FFF (Friday Flickr Favorites)

I guess it's a pink friday today. I adore the picture below, its my favoritist of the favorites!

"The happy cupcake face" by Right Moon

You can check out the rest of my favorites here.

Goodbye Cupcake Bites!

One of my favorite co-workers is leaving me for greener pastures... and I am sad, really sad actually. Whenever you see my page filled with new cupcakes and baked goods, it's usually because I am making them for Kayla. You see, I don't actually eat anything I make/ bake. Of course I nibble along the way because I have to make sure they taste good but I don't actually make them for the purpose of me eating them. Everything I make is usually for other people, and it's what I love to do. Kayla LOVES eating what I bake, and I LOVE to bake for her. A symbiotic relationship at it's best. 

A cross-section of a cupcake bite: creamy, chocolate-y, delicious!

Chocolate Cupcake Bites

Yields: about 40+

Recipe/ idea can be found here.

Printable Recipe

1 box of devil's food cake

1 tub of cream cheese frosting

candy melts (color is your choice)

Bake cake according to the directions on the box. Once completely cool, use a fork to break up the cake into tiny crumbs. Add 3/4 of the frosting and mix well. If you want the bites to be more moist, add the rest of the frosting. I found that 3/4 was sufficiently moist for me. Next, use your hands to fashion appropriately sized balls for your mold.

There are two methods in which you can cover your cupcake bites. You can use candy molds (which can be found at Michael's) or you can use a mini cupcake pan lined with mini cupcake liners. For both methods, spread melted chocolate on the bottom and edges of the mold, then immediately drop an appropriately sized ball of cake. Stick in the freezer until the chocolate has hardened, about 5 - 10 minutes. Next, remove the molded chocolate from either the candy mold or from the cupcakes liners. Dip the tops into another color of candy molds, sprinkle with sprinkles/ jimmies/ whatever and then wait for them to harden once again. And you are done! Enjoy!

The invisible bowl of cake crumbs and cream cheese frosting:

A sea of rolled cake balls:

For some reason this did not work! When I made my dark chocolate peanut butter cups the chocolates came out so easily, they just popped! But I couldn't even pry these out and I ended up chipping the tray so I gave up.

My solution? I spread the melted chocolate onto mini cupcake liners and set them in their mini cupcake pans, plopped a cake ball in and let them harden in the freezer. They ended up being bigger than Bakerella's bites but they were semi-easier to extract. Once they hardened I just peeled off the liners, and they were set. 

I dipped them in both pink and blue melted candy melts and then topped them with sprinkles galore! 

I made little labels with goodbye messages for Kayla. CUTE!

Tailored Tuesdays

Tips to wearing boyfriend jeans successfully:

a. Wear heels to lengthen your legs, if you can handle them, which I definitely cannot.

b. Add feminine pieces to counteract the boyish part.

c. Be extra careful in wearing them if you are short!

d. Do not double duty on bagginess, i.e. wearing a blousy top or oversize items.

An example of such above:

1. Fendi "Ruffle front top"

2. Current/ Elliot "The boyfriend jean"

3. Lanvin "Satin platform sandals"

4. Roberto Cavalli "Large stone ring"

5. Christian Louboutin "Maykimay strass clutch"

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Anepalco's Cafe {Orange, CA}

Sometimes the best food is from the smallest, little hole in the walls. And Anepalco's Cafe is no exception. I love Yelp. It's brought me more insight and new discoveries than word of mouth ever could. I've definitely driven past Anepalco's numerous times and I probably would have never given it any more thought if I hadn't heard about it on Yelp.

Thanks to Yelp, I've found an amazing new restaurant! Anepalco's Cafe is a quaint little restaurant that has a mix of French, Mexican, and American food. They are most famous for their Columbian coffee and Chilaquiles. The coffee was indeed good, but I'm not quite sure if it's "the best in town" as they proclaim but their chilaquiles? YES, the best I've ever encountered. It's a beautiful sight to look at, topped with avocado cream and beyond delicious chile oil! Truly amazing.

We also had the Poulet Crepe, which was filled with chicken, mushrooms, swiss cheese and bernaise sauce. I haven't had a crepe in a while, and tasting this heavenly sight made me remember how good they were! The bernaise was nice and tangy, while the cheese was stringy and melty. It was just a damn good breakfast and portions were huge! My sister and I could only finish half of each of our plates!

Basically, if you live near by, you have to come stop by! It's a good, neighborhood eatery. I mean look at that delicious bite of chilaquiles!!!

Their website is here.

And their rave reviews from Yelp are here.

Veggie Cream Cheese

I used to work at the little place called Bagel Me!, if you've never heard of it, I suggest you familiarize yourself with it quickly. Yes, I had to wear a visor and apron, and yes I often had to deal with pesky customers, and yes I am forever embarrassed about it, but for some reason I always come back and I still continue to love it immensely. Albeit simple, their food was just amazingly tasty. One of my favorite things was their vegetable cream cheese, so creamy and flavorful. I was watching the food network one day and saw who else but Ina Garten whipping up this beautiful cream cheese, so I jotted down the recipe ASAP and vowed to make it. And here it is!

Veggie Cream Cheese

Yields: about 20 oz.

