All about cupcakes - and the best chocolate cupcake recipe I've found

So I wasn't able to capture a photo evident of how perfect this cupcake is but you have to believe me when I say-I think I may have found the best and easiest chocolate cupcake EVER!

This summer, we had a few friends come over for a grilled pizza party! It was a late celebration of my birthday. I wanted the kids to have their own and blow the candles for me so I decided on chocolate cupcakes.  I have lots of chocolate cupcake recipes collected over the years yet not one has blown me away. Hence, I searched all over the internet for THE ONE. I came across all sorts of cupcake recipes. My way of determining if its a great recipe is by reading the ingredient list and the procedure. Not only do I want simple ingredients but I want the procedure to make sense to me before I start baking and would sound easy to follow as I bake. I know how to bake. I know the science of baking. And I know how an ingredient affects the other. So if the recipe passes the test, I will then try it out. Many of the people I've met who doesn't think they could bake could possibly have fallen into one of those recipes that aren't explained very well or worst aren't tested at all. So be wary of such recipes out there.

Cupcakes are so delicate to me that I find myself criticizing a lot of cupcakes. And here is why:

Reason 1: Cupcakes need to have the right balance of frosting to the cake itself. If the frosting is too much, the mouth feel of the entire product becomes too rich. And if it is lacking, the taste of the entire product gets affected too. It has to have the right proportion. Unless you like eating the cake and frosting separately.

Reason 2: No dry cupcakes for me. How many times have you been to a bakery or an exclusive cupcake store, pay from $1.75 to $4.00 for a regular sized cupcake then as soon as you bite into it, the cake is dry? Cupcakes due to their size and placement of frosting, if not careful can easily dry out. On cakes, the frosting acts as a moisture barrier, but on cupcakes the paper liner doesn't do the job. So if I was to spend some extra money because I decided to buy from an exclusive cupcake store, they better deliver.

Reason 3: The flavor. I am such a big critic on bakeries or pastry shops, not only cupcakes. I was once asked how can I judge a bakery if it is good or not, and this is how. How many pastries have you bought that says chocolate but when you bite into them taste just sweet, just sugary sweet, not a hint of chocolate. No distinct flavor at all. This is a pet peeve of mine. And it's not about the price either. In Albuquerque, Brian and I found a really great cafe/restaurant. It's hip, modern, a nice place to hang out, and you can have breakfast and stay until dinner. But the cakes usually priced $6.00 for a slice, quite expensive yeah? Yet when you taste them, flavorless! And what's weirder? The other pastries are great but the cakes sucks. So I avoided them. I am a flavor person. I need to distinguish the product if it is vanilla or chocolate. And that goes as far as ice cream. Why don't you try it? I've found an ice cream here in New England - Richardson's. They are inexpensive, their price is not as high as Ben and Jerry's or Breyers (my favorite) but when I close my eyes, I can differentiate the flavor between vanilla and chocolate. If I was to waste my calories on some sweets like cupcakes, they better taste like something.

Proportion and flavor can easily be adjusted. However when it comes to texture, no one likes a dry cupcake.
And I myself don't have time to make cupcakes from baking to frosting in one single day and serve it also at the same day. So I wrap them. That has been my solution. I place them on containers frosted or not and I tightly wrap them with plastic wrap until I need to serve them. And I do the same thing for leftovers. Of course after 3 days, no matter how tight you wrapped your cupcakes, they will still lose their freshness and would turn dry.

Back to the cupcake recipe...this is the easiest cupcake of all. No buttermilk, no melted chocolate, no separating and whipping of eggs and no special ingredient you won't be able to find at your regular grocery store. Doesn't that sound perfect? This cupcake recipe has it's own frosting, I must say that I only used her cupcake recipe and used my buttercream frosting. 

Tip for the Cupcake recipe : just follow her directions to a tee. I used Hershey's Cocoa powder. And I eliminated the coffee granules for the kids and added more vanilla extract. Your choice. On the case of caster sugar, I used granulated and beated them a little longer.

