Happy Holidays! Today I am sharing with you a very simple recipe for  Strawberry Icebox Cake.  This dessert is so easy, no oven is required…and it is so good that no one can resist a second serving.

Yes, we just got back from vacation, and I must tell you, we had a wonderful time…I plan to post our experiences after the holidays, which were phenomenal! Talking about holidays…it is time for the Holidays…

I know…this dessert is supposed to be for the summer, but you have to agree with me that this is perfect to take to a potluck party…so simple and yet delicious. Not only that, after eating so much food, this dessert is perfect, light and fruity.

I made this a few times during summer and it was a big hit…I was very embarrassed when my friends asked me for the recipe…I almost felt that I was cheating since this was so easy to put together…such a simple no-bake pie, but hey, not everything that is good requires a lot of work right? Therefore, I convinced myself to make this icebox cake for the many holidays parties.

This recipe is from the Kitchn with minor modification.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs fresh strawberries
• 16 oz heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon rose water
• 1 box graham crackers

• 1 oz chocolate chips
• ½ tablespoon heavy cream
• ½ tablespoon butter

Method:

Wash the strawberries and separate 5 or more (for garnish). Hull and slice each strawberry into ¼ in slices.

Beat the heavy cream with a hand or stand mixer until soft peaks and add sugar and rose water. Continue mixing until stiff peaks.

In a baking pan spread a thin layer of whipped cream on the bottom and lay down a layer of graham crackers, then another layer of whipped cream and a layer of sliced strawberries.

Repeat the layers until the pan is filled and the cover the last layer with whipped cream. Garnish with the strawberries that were set aside.

For the chocolate sauce, place all the ingredients in a small sauce pan over a low medium heat. Whisk constantly until the chocolate melts and the mixture is thick and shiny. Let the chocolate sauce cool down a little. Drizzle over the icebox cake.

Refrigerate for approximately 4 hours. Serve cold.

Did you know that the term icebox means refrigerator? Because once the dessert is layered, it is placed in the refrigerator or icebox so the crackers or wafers can absorb the moisture from the cream or pudding, this way it can be served in slices.

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

This is a classical recipe for cream puff. The dough can be shaped differently, but for party I like to make them like bite size. The puffs are filled with pastry cream and topped with chocolate ganache.

I hope all my American friends had a great Thanksgiving get together…

As the holiday season approaches, these little cream puffs are perfect…they are small bites filled with creamy vanilla cream (lighter version of pastry cream) and topped with chocolate ganache. This recipe is adapted from “Flour” from Joanne Chang cookbook.

I must admit that there are many steps in order to bake these little cream puffs, but trust me, it is well worth it.

So here it is…

Ingredients:

Pâte à choux

• ½ cup butter, unsalted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water (240 ml)
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Vanilla pastry cream

• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 5 egg yolks
• ½ cup heavy cream

Chocolate Ganache

• 4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup milk

Method:

Pâte à choux

Heat oven to 400F.

In a medium pan heat the butter, sugar, salt and water until all the butter is melted. Add the flour all at once and use a wooden spoon to stir the flour into the liquid until fully incorporated. Keep mixing until the dough starts to loose from the bottom of the pan.

Remove from the heat and transfer the dough into a mixing bowl. Mix the dough at medium speed to allow the steam to escape and cool slightly.

Add one egg at the time by beating constantly at medium speed. The dough should be glossy and shiny.

Fit a pastry bag and pipe out little balls about 1 ½ inches in diameter onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Make sure that you leave some space in between the balls. Using a wet finger push down the tips.

Place the baking sheet in the oven (middle rack) and after 15 minutes (after the pastries inflate), turn down the oven to 325F and continue to bake for another30 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Vanilla pastry cream

Place the milk in a small pan over medium heat, and scald it (bubbles forming on the side, not boiling). In the meantime, stir together in a medium bowl the sugar, cake flour and salt. In another small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly add the egg yolks into the flour mix until a thick paste is formed.

Remove the milk from the heat and slowly add the milk into the egg yolk and flour paste whisking constantly. Once the milk is all incorporated, return the mix in the pan and place over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. Continue to mix gently until the cream boils and is bubbling.

Remove the cream from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Mix gently.

Place the cream in a bowl and cover with a plastic film directly onto the cream which will prevent a skin to form. Refrigerate until cold.

Before filling the pastries, in a medium bowl whisk the heavy cream until it holds a peak. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cold pastry cream until well combined.
Cover and refrigerate.

Chocolate ganache

Place all the ingredients in a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl in a small saucepan with hot water over low heat without the bowl touching the water.

