Almond Croissants

Today I am sharing with you a very simple and yet delicious recipe for almond croissants using store bought croissants. The combination of flaky layers of croissant dough and smooth almond cream is just divine. This is a perfect treat for a weekend brunch or afternoon tea.

As I mention many time throughout my blog, I love to shop at Costco and one of the many “problems” shopping at Costco is the large quantity…well, with this said once in a while we do not resist and get the croissants and sure enough they come in a package of 12…huge ones. I do freeze some for sandwiches and the other ones I turn into tasty and delicious almost fancy bakeries kind of almond croissants. The great thing is that after transforming the plain croissants to almond ones I still can store them in the freezers for later enjoyment. So why not have this delicious treat ready for when you feel like?

The recipe was created based on Natasha’s Kitchen with minor variations.

Ingredients:

7 to 8 large store bought croissants
200 g almond flour
100 g granulated sugar
100 g butter, unsalted at room temperature
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
2 eggs
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons rum
¼ cup water
½ sliced almonds

Method:

In a small pan mix together 1 tablespoon sugar, rum and ¼ cup water. In a medium heat bring to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. Remover from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

In a stand mixer, using a whisk attachment and combine all the ingredients except the eggs. Mix well until the almond mixture is well blended and smooth. Add the eggs, one at the time making sure that egg is incorporated into the almond mixture. Mix until the almond cream is smooth and creamy.

Now that we have the syrup and the almond cream it is time to assemble.

Slice the croissants horizontally and brush each side of the croissant with the sugar/rum syrup.

Spread the bottom of the croissant with the almond cream, approximately 2 to 2 ½ tablespoons. Place back the top of the croissant like a sandwich.

Spread a thin layer of the almond cream over the top and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Repeat the procedure with all the croissants.

At this point you can either bake in a preheated oven at 350F for approximately 15 minutes or place the filled croissants in a tray and freeze. Once the croissants are frozen, store in an airtight container or freezer bags for later enjoyment.

To bake the frozen croissants, remove the number of croissants you want to serve and place in a preheated oven of 350F for approximately 20 minutes or until the sliced almonds are golden.

Dust with confectionary powdered sugar before serving.

I hope you enjoy this simple and easy way to give your plain croissant a twist. For more recipe using almond flour, please take a look at Frangipane Rolls or Frangipane Toast recipes.

Did you know that almond it not a true nut? Nevertheless, there are evidences that almonds can lower cholesterol, therefore improve your heart health. In spite of the fat in almond be considered a good fat, almonds should be consumed in moderation as fat is fat and too much can cause weight gain.

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

Avocado Ice Cream

This week I am sharing with you a recipe for avocado ice cream. This ice cream is really creamy, rich and amazingly smooth. There is a touch of vanilla and lemon juice, just like how we used to make avocado smoothie in Brazil.

When living in Brazil, avocado was eaten as fruit, meaning that it was always made into cream or smoothie with sugar. So when I first was introduced to guacamole, I literally was disgusted…it was my first time tasting “salty” avocado…no need to say that I now love guacamole…

Anyway, I saw a post from Ray at Wok with Ray a while ago were he made avocado ice cream, and I just thought…”Wow, how come I never came across avocado ice cream in Brazil? It should only be natural considering that we only eat with sugar”

You should see my husband when I told him that I was planning to make avocado ice cream…he had the same reaction I had when I initially heard of guacamole…so here I am with my version of a very simple recipe for avocado ice cream…the ice cream is very rich, creamy and so good…I really hope you get to try this recipe.

Ingredients:

3 medium size avocados
½ cup condensed milk
16 oz heavy cream, approximately 470 ml
1 cup whole milk
¼ cup sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Method:

Make sure that place your ice cream maker bucket insert into the freezer for at least 24 hours before you start making this recipe.

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Scoop the avocado flesh into the blender and add all the other ingredients.

Blend until smooth, taste for sweetness, add more sugar if necessary.

Transfer the avocado cream into a container and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

Pour the avocado mixture in the ice cream maker by following the manufacture’s instructions.

Churn until the mixture looks like soft serve, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Garnish with mint leave or anything you like, serve immediately or place in the freezer for several hours until hard enough to scoop.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for avocado ice cream, please check for Mango Frozen Yogurt recipe or Cherry Ice Cream recipe.

