sweets for my sweet tooth: yema balls

This is another of my holiday cravings: yema!  Yema is a custard candy made simply from egg yolks and condensed milk.  I love mine with a nutty taste so i always jazz it up with a few tablespoons of chopped peanuts.  It is usually shaped in a pyramid and wrapped in colorful cellophane but i don't have the patience to do that so i just shape them into balls.  whatever shape it is, it's the taste that matters.

The yema i grew up knowing is brown in color and a bit crusty on the outside and soft in the inside.  It has a distinct nutty and milky taste i can never reproduce in my experiments.  could it be the use of fresh cow's milk back in the days? or maybe adding corn syrup?  I've searched high and low online for the recipe but failed. I kinda have this feeling that those who know it would rather keep it a secret. hmmm...

So after trying so many recipes, i've finally settled on this one.  Try it and let me know what you think. 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 can condensed milk
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (i use dry roasted)

Note: This makes about 20 yema balls. i always double/triple the recipe when bringing it to potluck parties.

Procedure:

1.  Heat a saucepan and drop butter until melted under medium heat.

2.  Pour the condensed milk and stir until combined (about 2 minutes).

3.  Add the egg yolks and stir continuously for about 2 minutes.

4.  Add the vanilla and chopped peanuts.

5.  Stir continuously under medium heat until mixture becomes thick (about 20 minutes).  Lower the heat during the last 5 minutes.

6.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

7.  Scoop using 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon and shape into balls using your palm.

8.  To serve, one option is to wrap it in colorful cellophanes. I use colors depending on the occasion.  Green and red for Christmas, orange and black for halloween, etc.  If you don't have colorful cellophanes (i got mine from the Philippines), you can use cocktail sticks or mini-cupcake papers.

Enjoy!

chocolate crinkles

Woke up to a rainy Saturday morning, 3 days before Christmas, too lazy to go out.  My idle mind suddenly had this "evil" thought of baking something sinfully sweet and delicious not only to satisfy my craving but also to share with friends as a holiday giveaway. I thought i'd give chocolate crinkles a try.  I've never done it before and have been thinking about it quite a lot lately for my next baking project.

Chocolate crinkles are delicious, soft fudge-like cookies generously coated with confectioners (powdered) sugar.  My guess is that it is named "crinkles" because the powdered sugar crinkles or cracks, revealing a little of the chocolate underneath.  They are best eaten fresh from the oven or on the day they are baked.  You can also store them in an airtight container and will stay fresh for about 3 days.


Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted

Procedure:

1.  In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir the chocolates until completely melted. If not, run the microwave again for about 30 seconds, stir until shiny and smooth. Set aside.

If you don't have a microwave, you can use a double boiler or any metal/glass bowl that fits over a saucepan.  Fill the saucepan with water over low heat until it just begins to simmer.  Turn off the stove and place the chocolates on the top bowl and stir continuously until completely melted.  Set aside.

2.  In a mixing bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt and mix until thoroughly combined.  Set aside.

3.  Cream the softened butter in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer.

4.  Add the granulated sugar and continue mixing for about 2 minutes.

5.  Add the cocoa powder and melted chocolate.  Mix for about a minute.

6.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until light and fluffy.

7.  Add the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) and mix again until all the ingredients are combined.

8.  Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  You can also leave it overnight in the fridge if you plan to bake it the next day.

9.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.

10.  Place the sifted confectioners sugar in a shallow bowl.

11.  Scoop the chilled mixture using 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon and form into 1 inch balls using your palm.

12.  Roll the chocolate balls over confectioners sugar until fully covered.

13.  Arrange on a baking tray, each ball should be about 2-3 inches apart.  You should have about 12-15 balls on a baking tray.

14.  Bake for 10 minutes.

15.  Remove from oven and allow to cool then transfer to wire rack to cool.

16.  Arrange in a serving platter, serve and enjoy!

And here's my holiday treat to all of you.  Merry Christmas!!!

halloween cupcakes

It's still 5 weeks away but TV/radio/retail stores are screaming halloween already.  In fact, as early as August while shopping for a dress at Marshalls, I was baffled by the overpowering eerie sight of orange and owl-inspired home decor.  I was like "what's with all the owl?" ^_^   It wasn't until i entered another store with the same themed decoration that i realized it was all for halloween.

Last night while digging into my files i stumbled upon some photos of the halloween cupcakes i made last year.  They are cute and so easy to make and my little cupcake monster loved it!

Here's what you need:

• chocolate cupcakes
• jet-puffed marshmallows
• m&m candies or skittles
• gummy worms
• lifesaver gummies
• licorice candy laces
• chocolate chips
• white frosting (vanilla)
• chocolate frosting (or you can color your white frosting dark brown)
• red and brown decorating icing (i use ready-to-use icing tubes; if you don't have it, just color your white frosting with red and brown and snip a small hole in a ziplock bag to pipe the frosting)
• oreo cookies, finely crushed
• toothpicks

1.  Bake your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe.

2.  To make spider cupcakes:

• Cover your cupcakes with chocolate frosting.   If you don't have chocolate frosting, you can use vanilla frosting and color it dark brown
• Cut a marshmallow in half crosswise.  Stick two marshmallow pieces to each cupcake to make the eyes
• Dab one side of the M&M candy with a little frosting and stick it to the marshmallows.  Use another M&M candy to make the nose.
• Sprinkle the rest of the cupcake with finely crushed oreo cookies (you can also use chocolate sprinkles)
• Using a toothpick, poke 4 holes on each side of the cupcake
• Cute your licorice lace into 8 equal pieces and insert into each hole.  Remember: a spider has 8 legs. ^_^

3.  To make eyeball cupcakes:

• Frost your cupcake with vanilla frosting
• Insert one chocolate chip into the center of the lifesaver gummy
• Stick the lifesaver gummy at the center of the cupcake
• Use red decorating icing to draw small veiny lines on the eyeballs.

4.  To make spider web cupcakes:

• Frost your cupcakes with vanilla frosting
• Squeeze circles of brown decorating gel on each cupcake.
• Using a toothpick, draw a line from the center of the cupcake outward to make a web.

5.  To make worm cupcakes:

• Frost your cupcakes with chocolate frosting
• Cover cupcake with finely-crushed oreo cookies (or chocolate sprinkles)
• Top cupcake with gummy worms.  Make a hole into the cupcake and insert the gummy worms to make it appear that they're coming out of the dirt.

How fun and simple is that?  The secret is using candies you can all find at the store.  There are tons of them, in different sizes and shapes.  Special halloween edition candies are already available at this time so grab them and be creative.