Sugar Bar for the cupcake recipe

Buttercream frosting, its called The Neoclassic Buttercream from "the Cake Bible"

Next time I make it, I'll post a photo or if you have a photo, send me one and I'll post yours.

Shrimp Ceviche with Prosciutto Chips

When my family and I moved here to the United States in 1999, we first lived in San Diego. And I immediately fell in love with my surroundings. San Diego has a lot of good memories for me. One that always comes to mind is my first introduction to Mexican food. This is a great dish on a hot summer day, but living in New England won't stop me from having it anytime of the year! Enjoy.

As always, please read the entirety of the procedure before you start any cooking.

You will need:

1/2 lb prosciutto thin slices

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail off

1 lemon

1 lime

1/2 medium sized red onion, thinly sliced (paper thin)

4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a silicon mat lined cookie sheet, lay thin slices of prosciutto side by side. No need to worry if they are touching each other. Place the sheet pan in the oven. Cook the prosciutto until they are crisp. Remember that when prosciutto slices are hot, they tend to flex and bend and aren't crunchy but once they are cool they are brittle/crisp. So watch out. You don't want to think that they aren't ready yet then leave them too long in the oven. Once they get too brown, you run the risk of getting them bitter. So if need be, pull once slice off from the pan, cool off then check its flexibility. When done, remove prosciutto slices from the sheet. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring to boil 10 cups of water plus 3 tablespoons of salt. Once it is rapidly boiling, add the shrimp. Cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat off. Make sure that once your shrimp is in the pot that your heat is off as you start your timer. Set your timer for 10 minutes. This amount of time will cook shrimp in the size of 21/25 (which means, per every pound there is about 21 to 25 shrimp). Shrimp that are smaller cook around 7-8 minutes while the larger ones take about 12 minutes. After 10 minutes, take the shrimp out of the hot liquid and cool them down under running cold water. Do not leave them in the cooking liquid, they will continue to cook and get tough.

Once shrimp has cooled, cut them into small pieces. If you are making a big batch, you can also use a food processor but only pulse it until its roughly chopped into small bite sized pieces. You dont want to break it down so much that none of your guests can identify that you are serving them shrimp. Also your shrimp won't look great looking like mush.

Thinly slice half of a medium-sized red onion. Squeeze the juice of one lime over the sliced onions. The purpose is to remove of the "zing" from the onions. As you soak the onions in lime juice, you will also notice the color changing, the red color becomes lighter as your onions turn into pink. Once the lime juice starts to become pink, about 20 minutes or so, drain the onions. Discard the juice.

In a mixing bowl, combine chopped shrimp, sliced pickled onions, chopped parsley and chopped cilantro. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on the mixture. Use half of one lemon first. Season with salt and pepper. Adjust the lemon juice and salt and pepper to your liking. It should have a balance of tartness, salty, peppery, the background of cilantro, but you should still be able to distinguish that you are eating shrimp. The last step I do is to taste the shrimp mixture with a prosciutto chip. The prosciutto is salty and would make a good balance to the zesty shrimp.

You can substitute tostada shells (pictured below) if prosciutto isn't available. 

GOOD NEWS!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. I'm not happy about it but I have to say that my passion in cooking has again been split with training for a half marathon and taking care of my child. I am still cooking and have more ideas than ever but to write it down and to make sure that I convey my subject and procedure correctly, it takes about a week for me to finish one. And I don't have that much time. I finished my half-marathon last October 4th. But training hasn't stopped, but I am also not giving that part of my life one third of my time, so I am happy to say that I AM BACK!

The other great news is...my husband has decided to also blog about the food that he cooks or experiences on this particular site. He is an awesome cook himself. He worked in restaurants when he was finishing his doctorate. He was the reason why I enrolled in culinary school. When we met, I was working in accounting, doing pretty much something that I didn't necessarily disliked but also didn't know if I was enjoying my work. And he was the one who convince me to follow my heart and forget about the money while I didn't have any responsibilities yet. He said my love for cooking will pay me so much more deep inside than the pay check I get twice a month from working behind a desk. And he was right. I found my home. He is a full-time engineer now but he still loves to cook with me. His greatest points in the kitchen is Italian food. He isn't Italian but I could swear by it that he must have been an Italian on his past life. Italian foods comes naturally with him. So I hope I never lost any of you. And if I did, I will work hard to get you back.

