Sunday, March 25, 2012

Popular Mexican Dessert Recipes That Kids Love

Think Mexican and color and adventure is all that comes to one's mind. It is the same variety and color that is the essence of Mexican food. Mexicans make generous use of the various spices that are native to their land and add a variety of flavors to their dishes. However, it is not just the main course, but their desserts are just as tantalizing. It is the flavor, taste and the exotic look that has made Mexican cuisine popular all over the world. And kids just love the mouth-watering Mexican desserts. Here are some popular recipes of Mexican desserts for kids that are enjoyed by adults as well.

Easy Mexican Desserts for Kids

Flan
Here is one of the simplest traditional Mexican desserts. This recipe will take around 20 minutes to prepare the ingredients and about an hour to cook the dessert.

Ingredients
Sweetened condensed milk, 14 oz.
Evaporated milk, 26 oz.
Sugar, 1½ cups
Large eggs, 6
Vanilla, 1 teaspoon
Preparation
Heat a flan pan over medium heat and add 1 cup of sugar to it. Stir the sugar continuously as it heats over medium flame. Do this till the sugar crystals become brown (caramelized). Keep a couple of ramekins ready. As soon as the sugar gets caramelized, put 2-3 spoons of it in each pan. Tilt the pans so that sugar swirls and spreads all over, even to the sides. Blend all the eggs in a blender. Add the sweetened, condensed milk and the evaporated milk to it. Turn on the blender again. Now add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla to the blender and mix the ingredients well. Pour this custard in the ramekins. In case the caramel hardens by the time the custard mix is ready to be added, heat the ramekins once more.

Fill a large baking dish with hot water that reaches up to 1-2 inches. Place the ramekins in this bowl. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Now place the baking dish in the oven and bake the custard mix for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, put a knife through the center of the baked custard. If the knife comes out easily without getting stuck, then it means that you have baked the custard just fine! Take the baking dish out of the oven and let it cool. Then refrigerate the ramekins for 1 hour. Invert the ramekins over onto serving plates. Your tasty flan with the caramel sauce flowing over it is ready to be served.

Arroz Con Leche (Mexican Rice Pudding)
With Mexican rice pudding you will definitely score big with kids. Not only because it tastes great, but also because the dessert recipe is so simple that even kids can easily learn to make this.

Ingredients
Rice, 1 cup
Whole milk, 1 quart
Sweetened, condensed milk
Sugar, ½ cup
Vanilla, 2 teaspoons
Cinnamon stick, 1
Grated nutmeg (fresh), ¼ teaspoon
Salt, ¼ teaspoon
Preparation
Take a medium-sized pan and heat milk over medium flame. Add cinnamon stick and grated nutmeg and bring the milk to a boil. Now add rice to the milk and simmer it for about half an hour till the rice grains become soft. Stir the mixture occasionally so that the rice grains do not stick together. Remove cinnamon stick and add condensed milk, sugar and salt. Simmer the mixture further till more of the liquid evaporates and the preparation has gained a pudding like consistency. Add vanilla now. Mix it well and let the mixture cool. Cover the surface of the pan with a plastic wrap so that a thick crust does not form on top of the pudding. Now refrigerate the pudding for 4-5 hours and serve cold. More on rice pudding recipe.

Friday, March 16, 2012

How to Make Colorful French Macarons

You don’t have to be a pastry chef to know how to make French macarons. These colorful, almond-soft-airy French cookies are so tasty, popular and has become an American’s new found obsession. It can be intimidating to attempt to bake them but seriously, you don’t have to be a pastry chef. Since we are such macaron fanatics, we decided to make some in our test kitchen. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make Chocolate French Macarons with Chocolate Mocha Ganache Filling. Get Recipe here.
That is generally how I order macaroons in a bakery: "Macaroons, one of each please." I love them, and now I can wield my knowledge of how to make them with reckless abandon.These are French macaroons flavored with vanilla and apricot jam, but you can make them any flavor, color them, or fill them with anything you like. I think the traditional filling is buttercream, but I'm not sure. Any French people out there, please comment and let me know!

Macaroons:
250g TPT = almond powder and icing sugar-sifted
100g sugar
100g egg white
25g sugar
add color as desired

Filling:
200g pistachio paste or other flavoring
200g butter cream
Amounts of flavors, pastes etc. will vary with personal taste

Preparation:
To make the macaroons, sieve the sugar and the TPT very fine. Put aside.

