dessert Archives | Page 2 of 5

Peach and White Wine Sagu de Vinho

July 12, 2016

I’m happy to say that Fake Food Free has transitioned to the Substack Newsletter called Every Corner of the World.

I hope to see you there.

If you want Mexican or Latin inspired cuisine, this area has you covered regarding ingredients. Asian and Indian ingredients can be a lot harder to come by.

BUT, a new Indian supermarket opened here a few weeks ago. It makes me smile just to remind myself of my new shopping option.

I recently grabbed a basket and filled it to the brim with every ingredient I’d been missing for the past 8 months or so. One thing I quickly came across were tapioca pearls, or sago or sagu. It’s one ingredient that crosses over into Brazilian cuisine. I first learned of sagu de vinho when we lived there. If you click on that link, it will take you to a very old post from 2009 that features my first time making it at home.

Banana Sweet Rice with Caramel-Coffee Sauce

July 7, 2016

The first time I had sweet rice was when we traveled around Thailand in 2009. By sweet rice, I mean mango sticky rice. By had, I mean I ordered it at just about every location with it on the menu.

That stuff is the best of all dessert worlds in one — fresh mango, nutty, chewy rice and a heavy drizzle of rich sweetened condensed milk. It really broadened my vision of rice for dessert.

To be honest, I’ve never made it at home. That is mainly because I have yet to find a mango in the US that holds a candle to those that we ate in Southeast Asia and Brazil.

It came to mind, though, recently when I started talking with the organizers of the Fresno Food Expo.

I know. I didn’t realize there was a Fresno Food Expo until just this year.

Dark Chocolate Bark with Cashews, Coconut and Currants

June 14, 2016

This dark chocolate bark is studded with salted cashews, toasted coconut and dried currants. It makes a delicious dessert when paired with the Laphroaig 10 Year Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky I recently received for review.

If my Dad could total up the number of pounds of cashews he has received as Father’s Day gifts over the years, I have little doubt it could fill the back of a pick-up truck. There has always been something essential about a can of his favorite nuts being a part of his gifts.

I suspect my tendency to give food as a gift is rooted in this family practice. But these days, while my family tends to stick with things like cashews, our gift giving has expanded into the drink category.

Homemade Cherry Tarts with Cardamom and Vanilla Bean

May 6, 2016

There is no better way to celebrate cherry season than with these homemade cherry tarts! In this dessert, a whole grain crust is filled with sweet cherries that have been brightened with cardamom and vanilla bean.

Most often the recipes I develop are based on an ingredient or meal that has inspired me. But on some rare occasions, they come about because of a prop I want to use in the photo.

When my parents visited us earlier this year, my mom accompanied me on some prop shopping at the local vintage shops. I was thrilled to have her along because most of the time this is a solo outing for me. I just can’t seem to find anyone else who cheers over scoring a great deal on a tarnished vintage spoon or a distressed wood surface.

As is usually the case, she insisted on buying me something. That something were these gorgeous little dessert plates. I told her I’d definitely use them in a photo soon. Soon has become 3 months, but I figured Mother’s Day weekend was as good of a time as any, considering the source of the prop for my collection.

Pomegranate Lemon Cake

December 23, 2015

I have really been missing the big lemon tree that was in the backyard of our rental house in the Bay Area. I took for granted how easy it was to walk out and grab a few almost any time of year.

Our potted Meyer lemon tree made the move and it’s still hanging on, but it didn’t produce any lemons this year.

I was running the other day and I noticed that towards the end of the public running path, a large lemon tree hangs over a backyard fence. I’d been eyeing it for weeks and a few days ago I finally got the courage to grab a few.

Gingerbread Cakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

December 18, 2015

I’ve had two things sitting in my kitchen that I’ve been dying to use for almost a year now. Some shallow, 3 1/2-inch wide snowflake baking cups from IKEA and a Lebkuchen spice mix I got at a Christmas Market in Berlin.

The Lebkuchen spices are similar to those in gingerbread here in the States and I’d already made some ginger cookies. Not to mention, cookies weren’t going to help me use those baking cups. So I switched gears and baked up gingerbread cakes. They were perfect for both the cups and spices.

Honey Bourbon Fig and Hazelnut Tart

August 4, 2015

This fig and hazelnut tart has a whole grain cookie base that is topped with Tiger figs, honey bourbon glaze and a buttery crumble topping!

I rarely take my camera to the farmers market anymore. One, because I usually haul out about 10 shopping bags plus a backpack on each visit. I wouldn’t be able to carry it even it if I had it with me. Two, sometimes I think it makes people uncomfortable. I’ll be zoomed in on the strawberries, but the people shopping are thinking I’m zoomed in on them.

It’s a struggle for me, though, because I absolutely love photographing fruits and vegetables! Especially at the market. So sometimes I make an exception and when I get to attend the market with another person, I take it along.

There is something about being in a small group that makes me look more like a tourist. Tourist + camera = acceptable.

Candied Ginger and Carrot Cookies

April 4, 2015

These candied ginger and carrot cookies are a twist on a classic oatmeal cookie. They are soft and chewy on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside.

I was recently trying to remember when I first started eating fresh ginger. I can’t pinpoint the day, but I’m certain it had to be while we were living in Brazil.

It was likely with sushi (I don’t think I’d ever eaten sushi until we moved there), but what I really remember are the teas and mulled wines that used slice after slice of fresh ginger root. After discovering those and then learning how to make them, I was sold.

Pistachio Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate

February 17, 2015

These shortbread cookies are loaded with crunchy pistachios. Made with raw sugar and white whole wheat flour, they are rich and crumbly, and slightly sweetened with a drizzle of white chocolate.

It happens this time every year. Right about mid February, I’m ready for cookies again. At this point, I feel like I’ve sufficiently recovered from the cookie overdose brought on by the holiday season.

A few weeks spent anti-cookie and I’m ready to start thinking up some new recipes. Thoughts of butter, brown sugar and chocolate chips resume their place in my head. Before I know it, the oven is preheated and the cookie sheets are lined.

Crispy Egg Custard Tarts (Pastéis de Nata) from My Portugal by George Mendes

February 3, 2015

These egg custard tarts are a classic Portuguese dessert and one that brings fond memories of our time living in Brazil. I was so happy to find a good recipe in the cookbook My Portugal by George Mendes so that I could make them in my own kitchen and share the recipe with you.

I was sitting with my friends Juliana and Fernando enjoying a bowl of Caldo Verde on one of the rare cool days that occur during the months of June and July. It was the week of the world food festival in Maringa-PR, Brasil, when the town square turns into a food-lovers paradise with booth after booth of edible offerings representing numerous countries around the world.