Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Last year's Thanksgiving introduced my and my sons' taste buds to pumpkin whoopie pies. We have always had the classic chocolate whoopie pies, which, according to my husband, was the reason he bought a Kitchen Aid mixer as a birthday gift to me on m our first year as a couple. When my MIL prepared these pumpkin whoopie pies last year, my husband did not try them at all (which is nothing new). My sons, however, liked them, as I did. I was surprised that this year, after my sons carved out our pumpkins for Halloween, the younger one was anticipating that my MIL would make pumpkin whoopie pies again for Thanksgiving (my MIL was so gracious to host Thanksgiving this year). But my sons was disappointed because my MIL did not make them this time. So I promised him that I would make pumpkin whoopie pies the next day, and I will make it a Thanksgiving or Halloween tradition to make them yearly. I based my recipe on Nestle's VeryBestBaking.com website, with only the addition of two other spices.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
dash of nutmeg
dash of powdered cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar



Instructions:

FOR COOKIES:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda,spices and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. (A total of 72 cookies are needed for the recipe.)
BAKE for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

FOR CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

BEAT cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
SPREAD a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

Our Family's Thanksgiving Tradition

Our family tries to stick to traditions, and part of that is celebrating the four major holidays with my in-laws. There are 4 of us families in all -- my parents-in-law, my husband's brother's family, his sister's family, and our very own, that take turns hosting the four major holidays, and for this year's Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law was the "IT." In addition, we have her father with us as well, so that makes for four generations in these gatherings.

I was excited when Eric and Tiffany of theguerrilagourmet.com emailed me for an invitation to be a part of their holiday project - The Gorilla Gourmet -- to represent Maine.  It is an honor for me to do so.

Our family probably typically represents the Mainers in that we try our best to be together with family (and exclusively family) during the Holidays. My mother-in-law prepares her fruit cocktail with mostly canned fruits that they picked from their own trees and bushes.

Our usual menu stars THE TURKEY and it will never be Thanksgiving if we prepare an entreé other than the turkey. (Oh, the Filipina in me tried to do that before, and it was like a major violation to them true Mainers!). The turkey is roasted with stuffing that is usually prepared the night before then stuffed into the turkey's cavity just before roasting.

Mashed potatoes are also prepared using potatoes they harvested from their own garden. White bread is prepared using a breadmaker (and no, we don't mill our own flour; we get that from Hannaford stores). Other sides are pitted olives, cranberry salad, bread and butter pickles, boiled onions (a Tibbetts family tradition that I am still trying very hard to assimilate), and mashed turnips.

My mother-in-law also prepared three various pies -- pecan pie, pumpkin pie and raspberry pie, but I forgot to take photos of these desserts before they were gone. One thing that my mother-in-law prepared last year that she skipped this year was the pumpkin whoopie piea, something that was not really traditionally prepared in our family during Thanksgiving, but my younger son was somehow anticipating this year. Now if there is something in our menu that I would be almost sure was very Maine-ly, it would be whoopie pies. So I decided to make the whoopie pies the very next day (recipe coming soon), and I promised to my son that from now on, pumpkin whoopie pies will be part of the Thanksgiving tradition in our family.

From the slideshow above, you can see how closely-knit our families are.  I feel so blessed to have in-laws who treat my sons as if they are true blood relations, and that is something worth thanking for.  We have a lot other things to be thankful for, but that would be something exclusively for our family to ponder upon.

Tassimo Brewing Machine

 

Last Christmas, I asked hubby for this gift....because I love coffee...and I wanted to have
immediate access to Starbucks-type of coffee. If you are familiar with Keurig, this is pretty much the same. I chose this, though, because among those that I looked at, this was one that made hot chocolate drinks as well. My husband is not a coffee drinker, but he loves hot cocoa!

Since getting this, my husband has concocted his own recipe for hot chocolate drink. I just get the usual packs available for caffe latté, caffe macchiato, and the regular ones. Gevalia brand has become my favorite, as I find Starbucks too strong. Of course, it has its cons, like I get too much trash (no recycling program by Tassimo for their pods), and I get to do maintenance (so does a regular coffee brewer) - daily wiping, change of filter, and descaling every three months....but it is so worth it!

