Banana-Berry Parfait

Just a simple, quick, and I guess I could say healthy, snack for a hot summer afternoon. Iv'e made a berry parfait before, and there really isn't much to it, but they always end up looking elegant and yummy enough to post about. I used a simple wine glass for my cup, and pretty much just threw in a layer ofnon-fat vanilla yogurt on the bottem, berries (that have chilled in the freezer for about 30-60 mins). Then some non-fat cottage cheese (cottage cheese?...Oddly enough, I like the combination of it with the berries), then granola, and then sliced bananas. Pretty much, you can just keep layering the parfait with whatever ingredients you like, but I finished it wit a dollop of yogurt, leftover berries, and a little bit of granola on top.

*The lighting wasn't to good when I took this picture**


Do you know that point after you've eaten half of your parfait, and your starting your way down to the point where all the ingredients sort of come together in your next spoonful!?...I sure did :)

..but it sure didn't last too long

Chocolate Nutella Cake

As much as my brother enjoys what I bake, he's been complaining about how often I do, and how he never does. He is pretty young, but my grandma, my aunt, and I all love baking, so maybe it just runs in the family. He wanted to bake a chocolate cake with his own made up recipe, and I decided on helping him. He made a list of the basic ingredients he knew to put in the cake, and I added a few extras. The measurments were figured out along as we made up the cakes recipe, but overall, the texture and flavor of the cake was pretty good.

Chocolate Nutella Cake
-3 eggs
-1/4 cup dark brown sugar
-1/4 cup white sugar
-1/2 cup oil
-1 tsp. coffee
-1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
-1/4 cup milk
-1 1/4 cup white AP flour
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. cocoa powder
-1 tsp. Orange Juice (optional)
-1/3 cup chocolate chips
-1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts (I didn't have any on hand ): )
-1/4 cup AP flour
-1/4 cup-1/2 cup nutella (based on how fudgy you want your cake)
-Melted Chocolate and Sprinkles to decorate (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugars, and oil.
2. Add in the coffee and vanilla and beat until all combined. Add 1/4 cup of nutella, or 1/2 cup for a fudgier cake
3. In a seperate bowl, sift togther the flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder all together.
4. Alternate mixing in the sifted flour mixture with the milk and orange juice into the egg mixture, until it's all combined together
5. Toss the chocolate chips and hazelnuts in the extra 1/4 cup of flour (to prevent the chocolate chips/nuts from sinking into the bottom of the cake), until each chocolate chip/hazelnut is evenly coated with flour. Pour the flour coated chocolate chips and hazelnuts into the batter and mix in.
6.Pour the batter into a greased pan and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.


To add a little something extra to the cake, once its cooled down, take it out of the pan and melt about 1/3 cup of chocolate. With a wisk or a fork, drizzle it over the cake, however way you like, and then top it of with some sprinkles while the chocolate is still melted.

If I would have thought of this earlier (and was up for the extra calories ;p), I probably would have sliced the cake down the middle and spread on a layer of nutella and chopped up hazelnuts onto the bottem half, and then closed it with the upper half of the cake!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Covered Banana with Nuts

A few weeks ago, half a banana was eaten, and the other half layed unappealingly lonely on the counter for the rest of the afternoon. So what's a girl who's never eaten a chocolate covered banana before supposed to do? That's right, I went to the cupboard and grabbed a handful of chocolate chips to melt, to smear onto that banana! I do love bananas with a drizzle of peanut butter on them, and I do loveee peanut butter with chocolate, so i think we already know what happened next...;)

After I inserted a stick into the banana I smeared an even layer of peanut butter all around it

After the peanut butter on the banana hardened up for about 15 minutes in the freezer, it made spreading a layer of melted chocolate onto the banana a lot easier

Which then dove its way into a pile of nutss...

I only had almonds on hand so I chopped them up and they still added a great nutty crunch
(I only coated half the banana in nuts, and placed the nutty side down on the tray so that none of the chocolate touched/stuck onto it)

Once the whole things done and coated in whatever toppings you like, plop it into the freezer and put it into the refridgerater for 30-45 minutes before you want to eat it

Lots and Lots of Different Cupcakesss!

