Granola Yogurt Parfait

Tags

almond, breakfast, Fruits, granola, grape molasses, grapes, healthy breakfast, oatmeal, quick breakfast ideas, roasted grapes, snacks ideas, step by step, storing granola

For robust breakfast, add these granola bites on top of your fruit and yogurt for extra flavor and more fiber in your diet, or for snacks enjoy it plain.

Oat is one of my favorite breakfast food ingredient. I love a hot bowl of oatmeal in the morning and I often use oats in my baking, as well. It give the cakes the softness like this pillow soft muffins. But most of all, I like using oats in this quick and easy granola recipe.

No time for making or eating breakfast?
Make your granola in a batch and enjoy it throughout the week. I like to sprinkle it over my yogurt for a sweet start in the morning, or you can zip it in less than 5 min and take it with you.

Why should you make your own granola instead of buying ready made?
Because homemade granola tastes twice as good and costs half as much. You also can cut the fat down considerably when you make it at home and by using small amounts of canola oil, add the flavors you prefer, or load it with nuts and fruits of your choice.

What is grape molasses?
A Very healthy middle eastern thick syrup extracted from grapes. Anyone who is not familiar with grape molasses, it is very healthy and beneficial, very rich in antioxidants, well known for it’s high contents of iron and used widely in treating iron related anemia. You can find it at middle eastern stores.

The key to making delicious granola is to bake it at low temp or a long time.
Store in an airtight plastic container with lids on in the cupboard, where it will await breakfaster or afternoon muncher. For long storage , keep it in the fridge or freeze it.

In this recipe, I used my homemade yogurt recipe, does not need to strain it because it is thick enough, smooth it a little with a whisk. Served loaded with oven roasted black grapes, then topped with some sweetened the granola and almond clustered that is coated with generous amount with grape molasses for additional healthy diet then toasted to nutty flavors.

Grape Molasses Almond Granola

1/2 cup chopped almond
2 cups old fashioned oat
1/4 cup grape molasses
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon canola oil

Preheat the oven at 275 f. Coat an oven pan with a little oil.
Place all ingredient in large mixing bowl, and stir very well until combined, make sure all coated with the molasses.
Spoon the entire mixture into the baking sheet, spread into a single layer, so they have room to get toasty.
Bake for 10 min, then rotate the pan and bake for another 10-15 min, let cool.
Once cool, break clumps into smaller parts, store in plastic jars.

Yogurt Granola Parfait with Roasted Black Grapes

Baked granola
Roasted black grapes plus juices (recipe coming next in separate post)
Homemade or store bought yogurt or greek yogurt(Recipe here)

With a whisk, whip the yogurt until creamy and smooth, top with the roasted grapes or you have the choice to use any kind of fruits. Then top it with granola clusters, enjoy.

When You Crave for Sweets: Raspberry-Lemon Layer Bars

Tags

almond, chease cake bars, coconut, dessert bars, desserts, lemon cream, raspberry, raspberry desserts

These bars are addictive, layers of good things match up together into a sweet creamy with a touch of sour taste . Something you can be proud to serve on any dessert table.

Whether you have little time or a lot of time, when you crave for special desserts, you are looking for good times with the family and friends. No matter how simple or sophisticated the dessert is, the sweet tooth can feast on anything sugars taste.
I’ll admit it, the first time I saw the recipe on Kitchen Aid (best-loved recipes), I fall in love with it. And because I love raspberry too, I added some raspberry jam to the cream cheese layer(which the original recipe doesn’t call for the raspberry). The lemony creamy layer is extremely heavenly, it had no sugar, but the sweetness comes from the raspberry, the chocolate, and the coconut additions.

Raspberry-Lemon Layer Bars

2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (graham crackers)
6 tbsp butter, melted
1 package(8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg
1\2 cup raspberry jam (recipe follow)
3\4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1\2 cup sliced almond or chopped macadamia nuts

For the raspberry jam:
2 cups raspberry, fresh or frozen
1\3 cup sugar
1 tbsp corn syrup

Start making the raspberry jam. On a sauce pan, add all the ingredients for the jam together, set on medium heat, stir and bring to boil. stir again to insure that all the sugar has dissolved. lower the heat and let cook on medium low for 10 min. let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 f. Stir together graham crackers crumbs and butter. Press crumb mixture firmly in bottom of 13×9-inch baking pan.

Place cream cheese, lemon peel, lemon juice and egg in a bowl. Beat on medium-low until smooth. Spread evenly over crumb mixture.

Spoon the raspberry jam on the top of cream cheese layer, and carefull spread it over.

