AnnaVanilla

Je Mange. Donc, Je Suis.

Sunday 7 February 2016

Blueberry Drop White Chocolate Muffins


Blueberry Drop White Chocolate Muffins
=> Yummy with all of their nooks & crannies <=
Another lovely idea for your V day!
Meanwhile, Happy Weekend & Happy Chinese New Year 
(The Year of Mischievous yet Lucky Monkey - with Fire element) for those who celebrate! : -)

Good feelings, optimism and alacrity are contagious!
So, let's spread them around without hesitation. : -)


Preheat oven to moderate 180°C 
Wishing you prosperity, longevity, wealth, good health, happiness & joy! :)  
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Tuesday 2 February 2016

Devil's Food Cake & Begin the Beguine


Let's welcome February, the month of Love,
with something dark & decadent! :)
What is the difference between chocolate cake and devil's food? 
{Courtesy: devilsfood }
This simple question has many answers, depending upon the period and cookbook. As noted above, the first 19th century American chocolate cake recipes were white/yellow cakes with chocolate icing. The addition of chocolate to the batter increased as the price of this ingredient declined, thus creating "chocolate cake" as we know it today. 20th century cookbooks often list chocolate cake and devils food on the same page. The most predominant difference between the two? Devil's food usually contains a greater proportion of chocolate. Fannie Farmer [1923] doubles the amount of chocolate required for her devil's food (4 ounces compared to 2 ounces for "regular" chocolate cake.). Irma S. Rombauer confirms: "When the larger amount of chocolate is used, it is a black, rich Devil's Food." (Joy of Cooking, 1931 p. 236)

...It is believed that the “Devil’s Food” cake was invented in the United States in the early 20th century.
It may be that this cake was named for its contrast to the snow-white “Angel Cakes” that were being made prior to the “Devil’s Food” cake. 

Angel food belongs to the nineteenth century but devil's food to the twentieth. How this chocolate cake came to be called devil's food no one knows although it may have been a play on opposites: it was as dark and rich as angel food was light an airy...In the early 1900s there were a number of bizarre variations on Devils Food Cake. Once called for mashed potatoes and a number for ground cinnamon and cloves in addition to chocolate..."
---American Century Cookbook: The Most Popular Recipes of the 20th Century, Jean Anderson [Clarkson Potter:New York] 1997 (p. 452-3)
Plus
300 ml Whipping Cream
a few drops Vanilla essence
1 teaspoon Icing sugar
  • Preheat oven to moderate 180°C  . Brush 2 (20 cm) round tins with melted butter or oil, line base and side with paper, grease paper.
  • Melt the dark chocolate with the water (in a bowl over a pan of boiling water). Stir until smooth and leave to cool.
  • Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until very light and smooth.
  • Blend in the melted chocolate.
  • Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and beat into the mixture alternately with the soured cream/or butter milk/ or yogurt. Pour into 2 prepared tins and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Leave to cool a little, then turn out on to a wire rack. 
  • Whip the cream lightly with the vanilla essence and a teaspoon of icing sugar, and sandwich the cakes together when cool.
  • Decorate with fresh strawberries (halved) and a jasmine-infused Macaroon for the finishing touch. Enjoy! :)
Later, Darling....Later... ;)
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Saturday 23 January 2016

Tartelettes aux Fruits, Je ne pourrai jamais vivre sans toi

1 quantity sweet short pastry 
(Pâte sucrée)
for 6 mini tart tins
  • Sift the flour into a bowl. Add butter and rub through with fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the middle. Use a fork to lightly whisk the yolks and vanilla then add them into the well. Sprinkle water over the dry mixture using a small palette knife to mix in the liquid until the pastry begins to form clumps, press it lightly together with a cupped hand to form a smooth ball. Wrap pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 
  • Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Using a metal ring and stamp out pastry circles. Gently place the pastry circles on patty tins, adjusted to fit each patty cup.Thoroughly grease the patty tins and line with sweet short pastry. Trim the pastry to the tops of the tins, then blind-bake the shells for about 10 minutes.
Ingredients:
(For Crème Pâtissière)
3 egg yolks
60 g caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
280 ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
10 g butter
  • Place egg yolks and half the sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Add in the cornflour and flour and gently stir until combined;
  • Pour milk, remaining sugar in a saucepan over medium heat to the boil. Add vanilla. Remove from heat;
  • Strain the milk over the egg yolk mixture and stir continuously until smooth;
  • Pour back mixture into a clean saucepan over low to medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for about 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in  the butter until well combined and leave to cool;
  • Transfer the mixture into a bowl. Lay plastic wrap on the surface and refrigerate until cold;
  • Ladle 1-2 teaspoon(s) of pastry cream into each sweet pastry shell. Arrange fruit slices of your choice on top;
  • Melt the jam with water, sieve and brush over the fruits to make them shine; 
Bon Appétit! :)

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Tuesday 19 January 2016

Hands up! Organic Sugar Hand Scrub

════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ღೋ ═══════
❄¨¯`*✲。´*New Year's Greeting!❄¨¯`*✲ ´*。
2 0 1 6 ✻ღϠ₡ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸

Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme
Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme
All your love...
All your love...

