Banana Blueberry Swirl Frozen Dessert

For a healthier frozen dessert I used bananas and added a swirl of pureed frozen blueberries. The bananas are sliced, frozen, then processed until smooth. The creamy bananas have no added sugar but I added a tablespoon each of sugar and heavy cream to the blueberries. It has a little bit of bitterness probably because the bananas were not overripe or I didn't fully remove the fibrous membrane on the bananas. I still like the frozen dessert though. Next time I'll add peanut butter, strawberries, or Nutella.

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Crema Catalana

I've had this Spanish dessert just once in a restaurant many years ago. I don't know why I never prepared it at home but then again I've never made its French version, Crème Brûlée, either. The Spanish sweet cream is lighter than its cousin as it has fewer egg yolks and uses milk instead of heavy cream.

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Pan de Cadiz

Early this year, while browsing La Tienda's catalogue, a small dessert loaf called Pan de Cadiz caught my eye. It's marzipan baked with a filling of candied sweet potato, normally sold and eaten during the Christmas season. Of course, I had to find a recipe for it, found one online written in Spanish, and this one in English.

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Tocino de Cielo

tiny silky smooth sweet "fat back" from heaven

Tocino de Cielo or bacon from heaven, is another Filipino sweet inherited from the Spanish. In the Philippines, these rich silky smooth treats, made with only 3 ingredients, egg yolks, sugar, and water, are cooked in small individual molds. I baked mine in a small rectangular pan and cut them into one inch cubes to resemble fat back, which is probably the reason it is called tocino de cielo.

Tocino de Cielo
4 tablespoons sugar for caramel
1¼ cups sugar
½ cup water
12 egg yolks

• In a small stainless steel skillet, melt the 4 tablespoons sugar until golden or dark brown. Pour into a 6 x 4 inch pan; set aside. Over medium heat in a small sauce pan, cook the remaining sugar and water to 200° F; let cool. In a small bowl, stir the egg yolks with a rubber spatula; slowly pour the cooled syrup, stirring until well combined. 

• Pour over a fine strainer into the prepared pan. Place the pan into a larger pan; carefully fill the larger pan with hot water halfway up the sides of the smaller pan. Bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely on the kitchen counter; refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Turn  the pan over on a cutting board and carefully unmold. Cut into 1 inch cubes. 

Peanut Sans Rival

peanut sans rival

This semi-frozen sans rival has tons of peanuts and a little chocolate, peanut lovers will surely love it. I made the peanut meringue layers thicker than the regular sans rival but crunchy, the filling/frosting has peanut butter buttercream then sprinkled with a little chopped semi-sweet chocolate, and the top is garnished with chopped Choc*Nut. Sooo delicious and peanut-y.

Sans Rival recipe is here.

the ultimate peanut sans rival for peanut lovers

April Fools

Indian gooseberry fool and marionberry (blackberry) fool

Sorry, but there aren't any April Fools Day pranks or jokes on this post, just berry fools, Indian gooseberry and marionberry fools. I bought a packet of frozen Indian gooseberries and didn't know what to do with them. They are not the same as the sweetish American gooseberries. They have a single stone and the meat is sour and has a tannic or astringent tongue feel which strangely I really like. But that's just me. I love sour fruits and I don't mind that they taste like unripe fruits.

Gooseberry or Marionberry Fool
1 cup tart gooseberries or marionberries
sugar, to taste
1½ cups chilled heavy cream

• In a small pan, heat gooseberries or marionberries with sugar. Cook gooseberries until very soft, mash with a fork. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Whip heavy cream with 3 tablespoons sugar or to taste to soft peaks. Gently fold in the prepared fruits. Spoon into dessert cups.

Ube Flan

If you are an ube (purple yam) fanatic like myself, you'll love it in flan. It makes a deliciously smooth and delightful dessert specially with a few pieces of slightly tart fruits like blueberries or strawberries. The recipe is a basic ube flan but you can adjust the amount of eggs without major alteration to the consistency of the flan.

Ube Flan
½ cup sugar for caramel
1 ½ cups ube jam
1 cup water
5 eggs, well beaten
1 can sweetened condensed milk

• Caramelize the sugar and pour into 4 or 5 ramekins or a llanera mold.
  