Layer evenly with chips, coconut and almond; press down firmly with fork.

Bake about 20 min or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

Cut into 4 rows by 8 rows. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Candylicious! The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge.

Tags

almond, almond nougat, candy, cardamom, chocolate, chocolate chip, chocolate truffle, cinnamon, daring baker, daring kitchen challenge, dates, Dessert, dried cherry, holiday candy, non chocolate candy, nougat, pretzel, pretzel truffle, rosewater, sweets, truffle

Crowded August, though it was as fast as you can imagine. Since we had our fasting month, and no time for a lot of things, plus my husband began remodeling bedrooms’ floor and painting the walls, add to that the schools began on the 17th and the battle of sleeping schedule… So very sorry I am late.

This month Daring Bakers’ challenge I can’t miss it, because it’s as delicious as the chocolate is, it is the first time I make candy, so I piled my cooking books and searched for something chocolity.

From The Martha Stewart Living cookbook, I tried the Nougat but added to the recipe some other elements and flavors to it, did the half of the recipe though, it was the most delicious nougat I ever ate. For the chocolate part, it was from my creations and ideas, I did the tempered chocolate the seeding method and dipped my truffled dates and macadamia nuts, and did another truffle but it was another beyond, I did the pritzel truffle, the saltness of the pretzel was amazingly very compliment with the sweetness of the chocolate, and it was my kids favourite one.

Blog-checking lines:

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

Big THANK YOU Lisa and Mandy for this delicious challenge.

Almond and Cherry Nougat

Ingredients

For the mazetta

1 large egg whites, room temperature
1\3 cup light corn syrup
1\4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon water

For the Nougat

1\2 cups light corn syrup
1\4 cup honey
3\4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoon pure rosewater syrup
3\4 cup dried cherry
1\2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1\2 cups raw almonds, skin on, chopped

Begin by making the mazetta: Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff; set aside. In a 1-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup, water, and sugar. Clip on a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until temperature reaches 242 degrees (soft-ball stage), 15 to 20 minutes. Remove sugar syrup from heat. Beating constantly on medium speed, slowly pour hot syrup into egg whites. Continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes until syrup is incorporated. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to make the nougat.

Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable-oil spray; set aside. Place mazetta in a large bowl; set aside. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine corn syrup,honey and sugar. Clip on candy thermometer. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, 5 to 10 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to remove any sugar crystals.

Over medium-high heat, cook to 280 degrees (soft-crack stage), 12 to 15 minutes, without stirring. If heat is too high it can boil over, so watch carefully. Remove from heat; let stand for 2 minutes. Without scraping pan, pour syrup over mazetta. Working quickly, stir with a wooden spoon until almost smooth. Stir in butter, vanilla, rosewater,cardamom and salt. Mix until butter is incorporated. Stir in nuts and cherry. Scrape into prepared pan, and smooth the top; you may spray your hand with vegetable-oil spray and run it over the warm candy to smooth it. Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until firm, 4 to 6 hours.

Spray a large cutting board generously with vegetable-oil spray. Unmold nougat from pan onto sprayed surface. Cut nougat into 3-by-1-by-3/4-inch pieces or other desired shapes. Wrap each piece in cellophane or waxed paper.

Tempering Methods:
for more tempering methods try this link

With tempered chocolate pieces, also called “seeding”

Tempering Ranges:

Celsius
Dark: 45°C-50°C > 27°C > 32°C
Milk: 45°C > 27°C > 30°C
White: 45°C > 27°C > 29°C

Fahrenheit
Dark: 113°F-122°F > 80.6°F > 89.6°F
Milk: 113°F > 80.6°F > 86°F
White: 113°F > 80.6°F > 84.2°F

Chocolate is melted and heated until it reaches 45°C / 113°F. Tempered un-melted chocolate is then stirred and melted in until it brings the temperature down to 27°C/80.6°F. It is then put back over heat and brought up to its working temperature of 32°C/30°C/29°C /// 89.6°F/86°F/84.2°F depending on the chocolate you’re using. It is now ready for using in molds, dipping and coating.