Through out last year, I baked plenty, but didn't think of making a blog at that time, so I rarely photograghed my food. I was looking through old pictures and was fortunate enough to find a picture of something I had baked for a friend's birthday. We had a memory of craving cupcakes after passing a sprinkles cupcake and crumbs cupcake shop and so of course I went with cupcakes! She's one of my closest friends, so I decided on making her a variety of cupcakes with flavors she picked out.
I don't remeber the basic cupcake recipe I used, but the flavors added are simple enough to add to any cupcake recipe you like
The picture quality itself isn't that great and each cupcake was only photographed once so I didn't have much variety to choose from for the best looking pictures of each. The little papers stuck onto each cupcake have the flavor and frosting types of each cupcake written on them, though its sort of blurry

Cupcake #1
Flavor: Vanilla Cupcake with Nutella Swirl
Frosting: Vanilla Buttercream mixed with Nutella
Topping: Small Chocolate Chunks and Tuxedo Chocolate Covered Strawberry


Cupcake #2
Flavor: Chocolate Cupcake with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup chunks
Frosting: Peanut Butter Frosting
Topping: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Crumbles

(the link to this recipe is originally from http://icecreambeforedinner.blogspot.com/2008/07/chocolate-peanut-butter-cup-cupcakes.html, an amazing and absolutely deliciousss blog!)

Cupcake #3
Flavor: Cinamon Sugar with Pecans and Walnuts
Frosting: Cinamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Topping: Pecans and Walnuts and and a Small Sprinkle of Cinammon


Cupcake #4
Flavor: Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Covered Caramel Chunks
Frosting: Vanilla Buttercream with Nutella Swirls
Topping: Chocolate Coated Caramel Chunks and Chocolate Covered Strawberry with White Chocolate Stripes


I packaged all 4 cupcakes up in a plastic container and took it to school the following morning to surprise my friend and make her birthday nutrition/lunch at school a little more satisfying ;)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies (C.C.C.B.)

Two of my friends birthdays were recently on the same day. We all met up togther for lunch with some other friends, and of course, you've got to have dessert on your birthday! One birthday girl is a big fan of brownies and the other of chocolate chip cookies, and I had spotted a recipe which layered chocolate chip cookie dough onto brownie batter on http://anotheronebitesthecrustblog.com/, an amazing blog that has all my favorite ingulgences in low-fat versions! So of course, I found a great brownie recipe as well as a chocolate chip cookie dough recipe to pile onto each other for the perfect birthday treat.

The brownie recipe I got was from, probably favorite food network star, Ina Garten, and I also halfened the recipe since I needed only a thin layer. The recipe given for her "Outrageous Brownies" is:
-1 pound unsalted butter
-1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
-6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
-6 extra-large eggs
-3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
-2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
-2 1/4 cups sugar
-1 1/4 cups flour, divided- 1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts
-1 tablespoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon kosher salt
-3 cups diced walnut pieces

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
2. Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and bitter chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.
3. Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter.
4. Pour into prepared pan. **I kept some exra brownie batter (a few tablespoons) to drizzle on top of the cookie batter going on top*
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not overbake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^
If your making C.C.C.B.'s preheat the oven to anywere from 325-350F. Also don't put the brownie batter into the oven without putting on the layer of chocolate chip cookie dough over it first (recipe below)

For the layer of chocolate chip cookies I tried to find a recipe that had the longest cooking period possible to match up with the full half an hour of the brownies cooking time. This recipe I found only had to be baked for 15-17 and can be found on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Big-Fat-Chewy-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie/Detail.aspx. To this recipe, I didn't add the extra egg yolk listed in the ingredients.

I actually made this batter before I made the brownie batter, and just let it 'chill' (haha get it..i know, it's not that funny) in the fridge while it was waiting. After I had the brownie batter poured into the pan, I poured the chocolate-chip cookie dough batter on top of the first layer


I then spread it out, and while spreading, I sort of dug into the brownie batter to get streaks of both batters mixed into each other


And with the extra brownie batter, I drizzled lines across the pan with it, which I then swirled in even rows


And just in case you think your kitchen is the only one that got messy while baking the batters..


