Recipe: Baked Omelette

I've been running a couple of days a week lately and I keep looking for healthy ways to satiate my hunger in a healthy way.  Protein is a great way to fill up so I automatically thought of omelettes. They're easy and fast. High protein and you can put as many fresh vegetables as you like... However, it's usually also cooked in oil and can get heavy depending on cheese and other ingredients.
That didn't stop me from making myself an omelette. I just switched it up a bit by baking it in the oven. I made it a little bigger than necessary, so it served me as two meals

Baked Omelette
3 eggs
4 baby red and orange peppers, sliced finely
1/4 onion, sliced finely
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1 tsp chives
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray your small pan with some pan.
In a bowl whip together the eggs, cream cheese and spices.  Once well blended, fold in the peppers and onions.
Pour into the pan and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes.
The eggs will fluff up while the cheese bakes in the moisture.

The best part about the baked omelette is that you can really put any kind of vegetable inside and they stay just crisp enough in the baking process. Brocolli and onions would work. Sweet potatoes. Spinach. Kale. Sooo many great possibilities.

-Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: Vegetarian Lasagna

I'm not a vegetarian (I think the post with caramel bacon proves that lol) nor am I vegan.  However, this recipe is my first ever vegan recipe. I went to go visit one of my good friends in Boston, and it just so happens that she and her sister are lactose intolerant. They also eat very healthily on a regular basis.
I love cooking and I love a challenge so I decided that I wanted to try to cook for them. While we were in the grocery store, I looked around and the cogs started turning. I came up with a vegetable lasagna using yams, baby kale, homemade tomato sauce and lactose free cheese. It's health conscious but delicious. And I was really excited because I've never had kale before, nor lactose free cheese. I love trying new things and this was a great way to experiment.

and pretty too!

This dish is a little time consuming because it has so many preparatory steps.  You can either make things in advance (like the sauce and yams) or I would set aside about an hour and a half or a little longer to do everything all at once.

Tomato Sauce
2 cans San Marino pureed tomato (any tomato puree will do, but this was the least expensive brand carried at Whole Foods where we were shopping)
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp basil
1 tsp italian spice mix (optional)

In a deep pot, sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil. When they start to get translucent add the tomato puree. Fill each can about halfway with water. Swirl to make sure all of the puree gets off the sides and then add to the pot. Simmer on a low heat and then add your spices. Cover to avoid splatter and stir every couple of minutes.
If you're preparing everything in the same day you can start prepping everything else.

The Yams
3 or 4 medium yams, longer and thinner are easier to use
Salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Peel the yams and slice into thin rounds. Try to get them as thin and as uniform as you can manage. The thicker they are, the longer they'll have to bake. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil. Add yams and sprinkle with salt and brown sugar and toss well. Try to make sure each round is coated well.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the rounds are just fork tender. Flip them about halfway through.

The Pasta
1 package of Lasagna

Prepare your pasta according to the instructions on the box. As the water is boiling prepare your kale.
Drain your lasagna when it's just about al dente.

The Kale
1 large package kale (use more than you think necessary, greens shrink incredibly as you cook them)
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee your kale in hot oil.  It should cook down quickly, so keep a close eye on it.

Putting it all together
Lasagna
Yams
Kale
Tomato Sauce
Grated Lactose free mozzarella (if you don't have food allergies or aren't vegan, feel free to use regular cheese)
Lactose free parmigian cheese

Now that all of your base ingredients are ready, arrange them around you so that they are easily accessible.

Coat the bottom of your oven proof casserole dish with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Lay down strips of lasagna and then coat with a layer of yam rounds, your mozzarella and parmigian cheese. Pour on some tomato sauce and repeat the same layering pattern.  After this set, add your cooked kale and keep layering. Lasagna, yams, mozzarella, parmigian and then sauce.  On your last layer of tomato sauce, coat well with extra cheese.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Everything should already be cooked through so this is just a great way for all the flavors to come together.

