Rolled Bread Recipe

May 17th, 2012

This Rolled Bread Recipe is so yummy, It can be just a snack in the afternoon or you can serve it as dinner since its filled with lots of goodies.

Also this recipe will make 2 big loaves.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH:

- 2 cups of warm milk (110F)

- 10 grams of rapid rise yeast (1 tbsp + 1 tsp)

- 800 grams of all purpose flour (about 5 cups + 3/4 cup)

- 3/4 cup of oil ( I used olive oil)

- 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING:

- 3 chopped tomatoes (squeezed and drained)

- 9 oz of chopped ham (you can actually add as much or as little)

- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1 cup of chopped green olives

- dry oregano (to your taste)

- Parmesan cheese (to your taste)

- salt and pepper (to your taste)

- 1 egg yolk to brush loaves

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Inside your KitchenAid Mixer bowl add half of the warm milk (1 cup), yeast and 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour, whisk  to combine it and cover it with a clean kitchen Towel. Let it rest for about 30 minutes.

Add the rest of the warm milk (you might need to rewarm it), oil and salt to the mix and start your mixer on speed 2 with the hook attachment on until all combined.

Start adding the rest of the flour, cup by cup, just until the dough stops sticking to your hands. A good way to test the dough is take a little piece  and squeeze it between your thumb and index finger, if it doesnt stick, the dough is ready, if it sticks add a little more flour and let the mixer keep doing the work.  You need to let the mixer work your dough for at least 10 minutes on speed 2 before testing the dough.

Spray a big bowl with cooking spray and transfer the dough. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest and rise for about 1 to 2 hours in a dry and warm place until it doubles size.

Once your dough has risen, sprinkle a little floour on a clean surface and pour the dough. Cut it in half and start rolling the 1st half with a rolling pin (not too thin) as much as you can keeping an oval shape.

Now lets add  filling, spread chopped ham all over, cheese, tomatoes, olives, oregano, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and start rolling the bread. You will do the same thing with the 2nd half.

On a baking sheet lay a piece of parchment paper and lay your rolled bread (you will need 2 baking sheets since the loaves are pretty big).

Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise again in a dry and warm place for about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Once bread has risen again, you will brush an egg wash on the top of the loaves ( 1 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of water ) and to the oven they go for about 40 minutes.

You can serve this bread hot or cold, its DELICIOUS either way!

Also you can be creative with the fillings, as long as you don’t put anything too liquid, otherwise the dough wont cook inside.

 

What you will need

 

Yeast, milk and flour

 

Yeast Mix 30 minutes later

 

Let your KitchenAid Mixer do all the work for you :-)

 

The dough is beautiful

 

Yeah its not sticking, that means its ready!

 

Into the clean bowl it goes

 

Almost 2 hours later... WOW

 

Chopped ingredients

 

Flour a clean surface

 

Cut the dough in half

 

Roll the 1st half

 

Add filling

 

Roll it and let it rise again

 

40 minutes in the oven and look at this!

 
Rolled Bread Recipe

 



PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP THIS LITTLE BOY!

May 8th, 2012
 
Hi friends. I don’t usually ask people do download any app or stupid games, but I am begging you to add this app. It helps support this little boy that is fighting against cancer for a long time and this week they got terrible news that his Cancer has spread out on his little body and there is no cure :-( PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help the way you can, if its downloading this app to add the picture badge to your profile picture on facebook or buying his little bracelets, calendars and etc from his paypal account. Please lets help!!!!
 
 

And here is a link to his paypal account:

Paypal Donaation Link

 
All the help is greatly appreciated!

Please repost this however you can.

Thank you!!!



My new Purchase, KitchenAid Mixer Professional 600

May 4th, 2012

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY. I finally got my KitchenAid Mixer Professional 600. I have to say its MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger, but its made to handle big quantities of flour and etc. It wont really mix well if it has too little on the bottom so for people that only cook for 2 or so this is not worth it.

On my case I make everything double so I can take it to my sister for her approval, lol.