Anyways, when putting the C.C.C.B.'s into the oven, i used the temperature of about 340 F, which was in the middle of both recipes cooking times, and I baked them for about 25 minutes total. The result is a more fudgy brownie with a chewy chooclate chip cookie on top, which tasted amazing with vanilla icecream! I also put the extras into the fridge which gave them such a nice chewy and rich texture.
Milk, meet your new best friend...

Focaccia with Red Pepper Tomato Soup

I had half of my day booked with nothing to do, and since the house was completely vacant of people, something that doesn't happen to often, I decided on spending my day in the kitchen cooking a nice hardy dinner. Nothing compliments any dinner better, then a nice serving of bread to go with it, and what can go wrong if that bread is flavored with garlic and herbs?! And so I found a perfect focaccia recipe in "The Essential Baking Cookbook."

The recipe given was:

-7 g. 91/4 oz) sachet dried yeast

-1 teaspoon caster sugar (I make my own by blending it in the coffee grinder for a few seconds)

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-3 1/4 cups (405 g/13 oz) white bread flour (I used wheat for half)

-1 tablespoon full-cream milk power (I didn't have any on hand, and wasn't quite sure what it even was, so I would have mixed whole-milk with cornstarch, but since I dind't have any cornstarch, I used rice flour which also works as a thickning agent, to mix in with the whole-milk)

-1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1-2 cloves garlic crushed

-I added 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onion

-fresh rosemary springs or leaves

-1 teaspoon dried oregano

-1-2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

-Black olives (I didn't use them)

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a 28 x 13 cm (11 x 7 inxh) baking tin. Put the yeast, sugar and 1 cup (250 ml/8 fl oz) warm water in a small bowl and stir well. Leave in a warm, draught-free place for 10 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the surface. The mixture should be frothy and slightly increased in volume.

2. Sift 3 cups of the flour, the milk powder and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture. Beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well combined. Add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough, and then turn onto a lightly floured surface.

3. Knead for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Brush the surface of the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, or until well risen. Punch down the dough and knead for 1 minute. Roll into a rectangle and place in the prepared tin and the cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, form indents 1 cm (1/2 inch) deep all over the dough at regular intervals.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes, or until the dough is well risen. Preheat the oven to moderae 180 C (350 F/Gas 4)

4. For the Topping, brush the combined olive oil, garlic, and onion over the surface of the dough. Top with the olives optional), rosemary springs, then sprinkle with oregano and salt.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Cut into large squares and serve warm.

Through the rising intervals the focaccia had, I multi-tasked by making this soup in the mean time;
I was looking through a cooking magazine a while back and found a red pepper soup recipe. I didn't buy the magazine, but since I admired the recipe so much, I tried memorizing the basic steps and ingrediants of it. This seemed like a great time to make it knowing it would compliment the focaccia perfectly. I couldn't completely memorize the recipe, and I had more tomatos on hand then bell peppers, so I turned it into more of a tomato soup with red peppers.

I used:

-3 Red Bell Peppers

-7 medium tomatos

-Olive Oil (to roast the veggies)

-1/4- 1/2 an onion

-1 can of veggie stock

-2-4 tablespoons of cream or chunks of fresh mozzarella

-Salt and Pepper

-Grated parmesan to garnish (optional)

-Fresh basic to garnish (optional)

-Focaccia toping (recipe above, optional)

Directions:

1. Toss the bell peppers with olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper, after you have seeded and sliced the peppers, and then let them roast in a 400 F. oven for about half an hour.

Then add the tomatoes and onions for another 15 minutes, which have also been smeared with some olive oil and the leftover focaccia topping

2. Once the roasted veggies have cooled of just a bit, throw them into the food proccesor (try not to pour in the excess olive oil with them, but save some of it to drizzle on top of the soup) with a can of veggie stock (or however much you need to thin the soup out to your liking), the chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese, and a few heaping pinches of salt as well as some pepper

3. Once its all fully pureed together, you may the mixture to get rid of any seeds from the tomatoes, or just put it onto the stove to heat, and serve with grated parmesan cheese and basil on top. You can also drizzle any of the saved olive oil, that was used to roast the veggies on top.

After a good few hours in the kitchen, hot soup with a side of focaccia was finally ready to be eaten...

..every single bit of it =)