Did you know that avocado has high fat content? Although avocado contains a lot of fat, the main fat in avocado is oleic acid, which is a monounsaturated fatty acid, the same found in olive oil. Therefore avocado share many benefits of olive oil.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

Almond Paste

If you are a marzipan lover you will definitely try this recipe. The almond paste can be used in so many ways, such as bread, cake, cookies, the options are endless.

I love almond paste or marzipan…when living in Brazil I used to buy “potato balls” or fruit shaped marzipan with the money that my parents would give me for snack and would munch on it on my way home after school.

That might explain my love for marzipan, as each bite of anything with it brings me memories of my childhood.

Almond paste or marzipan, I honestly do not know the difference between the two of them…they are both made with blanched almond and confectioner sugar…because I remember the “potato balls” and fruit shaped candies were called marzipan, I assume that marzipan is used for making candies and almond paste as a filling.

Never mind it’s name…almond paste or marzipan…the recipe for it is very simple and you will be very happy have it handy.

Ingredients:

3 cups blanched almonds
3 cups confectioner sugar
2 egg whites
4 teaspoons almond extract

Method:

Blanch the almonds by placing the almonds in a bowl. Cover all the almonds with boiling water. Let the almonds sit for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Drain and slip the skin off.

Place the blanched almonds in a food processor and pulse until the almonds are ground. Add the egg white, confectioner sugar and the almond extract. Pulse until the mixture is smooth.

Remove the paste and place onto a silicone mat. Split into 4 equally portions. Roll into logs and wrap the logs with a plastic film. Place the wrapped almond paste in an airtight container or freezer bag. Store the almond paste in a freezer until needed.

When you need the almond paste, take the paste out of the freezer and bring it to room temperature.

Next week I will share with you what I did with this almond paste log…

If you like this simple recipe for almond paste, you might enjoy making bread like this Almond Paste Bread or a cake like Almond Flour Chocolate Cake.

Did you know that adding almond to your diet can help lower LDL-cholesterol and reduce cardiovascular disease? This may be due to high content of the antioxidant Vitamin E found in almonds. Although almond is considered healthy, it contains oxalate which should be avoided in individuals with existing kidney and gallbladder problems.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!

Cherry Ice Cream

The ice cream is rich, creamy and loaded with cherries. The recipe calls for cherry cooked in brandy sauce, very easy and delicious.

Can you believe that this is my first homemade ice cream? I have made a variety of frozen yogurt but this time I decided to go for the “real” ice cream, with heavy cream and all…for the Valentine’s Day.

When I saw cherries at the local grocery store, I just thought that cherry ice cream would be nice…especially with its intense and vivid red color accompanied with brandy flavor.

The most laborious part of this recipe is to remove the cherry pit…which with the help of a cherry pitter it was not that bad.

The texture of this ice cream without a doubt was creamier than the brandied cherry frozen yogurt which was made with fat free yogurt, after all the “fat” in heavy cream had to play a role…

Ingredients:

Brandied Cherry

2 lbs of cherries (pit removed)
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup brandy

Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon brandy (optional)
2 cups of brandied cherry

Method:

Make sure that your ice cream maker bucket is in the freezer overnight before you start the process.

Place in a medium pan the cherries, sugar and brandy. Cook over high heat until boiling point, then lower the heat to medium low and continue to cook for approximately 12 minutes until the cherries are slightly soft, and still somehow whole (not mushy) and syrupy.

Remove the brandied cherries from the heat, let it cool and place in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

In a medium bowl, mix the heavy cream, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, brandied cherry and brandy (if you decide to use). Once the cherry and the heavy cream mixture are all well blended turn on the ice cream maker and pour the heavy cream mix into the frozen bucket.

Churn until the mixture is creamy for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on your ice cream maker.

Serve immediately or place in the freezer in an airtight container.

If placed in the freezer, remove the ice cream 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

I hope you enjoy this simple ice cream recipe. If you care for healthy versions of frozen desserts, you might want to check on Avocado Ice Cream, Mango Frozen Yogurt or Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt recipes.

Have a wonderful week and thank you so much for visiting Color Your Recipes!

Parmesan Tuiles

These Parmesan tuiles or crisp are very simple to make and they are sure very tasty and elegant when added to any salad, especially Caesar salad.

You can always add a variety of herbs to please your palate…and your eyes.

Ingredients:

½ cup to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Herb of your choice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350oF

In a bowl mix gently the grated Parmesan cheese with the herb of your choice, I used oregano.