Angel face, I love your smile,
Love your ways, I like your style.
What can I do to get closer to you?
Don't think twice or count to ten.
Don't take advice, don't ask me when.
Just come my way, simply kiss me and say:

Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme
Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme
All your love...
All your love...

With your head up in the sky,
Every day you're walking by,
Why don't you have the stars looking at me?

Stop that game, don't waste your time,
For all your dreams are matching mine,
No use to play hide 'n seek for a week.

Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme
Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme
All your love...
All your love...

Let me be your Romeo, your wonder boy,
And your super champ.
Let me take you to the milky way
On a holiday, (on a holiday)
Follow me (follow me)
why don't you follow me (why don't you follow me)?
Just come my way simply kiss me and say:

Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme
Hands up, baby, hands up,
Gimme your heart, gimme, gimme your heart
Gimme gimme

Hands up, baby, hands up
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Sunday 23 August 2015

Fresh Fruit Minestrone with a hint of Orange-flavoured Liqueur

Sunday Treat: pacman emoticon Simple, yet lovely to look at and refreshing + delightful to savour... One of my favourite sweet treats with a linkage to my childhood memory as my grandmother made it often... but without liqueur...
...Besides my top operation: "Eating", I was assigned to peel and remove pips from grapes... for my grandma's fruit salad...and sometimes...for my grandpa's afternoon break. penguin emoticon 
---> Fresh Fruit Minestrone <---, a cocktail of fruit salad, ...cut and steeped in a spiced fruit marinade, with a hint of Curaçao triple sec, ...set over ice... served with a quenelle of heart emoticon -made creamy frozen yogurt...and a sprig of mint for garnish.
For the marinade:
1 cinnamon stick
2 pieces star anise
1 vanilla pod (cut in half lengthwise)
300 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
300 ml water
300 g sugar
juice from 1 lime or lemon
1 tablespoon Curaçao Triple Sec or Cointreau

  • Place the water, sugar, vanilla pod, cinnamon stick and star anise in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the orange juice and lime juice. Blend ingredients together well in a blender...until well combined. Add in Triple sec and set aside.

For the fruits:
1 Washington red apple
1 Granny Smith apple,
1-2 kiwi(s)
150 g strawberries
(for apples, kiwis and strawberries, cut into chunks)
150 g grapes, (halved, remove pips)
2 Navel oranges, sliced
2 bananas, (peeled & sliced, then brushed with lime juice)
alternatively, you can blend bananas with other ingredients for marinade
Fresh mint, for garnish
Lime or Lemon juice, for brushing the apple chunks and banana slices

  • Add the prepared fruits to the marinade. Allow the fruits to sit in the marinade for at least 3-4 hours before serving. Note* I also added my left-over orange strips, made of orange peel in orange syrup to the marinade. 
For Creamy Frozen Yogurt:
3 cups of 135 g natural yogurt
(I used Thai brand w/ 0% fat plain yogurt)
75 g icing sugar
80 ml whipping cream, for mixing
  • Churn in a Sorbetière or ice-cream maker following the manufacturer's instructions.
  • Alternatively, mix (not whip) the ingredients together in a bowl or a plastic freezer box, cover and freeze for half and hour. Stir and mix with a whisk every 15 minutes during freezing to break up the ice crystals and give a better texture. Shape the frozen yogurt with a spoon when ready to serve. Enjoy! :)

p.s August 23rd, 2015 
May the angels rejoice & sing a song to you together...
Hope your birthday in heaven is the best one ever!
ℴѵℯ & Miss you dearly on your special day, grandpa! 
 ❤❤❤❤
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Monday 20 July 2015

Jazzamor-Sunday & My First Nama Chocolate

My first Nama Chocolate----> made of dark chocolate (70%), heavy cream, butter , Rum and chopped Almond... dusted w/ Dutch cocoa powder, decorated with edible-salt-pickled Sakura flowers and pistachios...
pacman emoticon
What is Nama Chocolate ?Nama chocolates ( Chocolate with Velvet Sensation) ... have been popular in Japan... since the 1980s,... but now the chocolates are becoming known in other parts of the world, ...and they've become an exotic hit in chocolate circles full of avid chocolate aficionados....Well-known purveyors of the chocolate are Japanese shops... such as ROYCE' chocolates...Nama in Japanese---> means fresh, raw or rare , but most translate the term in English as meaning fresh .This obviously refers to the use of fresh cream in the confection


A fine, ...delicate pairing of select chocolate, ...fresh cream... with a hint of prestigious liquors, Nama Chocolate ...is a velvety smooth fresh ganache chocolate , ...containing at least double the amount of cream usually found in conventional chocolates...