NYC Part 1

I've never been to New York City. I have always planned on visiting and once even planned on moving there after I finished culinary school but never got my way. So for Hub's birthday gift, I surprised him and MYSELF (I won't deny it) with a trip to NYC. We live 4 hours away and no toddler is going to stop us from visiting the food mecca of this country. We're so lucky that Sam is just like us. She would try anything and is always up for travelling (well at least that's what I think!).

So here was the plan on our first day to NYC:

 Friday am: -drop off dog in kennel -drive to New Haven to catch the train to Grand Central

Friday noon: -take the train from New Haven to Grand Central

Friday afternoon - check-in at the hotel in Soho -get Sam to nap for an hour or two -get ready for surprise dinner for Hub and surprise guest (Hub's best friend from high school)

Friday evening: -meet surprise guest at lobby at 5:30p -walk to Casa Restaurant - West Village; dinner reservations at 6p

And this is how our day actually went:

Friday morning -did nothing except chase Sam while we get ready -finally dropped off dog at kennel late morning -stopped by Natick Mall, forgot some stuff

Friday noon -missed the train to Grand Central -had lunch while we waited

Friday afternoon -missed the train again to Grand Central, couldn't find parking -moved dinner reservations 30 minutes later -text surprise guest that we were running late -at 2:35p finally was in the train to NYC

Friday late afternoon -check-in at the hotel in Soho at 4:20p -4:30p run to get some hosiery (another thing I forgot) while Hub gets Sam ready -got back at 5:15p to shower and get ready

Friday evening -6p down at the lobby to meet surprise guest; walked over to West Village -6:30p finally had dinner at Casa Restaurant- West Village


CASA Restaurant

Casa is a small lovely restaurant in the West Village. As you pass in front of the establishment, you will notice the big white windows with a deep ledge inside that is decorated with some artistic pottery and ceramic figures. As you walk inside, the 4-5 seater bar is the first thing right in front of you. Then to the right would be the dining room. It was very cozy and intimate. As Hub's friend said, it was the place to take a girl out on the third date. He was right. The small lit candles were just the right amount of light to make it romantic. Although romance was the last thing on our mind, the restaurant was still elegant. When I was making the plans and reservations, I spoke with a different hostess on 3 different times. Every time I called they were helpful and informative.

The first host I spoke with immediately took charge and informed me that it would be better if we took the half booth as they didn't have any high chair for our toddler. That wasn't a surprise at all. I never expected them to, considering the type of food and ambiance they were setting, clearly wasn't saying "a family restaurant". My decision to choose the restaurant was based on the reviews of the food so I just had to work it out with my toddler instead.

As we arrived, right away we were swooped in to our tables and was given the attention we needed. Our reservations was at 6:30p and really didn't think that there would be anyone dining (we were at NYC!) but there were about 3-4 tables already being serviced. The menu had the right amount of courses and selection. It was a breeze trying to choose the dishes that would be both appealing to us and for our toddler.

Hearing about their great Caiprinhas from Hub's friend, we or I must say, I just had to try one. It's been awhile since I've ingested any alcohol so it came like a sweet smack in the face. I enjoyed it a lot. From the first sip, I knew they were serving good quality Cachaca. I should have ordered another one. It was strong and limey!

For appetizers we chose the lightly breaded squid with lime, Sau Paulo's shrimp cake and the yucca sticks with Parmesan cheese. For our entree, our toddler got the chicken and rice soup, and we ordered the organic chicken and shrimp stew with tomatoes and cilantro, the Brazilian national dish of black bean stew and the steak with onions, rice, beans and farofa with vinaigrette and fries. The appetizers were surprisingly interesting and delightful. The breaded squid had the right amount of breading and spice that went well with lime. The shrimp cake was fresh and heavenly. And the yucca sticks were a big hit to my toddler. The entrees were at the same caliber as the starter dishes. They didn't disappoint us at all. They were perfectly seasoned. All dishes had an exceptional balance of texture and flavor. I really couldn't say anything bad at all.

