Tres Leches Cake

This tres leches cake may not look like anything exciting but it really is. I've wanted to make a tres leches cake for years. But I must admit I was always scared of the cake being mushy because you pour a mixture of condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream over it. And when I say you pour it over the cake I mean you completely drench it. I was happy to find out the cake was actually really nice and moist, and NOT mushy - I'm thinking this works out well because the cake is kind of like angel food cake. Combined with the whipped cream on top, it was perfect. This is a really simple but unforgettable cake! Ree suggests topping the cake with maraschino cherries which I looooooove but I know not everyone feels the same so I left them off.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Maple-Walnut Cake
Lemon Lust Cake
Strawberry Cream Cake
Creamy Coconut Cake

Tres Leches Cake
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

1 cup All-purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoons Salt
5 whole Eggs, separated into yolks and whites
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/3 cups Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
1/4 cups Heavy Cream

FOR THE ICING:
1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes.

In an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk together the heavy cream and sugar until peaks form. Spread over the cake.

Roasted Red Pepper & Almond Hummus

I love sharing the food that I make on this website but as I've mentioned before, sometimes (okay more than sometimes), I get sick of taking photos of the food. Like when I made this hummus. I couldn't be bothered to put it in a separate container to showcase it better, and hey maybe it will be interesting for someone to see what my food processor looks like! By the way, I really don't like this food processor. It doesn't shred/grate very well (or I don't know what I'm doing - possible) and it has this place in the lid where food can shoot out of it (if that makes sense) and it always leaks out whatever I'm making.

Anyway! On to the hummus. Supremely delicious. I love the addition of roasted red peppers and almonds. I think this hummus takes the place of my old favourite hummus. It's really flavourful and tastes & feels really creamy. I've also tried the olive & sun dried tomato hummus from the same cookbook (Eat, Drink & Be Vegan) but wasn't a fan of that one.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Olive Tapenade
Cheddar Ale Dip
Grape Tomato Salsa
Pan-Fried Onion Dip

Roasted Red Pepper & Almond Hummus
Adapted from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

1/2 cup raw almonds (with skins on)
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups cooked chickpeas (about a 19oz can)
1/2 cup roasted red peppers (from jar), excess liquid drained or patted off
2 medium garlic cloves, sliced (less if you're not a super garlic person)
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2-4 tsp water (to thin dip as desired)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

In a food processor, add 1/2 cup almonds and pulse until very fine. Add vinegar, oil, chickpeas, roasted red peppers, garlic, salt and pepper. Puree until smooth, gradually adding water as desired to thin dip and scraping down sides of bowl several times. Once smooth, add parsley and puree briefly to lightly incorporated ingredients.

Peanut Butter Waffles

I love waffles. I've discovered they make a great snack so I freeze them and then toast them when I want some. These peanut butter waffles are excellent - not too sweet and definitely peanut butter-y. They're kind of "heavy" or dense - maybe somewhere between a waffle and a biscuit? I'm not sure how to describe it but they're really good and I will definitely make them again!

This picture is from around Christmas time. I need to take more Abby photos!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Gingerbread Waffles
Maple Pecan Muffins
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

Peanut Butter Waffles
Adapted from Vegan Brunch

Makes 4 six-inch round waffles or 6 four-inch square ones

3/4 cup natural peanut butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp oil
2 cups soy milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

Preheat your waffle iron. In a large mixing bowl, mix together peanut butter, maple syrup, and canola oil until well combined. Separately, mix together the milk and cornstarch in a measuring cup and add to the batter along with the vanilla.

Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix until the batter is relatively smooth.

Spray the waffle iron with cooking spray and cook waffles according to manufacturer's directions.

Hot Crossed Buns

I mentioned in my last post that I was planning on making hot cross buns and the lovely Johanna recommended her recipe, and it sounded good so I went with it! I love how everything is done by hand and not at all with a Kitchenaid mixer, though I know you can make any recipe really by hand but I don't know if I would've if it weren't written that way (ie. kneading by hand instead of a dough hook, mixing the butter in with my fingers). Am I making sense or just rambling on? Anyway, I was really happy with how these turned out! They were easy to make, nice and soft, and perfectly spicy - also delicious toasted! I chose to use candied dried fruit because that's what's in the ones my mom would buy, but next time I'll try chopping up some regular dried fruit. My only problem was with the crosses. I was hurrying to get them in the oven so I only ended up putting crosses on a couple of them. The flour/water mixture was so gloopy - I'll have to try again when I have more time to play around with it.

