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    Food & DIY

    Chocolate Cake with Honey Roasted Apricots

    May 11, 2015
    If there’s one way that I know how to tell my friends and family that I love them, it’s by baking them something delicious. That is why it was a no-brainer to bake my mom a cake in celebration of Mother’s Day this weekend. This chocolate cake with honey roasted apricots definitely received my mother’s approval and, if anything, the amount of effort I put into it definitely demonstrated to her how much I care.
    I went a bit out of my comfort zone with this recipe. Aside from the cake recipe, which I adapted from this Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe on the Free People Blog, I decided to experiment with making the frosting and roasted apricots. Whenever I try out this method, I usually end up having to make modifications and start all over again. Thankfully, I managed to get this recipe just right on the first try and saved myself multiple trips to the grocery store. My mom and family really enjoyed this recipe, and you know that you’ve baked something yummy when you immediately start receiving cake requests for upcoming birthdays.
     
    CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH HONEY ROASTED APRICOTS
    (Serves 10-12 people)
    CHOCOLATE CAKE
    Adapted from Free People Blog
    3 3/4 cups of flour
    2 1/4 cups of sugar
    1 cup of cocoa powder
    1 tbsp of baking soda
    1 1/2 tsp of salt
    1 cup of olive oil
    1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
    3 cups of warm water
    1 tbsp of bourbon vanilla extract
    WHIPPED CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
    1 lb of cream cheese
    2 cups of heavy whipping cream
    1/2 cup of sugar
    1 tbsp of bourbon vanilla extract
    HONEY ROASTED APRICOTS
    8-10 small apricots
    1/4 cup of honey
    1/4 cup of olive oil
    1 tbsp of cinnamon
    Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, warm water and bourbon vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture has a smooth texture. Transfer the mixture into a large circular baking pan and bake for approximately 60-70 minutes. Let the cake cool to room temperature.
    In a bowl combine the cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, sugar and bourbon vanilla extract. Use a handheld mixer to whip the ingredients until the mixture has a thick and creamy consistency.
    Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the apricots and place them in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine the honey, olive oil and cinnamon. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the sliced apricots and mix the two together; you want the apricots to be completely covered in the wet ingredients. Spread the apricots evenly on a greased baking pan and bake them for 15-20 minutes. Let the roasted apricots cool to room temperature.
    Slice the chocolate cake into two halves and place the top layer aside. Spread half of the frosting mixture on top of the first cake layer and then spread half of the roasted apricot slices. Place the second layer on top of the first and decorate it with the remaining whipped cream cheese frosting and roasted apricots.
    Enjoy!
    —
    I hope you all liked this recipe. Please let me know how you like it if you ever give it a try!
    xoxo,
    Helen
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    Food & DIY

    Bacon and Gouda Cheese Croquetas

    February 25, 2015
    I studied abroad in Madrid about 5 years ago during my junior year of college, and one of the things that I miss most about the experience is all the delicious Spanish food that I had during my short stay. I lived with a wonderful host mom named Pilar, and she was kind enough to cook up a variety of Spanish dishes for my roommate and me. Out of all the wonderful food that Pilar introduced me to, my favorite had to be her recipe for croquetas(croquettes). For those of you who haven’t had croquetas before, I would describe them as delicious bites of fried dough mixed with anything from chicken, jamón serrano or cheese. They do take a bit longer to make than most recipes, but the extra work is definitely worth it. My biggest regret is not asking Pilar for her recipe before I left Spain. Fortunately, I found a recipe on Hungry Sofia that was easy enough for me to follow, and I adapted it this weekend to make delicious Bacon and Gouda Cheese Croquetas. Today I’m sharing this recipe with you so that you can learn how to make these delicious bites for yourself.

