Peach Jam

     

This year's harvest from the peach tree in my backyard was massive! The peaches ripened around July 10, and by the time I picked them, they had ripened a bit much. I had wanted to learn how to make homemade jam for quite a while, and this became the perfect opportunity. I adapted the Sure-Jell package recipe to make this jam.

I have no idea what our peach variety is called... it has either dark red or white color on the inside.

Ingredients: (Makes 3 pint-sized jars)

4 cups diced peaches (about 12 whole peaches, peeled and pitted)
2 tbsp lime juice
5 cups white granulated sugar
3.5 tbsp Ball low or no-sugar needed pectin

I used Ball brand pectin. Got this from Safeway for about $5.

This is how pectin looks like. It helps solidify the jam and makes it set.

Tools:

Stock pot
Tongs
3 pint-sized Ball jars
Strainer
Non-stick pot (A non-stick pot is ideal for cooking the peaches, since the sugar doesn't stick to the bottom, as in a stainless steel pot.)

How to Make: (Takes about 2 hours.)

Pre-step: Remove lids & bands from jar. Sterilize glass jars in a stock pot filled with boiling hot water. Simmer lids and bands in separate pot.

1. Wash peaches. Cut an "X" on each peach (for easier peeling). Boil peaches in hot water. Transfer to ice water bath. Peel off skin. Dice peaches into either small or large chunks.

Boiling peaches in hot water to remove the fuzzy skin

2. Drain the excess water from the diced peaches through a mesh strainer. (You don't want too much water in the fruit, otherwise the jam will become like syrup.)

3. Boil peaches, lime juice, and pectin, STIRRING CONSTANTLY. 

4. Add sugar, STIRRING CONSTANTLY. Bring to boil for 1 minute, then immediately remove from heat. (You must boil for 1 minute, or the jam will become like syrup. Do not let the sugar stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat once boiled, otherwise you will get burnt jam!)

Burnt jam resulting from sugar sticking to bottom of stainless steel pot

This is good-looking, non-burnt jam.

5. Remove jars from stock pot. Ladle hot jam into hot jars. Seal the lids and bands on the jars.

6. Boil the filled jars for 10 minutes, if you are in a low altitude place. Increase boiling time if you are in higher altitudes.

7. Remove from pot and let cool. Jars should make a "pop" sound, indicating the jars are sealed. 

8. Refrigerate or store in a cool, dry place.

Vanilla Cupcakes (no butter)

I was so amazed when I found a recipe for vanilla cupcakes that does not require butter at all! The recipe I followed is here: http://natashaskitchen.com/2012/06/29/perfect-vanilla-cupcake-recipe/. I love how I have all the ingredients the recipe requires in my pantry. There is no last minute grocery shopping just for one thing. The light cupcake requires only oil, and it makes you feel good. The cupcakes turned out to have an elastic, bungee-like texture and moist, full of vanilla flavor interior. 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk + 1/2 teaspoon vinegar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

How to Make:

1. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil in mixer. 

2. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and milk.

3. Pour into baking cups, halfway full.

4. Bake for 12 minutes in a 350 °F oven.

5. Top with buttercream icing.

Chocolate Soufflé

I love how deliciously fancy this recipe is. It is chocolatey, airy, and sweet- topped with blackberries and powdered sugar, it is French gourmet dessert at home. I love French desserts and how they are delectable, distinguishable, and yet refined. With a touch of a spoon, the chocolate liqueur gushes out and you can't help but eat it in time before it all drips away.

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar + 1 tbsp per ramekin

3 eggs, separated

Cream of tartar, a pinch

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Powdered sugar, for dusting

How to Make:

1. Brush ramekins with butter & sugar

2. Whisk egg whites & cream of tartar

3. Melt chocolate & butter in a saucepan. Remove from pan. Let cool and add egg yolks.

4. Fold chocolate liqueur mixture + egg white mixture.

5. Bake approximately 15 minutes.

Green Tea + Flan Layer Cake

Is there such thing as an "Impossible" Cake aka the Chocoflan? The chocoflan is basically a chocolate cake with a flan layer on top. The moniker is ascribed to the fact that, how can the cake, when inverted, turn out to be on the bottom, when the cake and flan mixture were mixed together and baked together at the same time? Magic, right?

Previously, I made flan just by itself: http://cookingbanana.blogspot.com/2013/08/flan.html.

It was delicious, silky, and creamy all at once. Having succeeded in making flan, I wanted a new challenge. The mission impossible.

It was time to challenge myself on the actual date of my cousin's birthday. I was the designated cake chef, and I was running late. OH MY GOSH. Literally, it was 12 noon, and we were leaving for dinner at 4 PM. Was it possible to make a cake that I had never prepared before so soon?

Adding to the challenge, I wanted to make a green tea cake with flan. I knew my dessert devourers' palate was green tea, not chocolate. I couldn't find a recipe to appease my and my guests' appetite, so I decided to combine my knowledge of making green tea cake and flan, and hoped that the buoyancy principles did not only apply to chocolate but also green tea cake.

Most definitely, possible.