Our toddler's soup was simple; made from a really good chicken stock and had tender vegetables that were perfect texture for her. My chicken and shrimp stew was satisfying. The chicken was very tender. The distinct flavor of the cilantro was perfectly balanced with the tomatoes. My hubby's steak with farofa, rice and beans was good as well. And so as the Brazilian stew of black beans that Hub's friend ordered. The service was phenomenal. I couldn't have been happier; they were so helpful and accommodating to my child. I wasn't expecting them to know anything about children but they surely did act like they knew something about kids. They once in awhile entertained her, they made sure her soup wasn't so hot so she can easily get into it. They delightfully accepted our request for fresh orange supremes for our child. And they knew that we needed to get things rolling so our child wouldn't get too impatient. Our food was quick and right on time. All in all the food was consistent and satisfying. No doubt if I went back, they'd have it right again. And I think that is the distinction they have against other restaurants, they were unfailing with regards to food and service and they always delivered it well again and again. So no doubt they would have regulars.

The food wasn't ecstatically glorious, but they really didn't have to be; the dependability and consistency was enough. And it felt like you were going back home, it was comforting and hearty.

Payard's

The dinner ended with a surprise birthday cake. And I was happy with my choice. I wasn't sure if I could depend on bakeries that had bad reviews due to their consistency so I just had to pick one who I knew would always have a consistent product. Pastry Chef Francois Payard has been in the business for a very long time, more than 20 years. I have read a few of his books and have tried making them too and always came out excellent. So for a birthday cake for Hub, I just couldn't take a chance so I went with Payard's.

When I gave them a call the day before our dinner reservations to make the order, I was really delighted to hear someone so helpful at the other end of the line. Right away she informed me of the delivery times available and the choices that I have. I picked the "Louvre Cake" because I knew Hub likes chocolate mousse so much that it would be the perfect choice. Also we both love Gianduja chocolate and having chocolate hazelnut on the mousse was just perfect. I needed them to deliver the cake after 4:30p and the request wasn't a problem to them as well, they just had to use another courier which means a little more amount of money but not considerably. They were accommodating.

The Louvre cake was phenomenal. It was dome shaped cake that was covered with ganache. It had a silky chocolate hazelnut mousse inside with a hazelnut crust to balance the texture of the entire cake. I couldn't stop myself, I have to admit. It was extraordinary. I really think I could have eaten the entire cake. It wasn't overly sweet or too rich either. It was just sublime.

When the cake came out with lit candles. I was a little proud...okay I'll admit, I was really proud of myself, that I coordinated all these things and I wasn't even from New York, or have visited New York, or have been in New York for more than 4 hours. Yet the surprise dinner was flawless.

New York is such a great city. They have a service to meet every need. It was our first night and I can't imagine what was waiting for us the next day...

Useful and Useless Food Facts Part 1

Ever since I got involved with the food industry, my food habits have changed. I don't think I've turned into a snob but my palate has definitely evolved and there are certain foods that I just won't eat and will neither serve it to my family.

The last time my in-laws visited us, I was asked why I spend a lot of time shredding corned beef when I could make my life "easy" and use canned corned beef instead. I used to eat canned meat ( I grew up in the Philippines), but I no longer can eat them. There are many reasons. For one, I have learned that the quality of meat or/and grade of meat they use in canned foods are the lowest of the lowest. Also the amount of salt they use to produce these canned foods are considerably high. And even if I use canned corned beef sparingly, if I agree to use canned meat, not just the corned beef, if I add them up overtime, am I not leading my family into the road of cardiovascular disease?

Another reason is, I don't eat it because of the texture. Texture to me plays such an important role in my food. Food does not only need balance in taste/flavor and even temperatures but texture also needs to be considered. I wanted to share this information because I want others to know the choices they have and other helpful information out there that I've come to pick up.

So here it is:

• Chopsticks – Japanese chopsticks are pointed at the eating end while Chinese are blunt

• Aluminum Foil – when using foil in baking, use it shiny side out to prevent the food from over-browning

• If you bake a lot, it is much better to invest in an oven thermometer. Ovens can fluctuate with their temperatures overtime.