If you plan on getting your KitchenAid Mixer Professional 600 and is interested in knowing how you can pay less please contact me. The Mixer tag price is over $500 but I teach you how to get it for about $300.

Lets get baking!

Look at my beauty :-)

 



Chocolate Ganache Rolled Cake Recipe

May 4th, 2012

 

This Chocolate Ganache Rolled Cake Recipe is extremelly easy to make on your KitchenAid Mixer. Its a very heavy cake and on the dry side, if you prefer a wet cake then just soak the cake with a little bit of water and sugar, or your favorite juice or even water, sugar and some type of Liquor.

INGREDIENTS:

- 6 eggs

- 1/2 cup + 1/3 of a cup of sugar (180g)

- 1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour (180g)

- 2 packages of milk chocolate Morsels (326g each)

- 1 can of table cream

- powdered sugar

- optional, chocolate shavings and powdered sugar to decorate the cake

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Lets start with the cake:

Preheat oven to 355F.

Separate the egg whites from the yolk. Reserve Yolk.

On your KitchenAid Mixer bowl add egg whites and with the wire whip attachment on, start whipping the eggs on the maximum speed until its nice and firm. Transfer the egg whites into a different bowl and reserve.

Back on the KitchenAid Mixer bowl add yolk and sugar and whip the mixture until creamy and becomes light yellow color.

Turn speed down and start adding the flour until all combined.

Turn off the mixer. Now we are going to start folding the egg whites into the mixture with the help of a spatula VERY GENTLY, Lets start with only 1/3 of the egg whites until combined and another 1/3 and finally the last.

The way you should fold in the egg whites is with the spatula always starting in one side and bringing to the bottom and flipping the batter over it. We don’t want to loose the fluffiness from the egg whites so that is the reason why you need to fold it very gently and mixing well only 1/3 of the mixture at a time until all combined.

Once the batter is well mixed you will get a cookie baking sheet (17″ x 11″) and lay a piece of parchment or wax paper over the bottom and pour the batter over it. With a spoon spread the batter evenly over the bottom of the baking sheet (don’t worry if you think its not enough batter, we want a very thin layer of cake) then run your index finger over the sides of the baking sheet (this will help shape your cake and it will make much easier for you to release the cake from the baking sheet).

To the oven it goes for about 15 minutes. Once the cake is ready You need to sprinkle powdered sugar over a clean kitchen towel, then flip your cake over this towel and start pulling the wax paper away (gently). Once paper is removed you need to start rolling this cake when its still warm so it will keep its shape. You can use the towel to help you roll the cake.

Now that the cake is rolled lets start making the filling.

On a double boiler ( a small pot with water on medium heat on your stove, place a clean bowl over it and pour chocolate) melt your chocolate. Once its melted you can add the table cream and mix it well by hand (the mixture will become hard so keep mixing it) place this mixture in your fridge until it starts getting hard.

Once the chocolate is harder, place this in your KitchenAid Mixer bowl and with the wire whip attachment on, start whipping it on the highest speed until nice and creamy.

Unroll your cake and soak it with a brush if you want it wet or just skip this step and pour half of the filling over the cake. With the back of a spoon start spreading the chocolate evenly but leave some room on the sides so when you roll it,  it wont squeeze out. Cut ends of the cake to make it look sharp and square.

Lets start rolling the cake again, this time put a little pressure (you can use the towel again to help your roll it). Once rolled, transfer the cake over to a plate and start spreading the rest of the chocolate cream over it and to the sides covering it completely.

Now you can decorate it however you prefer. On my case I used chocolate shavings that I shaved using my KitchenAid Mixer Attachment (slicer) and then I dusted some powdered sugar then a strawberry on the top and PERFECT!

What you will need

 

After you whip your egg whites, this is a good test to make sure its firm, flip the bowl and it doesn't fall its ready.

