ariel's making ... upside down loquat, plum, banana, sage cake

i love love love loquats! and in san francisco, you can find them all over the place growing on trees. no one really seems to eat them much -- so start looking around ... they are tangy and sweet and have beautiful seeds inside.

on the 4th of july we had a big bbq in the backyard (fotos here!) and i was in charge of dessert. we had a bunch of very ripe loquats, so i thought i'd make a cake. first i halved and de-pitted the loquats.

then i made the cake batter:

3/4 stick of organic butter

1 c. organic powdered sugar

1 organic egg

2 very ripe organic bananas

1/2 c. backyard plum sauce (that recipe coming soon!) ... you can use jam instead.

1/2 t. of baking soda and baking powder

1 1/2 c. organic w.w. flour

1 c. organic almond flour

mix together!

then i chopped in some fresh sage.

in a frying pan i added 1/4 t. of butter, melted it and then added the loquats and cooked them for about 3 minutes. then, leaving the loquats in the pan, i added the batter on top and put it in the oven at 400* for about 30 minutes.

right when it came out of the oven, i flipped it onto a plate -- and ta-da! upside down loquat cake!

i also made a simple ricotta cheese topping with a little sugar and ginger in it, that i dolloped onto of the cake as i was serving it. there was none left -- i think it was a hit!

happy loquat foraging!

kisses,

ariel

ariel's making ... french chocolate macarons

leenie dear threw us a "french night" this past weekend, in preparation for our very near trip to france. i opted to bring dessert and decided to try and tackle the infamous french macaron. now don't get these confused with macaroons -- those are the coconut ones.




so here's what i did ... in a bowl mix together:

2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. almond flour
6 T. cocoa powder

in another bowl -- add the whites of 4 eggs -- that are at room temp.

beat the egg whites 'til they form soft peaks. then add to the whites 10 T. of granulated white sugar and beat that together for 2 minutes. it will start to get gooey and smooth in texture.

now carefully fold together the dry and egg white mixture until totally combined.

put your batter into a plastic bag and cut the tip off. pipe little blobs of the batter onto a baking sheet, that is covered in parchment paper. bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes at 350*.

now it's time to make the ganache filling. chop up some dark chocolate -- as much as you want.

on the stove, heat up to a slow boil, about 1/2 a c. of heavy cream. turn off the cream and then add to it a dollop of butter and a few T. of cocoa powder. mix 'til combined.

then add in the chocolate chunks and mix 'til melted too. mix for a few minutes with a whisk. then place in a glass container and chill for at least 2 hours -- or overnight.

this is how the macarons looked right out of the oven. let them cool completely before taking them off the parchment -- otherwise they stick and fall apart (and then you have to eat the "mess-ups").

once they are totally cool -- and the ganache has firmed up -- slather the ganache on one cookie -- then find it a cookie buddy -- and you've just made a french macaron!

they were pretty awesome tasting -- and i even had a second batch that i made to take to a feast a liz's the next evening.

i still have a bunch of ganache leftover too ... what should i make it into??

happy baking.

hope you're all doing lovely!

kisses,

ariel

ariel's making ... carrot and zucchini cake

for my auntie yam's bday i decided to make her a carrot and zucchini cake. oh so healthy, right?


for this cake, you'll need:

1 c. grated organic carrots
1 grated organic zucchini
1/2 c. organic molasses
1 organic free-range egg
1 stick organic butter, melted
2 T. organic cinnamon
1/4 c. each of organic raisins, organic sunflower seeds and organic shredded coconut
1/2 t. each of baking powder and baking soda
1/2 c. organic fair-trade sugar
1 1/4 c. organic whole wheat flour

mix everything together except the flour. then add the flour to the wet mixture. (it's really that simple!)




pour the thick cake batter into a buttered cast iron pan and bake 350* for about 25 minutes or until it passes the clean toothpick test.


i topped it with some organic fair-trade powdered sugar and two tiny-mini organic carrots when it was all cool, and served it with some straus vanilla ice cream.


there was probably enough cake for about ten people ... but the five of us had no trouble devouring almost the whole thing in one night!

happy baking!

kisses,

ariel

ariel's making ... a strawberry ginger galette

oh strawberries! how i love thee! i usually never get a chance to bake with strawberries (we usually gobble them all up too fast!) but this time i bought 1/2 a flat of them at the farmers' market, so there were actually some still intact when a dinner party came-a-callin'!


for this dessert, you'll need:

a crust ...

