A Taste of Thai: Mango with Sticky Rice

"Oh, boy!" were the words that came out of Pat's mouth when he took his first bite.  Two of our friends, Katie and Josh were the first to enlighten us on Mango with Sticky Rice.  The first time we had it was in Baltimore.  Whenever we go out for Thai food, we have to get Mango with Sticky Rice.

The other day on Pinterest, I came across a pin for Mango with Sticky Rice.  The thought had never occurred to me that I could make it.  After reading the blog I knew I could do it and guess what?  So can you!

I did not at all follow the pin I had found.  You'll see recipes that call for sticky or sweet rice; you'll find this at the grocery store as Jasmine rice.  Sometimes it's even marked as Thai rice.

My recipe came from Asian Gourmet's bag of sticky rice.  However, I didn't buy that brand of rice because it was more than double the price of other brands.  I bought Goya's.

I am not sure how much rice Asian Gourmet's recipe called for or what the serving size was.  I did now that I didn't need to make the full recipe shown so I halved it.  Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
1/2 C. jasmine rice
1 C. water
1/2 can of coconut milk
1/3 C. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
1 ripe mango

I boiled the water, then added the rice.  I let it simmer for 15 minutes.  Then stand for 5.  (This was according to the directions on the GOYA bag of rice).

While the rice was standing, I boiled 1/2 can of coconut milk, the sugar, and the salt.  I allowed it to boil for 3 minutes.  Then I poured the mixture into the rice.  It sat for 30 minutes to absorb the coconut mixture.

I divided the rice between two plates (the servings were HUGE).  Next, I sprinkled sesame seeds on top and placed the sliced mango on the side.

It's not a fancy dessert, but oh boy is it AMAZING.  Go to the store and pick up the ingredients now, I promise you won't be disappointed!

 Well, Amber you might be since you're allergic to mango...sorry!

I think this amount would EASILY serve 4 people.  Next time, I think I will halve it again and next time will be soon since I have another half of a mango and half a can of coconut milk...Oh, darn!

A Refreshing Summer Treat: Key Lime Cupcakes

Today I made my 275th recipe from Pinterest- guacamole!  My goal has been to make 300 different recipes from Pinterest by the time school starts.  Teachers first official day back is August 14 (although I return August 4).  I've got 5 weeks to make 25 recipes.  5 a week....I've got this!  

This evening I also made recipe 276 and 277.  I was asked to bake cupcakes for a combo birthday and graduation party for family.  Looking at my Pinterest recipes I narrowed down summer flavors and Key Lime Cupcakes won.  For the cupcake part I used Sweet Peas and Saffron's Key Lime Cupcakes found here.  I was planning on using their white chocolate frosting.  After reading the blog, I knew the cake wouldn't have an overwhelming flavor, BUT after smelling the batter (and of course, sampling the batter) I thought it had a really nice lime flavor.  

While the cupcakes were cooling, I did some more sampling.  The lime flavor was very faint.  I was thinking about adding some lime to the white chocolate frosting.  Then I was thinking that didn't sound too good.  I looked around for something lime frosting and decided that with this cupcake a lime buttercream would be the best.  I ended with an adapted recipe from Southern Living found at myrecipes.

Other important things to note, the original post says it made 18 cupcakes.  I doubled the recipe.  18+18=36, the last time I checked. Here's what I ended up with:

And yes, that's 48 cupcakes and an 8" square cake.

Here's my adapted recipe for the Lime Buttercream:

My only complaint about the cupcakes is that the frosting was too thin to pipe.  

• 1 C. of softened butter
• 2 tsp. of vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 5 C. of powdered sugar
• juice from 2 limes

I always whip the butter and then beat in the sugar.  Then I mix in the other ingredients. I always mix it for a long time. Long as in I leave the kitchen and go do something else.  It makes sure all of the flavors are well mixed and the icing is lighter.  This recipe was sweet, but the left a faint tart taste.  The frosting paired well with the cupcakes and were a HUGE hit at the party today.

Now to figure out what recipe 278 will be...

Cinnamon Rolls!

A week ago my husband, mother, sister and I returned from an Alaskan cruise and oh, boy was it fantastic! We had perfect weather.  The sights were beautiful and we saw countless humpback whales, orcas, sea lions, and eagles. We got close up and personal to glaciers.  It was an unforgettable trip! I took almost 2,000 pictures- here's my favorite group shot.

Family photo at the Davidson Glacier

If any of you have ever cruised, you know that while cruising you are overeating (and drinking).  Every thing we ate was fantastic...from lobster tails to chateaubriand, ice cream cones to Baked Alaska, cinnamon rolls to stuffed french toast....the list goes on and on and on (and on...).  