Tempering using the seeding method

• Finely chop chocolate if in bar/slab form (about the size of almonds).
• Place about ⅔ of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl
• Set aside ⅓ of the chocolate pieces
• Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water)
Tip: Make sure that your bowl fits snuggly into the saucepan so that there’s no chance of steam forming droplets that may fall into your chocolate. If water gets into your chocolate it will seize!
• Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly
• Once it’s melted, keep an eye on the thermometer, as soon as it reaches 45°C / 113°F remove from heat (between 45°C-50°C / 113°F-122°F for dark chocolate)
• Add small amounts of the remaining ⅓ un-melted chocolate (seeds) and stir in to melt
• Continue to add small additions of chocolate until you’ve brought the chocolate down to 27°C/80.6°F (You can bring the dark chocolate down to between 80°F and 82°F)
• Put it back on the double boiler and bring the temperature back up until it reaches its working temperature of the chocolate (milk, dark or white) as seen in the above chart. (32°C/89.6°F for dark, 30°C/86°F for milk and 29°C/84.2°F for white)
• If you still have a few un-melted bits of chocolate, put the bowl back over the simmering water, stirring gently and watching the thermometer constantly.
• IMPORTANT: You really need to keep an eye on the temperature so that it doesn’t go over its working temperature

It’s now tempered and ready to use

Tip: Another way of adding the “seed” is by dropping in one large chunk of tempered chocolate (the seed). That way you only need to fish out one piece of unmelted chocoalte and don’t need to fish out several small bits of unmelted chocolate once the chocolate has reached temper.

Truffles

Ingredients
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Dark/Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup (5 oz / 160 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz / 120 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)
OR
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) White Chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup (2 oz / 60 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)

Ganache can either be used to make rolled truffles or cut into squares and then dipped in chocolate, which is called a bonbon.

Making the ganache

1. Finely chop or grate the chocolate
2. Place in a heatproof bowl
3. In a saucepan, heat cream until just about to boil (it will start bubbling around the edges of the pot)
4. Pour the cream over the chocolate
5. Gently stir the mixture until all the chocolate has melted and it is smooth
Tip: If you end up with pieces of chocolate that won’t melt, put the bowl over simmering water (but not touching the water) and stir gently until it’s all melted
Tip: Be careful if you do need to heat it over simmering water, if the mixture gets too hot it will split and you’ll end up with gooey chocolate swimming in oil, so don’t overheat the ganache, steam from a gentle simmer is all you need.
6. Stir in your desired flavorings

For rolled truffles

1. Allow the ganache to firm up in a container of choice, preferably deep rather than shallow
2. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop up room temperature ganache
3. With gloved hands, roll the balls between your palms to round them off
4. Dip in tempered chocolate or roll in various ingredients like cocoa or chopped nuts as desired
Tip: If dipping in chocolate, it’s best to refrigerate the ganache balls before dipping so that they’re firm and don’t melt from the warm chocolate
Tip: For a thicker chocolate shell, dip once in tempered chocolate and allow to set. Then do a second dipping or smear a small amount of chocolate over the truffle and roll in desired ingredients
5. Place on parchment paper until set

Dates and Macadamia Nuts truffles

1 1\2 cup Medjule date pitted
1\2 teaspoon cinnamon
1\4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon butter
Macadamia nuts, raw
1 ¾ cup (9 oz/250 gm) Milk Chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz / 120 ml) Double/Heavy Cream (36% – 48% butterfat)
tempered chocolate(from the recipe above)

Knead the date in your hand a little with the cinnamon, nutmeg and the butter into a paste like (it can be easily combined since this kind is very soft). Roll a small ball of date in your palms and make a grove, put the nuts in it and close roll it to make sure it’s cover with the dates. Dip the date balls in the warm ganache and let it cool and harden a little in the fridge. with the ice cream scoop, scrap the balls and all the ganache around it, and make it into a ball in your hands making sure that the chocolate ganache covers all around the dates, set back in the fridge to cool.

After you make the tempered chocolate, dip the truffled date balls into the melted chocolate( here I find it very difficult to control even with forks), set a side to cool.

Pretzel Truffle

2 small bags of pretzel
ganache recipe (above)

After making the ganache, chop the pretzel and add half of it to the ganache, let it cool down in the fridge, with your hands roll it into a ball and dip it in the remaining chopped pretzel

Orange flavored Chocolate Marquise for May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge

Tags

almond, caramel, chocolate, coco powder, cocolate marquise, daring baker, Dessert, fancy dessert, mango, may 2011 challenge, Meringue, orange chocolate, peanuts, popcorn, strawberry

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

This is my first daring challenge, and wow… what a challenge. I never tasted the chocolate marquise before or even know it. Thank you Emma and jenny for sharing the recipe.

The Chocolate Marquise to me looks like frozen chocolate mousse or soft ice-cream when it melt. very delicious rich chocolate flavor smooth and sweet. can be served a long with different flavors, just make sure it complement with the chocolate.

In my version of chocolate marquise tried to substitute the tequila with the orange juice and add zest of orange to enhance more orange flavor hmm yummy… and omit the cayenne, the meringue looks really like marshmallow cream.

