Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

I was almost going to make this for my final Spanish project, but wasn't quite sure it was traditional or not. I am pretty sure this is an "Americanized" version. Real Sopapilla is a "fried pastry and type of quick bread" according to Wikipedia. The pictures kind of remind me of funnel cakes. But this recipe, the Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie recipe from allrecipes.com, seems very different from traditional Sopapilla.

It starts with a can of crescent rolls that you stretch to fit the bottom of the pan. Then, you add the mixture of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract into the pan to completely cover the crescent roll layer on bottom. Open the second can of crescent rolls, and make a layer on top of the cream cheese. After that, you simply stir together the butter, sugar, and cinnamon and dollop it over the top.

It takes about 30 minutes to bake, and it should come out with a nice golden-brown crust. When it is cooled and ready to serve, squeeze some honey over it (if desired) and enjoy with a tall glass of milk! I recommend this dessert to any cream cheese lover. The crust is perfectly fluffy yet crispy, and the cinnamon topping is so yummy!

Close-up of the bubbling crust just after it
came out of the oven. Mmm!

It's a very rich dessert, so I had to eat it in small amounts. But with my family of four, the pan was gone within days! Such a good recipe!

Oh, and I just have to share this...it's a review someone wrote about the recipe on the website. I thought it was hilarious! Enjoy:

"Ok. This is, undoubtedly, the most outstanding-delicious-amazing-wonderful dessert recipe I have EVER tried. Unbelievable. If you don't rush right out and pick up the ingredients for this, you are missing out ON LIFE! I have tasted a lot of desserts, I have tried a million recipes, but I can honestly say (and my family will agree) that this is the most wonderful dessert ever. It was made by the Gods. You know how every recipe you read on Allrecipes.com has reviewers improving upon the recipe in some way? Well you won't see that with this recipe. Nope. It would be absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to improve on this one in ANY way. It's perfect. Sent from heaven. And in addition to the perfect flavor is the fact that it LOOKS beautiful, even if you throw the crescent rolls in sloppily (like I did). It's also so unbelievably easy to make that I am ASHAMED I didn't know about this sooner because it would have saved me a lot of sweat and stress while trying to throw something together for potlucks. All I can ask is that you not share the recipe with anyone. It's so good it should be a secret!"

...And sometimes I cook

"You know, sometimes bakers have to cook. And when that day comes, they should pray something doesn't go wrong."  -Laura (Food Blogger)

But nothing went wrong here! Tricked ya there, didn't I? I made up that quote by the way...that's me, Laura. Yep! Anyway, moving on...before school ended, I had a final Spanish project that involved cooking Latin food! I mean, how fun is that? And, I learned two new recipes that I will certainly make again in the future. One dish was Lemon Garlic Tilapia, and the other was an Avocado, Tomato and Mango Salsa. Both were very very tasty, and they would be great summer dishes!

 Let's start with the Salsa. This recipe can be found at allrecipes.com entitled "Avocado, Tomato and Mango Salsa," or you can follow this link to find it. The ingredients are very basic and easy to find (not to mention pretty cheap)! You start by peeling/pitting/seeding (if needed) and chopping up the mango, avocado, tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro, and garlic. Then you stir in the salt, lime juice, red onion, and olive oil.  After that, the recipe advises to refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes before serving. This is to blend the flavors together.

The colors look SO great together, and it tastes even better! I did take some advice that critics gave the recipe on the website. They said the juices all went to the bottom of the bowl and it became very watery. So, I drained some of the juice out of the tomatoes before adding them in. This seemed to do the trick! There was  also a tip that you could just buy diced tomatoes in a can and drain them instead of chopping up your own tomatoes. But I enjoyed the fresh taste of the ones I used.

Adding the red onion (1/4 c.)

3 Tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp. Salt (ACTION SHOT! Look at that salt go!)

And now the Tilapia "al Ajillo". Again, it's a very simple recipe. (And I'm glad I didn't mess it up!) It's basically tilapia fillets, some garlic, olive oil, salt/pepper, and chopped parsley and lemon for serving.

The recipe calls for 1 1/2 lbs tilapia fillets. All we had was 2 fillets, so I used those. First you season the fillets with salt and pepper, then heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Put the fillets in, and after 1-2 minutes, add garlic slices. It doesn't take too long to cook the fillets. Mine took about 4-8 minutes. And you want the garlic to get a dark golden brown color, but not burned.

When the fish is done, test it by flaking it with a fork. If it flakes easily, then it's ready to serve! I served mine two different ways. One fillet I did the traditional way--or the way in the recipe--by sprinkling some of the cooked garlic over the fish, adding some parsley, and lemon juice on top.

