago
dw & i celebrated our
3 year anniversary
celebrated is kind of a strong word
unless it’s defined as
hanging out on the couch
with lap blankets
chocolate chip cookies
and airbnb options on the tv screen
then yes,
we whooped it up good
on sunday
we are such party animals

all i know is:
we finally FINALLY
booked accommodations for our honeymoon
i made tentative plans with
high school
AND middle school classmates
researched where to find the best
khao man gai
and cried my eyes out when
we put down a deposit to visit the elephants

and during my melt down,
very similar to our 2nd date!!
when we saw biutiful
and i SOBBED during a scene,
dw comforted me
only this time
i was totally crying in happiness,
in part cus of the elephants
and cus
damnit, my eyes have been really dry
since the lasik surgery
and i’ll take extra moisture
anywhere i can get it

anyway
for vday this year
i made jelly candy
my beloved enjoys snacking
and these are the best kind

dw:
i love you
more than pho
more than there are stars in the sky
more than seven jeans that make my ass look great
more than tom hiddleston
let’s be each other’s mushy gushy valentines
forever

lychee jelly hearts
adapted from the jewels of ny

1/3 cup lychee syrup (canned, cus i wasn’t about to juice them fresh, THEY’RE NOT AVAIL HERE ANYWAY)
1/3 cup water
2 packets gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup lychee, chopped up nice & small (the original recipe calls for the use of store-bought jam. knock yourself out, just use a mild/neutral flavored jam, like apricot)
2 TBL a red jam, i used wendi’s cherry jam (optional, for color only)
2 tsp lemon juice
zest of lemon, optiuonal

lightly oil 8X8 baking pan

in a bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup of water. ignore for 5 minutes, let the gelatin soften.

in saucepan, combine syrup with sugar, stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. add in the applesauce and lychee bits, and red jam if using, and mix until well combined. add in the gelatin mixture and bring to a boil. at this point you can vitamix it smooth, or keep the chunks if you want. pour mixture into prepared baking pan, allow to cool to room temp and then transfer to fridge until firm, 3 hours.

cut into squares, or if you’re being cutesy, use 1/2″ cookie cutters. i had dw fashion small hearts for me made out of strips of aluminum from a soda can, like when i made goldfish crackers.

dredge in some sugar to coat. BAM.

store in airtight container in fridge for up to a week

happy heart day, friends.

pull apart bread – two flavors

Published on February 6, 2014February 5, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach34 Comments

i remember the first time
i successfully made bread
i was smug
oh was i so smug
i declared ridiculous things
like,
it’s so easy, anybody can do it
it’s the best thing, in the world
and the worst:
i’m never buying bread at the store again
the me today would’ve slapped the me then
because that shit’s just silly

i don’t have a kid,
i have a husband
our weekends are usually jammed packed
with social things
like,
wandering the mall before a matinee
and deciding to kill 30 minutes
playing skeeball at Dave&Buster’s
or,
doing nothing
while we watch water boil
most weekend mornings
i spend feeling guilty
for sleeping in past 8am
or
berating myself for not taking advantage
of sleeping in time
it’s exhausting
who has time to bake fresh bread
with all that?

unless one’s husband is sick
and there’s much more time
to spend in the kitchen
and there’s a work event
that requires some smug-like
bread baking —
then bread is made

pull apart bread – two flavors:
cinnamon sugar + citrus love (dairy free)
adapted from Baking for All Occasions by Flo Braker

note: these loaves were made weeks ago, when dw was super sick and didn’t even get a chance to eat any. i will be making this again for him, eventually. my favorite combo was the cinnamon sugar but the smell of orange zest was very intoxicating.
also, these will puff out during baking so have the pans on a cookie sheet to catch any dough that may overflow. i learned this the hard way.

