2012 Greatest Hits

Posted in Experiments & experiences, Foodie Life, Recipe Round-Up by Clarisse Shaina

This sort of thing is always tough to write. Looking back, there is always one chunk of thought or memory that sticks with me with every recipe or post I share. Picking my alleged “Greatest Hits” turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. I made about 74 recipes this year, if I’m not mistaken. I think I made so many good things this year, shot some great photos, and had some pretty good moments, but there were those that still stood out to me:

1. There really is no point in denying how much I went gaga over this Sriracha Swirl Bread, especially the first time I made it. Since then, our pantry has never been without a bottle of Sriracha (plus a reserve bottle, would you believe?). The cheese and the chili go so well together, and I guess my dislike for cheese gets totally erased when chili is involved. I seem to recall stuffing myself silly with this during breakfast.

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2. Although technically the first time I made a version of this was on December of 2011, this Purple Ombre Cake was one of the best things I made this year. I can’t think of anything else to say except that not only does it look absolutely uh-ma-zing, it is also absolutely dee-li-cious! It’s my most viewed post to date, and I can only hope a lot of people made this cake and loved it as much as I did.

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3. I will never forget the day I made my first Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread; the way the crumb felt between my fingers so soft and kind of fluffy; the gorgeousness and yumminess of it. It was one of the times I truly felt my love for bread-making, and it was a great feeling I would try to bring out for the rest of the year.

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4. Until today, I still can’t think of any yeast bread I’ve ever eaten that has me gushing as much as Flo Braker’s Lemon-Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake has. It’s sort of my lemon fantasies (and oh do I love lemon pastries) and bread fantasies rolled into one. I can eat it everyday and be perfectly happy!

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5. I don’t particularly like dessicated coconut in my cookies, but when I made these Coffee-Coconut-Chocolate Chip Cookies (4C Cookies for short), I can honestly say the coconut played a HUGE part in why these were so amazing. Well, aside from the fact that I love anything with coffee in it, and chocolate. These were my favourite cookies for the year!

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6. One of the best memories I have this year is most definitely learning how to make Asian dumpling wrappers, and subsequently the Japanese gyoza. Granted it takes only 1/16 of the preparation time to eat these babies, it’s one of those things that have amazing end results if you keep at it. Though I’ve only made one type of dumpling so far, the experience has taught me a quite bit about patience and perseverance. Expect more dumpling recipes next year!

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7. My first ever Croissants! Like the dumplings, it took me so long to make them, but I was so proud of myself when they came out looking so so beautiful! I think I did more eating with my eyes though. I couldn’t stop taking pictures!

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8. My 121st post milestone was quite a big deal for me so I made these Rainbow Cupcakes to celebrate. I wasn’t even aware I had written and made so many recipes already! I’m excited to share more with you all.

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9. I can’t tell you enough how much this Chai-Spiced Crumb Coffee Cake surprised me. Not only was the cake so moist and delicious, the Chai-flavoured topping elevated this into something mouth-wateringly good!

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10. These Apple Pie Muffins are a bit of a revelation in my book. Probably one of the best muffins I’ve made so far, and my brothers would agree on that point. The best part about it was not the streusel, but the bits of chunky soft apple inside the muffins. I like being able to actually taste and bite into the apples of apple cakes. Now every time I get a hankering for something with apples in it, this will be my go-to recipe.

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11. One of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever made are these Ensaymadas. I’ve got some other versions up my sleeve but my first time will always be the most memorable one, especially because these were absolute perfection taste-wise, appearance-wise, and texturally. There was more gushing less eating involved here too!

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12. As I’ve mentioned countless times, lemony pastries are my weakness. These biscotti had that wonderful lemon scent and taste that reminded me a little of my favourite pull-apart bread above, so it was inevitable that I adored these Cornmeal and Fruit Biscotti to bits as well!

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13. This Ginger-Gingersnap Ice Cream from David Lebovitz’s ice cream bible is one of the most unique flavours I’ve ever eaten. I would think that if I were bringing ice cream to a potluck, for something different from the norm, this would be the one I bring. It’s definitely one of my favourites.

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14. I didn’t realise my love for panettones until recently, and these Chocolate, Nuts, and Dried Fruit Panettones really hit the spot! I love the spongey-looking crumb of panettones and was so happy when I managed to replicate it!