 

Look how firm it is

 

Egg yolks and sugar became a fluffy cream

 

Batter is almost ready, next step is incorporate egg whites into the batter

 

Fold in only 1/3 of egg whites at a time

 

After mixing all the egg yolks the batter looks nice and smooth

 

Run your index finger all the way around the sides

 

Over a clean kitchen towel with sprinkled powdered sugar lay your cake and start pulling the wax paper off

 

Start rolling the cake, you can use the Kitchen towel to help you

 

Leave it rolled like this until filling is ready

 

Melting chocolate on a double boiler

 

Once melted mix in table cream

 

To the fridge it goes

 

Lets whip the chocolate into a fluffy cream

 

Look how lighter and fluffier the chocolate looks

 

Spread half of the filling over the cake with the back of a spoon

 

Roll the cake again and cut the tips off

 

Pour the other half and decorate however you prefer

 
Chocolate Ganache Rolled Cake Recipe

 



Yummy Pizza by Ana Paula Rivera

May 1st, 2012

I get so ecstatic when I see how happy people get whenever their dish is ready, looking great and tasting even better and to see how surprise everyone gets whenever they get a KitchenAid Mixer and they realize how easy life can be in the kitchen.

Here is a picture of the pizza dough recipe I posted with a different and DELICIOUS topping made by Ana Paula Rivera.

Paula  made 2 pizzas with the recipe and has dough leftover for another one.

She made 1 pizza with tomato and basil and another one with mushrooms, caramelized onions and Brie cheese, sounds yummy uh?

Its so much fun to come up with your own idea and mix of toppings.

Please keep recipes and pictures coming people.

Lets get baking!

 



Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

April 25th, 2012

This Strawberry Shortcake Recipe is a semi homemade recipe, but I guarantee everyone will be amazed by it.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 package of strawberries

- 1 package of short cake (you will find it in the fruit department of your local store)

- 1 small container of heavy whipping cream

- 1 tablespoon of rum or brandy or any liquor you prefer

- a few tablespoons of sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

 

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Put your KitchenAid Mixer bowl and wire whisk attachment in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

Lets start washing the strawberries and slicing it (reserve about 6 whole strawberries for decoration). Once they are sliced add a couple tablespoons of sugar and mix it well, reserve.

On a 1/2 cup of water add rum or your prefered liquor, brush this mixture on your cake.

Once your KitchenAid Mixer bowl and wire whisk attachment are super cold, pour Heavy cream and start whipping it on medium high speed, once it becomes thicker add vanilla extract and sugar, I would do maybe 2-3 tbsp of sugar.

When your whipping cream forms hard peaks its ready, Pour it into a pipping bag with your preferred tip on.

Lets pipe the whipping cream on the soaked cake making a round circle on the outside of the cake, leave the middle open so you can create a little bed for your strawberries.

Drain the sliced strawberries and add into this whole you made with the whipping cream. Now pipe the whipping cream on a swirl over the sliced strawberries and decorate it with the strawberry on the top. I used edible golden glitter to make a fancy look, use your creativity to decorate your strawberry shortcake!

A super fancy dessert that you can make on a blink of an eye and taste like heaven!

 

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

 



Chocolate & Dulce de Leche French Macaroons Recipe

April 24th, 2012

Chocolate & Dulce de Leche French Macaroons Recipe, what can I say? DELICIOUS!!!! You need extra attention and patience when making these, since they are so delicate but you WILL NOT regret it.

I got this recipe from a fellow blogger that used grams instead of cups so I adapted this to make it easy for you that don’t have a kitchen scale at home :-)

Also you will need to find almond flour at your store or you will need a food processor to grind  almonds.

INGREDIENTS:

- 3/4 cups of raw almonds, without skin if you prefer your macaroons more delicate or 110g if you have a scale (or same measurement on almond flour)

- 1 1/3 cup of powdered sugar or 200g if you have a scale

- 3 eggs or 90g if you have a scale (I used XL eggs, I think large would be perfect)

- 3 tablespoons of sugar or 40g if you have a scale

- 2 tablespoon of good quality cocoa powder

- pinch of cream of tartar

- 1 can of dulce de leche

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Preheat your oven to 300F.