If at times it does not seem to work okay, it could be that the bar code reader is dirty. I just get a cotton cloth (I get the rags sold by Wal-mart), dampen it and wipe the reader. Instructions say not to use paper towel for the bar scanner since that will damage the see through material (glass? or plastic? I can't remember).



I also got some teas (yellow tea, black tea and green tea, Tazo brand) for use on those times when I feel bloated.

Apple Dumplings

We had these apple dumplings when we ate supper at my mother-in-law's one night.  We loved them so much that I asked for a recipe. Surprisingly, it was easy to make, using ready-made dough.  I made it the very next day at home. Hubby was even surprised to find that orange juice makes a good flavor combination with apples!

Ingredients:
2 cortland apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarters (to come up with 8 wedges)
1 tube of crescent rolls, divided into 8 parts (cut along the perforations)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg



Instructions:
Boil together in a small saucepan the butter, orange juice and sugar.
Pre-heat oven to 350 deg F.
Wrap each apple wedge with the dough, place on a deep 9x9 baking dish.
Pour the mixture on top. Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon.
Bake for 45 minutes.

7-Up Citrus Pork Chop

Today I used our grill for the first time this year. Because I had been meaning to try this 7-Up Citrus Marinade on pork chops. I got the marinade from Hannaford sometime last winter (the 7-up caught my attention, since Pinoy style barbecues and even fried chicken are usually marinated or cooked with 7-up. Unfortunately, the fried chicken pre-cooked with 7-up was not well-accepted by hubby. He said it was too sweet.)

I had 8 pieces of pork chops. I marinated 6 pieces in this 7-Up Citrus Marinade for 1.5 hours (Meanwhile, I was transplanting seedlings that I bought from a greenhouse into hanging baskets). I left two pieces unmarinated just in case hubby would not like the marinated ones, just like he did not like the 7-up cooked fried chicken. These I just flavored with salt and pepper, basted with bacon drippings.

I fired up the grill (it's now officially summer in my book!), and cooked the chops, basting with bacon drippings from time to time until I was satisfied with the doneness (I just gauge by the looks...no thermometer, no timing).

Served them while hot...oriented hubby which ones were plain and the marinated. To my surprise, he tried both, and tried the marinated ones first, and loved it! Maybe because the flavor was more of citrus, and that the flavor did not overpower the chops (since they were marinated less than two hours). Then he had a plain one and liked it too...Maybe it was the bacon drippings used for basting...

What a satisfying meal on this hot summery spring day!

Maple-Garlic Beef Short Ribs

I made this for supper tonight, using the exact same ingredients as the maple-garlic chicken, and the same method except that I used pressure cooker. (I added two slices of sirloin steaks for hubby because he does not like ribs -- "too much work for so little meat"). My MIL recently gave me two quartz of maple syrup, and one quart is almost out now, with some sediments forming at the bottom. We usually do not use this part of maple syrup for pancakes, but I hate throwing it away, so cooking or baking with it is the best way to use it up.

We loved the effect just as much as we did with the chicken.

Ingredients:
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
3-5 lb beef short ribs
cornstarch-water mixture (probably 1/2 cup water + 3 heaping tbsp cornstarch)

Instructions:
Mix all the sauce ingredients. Place beef ribs in pressure cooker. Pour the sauce. Close lid and turn oven on high. Once pressure gets high, simmer for 45 minutes.
Release pressure. Turn oven to low broil. Place beef ribs on baking sheet. Broil 1-2 minutes to dry up the surface. Meanwhile, make sauce thicker using cornstarch-water mixture (Sauce should be boiling briskly, then pour the CW mixture in slow stream while stirring).


Baste beef ribs with sauce and broil two minutes. Do this two times on one side then flip over and do this again twice. Basting and broiling gives the glazed effect (the sugar content caramelizes under the high heat and gives that beautiful highly-appealing sheen).
Place remaining sauce in a gravy boat. Serve with the beef ribs. Garnish with snips of chives as desired. Serve over plain rice or mashed potatoes with boiled veggies.

Easy Shrimp Alfredo

Being crunched for time, I have to think nowadays of what I can fix quickly, easily, without need for too many ingredients. Here is one of them. My sons and I love shrimps, so I fix seafoods at times, and fix something else for hubby and stepd (or have TV dinner for them).

