S'more Pie, Dorm Style

Sometimes you need to simplify. Whether it's because you don't have the time, energy, or even the kitchen.
A friend if mine just turned 18 in her first month of college.

She had new friends to celebrate with but no cake. A birthday without a cake is hardly a birthday at all, in my opinion, so I had to make one.
It was actually a pie, but sometimes you just have to sacrifice.
This is not a glory cake(pie) it's as simple as it gets, made with a lot of chemical-sweet packaged products. It's good though. Super sweet and bit tastes like childhood. So simplify and celebrate!!

S'mores Pie

1 graham cracker crust (premade or from scratch)
1 jar marshmallow fluff
1 1/2 cups whipped topping, thawed
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips
1/2 cup half and half (stolen from the dining hall is best)

In a microwave, heat the half and half for 2-3 minutes, until almost boiling. Add the chocolate pieces and allow them to stand for 2 minutes. Stir to combine and melt the chocolate into the half and half.
Pour the ganache into the pie crust and chill in the fridge for 2 hours, until the chocolate has set.
In a bowl, gently fold the marshmallow fluff into the whipped topping.
Evenly spread the marshmallow mixture over the ganache and crust.
Add candles, sing, and enjoy!

Busy Week Birthday Brownies

I have four days left at school. Four short, busy, test filled, celebratory days. I have spent more than 400 days at my school, and now I only have 4 left. It's sort of crazy.
These are not 4 days of Popsicle licking and movie watching, like they were when I only had 4 more days of kindergarten or even eighth grade. These are 4 days or finals, concerts, and projects that I have put off for far too long. It's also my friend's birthday.
I cannot possibly let a friend's birthday pass without sharing a treat-usually chocolate-with them, and Emma is the last person whose treat should ever be forgotten, and certainly the last person you would dare present with anything other than chocolate. I wanted to make her a Butterfinger type chocolate bar but these bars take hours, or days and involve a whole lot of chocolate tempering. I other words, they are not ideal when you only have about 20 minutes free for the next 7 days.
I have a small arsenal of recipes that I can make in less than 20 minutes, most of them using five ingredients or less. I decided to make Emma one of my favorite recipes from this collection, that also happens to be one of the chocolatyist. Nutella Brownies.

Gotta love silicon baking cups-no messy muffin tins!

If you're really a brownie purist, you may call these brownie bites because they're baked in cupcake liners, but to me, these are brownies because they're a real dessert, not at all like the store bought 2-bite variety. These are gooey, nutty, chocolaty, simple, and soooo good. I especially like them topped with some nocciola ice cream, but this batch is for Emma, so I must resist.

Nutella Brownies

1 cups Nutella
1 c minus 2 Tbs AP flour
4 large eggs
Pinch of salt
A whole bunch of chocolate chips
(I used about 1 1/2 cups, which may sound like overkill but was really really good.)

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 muffin tin with liners.
In a bowl, mix eggs and Nutella until completely combined, add salt and flour 1 cup at a time, and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide evenly between the muffin cups and bake for 10 minutes. They should be completely jiggle-less, but an inserted toothpick should come out covered with damp, fudgy crumbs.

Vegan Caprese Salad

Salads are boring.
I'm sure you've heard that said about a million times, but it's not true. It's simply a lie. Who over told you that does not really know anything about salad.
I'm on a bit of a giant salad kick at the moment, due to a little thing called a diet (check out my other blog below) and I'm actually really enjoying it!

Exhibit A, because the bag technique is very hard to explain without visuals

I'm not allowed much dairy on this diet, so I save it for the important things, like Greek yogurt and have been using my usual substitute Almond milk quite a bit. When I was craving the classic tomato, basil and cheese salad, though, I ran into a little bit of a problem. That's where tofu and vinegar come in, though.

Brown Baggin' it!

