The cupcakes came out moist and and surprisingly yummy.  We all loved them.  Hubby, for one, couldn’t get enough of them.  The aroma of freshly-baked cupcakes have a kind of effect on hubby much like stun guns.  He can’t move away from the kitchen until he has a taste of the freshly baked goodies.  Hee hee.

I made 12 regular muffin-sized cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes.  For 2 or 3 days, we enjoyed the cupcakes sans frosting.  The only time I frosted them was when I had  Italian Meringue Buttercream left-over from the cake I frosted last Friday.  The cupcakes just became even more sinfully yummy. Hee hee. :D

I deviated a little from the recipe.  Instead of  frozen vacuum packed sweet potatoes, I used boiled fresh sweet potatoes.   In place of Cream Cheese Frosting, I used Italian Meringue Buttercream.

Here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

2 C all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
3 eggs
2 C mashed boiled sweet potatoes
1/2 t vanilla

1 recipe Italian Meringue Buttercream

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 2 12-cavity muffin pans with baking cups.  Set aside.
2.  Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir to mix; set aside.
3.  In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for approximately 30 seconds.  Slowly add sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Add eggs, one at a time, beating on slow speed after each addition until combined.  Add the sweet potatoes and vanilla, beating until combined.  Add flour mixture and beat until combined.
4.  Scoop batter into muffin pans and bake for about 20 minutes or until a tester/wooden toothpick inserted near the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.  Allow cupcakes to cool in muffin pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
5.  Enjoy the cupcakes without frosting or pipe Italian Meringue Buttercream on the cupcakes for that added oomph. ;)

ITALIAN MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and 2/3 cup water to a boil. Continue boiling until syrup reaches 238 F on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage).
2. Meanwhile, place egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff but not dry; do not overbeat.
3. With mixer running, add syrup to whites in a stream, beating on high speed until no longer steaming, about 3 minutes. Add butter bit by bit, beating until spreadable, 3 to 5 minutes; beat in vanilla. If icing curdles, keep beating until smooth.  Set aside.

This week, I’ll use this recipe again.  But this time, I’ll use a different root crop. ;)

Mabuhay, y’all!  Have a great week ahead!

Since moving to the US in 2007, I’ve had funnel cakes several times, mostly at theme parks or festivals, the last one being in December 2009 in Grapevine, TX. My daughter and her friends enjoyed the funnel cakes so much (bless the heart of my girlfriends who bought the funnel cakes!) that I just had to learn how to make some and not have to wait for our next theme park visit.  And learned to make funnel cakes I have!

This morning, I made funnel cakes for the second time.  The first time was in December,  the very next morning after coming home from our trip to Grapevine.  Hubby and my little girl were happy to have funnel cakes for breakfast.  I topped mine with fresh strawberries, while those of hubby’s and my daughter’s were just topped with powdered sugar.

Here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 T cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
2 eggs
1 C milk
oil for deep frying (preferably, canola)
powdered sugar, for sprinkling
fresh fruit slices, for toppings (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat canola oil in a pan (I used a 10″ frying pan) to 350 degrees F.

2.  Mix all dry ingredients. Add in eggs and milk and mix well.

3.  Pour 1/2 cup batter through funnel into hot oil, while moving the funnel in a circular motion. Fry each spiral of batter until golden brown and turn over if necessary, specially when using a shallow pan.  Remove the funnel cakes with tongs and lay on paper towel to absorb oil.

4.  Transfer to a plate and sprinkle powdered sugar through a sieve onto top of hot dough. Top with your favorite fresh fruit slices.  Serve immediately.

The recipe yields 2 cups of batter, enough for 4 good-sized funnel cakes.  Try making these on your child’s next play date and you and your child  just might get invited to many more such dates.  But don’t be surprised if your mommy friends ask you to bring apidexin, too, for their consumption, of course!  Hee hee.

Cheers, y’all!

On weekends, however, I go the extra mile and do a bit of chopping and quick cooking for what has become a typical Saturday/Sunday breakfast fare, Scrambled Egg Whites…

It’s not as boring or bland as it sounds.  It has diced onions, chopped garlic and spinach and sliced mushrooms.  For flavor, I sprinkle some dried basil and rosemary (although fresh would be so much better!) plus a dash of sea salt and cayenne pepper.  We roll this up in whole wheat flatbreads. ;)

This isn’t greasy at all because it is cooked in a non-stick pan coated with cooking spray.  I’ve been meaning to buy a spray bottle for my olive oil so I can avoid using those aerosol cooking sprays.  I’ll  get around to doing that soon.  Promise.

