Tip: How to Make Heavy Cream when you DONT have heavy cream?

Let's say, you're making a dessert, and right in the middle of it, you realize that you dont have enough heavy cream for the recipe, or worse, you forgot to grab it.

Now, what do you do? Abort the dessert? NO! That would be criminal! Find a way to make heavy cream? YES! And here's how to do it!

"Heavy Cream" Recipe: makes 1 cup


Ingredients:
1/3 cup Butter
3/4 cup Milk

Procedure:
1. Melt the butter and let it cool.

2. Heat the milk until warm. It is very important or the butter will become solid if you pour it into cold milk.

3. Pour the melted butter into the milk, and beat it for a few minutes until well combined.

There it is! Just use it as asked in the dish or dessert recipe.

Project: Chocolate Ricotta Mousse

I've never made a mousse before, and this was a challenge for me. Not because it was hard to make, but because I've never done it so I don't know if I'm doing it right.

Lucky for me, this recipe is easy. To see the original recipe, click here for Skinnytaste's blog

Chocolate Ricotta Mousse:

Ingredients:

2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese, for creamier consistency         

                you can use regular ricotta.

3 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

Procedure:

1. In a saucepan, cook the egg whites, sugar and salt over medium heat. Whisk until sugar is melted and the mixture is frothy. Remove from heat.

2. In a bowl, beat the ricotta cheese and the cocoa powder until it is smooth. You must beat it until it is really smooth or else the mousse would be gritty.

3. Fold the egg white mixture into the cheese mixture until it is well combined. 

4. Pour over ramekins and chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

The Verdict:

 It is heavenly! It is airy, creamy and chocolatey! Perfect dessert if you're on a diet and just have that chocolate craving. I've done this twice already! If you want creamier consistency, use regular ricotta cheese!

Project: Creme Brûlée

Dessert. The word that would always be on my mind whenever I eat. I am the type of person that would eat dessert anytime. I can eat dessert but not the entreè. That is how much I love desserts.

Making creme brûleè  has always been a dream of mine. And I finally made it! It was easier than I thought, which is the best part.

To see the recipe, click here.

The Verdict:

I loved making this easy dessert! it was creamy, and it was just perfect! Plus, the crunch of the melted sugar, and the creamy custard will definitely make you feel that you are the best chef there is. LOL.

Project: Best Broccoli

Most people don't like broccoli. I used to. Actually, I used to not eat vegetables. But this is going to change since one of my resolutions for Lent is to only have 1 meat dish everyday. Not easy for me, but making it. This recipe sounded good to me, plus what trouble can I get into? 

Boy, did I get in trouble. I LOVED THIS RECIPE!! It is safe to say that I will be making this a lot during this Lenten season.

The recipe is simple, and the ingredients are easy to find! 

Note: If you wash the broccoli, make sure that you dry it well, or else it will not get crispy.

Best Broccoli Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 bunch of broccoli ( pre-packaged bunch)

6 1/2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 lemon

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I use three blend parmesan)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Cut the broccoli into florets. Place them in a baking sheet or pan lined with foil (for easier cleanup).

3. Pour 5 tablespoons Olive oil into the broccoli, sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic salt.

4. Toss in the garlic slices. Toss everything together, until florets are well seasoned and covered with oil.

5. Put in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The smaller the florets that you cut, the less time it will need to cook.

6. When it is crispy and browned (NOT BURNT!), take out the broccoli, and pour the rest of the olive out.

7. Transfer to a plate. Squeeze lemon over the broccoli, and sprinkle the parmesan cheese. 

8. Toss and serve. Enoy!

The Verdict:

The broccoli was crunchy, and chewy in some parts. The lemon really brightened up the flavor of the olive oil and parmesan. It was really good, and in my opinion, if parents would serve this to kids, they wont have problems eating there veggies.

Project: Panera Mac & Cheese

WHO DOESN'T LOVE MAC & CHEESE??? I certainly love it! Growing up where Mac & Cheese was not a staple, I am addicted to it. I can eat it everyday! But this version is amazing! It is relatively easy to make, and it was interesting to find out what hot sauce and mustard can do to make this recipe great.     

It did not fail me.

I was in love again. With this version of mac & cheese. LOOOOOOVE IT! Plus, knowing that anything from Panera tastes good, I was not worried trying this out!

Here it is: the magical recipe that I tried. I made some subtle changes, if you're wanting the original recipe, click here.

Panera Mac & Cheese:

Ingredients:

1 package medium pasta shells

1/3 Butter

2 1/2 cups 2% reduced fat milk

6 slices American cheese, chopped

1 cup shredded extra sharp white cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon, 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 tsp Texas Pete hot sauce

Procedure:

1. Prepare pasta according to directions.

2. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Whisk flour in the pan. Cook for 1 minute while whisking consistently.

3. Gradually whisk in Milk. Increase heat to medium. Whisk until mixture becomes thick.

4. Remove pan from heat. Add cheeses, mustard, salt, and hot sauce in the pan. Mix until cheeses melt, and sauce becomes smooth.

5. Stir in pasta, and cook in medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir before serving.

The verdict:

IT IS AMAZING!! Will definitely cook it again! It was creamy, and it was cheesy. Definitely in my fave recipes list!

Project: Not so Skinny Apple Cobbler

Apple pies. I love Apple pies, or anything close to it. It's good whether it is served warm or just came out of the fridge. My type of dessert, since I can basically eat it as soon as I want it. LOL. I like this recipe since it's low calorie. However, I added more sugar on top than the recipe suggests.

Another change I made was that I did not use whole wheat flour, I just stuck with regular flour.

To see the original recipe, click here. This recipe was from Skinny Taste's Food Blog. Check out her blog! She has great recipes, plus she also puts the nutritional value and Weight Watcher's Points.

The Verdict:

It was good!! Definitely hit the spot good! Plus, its a low calorie recipe (Compared to other recipes)!

Project: Tres Leche Panettone de Casa

I have been hankering for something sweet, but was too lazy to go to the store and grab some desserts. So, with much effort (no, not really) I searched for a cake recipe. Cakes are always good, and you can personalize it as much as you want. With that in mind, I saw this Panettone recipe, plus, it was the easiest recipe I found. Then, an idea popped in my head, "why don't I create a Tres Leche Panettone?" And the adventure began.

Here is the easiest Panettone recipe I found, from Julia's Healthy Italian Cooking Blog. It really was easy! And did it come out good! If you wanted a sweeter panettone, simply add more sugar. Make the panettone, and while it is still warm, make the tres leches and pour onto the cake.

Tres Leches Recipe:

1 can of Evaporated Milk

1 can of Condensed Milk

1 Cup of Milk

1. Mix everything together.

2. Pour into the warm cake in batches. Make sure it is well spread and every inch of the cake has the tres leches mixture.

3. Chill until ready to serve.

The Verdict:

 I LOVED IT. I'm glad the panettone was not sweet, because the tres leches sure made up for the lack of sweetness in the cake. I'll definitely make it again!