Peanut Butter + Chocolate = YUMMY

Aside from baking and blogging my latest creation, another hobby of mine is scouring the net for new interesting recipes to choose from. I spend hours everyday just reading food blogs. I first stumbled upon Smitten Kitchen around two years ago, when she made a Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Glaze. Phew! such a long title, but she had me a "Chocolate" :P

I've been putting off making this recipe since it calls for 3 pans and I only got 2 and my oven is a standalone electric kind and it wouldn't fit all three pans inside, it can barely hold 2 pans in. Throwing caution to the wind, I went ahead and made this with 2-9-in. round cake pans, I mean I've been putting it off for quite sometime now and I really want to know how it will taste like. Luckily I have a tub of sour cream sitting in the fridge waiting for me. I don't often buy sour cream because I get anxious when I know something in the fridge spoils quickly like sour cream if I don't use it ASAP.

Intense Chocolate Ice Cream

Ever since my godmother C hand carried the ice cream maker, I've been forever obsess with finding the best chocolate ice cream there is. I know in the blog sphere, ice cream is synonymous to David Lebovitz, I'm read his blog regularly and I find him entertaining. I always find his entries humorous and informative. There are always pictures and most of the time there are recipes. My favorite recipes to try are his ice cream and chocolate creations. I know there are millions of ice cream recipes over the internet however I find his recipes though a bit complicated sometimes but it always work. All the puttering around in the kitchen seems to be all worth it. Some of David's ice cream recipe that I have tried are Malted Milk and Frozen Yogurt, these are a nice addition to your ice cream repertoire. I often make the malted milk ice cream when I'm feeling nostalgic and the frozen yogurt when I'm trying to be healthy and eat less. Hey I can't survive without dessert. I can't imagine myself being cut off from any sweets. This ice cream though I make it whenever I want to indulge because these are really pure indulgence. 

Studded Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

The first time I knew about Elinor Klivans was through Martha Stewart. Being an avid Martha fanatic, I see to it everyday after work I get the chance to see her program. Several months ago, Klivans book called Cupcakes! got a special mention because of this Hi Hat Cupcake. Doesn't it look gorgeous or what! Every since then, I have most of her books. I find her recipes easy to do and yet the presentation and the taste is quite impressive. But this post isn't about that gorgeous creation, but regarding her scrumptious Blueberry Cheesecake Bars. I've been making cheesecakes for many years now but this is the first time that I made it using a 9x13 pan, this means this is great feeding a huge crowd. One thing I learned in my many years of cheesecake making is that always, ALWAYS make sure that everything is at room temperature so that everything will get incorporated properly. My family  had a misfortune of eating a not so well mixed cheesecake. It taste a bit off. They were kind enough to say that it's good but  then lucky my sis C told me that it was a bit off and she was right. After that incident I always take a nibble on anything I make so that I'm sure to be serving something edible.

Red Velvet Madness

Although the Philippines was under the colony of America for a mere 48 years, colonial mentality is prevalent here. In my case for example, I much prefer watching American TV series, American soaps operas and American made films, I just find their plot much interesting although not all the time, especially in soap operas sometimes they can be a bit cheesy to just like local soap operas here. What I find most interesting about America is their food! They have all kinds of food, though not all are healthy some are literally quite deadly but I would love to move to the United States just to be able to try their food one day at a time.

For now, I have to be satisfied with creating American sort of treats in the comforts of my kitchen. One of the American treat that I find intriguing is the Whoopie Pie, maybe because it kind of resembles Mallomars (locally known as Mallows), remember those marshmallow with biscuit based treats that’s smothered with chocolate. When I was a kid I remember saving my allowance to buy a piece for snack. I always had whoopee pie recipe as one of my should bake pile, however what gave me the pushed was when I saw the Red Velvet Whoopie Pie with a Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting, who could say no to that? I definitely couldn’t and would be absolutely crazy if I try to resist it.

Up & Running

Finally got my Mac from Apple store! Can't wait to start blogging again.