1/2 c. each of organic whole wheat flour and organic unbleached white flour
1/2 c. organic corn meal
1/4 c. organic fair-trade sugar
1/2 stick organic butter
1 cup organic ginger tea, chilled

mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the cold butter in small chunks and mix until it's incorporated ... then add your liquid. form it into a ball and then roll it out into a big circle and place on a greased cookie sheet.




on the crust, spread 2 T. of organic jam (i used raspberry) and 1 T. fresh organic grated ginger.


add sliced strawberries (about 1 basket), fold in the edges and top with 1 T. of organic fair-trade sugar.




bake at 350* for about 45 minutes or until golden. serve with cream or ice cream.


elegant ... yet ... sooo easy!

kisses,

ariel

Karina throws a Karnival!

A few weeks ago I celebrated my first birthday living in San Francisco. Now I love a theme party, and if there is any city that embraces the spectacle and absurdity of costume and themes parties more than any other, it is definitely San Fran. I decided to do it up full force SF style and bring the Karnival to town. My first inspiration for choosing a carny-themed extravaganza, besides the obvious excuse for bearded ladies and circus music, was the epic popcorn machine that has always sat mysteriously on top of our cabinets but has never actually been used that I know of. (I'm not sure if anyone even knows where it came from....)


From there I planned a Barnum and Bailey worthy menu of peanuts, popcorn, watermelon, mini "sliders", and of course, funnel cake.


For my sliders I decided to pick up some sweet potatoes, onion, mushrooms, black beans, spinach, basil, carrots, and steamed beets.


I cooked up some lentils and brown rice, soaked some cashews, and took out some oats. I boiled the sweet potatoes and sauteed my onions and mushrooms and went to work.


I threw the carrots, sweet potatoes, some basil and garlic in the food processor to begin mixing. I didn't want to mix it so long that it blends all into mush, but just enough to get rid of all the big chunks for when I was ready to start forming my patties. I threw in the beets, beans, and other ingredients one at a time until blended just enough and switched them over to a big mixing bowl.


Spicing time. I played with the above until satisfied.


I continued to add oats and bread crumbs until it was thick enough to form patties that wouldn't stick to my hands.



I let them sit in the refrigerator over night to thicken up as much as possible. When the carny patrons started to arrive, I threw the pan on the stove and cooked them in some light olive oil on high heat until they cooked well on each side. I served them up on delicious slider buns I found at Trader Joes.


Big Little Hits I tell you!

On to the funnel cake:

I prepared the following batter to serve up a larger crowdm but you can obviously cut it in half or thirds for a smaller gathering:

4 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
7 1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs 4 cups soy milk (or whatever kind you have)
3 tsp vanilla
a few shakes cinnamon
oil, for frying

Mix eggs, soy (or hemp) milk and vanilla. Make sure you are dressed like a madame fortune teller. In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well. You should have a batter about the same consistency as pancake batter so it will flow easily through the funnel.

With the help of a angry clown, fill a skillet with 1" oil and heat to 375 degrees. I used a candy thermometer.


Cover the funnel hole with your finger and have your clown assistant fill the funnel with about 1/4 cup of batter. I held the funnel over the pan, removed my finger, and began moving the funnel around back and forth, zig-zagging back and forth like juggler on a unicycle . You want the batter to stick together so don't spread it out too much once it hits the pan or you won't be able to flip it in one piece.



Fry the cake 1-2 minutes on each side, turning with a spatula or tongs, until golden brown.


Once out of the oil and onto a paper towel for a cool down, I sprinkled the cakes generously with powdered sugar.


I barely got a taste as they babies went like... hot (funnel) cakes...





Truly, the Greatest (birthday) show on earth....