Lets start putting  the raw almonds into a food processor with the powdered sugar and cocoa powder all together and grind it until it becomes a powder (if you are using almond flour, skip this step og griding, just mix it all) then reserve it.

Now on your KitchenAid Mixer with the wire whisk attachment on add egg whites and start beating them on speed 4 on your mixer until it starts foaming, then add cream of tartar and wait until it starts forming soft peaks, then its time to start adding the sugar, little by little, giving time to incorporate the sugar into the egg whites before adding more. Once your egg whites form firm peaks your egg whites are ready.

We need to sift the flour mixture into the egg whites, you will notice once the powder falls into the egg whites you will be left over with big pieces of almonds, Put it back into the food processor and grind it again until  becomes powder, sift it into the Egg whites and if there is any left over repeat the process until its all gone. DO NOT add the big pieces of almonds into the egg whites, otherwise your macaroons will not work.

With the help of a spatula, its time to start mixing it, do not worry about the bubbles from the egg whites, we want to get rid of some. Once its all combined, the easiest way to test to see if this dough is ready to be shaped is spooning a tiny little bit into a plate, If the peak goes away within 10 seconds its ready if not stir a bit more to loose some of the bubbles and try it again. Once its ready, pour this mixture into a pipping bag with a round tip on, or you can use a Ziploc bag and cut of the tip.

Lay a piece of wax paper on your cookie sheet and its time to pipe the cookies on it. ATTENTION, make sure you leave plenty of room in between, because I made the mistake of not leaving enough room and once the batter was on the cookie sheet it spread out and and It was a mess, I had to throw that batch away :-(

Once they are on the baking sheet, you need to let them dry at room temperature until the top feels dry, the time will depend, it can be from 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes depending on the humidity.

After dried, bake it for about 20 minutes or until the shine from the top goes away.

Let them cool down and start pulling them gently from the wax paper. They might stuck a little bit to the paper, but be patience and I promise they will come off.

Now its time for the filling, with a butter knife spread enough dulce de leche in one side of the cookie and top it with another and put a little pressure to spread the dulce de leche inside, just please be gentle because they are very delicate.

Your macaroons are ready, the best taste will be 1 day after since the dulce de leche will mix into the cookie and make the outside crunchy and the inside soft.

Yummmm

 

What you will need

 

Notice the cups are not overfilled

 

After griding almonds, cocoa powder and powder sugar

 

Sifting the flour mixture into the egg whites

 

Throw the big pieces of almonds back on the food processor until it becomes powder again

 

Once egg whites foams, add cream of tartar

 

Look at thew soft peaks, Its time to add sugar, little by little

 

Look at the hard peak, that means egg whites are ready

 

Lets mix it all together

 

Batter looks beautiful

 

Testing the texture, no peaks after 10 seconds, that means its ready!

 

I used a pipping bag with a round tip on

 

Wax paper on your cookie sheet

 

Its time to pipe the batter on cookie sheet

 

Let it dry until the top feels dry

 

As you can see on this batch it was a disaster, make sure you leave enough rom in between

 

Problem fixed!

 

Spread Dulce de leche in one side and top it with another cookie

 

A little gentle pressure to spread the dulce de leche

 

And Its beautiful!

 

If they taste delicious today, wait until tomorrow.... They will be even better

 
Chocolate & Dulce de Leche French Macaroons Recipe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Italian Buttercream Icing Recipe

April 8th, 2012

This Italian Buttercream Icing Recipe, is so fluffy and light (not light in calories) that it makes a total difference. Its a little scary in the beginning because it curdles up and you think it went bad, but keep whipping and you will see how it pulls together and becomes a wonderful frosting for your cakes and cupcakes.

You can also add food coloring and flavor if you prefer.

For this recipe you will need a candy thermometer and a pastry brush.

I used this recipe for my 15 cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes and it was enough for all.

INGREDIENTS:

- 6 egg whites

- 1/4 cup of water

- 1 1/8 cup of sugar

- 1 1/2 cups of cold unsalted butter cut in slices (3 sticks)

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or your favorite flavor)

- food coloring

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Put the egg whites into your KitchenAid Mixer bowl and attach the wire whip attachment.