Pat's favorite thing about breakfast on a Carnival cruise is their cinnamon rolls.  We are talking probably three cinnamon rolls each morning.  So I decided I would make some homemade cinnamon rolls this week.  I typically make the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls because they require zero effort and are pretty tasty!  I've made some homemade cinnamon rolls but decided to try out a new recipe from Pioneer Woman.  I used her recipe for the rolls themselves, but decided to use a different icing.  I used a recipe from All recipes for The Perfect Cinnamon Roll .  I mixed up the icing because The Pioneer Woman's icing had real maple syrup and coffee-two of Pat's least favorite things.  

I halved the cinnamon roll recipe.  Some of her measurements were general, so I will tell you exactly what I did.

Ingredients:

*2 C. of milk ( I only had skim milk so I mixed in about 1 Tbsp of heavy cream)

*1/2 C. sugar

*1/2 C. vegetable oil

*1 package of dry, active yeast

*4 1/2 C. of flour

*3/4 tsp. of baking powder

*1/2 tsp. of baking soda

*1/2 Tbsp of salt

*2/3 C. of melted butter

*1 C. of sugar

*enough cinnamon to coat the dough

Heat the first three ingredients over medium high heat.  Allow to cool for about 40 minutes.  Please let it cool otherwise the yeast won't activate.  Then sprinkle in the yeast and let it sit for a couple of minutes.  Next transfer this liquid mixture to your Kitchenaid bowl.  On a low speed, mix in 4 cups of flour.  Then cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise for about an hour.  Next add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Once everything is well combined, add the next 1/2 C. of flour.  Cover and place in the fridge until you are ready to use it.  I did this the afternoon before.

In the morning or when you are ready to use the dough, split the dough in half.  Roll it out thin and rectangularly (I know that's not a real word, but you know what I mean!).  Pour and spread 1/2 of the melted butter onto each of the rolled dough.  Evenly sprinkled 1/2 C. of sugar on each half.  Then cover it with cinnamon.  Roll in rectangle then cut into thin slices.  I probably cut each roll about 1/3 of an inch.  This recipe yields about 50 cinnamon rolls.  

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. While they bake, work on the icing so it will melt all over the rolls.

I followed the recipe from Allrecipes.com exactly.  When the cinnamon rolls are ready, pour the icing on top and enjoy!

Ready to bake!

Ready to eat! You know you want to make them so go ahead and do it!

Happy Fourth of July: Celebrating with Something Sweet

Happy Fourth of July!  I am going to a Fourth of July party and of course decided I'd bring something sweet to share!

Sorry that my weekly posting streak ended.  Between the end of the school year recital, an AMAZING trip to Seattle/ Alaska, and coming home to a flooded basement...there hasn't been to much baking happening.

As I posted in my Easter Cake Pop post, I wanted to try to make the cake pops that get baked in the mold. Pat bought me two for my birthday (back in March) and I just got around to testing them out.  I decided to use the recipe that came on the box with a few adaptations.

This recipe is adapted from Nordic Ware's Fudgy Cake Pops:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. of semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 sticks of butter
1 1/2 C. of sugar
6 Tbsp. of unsweetened cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. of flour
1 tsp. of salt

For the cake pops you'll then also need lollipop sticks, melting chocolate (I use Make 'n Mold), and what ever decorations, such as sprinkles.

Melt the chocolate chips and butter on the stove top over low heat (I did 3).  Continue to stir until it is all melted.  While I was stirring, I added the sugar and cocoa powder to my stand mixer.  Once the chocolate was melted, I poured it into the mixer as well.  Then add the eggs one at a time. Next, add the vanilla.  Finally, mix in the flour and salt until well combined.

I used my cookie dough scoop to then fill in my cake pop mold.  They baked at 325 for 18 minutes.  This recipe is doubled and it made 42 cake pops.  My adaptions to Nordic Ware's recipe was I doubled the salt and added the tsp. of vanilla.

Once the cake pops cooled, I dipped the sticks in melted chocolate and inserted the stick into each cake pop.  After that had cooled, I dipped the cake pops into the melted chocolate.

For the American flag, I used Make 'n Mold's dark red, dark blue, and white chips.  I used about 1/4 of the bag of the white, 1/2 of the bag of blue, and 2/3 of the red.  Six of the cake pops were blue with white sprinkles for the stars ( I couldn't find star sprinkles); 18 of the cake pops were red with white stripes.

And here you go!

I made little American flag cake pops with my extras!

I would definitely make cake pops again by baking them in the mold. It was less messy!  Can't wait to try out other flavors! Enjoy your Fourth of July!