• Speaking about investing, a weighing scale is a good investment if you bake quite often. It is the best approach to measuring ingredients. It is more accurate and leads to a more consistent product.

• Convection vs Convention ovens – convection oven have a fan that provides continuous circulation of hot air around the oven. That means that the food cooks more evenly and much faster. When baking, it is better to reduce the heat 25 degrees lower. While convention ovens are the regular ovens that most people have in their home without a fan blowing inside the oven. When baking and using glassware bake pans, better to reduce oven temperature 25 degrees lower becaue glassware conducts and retains heat better

• Don’t use whipped butter for baking, it contains 30 to 45 percent air, your measurements will be off

• Baking Powder – to check if it is still active, drop a teaspoon in warm/hot water. It is suppose to bubble lively or vigorously .

• Baking Soda – to check if it is still active, drop a teaspoon in vinegar . It is suppose to bubble lively or vigorously

• Dutch processed Cocoa powder – ever wonder what dutch processed cocoa powder means? Dutch process means that the cocoa has been treated with an alkaline solution to help neutralize the cocoa’s natural acidity. Have you ever tried cocoa powder that is not only bitter but soured as well?

• Banana is a fruit that develops better flavor when ripened off the plant

• When cooking dried beans, do not ever salt beans before it is done cooking. Salt after they’ve been cooked. One big mistake I made.

• Processed Cheese – do you know that the United States Government standards require only 51 percent of the processed cheese final weight to be cheese. That means that half of what you eat is cheese and the rest are emulsifiers, coloring and preservatives.

• Cheddar – the yellow color of cheddar is from food coloring….just to make it look appetizing to us. The color yellow does not come from any aging process or anything. Milk is white isn’t it?

• Chives- is related to both onion and garlic but it is an herb

• Avocado is a fruit not a vegetable. Tip: Avocado plus milk is a good shake, you just have to try it

• Cinnamon – is the inner bark of a tropical evergreen tree. For the holiday season, before guests arrive, combine 1 tsp ground cinnamon or 1 stick with 6 cups water and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and let the scent flow through all over your house.

• Coffee pots – dish soap and detergent can leave a soap film on the coffee pot that will distort the coffee flavor. It is better to use baking soda. In automatic coffeemaker, brew a full pot of water plus adding 2 tsp of baking soda in the water reservoir. Brew as usual. Run plain water through machine before use. If you have a stale smelling coffeepot, fill it with a mixture of boiling water plus 2 tsp baking soda. Cover and let sit until water cools. Rinse thoroughly.

• Cookies – have you ever had cookies that are soft and chewy and day after, it becomes hard and crunchy? When storing soft chewy cookies, store them in a sealed container with a slice of apple.

• Softened butter vs melted butter in cookies – butter's temperature always plays an important role in a cookies texture, so if you are looking for a certain texture in a cookie like chocolate chip cookies, why not experiment them using three different temperatures of butter. Once use a softened room temperature butter, next time melt the butter completely and lastly, use cold butter cut into small pieces (cubes). Use the same oven temperature as you normally would bake them. Beware of the time it takes to bake the cookies. Using melted butter in cookies also means that the cookies will spread thin and will bake faster so lessen the time. Unlike using cold butter, it will take longer for the cookies to bake.

• IQF - Individually Quick Frozen - This means that the product are frozen separately from the others. A package of food that is IQF makes it easier for the consumer to take what they need to defrost while the rest goes back to the freezer still frozen. Have you ever picked up a package of vegetables or any frozen food that is a one big clump of iced food, that is a red flag that the product was mishandled, thawed out carelessly and returned back to the freezer. Do not buy it!

• Large sized eggs, by regulations a standard large egg should weigh 2 ounces. One ounce for the yolk and another for the white. When baking, it is better to use large sized eggs. Most of the time recipes are formualted using large sized eggs.

• A la carte vs prix fixe (pree fix)- A la carte menu is which individual items on the menu has it's own price while prix fixe menu has one given price for the number of courses indicated on the menu. Usually the selections of items to consist the courses are limited in a prix fixe menu.