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15. My favourite ice cream recipe for the year involved the wonderful flavours of vanilla and Bailey’s. It was a huge hit in the house and a lot of hording and threatening occurred on the part of my younger brothers (mostly against each other) after the first taste of this ice cream was had. As of this writing, the post is yet to be published on the blog, but it’s been scheduled and I’m excited for you all to get to try the recipe. For now, a little sneak peak of the Irish Cream Vanilla Ice Cream?

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16. It’s always such a pleasure to get e-mails asking me if my post/photo could be featured in another website, and this year the asker happened to be The Huffington Post Taste for a post about pull-apart breads. It was totally unexpected, but I am totally honoured my adaptation of the Herb And Cheese Pull-Apart Bread became a part of this list, alongside so many mouthwatering other recipes that I have bookmarked myself!

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17. And finally, for a little shameless self-promotion, I finally took the plunge and made the blog its own Twitter! That’s right, The Tummy Train is now on Twitter, and I do hope that you will follow me!

Recipe Runners-Up:

I finally managed to create two successful versions of Cream Puffs, and I wrote about my experience in length. It was probably the longest and most excruciating-yet-fun (?) post I wrote for the year.
These Dreamy Cream Scones I came across while browsing the Smitten Kitchen blog
I never thought mangoes could be utilized this way until I made Dorie Greenspan’s fantabulous Fresh Mango Bread
This year I went on a roll with the cakes that featured fruits in its fresh form and my love for them solidified after I made this Dimply Plum Cake, another fantastic Dorie Greenspan recipe
Another post I attempted a lot of times before I got right, the Kopi Roti I successfully made after so many failures looked so cute!
David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Ice Cream is one of the best I’ve had so far. No joke!
I absolutely adored this Peppermint Candy Cane Ice Cream, especially because of the memory it brought back to my mind. And well, the minty ice cream and the crushed candy cane bits were a magical combo!

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31Oct2012

Some last-minute Halloween treat ideas

Posted in Christmas & holidays, Recipe Round-Up by Clarisse Shaina

The big day- or night- is upon us! I’ve heard plenty of stories from my friends living in the States about how excited their little brothers and sisters are for trick-or-treating (and though they don’t admit it straight out, they like baby-sitting on this particular evening as well). I can only imagine how fun it would be to put up all those creepy yard decorations to give trick-or-treaters in their cute costumes a little thrill before they come knocking at your door. (I am reminded of the Modern Family Halloween episode, from two seasons back I think. That looked like a heck of a party!)

I’m in a particularly festive/Halloween-y mood this year so I’ve been looking around the web for all the fun stuff that’s been popping up in all the blogs– crafts, pastries, finger-food. It’s all that I can do to quell this strange desire to at least witness the typical Western Halloween eve. The amount of creativity that greeted me as I clicked the countless number of links is astounding, truly. Here are a couple of my favourites, also known as the recipes I’m planning to try in the coming years.

It doesn’t get any easier than these Frozen Boo-nana Pops. It’s so easy it’s literally something you can do at the last minute. The pun in the name is very clever too! These would be great as snacks for tired little trick-or-treaters.

Ah, a recipe I’ve been eyeing since the beginning. I was planning to make these Witch Fingers this year, but due to my poor planning, I didn’t manage to squeeze it into my schedule. I must make them next year!

This is the one I’m particularly excited about and cannot wait to make next year! I’ve been looking for recipes that break away from the usual Halloween-themed desserts that pop up like daisies around this time of year, and all I’ve been seeing are takes on deviled eggs and alcoholic beverages. But with these Pasta-Stuffed Jack-o-Lanterns, looks like I’ve found the one. Plus, I have never carved a jack-o-lantern before and this seems like a good chance to try my hand at it.

My masterpiece last year was a play on a Dorie Greenspan recipe. These Graveyard Pots de Creme were not only spooky, but they were absolutely delicious! It can induce some heavy spoon and bowl-licking.

This year’s creation was a ton of fun to make! Ghost-shaped meringues were placed atop deliciously moist chocolate cupcakes to form these Ghastly Cupcakes! A sprinkling of crushed chocolate cookies were placed for added effect, as if the ghosts were drifting out of a graveyard.

I’ve been wanting to make these Mummy Sausage Rolls using my favourite recipe, but I keep forgetting about them! I want to kick myself for forgetting again this year. Pretty sure these would go faster than the speed of light in our house.

This is a clever way to portray Devil’s Food Cupcakes in its literal sense. I don’t know why I’ve never thought of it! You have to admit, these are too cute not to try!