On a glass or cup add water and ice and let your pastry brush sit in the cold water while you prepare the syrup.

On a small pot on medium high heat add sugar and water and whisk it just until you start feeling the sugar ganules are dissolved. Once it starts boiling DONT TOUCH IT ANYMORE, all you are going to do is brush the sides of the pot with the brush dipped in cold water to dissolve the crystals that are forming on the sides of the pot. Put the Candy Thermometer in, once its starts boiling turn on your mixer to the highest speed and whip the eggs.

When your thermometer hits 240F turn off the heat. Once the egg whites are fluffy and forming peaks you can pour the hot syrup over the egg whites and keep whipping it until the bowl feels cool to the touch, this will take around 15 minutes. (make sure you wipe the botom of your pot for any water, if any water gets into the eggs it may ruin your frosting).

Once your bowl feels cold, turn down your mixer to speed 2 and start adding the butter, slice by slice and also the vanilla (or your preferred flavoring), DO NOT BE SCARED, your frosting will be soupy and will start to curdle up, KEEP WHIPPING IT!!!

You will see that it will start to thicken up and it will look almost like cottage cheese, dont worry, keep whipping. After a while you will notice that your buttercream will start forming and will be smooth and fluffy. Once it becomes smooth and thick, you can turn off your mixer. If you like you can add food coloring at this point.

Fill a piping bag with yout favorite tip on and start frosting those cupcakes or your big cake.

I hope you like this frosting, its perfect for wedding cakes or birthday cakes as well.

 

 

Brushing the sides of the pot with cold water to dissolve sugar crystals

 

Once it hit 240F its ready

 

Pour it over your egg whites and keep whipping it, this will "cook"your egg whites

 

After the bowl feels cool to the touch your egg whites should look like this

 

Once you start adding the butter, your mix will be soupy

 

Starting to curdle...

 

This is normal, don't freak out!

 

It gets worse before it gets better :-)

 

Now its starting to look like buttercream

 

Phew, its working...

 

Finally, nice and fluffy

 

I added some food coloring and frosted my cupcakes with different tips

 

 

I made the stars with fondant and food coloring

 

My beautiful rose cupcake

 

So cute

 

I made mini cupcakes as well

 
Italian Buttercream Icing Recipe


Cake Pop Maker

April 6th, 2012

I was not completely sold on the cake pop maker, but not getting my hands dirty crumbling cake, mixing frosting and rolling balls, sounded like a pretty good idea to me.

So I bought the ” Babycakes cake pop maker” and the 1st time I used it I wasn’t very impressed but after doing a HUGE research on line for best methods of using the machine and better recipes and hints I can say I am happy now.

I am posting the final result for the 2nd time I made Cake Pops, and in my opinion they look beautiful, but there are some secrets about it that I did not know and I could not find on line.

I will post the recipes as I try them out and  YES I use my KitchenAid Mixer to make the batter.

This machine is quick, sometimes too quick so I learned that if you buy one of those squeezable containers, it will allow you to be faster pouring your batter into the cake pop maker, this will avoid browning the bottom and not the top.

Also, I was not filling all the way and my cake pops weren’t touching the top of the cake maker so It wasn’t browning on the top.

The light switch that’s shows your cakes are ready doesn’t work, so you really have to time it. But I learned midway I take the little fork that came with the maker and flip it so this will it will brown evenly then I stick a toothpick in the middle and if it comes clean, its ready!

You can freeze the cake pops to use some other time without any issues (whithout frosting, just the cake).

Now, this is the coolest Part EVER, I learned what candy melts are for, and oh boy are they fun…. I LOVE IT!!!! Now get this…. You know how difficult working with chocolate can be, if you sprinkle a little bit of Paramount Crystals in your Candy melts or chocolate it will become thinner and easier to cover your cake pops, you can find the Crystals at bakery supply stores… Its beautiful, you sprinkle a little bit and mix it and see how thin it looks, you don’t want it too think or too thick, so sprinkle little by little.

