Halloween Cancy Chocolate Bar

To prepare for Halloween, prepare to have leftover candy from your kids that you are not going to know what to do with! Besides donating to Unicef (which is a great cause) you should make this candy chocolate bar! Aside from having all the ingredients at your whim for this…the Halloween candy…you only need to other things.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Halloween candy!!
We used:
Whoppers
Candy corn
Tootsie rolls
Reese’s peanut butter cups
Ghost sprinkles
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
¼ cup coconut milk

Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.

Chop up your candy into the size you want.

In a double boiler, heat about an inch of water on the bottom, and in the top melt your chocolate, constantly stirring, slowly adding a little bit of coconut milk at a time while stirring so that it is completely absorbed.

Pour chocolate onto baking sheet, sprinkle with candy, stick in freezer, and eat when ready!

This is particularly great with ice cream!!

 

 

Back to School Lunch!

Happy Back to School! I don’t know about you guys, but it seems earlier and earlier every year. That being said, adults get a little bit of freedom back, and kids get to catch up with old friends. First day of school screams new outfits, summertime tales, fresh notebooks, new teachers, and old haunts.

We came up with a great back to school lunch delicious to kids (it has been child tested) and it is chock full of great things such as broccoli, yam, apple…but it is all snuck in with a twist!

On the menu we have: broccoli cheese whole wheat pasta, yam chips, and cinnamon apple rice krispy treats. Enjoy!

Ingredients will make about 5 servings

Pasta:
1 box whole wheat pasta (we used rotini because it is fun)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded cheddar
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large head broccoli
Kosher salt

Yam Chips:
1 large yam
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt

Cinnamon Apple Rice Krispy Treat:
5 Cups Rice Krispy Cereal
5 cups small marshmallows
1 Large green apple
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter + some for greasing
¼ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Bring a large pot of water, and a small pot of water to a boil. In the meantime cut the large head of broccoli into smaller pieces. When large water comes to a boil, pour in pasta. When small water comes to boil, pour in broccoli. In a medium sized pot start melting butter right before pasta is done, cook pasta 9-12 minutes or until slightly al dente. Cook broccoli about 5 minutes or until tender when poked with fork.

Once butter is melted, strain and pour in pasta. Stir pasta so that it gets coated in butter, pour in broccoli and stir more. Pour grated cheese in thirds and stir so that it doesn’t melt in clumps. Sprinkle salt in to your liking.

For the chips I suggest using a mandolin, because they are awesome! Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

Clean outside of yam before slicing. Slice yam relatively thin, not so thin that you can see light through it, but no so thick that they snap in half…they should be able to bend. In a bowl, toss with olive oil.

Lay out on cookie sheets and very lightly sprinkle with salt, they get salty very easily.

Bake about 10 minutes, or until you see little brown spots pop up. Rotate halfway through.

These Rice Krispies don’t hold together as tightly as the old fashioned kid without apple, so we are adding a bit more marshmallow…but who cares, they won’t be around long because they are so quickly devoured!

Before doing anything, make sure to grease bottom and sides of 9”x11” pan.

Start by cubing apple into pretty small pieces about a centimeter cubed. In a small sauce pan melt butter and sugar. When melted pour in apple pieces, stir to coat, then add 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir frequently for about 10 minutes until apple is soft. Set aside.

In a medium/ large deep sauce pan melt marshmallows while stirring constantly. Add teaspoon of cinnamon and stir for two more minutes. Add in apples and stir in completely. Then add in cereal and stir that in completely.

Using a greased spatula, pour mix into your already greased pan, pushing mix in as tight as possible. Let cool, and then slice!!

This is such a delicious combo, I suggest that adults enjoy it too!

Valentine's Day Strawberry Upside Down Cake

Happy Valentine’s Day!! Tis the season to remind the ones you love why you love them, how you love them, and generally just how lovely they really are. It doesn’t hurt to show that love with a strawberry upside down cake!

Ingredients:

Whip cream:
½ Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Topping:
2 teaspoons cinnamon
 ½ stick of unsalted butter
½ cup brown sugar
2 cups strawberries

Cake:
Pinch of cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sugar
4 eggs room temp
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
¾ cup heavy cream
2 sticks room temp butter

 

 

 

 

 





Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Start by slicing the strawberries and measuring out all of your ingredients.