I’ve seen several versions of this kind of cheesecake, but what intrigued me the most is this Spiderweb Cheesecake Tart, mostly because I don’t like to be overwhelmed by a very thick cheesecake and a thin crust. This looks like a perfect balance between crust and filling, with the very prettily-shaped crust holding the cheesecake all-around. I’m pretty excited to give piping the web a go, and I’d probably also try to make some sort of edible spider so that each person who has a slice of the cake can also have a chocolate spider!

These Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars have some similar elements with my cupcakes. The only difference is the colourful and yummy-looking bottom. I’ve never tried Pumpkin Cheesecake before so I’m looking forward to making this. I’m considering what else to top them with though, since I’ve done the meringue ghosts already.

If you’ve got any more fun Halloween food ideas, please do share them on the comments section below! I’m compiling recipes for next year you see, and I’d love to have a chance to give your favourites a go!

9Jun2012

{Recipe Round-Up} We’re just loafing around

Posted in Baking Recipes, Quickbreads & Loaves, Recipe Round-Up by Clarisse Shaina

Well it would seem that I have run across some form of streak with the loaves I’ve been making as of late. They’ve all been really good, and I could only wish I managed to take really good photos so that these recipes can be featured on the blog in the way that they deserve. Alas, my photos aren’t exactly to my liking, so I decided I would just write a Round-Up.

The first two loaves are these fantastic quickbreads; chock full of lovely flavors that really hit one spot or another. The third loaf though I found a bit strange. Let’s just say that although going the healthy route with food is a smart idea, it’s generally difficult to follow this road with pastries and baked goods. They are by nature indulgent, and more often than not, they taste best when left alone without tweaking to make it seem healthy. I’m not saying that healthier-but-still-yummy versions of some pastries do not exist, just that some of them do not turn up as good as expected.

But I shall deliver the good bits first.

Marmalade Yoghurt Loaf

This cake was a chance encounter on Ree Drumond’s website. I found myself curious about the flavour combination, which is mainly why I made it. Boy, am I glad I did. I really loved the way this smelled, especially after smothering on the yoghurt and marmalade topping. The orange marmalade’s scent just really pops!

The cake was super moist and perfectly spongy and lovely; something dainty-looking for a formal tea party, I thought. The yogurt-marmalade topping provides a zing to the lightly lemon-flavoured bread. I followed the original recipe to a T and also used orange marmalade for my glaze, and it was marvelous. But if you don’t like orange marmalade, you can pick your favourite marmalade jam for this because it’ll be one of the major flavour players.

Just a quick note though: In Ree’s site, her glaze was kind of runny. Mine, as you can notice, is rather thick (and in effect really tangy- YUM!) and I’m not sure why that is. In any case, it was delicious, and that’s the only important part!

Cocoa-Nana Loaf

Yes, you read that right: Cocoa and banana. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a new flavour combination for a lot of people, but I’ve never actually made anything like this before. I mean, sure I’ve eaten chocolate covered bananas on sticks, but one of my little brothers isn’t such a fan of this flavour combination so he always urges me to make something else. I’ve still been thinking about baking something with these two as the star ingredients however, and I am glad I finally did. I’m a huge fan of anything banana and chocolate, usually separately, but when I saw this on The Kitchen Sink Recipes blog, I knew I had to make it as soon as possible. And there was not a doubt in my mind that it would taste marvelous.

Upon tasting this loaf, I felt that the chocolate really brought out the banana flavour all the more. They complement each other really well, lending each other a hand in terms of conveying taste. The texture of the cake is very soft and tender, and it kind of melts in your mouth while you eat. I wouldn’t recommend having too many pieces though, as the loaf is slightly sweet, I thought. That’s actually what my little brother thought as well, after he finished off a couple of slices.

This recipe was adapted from Nick Malgieri’s The Modern Baker, a fantastic book which I have looked through over and over a million times but have never baked from. I guess this would count as recipe number 1?

Healthy Spongy Banana Bread

Okay. I’m going to be honest with you on this one. I actually didn’t like this recipe, because the result I got was more banana sponge than cake. Yes, it tasted like bananas, and honey actually, but the texture of the bread was really weird. Maybe too spongey for me. Quite frankly, I think it would make a good accompaniment to ice cream (which is mainly how we finished the loaf, actually defeating its “healthy” label), maybe coffee even, because it would get soaked right to its core and give you this wonderful explosion in your mouth with every bite. But then again, I was looking for something closer to the texture of real banana bread without being too sweet or too fattening. I think if I were keeping track of my calorie count (which I do occasionally), I would much rather devote them to a slice of real banana bread rather than this one. It’s simply more satisfying.