Ingredients:

1 lb pasta, prepared as directed (I used rotini here, but you can use linguine or farfelle)
1 lb large shrimps, shelled
1 each of zucchini and summer squash
1-2 tbsp butter
salt, pepper and ground basil leaves
1 jar (15 oz) Classico Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce
1 can (~12? oz -- I forgot to take note) of Campbell's condensed cream of shrimp
Enough water to thin the sauce a bit (1/2 cup to 3/4 cup)

Instructions:
While cooking pasta, melt butter in saucepan, add zucchini, summer squash and the shrimps and stir fry until shrimps turn pink (about 2-3 minutes). Do not overcook, or shrimps get rubbery. Remove from pan, transfer to a bowl, and set aside. Keep warm,
Pour into the saucepan both sauces (alfredo and condensed cream). Add enough water to thin as you desire, stir until boiling. Turn off the heat. Serve on pasta and add the shrimps/veggies on top. Consume immediately.

Fiddleheads with Coconut Milk

I was craving for some vegetable-based dish one day, then one of my co-workers left a gallon bag full of fiddleheads inside the fridge for anyone interested to take home. The unit sec and I decided to divide that. That's what I cooked in a laing-inspired fashion, although I decided to add some vinegar toward the end of cooking.

My craving was satisfied, and my sons enjoyed it as well.

Ingredients:
1/4 lb pork liempo, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
2-3 tbsp patis (fish sauce)
1 (13.5 oz) can premium coconut milk (first press)
1/2 cup to 1 cup water
qt fiddle heads
salt and pepper to taste
dash of ground basil leaves
2-3 tbsp cider vinegar

Instructions:
Add about 1/4 cup water to pork and sautee until pork renders fat. Add salt and pepper. Add garlic and sautee until light brown. Add onions and sautee until caramelized. Add patis and let sizzle. Add coconut milk and fiddle heads. Add about 1/4 cup water and stir. Let simmer uncovered until coconut turns creamy (add water if it turns too dry). Season with salt, pepper and ground basil leaves. Add vinegar and let simmer another 5 minutes. Serve with plain rice.

Happy 101 Award

I received this Happy 101 Award from Le, a newbie foodblogger who told me I was among those who inspired her to start her foodblog (mainly because I was in the same boat she is in now when I started my own foodblog...if you don't know it yet, you can read on my About Me page).

I feel honored to be a recipient of this award, and even though lately I am very busy, I am taking some time off to (1)enumerate and reflect on things that make me happy, and (2) pass this award on to others who have been making other people inspired and happy.

10 Things that make me happy:

1. Family time (watching, outing, traditional celebrations, target shooting, just having fun)
2. My sunroom and the sampaguita flowers
3. Cooking and baking, and people appreciating my efforts (blog readers, family, friends)
4. When my patients express appreciation for what I do for them, or when I see them improve under my care
5. When our cat Mimzy jumps on my lap to be petted (she is usually snobby)
6. When my kids get good grades
7. When other people speak highly of my kids
8. When hubby reminds me how much he loves me (he does by building our house and my computer custom-made for ME)
9. Having exercise time (which I barely get nowadays)
10. Looking at our photos to see how much things/people have changed.

I am passing on the awards to:
1. MaMely of http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com
2. Claire of http://www.clairebakescakes.blogspot.com
3. Vanjito of http://panlasangpinoy.com
4. JMom of http://amoores.com


Here are the rules:
1 Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2 List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3 List 10 things that make you happy.
4 Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award

Piaya/Piyaya

Piaya --- I got my first taste of this Bacolod delicacy when my Ilonggo friend (classmate from high school to college) gave some to me. It was not love at first bite. It was more of an acquired taste for me. And after several bites, I was hooked (same thing happened to me with the pinasugbo that she also introduced me to).

A reader asked me before for the recipe, and I searched and recommended one that seemed promising. If I remember it right, it was this recipe by blueapron. While my outcome was good, it was not exactly how I remember it, or maybe it was my lack of skills in making it that made it different. For one thing, the filling crystallized and hardened after cooling (should still remain gooey and the whole piaya should remain a bit pliable still). Second, I had holes because it was quite hard to flatten the disk without making holes...I probably should have used bread flour and a little bit more water to come up with stronger dough. Don't get me wrong; the outcome was good. And I think I can remedy some issues with my notes below.

