Strawberry Matcha Éclairs

Well, since my Totoro puffs didn't turn out the way I imagined them to, I thought I would work on some éclairs instead. The good thing is, the choux dough recipe is the same (so refer back to the Totoro post), the only thing you do differently is how you pipe them out.

And you know what? You're supposed to use a star tip, but I couldn't find mine. It's probably at my parent's house - all my baking supplies are now split apart because my condo can't fit everything. But the éclairs turned out just fine with a round piping tip.

After the éclairs cool, cut them in half so that you have your elongated boats. If you made the choux dough correctly, the interiors should be semi-hollow.

It's strawberry season again (yay) so I chopped them up into tiny little cubes. Then sprinkled a teaspoon of sugar on it, gave it a toss, and had it macerate for a bit. It's sitting in a sieve so that any excess liquids can drain off.

Using tiny dessert spoons, I filled the with the strawberries I so painstakingly sliced.

Then came the fun part, decorating with matcha buttercream! I was originally going to make matcha pastry cream, but realized I finished using all the milk on the choux dough. Oops! Oh well, it worked out in the end as buttercream is so much easier to make and also pipes out beautifully.

Doesn't the smooth matcha buttercream look like avocado? In fact, these éclairs remind me of sub sandwiches or avocado toast. I know you're supposed to put the tops back on the éclairs . . . but they're so much prettier when they're like an open-faced sandwich!

You can also pipe the buttercream in first and then top it with strawberries. Don't forget to decorate! I had sprinkles and milk chocolate crispearls on hand. You can also switch out your piping tip for different designs.

Howard's colleagues are going to have a happy Monday eating these (I hope)! There's too many for Howard and I to finish. There's also a key lime pie in the freezer, but more about that later.

Sprinkles

Sprinkles

The LINQ

3545 South Las Vegas Boulevard

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(702) 733-0522

I could jump for joy, I love Sprinkles! I love the design of their stores, I love the look of their products and packaging, I love how delicious their treats are! We made multiple trips back to Sprinkles during our stay in Vegas.

Everything tends to look better at night in Vegas - sparkly lights!

The famous cupcake ATM!!! We saw many people use it with such happiness and excitement when the cupcake was dispensed. I wanted to try, but it only takes credit card and I didn't want to pay for the exchange rate.

But it doesn't matter. You can get the same cupcakes in store! But we were here for their frozen treats.

I spy waffle cones and red velvet waffle cones!

If you order a Sprinkles sundae, you get a scoop of ice cream between a cupcake bottom and top. If your order a Sprinkles sandwich, you get a scoop of ice cream between two cupcake tops!

You can also get cookie sundaes, or a cookie sandwich with a scoop of ice cream in between.

We tried their yummy caramelized Cap'n Crunch ice cream which is what it sounds like, Cap'n crunch cereal sprinkled into milky Cap'n Crunch flavoured ice cream. And the strawberry ice cream, sometimes when the heat is too much, I default to fruits instead of chocolate or overly sweet desserts.

And our favourite, the blood orange sorbet, which is a dairy-free citrus sorbet flavored by zesty blood oranges. Perfectly refreshing!

Cook the Cover: Canadian Living April 2014

We're back! This time with a fresh trifle from the Canadian Living Test Kitchen.

Even though it doesn't feel like spring yet, this bright dessert will give you a little kick to your step. Plan ahead for this showstopper and make the orange vanilla bean custard and rhubarb sauce the night before. After the custard and sauce are chilled overnight, you can assemble the dessert in the morning and it'll be ready for dinner time!

You might already have some of these dessert staples in your kitchen - sugar, eggs, vanilla bean, milk, cornstarch - and would only have to pick up the fresh fruits, juice, and pound cake. And, if you don't have a trifle bowl (like me), I'll show you a different presentation approach! So needless to say, I was pretty excited to tackle this recipe because I've never made a trifle before and never worked with rhubarb either.

Layered Strawberry Rhubarb Trifle
Shopping List: strawberries, vanilla pound cake, oranges, whipping cream, sugar, vanilla bean, eggs, milk, cornstarch, rhubarb, and orange juice.