I've read about this method of forming rolls/buns into balls by stretching the skin around to the bottom. Which I found really hard to comprehend when I was reading about it and looking at photos, but I think I've got the hang of it now. I really should've taken process photos of these buns as they were rising and what not. I love how risen dough looks!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Buttermilk Honey Bread
Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread
Pecan Fruit Rye Bread
Golden Cinnamon Loaf

Hot Cross Buns
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

Makes 15 buns

4 1/2 tsp dried yeast
300ml milk, warmed
4 cups (600g) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
90g butter, chopped
225g container candied fruit mix
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Crosses:
1 cup (150g) plain flour
8-10 tbsp water

Glaze:
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Sprinkle yeast over warm milk. Stand 5 minutes til frothy.

Place flour and spices in the bowl and rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You could do it in the blender but it is quite a relaxing activity. Stir in fruit and sugar.

Whisk egg into milk and yeast mixture. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the milk mixture. Mix to a soft dough. Tip onto a lightly floured board. (This is a dough that hardly needs any flour.) Knead for approximately 10 minutes until smooth and elastic (this is the moment it should feel like an ear lobe). Use the heel of your hand to knead and put some good rocking music on the stereo and enjoy the rhythm.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Turn the dough in the bowl so it is covered with oil. Cover with cling wrap. Stand in a warm place til doubled in size – this should take about 45 minutes.

Punch down the dough – this is the fun bit! Knead a few minutes til the dough is smooth. Divide into 15 pieces and form each piece into a ball. Arrange close together on a tray and cover with a damp tea towel. Stand in a warm place til doubled in size – this should take about 40 minutes.

About 10-15 minutes before the buns have risen, prepare a baking tray (I used my swiss roll tray), preheat the oven (425F) and prepare the cross mixture. To make the cross mixture, mix the flour and water in a small bowl until it forms a paste. There is nothing worse than not having enough so this makes extra so you can refill if needed. Any piping equipment will do but it is quite a thick mixture so a really thin nozzle isn't recommended. Don’t worry - this mixture is tasteless. Once the glaze goes on at the end it tastes great.

Once the crosses are piped, put buns in the oven at 425F for 10 minutes. Then reduce to 400F and bake a further 7-10 minutes or until buns are browned and hollow when tapped.

About 10 minutes before the buns are cooked, prepare the glaze. To make the glaze, place sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1-2 minutes without stirring. Add spices.

When the buns come out of the oven turn out onto a wire rack. Brush glaze on to buns a few times to ensure they have a thick coating. You will have more glaze than you need so be quite generous with the glaze.

Autumn Panzanella

I know it's not autumn but once you try this salad you won't care that it's not season appropriate! (Well who does care when the food is good?) I'd never had panzanella (bread salad) before trying this recipe. The idea of always sounded kind of strange to me, plus I hate soggy bread so I didn't like the idea of putting dressing on a bread. But! How things changed once I tried this recipe. It's now one of my favourite meals! I'm so in love with the dressing - it tastes like stuffing with thyme, herbes de provence, sage and garlic. I love the acidity of the lemon juice and cider vinegar. I love the bits of roasted sweet potatoes and onions, chopped tomatoes and chickpeas. The original recipe calls for Parmesan cheese which I tried the first time but I think it's just as good without so I don't usually add it.

Happy early Easter! At the request of my mom, I'm going to attempt making hot cross buns for the first time. If you have a good recipe, please share!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Broccoli Slaw
French Pasta Salad
Mediterranean Pepper Salad
Portabello Salad with Mustard Dressing

Autumn Panzanella
Adapted from Phoo-D

Serves 4 as a main course or 8-10 as a side salad

Be sure to allow the finished dish to sit for an hour before serving. This is necessary for the flavors to fully develop, otherwise the bread will not have time to absorb the dressing and may taste rather bland.

Salad
10 cups cubed whole wheat bread (cut into 1" pieces) (Ashley note: I use whole wheat baguettes usually but use what you like.)
1 cup diced sweet potato (about 1 medium)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, cut into 1/2" wedges
2 cups diced fresh tomato (or a 14oz high quality can, drained)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 1/2 cups chickpeas, cooked

Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon herbes de provence

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, with a rack in the middle. Line a large rimmed baking pan with foil, and evenly spread the bread, sweet potato, and onion across the sheet. Drizzle 1/4 cup of olive oil over the baking pan, and then toss all ingredients so they are evenly coated with oil. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring the contents occasionally, until they are evenly toasted and the vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, assemble the dressing. Place olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sage, thyme, vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbes de provence in a blender. Blend in quick five second bursts, until the garlic is emulsified and the ingredients are well combined.

Once the bread and vegetables are toasted, place them in a large bowl along with the diced tomatoes, grated Parmesan (optional), chickpeas, and dressing. Gently toss all ingredients until they are well combined and the bread is evenly coated with dressing.

Cover the salad, and let it sit at room temperature for an hour, which will give the bread time to absorb the flavors of the salad. Once the flavors have melded together nicely, taste the salad to see if it needs any additional salt, pepper, or apple cider vinegar. Adjust seasonings to your taste, and serve.