Food – Page 3 – Will Bake for Shoes

Cupcakes

Bug Cupcakes

Posted on May 8, 2015by Brandy Saldana

Ahhh! Bugs Everywhere!! Don’t worry, these are just insects made out of chocolate, no matter how creepy they look. These bug cupcakes are one’s I made for an 8 year old’s birthday party and I found the instructions from the Hello Cupcake book.

When I get requests to make cupcakes, I typically have clients wanting me to be creative and make something fun. I tried to think of what an 8 year old boy would like and came to the conclusion bugs would be a hit with only 3 days notice.
I wouldn’t say it takes me 3 whole days to bake and decorate cupcakes, but it typically means I order takeout so I do not have to use the kitchen for anything other than baking. I bake after work one day, and depending on the type of decorations, I make them and frost the cupcakes and top them the next day.

I admit I made these cupcakes twice. The turnaround was so quick, I needed to deliver them Thursday night, so there was no time to take photos. It was a lot easier to make them the second time since I had leftover cupcakes and M&M’s. My second attempt went a lot faster, and the secret to keeping your chocolate stencil from falling apart is by drawing it fairly thick.
To make any shapes out of chocolate all you need is a ziplock bag, wax paper, and chocolate chips. I realized after awhile that it was progressively easier to transfer the insects from the wax paper onto the cupcake if the bugs stencil was drawn on thick. The rest of the ingredients include M&M’s (peanut and regular) and chocolate covered sunflower seeds (mine were from Trader Joe’s). The yellow Spider was actually meant to have a Mega M&M body, but I had no idea those existed or where I could find them. Now that made them, I notice them in a lot of grocery stores now, but using plain M&M’s worked out for me. Once the bugs were drawn, just add M&M’s and place in the fridge to harden. Use a spatula or butter knife to help remove the bugs from the wax paper and place on frosted cupcakes.

What do you think? Are these cupcakes just bugging you out, or do they look tempting? If these bug cupcakes aren’t your thing, take a look at my fashion picks inspired by these cupcakes below.
Until next time,
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Food
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- Restaurant

A Taste of Agreeno at Pathos

Posted on April 22, 2015by Brandy Saldana

Last month I was invited to a culinary event at Pathos Organic Greek Kitchen in Berkeley to try out some expertly prepared mezes paired with wines and to see a culinary demonstration by celebrity chef/author Diane Kochillas. This demonstration was intended to highlight a new and healthy risotto by a Greek brand named Agreeno that is coming to the states soon. Pathos has been on my list of restaurants to try ever since it opened in Berkeley, and I was excited to get a taste of it here during this event. Here are some photos Armando and I took from the event and a glimpse of some of the food and wine I got to try.

One of my favorite appetizers were these pieces of grilled octopus. I also loved how fresh everything tasted. It has definitely convinced me that I need to make a reservation for dinner soon.

I also had a chance to meet Diane Kochilas. She presented her own cookbook as part of her presentation and we tried two different dishes using the Agreeno rice. As I mentioned earlier, Agreeno rice will be making its way stateside soon and I am pretty excited about it. The samples we had were very tasty and it sounds like it is pretty easy to cook. The best is that the rice is cultivated in Greece by Farmers responsibly. Ethically grown food is always good, but it was also cool to learn that they develop a unique flavor by being grown near the Mediterranean Ocean.

What are your thoughts on Greek cuisine? I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions so I have a better idea of what to order when I visit Pathos for dinner!

Food

Project Juice Cleanse Review

Posted on January 6, 2015by Brandy Saldana

The New Year is upon us and one of top resolutions on people’s lists is to be healthier. That means a lot of people at the gym this month, but also a time where people really think about the food that they eat. I know I was starting to feel a little blah from all the Holiday food and felt like I needed to reset my body. I tried out a Juice Cleanse for a day c/o Project Juice and thought now would be a good time to share my experience of that day. It just might be what you need to kick start your healthy lifestyle for the year.

My one day cleanse (Beginner Can You Kick It?) included:
1 EZ-Green with Lemon & Ginger1 Swizz Beetz1 The Master1 EZ-Green1 D-Tox1 Almond Mylk