I love making vanilla bean custard, it always feels like magic when you can see something transform right before your eyes. Keep whisking and the custard will turn thick.

This is what ". . . thick enough to mound on spoon . . ." looks like. And do you see the glorious vanilla bean specks?

Rhubarb! I have never bought or cooked rhubarb before. I hear it is quite tasty and it took me two grocery store visits before finding it (Loblaws had a bunch). They weren't labeled on the shelf so I took the precaution to ask store workers and shoppers to confirm that I was holding rhubarb. It looks like red celery with lettuce-like leaves. I also had to look up how to clean and prepare it. Just give it a good scrub in cold water and cut off the leaves and the bottom of the stalk. Whatever you do, don't eat the leaves!

Cut them up into 1 cm pieces.

Voilà! Rhubarb sauce! The middle melts away when you're cooking it, leaving only the bright red and stringy outer layer.

So, no trifle bowl? Make individual sized trifles with mason jars or glass cups! I used a round cookie cutter on the pound cake.

Drop it in your jar.

Drizzle with rhubarb sauce.

Top with strawberries.

Cover with orange vanilla bean custard and start again with the pound cake slice.

I was able to get three slices of pound cake in there. Try to leave the top garnished with strawberries. With this method, I was able to make six jars of trifle.

When ready to serve, dig in! Would I recommend sharing this delicious trifle? Yes. Two can enjoy one mason jar of trifle. But . . . one can also polish it off too. I've tried it both ways, a dessert all for myself and I shared it with Howard too. Depends how hungry you are!

I think it was a successful first run with rhubarb. I'll have to try it by itself next time since I wasn't sure if it really shined with the orange juice mixed into it.

The orange vanilla bean custard is a winner and if you want to go the extra mile and earn a gold star, make your own pound cake! Oh and if you want a prettier presentation? Make sure each layer touches the edge of your jar/glass/bowl so that the sauce and custard doesn't run down the sides. I was using chopsticks to help lay out the strawberry layers. It takes patience and practice to prevent the whole thing from looking like a jar of custard.

See what other bloggers thought about the recipe here.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.

Dulce Strawberry, Peach, and Mango Cobbler

We meant to make a Dulce Peach Cobbler dessert for our friend's holiday potluck party on the weekend. It was going to be a nod to one of our favourite dessert at this little barbecue place near their house.

But after searching two grocery stores and not finding the frozen peach, we eventually picked up a bag of frozen strawberry, peaches, and mangoes.

This was fine by us, those are still three of our favourite fruits!

Dulce Strawberry, Peach, and Mango Cobbler
Recipe adapted from Robin Hood® Bake Some Memories™ Recipe Booklet
(Makes 8 servings)

Filling:
1 can (300 mL) of Eagle Brand® Dulce de Leche caramel flavoured sauce
1 bag (600 g) of Europe’s Best® Caribbean Treasure, frozen

Topping:
1 cup (250 mL) of Robin Hood® all-purpose flour
½ cup (125 mL) of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 mL) of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
¾ cup (175 mL) of unsalted butter
¼ cup (50 mL) of boiling water

Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F). Grease a deep 9” round dish. Or if you want to make individual servings like us, eight cocottes (notice our red, green, and white ones - keeping it festive) or ramekins.

To make the filling, pour the dulce de leche over the frozen fruits and mix them together in your dish.

To make the topping, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Blend in the butter using your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in the water and mix with a spatula. Scoop out the batter and drop it over the fruit mixture. The topping spreads when it bakes, so don't worry about how neat it looks. If you like, you can sprinkle ⅓ cup of sliced almonds, walnuts, or chopped pecans.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 55-60 minutes or until the topping is golden. You can also insert a toothpick in the centre, if it comes out clean, it's ready!

We like eating these after 15 minutes of cooling. There's something very comforting about eating warm cobbler by the fireplace in the winter.

I like to mix the cobbler up so that I get a bit of everything in each bite. Yum! The cobbler was delicious on its own, but feel free to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to go with it!

Look! The elusive peach!

