Chocolate Lava Cake

Chocolate Lava Cake

Want to cook a decadent dessert that is ready after half an hour. Look to the chocolate lava cake. The method of getting a solid outside and a liquid interior lies with the combination of baking temperature and time. Traditionally, cakes are baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for over half an hour. To get a lava cake, you bake it at a higher temperature for less time. This cooks the exterior much faster than the interior resulting in oozy liquidy goodness. 

See http://www.chef-in-training.com/2015/03/chocolate-molten-lava-cake/ for the original recipe.

1. Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.Prepare 4 small ramekins.(6-8 ounces) by spraying them with non-stick spray, coating them with a little flour, and placing them on top of a baking sheet. 

3. The recipe said to use the microwave to melt 4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate (you can use chocolate chips) and 1/2 a cup of butter (1 stick together). I melted them in a double boiler. I also used unsalted butter, so I added a little bit of salt to compensate.

Before

                                                                                  After




4.  While the chocolate is melting, crack 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks in a bowl.

5. Once the chocolate is melted, add in 1 cup of powdered sugar and mix. The mixture's consistency will resemble frosting... because that is pretty much what the mixture is at this point.

6. Mix the eggs, then mix in 6 tablespoons of all purpose flour.

7. Pour in an equal amount of batter into each ramekin

8. Place the ramekins in the oven for 12-13 minutes. The middle of each cake should be soft, but not too soft, and the edges should be solid.

9.Let the cakes cool for 2 minutes. If you try taking the cake out too soon, they will fall apart. The additional cooling time will help the exterior of the cakes hold their shape. To help get the cakes out, run a knife along the edge. Place a plate on top, then invert the ramekin and plate. You might need to juggle the ramekin a bit and you will need oven mitts.

Here is lava cake with caramel gelato on top.

Without gelato and without giving it enough time to cool

Without gelato, with enough time to cool

Enjoy!!




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Ricotta Pancakes

Ricotta Pancakes

I had some leftover ricotta from making lasagna and needed a way to use it up. Then I found this recipe: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-fluffy-ricotta-pancakes-48085

What you will get is creamy custardy pancakes. Please note that I doubled the recipe when I made it. The following description will represent the original recipe , but the pictures will be of the doubled recipe.

1. Start by separating 2 eggs. See step 2.3 from the lemon meringue cake post regarding eggs.

2. Add 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1.5 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder, and an 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt to a small bowl. Mix together with a whisk.

3. In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla, 3/4 of a cup of milk, and 1 cup of ricotta cheese. The recipe recommends you drain the excess liquid from the ricotta if it is watery. Mine was pretty dry.

4. Gently whisk in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

5. Using a stand or hand mixture (it takes forever to do it by hand), whip the egg whites until they reach a stiff peak.

6. Gently fold in the whites into the rest of the batter. I like to mix in a little whites into the batter to loosen  the batter up and then fold in the rest of the whites.

7. Heat up your pan, skillet, or griddle to medium-high heat with some butter or non-stick cooking spray. The recipe recommends using a 1/3 of a cup per pancake. I think using 1/4 of a cup is more manageable. I used a measuring cup to distribute the batter.

8. Flip the pancakes when they start to rise and form bubbles, which should take 3-4 minutes.

9. Flip again after 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy with some real maple syrup or whatever spread you want.

Quick Tasty (and Healthy) Flatbread Pizza

Quick Tasty (and Healthy) Flatbread Pizza

You have a dilemma, you want great tasting pizza, but it is swimsuit season. Well don't worry any longer. You can have healthy delicious pizza in about 20 minutes if you don't count the time your oven needs to preheat. Just like the breaded tofu, this is more of a food process than a recipe. 

1. Preheat your oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Instead of using thick carb heavy pizza crust, use flatbread instead. There are multiple brands available at around 100 calories each. The one below is available at Costco.

Each wrap has 10 net grams of carbs, 3 grams of fat, and 10 grams of protein. Place whatever brand wrap you are using on an aluminum foil lined baking/cookie sheet that has been lubricated with non-stick spray.

Spray the wrap with some more non-stick spray.

3. Baked the wrap for 10 minutes and get the rest of your ingredients prepped.

4. Add the rest of your ingredients. Here is where you can be creative. I added pizza sauce,

skim mozzarella cheese,

rotisserie chicken without the skin,

 kale and feta cheese. If you are using kale, add some salt and spices to it and spray it with non-stick spray. This will result in kale chips.

5.  Baked at the same temperature for another 10 minutes.

Voila. A delicious lunch or dinner made in a flash. . Want a BBQ twist, use bbq sauce. Want it Mexican style, use salsa and beans. I've even heard of using tzatziki sauce and feta cheese for a Mediterranean pizza. Please comment below with pictures and descriptions of your creation.