Spoon the Parmesan cheese mix on a silicon mat (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) making small circle of approximately 2 ½ inch in diameter.

Bake until slightly golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Cool for a minute or so and using a silicone spatula gently transfer the tuiles to a cookie sheet.

Use immediately or store in an airtight container for later use.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!

Homemade Banana Jam

Have you ever got yourself stuck with lots of ripe bananas? Somehow this happen to me more often that I expect therefor I have to find a way to use the bananas up, otherwise they end up in a trash which I always feel bad.
So here is a very simple recipe to bust the flavor of banana.

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

Cut the banana into approximately ½ inch size.

In a small pan place all the ingredients except for the crescent and turn the stove to medium low heat.

Stir occasionally until the banana mix is slightly thick, cook for about 6 minutes.

Remove from heat. Serve warm or cold.

Now you can use the banana jam to top ice cream, spread on a toast, on pancakes…anyway you like.

You can use this simple homemade banana jam to fill crescent rolls, like in this recipe.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!

Strawberry Coulis

This is very easy and great to have available all the time. I like to make when the strawberries are in season and store them in the freezer and when needed just thaw and use in any way you like. I like this strawberry coulis with cheesecake, ice cream, spherical yogurt, yogurt, panna cotta, cakes or even in drinks, like lemonade, margaritas, daiquiris, and the list goes on and on.

Ingredients:

2 lb of fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled and cut into quarters
¼ cup sugar
¼ water
Lemon to taste

Use fresh…

or freeze.

Method:

In a medium pan place all the ingredients and cook under medium heat. Once it boils remove from the heat and let it cool.

Using an immersion blender or regular blender, puree until smooth.

Cover and refrigerate or freeze using by pouring the strawberry coulis in ice mold and freeze for later use.

If prefer you can use raspberries or even a mix of strawberries and raspberries.

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!

Bacon Bits Made It Easy

One of the issues that I have when shopping at Costco is that everything comes in big packages…and bacon is not an exception…therefore I make this bacon bits and store in the freezer, so every time that I need some bacon to enhance any dish flavor I just need to reach the bacon bits bag in the freezer and take whatever amount I need.

Another thing that I do is to fry the bacon outdoor at the stove attached to my BBQ, so my house does not smell the grease which many times even with the hood at full blast the smoke still manages to scape. One thing that I noticed is that every time that I make this bacon bits, the neighbor’s dogs get all excited…

So here is what I do…

1. Remove the package of bacon from the freezer and let it defrost (slightly), which make it easy to cut (otherwise, the bacon gets kind of rubbery/chewy). If you have the bacon in the refrigerator, place the package in the freezer for about half hour.

2. Remove the excess of fat.

3. Cut the bacon into approximately 1/8 inch.

4. Place the bacon in a wok or fry pan, use medium heat. Stir once in a while.

5. The water content will evaporate first.

6. Slowly the fat will start to melt.

7. Lower the heat so the fat will melt without burning the bacon as the melting fat temperature is higher than the water. Continue to stir gently.

8. Once all the water evaporates, and only fat remains, you will notice lots of bubbles…this is the stage that you have to keep your eyes on it. It will burn easily. Be careful it is very hot!

9. Scoop the bacon from the pan once the bacon bits achieve the color you desire.

10. Place the bacon in paper towel to absorb the fat.

11. Place another layer of paper towel on top of the bacon bits and press gently to remove the excess of fat. Let it cool and store in an airtight bag or container in the freezer.

12. Discard the remaining oil from the pan in a can or glass jar.

Now this bacon bits are ready for your favorite recipe!

Frozen Edible Flowers

I have been growing violas since last year, they are very easy to grow and fun to use in the kitchen. They have a pleasant pea flavor and are great to use for decorating desserts or toss into a green salad.

I started with seeds…it was very easy and I was very happy when I noticed the little leaves coming from the soil…
after a while there were so many flowers…more than I asked for, and I felt bad just tossing them out. So I froze the little flowers in the ice cube tray. Once the flowers were frozen, I removed from the tray and stored in an airtight contained in the freezer for future use. This ice cubes can be used when serving juice, cocktails or simply ice water. You cannot imagine smiles when serving drinks with these little flowers in the ice cube…a simple idea that can generate big smiles.

I hope you enjoy this simple idea of frozen edible flowers.