Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Pineapple Upside Down Cake a.k.a. Pineapple Cake na Pabaligtad :-)

I found an old recipe book called Mga Bagong Lutuing Pantahanan (Modern Home-cooked Meals). It was a book my mom bought when I was in grade school (or maybe high school, can't remember). The book has no author but was published in 1993 by the Philippine Publishing House.

The book was in Filipino/Tagalog. I didn't realize how hard it is to follow directions in straight Tagalog. What do you mean by "binithay na harinang panglahat na gamit"? Oh, sifted all-purpose flour!

One recipe that caught my eye was the "Pineapple Cake" na Pabaligtad (Pineapple Upside Down Cake). When I was about to make the cake though, I couldn't find the darn book! So, off I go to Yummy magazine to see if they have a recipe. I went through 4 issues just to find this!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Recipe from Yummy Magazine April 2011 issue

For the pineapple topping

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 small can pineapple slices
• 1 small can crushed pineapple
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons butter (or less than 1/4 cup)

For the cake

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 2/3 teaspoons butter, softened (or less than 1/2 cup)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Simple ingredients :-) The recipe called for fresh pineapple but shortcuts are there to make life easier. Del Monte is more than willing to help :-)

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Strain syrup of pineapple slices and crushed pineapples. You will see later why I had pineapple slices and crushed pineapple. Set aside.

Make the batter. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time while beating.

Mix in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Beat in vanilla.

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and pineapple slices over medium heat. Do not cook crushed pineapples. Cook until pineapple slices turn a bit brown.

Remove pineapple slices from pan and continue cooking brown sugar until it turns syrupy. Turn off heat.
Add butter and vanilla extract and whisk till butter is melted.

Pour the caramel mixture into the cake pan. Arrange pineapple slices over the caramel mixture. I placed the crushed pineapples into the holes of the slices and the spaces in between.


Transfer batter into the cake pan over the pineapples. Make sure to spread evenly.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes. Invert cake into a plate and serve with a smile :-)

Wow! You should smell this!

Look at how the caramel is dripping down the sides of the cake...Mmmmmm....

The cake was heavenly! It's not too sweet and the pineapples are cooked just right

Pawis rating 3 of 5 easy! I'll definitely make this again!

Churros con Chocolate

It was a dark and cold morning and I've got nothing to eat. Rain was at it's worst last Saturday and I could not go out to buy anything.

As I was doing my rounds in the blog world, I saw the fantastic Joy the Baker post a mouthwatering recipe for homemade churros with warm dark chocolate sauce. Yum!!!

Here in the Philippines we call these yummies Churros con Chocolate. And no one does this better than Dulcinea! I haven't had churros from Dulcinea in years! My stomach complained and it was time to get it on :-)

Very easy!

Churros with Warm Dark Chocolate Sauce (Churros con Chocolate)
Recipe from Joy the Baker (adapted from the NY Times)

For the Churros:

• Canola or vegetable oil, for frying - I always use canola because this is the only oil we have in the house
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter - I use salted and just skip the salt (below) or reduce it in half
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt - I skipped this.
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs

For the Chocolate Sauce:

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks - I only had chocolate bar so I chopped that
• scant 1 cup heavy cream - I used an all-purpose cream
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional) - First optional ingredient I used :-)

1. Add enough oil to a large saucepan or deep skillet to measure 2-inches deep. Attach a candy/deep fry thermometer to to side of the pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter, water, 1 tablespoon of sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add flour all at once. Quickly stir together with a spatula until no lumps remain, and the mixture begins to form a ball. This will take about 30 to 45 seconds. Remove from heat and place loose dough ball in a large bowl.
3. With a spatula, beat the eggs into the dough one egg at a time. The mixture may appear to be a broken mess, but keep stirring. Keep the faith.
4. After the eggs are added, the mixture will be slightly gummy and slightly thick. That’s perfect.
5. Spoon batter into a large pastry, or strong Ziplock bag with a Aceto 829 (large open star) tip attached. - I used a D'Chef tip.
6. Heat the oil, over medium heat, to 350 degrees F.
7. Carefully pipe about 4 inch long dough segments into the hot oil. Use a pair of kitchen sheers to cut the dough from the star tip. It’s hard not to splash yourself with hot oil, just be as careful as possible.
8. Fry dough for 5 to 7 minutes. This might seem like a long time, but the dough through the center needs to cook through. The churros will be a deep golden brown, and may split slightly when cooked. I think Joy the Baker made 2-inch long churros. I made mine smaller so they're bite-size. Keep an eye on the timer. Remove churros from hot oil and place on a paper towel.

To make the chocolate sauce:

1. Place chocolate chunks, pinch of salt, and espresso powder (if using) in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate pieces. Let rest for 1 minute before whisking. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Serve warm with warm churros. - I had to add more chocolate to the sauce because it appeared too thin. I didn't want to chop more chocolates so I just added 1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate powder.