I'd never had lactose free cheese or kale before this meal and I have to say they were very tasty. I would be hard-pressed to tell you the difference between real cheese and the lactose free version. And the kale was delicious prepped so simply. To me it seemed to be a cross between spinach and broccoli rape, with that slightly bitter taste.  It really paired well with the sauce.

-Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: Updated Valentine's Day Chocolate Russian Cupcakes

For the Superbowl I made White Russian Cupcakes with Espresso Whipped Cream , but for as good as they came out, I wanted to try one more time and tweak. I wanted to get a fluffier cupcake and since it's Valentines Day I decided to add some chocolate!

Chocolate Russian Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbs unsalted butter, softened
3 large egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 oz Vodka (preferably Vanilla Vodka)
1/4 cup espresso
1/2 cup bailey's coffee creamer
2-3 tbs coccoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan. The recipe makes around 16 cupcakes.
Sift the flour, baking powder (hint: be generous with your teaspoons), coccoa powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
In a bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the eggwhites to soft peaks. Don't overwhip and put to the side.
In another bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla, vodka and coffee and mix until smooth. Blend in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the bailey's cream. Start and end with flour. Once well incorporated, put your hand mixer away. Gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter using a rubber spatula.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

They came out a lot fluffier this way and I really enjoyed the hint of chocolate. For frosting, I made the same espresso whipped cream, but did it in larger quantities, meaning I frosted every single cupcake this time.  :)

Espresso Whipped Cream
2 cups whipping cream
6 tbls brown sugar
2 tsps vanilla
4-8 tbls espresso

Whip the cream and brown sugar until you get still peaks (this will take considerably longer than if you whip only one cup at a time). Fold in the vanilla and espresso gently.

Then for toppings, I made (successfully this time!) red glitter sugar.  I took about a quarter cup of sugar (I didn't properly measure) and mixed it with 3 drops of red food coloring. Then I baked the red sugar for about 10 minutes at 300°F, checking on it ever few minutes.  If it over heats you wind up with colorful caramel rather than glitter sugar.  So watch out!
Then after frosting, I sprinkled the cupcakes with the sugar and voila, Valentines day cupcakes! Beautiful and tasty.

Ten reasons Chocolate makes a better boyfriend

Valentine's Day is here yet again... Once a year all of the single people get reminded that they have no significant other, no missing piece, no... well, I think you get the picture (especially if you're single... like me). For those of you with soulmates, your other half, ecc... Congrats!
Hahahaha Ok, I acknowledge, I'm starting to sound bitter. But I'm always single on Valentine's Day.

But I kind of think that's ok.

Chocolate makes a WAYYYY better boyfriend than an actual boyfriend.

1. Chocolate never says No... No mouth. No arguing. You will always win. 
2. It is completely replaceable... When you devour Chocolate, just go to the store and replace. 
3. And you can get any flavor, any time you want. Dark, White, Caramel, Milk, Coffee... 
4. You can totally pick quantity over quality. If you want alot of Chocolate, no problem. You can get hershey kisses for your bite sized treats, or nutella for a rich spread, or twix for a little crunch or m&m's for some color on a rainy day. It's not considered cheating to have multiple pieces of Chocolate lying around waiting for just the right moment. 
5. Watching your figure? You can always go for Quality over quantity. Go for that piece of rich dark Chocolate, that Perugina, that Godiva truffle to die for. Savor the flavor, the sweet complexity of sensations in your mouth. 
6. Chocolate will always melt for you. A little heat and that Chocolate is history. 
7. Chocolate will never tell you that you're getting fat. I repeat, no mouth, no contest. 
8. Chocolate will never leave you. It has no legs. It cannot escape. It will stay with you, until you make it disappear. No one will question you about said missing Chocolate. 
9. Everyone loves Chocolate! Even if it's just a little bit, or secretly, I'm convinced EVERYONE (of importance) loves Chocolate. There will be no parents telling you Chocolate is not good enough for you; No best friends scoffing and wondering what you're doing with said Chocolate. Who can resist a little sweet Chocolate?
10. Chocolate will always make you smile and take away some of your tears. Try to resist its particular charms and you will find you can't. It will always bring at least a small smile to your face. 