• In a large bowl, slowly add water into the jam and mix until mixture is smooth and has no visible lumps of ube jam. Add the beaten eggs and milk and mix well. Strain into the prepared ramekins or mold.
  
• Steam in rapidly boiling water or bake in a bain marie at 325°F oven for 1 hour. Refrigerate overnight before unmolding.

Praline and Chocolate Pots de Crème

I found a recipe for pots de crème (a fancy term for pudding) with gianduja which sounds really good and one with praline paste which sounds even better. Praline paste is available from the stores but I made it at home with 4 ounces each of blanched and toasted whole almonds and hazelnuts stirred into 9 ounces of golden or darkish hot caramelized sugar; the praline was left to cool for 1 hour then broken into small pieces before processing into an oily paste. This makes about 2 cups of praline paste. The praline paste is delicious and I love to eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar.

Praline Pots de Crème
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 ounces milk chocolate
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
7 ounces praline paste
4 egg yolks

• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  
• Place four 6-ounce ramekins on a cookie sheet and set aside.
• Place the milk chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and praline paste in a mixing bowl with pouring lip and set aside.
• In a small mixing bowl, break up the yolks with a fork. Set aside.
• Combine the cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Pour the mixture over the chocolates and praline paste. Using a whisk, gently mix the ingredients while occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Continue until the ingredients are fully incorporated. You may use an immersion blender for a finer texture but don't incorporate too much air. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture and gently whisk until fully incorporated. Using a small strainer pour the liquid, filling the ramekins to the top.
  
• Bake in a bain marie for about 50 minutes or until they are jiggly.
• Let them cool for about 15 minutes on a rack, cover with plastic film, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Enjoy them chilled or at room temperature.

The pudding is silky smooth and a bit runny but will firm up in the refrigerator.

the yummiest smooth as silk nutty caramelly chocolaty pudding

Mango Terrine

I usually buy a box of mangoes when they are in season and therefore cheap at $10.00 for 16 large ones. The only disadvantage is they ripen all at the same time. What to do aside from eating them with [ginger or chocolate] suman? Slice them thin, place them in a loaf pan, add lemon grass and mint tea agar (gelatin), let it set in the refrigerator, and voila! Mango terrine that's so refreshingly different and easy to prepare. The ginger-like lemon grass with a hint of cool mint is so delicious with mangoes. Yum!

Mango Terrine
4 mangoes, thinly sliced and chilled
1 sprig mint, reserve a few leaves for garnish
3 stalks lemon grass. trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 cups water
¾ cup sugar, or to taste
3 teaspoons agar powder

• Line a medium loaf pan with plastic wrap leaving a 3 inch overhang on both long sides. Or lightly grease the bottom of the pan. Place a few mint leaves on the bottom if desired.
• Bring water and lemon grass to a boil and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add sugar and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Strain and transfer into a bowl. Sprinkle the agar and stir until completely dissolved. Snip the edges of the mint leaves, add to the gelatin mixture and leave for 10 minutes. Remove mint and discard.
• Note: Omit the agar and leave the mint in the liquid, transfer into a tall bottle and chill in the refrigerator. It's a very refreshing and healthy iced tea drink, or if you love mixed drinks, add to vodka.
• Arrange mango slices, slightly overlapping on the bottom of the loaf pan, pour the gelatin mixture to cover mangoes. Arrange another layer of mangoes and gelatin to fill almost to the top of the pan.
• Cover with the plastic wrap overhang. Put in the refrigerator (or freezer if you are impatient like me) until completely cold and has set. Cut into slices.

I had 2 thin slices with chocolate suman. Delicious! Old [eating] habits are hard to break.;D

Pandan Crêpe Layer Cake

I found a year-old [home canned] jar of mangoes in syrup in my pantry. They aren't spoiled and still very good so I sliced them really thin to fill the pandan crêpes I had been planning to make. I stacked the crêpes and mango and cream filling instead of fill/roll individually. It is not such a brilliant idea because they went slipping and sliding when I cut the "cake" into slices. It's okay, though, because it is so good and with chocolate sauce is extra yummy. I just pushed them back together to make it look tidy. I'll make a proper pandan chiffon layer cake with similar filling next time.