Part of me wants to make this again just to make sure it wasn’t a glitch that I got this funny-textured bread, but the bigger, more logical part of me is telling me to move on and try another kind of “healthy” banana bread. I haven’t given up on this healthy thing yet.

Now why did I include this in this post, you would ask? Well, I actually really liked my photographs of this bread. It would be unfortunate not to post it, so take this a sort of “recipe review”. I give it 2.5 out of 5 gold stars! In case you’re interested, here’s where I got the recipe.

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The Recipe Round-Up is a short write-up on recipes that almost made it but end up not getting featured on the blog for one reason or another. Most of the time the reasons will fall among these three: 1. my dissatisfaction over my photos; 2. I’ve done a similar recipe before and this is merely a variation; 3. the results of the recipe to me were almost there, but not quite. There will still be some commentaries on how I would’ve improved the process or the recipes, plus all my usual observations, but instead of providing my re-written version of the recipe, I will simply link you to where I found it.

27Apr2012

{Recipe Round-up} Some tips to get rid of feta cheese

Posted in Cupcakes & Muffins, Pies & Tarts, Recipe Round-Up by Clarisse Shaina

Truth be told, I am not a cheese person. I don’t like cheese, but I don’t hate it either. However if I had a choice, I wouldn’t usually eat cheese. Or mayonnaise, but let’s save that for another time. It is really this indifference with cheese that has taken me this long to really discover feta. I mean sure, I’ve had it in salads, but never really in a conscious manner. I think I am at a point wherein my interest in food would encourage me to savour and appreciate in an objective way even the things I don’t usually eat or particularly like (ie. cheesy things), yet I actually kind of like feta. I like how tangy and just rightly salty it tastes, not as in your face salty as most kinds of cheddar cheese.

Spinach Feta Scrolls

Of all the feta-containing Mediterranean-style pastries I came across, I think this was one of my favourites. I am a sucker for filled pastries, and I am a sucker for the spinach-feta combination. So when I cam across this recipe on Souvlaki for the Soul, I immediately decided I needed to make this. (And really, with all his amazing photos on his blog, I constantly feel like making everything from there.)

The pastry was buttery fantastic-ness and super easy to work with. Paired with the winning combination of spinach and feta, I was expecting this to knock me off my feet. I would like to say I really loved it, but because I ended up putting a lot more walnuts than indicated in the recipe, the scrolls tasted more like walnuts with a salty kick rather than anything else. It was delicious fresh, still hot from the oven, and crunchy, with the cheese oozing and flavourful… But only if I picked out the chunks of walnuts first. I simply am not a fan of walnuts and could not get past how glaringly the scrolls tasted like them. To solve this problem, I dipped my scrolls in Sriracha sauce and it worked, like magic! So my advise to you (especially, if like me, you don’t care much for walnuts) is to stick with the measurements in the recipe. Do not go overboard with the walnuts, but the cheese and spinach might be a different matter. I feel like the scrolls could benefit from a bit more spinach flavour, but that’s just my veggie-loving side talking.

Feta Basil Muffins

It wasn’t until after I made these muffins that I found out they were actually adapted from one of my new cookbooks; one that I foresee will become another of my most-abused cookbooks. And because I really loved how this modified version turned out, I decided to feature them here. I’ve no doubt the original will make an appearance on the blog sometime soon, and by the sound of it -feta, roasted pepper and basil!- it will merit a full-on feature. But let us get back to the muffin on hand.

I came across this recipe on Teenie Cakes but I didn’t read the post as thoroughly as I did after baking (which is why I didn’t know that it was from the book). I was just too excited because I already had ideas about how amazing these were going to taste, and boy did it not disappoint! The Teenie Cakes version is made with thyme, which I did not have, so I decided to make it with dried basil, which I never seem to run out of.

These muffins were absolutely perfect! I loooove how fantastic they smelled as they baked. The taste of the muffins themselves is mild, and yet they have this magnificent, salty and herby flavour that makes eating piece after piece so effortless! It’s the sort of muffin you do not grow tired of. The dried basil leaves a very clear aftertaste, and the feta was there to add a salty dimension to the muffins. You can take this up a notch by spreading on some herbed butter. The muffins are easy enough to make that you can adapt as you please, using your favourite herb or a combination thereof.

