Pad Thai

I went to a friend's house for dinner and they made Pad Thai.  It was great and super easy so I had to try it for myself.

Pad Thai

 8 oz. rice noodles

¼ cup water

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbsp. ketchup

1 ½ Tbsp. soy sauce

1 fresh lime

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

6 oz shrimp or chicken breast (Optional!  Leave it out if you want it vegetarian.)

2 cloves garlic mined

1 large egg

2 cups bean sprouts

1 bunch green onions

½ cup chopped peanuts

First soak your noodles for 30 minutes.  Then made the peanut sauce.

Peanut Sauce

3 Tbsp. peanut butter

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp. hot chili oil

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

¼ cup water

Mix everything in a sauce pan.  Stir over medium heat until peanut butter is melted and all ingredients are mixed.

For the rest of the Pad Thai, combine sugar, water, ketchup, soy sauce, lime juice (1 tsp.), and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  If you are using meat add shrimp (or chicken) and garlic.  Stir for three minutes until shrimp turns pink.  Drain the noodles and then stir them in quickly.  Pour in ketchup mixture, stirring until sauce is absorbed.  Add egg to the side of the skillet.  Stir until cooked.  Stir in sprouts and green onions.  Add peanuts.  Squeeze two lime wedges over noodles.  Pour on the peanut sauce.  Serve.  Enjoy.

Swedish Princess Cake (Prinsesstarta)

Swedish Princess Cake

        My kids and I have been watching the Great British Baking Show .  We love it.  I love baking so its so interesting to watch.  I highly recommend it.  Each episode challenges the bakers to make something extraordinary so of course I have had to try some of them myself.   We have made biscuits,Tiramisu, Ciabatta bread, and Florentines.  Its been fun.  My most recent endeavor was the Swedish Princess Cake.

    The only problem with the recipes on the Great British Baking show is they use the metric system and it just takes forever to convert metric.  So I finally found an American blogger who made this and used her recipe with a few adjustments.    

     There are many layers to this cake.  

It goes from top to bottom:

        Marzipan

       Sponge Cake

       Whipped Cream

       Custard

        Sponge Cake

        Custard

        Raspberry Jam

       Sponge Cake

    So the first thing we'll make is the green top which is made of marzipan.  You can buy marzipan or you can make it.  I chose to make it.

Here's the recipe by Emeril Lagasse:

   Ingredients:

   8 ounces almond paste (You can find this in the baking isle at most grocery stores.  Near the pie filling.)

   1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

   4 Tbsp. corn syrup

   food coloring

     In an electric mixer beat the almond paste until it breaks apart into crumbs.  Mine was kind of sticky so it wasn't perfect and stuck to the beaters, but then add 1 cup of the powdered sugar slowly so it doesn't fly all over.  This will help the almond paste break up more.  Then add the corn syrup and add the rest of the powdered sugar until it all comes together to your liking.  At this point I took a small ball out of the mixer and added yellow food coloring for the rose on top of the cake.  It should have been pink, but I was out of red food coloring.  Then add green food coloring to the rest of the marzipan.  

    Wrap up the marzipan balls in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

     

   Now make the custard.  If I did this over again I would double the custard recipe and use more in the cake.  It was the best part.

Ingredients:

    4 large egg yolks 

     2 Tbsp. cornstarch

     2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar

     1 cup heavy cream, divided

     1 cut open and scraped vanilla bean or 2 tsp. vanilla

    Whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream together.  Then heat up the other 1/2 cup of cream in a saucepan with the vanilla bean.  Whisk the entire time until it just boils.  Take out the vanilla bean and slowly whisk the hot cream into the egg mixture.  If you do it too fast or don't whisk hard enough you will cook the eggs into scrambled eggs which will not taste good.  

   Poor this back into the saucepan and cook on low heat whisking the entire time until it comes to a boil and thickens up.  You'll know when this happens.  If its starts to curdle (become lumpy) take it off the heat and whisk like crazy!  If you didn't have a vanilla bean add the 1 tsp. of vanilla now.  Cover and let this cool off in the fridge for a while.

  

    Next make the Sponge Cake.  I had to make this twice.  It was really tricky to get it to rise properly.  

Ingredients:

   4 eggs at room temperature (actually important to do this)

    1 cup white sugar

    1/2 cup flour

    1/2 cup cornstarch 

    1 tsp. baking powder

    1/8 tsp. salt

    3 1/2 Tbsp. melted butter.

     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9 inch round pan and then dust with flour.  In an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar.  This takes about five minutes.  You want them to look pale yellow and form thick ribbons.  You can over beat them so watch them carefully.  Meanwhile mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl.   When the eggs are beaten to perfection slowly fold in the dry ingredients and then the butter.  Do not over mix and lose all the air that you beat into the eggs!

Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.  Let it cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove the sides of the pan.  Then let it cool the rest of the way.  Cut your sponge cake into three equal circles.

Whipped Cream:

Clean your bowl and beat 2 cups of whipped cream until stiff peaks form and add 1/4 cup powdered sugar.

Now you are ready to assemble your cake.  

Place one circle of sponge cake on a serving plate.

Spread the raspberry jam on top of this and then 1/2 of the custard.

Place another piece of sponge cake on top and add the rest of the custard.

Place a 1/2 cup of the whipped cream on top of the custard and then the last piece of cake.  You might want to shave this piece into a slight dome.  Top this with the remaining whipped cream and form the whipped cream into a dome.

Roll out the green marzipan on a piece of parchment paper.  If it is too sticky use some powdered sugar to help it not stick to the rolling pin.  Carefully roll the thin circle onto the rolling pin and then onto the cake.  Pinch and press the marzipan so it is smooth on the cake.  Then shave off the excess.  