However, after my kids and hubby tasted it and liked it as is, I think I am going to stick to the recipe. So, thanks, blueapron!

My apologies for posting about something that I tried only for the first time. Read my notes below before you proceed to see if you would like to experiment some more. This one is time-consuming (like most Filipino delicacies are), and I don't think I will try to experiment again anytime soon.

Also, I have a video of these, but I really don't have the time to edit them and make into a video worthwhile of your viewing time, so please bear with the photos. The written instructions should be clear enough to guide you.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick; 1/4 lb)
1/4 cup + 1 to 2 tbsp water
250 gm muscovado sugar (I used 1 tbsp per dough ball, so roughly around 20 tbsp)
1 cup of sesame seeds (you will most probably have leftovers)

Instructions:

Soften butter or cut into small cubes. Mix with flour. Add 1/4 cup water and knead to form a dough. If you need to add more water to make it more cohesive, add 1 tbsp at a time and knead until you have a soft and pliable dough that is not sticky to touch. Let rest for about 10 minutes wrapped in plastic.

Divide into twenty pieces (I measure about 18-20 gm per dough ball). Roll to flatten using rolling pin. Measure sugar (1 tbsp if you want it sweet; use less if you don't) and compact that (by pushing the sugar against the spoon with your thumbs) before placing at the middle of the flattened dough (so that it does not crumble right away as soon as you fold the edges over the sugar). Gather edges together and pinch. Flatten a bit with your palm. Dunk in sesame seeds and press slightly for the seeds to adhere. Transfer to countertop and flatten carefully with the rolling pin. Keep covered in plastic until ready to cook.

Heat a nonstick pan on low. Lightly brown one side then flip. Some sugar may ooze out. Wipe the pan to remove excess sugar and sesame seeds before proceeding with the next batch. Cool completely on wire rack then place in ziploc bag.

Notes: Some of the commenters at blueapron's said the piaya filling was supposed to still be gooey even when cooled and not return to crystallized form. I tend to agree with that. Probably for experiments, you might want to try adding a little bit of water and flour or cornstarch or tapioca, just like in Ferna's website. The purpose for the water is to dissolve the flour/starch/tapioca while cooking, and act as colloidal glue for the caramelizing sugar, so that come cooling time, instead of crystallizing, the caramelized sugar will stay in the colloid mixture and not re-crystallize, hopefully resulting to the gooey consistency that stays like paste.

Arrowroot Cookies

TYPE SUMMARY HERE

Ingredients:
MARCIA'S ARROWROOT COOKIES
My friend Marcia shared this more traditional recipe in the comments on the earlier post. Makes 3-1/2 dozen.

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup arrowroot
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper, or grease the baking sheet with butter. Set aside.

In a large bowl or in a Kitchenaid-type mixer, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, stir together remaining (dry) ingredients, and add to the egg mixture. Mix well. Flour your countertop or board, and roll dough to 1/8-inch thick (or slightly thicker, to taste). Cut into 2-1/2 inch rounds, and place on the baking sheet. Prick each cookie several times with a fork. Bake until golden, 8-10 minutes, or longer if your cookies are thicker.
http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2008/03/arrowroot-and-c.html
Instructions:

Tender and Moist Wheat Pan de sal

Denise, an fb friend, once asked me if I have a good recipe for wheat pandesal, and I made a suggestion using my pandelimon recipe with wheat flour replacing half of the bread flour. When she had a good outcome that her friends and family all enjoyed and since then made every week, I felt the need to try it myself, although I used only one cup of whole wheat. The result was not the typical dry choking-hazard wheat breads, but one that was moist and tender. As always, the "secret" ingredient to make it softer and moister was the mashed potatoes (or sweet potatoes, whichever you prefer).