Pandan Crêpe Layer Cake
crêpes
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
½ cup pandan water (blend 6 pandan leaves with ½ cup water and strain)
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 tablespoons light olive oil
3 drops green food dye gel
butter

filling
thin slices of ripe mangoes
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons condensed milk

• Mix crêpe ingredients except butter in a blender until smooth. Heat a 7-inch skillet, rub with butter and pour about a quarter cup of batter, rotating the pan quickly to spread evenly. Cook on medium-low heat until edges are dry, lift, and flip to cook the other side. Stack on a plate and let cool completely.
• Prepare the cream filling: Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Add condensed milk and whip for 30 seconds until blended.
• Fill individually with mangoes and cream, roll and place on a plate seam side down. Drizzle with chocolate sauce. Or, if you prefer the layered look: place one crêpe on a platter, arrange sliced mangoes on top, spread 2 tablespoons of cream and repeat with the rest of the crêpes and filling, and a crêpe on top. Cut into 6 slices. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.

all my favorites in one yummy dessert: pandan, mangoes, cream, condensed milk, chocolate

Brazo de Oggi

Two months ago a Filipino reader left 4 of the same long comment in 4 different entries (the subject is not worth discussing). She accused me of racism and I was a tad annoyed when she said something about Filipinos having flat noses as being offensive. Now why would Filipinos be offended by it and I replied that I AM PROUD OF BEING FILIPINO AND YES OF MY FLAT NOSE. In the Philippines I knew of a few friends and acquaintances who had nose jobs making Vicki Belo a household name. Although I take good care of my outside appearance, I have never been a vain person, never had and will never consider altering my face or body, and never ever have been or will be ashamed of my Filipinoness. However, I must admit there is one part of my body that I am very conscious of that I try to hide as much as possible, they are my fat-ish arms. They started getting plumper after my second childbirth and it seems that whenever I gain a pound or two, they go straight to my arms and stay there even after losing the weight gain. Other people complain of their thunder thighs, jelly belly, or hippo hips, my beef is about my ficeps. I whine about them all the time and my daughter kept assuring me they are not THAT HUGE and I always dreaded summertime when I could not wear sleeveless garments. But I have recently changed my attitude and am "accepting" the fact that I will never have anorexic arms again. And as an homage to my fat arms*kiss kiss*, I made Brazo de Oggi (Oggi's arm) which is my version of Brazo de Mercedes, a very popular egg roll cake in the Philippines. Its origin is the Spanish Swiss roll cake called Brazo de Gitano (gypsy's arm), a very thin sponge cake with custard or whipped cream filling. They are also sometimes called Brazo de Monja (nun's arm). Their arms were probably really plump to inspire such a rich dessert.

I made Brazo de Mercedes a year ago but my daughter thought it was too rich and eggy, maybe I undercooked the meringue or I missed adding an ingredient. A reader suggested I add vanilla extract to the egg whites to lessen the egginess. Then I saw a recipe adding ube (purple yam) to the egg yolk filling which I think is a brilliant idea, and then Maricel, who sent me the recipe for the Coffee Mangosteen Cake, also gave me the recipe for Frozen Brazo de Mercedes which has a layer of ice cream filling. It is very rich and has high sugar content but I want to indulge just one time. After months of portion control and low carb diet, I think I and my arms deserve the treat.:-)

I made a few modifications to the recipe to make it less unhealthy (no butter and less sugar and egg yolks). There were also some mishaps while making the dessert. I didn't expect the meringue will rise so high and it got caught in the grills of the rack above it where I have 2 loaves of bread baking. It was not so bad, only the middle portion got stuck. When I finally put the finished cake in the freezer a small container fell on one side of the cake and squeezed out a little of the ice cream filling. The cake looks a little funny which I don't mind because the cake is so very yummy. The good thing is we have already changed our minds about Brazo and are now fans of this dessert. Thanks again Maricel for being so generous.:-)

the accident-prone Brazo de Oggi

Frozen Brazo de Mercedes
Crust:
2½ C (250 gm) crushed graham crackers
½ C (112 gm) melted butter
1/3 C (85 gm) sugar