• For a balanced textured gravy, measure your fat or drippings from your roast and add in the same amoun t of flour then dilute with stock then season.

• Mornay Sauce, sounds fancy but its just a cheese sauce usually of gruyere and parmesan

• Inspection on Meats - Round Purplish Stamp on Meats, simply means that the meat is guaranteed of its wholesomeness but not the quality or tenderness of the meat. It also means that the animal was not diseased and is suitable for human consumption. This is required by law.

• Grading of Meats, is a quality designation indicated by a shield stamp. The problem is that it is not required by law, a packer can hire a private grading system and have their own brand names for their meat. And for us consumers, they can easily increase the price just by saying it is prime, but is it really???The grading is based on texture, firmness, color of the lean meat, age of the animal, and marbling of fat.

• Geoduck pronounced gooeyduck is not a duck but is a large soft shell clam

• Coffee: Cafe au lait, consist of equal amounts of coffee and scalded milk. Cafe Macchiato is espresso with a dollop of a steamed milk foam Cafe Mocha is espresso combined with chocolate syrup, and a liberal amount of foamy steamed milk Cafe Americano is espresso diluted with 3 parts water Cafe Latte is espresso combined liberally with foamy steamed milk Cappuccino is espresso topped with just the creamy foam from a steamed milk

Caramel topped Cream Puffs

This is a favorite of my father. This pastry reminds him of his childhood. It took me a lot of tries to be comfortable with the recipe. So when I finally figured out how to make the cream puffs, I was excited to make him taste it! I am glad he approved! These creams puffs are filled with pastry cream and topped with poured caramelized sugar.

Pate a Choux

How to make pate a choux is discussed here.

Once you've made the pate a choux, transfer paste into a piping bag with a medium sized round tip. Have a parchment lined sheet pan ready. Do not use any grease in the sheet pan as it would cause the paste to spread and flatten when baked.

Tightly pipe in round amounts of paste in the sheet pan. Make sure not to lift the tip of the piping bag when piping. From experience, I think it is better to pipe inside the mound of paste that you started forming than lifting the tip as you finish piping. I just think its important because once it is baked, if the ball of pate a choux isn't tight enough as a ball then it could create layers and can easily separate from each other while baking. Using your damp fingertip, lightly press down the tip of the paste.

*I once read that you can also use a spoon to create these balls of pate a choux, no need to purchase piping bags and tips. I wonder if a small ice cream scoop would be much easier (no need to form them into balls).

Bake in a 425 degrees oven for 15-20 minutes. To produce the maximum amount of steam, you need to start the baking process at high temperature for the steam to help expand the dough rapidly, forming a large hole in the center of the item. The heat of the oven then coagulates the gluten and egg proteins to set the structure and making it a firm product to hold it's shape.

*tip during this time when steam is building up and pushing the pate a choux to raise, it is very important not to open the oven or else the temperature will lower down making the dough to collapse. After 15-20 minutes the oven temperature needs to be lowered to 375 degrees to finish the baking, to set the structure and to dry the inside of the ball without getting too dark.

I have wasted 200 eclairs before, working for a caterer because I pulled the puffs off the oven before they were completely dried up inside and before the outer shell has hardened. The eclairs collapsed and there was no way to fix it. I had to re-do everything. So make sure to remove them at the right time. If you are making a small batch and do not need to use the oven after, you can turn the oven off with the door ajar and leave the shells inside the oven to dry up. If that is not the case, after about 15-20 minutes lower the temperature to 350 degrees until it has completely formed a hard shell on the outside and the inside is dry. If you are unsure, pull out one shell and let it cool so you can check if the shell has hardened.

When puff is done, cool them in a warm place. Rapid change of temperature can also collapse the puffs.
Using a fine pointed tip knife (I use a grapefruit knife) create a hole on the side of the puffs to make the insertion of the pastry cream mixture easier.

Fill the middle of the puff with pastry cream mixture.