Ingredients:
1 / 2 cup milk
1 / 4 cup water
1 / 2 cup boiled and mashed regular or sweet potato
1 / 4 cup butter or margarine
1 large egg
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour + 2-3 tbsp while kneading
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp Fleischmann's bread machine yeast

Instructions:

Mix the milk, potato water and mashed potatoes and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Add the butter and egg, beat to mix then check temperature. It should be between 70-80 deg F (room temp). Pour into the bread machine pan. Add the dry ingredients. Set at dough cycle. after about 10 minutes, start adding flour gradually so that the dough is not too sticky (try to poke from time to time with fingers). It should appear relatively smooth and moist, not wet and flaky. The kneading ends on the 30th minute, then it rises for 1 hr.

Transfer the dough on a lightly greased and floured surface. Stretch and form into a log. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Slice every 1-1.5 inches intervals. Coat with breadcrumbs. Lay on sliced side on baking pan, 1 to 2 fingers apart. Let rise in warm oven for 30 minutes. Bake at 375 deg F for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, then bake for additional 2-3 minutes or until browned to your liking. Enjoy with butter, or your favorite "palaman" (I used dulce de leche and butter on the photo above) and cool the rest on wire rack for at least 30 minutes before storing in ziploc bag.

Rice Puto

I would have said "Putong Puti" on the title, but because I used several flavorings to come up with bite-size puto to bring tomorrow to my SIL's for Easter celebration, these mini-puto have pastel colors,and will be the right way to Filipinize Easter, I would say!

I used rice flour (to save time), and added coconut milk instead of plain water just because I love the flavor imparted by it. I also added fresh pandan leaves to the boiling water for additional flavor.

My kids liked them, tasting each and seeing which flavor they liked best. Hubby was likewise delighted.

I also experimented with using additional tapioca starch (added 1 tsp to 1 tbsp to one of the 4 colors) to see whether it would help prevent the "eruption"; I also tried to lessen the heat as soon as I placed the bamboo steamer, so as not to make "gulat" and create that erupted look. Not that I don't like the erupted top; I was just wondering how some puto vendors manage not to have any on theirs. These seem effective, and tapioca subtly changes the consistency to make it a little bit chewier (almost rubber-like, but not tough, whereas pure rice would result to a more crumbly texture, especially if batter is not thin enough, or if rice did not soak long enough).

I will have to make special mention of MaMely of PinoyAmericanRecipes for the puto molds and the wonderful Pinoy flavorings she sent to me. Thanks, MaMely!

Ingredients:
1 package (16 oz or 1 lb) rice flour (regular, red writings on package)
1-1/2 cup water
1 can (14 oz or 13.5 oz) premium coconut milk (unsweetened, first pressing)
1-1/2 cup sugar
a dash or two of salt
1 tbsp baking powder
few drops of McCormick flavorings (langka, ube, pandan)

Optional:
tapioca starch (1 tbsp for the whole batch, or 1 tsp for each after dividing)
pandan leaves for the boiling water

Instructions:

In a plastic container, blend rice flour with water very well. Cover and let rest in room temp overnight.


Next morning, add everything else except flavorings and mix very well until smooth. Batter will be very very thin. Do not be tempted to add any more flour.

Prepare water for steaming. Add pandan leaves if desired.

Divide batter into 4. Add a few drops of the flavorings to 3, leaving one white, so you end up with 4 different colors. You may add tapioca (1 tsp each) to each of these, or try one with tapioca and see if you like the result. If you don't, leave the rest alone.

Lay the puto molds on top of cloth lining as shown (I use the ones in the photo below; I bought it from Walmart, where the housekeeping/building stuff are). Pour the batter almost to the brim of the molds. When water is briskly boiling, steam the puto and time for 10 minutes for these bite-size puto (muffin size will probably take 15-20 minutes). If using metal pan, line the lid also with dry cloth to absorb moisture and prevent condensation. Do not steam the puto too long that the excess moisture gets absorbed by the cooked puto that might result to sogginess. In trying to figure out the right steaming time for your size of puto, try a few, steam for about 10 minutes, try it (or break in half to see the middle), before you proceed with the rest of the batter.

Once done, remove right away from the mold and cool on wire rack so excess moisture evaporates. These puto molds easily releases the puto; I just had to slip the tip of a toothpick at one side, the gently pull it out and drop onto the cooling rack. Store (what you will not eat right away) in airtight container when cooled completely.

Reader's Gallery #15

Thanks to Mercie for sharing a photo of the binangkal that she made.