Now whisk the egg white together with the second part of sugar at middle speed.

Gradually whisk the egg white mixture to become very stiff, if cooking the sugar for the meringue cook . 

Follow the standard procedure for making a cooked meringue adding color in the end.

Friday, March 9, 2012

How To Make Homemade Yogurt Cheese

The process of making yogurt cheese is simple enough for anyone to do, and though yogurt cheese makers are commercially available, it actually requires nothing more specific or sophisticated than a colander or strainer, a couple of coffee filters or paper towels, and a bowl.

Start With The Right Yogurt
This is the only step that could possibly pose a problem; if you start with the right base ingredient making yogurt cheese is practically foolproof, but if you start with the wrong kind of yogurt you'll almost certainly be disappointed with the results.

It doesn't really matter whether you choose to make your cheese with regular, low-fat, or no-fat yogurt. It also doesn't matter whether you use plain or flavored yogurt, though flavored yogurts are generally sweetened and often carry a higher calorie count.
 
What really matters is that the yogurt you start with does not contain gelatin, which binds the whey to the yogurt and basically thwarts the whole cheese making process. Choose your yogurt with this in mind; if there is gelatin in the yogurt, it will say so on the label.
 
There's nothing difficult about making yogurt cheese, and that includes assembling your equipment. If you have a strainer large enough to hold your yogurt, that's great, but if you don't, just haul out the colander you use to strain your spaghetti.

You need to line your strainer or colander with something fine enough to keep the yogurt solids contained but let the whey run through. Coffee filters are excellent, but paper towels or even a clean cotton kitchen towel work perfectly too.The only other piece of equipment you need is a bowl for the whey to drain into. Experiment until you've found one that your colander or strainer can sit on without touching bottom - this is important because you want the whey to drain away and not be reabsorbed.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

How To Make The Best Chocolate Cake

Cakes are real delight. They are mouth-watering and soft enough to melt hearts. They are reported to be used about 1900 years by Romans. During the wedding ceremonies, the Romans would eat cakes made of wheat and salt. These cakes made of wheat were a symbol of fertility and properity. The Romans took them as a sign of good fortune. Wheat cakes were thought to be as a blessing for life. This idea was adopted by the whole world later and cakes became a necessity for every occasion especially, marriages.

Everybody knows which chocolate cake is among the easiest muffins to get ready yet not everyone is able to allow it to become pleasantly, much like the models that we possess with pastry merchants plus restaurants. For you to cook chocolate cake for you to and your family will truly like what follows is a chocolate cake recipe for you personally.

Using a historical past in which goes in order to 1764, chocolate certainly is going a long way, proving that it's a favored foodstuff between the majority of people. It was first designed while dark chocolate was initially uncovered, utilizing soil powdered cocoa pinto and black beans utilizing a pair of round millstones. It was even more superior around 1879 any time conching was created by Swiss Rodolphe. Concing is the process of getting dark chocolate simpler and also silkier which in turn managed to make it better pertaining to this baking simply because it integrates by using batters fully. In Nineteen thirty, there initially were chocolate cake combines offered by way of the Duff Enterprise throughout Pittsburgh. Chocolate cake turned very popular throughout the Early along with the Nineteen nineties whereby there are alternative elements extra in addition to the chocolate including green tea, a bottle of champagne, reddish colored spice up and even more. To this date, there are tons associated with chocolate cake different versions for instance stratum cakes, dark-colored woods food, souffl? food, fudge meal, dominoe dessert and much more.
Among the list of best chocolate cake versions would be the dark woods dessert, which you'll want to serve pertaining to people of all ages. Due to this delicious recipe ingredients, what you will want are 1/2 cup of softened butter, 1 1/4 glasses of carbohydrates, two eggs, 1 1/4 cups of many function flour, 1/2 mug associated with healthy unsweetened hot chocolate mix, 1 tsp every one of cooking coke in addition to vanilla flavoring, 1/2 tsp of with baking powder along with 3/4 goblet with buttermilk. For that answering, you should have 2 cans connected with cherry curry answering, 3 cups of major whipped product, 1/4 mug with confectioner's mister. Should you choose to acquire take, you can have whole milk delicious chocolate doing curls as well as special cherries or any other garnishes which you like.

