Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dessert. Show all posts

Thursday, December 8, 2011

I Like Bananas, Bananas Are Good: Caramel Banana Panna Cotta

So I've been on a banana milk kick lately. If you don't know what it is I suggest you go to a nearby Korean supermarket and buy some. I can't really describe it, not really banana tasting (unless it's in an artificial way) but it's very creamy and not cloyingly sweet.

Panna Cotta (side)

So panna cotta is good because it's just pretty much all banana milk but in a different state. Banana and caramel are lovely together so I added some caramelized bananas to add some other flavours as well as a different texture. Then for the top layer I added an evaporated milk. Evaporated milk have a more sweet and really complex flavour that tastes soooooooooo much better than regular milk (but is very fatty) so I added a small layer of it.

Caramel Banana Panna Cotta
Serves: 5 cups

Ingredients:
Banana: 1
Banana milk: 300ml (1 1/2 boxes)
Evaporated milk: 80ml
Gelatin: 5g (almost a pack, 2 teaspoons?)
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Evaporated milk: 80ml + 1/4 cup (um...makes more sense in context)

Instructions:

Evaporated Milk and Banana Milk Layers
Blooming Gelatine
1. First, add 1g (1/2 teaspoon?) of the gelatin and mix with 25ml of the cold evaporated milk, let it bloom for 5-10 minutes.
Evaporated Milk
2. After, heat up 55 ml evaporated milk, when it starts to boil, add the gelatin mixture and mix until all dissolved.
Assembling 1
3. Pour a thin layer to each cup evenly (you can use any small cups, I only had these jello ones but a ramekin also works), put in fridge.
4. Now repeat with the banana milk. Add 4 grams of gelatine to 100 cold banana milk ad let it bloom.
5. Heat up the rest of the banana milk and then add the gelatine mixture until everything is dissolved.
6. Let it cool.

Caramelized Bananas
Sugar
1. Add the sugar to the pan, turn to medium heat.
Melting Sugar
2. When it starts to melt, turn down to low heat, stirring constantly. DON'T GET DISTRACTED!
Caramelizing Sugar
3. When it gets to this colour, add the 1/4 cup of evaporated milk.
Caramelized bananas
4. Add the bananas and turn up to medium heat and cook until bananas are soft.
5. When the bananas are soft, put it on a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper to cool down.
Assembling 2
6. When everything is cooled down, add a little of the banana milk gelatin mixture and the caramelized bananas.
7. Add the rest of the banana milk to the cups evenly and put in the fridge until firmly set. Best to put it overnight.

Panna Cotta

Plating
1. To unmold, heat up some water on a shallow pan (just a regular saute pan or something). Water must be lower than the height of your panna cotta cups.
2. When the water is boiling, put the panna cotta on it for 5 seconds.
3. Then using a small paring knife, cut around the edge of the panna cotta to loosen it from the cup.
4. Put a plate on top and flip upside down.

Banana Crown 1
Panna Cotta (top)

Banana Crown

1. Using a small paring knife, make an incision on an angle, push the knife to the center of the banana.
Banana Crown 2
2. Make an other incision on the opposite angle (so it makes sort o a 'v').
3. Repeat that around the banana.
Banana Crown 3
Ta-dah!

Panna Cotta (Inside)

Enjoy!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Screw Santa! These Cookies Belong to Me D=!

Since we had to do piped shortbread cookies last class I thought I would practice!

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So how do they turn out? HOW?! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW?!?!?!?!

Find out here: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/106528.html

Monday, June 8, 2009

Nothing Is Real and Nothing to Get Hung About

Strawberry pie forever?

The first time I remember eating strawberries was when my cousins came from HK and we went to pick them in bushes. It was hot and full of bugs (the fields not the strawberries) but the strawberries were absolutely DELICIOUS! And that's when I start liking strawberries.

Unfortunately not all strawberries are created equal and Canada is stuck in an ice age 75% of the time. Out of season strawberries are sour, bland, and just never taste like what they could taste like. Makes me wonder why so many people like strawberries, I think they just like the idea of them, and they're pretty.

But I was in St. Lawrence Market a while back and the strawberries looked really nice so I picked up a basket anyways. It was five dollars! But tasted sweeter and better than the ones at the grocery stores. And after a marathon of Pushing Daisies I was in pie mode again.

It all starts here:
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The strawberries of course, they were quite inspiring.

And ends like this:

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For recipe and instructions: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/90654.html

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Bitch is Back!

Cause it felt so empty ~without me~!

After a week of emancipation from the kitchen and outside food I had to cook again to appease my queasy stomach (too much junk food =(). I did not hate it, I think I am starting to like gastronomical activities again!

To celebrate, I popped some popovers (champagne is overrated) with some homemade chocolate ice cream. Popovers are sort of like cream puffs, they have one big hole in the middle amongst several tinier holes. Usually there's a depression from the top when the steam eventually escape and cannot support it anymore but I sorta broke the bottom so it's not enclosed (._.').

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Popover from the culinary genius, Alton Brown! Ice cream recipe from David Lebovitz =D!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Crepe Expectations

I love crepe, but mainly, the IDEA of crepe. A flat sheet of pastry (I guess you can call a crepe a pastry...right?), filled with all kind of wonderful flavors? But for some reason, it's one of the hardest things to get right! Usually, they overfill it, use out of season fruits (Are you sure this is a strawberry? Are you sure it's not A LEMON?!?!), and ladle it with too much sauce so it becomes all drippy. So I kept ordering crepes because they LOOK and sound so enticing but always ended up disappointed. UNTIL one day, I went to Japan (sounds like I just decided to take a plane there but no, I'm sure my parents did some planning) and had the most delightful crepe! It was bananas and cream. And then the second time of my crepe epiphany was when I was in downtown and ate at this really popular crepe place and I loved it! Downside was that it's far from my house (Scarborough, BOOOOO!!!!), shit overpriced, and they did not put enough fillings!

So I decided to make my own a year later. Yea, that chronology makes sense.

I had my Nutella and bananas and went wild~

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A crepe, Alton Brown's recipe, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!

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Generous amount of Nutella.

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Bananas! (Do not quote Doctor Who again! Do not quote Doctor Who again!)

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Yea, it kinda looks like a burrito...

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UNF!

http://joyciel.livejournal.com/

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Pie Hole: As in Shut Your-or in This Case Open Yours

Cause this pie is so damn good!

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An American classic (what does that have to do with me when I am a Canadian? Nothing...I was born in America though..) but it tastes fantastic, good pie should not be so nationalistic!

Anyways, it's apple pie with cheddar baked in and on the crust, and underneath the filling. Yes, I do watch and love Pushing Daisies.

Anyways, follow my journey here! http://joyciel.livejournal.com/84794.html

And may I just say, how can ABC cancel this lovely, LOVELY show?! Where else can I see my favorite pie maker and dead girl?! And Itty Bitty! And knitting detective (he doesn't really had a nickname...) And where else can we see something like this?!
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Ugh, television viewers.
Image Source,Photobucket Uploader Firefox Extension

Monday, May 4, 2009

I Like Bananas, Bananas are Good

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Ah! Look at that, look at that. Best banana muffins ever and courtesy of Alton Brown. His recipes are seriously, THE BEST! The muffins had a lot of banana flavor, they were moist, and soft, and ADDICTING.

But of course, you can't get great results without great effort and this had a whole lot of effort!

I took pictures of the step to step process here: http://joyciel.livejournal.com/83504.htm

And remember:
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Bananas: Great for fighting EVIL!!