Joy the Baker tossed her churros in a cinnamon-sugar mixture after frying. I skipped this - cutting some calories! LOL!

I didn't let the churros brown in oil. I want the pale, soft in the middle type similar to Dulcinea's.

This is surprisingly easy to make and fun too! The plateful of churritos :-) were wiped out in less than an hour.

I had leftover chocolate sauce but it did not go to waste. My resourceful daughter brought it to school and bought bread - she ate it like Nutella!

Pawis rating 1 of 5 super easy!

Cinnamon Rolls

I have the scents of butter, cinnamon and sugar coming from my kitchen. All that's missing is a floral apron, some pearl earrings and a full skirt - the picture of a domestic goddess!

No, as usual, I'm in my tank top-boxer shorts-messy ponytail getup. But, I am at my happiest!

As I have clearly stated in my list, I've never had much luck in breadmaking. All that working with yeast is not at all good for me. Yeast has never been my friend and has failed me several times.

It is with fear then that I approach this project. But hunger always overcomes fear. Hunger, plus the cold weather, overcomes fear.

Let's get started in making heavenly cinnamon rolls! Pretty simple...only 1 hour, 30 minutes of waiting time for the dough to rise. Painful 30 minutes of kneading the dough!

This recipe is from Yummy magazine. Aileen Anastacio, you are one of my heroes.

Cinnamon Rolls by Aileen Anastacio
Yummy magazine, May 2010 issue

For the dough

• 1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast - I used 1/2 tbsp instant dry yeast; 1 ounce = 2 tbsp
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp salt

For the filling

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsps cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed and softened

For the glaze - I didn't make this; let's cut some calories shall we?

• 1/2 cup butter, cubed and softened
• 1/3 cup cream cheese, cubed and softened
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Leave for 5 minutes. - I did not do this because I'm using instant dry yeast. I warmed the milk but combined it immediately with the next set of ingredients. I combined the yeast with the flour mixture.
2. Add sugar, butter and eggs. Run the mixer on low speed to stir the mixture.
3. Gradually add bread flour and salt (and instant yeast, in my case), and knead until mixture forms a smooth elastic dough, about 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm place. Allow dough to rise until double in size; about 1 hour.
5. Punch dough then transfer to a work surface. Roll dough into a rectangle (24 inch long, 16 inch wide, about 1/4 inch thick).
6. Make the filling: Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well.
7. Using a spatula, spread softened butter evenly over the dough then sprinkle the surface with the cinnamon-sugar filling.
8. Roll dough tightly into a log. With the seam side down, cut the dough into 2 inch slices. Place on a greased baking pan, 2 inches apart. Allow the dough to rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.
9. Bake the rolls in a preheated oven to 375F for about 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Place on a wire rack to cool slightly.
10. Make the glaze: Cream butter and cream cheese together. Gradually add confectioners sugar then add vanilla
11. Spread some icing over the rolls and serve warm.

This is all you need.
This is what you get when you combine the ingredients. A little sticky so make sure you put some flour in your hands and a little on your work area. Found this nifty kneading board at Gourdo's for P600+. Very nice as it latches on the table and does not move when you put force when kneading. You might ask why I knead by hand? Because I don't have the expensive KitchenAid mixer (yet) and my humble hand/stand mixer cannot knead this much dough. I know, so poorita :-( Oh well, I need the exercise. Mind you, I used a kitchen timer to time my kneading.
After the most excruciating, arm-killing 30 minutes of your life, your dough will look like this. Place it inside a well-oiled bowl, cover in damp towel and keep in a warm place for about 1 hour. Because it's extraordinarily cold the past 2 days (blame it on the typhoons), it took me 2 1/2 hours to let this dough rise!
Roll into a rectangle, spread butter and the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Restrain yourself from eating the cinnamon-sugar mixture when doing this. I don't think it's safe for consumption at this stage (?). Oh, and don't be shy, sprinkle VERY generously :-) Don't be too obsessive-compulsive and refrain from cleaning up when you do this. This is the type of good mess you want in your life.
Cut, cut, cut.
Oooh...they look like siopaos :-)
Look at how tiny these rolls are...
Look at how huge they become after the rising and baking! I have to think of something to get those ends tucked so they don't look like inverted Gs.
Someday, when I'm famous, I would make a perfume line with a burnt brown sugar scent.
I love you.

I still have dreams that my arms are all tired and swollen after kneading that long. In my daydreams though, I have a red KitchenAid doing the kneading for me!

For more tips and info on how to substitute instant dry yeast for dry yeast and vice versa, read up here.

Pawis rating 5 of 5 because of all the kneading...but it's all worth it!

Fail: Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow

I have a bag of unopened graham cracker crumbs, the type that you use when making deserts that call for graham cracker crusts. You don't need to crush individual crackers because they're already crushed, duh :-)

So I thought, this cupcake from Martha Stewart is pretty easy. I'll just use my crushed graham crackers here.

• 2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• Marshmallow Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
   
2. Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.
   
3. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.
   
4. Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.
   
5. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping.
   
6. Place 2 teaspoons chocolate in each muffin cup. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture. Return to oven and bake, rotating pans halfway through baking, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer muffin tins to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.
   
7. Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a large plain round or French tip (such as Ateco #867 or Ateco #809). Pipe frosting in a spiral motion on each cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet. Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the frosting, taking care not to burn the cupcake liners. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

Boy, was I mistaken! It has so many steps to follow and you've got to make sure you follow the baking time or your graham crust will burn!

After pressing and baking the graham crust
Add the chocolate chips
Pour the batter up to 2/3 full
Place extra crushed grahams

Then, came the baking. It was a disaster!!!

Sunken center :-(

This is so frustrating :-( After the several complicated steps, all I have are uncooked cupcakes!

Should I try again?

Pawis rating 5 of 5 complicated steps!

Brownies and Cupcakes for my son's first birthday!

Vanilla rainbow and chocolate cupcakes with Wilton buttercream icing

It was my youngest' first birthday last weekend. I thought I should add deserts to what the caterer provided so I decided to make some brownies and cupcakes - two of easiest deserts to bake in batches.

Of course, there has to be a project plan.

Task 1 - Make 2 batches of brownies and bake.
Task 2 - While the first 2 batches are baking, make chocolate cupcake batter.
Task 3 - Bake 2 dozens chocolate cupcakes.
Rest and let everything cool.
Task 4 - Make another 2 batches of brownies and bake.
Task 5 - While second batch of brownies are baking, make vanilla rainbow cupcake batter.
Task 5 - Bake 2 dozens vanilla rainbow cupcake batter.
Task 6 - Bake last dozen of vanilla rainbow cupcake batter.

This plan successfully yielded:

• 4 9"X13" pans of brownies, equally divided into 8 on the long side and by 4 on the short side (32 rectangles)
• 2 dozens chocolate cupcakes
• 3 dozens vanilla rainbow cupcakes

Success!!!

Recipes:

Brownies - Grandma Barb's Brownies from A Farm Girl Dabbles

• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1-1/2 c. flour
• 10 T. unsweetened baking cocoa
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional, to sprinkle on top
• chopped nuts, optional, to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9" x 13" pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, oil, and eggs. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until incorporated. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into your prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle with optional chocolate chips and/or nuts. Bake for 20 minutes. Then turn the heat off, leaving the pan in the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove pan to a rack to cool completely.

Note: Best brownie recipe ever!!! No melting chocolates, no melting butter - very simple and easy to make! Also, recipe calls for 9X13 pan so you make more brownies out of each recipe!

Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes - Recipe posted here

Vanilla Cupcakes - Recipe posted here

• To create the rainbow effect, I divided the batter into 4. I then tinted them red, green and blue separately. The last one I left untinted (to retain the yellow color). Once done, I placed 1/2 tbsp of each colored batter in the cupcake liners.

Red 1

Green 2
Blue 3...Sorry, no pic for Yellow 4 and there's no Pink 5. If you get the joke, you're too old! LOL

The rainbow connection :-)

I used Wilton's buttercream icing on both cupcakes.

Wilton's Buttercream Icing

• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
• 2 tablespoons milk

1. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

I packaged the cupcakes in a special box with cupcake holes. These are just P26 at Baker's Hub! Definitely a good buy - I didn't have any problem transporting them to the party venue.

Lesson learned: Plan ahead! I filed for vacation before my son's birthday because I knew that aside from cooking these goodies, I still have to iron out a lot of other things for the birthday. End result - Not haggard at all! :-)

PS - Thought I'd share with you our welcome banner at the party! Our cowboy theme party was a success!!!

Sugar Cookies

The cookies turned out okay - a bit thick though. I should've rolled the dough thinner.

Whoever said making cookies is fun is lying. This is the hardest recipe I ever tried!!!

In my kitchen misadventures from the past months, I have established several things:
Number 1 - I don't have the patience to wait for dough to rise or for anything to rise or for anything to set in the fridge.
Number 2 - I'm not really good at kneading dough.
Number 3 - I hate recipes that are not adaptable to hot, humid weather.

Try if you dare - the cookies taste good but kneading, chilling in the fridge, rolling, then cutting are steps best described in 2 words: hard labor!

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thick. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Cut out cookies with a 4-inch one-piece-shaped cookie cutter. To make an ornament, cut out a hole from the center of the neck about 1/4-inch from the edge using a straw. Transfer cookie dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from freezer and transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
4. Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Roll the dough in a clean work surface or use a nonstick pastry mat - like this one from Tescoma

Chill the dough in the fridge. Make sure you put the dough in an airtight container.

My cookie cutters are from Wilton and Tescoma. Too bad I wasn't able to decorate them :-(

I didn't have enough energy left to make royal icing to decorate the cookies but here's the recipe -> Martha Stewart's Royal Icing recipe

Pawis rating: 5 of 5 HARD LABOR!