For the other one, however, I used some of the amazingly-delicious salsa I had just made, and added it on top. In fact, the recipe mentions that it is also commonly served this way too, with salsa on top. My family enjoyed both versions!

My mom whipped up some steamed corn and Mexican rice, and it was a Latin meal to remember! The tilapia was so tasty with the fresh lemon juice and the garlic slices weren't too overpowering like I thought they would be. It actually added a lot to the recipe! You can find the recipe at Food.com, entitled "Tilapia al Ajillo (garlic tilapia)" or follow this link. The fish dish itself has only 260 calories per serving, but it's very filling! I would recommend this recipe to anyone who wants a quick dinner that's easy to make, and doesn't require much effort or ingredients. We always have steamed veggies on hand, and little side dishes that are easy to heat up, so it's a great meal to serve to the whole family!

¡Buen Provecho! (Bon Appetit!)

Mother's Day Pie: Banana Cream

For mother's day I decided to bake my mom her favorite pie: Banana Cream. The crust was store-bought, and the filling was well...not home-made necessarily. I know, I know. I'm sorry! But hey, my mom told me that this was the way her mom used to make it for her, so I decided to stick to the tradition!

First I baked the crust, then let it cool and I put sliced bananas on the bottom layer. The pudding is just a Jello vanilla pudding mix that I added whole milk to. Then I mixed a bit of cool whip in, and let it set in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. After it was set, I added another layer of bananas (more spaced out this time) and a layer of whip cream on top.

It was a very tasty pie. I never had Banana Cream Pie before, but I really liked it! The pudding part was kind of runny, so next time I don't think I would add quite as much milk as the package says. But, my mom loved it! So it was a very Happy Mother's Day, indeed! : )

Oh, and with the extra whip cream, I mixed up a little after-school snack that's both healthy and delicious! One layer strawberries, one layer whip cream. And repeat. YUMMY!

PB-NA: An original invention

PB-NA: Peanut Butter Nutella Apple

So a while ago I got this idea to make a gourmet sandwich. And this is what became of it. Nutella. Peanut Butter. Green Apples. All bundled up in whole wheat bread. Now let me tell you, I had never had Nutella before, but I heard it was delicious. This sandwich, although a little strange, was actually quite tasty. 

I had promised my friend I would make her a special sandwich for lunch one day, and she loved it! The apples were a surprise to her. At first she thought it was lettuce, actually. But the crunch of the apples is a really great addition to the sandwich.

When making the sandwich, make sure you cut the apples thin enough. These may have been too thick, and if they are too thick, it's harder to eat. I used Granny Smith apples, Jif creamy peanut butter, and of course that delicious hazelnut spread known to be Nutella.

If you're daring enough, try out this gourmet sandwich...you might just like it!

Easter-ish Cupcakes

If you haven't learned by now, I am obsessed with cupcakes. I love to bake, eat, and talk about cupcakes. And since I just happen to have a 3-day weekend to celebrate Easter and all this spring-like weather we are having (actually it just snowed a few days ago...crazy, huh?), I decided to bake some Easter-y cupcakes. My sister came home from college, so she "helped" me bake (not really, she watched me bake, then helped with the funnest part...frosting). We decided to just do a simple chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, then dye the frosting in spring-like colors. *See previous cupcake post for chocolate cupcake recipe*

We baked a few large cupcakes, but mostly mini cupcakes. We visited my grandma yesterday, so I wanted to bake mini cupcakes to give to her.  The cupcakes turned out wonderful! As always, this chocolate cupcake recipe never fails, and the frosting...well, that's a simple buttercream frosting. Can't really screw that one up, now can we?

While the flavor gets an A+, the frosting method was a little more complex. We decided to try something I've never done before. I've seen it being done on baking shows, so I really wanted to try it. My sister and I divided up the frosting in separate bowls and dyed half of it pink and half blue. Then, I fetched my trusty pastry bag and set it down flat on the table. I filled the "bottom" (or side...however you look at it) with blue, then I put the pink on top. I didn't push the frosting all the way to the tip. I grabbed the bag in my hand and gently squeezed so the colors were equal, right next to each other. Then, the frosting began!

**Tip: When frosting with dual colors, it helps to work with another person so one can hold the bag open and the other can put the frosting in the bag.

The frosting colors together looked like cotton candy, and I think that confused my grandma. We told her it looked like cotton candy and she thought we said it was cotton candy-flavored...so she gave us a weird look. But she ate three minis, so I think she liked them! That's always a good sign.

Happy Easter, everyone!