We love this weekend breakfast treat.  I specially love the smell of the herbs.  Whoever said egg whites are boring?!  I always have a lot of egg whites on hand because I make a lot of desserts that only need egg yolks.  Funny how things have a way of working out.  Hee hee.

Summer break’s just around the corner for us.  I’ve already lined up some activities to keep my daughter busy, which include fun cooking/baking adventures, trips to the library and the community pool, some fun activities to keep her mind sharp and when I run out of ideas, she can always keep busy by using the barcode scanners app on her dad’s Iphone and scan everything in our house that has a barcode.  Kidding about the last part! Hee hee.

Cheers, y’all!  Keep moving!  Keep healthy! :)

My little girl was thrilled when she saw what I prepared for her.  She thought it was fancy.  It’s not every day she gets to use a wine glass for breakfast…or any meal for that matter! ;)  I was done layering the fresh bananas and low-fat strawberry yogurt when I found the fresh strawberries in the fridge, so I decided to just use one for garnish.  After the princess of the household was served her breakfast, I proceeded to make a Strawberry-Banana Yogurt Parfait for myself, this time, I included some strawberry slices…

When my daughter saw what I made for myself, her earlier smiles turned into a frown.  Why?  Because, in her very words, “Yours is prettier.”  *sigh*  Well, she may be right that the second one is a tad prettier.  It must be the strawberry slices or the size of the glass which was a lot smaller, or both.  Believe you me that the strawberry slices were just a mere after thought. What’s a mom like me to do?  I offered that we switch, but she didn’t want to. Oh well, lesson learned.

There are endless possibilities for fresh fruit yogurt parfaits.  You will only be limited by the fruits in season and the yogurt flavors available.  Other than breakfast, this make for a healthy and hearty dessert or snack. ;)

Speaking of “hearty”, February is American Heart  Month.  And this parfait is definitely good for the heart.  Take care of your hearts, y’all!  Eat healthy, exercise and live smart (no huffin’ and puffin’ on even electronic cigarettes!).

Have a great week, y’all!

*This is also an entry for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays (La.Pi.S.) for the theme “Hearty”.*

A few weeks ago, I received a couple of VIP coupons from General Mills through MyBlogSpark.  They couldn’t have come at a better time.  You know how a lot of people resolve to make better food choices and eat healthier at the start of the new year.  You can count us among  those people.

We’ve been loading up on cereals come breakfast time these last few days.  I got four different kinds of General Mills cereals with my coupons.  I love how the nutrition information is just right there on top of the box…

and all the cereals are guaranteed whole grain.  My 5-year old daughter used to be not so overly fond of cereal, but she is now.  She loves the Honey Nut Clusters and even requests for it in the morning.  She likes this more than Kix, maybe because Kix is less sweet.  Well, if she won’t finish the box of Kix, I will.  I can snack on those puffed balls, with or without milk! ;)

Of the four cereals we bought, I thought Raisin Bran will be my favorite.  But after I tasted Basic 4 this morning, it was love at first bite.

What’s not to love?  It is a blend of tangy fruits, crunchy almonds and a wholesome variety of grains.  Plus, it is low in saturated fat and cholesterol!  It’s truly a yummy treat to look forward to in the morning.

Instead of whole milk, I use Organic Rice Milk with my cereals.  But that’s just me…and my mom! :)

Here are other healthy benefits one can derive from a bowl of cereal:

• Ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in children’s diets.
• Ready-to-eat cereal is the No. 1 source of whole grains in a child’s diet today.
• More frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights and lower Body Mass Index measures.

Studies also demonstrate the benefits of eating breakfast. A 1998 study showed that children who eat breakfast tend to perform better at school. Compared to children who skip breakfast, children who eat breakfast score higher on tests, are less likely to miss class or be tardy, have fewer reported discipline problems, and make fewer trips to the office.

You would be happy to know that General Mills announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. The company has already been reducing sugar in cereals while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain.

Remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Disclosure: General Mills through MyBlogSpark provided the author (that would be me!) with coupons to try out the products.  The author was also provided with the information on the health benefits of cereals.

My late Nanay (maternal grandma) made french toast a lot.  She used pan de sal. Of coure, in those days, I didn’t know they were called french toast.  To me, they were just pan de sal slices dipped in a mixture of milk, sugar and eggs.  It wasn’t ’til much much later that I learned what they were called.