Mercie was the one who requested that I make the binangkal, so I owe it to her to learn how to make this snack that is popoular in Cebu.

Ham Lentil Potato Soup

Something I made to use up leftover boiled ham. I did not expect hubby to like this, and I was preparing a TV dinner for him and stepd. He tasted some (because the aroma of simmering soup had been enticing him), and he actually liked it! He said, "I should have this instead of the TV dinner. Next time you fix this, remind me that I liked it."

Ingredients:
2 cups cubed ham (fat trimmed off)
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup dried lentil
1 cup cubed carrots (I used leftover from boiled ham, so I placed these in the pot toward the end of cooking)
5 cups water + 2 cups tomato juice* (or just use plain water)
1 cup leftover mashed potato (mix this well with some of the water before placing in the pot
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
dash of ground basil leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions:
Dump everything (if using uncooked carrots) in a big pot and stir. Let boil then lower heat and simmer covered for 1-1/2 hrs, stirring occasionally. Enjoy with freshly baked bread (and rice for you Filipinos). (If you are using the bread machine, prepare your bread before you start fixing this soup.)

*Note: The tomato juice I used was from canned raw tomatoes, which I drained to use for lasagna. I always save the juice and use it for things like this, or for sweet and sour sauce of escabeche.

Pinoy Cheese Cupcake

This is what the typical neighborhood type of Filipino bakeshops would tout as their "special"kababayan in the sense that it uses cheese. A closer look at the ingredients would indicate that this is basically a muffin topped with grated cheese. Contrary to how the Western cheesecake is, this does not have any form of cream cheese (or anything cheese) in its batter.

This was my favorite muffin in my Tatay's bakery, especially when fresh out of the oven with its crunchy top. Once cooled, I would wrap them individually in small clear plastic bags and seal using the candle (I got proficient at making the seal without actually touching the flame; just the heat, so that the plastic would not have any dark marking as it does when it touches the yellow flame).

Husband had a taste of the batter and thought it tasted like butter cookies. (Hmmmm....maybe I should try making some into drop cookies.) When it was done, I had hubby taste it. His reaction was..."Hmmm, that's good!" Kids' reaction? Same. (gaya-gaya, puto-maya...)

This recipe was adapted from Mrs. Daisy Alonzo's recipe.

Ingredients:
1 bar (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 cans (14 oz each) sweetened condensed milk
3-2/3 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
cheddar cheese, finely grated, for topping

Instructions:

Line 2 muffin pans with paper cups.
Preheat oven to 350 ° F
Mix flour and baking powder well in a bowl.
Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed. Turn speed to slow and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually increase speed to medium and beat well.
Turn speed to slow and slowly add the condensed milk. Beat well on medium speed for about a minute.
Turn to slow again and add the dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium and add oil. Beat well for about another minute. Add vanilla and beat to blend.
Transfer batter to a piping bag and pipe into the muffin cups, leaving about 1/4 inch space at the top.
Top with grated cheese (preferably the orange-colored cheddar cheese).
Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the pans for even baking. (If you want, you may add some more cheese at this point).Bake for another 10 minutes. Enjoy with maple syrup or condensed milk if desired.
Transfer to cooling rack and completely cool before storing in ziploc bags those that you will not be able to consume right away.

The original recipe that I got from asiarecipe.com forum was as follows:
Pinoy Cheese Cupcake-Kababayan
(Pinoy Cheese Muffin)
Recipe courtesy of Mrs. Daisy Alonzo
Ingredients:
1 bar butter
4 eggs
100 grams sugar
2 can of condensed milk
15 grams cooking oil
5 grams baking powder
500 grams. all-purpose flour
you will need:
cheese grater
2 ounce paper baking cups
cake mixer, mixing bowl and spatula
Paraan ng pagluluto:
Hiwa-hiwain muna ang butter para madali itong lummbot.
Ilagay ang butter sa isang mixing bowl, ihalo ang asukal at apat na itlog.
Haluin ang mga sangkap na ito sa cake mixer. Gamitin ang pinakamahinang
speed upang hindi tumapon ang butter mixture.
Idagdag na din sa mixture ang dalawang lata ng condensed milk.
Ihinto muna ang mixer.
Pagsamahin naman ang harina at baking powder at saka ihalo sa butter mixture.
Paandarin muli ang mixer sa pinakamahinang speed. Haluing mabuti hanggang sa
maging basa ang mga sangkap.
Ihalo ang 15 grm ng mantika.
Pabilisin ang mixer hanggang maging pino ang sangkap.
Patayin ang mixer, ito na ngayon ang cupcake mixture.
Ihanay ang paper baking cups. Magbuhos ng cupcake mixture sa bawat baking cups
Punuin hanggang ikatlong bahagi ng bawat cups
Lagyan ng grated cheese ang cupcake mixture.
Ipasok sa mainit na oven, ihurno ng mga 30 minuto.
Luto na ang cheese cupcake. Palamigin