My second version is with a hint of Coffee & Brandy... to enhance my blood circulation during these rainy & chilly monsoon days...
Kindly visit the below link for ingredients & method (Just One Cookbook by Nami) :
Nama Chocolate (Royce’ Copycat Recipe) 生チョコレート

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Friday 5 June 2015

Thai Mango Smoothie

Hello June with Strawberry Moon ...plus... my first flowering Pineapple,... propagated from golden pineapples' crown, last year...surprise...surprise! :)  
...I'll have to wait up to 6 more months for the fruit to mature... It feels so good just realizing that the wait will be well worth it! )
...and a variety of Mangoes in season here in Thailand e.g. Apple Mango, Oil Mango, Elephant Head Mango, Elephant Tusk Mango, Green King Mango, etc...etc) 
They are sweet, juicy, aromatic, refreshing and delicious!
Dear Pineapple,
I feel grateful & ecstatic... that you filled my daily discovery with a sense of wonder...
Mangoes just couldn't stop smiling at me... (lol)
#mangoadventure @Local Farmers' Market!
How to choose the most ripe mangoes?
  • Firstly, I gently ----> touch their skin <--...the same way & feeling when selecting avocados or peaches...---> soft skin <--...
  • Secondly, I pick each one to my nose--> smell <-- ...
  • and finally choose the ones with---> rich aroma at their stem ends <--- :) 
  • Voilà!

Ingredients:
(making 4 glasses )


1.
Mango pulp from 2 ripe Thai Mangoes, chilled
(I used Elephant Tusk Mangoes)
2.
250 ml Almond Milk, chilled
(or Rice Milk..or Coconut Milk, if you desire)
3.
1 Tbsp Almond Paste
4.
1 Tbsp Organic Honey
.........
Pistachios, roughly chopped
Salt-pickled Japanese Cherry Blossom Flowers for garnish (optional)

Method:
Add all the ingredients (1 - 4) in a mixer and blend it until smooth. Pour the mixture into 4 glasses. Serve chilled. Sprinkle with chopped Pistachios and  decorate with edible salt-pickled Japanese Cherry Blossom Flower when served. Enjoy! :)

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Friday 15 May 2015

Scotch Pancakes - Cannoli Fashion -

Sweet treat for your sweet tooth 
It's Baby Scotch Pancake (this time, w/ a crepe-like thin pancake batter yet w/ soft & spongy texture) & Whipped Cream Filling,... Cannoli Fashion ^_^

Ideally served on a plate,... lightly painted w/ heart-made Strawberry-Champagne Jam, ...decorated with blueberries, raspberries and sprigs of mint...served w/ drops of Thai honey and a cuppa love!!!!
Oh-so-luscious! 
for Scotch Pancakes Recipe & how-to, kindly visit my previous post:
http://annemathuros.blogspot.com/2014/06/sunday-vanilla-scotch-pancakes-sw-dark.html

Today's Inspirational quote:
Always roaming
with a hungry heart.
--Alfred Tennyson

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Thursday 30 April 2015

How Do I Love Thee, Eggless Nutella-Banana Ice Cream (No Churn)

I scream... You scream....We all scream for heart emoticon Made Nutella-Banana Ice Cream!!!! tongue emoticon
...
Made some time ago...------> It's Eggless Nutella-Banana Ice cream (no churn...no additional sugar added), made of Nutella, Dark Chocolate, Rice Milk, Whipped Cream & Beautiful Bananas ...with roughly chopped Cashew Nuts,... individually served in white chocolate cup, created from Cup Cake Cases & melted White Chocolate....decorated w/ Raspberries, Mint sprigs & Dark Chocolate Ganache...and s/w Cappuccino Wafer Rolls, whipped cream and a sprig of mint.
Ingredients:
275 g Rice Milk or Almond Milk
3 beautiful Bananas
180 g Nutella
125 g Dark Chocolate, melt
1 teaspoon Brandy or Whaler's Vanilla rum
*150 ml whipping cream or double cream

To make Nutella Banana Ice-cream:
  • Scald the milk, then remove from the heat. 
  • In a small saucepan, with low heat, melt dark chocolate, then remove from the heat. Add in the Nutella and stir until smooth. 
  • Blend a little bit of milk with banana in a blender until thick and smooth. 
  • Slowly whisk in the Chocolate mixture...Stir in Vanilla rum... Mix well... 
  • * Whip the cream until thick but light and fold into the cooled mixture. 
  • Pour into a freezing tray or ice cream box and freeze. 
  • Remove from the freezer at least 5-10 minutes before serving.
Zoom-in for chocoholics!
Enjoy! ;)
White Chocolate Cups:
  • Coat the insides of 8 cup cake cases with 250 g melted white chocolate. 
  • Build up a thick coating by brushing on several layers, allowing one layer to dry before applying the next.
  • Remove the paper cases when the chocolate cups are firmly set.
  • Spoon a scoop of Nutella-Banana ice cream into each cup. 
  • Chill until serving

How Do I Love Thee?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning - How Do I Love Thee?From Classical Baby: The Poetry ShowHow Do I Love Thee?(Sonnet 43)by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sightFor the ends of being and ideal grace.I love thee to the level of every day'sMost quiet need, by sun and candle-light.I love thee freely, as men strive for right.I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.I love thee with the passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.
Posted by Poetictouch on Friday, November 12, 2010
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