You will initial need to make this cake which you begin with executing basic fundamentals - preheating your range to 300 0F and also cellular lining a new food baking pan together with greaseproof papers. In a very mixing jar, defeat your butter and also the sugars utilising an electronic appliance till it is fluffy and whitened. When busting a butter, put one ovum at a time while combining it well. Put the other substances : the actual cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, preparing soda pop, buttermilk and vanilla flavor along with carry on combining up until the concoction is already clean. Later, put the concoction into the food baking pan then make for around 45 min's. If it is presently prepared, allow it trendy subsequently trim into 3 sheets flat in a trench.

For any filling, you will 1st really need to deplete your cherry curry to ensure the drinks is going to be taken out. In the blending serving, defeat the whipped lotion plus the confectioner's sugar until it really is previously solid. Get rid of this chocolate with a veg peeler after which refrigerate a combination though awaiting the wedding cake to get cooked. Once the chocolate cake is prepared and also the filling is ready, now you are all set to construct your african american woodland chocolate cake. You'll initially have to set a single stratum on the cake with a preparing eating plan and after that multiply a few of the whipped ointment on top and after that contributing the particular cherry cake. Bring our next covering of your cake after which perform the very same approach. For the past stratum, multiply the actual whipped product along with the spread the residual around the edges. Create this take of your choice along with your dark woodlands chocolate cake is wanting to be supported.

Accomplish this chocolate cake recipe and you will then absolutely often be thrilled through the final result if you do as instructed thoroughly. Both you and your partners will definitely always be looking forward to obtaining additional candy cakes from you finding out.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

How To Keep Dessert Calories Low

For some of us, we try so hard to eat healthy and have an active lifestyle. But many people believe in order to stay healthy and fit you have to avoid certain types of foods completely. This isn’t necessarily true, especially when it comes to eating desserts. With birthdays, wedding season, and just plain sweets cravings, it is really hard to swear off chocolate or other kinds of sweets. The secret is to avoid overloading on calories, fat, and sugar, and adding a little creativity.

The key to adding desserts to your diet is moderation, moderation, moderation! If you’re are going to reach for a dessert, get something small such as a scoop of frozen yogurt, a few pieces of chocolate, or even a slice of pie. Of course, this is easier said then done because some things just taste so good. A good tip is to not eat out of a carton or bag because it is hard to control the amount that you consume. Also, when buying ice cream, opt for fruit bars or low fat ice cream bars (they taste the same I promise) such as skinny cow or slow churned ice cream. If you are a chocolate person, go for dark chocolate because it has healthful benefits and lower calories than milk or white chocolate. Chocolate covered almonds are a great snack to keep at your desk or in your purse when you need a little pick me up.

Another great way to keep dessert calories low and still taste great is to make it yourself. With cookies, opt to use half white whole-wheat flour and half regular flour to lower the calories. Also, instead of butter use a light corn-oil or canola-oil spread, or even a butter used with canola oil. They work just the same and help to cut out a little of the fat. Cinnamon is also a great ingredient, and essentially Mother Nature’s gift to us. It is a healthy and light ingredient that makes great cookies as well as a great additive to any treat.  What is even better is that all of these ingredients can be found at stores such as Trader Joe’s, Sprout’s, Whole Foods, or even your local grocery store. If you need any help finding recipes for great treats you can visit websites such as Goodhouskeeping, The Food Network website, and numerous other blogs. So never again will you feel guilty to indulge in a little dessert.

Friday, February 24, 2012

The Beautiful Christmas Pudding

Christmas pudding has been a traditions to finish off the Christmas dinner, particularly in Great Britain. Pictures of the flaming pudding being taken to the dinner table go hand in hand with every Christmas meal. In fact many Christmas cards and decorations carry pictures of the Classic Christmas pudding. However, few people know about your history, your roots and your superstitions of your Christmas pudding.

The Christmas pudding we know today is a far cry from it's original recipe. Originally Christmas pudding was created with many things such as fowl, pheasant, partridge and bunnie. Gradually significantly more fruits were added to resemble something a bit more like today's Christmas pudding recipe.

Christmas pudding did start to evolve in your Fourteenth century when it was actually more of a porridge called frumenty. This was a pudding cooked by boiling meat and mutton with raisins, currants, prunes, wines and spices or herbs. Frumenty had more your look and feel of soup as was eaten as a fasting dish in preparation for Christmas.
It was not until 1714 that George I re-established plum pudding to your Christmas dinner table after having tried it and very much enjoyed it. It encountered much objection from the Quakers who just regarded your plum pudding as your 'invention of the scarlet whore of Babylon'. Meat ended up being eliminated from your recipe and more fruits were added. It's around this time your tradition of sprinkling Brandy on the top of the pudding and setting it alight was shown to have started.