Filling:
288 gm egg yolks
255 gm butter
60 gm sugar
2 gm vanilla extract
1 can sweetened condensed milk
½ gallon mantecado ice cream or your favorite ice cream

Meringue:
300 gm egg whites
150 gm sugar
pinch of cream of tartar
1 gm vanilla extract

• Prepare the crust: Mix graham crackers and sugar and stir in butter. Press into a 10 x 14-inch glass dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
• Prepare the egg yolk filling: In a glass bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and condensed milk. Cook in a double boiler until of spreading consistency. Turn off heat and add butter and vanilla. Leave to cool.
• Prepare the meringue: Grease and line a 12 x 17 x 1-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Grease paper. Set aside. Whisk egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. When soft peaks form, gradually add sugar and beat until stiff. Spread meringue on the prepared pan up to the top. Pass a cake comb to make a design. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour until golden in color. Let cool in pan. Loosen sides, dust top with powdered sugar. Invert into a piece of parchment paper. Remove paper lining.
• To assemble: Spread cooled filling on the crust. Beat ice cream until of spreading consistency. Spread on top of egg yolk filling. Freeze. When frozen, invert the meringue on top of ice cream so that the golden side is on top. Freeze until ready to serve. Alternatively, you may use two 8 x 8-inch glass pans (I halved the recipe as it's quite big).

Halo-Halo

pastel halo-halo topped with ube macapuno ice cream

Our weather has been rather wacky since Saturday. When I woke up Saturday at 7 AM it was foggy and the temperature was 85 degrees F which is unusually warm at this time of the year. By 10 AM the temperature rose to a scorching 95 with a heat index of 100 degrees. And it was more of the same 90+ yesterday and it's going to be hot hot hot today until tomorrow. Although the AC is on I still feel warm and have to use my paypay (hand-held fan). The only cool thing about this hot weather is I am motivated to make halo-halo, literally mix-mix, which is a Filipino dessert/snack composed of a mixture of sweet things such as leche flan (custard), saba banana in syrup, ube jam, white beans in syrup, glutinous rice crispies, jackfruit, sweet red beans, macapuno preserves, kaong (palm fruits) topped with shaved ice, milk, and a scoop of ice cream served in a tall glass. You can add any sweet stuff in halo-halo, check out Dale's halo-halo, and it will surely keep your cool in the summer heat. Aah, I don't mind eating halo-halo all day long.:-)

sweet saba bananas, macapuno preserves, buco-pandan nata de coco,
kaong, leche flan, jackfruit, and pinipig brittle

Halo-halo & Ube Macapuno Ice Cream

What's your favorite ice cream flavor: Halo-halo with bits of langka, saba, sweet macapuno, haleyang ube, and leche flan? or ube and macapuno? Well, I love them both.

halo-halo ice cream with bits of leche flan, saba in syrup, macapuno, ube, langka

I love the macapuno bits, and ube makes this ice cream so creamy

The basic vanilla ice cream recipe is here, just add your halo-halo ingredients after churning between layers of ice cream when transfering to a container. For the ube, omit vanilla and warming step, add 2 T sugar and 1 cup cooked mashed ube before churning, then add very cold bits of macapuno preserves the last 5 minutes.

With a new super-efficient and roomier freezer I am again making ice cream non-stop. And with David Lebovitz' book The Perfect Scoop how can I ever stop making ice cream when there are so many new and old favorite flavors to try?

Coffee Ice Cream and Mangosteen Preserves

the best dessert pairing: coffee ice cream and mangosteen preserves

I have been lurking in several Pinoy food blogs and read about the discontinued Magnolia coffee mangosteen ice cream. The blogger said that he prefers to top the coffee ice cream with mangosteen preserves. It is an excellent idea, but I couldn't find mangosteen preserves here in the US. Fortunately I found Thai canned mangosteen in syrup at the Korean grocery, bought several cans and boiled the syrup with 2 tablespoons (per can) sugar until very thick, then added all the fruit, boiled it down some more until almost caramelized, somewhat brown red, dark purplish in color and very thick. I made coffee ice cream using very thick brewed espresso. The result is oh so heavenly. The half gallon ice cream and the preserves were history in a matter of days.