Samoas

I'm a Girl Scout turned traitor. Yes. I admit it. I joined Girl Scouts in 3^rd grade when I moved to California, and stayed with it until my senior year when I earned my Gold Award (my Gold Award project focused on teaching elementary school students how to cook… awesome, right?) One of my favorite events every year was selling those amazingly delicious Girl Scout cookies (and decorating the floats for the Rose Parade). As ridiculously expensive as they were, I would still buy so many boxes of cookies each year. Tagalongs are my favorite… followed by Thin Mints and if I'm in the right mood, Samoas!

But… after trying this recipe from Baking Bites, I must admit that I would rather pay $4 for a box of Samoas than make these again. Not that they weren't delicious. They were amazing. But the time and effort it took to make these cookies were borderline being not worth it to make them by hand. (That and the fact that I actually don't like Samoas that much. Blasphemy!?)

But I must keep in mind exactly why I was making Samoas in the first place. For my dearest Christopher! Samoas are his favorite type of Girl Scout cookies. If he wanted more Samoas, I would make this recipe an infinite number of times. I would go through the endless cookie-cutting of dough, the burning caramel, and the melted chocolate over and over again if it meant making my baby happy. Due to… unfortunate circumstances (and epic failure on my part) however, Chris wasn't able to receive the cookies I made… :( But I hope he'll one day happen upon this post and still know that I love him. Happy (late) Valentine's Day babe!

Samoas

Cookies

• 2 sticks butter, softened
  
• ½ cup white sugar
  
• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  
• ¼ tsp baking powder
  
• ½ tsp salt
  
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
  

Topping

• 4 cups shredded coconut
  
• 12 ounces caramels
  
• 5 tbs milk
  
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

To make the cookies:

1. Cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer until white, light, and fluffy (about 7 minutes on highest speed). Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon or a spatula. Mix in the vanilla. If the dough is too dry, add in a few spoonfuls of milk or water as needed. The dough should be tacky.
   
2. Separate the dough into two balls, and refrigerate one. Meanwhile, roll the other ball of dough out to 1/5-inch-thickness. Using a circular or whatever other shape cookie cutter you have, cut out as many shapes as you can (it's like a puzzle!).
   
3. Take a boba straw (the thick straw used to drink boba milk tea) and use the flat end to cut out holes from the middle of each shape. Peel the surrounding dough off and throw the extra dough into the fridge. Place the dough shapes onto an oiled baking pan (don't worry if you cram them close together, these cookies don't spread or rise very much).
   
4. Take the other half of the dough out of the fridge, and repeat the rolling, cookie-cutting, and boba straw-ing until you've used up all of the dough.
   
5. Bake at 350F for 10 – 12 minutes (if the cookies are slightly soft right after you take them out of the oven, they'll harden as they cool).
   
6. Let the cookies completely cool before you start topping them.
   

To make the topping:

1. Spread the coconut evenly on a lined baking pan and toast for 300F, stirring every 5 minutes, until the coconut is golden brown. Let it cool.
   
2. Unwrap the caramels and place with 5 tbs milk in a large microwavable bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir. Continue the 1-minute-stir process until the caramel is completely smooth and melted.
   
3. Fold in all of the toasted coconut with a spatula, and then spread the topping on the cooled cookies (this sounds a lot easier than it really is… watch out for the burning caramel!)
   
4. Melt the semisweet chocolate chips in the microwave (heating the chocolate chips in 40-second-increments and mixing in between) or in a double boiler (I just use a larger pot over a smaller pot with simmering water).
   
5. Use a mini spatula to spread the melted chocolate on the bottom of each cookie, then place on a lined baking pan. When you are done spreading the chocolate, refrigerate the cookies until the chocolate is hardened.
   
6. Take remaining melted chocolate (re-melt it if you need to) and place in a piping bag (I just use a Ziploc bag and cut off a corner) to drizzle chocolate on top of the cookies. Place back in the refrigerator until the chocolate on top is hardened as well.

Honey Chocolate Truffles

Eek! I have definitely been slacking off. I'm posting this truffle recipe under "December" because… otherwise December wouldn't have any posts! And that would definitely tip off my OCD about these types of things. Speaking of OCD… what are some of the things you are OCD about? I know I have an obsession with fresh air (I will die in a room with no air circulation.) and being clean (does anyone else have 'shower attacks'?), but I can't think of any more than that right now.

I am now living in a new room! I transferred out of my triple dorm room in Courtside to a double shared bath in Hedrick Summit (if you don't go to UCLA, you will have no idea what I just said, but don't worry about it). The point is, I am so happy in my new room with my new roommate Tiffany! She's amazing, and the funny thing is, although we live right next to the RAs, we have quite a few illegal appliances in our room: a rice cooker, a slow cooker, and a (separated) refrigerator and microwave. UCLA has a crazy rule about micro-fridges (which are combined refrigerator/microwaves that… suck at being both).