Then you can either pour the Candy melts on bags with a tip on and do your own design or just sprinkle your chocolate sprinkles or pearls, whater floats your boat.

AWESOME!!! I love making cake pops now!!!!

Here is the Baby Cakes Cake Pop Maker, This makes 12 cake pops at a time (much better than the ones that only makes 6)

 

And the final result

 

Cake Pop Maker



Light Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

March 31st, 2012

This Light Shepherd’s Pie Recipe cuts down a few calories using ground Turkey instead of beef and using a few shortcuts to give you a great taste of Shepherd’s Pie with less calories.

* If you like more meat on your Shepherd’s pie you can double everything on this recipe (but the potatoes).

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 package of ground Turkey (1.25 lbs)

- 1 small can of tomato sauce (8 oz)

- 8 medium size potatoes

- 4 small carrots (or medium size)

- 1 cup of sliced mushrooms (you can use more if you prefer, also you can use frozen)

- 1 Roma tomato (optional)

- 1/4 onion chopped

- 1 garlic clove chopped

- green onion and cilantro

- salt and pepper to taste

- 2 to 3 tablespoons of light butter or margarine

- enough milk for the mash potatoes

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- Parmesan cheese

- shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese

HOW TO MAKE IT:

Lets start washing the potatoes and cutting it into chunks, the way I prefer is small chunks to be faster. Once they are cut, set it into a big pot and cover them with enough water and let them boil on medium high heat until you stick a fork in a few and they fall a part (soft). Then drain it and put the drained potatoes on your KitchenAid Mixer Bowl and reserve.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

But while your potatoes are boiling you can start preparing the turkey. Lets chop the veggies.

Peel your carrots, wash it and on a cutting board you are going to cut them in half and then half again, then you will chop it, they will look like little squares. Reserve it.

Chop your Onion, garlic, green onion, cilantro, mushroom and tomato, but just make sure you leave all the veggies separated since you will add them at different times.

Now, on pan over medium high heat add olive oil and onions and let them turn into a light golden brown color then add garlic and let it cook for about 1 minute and add turkey.

Once Turkey is cooked completely Its time to add carrots and let it cook for another minute. Add now  mushrooms and let it cook for another minute. Add  tomatoes and  tomato sauce as well as green onions, salt and pepper, turn down your heat to medium low and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes uncovered.

Lets make the mashed potatoes. Add the Paddle Attachment to your KitchenAid Mixer. Into the bowl with potatoes add  light butter or margarine, milk, salt and pepper and start your mixer on low speed for at least 1 minute. Once your potatoes are pretty much mashed, you can raise the speed and start adding more milk if you need and scrape the sides of the bowl (you don’t want your mashed potatoes too liquid, they have to be more solid for this dish, so try to use less milk) once your mashed tastes good turn off your mixer and reserve it.

Once your carrots are cooked your turkey is ready, turn the heat off and add the chopped cilantro into the mix.

Spread the turkey on a 13×9 baking sheet covering completely the bottom. Now spoon the mash potato all over the top of the turkey and start spreading the mash potato all over covering the turkey mixture.

Once you cover it all, sprinkle the shredded cheese over the mash potato and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over it.

To the oven it goes for about 10-15 minutes or until the cheese on the top becomes golden brown.

Your dish is ready.

This is such a delicious dish wish less calories than the usual Shepherd’s Pie. There is no reason why you cannot have a nice warm comforting meal :-)

What you will need + parmesan and shredded cheese

 

Chopping the carrots

 

Once potatoes are cooked Its time to mash

 

Perfect Mashed Potatoes on my KitchenAid Mixer

 

The ground turkey and veggies mix is cooked and ready

 

Spread it on the bottom of your baking sheet

 

Cover it with the mashed potato

 

Sprinkle shredded cheese and parmesan cheese

 

Your layers should look like this, BEAUTIFUL!

 

About 10-15 minutes later, your light Shepherd's Pie is ready

 

Look how pretty, and soooooo good!!!!

 
Light Shepherd’s Pie Recipe