So on this Valentine's Day let's toast to Chocolate and all its delicious goodness. 

And now, I think I'll go find some chocolate to savor. 

--Raspberry Truffle

Restaurant Review: Ferrara Bakery and Café

I discovered a fantastic little dessert place in Little Italy this Sunday. Although, I guess I shouldn't call it little. It was kind of a big place. Ferrara Bakery and Café is on the corner of Grand and Mulberry, smack in the middle of the small area known as Little Italy. I had no idea that it is one of the oldest bakeries still operating in the area and has a sister restaurant nearby (that hopefully I'll get to try out soon).

I was out for Chinese New Year with some friends and we were haplessly wandering around looking for dessert. We found Ferrara. It was like a beacon on the corner calling our names with bright lights. Ang and Andrea were drawn like moths to a flame and crossed the street and then proceeded to look in through the glass doors. I was a little more skeptical. From the outside it looked like a tourist trap to me. Bright lights, big signs, but it was definitely appealing. The setup was welcoming and the girls were set. I was definitely willing to give it a try. After all, looks can be deceiving. 

tasteful decor

Upon entering the bakery, I was surprised at how big it actually was. It looked like a slightly larger, yet typical pasticceria in Florence. It had a traditional vibe but with a elegant yet simple twist. It was well lit, and elegantly set up with tasteful Valentines Day decorations (earlier in the evening we had passed a restaurant that Cupid had apparently thrown up on). 

gorgeous and typical pasticceria

On the left, there was a pastry bar with a beautiful bounty of desserts, from traditional Italian cookies, to more delicate and complicated cookies, to Italian pastries like sfogliatelle, cannoli and babà, to typical american and french pastries, to beautiful cakes (both slices and whole) with chocolate, vanilla and fruits.  It was a beautiful sight that had my mouth watering. Based on looks alone, I wanted one of everything. We had to grab a table and try some (yes more than one) of those desserts. 

I would have loved to have one of these fruit tortes... and then I saw chocolate lol

During the brief wait, I took a bunch of pictures, fascinated at the variety of desserts available. We arrived later in the evening so I know that during the morning hours and early afternoon there were probably even more desserts available. I can't wait to go back and try other things!  But I suppose I should tell you about what I actually ate.

a macaron cake as well as some other gorgeous bites

Looking at the menu was a challenge because there was so much to choose from. There were alcoholic drinks, coffee drinks and chocolate drinks available. I had to stop looking because I was just getting overwhelmed. The dessert menu was just as extensive as the drink menu and included the various partries as well as gelato. I think I looked at the menu for a good 20 minutes until finally we had to give our server our order. 

Our waitress was friendly and quite helpful as well as patient given our indecisiveness. 

You look hungry, have a cannoli! really hungry? have a chocolate cannoli!

The girls each decided to try a trio, meaning they got to try three mini desserts of their choosing. Unfortunately, I don't quite remember what they each chose, although I had a nibble of most everything and it was all delicious. And Andrea also ordered some kind of mocha capuccino thing that had fresh whipped cream on top that she seemed to really enjoy while Steve got a trio of gelato, chocolate, hazelnut and salted caramel. I, instead, decided to order a white chocolate raspberry ribbon cake with a glass of milk (as per suggestion of our server lol... best idea ever!). 

The dessert arrived pretty quickly and it was absolutely gorgeous. 

Oh my goodness. Gorgeous! and tasty too. While looking at the menu, I had contemplated the prices and worried that we were about to have a typical tourist experience. The desserts were on the slightly pricey side (my cake was $7.75 and the hot chocolates were around $5 each). But I was pleasantly surprised. The desserts well exceeded my expectations. The chocolate mousses in the trios were spectacular and my chocolate cake was dense and creamy. The whipped cream was fresh and the white chocolate was a lovely accent. It wasn't what I had been expecting, but it was delicious and the milk was a fantastic palate cleanser to break up my massive chocolate consumption. 

