Butter Mochi

Hi! I'm back. What's up?

So, the past nine months have been a complete circle. Remember my last post about new beginnings, new jobs blah blah blah.... well, that job laid me off. But before you start feeling sorry for me, my old job took me back so it worked out just fine. It's like I never left!

So today I decided to write down my current obsessions since my last entry. I'm overwhelmed with so much to say that making a list seemed like the most sense to me. Plus putting things on a list makes me happy for some reason.

Television shows:

1) Comedy Bang Bang. I LOVE this show because I laugh at everything. Just ask my husband.

This is by far one of my favorite skits played by Nick Kroll. Fabrice Fabrice - A Poem about Marsupials
It's so deep I can't take it.

2) American Horror Story: Coven. This is the best season, hands down. I couldn't get into the last season because it was far too scary for me and most of time I just covered my eyes and ears. But the Coven is so good! Mutilation, betrayal and witchcraft... now that's more like my cup of tea.

3) The Little Couple. I just got done watching a mini marathon last night and suddenly I'm connected to this family. The couple adopted an adorable boy, Will from China, and watching them juggle the new life of parenting and struggles with his health problems sucked me in fast. They truly love that little guy. They're also in the process of adopting a little girl so I'm looking forward to that too.

Blogs:

4) I've been reading a lot of blogs about expats moving to a different country for teaching jobs. I've been especially interested in South Korea, Abu Dhabi, Phillippines and Japan. Call this random but I am infatuated with how people adjust to the different cultures.

A couple of blogs provide lists (yay!) on what they enjoy most about the country and also what they miss about America. Sometimes it's the simplest things too... like dryers, Target, and trash bins.

But most of all, I read it because I feel like I'm traveling from my computer.

So, that's about it. I"m loving all of the above right now.

Last Saturday I was going through my instagram and saw that someone made Butter Mochi. I had no clue what it was but it looked delicious! I then googled the hell out of Butter Mochi and found the perfect recipe from it's origin, Hawaii.

I made it that night and practically ate a 9 x 13 cookie sheet all by myself. No regrets.

The Best Butter Mochi Aloha World
Ingredients
1 16-oz box Blue Star Mochiko flour 2 1/2 cup Sugar 2 teaspoon Baking powder 1 12-oz can Evaporated milk 1 14-oz can Coconut milk 3 eggs 2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract 1 stick melted butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread butter on a 9 x 13" pan or just use parchment paper. Mix together mochiko flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl and mix. In a medium bowl, mix the evaporated and coconut milk,  eggs, and vanilla. Get the dry ingredients and combine it with the wet ingredients. Mix well. Add the melted butter and pour it into the pan. Remove any air bubbles but tapping the pan  on a hard surface. Bake 50-60 minutes or until goldish brown. Cool for an hour and dig in.

Happy baking!

New Beginnings and Cake Pops

Whew! How time flies.....

A couple of things have happened since my last post. First of all, we decided to enroll my little bug into Kindergarten and I'm proud to announce that she passed her screening with flying colors! She's a smart cookie and is more than ready to start her little adventure at private school. I'm so proud of her that I could just cry. 

Her new thing is that she only wants to be called "Princess Barbie Rainbow" from now on and I'm totally OK with that. 

I also attended my very first women's retreat at Mt. Harmon last weekend. I was a bit hesitant at first but ended up having a great time. We went hiking on trails and decided to try canoeing just for fun. For someone who doesn't know how to swim, I had a blast soaking in the scenery and  floating in the calmness of the wide open sea. 

I also made a friend and her name was Ship. (True story.)

SHIP!

The biggest change of all would have to be my NEW JOB! I'm scared, happy and nervous all rolled up in one but I do know that this new experience will do great and wonderful things for my career. 

And to celebrate, I decided to dust off my cake pop recipe and share it with you. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to make 30+ cake pops for my beautiful god daughter's dedication and I loved every minute of it. There's something about decorating and baking at 10:00 p.m. that's relaxing to me. 

Is it just me or are Cake Pops not as popular as they used to be? It seemed like a couple of years ago Cake Pops were found at your local Safeway, Starbucks and every wedding or birthday party known to man. 

Whatever the new trend is, I refuse to believe it's Pies. No offense to any pie lovers but pies are on the bottom of my dessert list for some reason. 

Anyway, here's to Cake Pops, new jobs and Kindergarten! Cheers!