Make the cake first. In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate large bowl beat the two sticks of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla.

In a small bowl mix together ½ cup water and the cream. Start mixing it all together by beating the flour in thirds, and adding the cream mix in between.  Set the batter aside.

Spray down your loaf cake or butter it in preparation of pouring batter in. To lay down the topping for the cake, melt down ½ stick of butter, ½ a cup of sugar, and the cinnamon until the sugar melts.
Pour at the bottom of the loaf pan. Lay the strawberries down creating two layers if possible to ensure maximum juiciness! Next spoon the batter on top.

Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes, and turn half way through. Check to see if baked through about 40 minutes in.

In the meantime, make your whip cream by beating the remainder of your whipping cream and vanilla extract on high speed until it forms peaks.

Serve warm to the ones you love!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

                                                                    

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies

October is our favorite month, not just because it is my (Francesca’s) birthday month, but it is when the holiday season starts, when food starts to become more comforting, and when you can start wearing more than just shorts.

In honor of everyone’s obsession with pumpkin spice everything, we have made a simple twist on a homemade classic in the form of pumpkin spic oatmeal cookies. Enjoy!

Ingredients: makes about 2-3 dozen

½ cup butter (softened)
¾ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar plus 5 Tablespoons
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground clove
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup pumpkin purée
3 cups rolled oats
2 Tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat together ½ cup butter and sugar until nice and creamy. Add in your eggs one at a time, with vanilla, and then beat well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, clove, and salt. Mix together well.

In small batches, pour the dry mix into the sugar and butter mix.

One cup at a time, mix in rolled oats using a flat spatula of a large spoon.

On an ungreased and unlined baking sheet, form cookies. Make them by using a heaping tablespoon.

Bake for 15 minutes, turning half way through to achieve an even bake.

Now to make the chocolate drizzle: while the cookies are cooling, heat remaining 5 Tablespoons of sugar on medium low heat until completely melted, once melted add chocolate and completely mix together. You are going to want to make this pretty quickly because sugar can burn very quickly, and it gets very bitter. Trust us we have burnt sugar more times than we like to admit.

Now immediately drizzle the chocolate over the cookies and enjoy!!!

 

Stone Fruit Summer Roast

Summer is about to end, though here in Los Angeles it feels as if it never will. If I could get some rain we will be happy campers, so will LA! The end of summer brings some amazing stone fruits, especially at this time when it is so warm, they get so juicy and delicious. There is no better way to honor the summer than creating a simple roasted fruit dessert.

We roasted some wonderful pluots, peaches, and nectarines, topped it with some sweet goodness and sprinkled some fresh mint! If you don’t want to use these specific fruits, you can use whatever large stone fruit you like. Delish!!!

Ingredients: Serves 3-4

2 peaches
2 pluots
2 nectarines
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
5 -7 mint leaves
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and cut fruit in half, removing the center stone. Place fruit cut side down. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, flipping fruit oven half way through.

While in the oven, make simple syrup, boil water and sugar for 5 -7 minutes. You want the syrup to start to become sticky and a bit gel like, not super gooey though.

Next make whip cream by combining heavy cream and almond extract and whipping with an electric mixer until it starts to form peaks.

Lastly chiffonade mint by rinsing the leaves, then roll up and slicing in small strips.

To create the beauty that is this dish, loosely arrange fruit cut side up, pour some simple syrup over but not too much! Plop some dollops of whip cream on, and then sprinkle the mint.  This is a guaranteed dish to wow anyone, and is so simple to make.

Cheers to the end of summer!

Peach Granita Dessert!

For the end of summer, we need to grasp onto the last rays of sunshine, the last warmth, and never let it go! This dessert is very simple. It is within this simplicity that lay something so delicious, and grabs onto the true taste of summer. Enjoy the peach granite dessert we have put together for you!

Preparation takes a few hours.

Ingredients: serves 4-6
6 peaches
¾ cup water
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 kiwis
1 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
Sweetened condensed milk
 

 



Start by preparing the peaches, and by setting aside a baking tray.