My delightful cake, glass of milk and the yummy gelato

I also thoroughly enjoyed the gelato. The consistency was creamy and smooth. It wasn't quite the same as gelato in Florence, but it was up there. The chocolate was probably my favorite but I also really liked the hazelnut. 

Struggling, but I did finish everything!

We definitely took our time enjoying our dessert. No one rushed us as we devoured our sweets and chatted and goofed around talking about other good times. 

We all pretty much cleared our plates, although I won't lie, I definitely slowed down about 1/2 way through my cake. It was really rich and we had had quite a lot to eat for dinner.  

I think next time I'm in little Italy, I'll definitely be stopping in to pick up a few pastries for friends (and myself of course!). I really had a good experience and a great dessert that I would eat again.  

-Raspberry Truffle

P.S. I thought this mini wedding cake was absolutely gorgeous. I may have to order it next time I stop by! 

Recipe: Beer Cupcakes with Chocolate Beer Frosting and Caramel Bacon

Ok, so for the last batch of cupcakes I definitely cheated.... I had to! I got tired lol... So I used a cake mix and just adjusted the recipe.

I used a box of Pillsbury White Cake. Rather than using a cup of water as called for on the box, I used 1 cup of High Life Miller Life. I also added a teaspoon of orange zest.
Then I followed the rest of the directions.

I pulled them out of the oven and then brushed them with a little more of the beer.

Once they cooled, it was time for frosting.

Chocolate Beer Butter Cream:
1 stick butter (room temperature)
3 tbs cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbs beer, poured and settled before being measured out
1 tsp salt

Beat the butter until smooth for about 2 minutes. Slowly add in the sugar, cocoa powder, beer and salt. Beat for about 5 minutes.

Frost and eat.

Or you can make caramel bacon as a garnish.

Caramel Bacon: 
1/2 cup caramel sauce (either bought or homemade)
1 tsp paprika
bacon

Cut your bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Mix the caramel and paprika together. Coat each piece of bacon and then lay on a baking sheet. Bake for aout 20 minutes or until crisp.

Place a couple of pieces on each cupcake and serve.

Eat and enjoy!! I was seriously surprised at how good these are!  The caramel bacon is SOOO delicious!

And that's what I'll be enjoing for the superbowl.

-Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: White Russian Cupcakes with Espresso Whipped Cream

Game Day Cupcakes number 2!

I had Bailey's coffee creamer in my fridge so the first thing that came to mind was a White Russian. A White Russian is generally made with Bailey's, vodka and cream.. so I guess I really made a Black Russian since Black Russians involve coffee.

I found a recipe online and then proceeded to tweek it based on what I had in the house. I have to say, they came out really good!

White Russian Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp sugar
6 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 oz Vodka (preferably Vanilla Vodka)
1/4 cup espresso
1/2 cup bailey's coffee creamer

Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line a cupcake pan. The recipe should make about 15 cupcakes.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl use a hand mixer to beat together the sugar (excluding 1 tsp) and butter until combined. Beat in the egg white and then add the Vanilla, Vodka and coffee.
Add the flour mixture in three additions and alternate with the bailey's cream. Begin with the flour and end with the flour.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with a tsp of sugar until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the rest of the batter.
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If desired, while the cupcakes are still warm, brush them with a small amount of espresso. Cool completely before icing.

Espresso Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbs espresso

Whip all of the dry ingredients together until you reach the soft peak stage. Fold in the vanilla extract  and espresso carefully.

Here are all the cupcakes! The ones in the center have the Espresso cream. It's sooo delicious!

Apparently there is a way to stabilize your whipped cream! I haven't tried it yet, but it would be really helpful.
 For 1 cup of cream, use 1/2 tsp of plain gelatin soaked in 1 tbs water. Dissolve thoroughly over heat and then add the melted gelatin while whipping the cream. Stop when you get soft peaks.

-Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: Honey Whisky Chocolate cupcakes with Honey Buttercream

I don't watch football regularly. It's not my sport (to say the very least). Honestly, for as un-American as I may sound, I really, really detest football.  But the Super Bowl is a great occassion for a party. It's a great time to gather with friends, goof around and most importantly eat. So when my friends invited me over, I quickly asked if I could bring dessert.