For the rose roll into in a cylinder shape with your hands and then roll it out with a rolling pin until it forms a long strip.  Carefully roll it up into a flour leaving the petals loose on top and the bottom tight.  Place this on top.  You can also make leaves.

Melt some chocolate and add 2 Tbsp. cream.  Pipe that on top and around the edges if you desire.  

Then cut it open and enjoy.  Chill any left overs in the fridge.

Valentine Mail Boxes

I decided to make my kids mail boxes to put their valentine goodies in from my husband and I.  I just thought it would be fun.  

 I just took some cardstock and decorated one sheet for each kid.

 Then I cut another piece in half and then lined it up with the top sheet and cut off a little on one end so it would match up.

 Then I taped the 8x10 sheet to the 1/2 piece.

 Then I traced this "box" on another sheet and cut out to pieces to form the end and the door.  Then I added a little flag.

Hopefully they like them!

Heart Shaped Shortbread Cookies with Raspberry Butter cream Filling

Shortbread Cookies with Raspberry Butter Cream

My kids and I have fun looking through recipes and coming up with things we want to try.  Of course this month we want everything heart shaped.

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks butter at room temperature)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. milk
5 Tbsp. cocoa powder (optional)

For the Filling:
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
a dash of raspberry jello powder
a dash of milk


    For the cookies preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Line two pans with parchment paper or a Silpat.  Beat the butter until creamy and add the sugar.  Add flour and cocoa powder if you are making chocolate cookies.  Add the vanilla and milk until the dough comes together.  Chill the dough in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.  Then roll out the dough and cut into heart shapes.

   Bake for 10-15 minutes.  Do not over cook!

   For the filling, beat the butter and add the powdered sugar, vanilla, raspberry jello powder, and enough milk to form a thick frosting.

   When the cookies are cool spread frosting in the middle and put another cookie on top.

   Enjoy!

Kid Friendly Valentine Cards

Is it just me or does every Valentine you find on Pinterest that is supposed to be made by kids really just look like the mom did everything but write the kids' names?  

This year I found some cute ideas out there, but then I made my kids do everything.  I just made it easy for them to this by providing supplies. 

Our first Valentine says, "Have a FAN(TACHE)TIC Valentines!"

The next says, "You're Cute as  Button."

   What made these easy for the kids to make is the stamps I made out of sponges.  I just bought some cheap sponges at the store and cut them into a heart and a mustache.  I also cut the paper into rectangles.

So to start the kids just stamped each sheet of paper with a heart or a mustache.

 We let them dry and then we added the words and some decorations.  I found this cute tape at Walmart that added easy flare.  Stickers are always good too.  We glued buttons to the "Cute as a Button" cards.

 Then we punched two holes in each card and added a sucker because really what is a Valentine without some candy?

Oatmeal Breakfast Cups to Freeze!

 I'm always looking for something healthy and fast to make for breakfast because I'm usually the last one to eat after I help my kids get ready, make their lunches, and feed them breakfast.  

So I found these Oatmeal Cups and fell in love.  Their healthy, fast, AND you can freeze them!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup banana or about 1 banana mashed

1/2 cup honey or some other kind of sweetener

5 cups Old Fashioned rolled oats

2 tbsp. flax seed meal (LOVE this stuff!)

1 tbsp. cinnamon ground

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 1/4 cups milk (I used powdered milk to try to use my food storage and water of course.)

Optional toppings: nuts, berries, raisins, chocolate chips

    Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

    Mix the wet ingredients: eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana, and honey.  Then mix in the dry ingredients.

You can either add in the extra toppings now so they are baked throughout the cup or you can sprinkle them on top and individualize them.  I used blueberries and chopped pecans in mine.  But if your kids like chocolate chips and you don't add some chocolate chips on the top of a few.

    Spray two muffin tins or put in cupcake liners.  Fill each muffin tin cup so they are all even.

    Add any extra toppings now and put the tins in the oven for 30 minutes until you can pierce it with a toothpick and it comes out clean.

     Cool on a rack completely and place in freezer bags.

     I pull out one or two oatmeal cups for breakfast and microwave them for 30-40 seconds.  

Puff Pastry Hearts with Cream Filling

My New Years resolution is to keep track of my recipes better, especially the ones I change.  So what better way than to blog?

   Last week I tried an alcohol and coffee free Tiramisu recipe that turned out disastrous, but the cream was delicious so I decided to try that part again.  Then my kids voted on what recipe looked the most ideal to try it on.  We got the idea from here.   We did change it a bit though.

Ingredients:

     1 Package Puff Pastry Dough thawed

     4 egg yolks

     1/2 cup granulated sugar

     1/8 tsp. salt

     1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

     8 ounces mascarpone cheese

     1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

     berries of your choice

 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Roll out the Puff Pastry dough just a little bit and cut it into heart shapes or whatever shape you desire.  Place each heart on a baking pan covered with a Silpat or Parchment paper. Prick each heart with a fork to keep them from puffing up irregularly.  You can also sprinkle some sugar on top if you desire.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.  Put these on a cooling rack.

    Now start making the mascarpone cream.  In a medium saucepan start two inches of water simmering.   In a heat proof bowl beat four egg yolks.  Add 1/2 cup sugar  and 1/8 tsp. salt and mix some more.  Then mix in the 1/4 cup cream.  Now beat this mixture over the simmering water for 4-7 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon.  After four minutes mine did coat a spoon but it was thin.  Doing it longer will make it thicker.  Take it off the heat and allow it to cool for 15 minutes and then add the mascarpone cheese.  

    Whip the whipping cream and slowly add the cheese mixture.  

    Then cut each puff pastry heart in half and spread each side with the cream.  Insert a berry in between each side and enjoy!

                                           

                                                      The missionaries loved them.