But enough about random UCLA stuff. These truffles are amazingly delicious! This was my first time making truffles, but I think they came out well. I even dipped some in toasted coconut, and my mom went crazy over them… she made me leave most of the coconut-topped ones at home so she could give them to her friends. I got this recipe from Crystal's Cozy Kitchen, and she has amazing pictures on there. Her recipe is integrated with pictures, so I altered it a bit and re-typed it below.

Honey Chocolate Truffles

• 1 ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
  
• Another 1 ½ cup + semisweet chocolate chips
  
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  
• 2 tbs butter
  
• 1 tsp honey
  

1. To make the ganache, heat the heavy cream, butter, and honey in a saucepan until just boiling.
   
2. Pour over the 1 ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips. Let sit for 5 minutes.
   
3. Mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until the chocolate ganache is smooth. Put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
   
4. Take the ganache mixture out and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula. Put in the refrigerator for another 15 minutes.
   
5. Take the ganache mixture out again and stir. It will be more difficult to stir, but keep going! Put in the refrigerator for another 15 minutes.
   
6. Take the stiff ganache (truffle) mixture out and mix it with an electric hand mixer, making sure to use a spatula to get the hardened chocolate off the sides of the bowl. Put it in the refrigerator for another 10 minutes.
   
7. Take it out of the refrigerator and mix it with an electric hand mixer again. Put it in the refrigerator for another 5 minutes.
   
8. Take the bowl of ganache mixture out of the fridge! It is ready to be formed. Using a small spoon or ice cream/melon ball scooper, take out about ½ tbs of ganache and roll into a ball. Work quickly, because the longer you handle the truffle mixture, the meltier and messier it gets! If you need to, refrigerate the mixture throughout the shaping process.
   
9. Freeze the shaped truffle mixture for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 1 ½ cup chocolate chips in the microwave or a double boiler.
   
10. Use a pair of chopsticks to lift up the truffle ball and plop it into the melted chocolate. Then, use two spoons to transfer the truffle ball from spoon to spoon, scraping off extra chocolate and letting it drip off as needed. Plop onto a lined baking sheet. Repeat for all the truffles. Working quickly is key, because otherwise the truffle ball will just melt into the melted chocolate chips.
    
11. At this point, if you would like to dip your truffles in toasted coconut, ground hazelnuts, or other delectable topping, do so while the chocolate is still melted! Refrigerate the truffles until they are set.

Strawberry Mousse Cake

Finally! Midterm season is over (oh, how the quarter system moves so quickly). Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow, and I am thrilled to return home to Walnut and see my beloved high school friends. As novel as UCLA has been, I miss the friends that I've grown up with for the past 4+ years. I'm tired of living with other people (which may sound rather spoiled, but I am used to having and sleeping in my own room). Here at college, it is so difficult to control my studying and sleeping environment. I can't sleep when I want to, have to desperately search for a quiet place to study, and worst of all, I CAN'T COOK! I'm having cooking withdrawal.

I made this strawberry mousse cake awhile back in October, for my mother's birthday. I haven't had time until today to sit down and write out the recipe because of the whole rush of midterms and papers that has been plaguing me week after week. It feels good to be back. Please decorate the cake as you wish. You don't have to cover it with chocolate covered strawberries or ganache, but I believe that presentation is just as important as taste. If you do try this recipe, I would absolutely love to see pictures of your variation.

Happy thanksgiving! Don't forget to say "I love you" to those you most cherish, because to be honest, you can never say that enough. Even I have to admit that I am never grateful enough to my family and friends for all they have done for me. Thanksgiving recipes will come… later. After thanksgiving is FINALS! Look forward to cinnamon rolls, buttermilk clusters, and perhaps even a swirled cheesecake?!

Strawberry Mousse Cake

Strawberry Mousse

• 250 grams strawberries (about 20 medium-sized berries)
  
• 4 tbs sugar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1/3 cup water
  
• 2 ½ tsp unflavored gelatin
  
• 1 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Sponge Cake

• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
  
• 3 tbs milk
  
• ¾ cup sugar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 2 tbs butter, melted

• About 20 thin slices of strawberry (to form the outside layer of strawberries)
  

Chocolate Covered Strawberries (optional)

• 6-8 ounces of chocolate chips
  
• 1 tbs oil
  
• 3-4 strawberries (or however many you want to use on the cake)

To make the Strawberry Mousse:

1. Wash, de-leaf and quarter the strawberries and place in a pot. Add the water, sugar and unflavored.
   
2. Bring to a boil and then simmer until everything dissolves. Let the strawberry mixture cool and then pulse in a blender until mixture is pureed. Refrigerate.
   
3. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream until just thickened, before peaks begin to form. Fold in the completely cooled strawberry mixture and mix with a spatula. Refrigerate until ready to assemble cake.

To make the Sponge Cake:

1. Beat the eggs until they become a thick and creamy mixture (around 7 minutes).
   
2. Add the sugar, and continue beating for another 3 minutes. Add in the flour, milk, butter, and vanilla extract and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.
3. Pour into a 8-inch circular cake mold (or whatever shape you want your cake to be) and bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes. When completely cooled, cut the cake in half (lengthwise) so you have two circular pieces of cake.

To make a large mousse cake:

1. Take one of the 8-inch circle cakes and place it into an 8 ½ inch springform pan. Surround the sides of the cake with the 20 thin slices of strawberry (you might need more or less, depending on the size of the strawberries and how good you are at shoving them in between the sides of the cake and the springform pan)Spoon about half of the strawberry mousse onto the cake and spread evenly, making sure to fill out any air bubbles in the mousse.
2. Carefully place the second 8-inch circle cake and place it on top of the mousse. Spoon the remaining strawberry mousse on top and spread evenly with a spatula.
   
3. Give it a gentle shake or two to make the mousse and cakes settle. Cover the cake with saran wrap (but don't let the saran wrap touch the top layer of mousse, or else you'll end up ripping off part of the smooth top layer along with the saran wrap when it is done chilling). Refrigerate for at least an hour.
   

To make the Chocolate Covered Strawberries (optional):

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, heating the chips in 30-second increments until melted. Add in the oil and stir with a spatula until smooth and glossy.
2. Grasp the strawberries by the leaves and dip in the chocolate, lifting up the strawberry in a circular motion. Place on a foiled pan and chill. Repeat with the remaining strawberries.
   
3. Use leftover melted chocolate as a base for the chocolate covered strawberries, or simply decorate the cake however you want. Write a message in white chocolate, cover it with chocolate ganache, or leave it simple.

Ashley's Silken Chocolate Mousse Cake

Let me start off by introducing my very best friend, Ashley. This Saturday will be her 18th birthday! SHE'LL BE LEGAL! OMG. So, this post (and recipe) is dedicated to Ashley. She is totally amazing. She's smart, beautiful, and is kind to all children and animals. Makes her sound like a princess, right? WELL SHE IS. She must have been born in the wrong time or something, because somehow I feel as if people should be bowing and saying "your majesty" whenever she walks past. That's how awesome she is.

And despite how frickin' amazing she is, and how talented she is at ballet, she never boasts or acts like she's better than others. That in itself is a great accomplishment, and I only wish I can someday be like her. Ashley is truly a selfless and wonderful person, and I am SO blessed to have a best friend like her. I would never trade her for anyone, because after all, she is the best!

One more thing. We both love to cook. And we both love to cook healthy! It's really wonderful to have a best friend who shares the same interests you do. Therefore, you'll notice an interesting thing about the ingredients list: the mousse is made of tofu! Fits with the theme of the blog, right? And of course Ashley's (and my) love for healthy things.

Happy birthday, Ashley. You're the best :]

Ashley's Chocolate Mousse Cake

Chocolate Mousse

• 1 12-ounce box of silky firm tofu
• 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
• 2 tbs chocolate syrup
• 4 tsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Cake

• 1 cup sugar
  
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
  
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 1/3 cup milk

Ganache

• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbs unsalted butter

Writing

• 2 ounces white chocolate
  
  