Pastry Cream - this cream has a lot of uses. This can be used as a filling to any type of desserts. It goes well with anything and can be flavored into chocolate, green tea, fruit, coffee or any other flavors you're interested with. The mixture can be used as a fruit tart filling, a pie filling (like for cream pies), also can be used to fill donuts, or pate a choux shells, or in layered cakes, as a cream mixture for a trifle, or for filling napoleons.

Also it can be mixed with whipped egg whites to make souffles. The best part, its so easy to make!

Ingredients: yield: would fill a 1 (9-inch) tart shell

1 pint milk
2 oz sugar
2 large yolks (1.25 oz)
1 large whole egg (1.75 oz)
1.25 oz cornstarch, sifted
2 oz sugar
1 oz butter unsalted
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, bring the milk and sugar just to a boil. In a separate bowl, combine all the eggs, cornstarch and sugar and beat until smooth.

Once the milk mixture starts to boil, pull off from heat. Slowly whisk in small amounts of hot milk mixture into the egg mixture (tempering). Once the egg mixture is warm-hot to touch, pour all the milk mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until completely incorporated. Transfer the mixture back into the heavy saucepan and stir constantly while bringing to boil. Make sure to constantly stir so as not to burn the bottom of your pan. You can lower your heat to avoid this problem. Continue cooking until the raw cornstarch taste is gone. Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract until completely incorporated. Pour into a clean and shallow pan then cover with plastic wrap. Make certain that the plastic wrap cover is touching the top of the cream mixture in all surfaces to avoid crust from forming. Chill.

Pastry cream mixture as cream puff filling: I combine pastry cream and whipped cream to create that soft and smooth filling for the cream puffs. I use the ratio of 1 quart pastry cream to 1/2 cup to 1 cup of whipped cream.

If you need to use the pastry cream as a tart or as a cream pie filling, use pure pastry cream, simply beat the mixture until smooth before usage. Using pure pastry cream creates a more stabilized mixture that can hold up by itself.

Beat chilled pastry cream until it is smooth. Fold in the whipped cream until completely blended in. Transfer mixture into a piping bag with a medium sized round tip. Fill the cream puffs with pastry cream mixture until the puffs feels heavy.

Assemble the puffs in a wire rack on top of a sheet pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Allow about an inch of space between the puffs to make the pouring of caramelized sugar easier.

Caramelized Sugar
Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
a dropful of corn syrup

Using a heavy medium to large sized saucepan, combine water, sugar and corn syrup. Make sure that all the sugar is wet before you turn on the fire. Double check that no crytals of sugar are on the side of the pan. You can use a pastry brush dipped in water to wash it down to avoid crystallization. Bring mixture to boil. When it starts boiling, brush down the sides of the pan again to avoid sugar crystallization.

*Tip I use a lid to cover the saucepan while cooking so the steam on the lid will fall back down on the sides or a drop of corn syrup can help avoid crystallization.

Once the sugar-water mixture looks thick, you can remove the lid. When the color starts turning amber, lightly swirl the pan to evenly distribute the color and for the sugar mixture to cook evenly. Bring the sugar to a medium amber color. Don't get it too dark of an amber that it will have a light bitter taste. Turn off the heat when it reaches the desired amber color. If possible you can dip the bottom of your pan in a bowl of cold water for about 5 seconds to stop the cooking and for the color to remain the same.

Slowly pour a small amount of the hot caramelized sugar on top of each cream puff until you've covered every one of them. Notice that when the sugar is very hot, the syrup just slides down the puff without sticking. When that happens, wait for a few seconds while swirling the sugar to cool it off a little. I have seen other pastry chefs dip the cream puffs into the caramelized sugar instead of pouring. That would be a preference of yours. I prefer pouring the sugar slowly and in small amounts because I'm afraid of dipping my fingers into the hot sugar. You will have some waste of sugar but if you do it slowly, its better than the possibility of burning your fingers. Once the sugar has hardened, it is ready to be served. When puffs are filled with pastry cream, the freshness of the product lasts about a 1-1/2 day. It is still good 2 days later but because the puffs needs to be refrigerated, the humidity changes the texture of the product. It is still a good product, it is just not as perfect as a fresh cream puff topped with crunchy caramelized sugar. Sweet!