Well, that was a couple of weeks ago and the Super Bowl is today. It took most of yesterday but I finally figured out what dessert to bring. There are a lot of dessert options out there so I definitely had a hard time deciding what would fit best at a Super Bowl party. I decided to skip cake, because it seems like a more formal, sit down dessert. You have to cut it, and serve people... Definitely too much hastle at a party where most eyes will be focused on a tv screen. And then there are cookies but those are FAR too easy to eat by the hundred. Macarons felt too formal, ice cream too much of a pain to make and so forth and so on.

In the end, I decided to make cupcakes because you can decorate them beautifully but they're handheld and easy to pick up and go.
Then I had to figure out what KIND of cupcake to make... That took a while to figure out because again way too many options and I'm just not decisive enough. I decided to go with something that reminded me of football.... Liquor became my theme.

My first cupcakes were these:

Honey Whisky Chocolate Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup espresso (cooled)
1/4 cup whiskey
1-2 tsp honey
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350°F

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine the egg, coffee, whiskey, yogurt and oil. Carefully sift the flour mixture into liquid. Combine until smooth.

Pour the mixture into your 12 prepared cupcake liners. They should be about 3/4 of the way full.
Lower the heat to 325°F and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting.

the perfect consistency

Honey ButterCream:
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbs honey

Cream the butter with a small blender. Carefully add in the powdered sugar and once smooth blend in the honey.

Refridgerate until you're ready to frost!

There are a couple of easy ways to frost.

1. The slather method; take a spoonful of frosting and spread it with a knife.
2. The piping method: take a plastic ziplock bag (bigger is better, otherwise you'll just make a mess) fill it with your frosting. Cut off one bottom corner. Your ready to frost. I chose to pipe in a circle, but the "pastry bag" really allows you to get creative. 

And that was cupcake number 1! I made two other kinds as well!

-Raspberry Truffle

Kitchen Blunders

This past December I was baking sugar cookies with some friends and I got the brilliant idea of making glitter sugar.  Sugar cookies always seem so beautiful when paired with sugar decorations.

The recipe seemed simple enough. Sugar, food coloring and bake for 10 minutes or so at 350 F.
EASY. And the end result looks like glitter!!

And yet, I messed it up.
Not once.
But twice.

Well, you see, the first time, I kind of forgot to check the sugar... Sooo no glitter. Tasty, melty sugar... Not quite caramel, but pretty good.

I would have stopped there. There was no more sugar in the big cupboard, but my friend, naming no names went hunting for more in the small cupboard and she found some! We were so excited to try again, so we made an even larger quantity of red and green sugar glitter!

I let it bake for 10 minutes precisely and then checked. However, no glitter. No melting, but no sugar. I had lowered the heat a bit so I thought, well maybe another 5 minutes.
All in all, I let this batch bake for about 20 minutes. No glitter, no melting just a slight deepening of the color.

I didn't bother to question why. I had simply failed... again. 

No matter though. I figured it would be a good decoration in any case, since it matched our Christmas themed cookies.

Once it dried, I decorated 5 cookies, threw them in the oven.

About an hour later, when the cookies had cooled I decided to try one.

I went from smiling, laughing to screaming in about 15 seconds flat.  We made colored SALT!!!  We never actually tested our found "sugar". We just assumed it was sugar, which was apparently, not a good decision.

My face must have looked so ridiculous as I sputtered and screamed "It's salt!  How the hell did we use salt?" I hadn't even put a small quantity of "sugar" on the cookies, NOOOO, I had coated them thoroughly.

My friend could only laugh, "No wonder they wouldn't start to glitter."

Some of my "Sugar" decorated cookies... Thank goodness I hadn't made more of them

Gahhh the horrible taste stayed in my mouth after a bottle of water and 2 regular non salted sugar cookies...

MORAL:  Always taste your non labeled spices. You may guess incorrectly...

~Raspberry Truffle