Kahlúa Cheesecake

Growing up, we used to get a pie every Friday for Shabbat dinner from Marie Callender's. Besides pumpkin pie, one other pie was my absolute favorite.  Here is how the real thing looks like courtesy of yelp.

When my coworker gave me a bottle of Kahlúa for Christmas last year, I had to try to make it. Here is my feeble attempt to make it based of the recipe that appears at the top of this link: http://www.food.com/recipe/kahlua-cheesecake-15330.
It is a little different than Marie's, a little more chocolaty. I wish everything was more chocolaty.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Cut up two 8 ounces cream cheese blocks and leave out in your room temperature kitchen so that it gets soft. I cannot emphasize how important this step is. You will regret it if you don't. It needs to be warm to combine with the rest of the ingredients.

3. Grind 1.33 cups of some kind of dry chocolate cookie/cracker in a food processor. The recipe calls for chocolate wafers, but those are hard to find and when you do find them, they are overpriced. I used chocolate teddy grahams, but you could also use oreo wafers without the filling or chocolate graham crackers.

4. Since I measured the chocolate crumbs in a large graduated measuring cup, I add the 0.25 cup of melted unsalted butter (that's half a stick) directly into the cup and mixed until well combined.

5. Press the crumb mixture into a 9" springform pan that has been lined with aluminum foil. I use a large circular measuring cup to help press the crumbs into bottom and sides of the pan.

Usually, crumb based crusts are pre-baked, but this recipe did not ask for that. I put the crust in the fridge while I made the filling to let the crust firm up.

6.  What makes this recipe different than regular cheesecake is the addition of a chocolate Kahlúa  mixture. This will make it taste amazing. Start by filling a pot with about an inch of water. Heat it up to a simmer. You don't want it to get too hot.

7. In a glass/metal bowl that fits on top of the pot without touching the water, combine 1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 0.25 cup of Kahlúa or any other coffee liqueur.

8. Keep stirring until the mixture melts and is well combined, then take the bowl off the heat. Let the mixture cool as you prepare the rest of the batter.

9.  Combine 2 eggs, 0.33 a cup of granulated sugar, and 0.25 of a teaspoon of salt. For some reason I decided to mix freehand, but don't be a hero... use a stand (paddle attachment) or a hand mixture. Mixing cream cheese can get difficult. 

10. Mix in 1 cup of sour cream.

11. Mix in the warm cream cheese until it is well combined and there are no solid chucks.

Mix
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 Mix

12. Gently mix in the chocolate mixture.

13. Pour the batter into the prepared crust.

14. Put the cheesecake in the oven for 35 minutes. Once the time is up, turn the oven off and leave the door slightly open for 15 minutes. Your kitchen will warm up a little, but it will be worth it.

I have a back log of finished dishes, so stay tuned for more. Next will be my healthy quick pizza.

Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

Gougères (Cheese Puffs)

Want a crowd-pleaser that tastes really fancy, but takes no time at all. Look no further than

Gougères, also known as cheese puffs. It resembles a savory Profiterole (cream puff) and made in a very similar way. Unlike most other pastry batters, Gougères and Profiterole batter is made over the stove.

See http://mimithorisson.com/2012/04/29/gougeres-traditional-cheese-puffs/ for the original recipe.

1. Preheat your oven to 355 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Prepared all the ingredients including 5 eggs (4 wholes, 1 yolk), 180 grams of shredded cheese, 7 tablespoons of salted butter, 150 grams of all purpose flour, 1 cup of water, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Does anyone notice that this is a different kitchen?

3. Place the butter and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil.

 4. Pour in the flour into the saucepan once the butter water boils. Immediately take the saucepan off the heat and mix until the dough comes together.

5. Mix in 4 eggs, one at a time. Make sure you mix the dough well each time so that each egg is completely incorporated into the dough.

6. Mix in the cheese, and a dash of salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The cheese will melt easily in the still warm dough. The recipes call for Emmenthal or Gruyère cheese, but you could use any bold tasting solid soft cheese like cheddar, gouda, or Swiss . I use Gruyère cheese because Harris Teeter sells it for less than $4 a package, which contains just enough cheese.

The dough will look like this when everything is combined.

7. Place balls of the dough onto cookie sheets/ baking pans lined with parchment paper. The balls should be the size of about 2 tablespoons. The recipes says you can form the balls by either using a pastry bag with a tip or two tablespoons. I myself just use my hands. Initially the balls will be hard to form because your hands will get very sticky, but once you make a few, the stickiness on your hands will help you form subsequent balls.

8. Whisk an egg yolk in a small bowl and then brush the yolk onto each ball to give them a golden finish. You may also sprinkle a little bit of Parmesan cheese on the balls.

Note, this is just one of the baking pans I used.

9. Place the balls into the oven for 25 minutes until the balls puffs up and they turn golden brown.

You will find that they will start disappearing immediately due to their deliciousness.

Don't be afraid of trying this recipe, it is totally worth the work, though it isn't a lot of work.