The reason the people I feed – that would be my family – love my french toast so much is because I use the exact same mixture that I use for my bread pudding.  ;)

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

10 -12 slices of bread (maybe more!)
1/2 cup cream
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
butter
syrup

DIRECTIONS:

1. Break eggs into a wide, shallow bowl or baking pan; beat lightly with a fork. Stir in sugar, cream, milk and vanilla.
2.  Heat griddle or skillet coated with a thin layer of butter or margarine over low heat.
3.  Soak bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl or pan, and let the slices soak up egg mixture for a few seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side. Soak/coat only as many slices as you will be cooking at one time.
4.  Transfer bread slices to griddle or skillet, heating slowly until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Transfer to a serving plate.

You can serve this with butter and syrup.  But we just have our french toast as is.  No butter and no syrup.  It was cooked in a butter coated pan anyway! :)  And it already has a sweetness to it.

Tomorrow, no more french toast for us.  It’s about time we moved on to new breakfast fare. :D

Anyone who grew up in the Philippines, I’m quite sure, will have a story to share about having taho for breakfast or as a snack and buying it straight from the friendly neighborhood taho vendor.  What is taho anyway?  Wikipedia defines it as…

“a Philippine snack food made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (brown sugar and vanilla syrup), and pearl sago (similar to pearl tapioca)”.

Taho traces its origin in China, which is why we usually have it for dessert whenever we eat at a Chinese restaurant.

At the Asian supermarket several weeks ago, I found myself at the section where different kinds of tofu were displayed.  I suddenly remembered a blog post on taho by one of my blogger friends, The Chef’s Wife, which also reminded me that I haven’t had taho for some time already.  Since the taho vendor isn’t coming to our neighborhood ever anytime soon, I thought it was about time I made some taho!  So I grabbed two packs of silken tofu. ;)

This is so easy to make it will blow you away!  The three components of taho are silken/soft tofu, caramelized brown sugar and tapioca pearls (sago).  All you have to do is cook the tapioca pearls as per package instructions.  I had two kinds of tapioca pearls in my pantry – the tiny ones and a the regular sized one.  I chose to use the tiny pearls because my regular-sized tapioca pearls were of different colors.  Hee hee.    After it’s cooked, set it aside.

For the syrup, I simply caramelized about 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar in 1 1/2 cups of water over medium fire.  And then, the two packs of silken tofu, I transferred to a bowl and heated them up in the microwave for about two minutes at increments of one minute.  That’s it!  Now you’re ready to put everything together. ;)

You may serve taho in a bowl or in a glass/cup.  I did both. ;)  Remember to scoop thin amounts of the tofu!  Here’s taho in a bowl…

And here’s one in a glass…

I was going to use a regular drinking glass, believe me, but all our drinking glasses were in the dishwasher when I made taho so I grabbed a wine glass instead.  ;)  It did give the taho a nice fancy touch, I think!…very different from the plastic cups they are usually served in.  Hee hee!

I know some prefer chilled taho but this kind of quick and easy fix is better served warm.  Otherwise, the tofu will be too firm and won’t be as close to the one you enjoyed back home. :D

We each had two servings of taho.  And for sure, we’re going to have this again and again and again. ;)

I am a good 1-week late for Lasang Pinoy, Sundays’ “Fluffy” theme.  Well, better late than never. ;)  It’s a good thing I have photos of what a lot of people would consider a favorite breakfast fare, pancakes.

I rarely make pancakes without add-ins.  I usually sprinkle some chocolate chips or add banana slices to the pancakes.  But because we still have a lot of chocolates/candies left over from the various holidays (Valentine’s, Easter, and who knows what else?!), I thought I’d use them instead.  For these pancakes, I found several little packs of Mini M&Ms.

M&Ms make for more interesting pancakes, don’t you think?  Stack ‘em up, drizzle with your favorite syrup and top with butter.

Now, all that’s missing is a cup of freshly brewed coffee or hot chocolate.  Then again, some of you might want some bacon strips or fluffy omelet to go with the pancakes for that All-American breakfast.  Hee hee.

Oh, and if you’re considering going for it twice, say breakfast at 6am and lunch at 11am, I urge you to think it over.  Four pancakes, four eggs, four strips of bacon and four sausages in one day is a heart attack waiting to happen. :D

There, enjoy your Tuesday freebie! :)