9:02 am – Drink my first juice (EZ-Green) while Armando tortures me with a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs, beans and rice. Juice tasted most like celery – but was not too jealous of Armando’s breakfast.
9:29 am – Finished EZ-Green juice. As I drank it I got used to the flavor. Believing that it was good for me helped me power through it too.
11:05 am – Started to crave come food. Decided it was time for my next juice – Swizz Beats. This juice was a lot tastier than the first juice and it might be because it tasted sweeter. (Note: this cleanse had a lot of sugar.)
12:05 pm – Finished my juice and focused on giving myself a mani to keep my hands busy from running to the pantry.
1:13 pm – Wanted to open the pantry for a snack but resisted the temptation. Decided it might be a good idea to try some of the Detox tea. It was super sweet which made me feel better about doing the cleanse. (Note: This tea is recommended by Project Juice to drink throughout the cleanse.)
2:44 pm – Tasted The Master after returning home from picking up my dry-cleaning across the street. The Master is alkaline water, lemon, lime, ginger, agave and cayenne. The cayenne definitely has a kick, but I was not a fan.
3:36 pm – Still working my way through The Master Juice. Not easy drinking this one.
3:54 pm – Halfway through The Master juice. Sorting through photos on the desktop for my next post, so I guess this is also distracting.
4:52 pm – Finally finished The Master juice. Cannot believe it took me this long to finish it, but I have been pretty productive with my photo sorting and prepping blog posts. Will probably need to start my next Juice soon.
5:20 pm – Feeling hungry, must…. grab…. next juice! Opened my fridge and my sense of smell picked up the other tantalizing/tempting options in the fridge. Quickly grabbed the EZ-Green juice I needed to drink next and went back to the computer to focus on a blog post.
5:47 pm – Halfway through this bottle and off to run some quick errands.
6:24 pm Arrived at Cinnaholics to pick up 2 cinnamon rolls for Armando before his Groupon expired. This part of my day was pure torture, but I had my EZ- Green juice to drink on my way back as I held on to the boxes of Cinnamon roll goodness.
8:00 pm Finished the rest of the D-Tox juice. So far this was my favorite of all the juices and I would definitely buy this one again. It was sweet and I could not believe it was actually good for me despite the amount of sugar it has.
8:18 pm – Started the Almond Mylk and it is a lot more appetizing than the green juices. I am proud of myself for making it a whole day without breaking down and rushing to the kitchen to stuff my face with junk food. I think of this as I hear Armando eating cereal.
8:25 pm – Completed a blog post and wonder what I will do next when I finish my Almond Mylk.
9:50 pm – Finished last bits of Almond Mylk and prepared for bed. Stomach still feels slightly empty, but won’t be grabbing anything solid to eat until tomorrow morning.

I was very proud of myself for completing the cleanse but more so for my will power. I will note that there are no proven facts that suggest a cleanse is good for you, but nothing says it is terrible for you either. I think one day was a good way to reset my body and a good way to test out my will power. It might build some better habits, like reaching for fruit instead of a pastry in your break room at work and hopefully healthier habits follow that. I appreciated that Project Juice had a resource page on their site for a newbie like me to go while I tried out my first cleanse. Much like running a marathon, their is some prep involved to ease into a cleanse so you don’t fail, but one day isn’t so bad (although I might not do it again since I didn’t like The Master.)

Project Juice is a San Francisco based company that cold-presses their juices and nut mylks and uses fresh and locally-sourced ingredients. You can find their juices in SF or shop their juices online here.
Have you tried a juice cleanse before? Let me know how your experience was and if you would do it again.

Cupcakes

Fall Acorn Cupcakes

Posted on November 27, 2014by Brandy Saldana

For a little friendsgiving get-together with my blogger friends, I made chocolate cupcakes with maple brown sugar frosting. Maple brown sugar is one of those flavors that just say Fall to me, so you are not limited to just Pumpkin flavored desserts for your Thanksgiving dinner.
These cupcakes were really easy to make. I doctored Pillsbury Devils Food Cake Mix as well as added 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon. The maple brown sugar frosting is also made by Pillsbury, and it smells amazing! Armando commented that the smell lingered in our kitchen 3 days after they were made and decorated and it made the kitchen smell delicious. This frosting is a seasonal flavor, but I am looking into making my own version of it since it would be delicious to use anytime of the year.The swirl was made using the Wilton tip 1M.
The acorn topping is made up of a Hershey’s Kisses, Mini Nilla Wafer cookies, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips. I saw some of these Acorn toppings on Pinterest made with Mini Nutter Butter cookies and with Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses as well, so you can make these in a variety of ways. The Reese’s Peanut Butter Chip can also be substituted with Mini Chocolate Chips. I used a quart size ziplock bag for some frosting and cut a small hole to put the acorns together.
As a finishing touch, I added Wilton Fall leaf sprinkles for color. I am really happy with how these cupcakes came out and how they tasted. I recommend making these for your next Thanksgiving dinner and having some extra acorn toppings as garnish on your serving platters.

Hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving full of delicious food and a lot of laughter.

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Cocktails

Brunch for Dinner with ZICO Part 2 – Zico Cocktail Recipes

Posted on October 21, 2014by Brandy Saldana

As part of the Brunch for Dinner with Zico, our Brunch featured some delicious cocktails featuring the new Zico Chilled Juices. The Orange Chilled Juice is perfect paired with champagne for a spin on the classic mimosa, but try out these other delicious, and simple, recipes perfect for any upcoming party!