12 1/4 oz AP flour
1 3/4 oz sugar
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup so delicious coconut creamer
4 TBL earth balance vegan butter, melted
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, room temperature

filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
zest of 2 large organic oranges
2 oz earth balance vegan butter, melted

OR
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 oz earth balance vegan butter, melted
2 TBL cinnamon

cream cheese icing
3 oz tofutti cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 oz powdered sugar
juice of half an orange
splash of so delicious coconut creamer, if needed to thin

in stand mixer bowl, stir together 9oz of the AP, sugar, yeast and salt. in a saucepan, melt the coconut creamer and vegan butter on low, until butter is melted. add in the 1/4 cup water. aim for 120F – 130F.

pour the mixture into mixer bowl, stir with spatula. using the paddle attachment, and the mixer on low, add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing until just incorporated. add remaining flour and mix on low until dough is smooth, and slightly sticky. sprinkle counter top with a bit of flour, and turn dough onto it. kneed gently until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. place dough in large bowl, covered tightly with dampened towel, and allow to rise in warm place. (i usually turn the oven to warm for about 10 minutes and then put the bowl in, turning it off but keeping the light on.) it will double in size after about an hour.

meanwhile make the filling, melt the vegan butter. set aside. mix either the sugar + cinnamon or sugar + orange zest.

when ready, take the dough out and preheat oven to 350F. lightly grease a loaf pan.

gently deflate the dough. it will be sticky, dust the counter top with a bit of flour. roll out dough into 20X12 rectangle (honestly, i rolled it out to however long/big my counter space is, without the dough getting too thin. use your best judgement.) using a brush, spread the melted butter over the dough. sprinkle over top with either the orange filling or the cinnamon-sugar filling. with a pizza cutter cut the dough cross-wise into 6 strips, make it as even as possible, or not. carefully stack the strips on top of each other and then cut strips into 5 squares. lift the squares and fit them into the prepared loaf pan. filling the space might be tight lengthwise, i tilted the pan down and let gravity help. there will be space on either sides of the dough width-wise. fret not, the dough will rise again and fill out the pan during the final resting/rising period.

after the final rising, bake bread for about 30 minutes. transfer to wire rack and let cool in pan for about 10 minutes. after that time, i did slide them out to cool completely on the rack before putting them back in the pans for safe keeping.

to make the icing, mix the softened tofutti cream cheese with powdered sugar and squeeze of half an orange. mix until well incorporated. for a nice runny consistency, add a splash of coconut creamer, at your own discretion.

serve warm or at room temp.
i would think they’d last a few days, well covered, in fridge, but honestly, they were eaten up by my office coworkers in one go.

Chocolate Ginger Molasses Cookies

Published on February 3, 2014February 3, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach24 Comments

the thing is
oh the thing is:
i don’t like molasses
i hate the smell of it
its burnt smell
that makes me gag
i even hate the way it
slowly pours out of the bottle
like,
hurry the fuck up already
and yet
inexplicably
i like me a good molasses cookie
chewy
snappy
a cloying sweet
that, if done correctly,
is cut by the sharpness of ginger
and maybe nutmeg
(which is something i also hate)
then the addition of chocolate
genius
i’m serious
the added creaminess that
the chocolate brings to the cookie
evens out the sharpness of the ginger,
which as mentioned before,
has to cut the cloyness of the molasses
which has lost its burnt odor
instead, there’s just cloves
and cinnamon wafting
every ingredient has a function

i made these cookies for
my foodie penpal alyssa
but i managed to steal 2 4
that didn’t fit in the box
when i make these again
i’ll see about keeping
the chocolate chunks bigger

Chocolate Ginger Molasses Cookies (vegan)
adapted from Martha Stewart

note: we don’t have cable anymore and i saw an episode of martha bakes on PBS and she made these. i made fun of her for only baking 3 cookies at a time. don’t do that, make fun of her that is. she knows her shit. these cookies spread. i was still smarting over it and baked 4 at a time. makes for more batches but trust me, worth it. correction, trust martha.
also, i doubled most of the flavor ingredients, cus i like a punch in your face impact.