Cake Pop recipe
Divas Can Cook

Ingredients:

• One box of red velvet cake, prepared 
• 
  
• One tub cream cheese Frosting
• 
  
• 2 bags of chocolate candy melts 

shortening

• 
  
• cake pop sticks

cello bags

ribbon

• 
  
• sprinkles
• 
  

Directions:

1. Add cake to a large bowl and squish it up until it turns in to fine crumbs. 
2. 
   
3. Add in frosting a little bit at a time until cake is moist and can hold a ball shape, yet still slightly crumbly.
4. 
   
5. Use your hands to mix up the frosting into the cake crumbs.
6. 
   
7. Roll the mixture into a tight ball and place on a plate.
8. 
   
9. Repeat until all the cake mixture has been rolled into balls.
10. 
    
11. Melt 2-4 ounces of candy melts in the microwave. 
12. 
    

Dip the tip of the cake pop sticks into the chocolate and insert into the cake balls about half-way. 

1. 
   
2. Freeze for about 20 minutes.
3. 
   
4. This is probably a good time to prep up your decorations.  

1. Melt the rest of your candy melts in a double broiler. Add a tablespoon of shortening to thin out and for a glossy finish.

Transfer the chocolate into a small cup (sippy cup or a kids cup)

1. Make sure you have enough chocolate to completely submerge the cake ball. 
2. 
   
3. Remove cake balls from freezer.
4. 
   
5. Dip cake balls carefully into the chocolate until covered.
6. 
   
7. Let the excess chocolate drip off. Swirl and pat your wrist to remove the excess chocolate.
8. 
   

1. Quickly add the sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet.
2. 
   
3. Stick the decorated cake pop into a Styrofoam block for drying. 
4. 
   
5. Cover with a clear cello bag and a pretty ribbon.
6. 
   
7. Store in an airtight container. 
8. 
   

DYRDEK?

Do you really do everything kind?

This is my motto at the moment.

Think about it. Do I really do everything kind? Or is it because I'm infatuated with every Rob Drydek show on MTV right now? (I'm leaning towards option #2 on this one.) 

I find it funny that the show, Rob and Big, has been on the air since 2006 and I just now discovered the hilarity of Robert Stanley Dyrdek and Christopher Boykin?  I'm all about Black Lavender and Bobby Light/The Chunky Boys right now.

Unfortunately I'm about six years too late to discuss this show with anybody else. I want to talk to my friends about the mini horse and the younger Drama days but it just doesn't make sense to bring it up now. It shows on MTV2 at 1:00 a.m so we're not talking about prime-time television anymore. 

On another subject, I can't believe Thanksgiving's already next week and I have yet to find the perfect recipe for dessert. 

My side of the family decided to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night because we'll officially be in Disneyland next week! It's a quick trip with a bunch of fun cousins so I'm looking forward to eating, riding rides and crying during the firework spectacular show. I don't know what it is but Tinkerbell flying through the air just tugs on my heart strings every single time.

This year my job is to make one side dish, Candied Yams, and a dessert. 

I asked my husband, a.k.a. The Caramel Lover, if I should make a Tiramisu or a Caramel Pecan Pie and immediately regretted asking. That's like me asking him if we should watch Steel Magnolias or Abraham Lincoln The Vampire Slayer on a Friday night? It's a major duh. 


Caramel Pecan Pie
adapted from allrecipes

1 (9 inch) unbakedpie crust

36 individuallywrapped caramels, unwrapped

¼ cup butter

¼ cup milk

¾ cup white sugar

3 eggs

½ teaspoon vanillaextract

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a saucepan over low heat, slowly combine caramels, butter andmilk. Cook until smooth but stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt in a bow and gradually mixin the melted caramel mixture.

Stir in pecans and pour filling into unbaked pie crust.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Allow to cool until filling is firm.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

♥,

Anna

Let's Make Whoopie

It's been over a month since I posted my last blog.

I guess you can say I'm in a social media rut right now because since then, I've deleted my twitter and about one step closer to deleting my instagram. It's not a personal thing towards anyone I know but sometimes I feel like I want to hide in my little bubble and go back to not knowing anything. 

Here's the thing though.

I LOVE social media. I wouldn't have gone through the Giant's season without my beloved tweeps on twitter. (On a side note, HOW 'BOUT THEM FREAKIN' GIANTS! World Series Champs after being on the verge of elimination against the Reds and the Cards? Insane. This picture right here warms my heart.)

Anyway....

Once upon a time I was on a social site called Facebook.

I loved Facebook so much that I would log into work and my daily routine would look something like this:

1) Clock in.
2) Check my email.
3) Go on Facebook and browse my timeline. (I looked up info on my best friend in kindergarten and found out she's a full on porn star now *true story*)
4) Work.

I was pretty much teetering between #'s 3 and 4 for the next the seven hours. It was unhealthy.

But what really got me was that I felt like I knew TOO much about my friends. I'd go to gatherings and talk to them about what's been going on in their lives but I pretty much knew what they had to say already. Apparently reading people's timelines for eight hours gave me the power to read their minds and I refuse to be that powerful. 