     

    Recipe adapted from Hungry Sofia Blog
     
    Bacon and Gouda Cheese Croquetas
    INGREDIENTS
    (Makes 20-24 large croquetas)
    12 oz of bacon (cooked and chopped)
    3/4 cups of cubed Gouda cheese
    2 1/2 cups of milk
    1/2 cup of flour
    6 Tbsp of butter
    Salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg
    4 eggs (beaten)
    2 cups of bread crumbs
    DIRECTIONS
    Mix the bacon and Gouda cheese in a food processor or a blender until they form a paste.
    In a small pan, melt the butter on low heat. Once the butter is completely melted, begin to slowly stir in the flour until it forms a thick sauce. Only do this for a couple of minutes to keep the mixture from burning.
    Heat the the milk in another pan until its warm, but don’t let it come to a boil. Pour the milk unto the butter and flour mixture and stir it until it begins to thicken and forms a doughy texture. Remove from heat and then fold in the bacon and Gouda cheese paste into the mixture. Make sure to add a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg as you’re mixing in all the ingredients.
    Leave the mixture in the pan and let it cool down to room temperature. Once it’s cool, store it in the fridge for at least an hour. This will make it easier for you to work with the mixture once it comes down to making the croquetas.
    Once you’re ready to make the croquetas, you’re going to take out the dough mixture out of the fridge and place the beaten eggs and bread crumbs in separate bowls. Use a large spoon to scoop out the mixture from the pan and roll it into a ball shape. Dip each croqueta into the egg mixture and then roll it in bread crumbs until its completely covered. Do this until you’ve used up all the dough.
    Pour about 1.5-2″ of oil in a large frying pan and set to medium heat. Dip the croquetas and use a fork to turn them over until they are browned on all sides. Transfer the croquetas unto a paper towel and let the excess oil drain. And now you’re ready to serve these delicious treats!
    —-
    I really hope that you all enjoyed this recipe post. I’m so happy that I now have more time to work on creating content like this for the blog. Although it’s fun to dress up once a week and take pictures, there’s something more satisfying for me about documenting a project from beginning to end. I started this blog as a way to improve my skills set, and so far I have learned so much. However, I’m really looking forward to improving my photography and finding new ways to be creative as I begin to add more DIY and recipe posts to my little corner of the internet.
    On a different note, I hope you’re all having a great week so far. I have the day off today and I’m going to spend part of it watching the series finale of my favorite show Parks and Recreation. The show is so funny and I love how much the characters have grown over the years. The current season has also been extremely touching and has brought me to tears so many times. I just really hope that the show has a good ending. Since I’ll probably have watched the final episode once comments start rolling into this blog, I’d love to hear what you all thought of the finale if you happen to keep up with the show.
    xoxo,
    Helen
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    Food & DIY

    Berry, Almond and Chocolate Overnight Oats

    February 11, 2015

    My goal this year is to get back on track with my health and develop/relearn better habits.  I used to be the type of person that woke up at 6 A.M. in the morning to workout and I always made time to eat a healthy breakfast. I’m not quite sure what triggered me to change that routine last year, but at some point in time I did. This change eventually took a toll on my body and, last year, I was sick more often than I had ever been before. Although I hope to eventually be able to wake up early enough to workout and eat breakfast at home, I know that I don’t have that discipline to do that right now.  One of the changes that has helped me get back on track–at least when it comes to eating breakfast in the morning–is preparing breakfast that I can take with me to work. Overnight oats have been a great addition to my diet because they make for an easy and delicious on-the-go breakfast, and I like that it’s easy to experiment with different ingredients and proportions. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite overnight oats combinations:

     

    Berry, Almond and Chocolate Overnight Oats
    Ingredients
    3/4 cup of dried oats
    1/2-3/4 cup of mixed berries (I used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
    A handful of sliced almonds
    A handful of chocolate chips
    1/2 cup to 3/4 cups of almond milk
    1 Tbsp of agave syrup (optional)
    To prepare this overnight oats recipe, simply pour all the dry ingredients into a half-pint mason jar, top off the jar with almond milk and agave syrup, and then store the mixture in the fridge overnight. Then simply grab the mason jar from the fridge on your way out the door in the morning. I really wasn’t kidding when I said this is an easy breakfast to prepare! You can enjoy overnight oats warm or at room temperature, but I like to eat this particular recipe when it’s cold. You don’t want the berries to get too pruny by popping them in the microwave.
    I hope that you enjoy this recipe. Now that I have a bit more time, I’m going really make an effort to include more recipe and DIY posts. Please let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to see on the blog. As always, thank you for reading and have an amazing rest of the week!
    xoxo,
    Helen
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