I did the quarter recipe and it was considered huge for my little family, so I served half of it and kept the rest in the freezer for another serving (it can be frozen up to six months).

The first time served it with fresh mango and strawberry salad, it adds more freshness to the chocolate. The second with roasted peanuts – caramel popcorn and it was wonderful, the popcorn adds crunching and saltines to harmony with the caramel (every ones favourit)and completed with the creamy chocolate and the meringue.

Here is my presentations:

Chocolate Marquise with Fresh Mango and Strawberry Salad 

The Chocolate Marquise with the meringue topped with the fruit salad, roasted almond, caramel sauce.

Prepare the pan and line it with parchment papers.

For the Chocolate Marquise (the quarter recipe) :

3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 large egg
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon  water
Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
½ cup  heavy cream
½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling)

For the Chocolate Base:

3 oz  bittersweet chocolate (I used cherardelli 60% coco)
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons  heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon orange juice
zest of an orange
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon/(less than 1/4 ounce) cocoa powder (we used extra brut, like Hershey’s Special Dark, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)
dash freshly ground black pepper
1/4 oz unsalted butter (1/2 tablespoon), softened

Begin with the chocolate base to let it cool down a little to use it in the marquise recipe.

Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.

In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.

Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe

Continue with the Chocolate Marquise recipe, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high-speed until very thick and pale, about 10 – 15 minutes.

When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil  (235F/115C).

With the mixer running on low-speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.

When all the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all the air you’ve whipped into the eggs. We used the stand mixer for this, and it took about 1 minute.

Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn’t allow in any air).

Freeze until very firm, at least 2 – 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).
When you’re ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it’s still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment ‘handles’  or by flipping it over into another piece of parchment.

Plate with the torched meringue and drizzled caramel sauce, and toss spiced almonds and cocoa nibs around for garnish. You want to handle the cubes as little as possible because they get messy quickly and are difficult to move. However, you want to wait to serve them until they’ve softened completely. The soft pillows of chocolate are what make this dessert so unusual and when combined with the other elements, you’ll get creamy and crunchy textures with cool, spicy, salty, bitter, and sweet sensations on your palate

For the torched meringue:

3 large egg whites
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon  sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using your (clean, washed) hand, reach in the bowl and stir the three together, making sure the sugar is moistened evenly by the egg whites and they make a homogeneous liquid.

Over a saucepan of simmering water, warm the egg white mixture. Use one hand to stir the mixture continuously, feeling for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don’t feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.

Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and return it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly.

When you’re ready to plate the dessert, spoon the meringue into a plate (or use a piping bag) and use a blowtorch to broil.

For the Caramel sauce:

1 cup sugar
1\2 cup water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1\4 teaspoon lemon juice fresh
1 cup heavy cream

In a pan put the sugar then the water, let the sugar soak and try to wipe any sugar on the sides of the pan (because if sugar didn’t desolve completely it will crystallize),bring it to boil on medium – high heat until almost all the water evaporates and the sugar Carmelites to a dark mahogany color.

Add the corn syrup and the lemon juice, working quickly, add the cream to the darkened caramel. It will bubble and pop vigorously, so add only as much cream as you can without overflowing the pot.

Return the pot to the stove on low heat and whisk gently to break up any hardened sugar. Add any remaining cream and continue stirring. Gradually, the hard sugar will dissolve and the caramel sauce will continue to darken.  When the caramel has darkened to the point you want it, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.

For the Spiced almonds:

Makes about 1 cup of spiced almonds

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
1 cup blanched whole almonds

reheat the oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon,and salt.

In a larger mixing bowl whisk the egg white until it’s frothy and thick.

Add the spice mix to the egg white and whisk to combine completely.

Add the nuts to the egg white mixture and toss with a spoon.

Spoon the coated nuts onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake the nuts for 30 minutes, or until they turn light brown. Allow the nuts to cool completely and they will get very crunchy. Set aside until ready to serve.

For the fresh mango strawberry salad:

mango diced
strawberries diced
fresh mint leaves
fresh orange juice
sugar
drops of lemon squeeze

Combine all ingredient, let it in the fridge to cool, use it fresh.

Chococlate Marquise with Roasted Peanuts Caramel Popcorn

The same recipe of the chocolate marquise as above, and the same meringue.

for the peanut caramel popcorn

Roast the peanuts either in the oven or on the pan on the top of the stove,  let it cool down a little, heat he caramel on the microwave add the popcorn and the peanuts (the caramel will harden a little).