The very next day I deleted my Facebook. 

I've been Facebook free going on two years now and I'm totally ok with it. I'm out of the loop and lovin' it.  

So that's kinda where I am with Instagram. Even though it's just pictures, I feel like seeing what people ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner's on the top of my limit on how much I should know about that person. No judgment!

And for the record, I will be going back on twitter when Spring Training starts. Not being on twitter during the baseball season is equivalent to not having access to the outside world. It's completely necessary. 

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to make my first whoopie pie. I took the easy route and used a boxed devil's food cake mix and made my own marshmallow fluff frosting for the filling. 

I'm gonna be honest and say that it tasted just like... cake. 

The good news is that I got to walk around eating this particular cake while watching TV and putting my daughter to sleep. 

A hand-held cake is a plus in my book any day!

Here's the recipe:

Whoopie Pie
adapted from Betty Crocker

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® Devil's Food cake mix

¾ cup water

½ cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 box (4-serving size) chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

In a mixing bowl, mix all cake ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Next beat 1 minute on high speed.

Pour batter into a 1 gallon resealable plastic bag. Next, seal the bag and cut small hole off the bottom corner.

Pipe batter into 36 small circles onto cookie sheets about 1-inch apart to allow for spreading.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until set being careful to not over bake.

Cool 2 minutes and remove from cookie sheets.

Place on cooling rack. Cool completely before filling.

Once cookies are cooled spread Marshmallow Fluff filling (recipe below) on flat side of one cookie. Top with the second cookie, flat side down to make a sandwich.

Marshmallow Fluff filling

Adapted by marshmallowfluff.com

1/2 cuo butter or margarine
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup Marshmallow Fluff (about 1/2 of a 7 1/2-oz. jar)
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: 

In a medium bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and remaining ingredients until light and fluffy.

Happy baking!
Anna ♥

Cupcakin' and Saving Lives

As previously mentioned, I was asked to make cupcakes for my cousin's engagement party and......

I'm pleased to announce that everyone loved my cupcakes! A couple of people stopped me and said "Oh my god, they were so good!" Not from family members or friends but from random folks I didn't know. 

The bride-to-be went all out and decorated her party with unique and creative ideas. At every table she had a piece of paper explaining how they met and fell in love (or in other words, how he totally pursued her!) and provided a video booth where guests got to perform a music video for the bride and groom. Isn't that cute???

Her wedding is considered the "event of the year" in our family and I'm so excited to see what ideas she has planned. All I know is that it'll be creative, trendy and open bar.  (Yes!)

And of the course the one thing I forgot to do was take pictures AT the party but don't worry, here's a couple of "before" pictures for all you doubters out there. 

Top left: Carrot Cake batter  Middle: Red Velvet batter  Top right: Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Below: Done and decorated!

So my first day of baking went according to plan. The cupcakes turned out wonderfully moist and none of them ended up in the trash. (which is rare...under cooked, ugly etc.)

But by day two I started to panic. My white chocolate cream cheese frosting wouldn't set and kept running down the sides of my carrot and red velvet cupcakes! I refrigerated the frosted ones and within a couple of hours, it stiffened up. 

Tip: It really helps to bake your cupcakes a day beforehand and store them in an airtight container (at room temperature, not refrigerated). They stayed nice and moist which made the decorating part of this process easy peasy. 

So, in conclusion, I walked away from this experience with a new found respect for home bakers. It takes a whole lot of time, dedication and taste buds for things to run smoothly because seriously, I lost all sense of taste in my mouth and was on the verge of vomiting cupcake by the end of the night. 

Don't get me wrong... I still love to bake but it's gonna be a while until I bust out my muffin pan again. 

On a side note, (and totally unrelated to cupcakes) I wanted to share a somewhat  frightening experience that happened last Sunday. 

I walked into my four year old's room and found her choking on a pretzel. I sat in front of her and hooked my finger to release the pretzel that was lodged in the back of her throat. After what felt like an eternity, she immediately started to breathe again and a sense of relief rushed through my body. I'm not trying to sound super dramatic but it scared the living sh*t of me. 

It's funny because a couple of nights ago I was messing with my iphone and read the First Aid app out of complete boredom. I happen to stumble upon the choking section and had no clue that I'd be using this procedure a couple of days later.

And in case you're wondering, pretzels are no longer allowed in my house... except maybe for Auntie Anne's or Wetzels. Those are delicious. 

All I know is that I'm grateful she's OK and pretty much did what any mother would do. To make the long story short, I fell asleep with swollen eyes and watched an episode of Family Guy before bed. 