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ZICO Sunset in Paradiseby Naked Kitchen October-21-2014Ingredients1 Oz. Gin1 Oz. Sake Nigori2 Oz. ZICO Chilled Pineapple Mango Juice Blend1 Dash of Angostura bitters1 1/2 Oz. Lime Cordial (Recipe Follows)4 Limes, zested and juiced (keep zest and juice seperate)1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar1/2 Cup Boiling WaterInstructionsCombine all ingredients in a shaker, shake with ice, strain and serve in a chilled cocktail glass.
Combine zest and sugar in a mortar and pestle, and grind until sugar resembles wet sand. Add water to dissolve sugar. Strain, chill, and add reserved juice. DetailsPrep time: 8 mins Cook time: Total time: 8 mins Yield: 1 Serving

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ZICO Spicy Orangeby Naked Kitchen October-21-2014Ingredients1 Oz. Vodka1 Oz. Champagne2 Oz. ZICO Chilled Orange Juice Blend1 Dash of Free Bros Old Fashioned Bitters1/4 Oz. Ginger Syrup (recipe follows)3 T. Grated Ginger1/2 Cup Sugar1/2 Cup WaterInstructionsCombine vodka, syrup, coconut water, and bitters in a shaker. Shake with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass. Top with champagne.Ginger Syrup:
Bring mixture to a boil to dissolve sugar, strain, chill. Makes about 1 cup.DetailsPrep time: 8 mins Cook time: Total time: 8 mins Yield: 1 Serving
Let me know if you try either of these out. My favorite of the two was the Spicy Orange, but I am impressed with how versatile these juices are to work in both a cocktail drink and in a jam! I am thinking of incorporating one in a cupcake recipe, but we’ll see how far I get with that idea. Thanks to +ZICO for hosting this sweet event at the Naked Kitchen in SF!
Hope you are having a great week. Until next time,

Cupcakes

Margarita Cupcakes

Posted on September 16, 2014by Brandy Saldana

I made Margarita Cupcakes for Cinco de Mayo, but did not have a chance to share photos or the recipe since I was in the middle of my 40 Days of DVF series. Since today is Mexican Independence Day, I thought it would be a good idea to share the recipe for these. It might inspire you to make them to enjoy them after a Taco Tuesday dinner tonight.

I wanted to make cupcakes using good tequila so that I had an excuse to add another bottle to my bar cart. A lot of the recipes I found online and in my books had margarita cupcakes made without tequila though, which made me think they don’t typically come with Tequila. I stumbled upon this great Margarita Cupcake recipe by the Brown Eyed Baker, and she was just as disappointed with other recipes since they didn’t have booze. So she came up with a recipe that includes tequila in not just the cupcake, but also in the frosting! While most alcohol bakes off, the trick to having these taste like tequila is brushing on some while the cupcakes are cooling off. Of course, you can always omit tequila from the recipe, but here are the ingredients and directions for making some really boozy cupcakes. I used Silver Patron Tequila, but it is not necessary to use the same tequila. However, it is recommended to use a Blanco (silver/white) tequila for this recipe. Now let’s get to baking!

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Margarita Cupcakesby Brown Eyed Baker September-16-2014Ingredients1 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder1/4 Tsp. Salt1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)1 Cup Granulated Sugar2 Eggs (room temperature)2 1/2 Limes (Zest and Juice)2 Tbsp. Tequila1/4 Tsp. Vanilla Extract1/2 Cup Buttermilk1 – 2 Tbsp. Tequila (To brush cupcakes)1 Cup Unsalted Butter2 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar2 Tbsp. Lime Juice2 Tbsp. TequilaPinch of Coarse Salt Sea SaltInstructions1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
4. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and tequila. Mix until combined. (The mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but don’t worry, it will all come back together.) If you omit the tequila, you don’t need to add anything else in its place.
6. Reduce the mixer speed low. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.
7. Pour batter into liners until each cup is about 2/3 full. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a toothpick shows only moist crumbs attached. (It was recommended to rotate the pan at the halfway point, but I didn’t do that and they turned out fine.)
8. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.
9. To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated. Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the lime juice, tequila and salt mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy. If you prefer frosting without tequila, add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract to the frosting instead. If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached.
10. Frost cupcakes and garnish, if desired, with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of sea salt and a lime wedge.
DetailsPrep time: 25 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 12 Cupcakes

I bought about 4 limes for zest and garnish and did not use any of mine for the juice. Instead I bought a bottle of lime juice and put in about 2 tablespoons. If your lime juice is concentrated, use a little less since it might be too strong.
And there you have it! Hope your cupcakes come out looking as pretty (and tasty) as these. My coworkers thought that these really tasted like margaritas thanks to the tequila and sea salt. They are the perfect treat at the end of a warm day, and you don’t need it to be Cinco de Mayo or Grito de Dolores (Mexican Independance Day) to enjoy these.
Salud! And until next time,