1. To make the mousse: Melt the chocolate chips over the stove or in a microwave.
   
2. Place the two blocks of tofu in a blender or food processor, and blend slightly, until no large chunks remain.
3. Pour the chocolate syrup, milk, and vanilla extract on top of the tofu. Alternate the pulse and whip functions on your blender until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and do the same until the mixture has no streaks of tofu or chocolate left. You may need to use a spatula for this.
4. Place the mousse into a container and refrigerate for at least one hour (make the cake during this time).
5. To make the cake: Beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixter in a large bowl until it becomes creamy, white, and fluffy (about 10 minutes).
6. Add the eggs and vanilla, continue beating until well mixed. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa together in a separate bowl.
7. Alternate adding the milk and flour into the butter/egg mixture.
8. When completely mixed, pour 2/3 of the batter into an 8-inch cake pan and the remaining 1/2 batter onto a jelly roll pan or whatever else you want to use (to make mini mousse cakes). Or, you can divide the batter however you want, depending on how thick you want the cake/mousse to be.
9. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Bake for 25-27 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
10. When the cake is done baking, let the cake completely cool before you begin working with it (I was in a rush, and I cooled the cake by putting it in the freezer for 15 minutes after letting it cool on the countertop for 10 minutes).
11. To make the ganache: Place the chocolate chips in a large bowl.
12. Heat the butter and heavy whipping cream on medium heat in a saucepan until almost boiling.
13. Immediately pour the hot cream onto the chocolate chips and slowly stir with a whisk. Keep stirring slowly until it is a smooth and shiny chocolate mixture.
14. To make a large mousse cake: Take the 8-inch cake and shave off the mound in the middle, until it is flat on both sides. Don't worry if it isn't perfect, you'll be covering it with mousse anyways. Place into an 8-inch springform pan (I used an 8 1/2 inch springform pan, and it still worked).
15. Spoon about half of the mousse onto the cake, and spread evenly, making sure to fill out any air bubbles in the mousse.
16. Pour the ganache onto the cake, then tilt the springform pan until all sides of the mousse are covered. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before writing on it.
17. To make a mini mousse cake: Take the cooled sheet of cake and use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes. (Two cake-shapes for one mini mousse cake). So, if you want to make 5 mini mousse cakes, you would cut out 10 cake-shapes.
18. Place a cookie cutter on the top 1/3 of a cake-shape (so that the cookie cutter is higher than the actual cake). You will be using the extra space to fill in the mousse. Spoon the mousse and use a spatula to fill in the mousse into the cookie cutter. Then, lift the cookie cutter slowly from the cake-shape and the mousse so that it all remains intact.
19. Place a second cake-shape on top of the mousse. (It will look like an ice cream sandwich, with chocolate mousse in the middle).
20. Spoon the ganache onto the top layer of cake, and then use a mini spatula to spread it around. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before writing on it.
21. To make the writing: Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. Using a spatula, push the white chocolate into a plastic sandwich bag with a corner snipped off (or into a piping bag). Hold the bag firmly and slowly squeeze out the chocolate while writing the words onto the ganache.
22. Refrigerate for at least another 15 minutes and then present it to your best friend Ashley. :] Then sing happy birthday at the top of your lungs and dance in a silly manner.

Happy birthday, Ashley~!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Wow, isn't this recipe a mouthful? In more ways than one. I admit it. I have been gone awhile. Slightly on purpose (no comment), but in the end I must return to my love for baking… right? My trip to Taiwan was fun, if anyone remembers that I left for Taiwan. There were some slightly awkward moments, but more fun moments than not. And of course, new friends are always a great plus. I learned a lot about my grandfather's (and my) culture, which is great, because he's coming back to California tomorrow and I'll be able to sing a nursery rhyme in Hakkanese (yes, that's a language).

Well, less about me and more about this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie. Hm, what can really be said about this recipe? It has chocolate (which is awesome), peanut butter cheesecake (which is awesomer), and it's a brownie (which is just the awesomest). Now, I know some people may dispute with me (why in the world would peanut butter cheesecake be awesomer than chocolate?), but I just have this soft spot for peanut butter.

The basis of this recipe comes from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. However, I discovered that there were a few things that did not suit my taste, so I changed the recipe a bit. A note about how I post up my recipes: I always use the least amount of sugar possible while still retaining enough sweetness (for me). If you like sweet things, add more sugar to the recipe. If you don't like sweet things, follow the recipe written, and it won't end up that sweet. (This hasn't applied to my previous recipes because I haven't posted up any sweets yet).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1 ½ sticks of butter (¾ cup of butter)
  
• ¾ cup sugar*
  
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• ½ and 2 tbs of all purpose flour
  
  
  

  Peanut Butter Cheesecake

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• ½ cup sugar*
  
• 1 large egg

1. Melt the butter on low heat in a saucepan, then dump the chocolate chips in. Stir until smooth.
   
2. Let the butter-chocolate mixture cool for 10 minutes, then stir in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth.
   
3. Beat the flour into the chocolate mixture, and pour half of the mixture into a well-greased 12x8 rectangular pan (or whatever you want to bake your brownie cheesecake in).
   
4. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer and mix together the cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla extract, sugar, and egg until fully mixed.
   
5. Drop the peanut butter cheesecake mixture in giant dollops on top of the first layer of chocolate mixture. Just drop it randomly spread out over the mixture.
   
6. Pour the remaining chocolate mixture all over the peanut butter dollops.
7. Take a spatula and swirl the chocolate and peanut butter into your desired piece of art.
   
8. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Bake for about 35 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
   

* a note about the sugar: I always lower the amount of sugar whenever I follow someone else's recipe, so do not reduce the sugar in this recipe. If you do, the brownie will turn out salty (like it did with mine's!), and no one likes a salty brownie. Unless you do… then go ahead and reduce the sugar content.