Isn't Family Guy the cure for everything? *Stewie took Brian's Prius out for a joyride but wrecked it trying to win Justin Bieber tickets on the radio. Best.Story.Ever* 

Well here's the recipes for three of my yummy cupcakes.  

Make them. Eat them. Hide them from your husband because he'll eat all of them. 

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Source: Adapted from Your Cup of Cake (Cupcake and filling only)

1 box White Cake Mix

2 egg whites

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup strong coffee

Filling:

8 oz mascarpone

1 tablespoon strong coffee

1/2 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake liners.

Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, gently whisk egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla.

Stir cake mix into wet ingredients.

Using half of the batter, fill cupcake liners about 1/3 full.

With the remaining cake batter, add the strong coffee and mix. *I added 2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the batter.

Scoop the coffee cake batter over the regular batter so that each cupcake liner is filled about 3/4. (So you have one layer of vanilla cake and a top layer of coffee cake.)

Bake for 16-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Filling: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl using a spoon.

To assemble, cut a cone shaped piece of cake out the top of each cupcake (make sure cakes are cooled). Generously spoon in your filling.

Pipe your frosting (recipe below) over the hole with the filling and top with chocolate shavings and cocoa powder.

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Source: Adapted from The Kitchen is My Playground (Frosting only)

1 1/2 T. instant coffee granules

1 1/2 T. water

1 1/2 T. vanilla extract

3/4 lb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 c. confectioners' sugar

3 T. milk

DIRECTIONS

Combine water, coffee granules, and vanilla extract in a small bowl; stir to dissolve coffee.  Set aside.
Beat butter in bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. 
Reduce mixer speed to low.  Add confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating for a few seconds between each addition. 

Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes. 

Add the coffee mixture and milk; beat on low speed to combine.  Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.  Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Source: Adapted from "Carrot Top" Mom (cupcake only)

2 1/4 cups flour (I use all-purpose)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice)

1 ounce red food coloring

4 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla.

Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat.

Spoon batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.

Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean.

Gently remove from oven (these are super-moist, and will collapse if you aren’t careful).

Cool in pans on wire rack at least 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

Frost with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. (recipe below Carrot Cake Cupcake recipe)

*Do not frost until totally cooled, or the frosting will slide off!*

Frost the cupcakes generously, and serve at room temperature.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Source: Adapted from Your Cup of Cake

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/8 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup oil*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrot, raw

½ cup crushed pineapple

1 ½ cups flour

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon*

½ teaspoon nutmeg*

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat eggs, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. 

Mix in oil and vanilla. 

Fold in carrots and pineapple

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Mix the dry ingredients into the carrot mixture until just moistened.  Do not over mix. 

Fold in nuts if desired.

Bake 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back.

Let cool and frost.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: Adapted from Your Cup of Cake

2 oz white chocolate

8 oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons heavy cream *

In a saucepan on LOW heat, melt white chocolate. 

Stir until smooth and let cool until at room temperature.

Beat together cream cheese and butter, mix in white chocolate and vanilla.

Gradually beat in powdered sugar until fluffy. 

Mix in heavy cream.

Refrigerate in a piping bag to chill if the frosting is too soft.

Happy Baking!

Anna 

My Very First Blog

I'm a big fan of blogs. My daily routine usually consists of logging into google reader and finding over 300 blog entries of celebrity gossip, style/fashion and weight loss picker-uppers. To top it off, I have a HUGE obsession with baking blogs. I say about 90% of the blogs I read caters to cakes, cookies and cupcakes recipes that I'm dying to try by the end of the day. I've grown to love certain bloggers and feel somewhat attached to their personal stories and journeys after being a dedicated reader for four years.

With that being said, my husband asked me a couple of nights ago why I don't start my own blog.

I looked at him crazy and said no... like, immediately.

Of course the wheels in my head started to turn and I began to question what would I write about if I "did" start my own blog?

I guess I could write about parenting.

Maybe baking?

How about making quick and healthy dinners for a family of three? Or shows? Or running! Oh boy. 

So here I am. I have a blog.  I'll be making about three dozen cupcakes for my cousin's engagement party this weekend and I feel that this would be an appropriate way to start things off.  It'll be my first "gig" (and probably my last. haha) but I thought it would be fun to write about it.

I'm nervous and excited. But for the most part,  I'm frightened that I'll overhear someone at the party saying that it's nasty and gross as I sit there with tears running down my cheeks at the next table. Just kidding. (not really)

But I have a menu and here it is:

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

and last but not least, a TIRAMISU CUPCAKE.

The last one scares me. It has a mascarpone filling and topped with a buttercream coffee frosting. Yikes.

Well, I'll be sharing my first experience as a cupcake maker and posting pictures on here soon.  We'll see how it goes.