First steps:

1. Oil the fluted pan that you will bake the cake in. (Yes, you will need a fluted pan so that you can invert the cake later.)

2. Make the caramel. Medium heat the white sugar until melted. Be careful not to boil it too much, as the sugar easily burns.

3. Immediately remove from heat when melted and pour into prepared fluted pan.

4. While the caramel cools and hardens, make the Green Tea Cake layer next.

Ingredients for the Green Tea Cake layer:

Group A:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp green tea powder

Group B:

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup plain yogurt (or substitute 1 tbsp vinegar + 1 cup milk)

How to Make the Green Tea Cake layer:

1. Sift together Group A in a mixer.

2. Beat in Group B into Group A.

3. Pour cake batter into the fluted pan. 

4. Set aside while making the Flan layer next.

Ingredients for the Flan layer:

3 eggs

1 can condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 tbsp vanilla

How to Make the Flan layer:

1. Beat all the ingredients- eggs, condensed & evaporated milks, and vanilla- until incorporated. 

2. Pour the flan mixture into the fluted pan that already contains the Green Tea Cake layer and caramel. (Now here's the impossible part to this: the cake and flan mixtures are infused together for the moment, but after it gets baked in the oven, it separates into two distinct layers, inverted!!)

How to Bake the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

2. Prepare a hot water bath by pouring hot (not boiling) water into a larger pan that can hold the fluted pan. 

3. Place the fluted pan into the hot water bath.

4. Cover the fluted pan with aluminum foil.

5. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

6. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool. 

7. Run a knife along the edges of the cake to ease in letting the cake out, and invert the cake onto a larger plate. 

The result: 

Two distinct layers- top: flan, bottom: cake. 

How possible is that?!

Needham aka Potato Candy

Lobster and Needham candy, savory and sweet, foods well renowned in Maine. My mother bought me a Needham candy to go along with the lobster (as pictured below). Can you believe this candy is actually made out of potato?!

   

Filled with coconut flakes and drenched in chocolate, this was sure going to be a must-try and dessert after filling my stomach with two fresh, whole lobsters into my stomach individually during lunch at Docks Seafood in Portland, Maine, until I ate too much and couldn't finish the potato fries that came along with the meal and the Needham candy, so I packed them all into a to-go box saved for the long road trip to Boston, MA and when I got hungry I remembered the Needham candy and...

all along it was thrown away by my father at the restaurant because he thought the to-go box had nothing in it. Surprise!

Not. 

So, the picture where I'm holding that Needham candy is looks only... I never got to try it. So sad! And now I'm all the way back in California and 3,145 miles away from Needham candy and thus my only hope was to make it myself and hopefully gain an understanding of what that delicious sweet was all about.

   

Here's my attempt at emulating the distinctive Maine taste. 

In the end, I really enjoyed the sugary chocolate meets coconut taste. Despite the fact that potato is added, the powdered sugar takes away all the potato flavor, so the Needham basically tastes like a really sweet chocolate plus coconut brownie. Such a lovely taste of Maine!

Soufflé Pancakes

I miss eating Apple Brandy soufflé pancakes at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley, CA. How I miss the light, fluffy, eggy, soft, sweet but not too sweet, fat but not too fat, basically not your typical IHOP pancake... the soufflé pancake. This is MY breakfast on a Thursday morning. Oh I'm fancy huh? 

Ingredients: 

3 eggs, separated

• ½ cup soy milk

• 2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp sugar

• ¼ tsp salt
• Fruit for decorating

How to Make:

1. Beat egg yolks, soy milk, melted butter, all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt.

2. In an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.

3. Fold in the egg whites into the batter mixture.

4. Spread oil onto a cast iron skillet. Turn to medium heat.

5. Pour batter into cast iron skillet and heat for 5 minutes, up to the point where the bottom of the batter has solidified and cooked firm. 

6. Place into broiler on low heat and cook for 4 minutes or until light brown.

7. Serve with a dust of powdered sugar, honey, and slice of apple! 

My end result: the pancake wasn't as puffy as that of Bette's, most likely because I didn't add any fruit to the batter and/ or maybe because of the soy milk I used? I have yet to try this again... on a Sunday Thursday morning sumptuous brunch.

Zinfandel Grape Juice

For non-alcoholics only. 

I don't know about you, but I absolutely abstain from buying bottled juice such as Welch's. I just like everything fresh and made from scratch. I prefer to drink juice that I know does not require preservatives to remain fresh. Hence, I blended some Zinfandel (or I think they are, or maybe Merlot or some other cousin... they all look alike!) grapes which are meant for wine, but hey, I haven't gotten interested in wine tasting just yet, and secondly, I want to stay sober for morning breakfast.

Anyhow, here's what I did. I blended on high setting a plate full of grapes. You're probably thinking, there are a bunch of grape seeds and skins blended all together! I purposely kept the seeds and skins because of the high antioxidant content, and I personally believe it's a better choice than grape seed extract. Although the juice had a fair level of crunchy bits of seeds, it was actually quite tolerable when chilled with ice and paired with a snack. Well, cheers to a good morning!