Printable Recipe

16 oz./ 2 blocks of cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tbsn. finely diced green onion/ scallions

2 tbsn. finely diced carrot

2 tbsn. finely diced radish

2 tbsn. finely diced celery

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

Mixing all of the ingredients together:

In a medium sized bowl, whip the cream cheese until it is creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients into the cream cheese and mix until everything is well incorporated. Place into tupperware and refrigerate for approximately 24 hours to let the flavors meld. Spread over your morning bagel, sandwich, etc. and enjoy!

How do I like to enjoy my veggie cream cheese? The most classic way possible: on a bagel, and of course with plenty of lox, tomatoes, red onion, and capers. DEE-licious! But it's great in omelets, smothered in sandwiches, with chips and salsa or just by the spoonful (just kidding, but hey if that's your preference, no judgement here).

Basically, the best breakfast in the world:

Pecan & Toffee Blondies

I've been wanting to make blondies for a while now since I first encountered them in a sundae at Milk. Conceptually, these blondies should have been delicious. In reality, they were good. But this was due to my own human errs. Because of my obsession with all things cute, I decided to bake these as mini blondie bites... big mistake. I ended up overcooking them a teensy bit due to them being in such a tiny pan! Don't get me wrong, they still had nice flavor but they were just a little hard rather than deliciously moist. One day, when my obsession with cuteness dies down, we shall meet again...

Pecan and Toffee Blondies

Yields: about 10 - 12 bars

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, original source: How to Cook Everything

Printable Recipe

8 tbsn. butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla 

pinch of salt

1 cup flour

1/3 cup pecans, chopped

1/3 cup toffee chips or Heath bars, chopped

Butter an 8x8 pan, set aside. Mix the melted butter with the brown sugar, beat until smooth. Next, beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Add the salt, then the flour. Add the chopped walnuts and Heath bar, incorporate well. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 350 F for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before cutting into squares. 

FFF (Friday Flickr Favorites)

Short one: thank GOD it's FRIDAY!

You can find the rest of my favorites here.

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Alas, school has commenced once again... and I'm back to salads and sandwiches for the rest of my living days. But hey, I'm not complaining, especially since my salads will be topped and my sandwiches filled with this glorious chicken salad. Nobody does it like Smitten Kitchen. I've made this chicken salad pretty often, but I guess never gotten around to blogging about it. I really shouldn't have waited to share this one because it is in one word: AMAZING. It probably also has the power to cure the world of AIDS, end world hunger, and bring peace to this world. Ok... maybe not but it really is delicious. I slightly adapted it to fit the current state of my pantry because it really is moldable to what you have on hand. It's yummy with walnuts or pecans, with any vinegar you have on hand, and I often make it with way less mayonnaise for health's sake.

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Yields: 4 - 6 servings

Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen, original recipe can be found here.

Printable Recipe

4 cups of cubed (1/2 inch) chicken, about 1 3/4 lbs.

1 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped (walnuts are good also)

1 celery rib, diced

2 tbsn. finely diced shallot

1 cup dried cranberries

1/3 - 2/3 cup of mayonnaise, depending on your preference

3 tbsn. red wine vinegar

2 tbsn. fresh chopped tarragon or herb of your choice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

All of the ingredients before mixing:

Toss all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Enjoy on top of some leafy greens or some nice, crusty bread. Enjoy!

The finished product:

Tailored Tuedays

Just really tailored elegance. I love how simple these items are yet their beauty is in the details; the slightly asymmetric lines of the cardigan, the pleats of the skirt, and so on.

1. Burberry Prorsum "Asymmetric cashmere cardigan"

2. Jason Wu "Twistfront tank"

3. Bottega Veneta "Shantung silk skirt"

4. Chloe "Crystal flower earrings"

5. Chloe "Ely medium zip bag"

6. Pedro Garcia "Peggy suede sandals"

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Gianduja Brownie Cheesecakes

B loves nuts. I love baking. Therefore anything I bake for him needs to be filled with nuts... or meat (of course). So to celebrate our one year anniversary I decided to make these wonderful brownie cheesecake concoctions. I've had this Gianduja Brownie recipe from Bake or Break bookmarked for a while, so I decided to dust it off and bring it to life, with my own spin of course!

To make them even more delicious, I decided to add a layer of cheesecake to the top. All I can say is... wow! The brownie portion was super moist and the cheesecake was tangy and delicious. The only problem was that they came out kind of ugly and browned. But I quickly fixed that with a dusting of powdered sugar and a drizzle of melted chocolate!

Gianduja Brownie Cheesecakes

Yields: 12 Mini Cheesecakes

Slightly adapted from Bake or Break

For the brownie:

1 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped and lightly toasted

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

3 oz. milk chocolate

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1/4 cup Nutella

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

For the cheesecake:

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, at room temperature

2/3 cup of sugar

2 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners (you could also use a mini cheesecake pan), set aside. Heat the butter and chocolates over medium high heat in a saucepan, whisking constantly until completely melted. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, combine the Nutella, sugar, eggs, salt, and baking powder until well combined. Slowly add the hot chocolate mixture in small batches until well incorporated. Next, whisk in the baking powder, flour, and chopped hazelnuts until well combined. Fill the cupcake liners 1/3 full with the brownie mixture, set aside. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients needed for the cheesecake and whisk until smooth. Layer on top of the brownie batter until the cups are 2/3 full. Tap against the counter to make sure it is well settled in the pan. Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is set, about 15 - 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Enjoy!