Disclaimer: This holiday season, A Baked Creation partnered up with Robin Hood®, who is celebrating the 30th anniversary of their annual Holiday Recipe Collection. They were kind enough to send us a baking package with Robin Hood® all-purpose flour and Eagle Brand® Dulce de Leche caramel flavoured sauce.

Coconut Tapioca Pudding

My mom made coconut tapioca pudding the other day, so I asked her to teach me how to. It's such a refreshing dessert during the summer! And you care pair almost any fruit with the pudding, in fact, my parents make a pumpkin purée to go with their's.

You can make tapioca from scratch, but we simply went and bought ours. Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava. When cassava is dried and the starch is extracted, it becomes tapioca. If you've had bubble tea, the bubbles or boba is tapioca.

Follow closely now, here are the few quick and easy steps for tapioca pudding!

Boil about 4 cups of water. When it starts bubbling, pour in 1 cup of tapioca pearls. Have it boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally as the tapioca will start to thicken and may stick to the bottom of the pot.

Then, turn the heat off and take the pot off the burner. Let it sit for 10 more minutes undisturbed.

Using a sieve, drain the hot water.

Run cold water through and then let the tapioca sit in iced water for another 10 minutes. Transfer the tapioca to another container and refrigerate for about an hour.

In between all the 10 minute intervals, you can make the coconut milk.

Boil 200 mL of milk, be careful and watch it so it doesn't boil over. Take it off the burner when it boils and add 80 grams of sugar. Stir until combined. Add a pinch of salt and 12 ounces of coconut cream. Mix well and refrigerate for an hour minimum.

To assemble, scoop out the chilled tapioca into your bowl. Pour enough coconut milk to cover the tapioca. Dice up your favourite fruit and mix it into the bowl. Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

It's almost Valentine's Day! Do you have any plans for tomorrow? I'm going to work... so the highlights will probably be my lunch date with friends and my dinner date with Howard.

Regardless if it were Valentine's Day or not, why not make something sweet and pink?

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
(Makes about 20-22 cupcakes)

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
Seeds from one vanilla bean
4 large egg whites
1/4 cups of milk
2 1/4 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and have your liners ready in the cupcake tray.
2. Using a stand-mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla bean seeds together.
3. Meanwhile, use a hand-mixer to whisk the egg whites until soft peaks are formed. Slowly add in the milk. It will be light and frothy. Pour 1/3 of this mixture with the butter mixture along with the vanilla extract and mix until incorporate.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Pour 1/3 into the butter mixture and incorporate. 
5. Alternate between adding the egg/milk and flour/baking powder/salt into the butter/sugar/vanilla bean mixture until they are all incorporated.
6. Use an ice cream scoop to evenly distribute the batter into the cupcake liners.
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Let the cupcakes cool before frosting.

Strawberry Frosting
(Makes enough for 22 cupcakes)

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons of puréed and strained strawberries

1. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. About 4-5 minutes.
2. If you're using fresh strawberries, cut off the stem and the leaves. Give the strawberries a wash and pat them dry with a paper tower. 
3. Purée the strawberries and strain them through a sieve to separate the seeds. If you look at the photo above, we made about 1 cup, but you only need 3 tablespoons - otherwise the frosting's consistency will be too runny.
4. Add the seedless purée and mix until incorporated.
5. Fill your piping bag or use a metal spatula to frost your cooled cupcakes.

The strawberry frosting doesn't have a strong strawberry flavour, but it is there. We couldn't add anymore strawberry purée because the frosting would have been too runny. I think the solution is to use really ripe strawberries (so plan ahead) or to maybe boil it down so that some of the water content evaporates?

And if you want the frosting to have a stronger pink colour, you'll have to add some food colouring to it. We kept the pale pink since we didn't want to add any other chemicals to it. Seriously, strawberry frosting is a tough one to figure out. Do bakeries use strawberry extract to get a stronger flavour?

Overall, the strawberry frosting works with these light and airy vanilla cupcakes. The cupcakes are really soft and fluffy! Adding vanilla beans make it taste so much better, but I'll probably use less sugar next time.

Woof! I couldn't resist.