Food for the gods recipe

Food for the gods! It's one of those treats we can bake this Christmas for giving to our family and friends. I am sure this will leave them impressed, but it's actually as easy as making those sinful fudge brownies. Recipe courtesy of The Maya Kitchen.


Ingredients:

200 grams pitted dates
200 grams walnuts
1-1/4 cups butter, softened to room temperature
5 cups lightly (not loosely) packed dark brown sugar
3-3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon MAYA All-Purpose Flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
2-1/2 teaspoons salt
5 eggs
2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence


Procedure:

Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 177°C. Place the pitted dates on a chopping board and sprinkle with one tablespoonful of flour.3 Chop coarsely. Transfer the chopped dates to a bowl and set aside.
Chop the walnuts to roughly the same size as the chopped sultanas. Add to the dates in the bowl. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla essence. Add the flour in batches, mixing with a wooden spoon. The batter will be very heavy. Finally, stir in the dates and walnuts. Cover the bottom and sides of a 12-1/2 x 17-1/2 x 1 jelly roll pan with non-stick baking paper. Allowing overhangs on the long sides is useful so that you slide off the baked food for the gods on a cooling rack in one piece.
Pour the batter into the pan scraping the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to make sure you get all of the batter into the pan. Level off with a spatula. Bake in a preheated 350oF oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Watch the last few minutes closely so that just as soon as it’s sufficiently baked, you can turn off the oven at once and take out the pan.
Then, cool in the pan for 10 minutes to firm it up a bit. Holding one end of the baking paper overhang with one hand and holding the pan at a 45o angle with the other, pull out the baked food for the gods and slide onto a cooling rack. Cool for another 15 minutes or so. While still a bit warm, cut into 1-1/2 or 2-inch squares. Cool completely. Place on festive colored paper cups or wrap in colored Japanese paper.

Sylvannas recipe

It's not everyday that I get to find a good recipe for sylvannas, those heavenly sweet treats made of cream and delicate meringue. Thanks to a baking class I attended at The Maya Kitchen, am sharing here how to make sylvannas as taught by Ines Javellana of The Vargas Kitchen.


Meringue: 1 cup egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped cashew nuts
½ teaspoon vanilla

Cream Mousseline: 1 ½ cup sugar
½ cup water
9 egg yolks
1 ½cups butter
1 cup chopped cashew nuts
MAYA All Purpose Flour / Crushed wafer (for dredging)

Preheat oven to 325°F / 163°C. Generously grease and flour the backs of 6 (9-inch) square pans. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add sugar gradually; continue beating until stiff. Fold in chopped nuts and vanilla. Divide the mixture equally into the greased and floured surfaces of the 6 pans. Spread meringue thinly. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until light brown. When meringue are done and while still warm immediately cut out wafers into oval or round shaped. Cool on wire rack. Prepare Filling.

How to make Cream Mousseline: Boil sugar and water until thread-like in consistency. Beat egg yolks until lemon-colored. Add syrup; continue beating until smooth. Set Aside. Cream the butter until fluffy. Add in egg yolk mixture. Beat 1 minute longer until creamy. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble: Place one meringue wafer onto serving platter. Spread with some cream mousseline. Sprinkle with nuts. Top with another wafer. Repeat procedure for the remaining
wafers and mousseline. Frost all over with cream mousseline and top with more chopped nuts. Freeze until ready to serve.

Red velvet cake .... so colorful and so good!

Here's a red velvet cake recipe shared by Ines Javellana of The Vargas Kitchen. Special thanks to The Maya Kitchen for letting me attend this desserts class:)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups MAYA Cake Flour (not self-rising), sifted, plus more for pans
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 one-ounce bottles liquid red food coloring
3 tablespoons lukewarm water
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Cream Cheese Frosting for Red Velvet Cake

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, and butter again. Dust with flour, and tap out the excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, cocoa, and baking powder; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 15 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, salt, food coloring, and water; beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until well combined. Add reserved dry ingredients in additions, alternating with the buttermilk; beat on low speed until well combined.

In a small bowl, stir together baking soda and vinegar; add to batter. Beat on medium speed for 10 seconds. Be sure not to overbeat. Divide batter between prepared pans, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove pans from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack; let stand until completely cool.

Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes so surfaces are level. Place a layer on a cake stand or cardboard round, and spread about 1/3 of the frosting over top. Place the second layer on top, and spread with the remaining frosting over the tops and sides of assembled cake. Transfer to refrigerator, and chill until ready to serve.

Chorizo & kesong puti omelette

Preparation time: 5 minutes; Cooking time: 3-5 minutes; Serves: 1-2

Ingredients
3 whole fresh eggs, large size
1 pc whole chorizo, sliced diagonally
1⁄2 Tbsp corn oil
1⁄2 cake quesong puti, sliced in thin flat sheets
3 - 4 pcs basil leaves, torn or cut into chiffonade
pinch coarse salt
pinch freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp softened butter
1 Tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

Procedure
1. Heat corn oil in hot pan. Pan-fry the chorizo slices.

2. The pimenton oils from the chorizo will blend with the corn oil and turn it into a rich
orange color.

3. Remove from heat and separate chorizo slices.

4. Reserve the oil.

5. In a glass bowl, slightly beat the eggs with a wire whisk. Season with salt, pepper and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.

6. Pour the "chorizo oils" and stir gently until blended.

7. The stirred eggs might cook a bit if the oil is still hot.

8. In a hot teflon pan or skillet, melt the butter and heat until bubbly.

9. Pour the egg mixture evenly and let stand for 1 minute, then lower heat gradually to prevent the omelette from burning at the bottom.

10. Lay out the chorizo slices, quesong puti slices and basil leaves on the omelette like you would do on a bibingka.

11. Fold the omelette.

Serve right away with Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

Smoked bangus lumpia

Preparation time: 30 minutes; Cooking time: 30 minutes; Serves: 4-6

Ingredients
2 pcs boneless tinapang bangus, finely shredded
2 medium-sized onions chopped finely
2 Tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1 small bar quick melt cheese, cut into small cubes
1 bunch wansoy, finely chopped
1 pc mango, half-ripe, finely diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
lumpia wrappers
1 egg white

Procedure
1. Mix first six ingredients in a bowl.
2. Place a few tablespoons of mixture into lumpia wrappers and roll.
3. Use egg white as glue for wrapper ends when rolling.
4. Deep fry till golden brown.

Best eaten with Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

Pork chop inihaw recipe

I love pork chop and here's a nice recipe provided by the world-famous Heinz Ketchup:

Preparation time: 1 hour; Cooking time:15 minutes; Serves: 5

Ingredients
5 pcs pork chop
1 Tbsp garlic, crushed
1⁄2 tsp whole black peppercorn, crushed
1 Tbsp brown sugar
5 Tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
10 Tbsp Heinz tomato ketchup
10 Tbsp pineapple juice
1⁄2 tsp salt

Procedure
1. Marinate pork chops in garlic, crushed black pepper corn, brown sugar, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, pineapple juice and salt for an hour in the refrigerator.
2. Charbroil till done. Serve with freshly cooked garlic rice and Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

Carrot bars in time for Christmas

The Maya Kitchen gives baking enthusiasts the best ideas for baking and selling this Christmas. Here's a carrot bar recipe that I learned from a class today that was taught by Ines Vargas-Javellana, granddaughter of the lady behind Vargas Kitchen which has made a name for its divine butter cakes. These yummy carrot bars are perfect for gift-giving or impressing members of your family. They're a nice variation to the usual carrot cakes and cupcakes.

Here's The Vargas Kitchen Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Make filling using the following ingredients: two bars cream cheese, softened at room temperature; two ounces unsalted butter; 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and one tsp. fresh lemon juice. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sugar and lemon juice, beat until combined. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

For the bars itself, you need: 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted unsalted butter, 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, one large egg yolk, 3/4 cup Maya all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 cup rolled oats and 3/4 cup packed finely grated carrots. In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugars and egg yolk. In a medium bowl, sift flour and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until combined. Mix in oats and carrots.

Pour batter into prepared baking sheets. Bake until edges are crisp, rotating baking sheets halfway through, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer mixture to a wire rack to cool.

Turn the baking pan over, bottom side up. Frost bars with 1 tsp. each chilled cream cheese filling and serve.