7 oz best-quality chocolate, rough chopped
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick vegan butter, i use earth balance, at room temp
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 TBLS freshly grated ginger
1 1/2 cups plus 1 TBL AP flour
2 TBLS cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsps ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup molasses

to roll dough in:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup of sweet ground chocolate, i used ghiradelli

chop chocolate into chunks, set aside. (alternatively, you can use chips too, i won’t judge)
dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons hot water; set aside

using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream vegan butter and brown sugar until combined. add the fresh ginger and mix. in a bowl, sift all the remaining dry ingredients, in increments add to butter mixture, mix until combined

next, add the slow ass molasses and baking soda mixture. mix in the chocolate. transfer to fridge. ignore it for a few hours, i ignored it for about 24 hours. it happens

when ready, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper

mix the granulated sugar and sweet ground chocolate on a plate. using an ice cream scoop, or whatever, scoop out dough and roll into balls, then roll around in the sugar + chocolate mixture. transfer balls onto lined baking sheets, fridge for 20 minutes. (martha reversed that step, good for her. i wanted to get that step over with, go from fridge to oven…) bake for 15-18 minutes, allow to cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack until cool completely.

BAM.

coffee chocolate chip ice cream

Published on January 2, 2014February 14, 2016 by Lan | MoreStomach21 Comments

i know it’s january
i know that it’s inappropriate
and very unseasonal
to talk about cold treats
like ice cream
i have no excuse
i have just one pic to share,
the lighting is shit
but i just had to tell you about this ice cream:
i’m usually huddled
under a blanket
when i shove spoonfuls
of the stuff in my face
i’m also usually
lamenting that my ass
CANNOT take anymore
if i don’t run soon
and yet
the stuff is here
in january
not july, not even may
when the blush of summer
is creeping
no
it’s here
and i fear
i will need to run marathons
this year
to keep my ass
a decent size
so dw doesn’t leave me
just kidding
the man is instigator
to all things glutton

here’s to the 2nd day of 2014
freezing our asses off
being ~~pigs~~ happy
and already fucking up our resolutions

coffee chocolate chip ice cream
*note: once you have a solid custard based recipe, play around with the different flavors. i had to use up some yolks i had laying around making this cake, i ended up with 6 yolks but methinks 5 is or even less would be just fine.
*all the other coffee ice cream recipes i looked at made use of powdered/instant espresso which i don’t have and i wasn’t about to go out to buy. again, play with the flavors, if the flavors don’t work out, add chocolate chips, it’ll save the whole concoction.

2 1/2 cups of lactose free half & half, i use organic valley
1/2 cup strong coffee, my mini-keurig contraption only brews 3/4+ cups at a time, so i boiled it down to half cup
1/2 scant cup sugar
6 egg yolks, 5 or even 4 would be fine, i had to use them up or chuck them
1 tsp vanilla, optional
1/2 TBL potato starch, corn starch is fine too
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, i used enjoy life

brew up your coffee, set aside 1/2 cup, or boil it down for a more intense flavor, set aside.

to make custard, pour 2 cups of half & half into small sauce pan, with the sugar. on low heat stir until sugar is dissolved. add in the coffee, raise to medium-high heat and heat up the liquid to hot, stirring consistently.

in bowl have your yolks ready. with a ladle carefully pour a small amount of the hot liquid onto to the yolks, stirring with a whisk. this is called tempering, to avoid scrambling the yolks. if need to, add another ladle full, again, stirring constantly. pour the warmed yolks into the sauce pan with the rest of the hot half & half, keep stirring on medium heat. you want the liquid to thicken and get all custardy. there are tips/tricks out there to know when the custard is done, i typically stop when i’m tired of stirring and i have other things to do. this works for me, it may not for you.

with remaining 1/2 cup half & half, add in the 1/2 TBL potato starch and vanilla. mix and then add to the custard and stir some more. this will get super thick. remove from heat and allow to cool, preferably a few hours or over night.

when ready to make ice cream, pour into maker and churn according to machine’s specifications. in the last 5 minutes add the chips.

serve right away or allow to harden a smidge in the freezer.

boom.

my other ice cream concoctions:
peppermint chocolate chip ice cream
coconut anise ice cream
mint chocolate ice cream
strawberry & coconut milk ice cream