Peel the peaches, cut up into pieces, while removing the center pit. Remove any extra hard pieces that may be left over. Puree the peaches in batches of thirds, so 2 peaches, roughly a third of the ¾ cup water, a bit of sugar etc., until everything has been liquefied together and poured onto the baking tray.

Place tray in the freezer so that it lays flush. Let freeze for a few hours.

Once frozen, prepare dessert by using two forks to scrape the frozen peach purree apart so it is like shaved ice. Peel and chop up the four kiwis. Place some of the granita into a bowl, and top with kiwi bits, and then shave some chocolate on top. The finale is drizzling some condensed milk over the top!

Voila!

Christmas Cookie Bonanza!

Christmas is 4 days away!! Oh my goodness. Everyone has been fighting the flu, but that won’t keep us down, I have been doing some power shopping, some good deal hunting, tons of Christmas crafting, not to mention way too much eating.

Every year the Quintano family has a tree trimming party where everyone gets together and decorates the tree. It started before I was born when my parents would invite all of our friends who did not have family out in LA, so it was a bit of a misfit’s Christmas.

This year for the tree trimming party we made a cookie extravaganza! We made 4 different cookies: Scottish terrier shaped peppermint sugar cookies, Chocolate fudge cookies with currant jelly, luxardo cherry and white chocolate chip shortbread cookies, and orange zest gingerbread cookies.

Each recipe makes about 2 dozen!! Also, it is best to give yourself a few hours, or do it in two days, because dough needs to chill for about 1-2 hours.

*You will need plastic wrap and parchment paper.

 Ingredients:

Peppermint Cookies:
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
4 candy canes
4 drops red food coloring

Chocolate Fudge Cookies:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
½ cup butter
4 eggs
Pinch salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons rum
Currant jelly
Powdered sugar

White Chocolate Chip and Cherry Shortbread Cookie:
1 cup butter room temperature
¼ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
½ Teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped luxardo cherries

Orange Zest Gingerbread Cookies:
2 cup flour
2 Teaspoon ground ginger
½ Teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ Teaspoon ground clove
¼ Teaspoon baking soda
¼ Teaspoon salt
½ cup butter room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 egg
¼ cup orange zest
Cinnamon candy
Icing

Peppermint cookies:

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium sized bowl.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add in egg, vanilla extract, food coloring, and then smash up candy canes and add those as well.

Slowly add flour while mixing, or add a little at a time.

Once the dough is mixed pat into a 9 inch wide disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, let the dough sit out of the freezer for 10 minutes. Flour a flat surface and roll the dough out at about a ¼ inch thick. Cut shapes, and lay on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and put in freezer for 10 minutes.

Bake 12 minutes.

Chocolate Fudge Cookie:

In a large bowl mix egg, salt, and both sugars.

Fill a sauce pan half way with water and boil the water. Once the water is boiling, place a heat proof bowl on the sauce pan and melt chocolate and butter.

Pour chocolate and rum into the egg and sugar mix and stir. Add flour and continue to stir.

Chill covered for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a spoon, make balls that are about 1 ½ Tablespoons of chocolate dough. Space about 2 inches apart because they will spread. Bake 12 minutes.

When you pull the cookies out of the oven, using the back of the spoon, make a nice indent in the middle of the cookie, and spoon in a teaspoon of currant jelly. Next using a mesh strainer, sprinkle the cookies with powdered sugar.

White Chocolate Chip and Cherry Shortbread Cookie:

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla extract until just combined.

Add flour, salt, white chocolate chips, and cherries.

Shape into two logs, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Take logs out of plastic wrap and using a very sharp serrated knife cut the log into ½ inch slices.

Bake 1 ½ inches apart for about 16-20 minutes, or until a little golden.

Gingerbread:

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl beat together butter and sugar until smooth, then add orange zest, molasses, and egg.

Slowly add flour a little bit at a time and mix together.

Pat dough into 9 inch disk and wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface, and then place in freezer and freeze for 20 minutes.

Cut shapes, place on parchment paper covered baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

Once they cool, decorate with a drop of icing and a cinnamon candy.

Enjoy all of these cookies just as much as we did!!!

Merry Christmas!