The tofu absorbs the flavor of the marinade and really tastes similar to cheese. The texture's not too far off, either. So, whether you're vegan, on a diet, or just out of cheese, you can always enjoy a Caprese.
I used my favorite lunch time salad making technique-make it in a big zip top bag, put that in a tupperware, and you know all the dressing is sealed securely inside. So, if you want to make this salad in a bowl, just follow the directions but put the ingredients in a bowl, not bag, and toss, don't shake.

Vegan Caprese Salad
(serves 1)

1 medium roma tomato, sliced
8-10 basil leaves, ripped
2 oz firm tofu, thoroughly drained
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Put tomato, basil, shallot, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper ina large zip top bag, and shake gently to combine.
Cut the tofu into 1/4 inch squares and squeeze the liquid out, by wrapping it in paper towels and squeezing until dry.
Crumple the tofu into the salad and skake it up again again.
Allow the salad to marinate for 2 hours or overnight. This step is really important because it allows the tofu to absorb the other flavors, and make a more convincing cheese substitute.
Put the bag in a tall sealable container so you can eat it bowl style without any clean up or possible spillage.
Enjoy!
And remember to check out my Other Blog

Quick Dark Chocolate Marzipan

Sometimes, you need to make something really quick, but you still need it to be really good and special. This is where marzipan comes in. I have shared a recipe for a long form marzipan before, but I'm currently in the process of stocking up on hand made food gifts for the seemingly endless number of graduation parties I have this summer, so I don't have the time or patience to be grinding almonds and cooking egg whites to perfection.

This is not a very sweet marzipan, and it leans on the side of stickiness, but that's how I like mine, all almond flavor with a sharp contrast between the texture of the chocolate filling and the marzipan casing.

You can make these with any type of chocolate filling, but I like a dark chocolate with a fairly low percentage of cocoa solids. I generally go with about 60% cocoa. This may seem a little strange, but it's meant to balance out the pure nuttiness of the marzipan. Think of it this way, if you need a bitter chocolate, your marzipan is too sweet.

(I know, I need to get some more plates for photos)

Quick Marzipan with Dark Chocolate
Makes 30 filed marzipan cups

8 oz Almond paste (not marzipan)
1 Tbs light corn syrup
1/2 tsp almond extract
3.5 oz dark chocolate

In break the almond paste into peces a bowl. With a hand mixer, beat the almond paste until smooth. Add the corn syrup and and almond extract continue beating until it forms a smooth dough. If the mix is too dry, add a teaspoon of corn syrup. You want a slightly sticky dough, so if the dough is too wet, add a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Form into small balls and make a dip in the center of each with your finger tip, to make a small bowl shape.
Melt and temper the chocolate. Use a small spoon or squeeze bottle to fill the marzipan bowls to the top with chocolate. Chill in the refrigerator until the chocolate is completely set and the marzipan is dry, about 2 to three hours or over night. Package, share, enjoy!

Chai Coconut Milk Popsicles

Today beings the week of popsicles. I have a thing for week long challenges and even more of a thing for frozen deliciousness on a stick. I'm pretty darned excited, if you couldn't already tell.

This is probably the simplest of all the recipes. It's literally just brewing tea, as long as you use a good quality tea. If you've only got low quality tea lying around, add a cinnamon stick and a couple cardamom pods to the tea when it's on the stove to boil. This will perk it up a little so it tastes more like a rich tea pop and not just frozen sugar water.

What makes this even better is that on day 8, there's a special surprise for you. But we'll leave that for day 8, because it's a surprise!

Chai Coconut Popsicles

2 cups water
4 chai tea bags
1 cup coconut milk (I used Lite)
3 Tbs honey

Put the tea bags in a pot of kettle and cover with the water. Bring the tea to a boil and then remve from the heat. Cover and let steep for 3 to 5 minutes more. Mix in the honey and coconut milk and cool the mixture to room temperature. Divide the mix between your popsicle molds or cups and freeze.
If you're using paper cups or silicon baking cups, freeze for 1 hour before inserting a stick in the middle, then continue freezing until solid (about 6 hours) If you're using molds, the sticks are usually attached already, but if they're not, just follow the cup method.
Unmold, pop out, or tear away the paper and ENJOY!