Binangkal

Last week I was emailed by a reader requesting for a post on Binangkal, which is popular in Cebu. I had no idea what it was, but I was intrigued enough, especially with some craving to make some munchies soon because I was not making any the past weeks due to the dust all over the house as my husband was working on our sunroom.

Plus, I needed a break too. Cooking/baking has always been therapeutic for me. So I tried this recipe I had been eyeing since last week. I wanted to decrease the ingredients but the list makes it hard to do that. So I followed the recipe. I had a lot of dough to start with, but since I had no idea what binangkal was, except that it was pretty much like doughnut in that it was fried dough, I thought it would be just fine as the first batches could be a learning phase for me.

True enough, pingpong-sized round dough dropped into the medium hot oil gave me darkly browned binangkal with uncooked middle dough. How could I come up with cooked middle without burning the outside? I came up with this solution: smaller dough, flattened somehow into discs. Rationale: Flatter dough means the heat will be close enough to the middle to cook that part well. The smaller dough ensures cooking the middle part without burning the outer.

I had the extra advantage of having the puffing up of the middle part as a visual cue that the middle is getting done. That was quite unexpected but very effective means of assessing the doneness (aside from brown color at the outside).

Kids approved it, and especially enjoyed these treats with maple syrup. Hubby tried it and said it was different, then got a can of Pepsi and had some more binangkal. So I guess he kinda liked it, although it was "different." It is wonderfully crunchy on the outside (Hey, Claire, you will not break your teeth with this one, I promise!)

Ingredients:

5 Cups All Purpose Flour
5 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder (preferably Calumet)
1 Box Dark Brown Sugar GH (2 1/2 cups)
3 While Eggs
1 Small Can Evaporated Milk (2/3 cup) + 2 tbsp milk (whole milk or if you have extra evap milk)
1 tsp Vanilla

Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly until fine (I used the food processor in pulses.)
Mix remaining ingredients: eggs, vanilla, milk.
Combine all dry and liquid ingredients by hand.
Add more milk if it is too dry until you obtain the correct consistency. The dough should
be stiff enough to mold into a ball. Don't make it too wet (read on and you will see why).
(Adjust to your preferred Binangkal size).
Lay the pinched dough on aluminum foil.
Get a cup of tap or filtered water as preferred (this is why you should not make the dough too wet in the first place).
Dip two fingers of your hand and wet the palm of the other hand for molding the dough.
Pick up each dough and roll between both palms of your hand to shape into balls.
Roll dough in a bowl of sesame seeds then press between fingers to make them flat (depressed more at the middle than at the sides). When done, you are ready to fry.
Heat your frying pan in high heat then lower to Medium-LOW when you begin frying because the pan must be very hot to start. You can try one first to gauge your own stove and adjust in the next batches. Start with few, try to open some and see if you already like what you have before going full blast with more per batch.
Place only about 6-8 pieces per batch. Once all have floated, wait until the top parts puff up and crack, then tip over to cook the other side. Count about 30 seconds once you have tipped over all pieces. Take note of which ones are the first, as they are the ones to get out first. Check to see doneness of the underside (should be uniformly browned, not whitish in the cracks. (My video below is quite different at I tipped too soon just by counting. It will be more reliable to wait for puffing up of the middle before tipping over.)
Prepare a cooling wire rack over a cookie sheet to hold cooked Binangkal for cooling purposes and to let excess oil drip.
Line your storage container with paper towel. Store in airtight container when completely cool.
The Binangkal will keep for a week (according to recipe source).

To Mercie, I hope you will like this!