Your Christmas pudding failed to become the great tradition it is today in Great britain until it was introduced to your Victorians by Prince Albert, who furthermore introduced in the country the tradition of Christmas trees. By now the Christmas pudding appeared and tasted much as it does today.

There are lots of superstitions and customs that surround the Christmas pudding. These include your belief that your particular pudding should be prepared by your 25th Sunday after Trinity, with Thirteen ingredients to represent Jesus christ and His Disciples. Every member of the family is to have a turn in stirring your pudding with a wooden spoon from east to west, in honor of your three Kings, which in turn later was to make a wish.

Setting your Brandy aflame for some symbolized Christ's passion. And a spring involving holly at the top as a take is representative of His overhead of thorns. Mom also ended up being meant to bring good luck along with healing forces.Your custom of introducing coins for your Christmas pudding while creating was for good luck. Those who found your coin were thought to have their wish granted.

Therefore your traditional Christmas pudding has already established quite a unique development. It has not only modified in it's elements but recently been banned along with objected to in religious grounds. It has evolved with many different superstitions and from humble inception has become probably the most important puddings of year.

Monday, February 20, 2012

All Kinds Of Delicious Desserts

Like any ordinary man, most Americans love to eat especially desserts.Desserts are practically what satisfy everybody right after every meal. That is why; Americans have come up with traditional American desserts to cater to not only the Americans, but also to other dessert lovers all around the world.

There are a lot of American desserts that are very popular worldwide. Great examples are the classic American cheesecakes. These American desserts are made from cream cheese and these are added with sugar as well as vanilla essence, sour cream and lemon juice. The mixed cream is then added onto a cracker crust, and then properly chilled before they are served. American cheesecakes should not be over beaten as they could destroy the proper consistency of the cream cheese itself. Over the years, these well-loved American cheesecakes have been modified a number of times, creating more and more variations to further satisfy the needs of the dessert lovers worldwide.
Banana splits are also another examples of American desserts. With three different scoops of ice cream placed on a bowl, garnished with slices of banana, sprinkled with chocolate syrup on top, these American desserts are perfectly what kids love to have after every meal. Presently, chefs have been able to master the art of proper presentation of these banana splits that are sure ways to make people, both young and old, crave for these delightful desserts. They are delicious, they are classic, and they are healthy as well.

American Desserts are basically the same with the other desserts worldwide. While there are some that go for these traditional delights, many people are still concerned of the thought of having additional calories brought about by these desserts. Happily, there are artificial sweeteners that can handle with these concerns. In fact, most of the American Desserts are made from low fat and low calorie content, and some of them are actually sugar. No one can really tell the difference!
For you to enjoy the delightful recipes of American desserts, you can browse online and learn a whole lot more about them. There are more than a thousand American desserts available. This fact only goes to show how much people love to binge on sweet temptations. American desserts are certainly the best. Not only they are yummy and delicious, but they are surprisingly nutritious as well. Treat yourselves with a serving or two of American desserts. After all, everybody has a sweet tooth within them, right? Everybody and that includes you!
Custards are dense, rich and creamy desserts that resemble pudding. They are gently cooked or baked and then refrigerated to turn it into a slightly firm and thick gel sauce when cooled. Custards are generally made using the following ingredients: eggs and/or egg yolks, milk or cream, sugar and, often, salt and other flavorings. Some recipes for custards call for a small amount of flour or other starch such as cornstarch or potato starch.
There is a wide variety of custards. They can be made into a single dessert, such as custard pies, flans, or cheesecakes or they can be included to make a different dessert such as in making cream puffs. There are two ways to make custards for desserts. They are either oven baked or you can stir or cook them over a stove.
Baked custards use milk instead of cream and lesser eggs. Baking makes the lightest custards. The gel has a firmer texture since it is not stirred during the process of baking.
To find out if baked custard is done, insert a metal knife off its center. If it comes out clean, the custard is done. Be careful not to cook longer because the custard may curdle. On the other hand, under-baked custards will not set.
Cooking custards on top of stoves result in custards that are not as thick as when baked because the stirring interrupts the formation of the gel. Stovetop custard is typically used as a dessert sauce or a base for ice cream. Do not let stirred custards boil or set. They should be soft but thickened. After being refrigerated, stovetop custards will slightly thicken.