How do you feed a toddler?

I blogged about my child's eating habits on my friendster account last September 2008. It was certainly a time of frustration. A month after I wrote it, the frustration was non-existent. Although things haven't really changed. She still didn't want to eat.

Today, breakfast isn't only the problem. The only difference is that I've come to accept that food with her isn't the same anymore. She is a toddler and has a mind of her own. Most of all, I am not a bad mother just because I couldn't feed my child.

To mamasgootifulbaby, you are a great mother, do not ever doubt that. This is just part of their declaration of independence!

How do you feed a toddler?
September 25, 2008

Its been tough lately. I have a degree in the Culinary Arts. I have cooked for thousands of people and some famous. I can cook almost anything. I'm not scared of anything at all. I'm a food geek. I do make mistakes, and I mean a lot. No chef/mommy is perfect, but ever since Sam decided that pureed foods are only for "babies", she has convinced me that I am no chef at all.

She's a toddler. She's great with new foods. She has eaten more types of food I think than my own dad. I tried to recall the food I've had before my training and I know for a fact that she's had more complicated dishes than me. She likes cheese (muenster, smoked gouda, parrano, swiss, gruyere, brie, aged cheddar, parmesan, ricotta, bleu, and romano) and we have not come across any cheese she hasn't liked. She likes hummus, tofu, tikka masala, curry, sushi, kielbasa, linguica, pizza (who wouldn't?), gyro, grilled lamb, souvlaki, teriyaki, noodles, yogurt, char siu bao, barbeque, burgers, fries, grilled chicken, dumplings, meatballs, falafel, naan, vegetables (like cucumber, tomato, potato, carrots, peas, green beans, bokchoy, broccoli, squash, corn, edamame, spinach and lettuce) and fruits, she likes them all. She is attracted to sweets (what kind of kid wouldn't?). She has eaten cuisines like Japanese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Cambodian, Chinese (dimsum is one of her favorites), Taiwanese, Italian, German, Greek, Filipino (of course!), Southern American, Swedish, French, Cajun, Mexican, Cuban, Brazilian, Columbian, Mediterrenean, Spanish, Polish, Portugese, Korean, Indonesian and Middle Eastern. And I am so lucky that every restaurant we've been to, we've found a dish she liked. So you must ask, what's the problem then, right? It's breakfast!

I CAN'T MAKE HER EAT BREAKFAST! I've cooked her scrambled eggs, waffles, swedish pancakes, crepe, french toast, sausage, corned beef and potatoes, hash, bacon, ham, and have even made her chocolate pancakes but NO LUCK. Every single morning, I'm on a struggle! I thought at first that she must not be hungry first thing in the morning, so I gave her time, but no luck. Or it must be fruits she's interested in. Nope, not at all! Something sweet and creamy or chocolatey. Neither! Soup, she loves soups...she didn't for breakfast! Cereal like oatmeal or cheerios or wheat flakes, she just stares at them! Cheesy sandwich, she says yuck! Peanut butter and Jam on bread, she looked like she wanted to say "no way"! I'll give her some credit, she does have a few bites but that is it! After, she'd rather drink milk. And I know she's hungry because she would drink 2-3 bottles. But no matter what I do, I'm out of luck!

I know milk is good for her. She is growing yet I know for a fact that she needs more nutrients from other types of food. I have to admit, I've become lazy for awhile now and I've lost the energy and interest of making her breakfast after so many attempts to find something she'd liked. Today, I made oatmeal raisin cookies with pureed bananas and pureed zucchini in it. (From Deceptively Delicious-Jessica Seinfeld) and I liked it. It's more of a cakey side of cookie but its great! It's a cross between a banana bread and a cookie. I thought she'd get excited and she did but after 4 tiny bites...that was that! It was the end of cookies! What kid says no to cookies?

So I'm calling for help: To the great chefs of the past, Marie-Antoine Careme and Escoffier, I call upon you, to please shed some light. I ask you to please send me your angel chef so he can show me, how to feed my toddler.