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Dessert

    Food & DIY

    Toasted Coconut and Chocolate-Glazed Doughnuts

    I had never made doughnuts until a couple of weeks ago on National Doughnut Day, and I was surprised at how easy they are to make. I have to admit that I’m not much of a doughnut person, and I actually don’t have much of a sweet tooth unless it comes to chocolate. But, what I really liked about this cake donut recipe that I adapted from About.com, was that it wasn’t overly sweet. Some of my coworkers, who were the lucky recipients of these tasty treats, also raved about the taste and moist texture of these doughnuts. Their praise made me super happy, because what I love the most about making something yummy is being able to put a smile on another person’s face. That being said, I really hope that you enjoy this recipe.
    TOASTED COCONUT AND CHOCOLATE-GLAZED DOUGHNUTS
    Adapted from ABOUT.COM
    INGREDIENTS:
    DOUGHNUT:
    2 cups of flour
    1/2 cup of sugar
    1 teaspoon of salt
    1 tablespoon of baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
    1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
    2 tablespoons of melted butter
    1/2 cup of milk
    1 egg beaten
    1 quart of oil for frying
    CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
    4 tablespoons of cocoa powder
    3/4 cup of powdered sugar
    2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
    3 tablespoons of milk
    TOPPING:
    Toasted Coconut
    1. Heat oil in a large pan at low-to-medium heat. You don’t want the oil to get too hot, or it will immediately burn up the dough–trust me, I know this from experience!
    2. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
    3. Pour in the melted butter into the bowl, and stir it in until the mixture develops a crumbly texture.
    4. Stir in the milk and egg into the mixture, and then knead the dough until smooth.
    5. Place the dough unto an area prepared with flour, and pat it down until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
    6. Use either a doughnut cutter or two separate biscuit cutters (1 large and 1 small) to cut out the doughnuts.
    7. Carefully dip the doughnuts into the hot oil. Fry them for about 3 minutes, turning them over once during that time. Both sides of the doughnut should be lightly browned.
    8. Drain the doughnuts on a cooling rack over paper towels, and let them cool down until they are about room temperature.
    9. For the glaze, mix the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk in a bowl until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Once the doughnuts are at room temperature, you can apply the glaze by dipping them into the mixture.
    10. Finally, just top off the doughnuts with toasted coconut and then you’re done! You can find toasted coconut at some stores such as Trader Joe’s, or you can make your own by toasting 1-2 cups of shredded coconut at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes. To keep the coconut from burning, make sure to turn it over at least once during that time.
    —–
    I mentioned not so long ago that one of my personal goals was to focus more time on being creative. Spending time in the kitchen is definitely one of those activities that allows me to tap more into my creativity. I love adapting recipes and thinking of what ingredients could possibly enhance the taste of whatever it is that I’m making. I also really enjoy working on the presentation of food; with this particular recipe, I had so much fun experimenting with my camera and trying to take pictures that made these doughnuts look as good as they tasted.
    I have to say that I’m so glad that it’s already Wednesday! I’ve been in a rut this week, and am really looking forward to the weekend. Lately I’ve seriously been considering of applying to grad school or moving somewhere else–both are prospects that are super exciting to me! However, I’ve also been doubting my ability to move forward in life. Because of everything that’s going on in my head, I’ve been feeling really sensitive to things that other people say and do, and I’ve been letting them affect my mood in a negative way. I really just need to learn to just brush things off and push negative thoughts out of my mind. But, I guess that is a skill that comes with practice.
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace
    Food & DIY

    Vegan Mixed Berry and Caramel Crumble

    Even though I’m usually not a fan of sweets other than chocolate, recently I’ve had a major craving for pastries and baked goods. I think that I have Instagram and Pinterest to blame for my newfound sweet tooth, since I’m constantly being bombarded with pictures of delicious food over social media. Unfortunately, these days the weather in California is way too hot for me to even think about turning on the oven in my kitchen. In order to curve my craving for sweets, this weekend I decided to adapt a recipe for a Vegan Jewel Fruit Tart with Caramel Filling that I had made a while back for my friends’ New Year’s party. I love that this recipe is perfect for hot weather because it is super easy to make and your refrigerator takes the place of an oven.
    As you can probably tell from the title of this post, my adaptation didn’t turn out quite as I expected. As I was experimenting with making the crust, I realized that the mixture that I had made had a more crumbly texture than the one in the original recipe.  Since this blog is all about experimenting, instead of starting all over, I decided to keep the crust as is in order to see what I came up with. The result was this delicious Vegan Mixed Berry and Caramel Crumble that I now have the pleasure of sharing with you.
    VEGAN MIXED BERRY AND CARAMEL CRUMBLE
    INGREDIENTS:
    CRUST/CRUMBLE BASE
    2 cups of walnuts
    1/2 cup of shredded coconut
    1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates
    CARAMEL MIXTURE
    1/4 cup of almond butter
    1/4 cup of maple syrup
    1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
    1/2 tsp of cinnamon
    1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
    TOPPING
    Fresh of frozen berries of your choice
    INSTRUCTIONS:
    1. Blend 2 cups of walnuts, 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, and 1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates in a food processor until the mixture forms a paste-like texture.
    2. Pour the mixture unto a greased pan and press it against the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate this for 2 hours to allow the crumble base to harden.
    3. To make the caramel mixture, blend 1/4 cup of almond butter, 1/4 cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup of coconut oil, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract until smooth. Then, pour the mixture over the walnut and date crust.
    4. When ready to serve, place fresh or frozen berries on top of the mixture (If you let the berries sit on top of the crumble base for too long, the mixture might get soggy). You can serve the berry crumble alone, or with a side of ice cream.
    I hope that you like this recipe and that you find time to make it at home. If you do decide to make this at home, please leave me a comment and let me know how it turns out.
    Sincerely,
    Helen Grace