Strawberry Short Cake!

May & June were a little bit crazy and flew by w/o me even noticing it! It's July and Oregon's strawberry is finally in season!! Since it will only be available for 2 wks, so it is time for strawberry short cake!!!

Strawberry short cake!! What is a short cake? Short cake is actually a sweeten biscuit and not a cake. Most of the restaurants now serve what I called a "imposter," sponge cake, and that is definitely a BIG "no-no" in this household! MD was super excited when I said strawberry shortcake, for I had NEVER, not even once, made at home, despite the fact the I do make them daily at work. MD was a little bit let down because he was thinking of sponge cake!! Ugh! @#$%^&*(

Strawberry Short Cake

2 C AP

1 T Baking Powder

¾ t Salt

1 T Sugar

¼ C COLD Butter

¾ C Half & Half/Heavy Cream

1. Combine all dry ingredients, set aside.
2. Cut COLD butter in small cubic.
3. Place butter cubic into dry mixture & quickly pinch the butter into pea size. Do not over mix!
4. Use a spoon & quickly mix the cream/half & half into the dry mixture. Use a #40 scoop to portion the dough, or portion at 2 oz each.
   
5. Place the short cake dough 2” apart, brush w/ milk & sprinkle w/ sugar, bake @ 350° F for about 13-16 min, until center is done.

Strawberry Sauce

1. Combine sugar & cut strawberry (1:1 ratio), let sit for a couple hours.
   
2. Puree the mixture, refrigerate until ready to use.
   

Cannoli.. chocolate & pistashio!

I rarely make Cannoli, simply I don't like the smell of oil fill the apartment for days at end. However, I need to fill 2 orders this week so I figured I might as well make MD happy, make a little extra. Cannoli is actually very easy to make and was traditionally fill w/ Ricotta Cheese, however, it can be fill w/ just about anything nowadays: chocolate pastry cream, lemon mousse, and etc. Many people walked away from Cannoli due to the price tag of the form, which is about $2 each. It is a investment & time saver if you make cannoli often, but it not necessary. I used rolled up foil & it works just as well.


Cannoli

1 1/2 C Flour
1 T Sugar
1/8 t Salt
1/2 C Marsala wine

• If you don't have cannoli tube/form, cramp 1 sheet of foil into desired length & width and covered w/ another sheet of foil to form a smooth exterior. Make 12, spray & set aside.
• Combine all ingredients into a bowl to form a smooth dough, if necessary add water to reach a soft smooth dough. Wrap & chill for 30 minutes
• Divide the dough into 12 portions & roll each dough into 1/8 in thick disk.
• Wrap each disk onto the foil tube & seal with egg wash. Make sure the dough is not wrapped around the form too tight so it can be easily removed later.
• Fry in 350F oil until golden brown. Drain & let cool.
• Fill with desired filling before serving.
  

Bread pudding! Breakfast & dessert all in one...

Whenever I have leftover bread, I will make bread pudding. It is a great way to use up those harden/dried up bread that you have sit around. Personally, I don't recommend sour dough bread or any strong taste bread such as pumpernickel, or thinly slice sandwiches bread, since you want to be able to see chunk of bread "peeping" through the custards.

Bread pudding can be make w/ fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate, or dried fruits, so basically, ANYTHING! Not to mention, it is very versatile & forgiving, as long you have eggs, milk/cream/heavy cream, even coconut milk! I had a half loaf of brioche leftover from a few days ago and a half container of homemade mini marshmallow left from X'mas, so I decided to make bread pudding - S'mores w/ coconut!


S'mores Bread Pudding w/ Coconut

1 loaf Brioche/french bread/hard crust bread

5 Eggs, Beaten
2 C Milk/Heavy Cream/Half & Half
2 t Vanilla Extract

8 oz Dark Chocolate Chip
4 oz Mini Marshmallow
3 oz unsweetened coconut

• Cut bread into 1.5" cube, place it in 9 x 13 baking dish.
• Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla extract; pour over cubed bread.
  
• Push the bread down into the mixture & make sure the breads are covered. Pour in a little more milk/cream if necessary.
• Mix in chocolate chip, marshmallow, and HALF of coconut
• Bake at 300 F for about 30 min, sprinkle the remaining coconut on the top of bread pudding. Bake until the center is clean when the tooth pick entered, about 20 minute.
• Let cool. Serve warm w/ chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or even a scoop of ice cream!
  

Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee... one of the classic, easy & impressive! Many people get turned off by the fact the egg yolk needs to be tempered with the hot milk, but my trick from a French chef that I once worked for will make this easy & less scary!


Creme Brulee

3 Egg Yolks
45g Sugar

375g Heavy Cream
1/2 Vanilla Bean
2 t Vanilla Extract

• Split and scrap the vanilla bean and add to half the cream
  
• Scold half the cream w/ the vanilla bean and sugar, until sugar is melted
  
• Remove the cream & add the other half of scream, whisk to combine
• Add the egg yolk to the mixture, whisk to combine
• Refrigerated over night, strain before use.
• Bake at 325 F for 25 - 30 min, depends on the size of your dish.
  

Ooh-la-la Lava Cake

Lava cake is a stable of my kitchen. It's quick & simple, can be make ahead of time & refrigerated up to 2 weeks. The flavor of the mixture can be changed depends on liqueur that you added or extract. A teaspoon of ginger or cinnamon will change up the flavor dramatically, make it a nice finish to your dinner during cold winter months!

When you feel like a little of chocolate fix, pop it into 350 F oven for about 20 minutes, serve with a scoop of ice cream. There is nothing better in the world at that moment!!



Lava Cake

4 oz Dark Chocolate
3 oz Unsalted Butter

.4 oz Corn Starch
5 oz Sugar

2 Eggs
2 Yolks
3/4 t Liqueur/Flavoring/Vanilla Extract

• Melt Chocolate & Butter in a pot, medium heat, stir often to avoid burning, heat off.
  
• Whisk in sugar & cornstarch, mix well
• Whisk in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, until combine.
• Place the mixture into an air-tight container and refrigerated for at least 4 hours.

Serving:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Brush a ramekin w/ butter & coated in sugar and fill 2/3 of ramekin w/ batter.
• Depends on the size of your ramekin, bake until the top is cracked, roughly 15-20 minutes
• Serve immediately w/ a scoop of French Vanilla ice cream (homemade is the best!)