A Gooey Dessert

I had just stumbled upon this recipe a couple of days ago...literally, I was on Stumble Upon when I found this delicious treat! It came from the Betty Crocker website, and it is a grand prize-winning recipe of 2006. It's a very simple recipe, but a very mouth-watering dessert. Below you'll find the recipe for Betty Crocker's "Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Bars".

Spreading the chocolate! YUM!

This photo is after the final step of broiling it so the marshmallows brown. But be careful! One rating on the website said the marshmallows caught on fire! : O

Final product...delicious, but this picture cannot even begin to explain how tasty it truly is. The website's picture is much better...

See? Now how could I compete with that? I just can't. It's not possible! Anyway, try out the recipe! It's quick, easy, and is oh-so tasty!

Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Bars
1 pouch (1 lb. 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. butter or margarine, melted
3 c. milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2 c. miniature marshmallows

1. Heat oven to 375F. In a large bowl, stir cookie mix and crumbs together. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 9x13'' pan

2. Bake 18-20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3-5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.

3. Set oven control to broil.  Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5-6 inches from heat for 20-30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly). Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store remaining bars tightly covered.

*Makes 24 bars

Petite Cupcakes

With this being the last week of the quarter, I had to give one last speech for my speech class. The category was informational, so I decided to do an info/demo speech about Cupcakes! We had to have visuals, so I brought in some ingredients like extracts, cocoa powder, sprinkles, etc. I also brought in my pastry bag and a fancy little spatula. And of course, I just had to bring in some cupcakes for everyone! What would a speech about cupcakes be without cupcakes?!

Above are my posters, and as you can see I did one about the top 10 classic cupcakes flavors (courtesy of TLC), and of course some of the most unique cupcakes flavors I have heard. Some of these came off of the hit Food Network TV show Cupcake Wars, while others I had found off the web. Everyone thought my posters were very cute, and the teacher even kept them as examples for the future!

So, first in my speech I talked about the history of the cupcake. They first evolved because the hearth ovens they used back in the day would not properly bake regular size cakes; they would burn on the outside and not be cooked enough on the inside.  They also were created to save time in the kitchen, as they were much more convenient. They first started baking cupcakes in the 1800s, but their name wasn't "cupcakes." In fact, they were originally called Number Cakes or 1234 cakes. This was because it was easy to remember it by the ingredients (1c. butter, 2c. sugar, 3c. flour, etc.) Later they changed the name to cupcakes because of two theories: they were first baked in cups, or the ingredients were measured by the cup.

After that, I talked about the steps for baking a cupcake--mixing the batter, baking, frosting, etc.  For the frosting part, I did a little demo with my pastry bag. Then I ended with the evolution of modern cupcakes today, talking about "cupcakeries," and Candace Nelson, the first person to create a cupcakery. I also told them she was a judge on Cupcake Wars, so I told them a little bit about the show. This is where I used my posters to tell them about the different kinds of cupcakes, some more classic, and some not-so-classic. They all thought the "Thanksgiving Dinner" cupcake would be the grossest...at least, that's what I perceived--they all groaned when I read it off.

Of course I ended the speech with a final conclusion paragraph and a memorable last sentence: "So whether you would choose a classic vanilla cupcake or a tomato soup cupcake, this tiny dessert has something for everyone." And then I passed out the cupcakes! Woo!

Both cupcakes had the same base: chocolate cake with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting. However, I tried to make them represent the whole "classic vs weird/modern/quirky" cupcakes we have today, so for half the cupcakes, I did a caramel swirl on the top to represent the atypical cupcake (Ok, ok, I know it's not really that strange...but hey, I tried my best!) And for the "classic" representation, I just added some pearl-like sprinkles.

Of course, knowing High School kids, I knew the caramel cupcakes would go first. But, even so, everyone said they loved the cupcakes. Some said they were the best they've ever had (not to brag or anything...). And the teacher said (direct quote, by the way): "These are just darling!" I gave her two cupcakes. ; )

Photos before they were decorated.  The cupcakes did turn out fabulously! Actually, when I got home both of my parents texted me to see how my speech went. And both of them said the same thing in their second message: Are there any cupcakes left? Sadly, there weren't. They were pretty disappointed. But the good thing is, they are so quick and easy to make, so I could whip them up any time!

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes

(Cooks.com)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 c. water

1 tsp. vinegar

Mix all ingredients well with a mixer. It should be brown and smooth, free of lumps. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cupcakes will turn out moist and delicious. For MINI cupcakes, turn down the oven 20-30 degrees and bake for half the time (approximately--just keep watching the oven to make sure they don't over bake.)

*Buttermilk or milk may be substituted for water. (I just used water)

*Melted butter may be substituted for oil. (I used oil--and voila, they're vegan!)