Here are a couple of other yummy recipes featuring Feta Cheese to try:

Layered Mediterranean Dip from Annie’s Eats
Tomato Feta Scones from Savory Sweet Life
Cucumber Feta Rolls from Good Life Eats
Tomato, Zucchini and Feta Cheese Tarte Flambée from What’s For Lunch Honey?
Feta Cheese Soufflé from The Delicious Life

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21Mar2012

{Recipe Round-up} Fruity Comfort Food

Posted in Pies & Tarts, Recipe Round-Up, Yeasted breads by Clarisse Shaina

What’s your favourite kind of comfort food? For a lot of people that is probably a tough question. I know I’ve got quite a few at the top of my mind, but one of them happens to be Apple Crisps or Apple Crumble. I just love the cinnamony scent and taste of the tender apples contrasting with the deliberate grittiness of the topping. I love how its simplicity, and the fact that it can be so easily and quickly thrown together, essentially epitomizes a lazy day at home in your pyjamas; hair unkempt, kicking back with a nice warm mug of coffee– no pretentions, no embellishments. Nothing else except plainly existing as who we are. In the same manner, an Apple Crisp is rather straightforward; just apples and crisps. And on the occasion that we do eat it with a little bit of Vanilla Ice Cream, well, I don’t know about you but I like eating ice cream on my lazy days the most.

I made this Apple Crisp from Joy The Baker a few weeks ago and ate it with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream for ultimate comfort. If you would notice on the pictures, there was more crisp than there were apples. That’s unfortunate because the apples are the best part for me. Why do I always seem to run out of apples at such a crucial time, but have a fridge full of them when I’m not in the mood for apple recipes? Such a profound question for the Universe.

I really liked the combination of flavours on this Apple Crisp. The topping is just chock full of deliciousness (pecans and oats!). Unfortunately I didn’t feel like this would be the one recipe I would love to keep making over and over when I’m in need of a quick fix. (Or when I’m in the mood for apple pie but am too lazy to make the crust.) Alas, something was amiss for me in this Apple Crisp. Because the topping is very flavorful and sweet, it has a tendency to overpower the apple flavour a bit; but it might be because I did not use enough apples. I also thought it takes too long a time to bake, the issue of which could be resolved by baking this in individual ramekins. That said, I would definitely urge you to try this recipe out at least once, because it still is quite a good, solid recipe. And maybe if you up the apples a bit, who knows, it might even become your favourite recipe!

The other recipe I made were these Blueberry-Cinnamon Rolls from Annie’s Eats. Anything with blueberries in them just make me feel all giddy inside. I think it is largely because I like how they pop in your mouth once you bite through the skin of the berries. I don’t know, I must not be eating enough. However it’s been quite some time since I’ve declared desserts or pastries with hot, bubbling berries in them as one of my comfort foods. (Mixed Berry Cobbler? Yes, please!)

If you’ll remember, I made some regular old Cinnamon Rolls last time with my version of Cream Cheese glaze. Yes, I liked them a lot, but I think this particular recipe is better in that this bread has a nicer, softer crumb. (I often find myself favouring recipes that use bread flour like this one.) Also, the bursts of blueberry flavor is quite delightful among all the cinnamon flavour. The berries give these that jolt of juicy tanginess, and I think that adds a lot to these rolls as a whole.

My main issue with this recipe is the glaze. I simply cannot bring myself to use 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar to make the glaze. So if you would notice, my glaze is quite thin, because I cut down to sugar to about a cup or so. The goal was to make it taste lemony, because blueberries plus lemon is a fantastic combination! But it still ended up being sweet with just a slight tanginess, and I think this overt sweetness takes away from the flavours of the bun itself (not to mention the berries). In any case, I must confess that this has become my go-to Cinnamon Roll recipe because the bread part is just really good. I’ll be sure to pair it with my version of Cream Cheese glaze.

Truth be told, I think this particular yeasted bread recipe deserves a feature on the blog! I’ll probably do it once I concoct some interesting filling to make it a bit different from the usual.

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The Recipe Round-Up is a review of recipes that almost made it but end up not getting featured on the blog for one reason or another. Most of the time the reasons will fall among these three: 1. my dissatisfaction over my photos; 2. I’ve done a similar recipe before and this is merely a variation; 3. the results of the recipes to me were almost there, but not quite. There will still be some commentaries on how I would’ve improved the process or the recipes, plus all my usual observations. But instead of providing my re-written version of the recipe, I will simply link you to where I found it.