Gently mix until all the chocolate and butter are completely melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny. Let it cool to room temperature.

To fill the cream puff with the cream, either make a small hole and using a piping bag filled with the cream pipe into the puffs or cut the puffs and spoon the cream in it.

Using a teaspoon, gently spoon the ganache over the filled cream puffs. Let them sit for a while until the chocolate ganache is set. Refrigerate and serve.

Once the pastries are completely cooled, they can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Before filling, refresh the pastries in a 325F oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Let it cool completely and fill.

The cream and the ganache can be made and store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and 1 week, respectively.

To use the ganache, bring to room temperature or warm it up slightly.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of different recipes for oatmeal cookies…I cannot for sure tell you where I came up with this recipe. Of course by mixing, matching and trying different proportions from many recipes…and this is the recipe that I like to use when it comes to oatmeal cookies. I like my cookies chewy and my husband like them crunchy, so I bake the ones for him for a couple of minutes longer.

In spite of a big list of different ingredients required for this recipe, most of them, if not all, are ingredients that we all have available, so here it is…

Ingredients:

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup oat
2/3 cup raisin
2/3 cup chopped walnut

Method:

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together, except the oatmeal. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the butter and the sugar, until creamy and light, add the egg and continue to beat until light and fluffy.

Fold in the flour mix, mix gently, add the oat and then the raisin and walnut.

Spoon the dough in a cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven for 12 minutes at 350F.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for oatmeal cookies. If you like this cookie recipe, you might want to check the Peanut Butter Cookies and Chocolate Chips Cookies out.

Did you know that oat contain a lot of soluble fiber? Therefore, it helps to lower cholesterol. The sticky and viscous texture of oat when cooked is due to its soluble fiber referred as beta-glucan.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

I always liked chocolate filled with cherry and brandy, so I thought why not making a frozen yogurt with brandied cherry? It sure sounded much more tempting than plain cherry.

Yes, it turned out awesome…and nobody got drunk in spite of the amount of brandy that was added to the cherries. The alcohol was totally gone with the cooking, but the flavor and aroma of the brandy was detectable in every cherry. So now imagine a spoonful of the creamy yogurt with cherry in every bite…yum!

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh cherry
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup brandy

2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
2-3 tablespoons brandy (optional)

Method:

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

Remove the pit of the cherries (I just bought a cherry pitter and it is great!) and place in a medium pan with the 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 yogurt, all the brandied cherry and brandy (optional). Once the cherry and the yogurt are all well blended turn on the ice cream maker and pour the yogurt 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 (best option) or place in the freezer.

If placed in the freezer, remove the frozen yogurt 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

If you like this frozen yogurt recipe, you might want to check on Mango Frozen Yogurt with Agave Syrup, Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt or Strawberry Frozen Yogurt.

Did you know that cherries are very low in calories and rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals? Cherries are rich in pigments which contain antioxidant properties, therefore beneficial to prevent many diseases such as cancer, heart disease, pre-diabetes, hypertension, etc…

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [dot] Me and have a great week!

Before you ask…yes, this is another molecular gastronomy recipe. The technique  I used is called “reverse spherification”, and was based on Surprise Bubbles.

The fascinating thing is that  this technique is so simple that these colored bubbles were mainly made by my niece and nephew, 14 and 11 years old…

They had so much fun making and then eating these popping bubbles filled with grape juice…more specifically white grape juice. Initially we started with the non-color ones (original color of the white grape juice). Since it was kind of hard to see and manipulate the translucent bubbles, we decided to color them by adding a few drops of food coloring into the alginate solution. Erica chose red and Nick blue…and off we went, each one with their bowls of colored alginate bath and water…I played with the non-color ones.

They first removed the frozen half sphere from the freezer and dropped in the alginate bath for 3 minutes. Then they scooped the bubbles from the alginate bath and placed them into a bowl of water to remove the excess  alginate. After “collecting” lots of bubbles we just ate by “popping” one at the time in our mouth…a very fun experience, especially because these bubbles were like 0.3oz size and you sure feel the bubble exploding in your mouth and the refreshing juice.

Ingredients:

½ cup white grape juice or any juice of your preference
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon calcium lactate

400 ml of filtered water
2 g sodium alginate

Method:

Prepare the alginate bath by mixing the sodium alginate in water, until the sodium alginate is totally dissolved. You can use an immersion blender. Once the sodium alginate is dissolved, let the solution rest in the refrigerator for approximately 24 hours or until all the air bubbles disappear.

A few hours (or 24 hours) before the spherification, mix the grape juice with sugar and calcium until the calcium is dissolved. Carefully spoon in a silicon mold and freeze.

Drop the frozen juice in the alginate bath and let it sit for 3 minutes.

Scoop the bubbles using a slotted spoon and rinse them in a bowl of water.

Remove from the water and they are ready to be served.

If you enjoy this Molecular Gastronomy recipe you might want to check on Spherical Yogurt or Honey Caviar.

Did you know that “spherification” is simply a gelling reaction between calcium and alginate which is a gum like substance removed from brown seaweed. So by adding calcium, we just replace what the manufacturers removed from the seaweed, therefore the gelling texture.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [dot] Me and have a great week!

After purchasing many of the tangerines, known as cutie I found myself with too many tangerines in the fridge. So I decided to make a cake using the fresh squeezed juice from the tangerines. You can substitute with orange juice or even lemon juice.

In order to keep the cake light, I used sour cream frosting and garnished with honey caviar. The cake turned out awesome, the slightly citrus flavor of the tangerine, the tartness of the sour cream and the sweetness of the honey caviar were just a perfect and delicate balance in my palate.

Oh! Be aware that this recipe is for a small cake, 6 inches cake size…

Ingredients:

Chiffon Cake

2 eggs, separated
51 g cake flour
5 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoon canola oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Sour Cream Frosting

1 cup sour cream
3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 325F.

Cover a 6 inch round pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, salt, baking powder together, whisk to make sure all the ingredients are combined thoroughly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. With the mixer running, slowly rain in the remaining 2 tablespoon sugar. Continue to beat the whites until stiff peaks form when the beater is lifted. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale yellow add the vegetable oil slowly and then the vanilla extract. Continue beating until the mixture turns slightly thick. Pour the egg yolks into the dry ingredients, mix gently and add the tangerine juice and Grand Marnier. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until completely smooth.

Fold the beaten whites into the rest of the batter by gently spooning one-third at the time. Fold in the white slowly and carefully using a spatula. Be very gentle as you fold in the whites so you not deflate them. Gently fold in the remaining third of the whites.
Spoon or gently pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place the pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 325F and then 3 minutes at 300F, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Remove from heat and invert the pan over an inverted cup. Set the pan aside in a quiet place until cooled completely, approximately 1 hour.

Sour Cream Frosting

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients.

Assembly:

Cover the cake with the sour cream frosting. Refrigerate for approximately 2 hours.

Garnish with honey caviar.

Serve cold

If you enjoy this simple recipe for tangerine chiffon cake you might want to check on Chiffon Cake with Lemon Curd or Chocolate Chiffon Mini Cupcake.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [dot] Me and have a great week!

If you are craving for sweet, I mean really sweet dessert this is perfect for you… the combination of raspberry jam and the gooey marshmallow can really kill your craving for sugar in no time.

Since I always try to cut sugar from recipes that I follow, I must admit… after one of this mini cupcakes every living cell of my body will be asking for insulin…so be prepared.

This recipe was adapted from Desserts Magazine Issue 25 for the devil’s food cake and the Fluffy Marshmallow was taken from the issue 29.

Next time making this cupcakes, I will use the regular size cup, so the ratio of raspberry jam and cake will be lower, therefore not overwhelmingly sweet, but it is up to you and what you and your family like.

Ingredients:

Devil’s Food Cake

½ cup natural cocoa powder
½ boiling water
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ stick butter
½ sugar
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda

Fluffy Marshmallow

3 large egg white
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Devil’s Food Cake

Preheat oven to 350F
In a medium bowl combine the flour and baking powder, and sift twice. Set aside.

In another bowl place the cocoa powder and add the boiling water, mix well and then add the milk and the vanilla extract.
Beat the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly pour the oil and mix until well combined
Add the eggs, one at the time, until a smooth texture.

Add 1/3 of the flour mix to the butter/egg mixture until well incorporated. Add approximately ½ of the cocoa mix to the batter, and mix lightly until combined. Repeat the previous steps until the lst 1/3 flour mix.

Spoon the batter into cupcakes cases.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Remove and let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack.

Fluffy Marshmallow

Place all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a sauce pan of boiling water. Whisk using a stand mixer until frothy and slightly opaque, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and continue to whip on high speed until the mixture turns white and thick and holds its shape.

Assembly

Use a cupcake corer of a knife make a deep opening in the center of the cupcake.

Spoon the raspberry jam into each opening.

Frost the cupcakes with the fluffy marshmallow using a piping bag or spatula. If desire torch lightly the marshmallow but be careful with the cupcake liners.

If you enjoy this cake, you might want to check on Chiffon Black Forest Cake or the Chocolate Cake with Ganache and Fresh Raspberries.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes [dot] Me and have a great week!