Fresh Fruit Tart! Yummmmm!

Today is a lovely Sunday, and after church I had decided to just relax since I had been very busy this week and today was my day off from my new exercise routine. Yeah exercise, not my favorite thing but trying to get back at it after a few years of being lazy and as a consequence the gaining of almost 30 pounds and that isnt funny. But that's another story.

 Soooo yes I was relax seeing a movie on my laptop when just got bored and sad HHHHaaa let me make something sweet for the kids.  Went straight to my recipe book and looked thru it and say its been like 3 years I havent made a fruit tart! It seemed like a great idea knowing that its made with fresh fruit and sound sooo refreshing and the best part it wouldn't hurt my diet since it was made with fresh fruit, Right!!!!

 Lets make it!

Recipe:
Crust:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

Filling:
1 (8onz) package cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)

Topping:
Fresh Fruit (any you like, may be strawberries. kiwis, blueberries, raspberries, etc.

Whipped cream (optional) for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For Crust: in food processor or your kitchen aid machine combine confectioners sugar, butter and flour til it forms a ball.

 With fingers press dough into the 12 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Push the dough into indentations and sides.

 Bake for about 10-12 min. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

In another bowl beat together cream cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla until creamy. Once the crust is completely cool just add the filling to it and garnish with the fresh fruits.

Oh Gosh, this really is a very fast, simple and awesome dessert to make at anytime.

There goes my diet :0 !! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did and it was delissssssh!!

Gum paste Margarita flower Tutorial

I L  O V E tutorials! But specially if they are made by other bloggers, maybe because I'm a little lazy you might say ;) .  Please omit the lazy part, not a very nice thing to say about my self. ;)  Here I made a gum paste margarita which are sooo easy to make and they look beautiful on cupcakes, as cake toppers and if you make them smaller you can use them on mini cupcakes, petite fours and even cake pops.

Material Needed:
Gum paste (the colored desired)
roller
Margarita cutter
small powder sugar bag ( made out of handi wipes)

As you can see in the photo I took a piece of gum paste and massaged it and powdered some of the sugar that is in the small handi wipe pouch on the table so the gum paste do not stick to the table when rolled out.  Roll out the gum paste and with the margarita cutter just cut it out.

 After cutting out the margarita just lay it on flower mold or on apple cartons that are round and big just like this foam mold.

Now while its drying just take another small piece of paste and color it the color you desire your center to be.  Roll out a small ball and with a small spatula make crisscross lines on it and let it dry. 

You can make it with double petals by making 2 and glue them together and they would look like this...

I love this margaritas and you can make them in all sizes and colors. Below I posted the recipe I use for my flowers, if you have any questions just leave a mi a comment or email me.
Please leave your comments I love to read them and they really help me to modify and make my not very experience blogging better. Thank you all.

Rapid Gum Paste 

Materials:

1 egg white (large)

1 1/2 cup of powder sugar (10x)

3 teaspoons of Tylose powder

1 tsp of Crisco for hands

Beat egg white a bit with mixer and then add powdered sugar and make like a medium soft royal icing then add the tylose and beat just a little.  You'll see the difference because it will turn stiffer. Remove from mixer and pour some more sugar on table and scrape out the mass from the bowl. Put some crisco on hands so the mass does not stick to your hands while massaging.   Keep massaging and adding powdered sugar until it does not stick to table or hands. After finishing put it in a plastic bag or zip lock bag and store in the fridge for 24hrs and when not using so it doesn't dry out.

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and please let me know how it turned out for you. Happy flower making!! :))

Cheese and Vanilla Bean Pound Cake with Almond Glaze

Hi Everybody! After a few weeks of busy work I'm back and with this awesome pound cake. It has cheese in it and its sooo moist, Oh God I would just eat another slice. Well there goes my diet again! ;(  This recipe came from a little girls story book, where a young lady tell a story about her grandma teaching her how to bake and this recipe was on the end of the story. So I decided to try it out and its a really good and super easy cake to make, even little girls can make.

Cheese and Vanilla Bean Pound Cake with Almond Glaze:

8 onz  Cream Cheese
2 sticks  Butter
2 cups Sugar
6 eggs
2 cups cake flour with baking powder
2 tsp vanilla bean paste


Glaze

2 cups Powdered sugar
2 tsp water
1 tsp almond flavor or extract


Cream the cheese and butter together. Then add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add 3 eggs first but one at the time and save the other 3 for after the flour. Add vanilla beat.  Mix in the flour 1 cup at a time, do not over beat. Now add the last 3 eggs one at a time. I used a bundt cake pan. So... butter or grease your pan and fill it with the batter. Bake at 350F for about 35mins. I took it out of the oven when the toothpick almost came out clean but left it in the pan a while longer. It came out awesome and so moist.

When it was cool I placed it on a dish and made my glaze.
Mix the sugar powder with the water and flavoring, if its to runny just add more sugar and if its to stiff just add a little more water, depending on your taste.


Would love to hear your comments, please post them below. Have fun and Enjoy, Its great!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Mania Part 4

Last of our chocolate chip cookie Mania recipe , hope you like it! 

Cakey Chocolate Chip cookies

Makes about 12 large cookies

3 ¾ cups cake flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp kosher salt

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 sticks  cold butter

1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

Whisk flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Beat the butter and sugars until combined but slightly lumpy.  Do not overbeat. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Reduce the mixer speed to low add the flour mixture in batches and beat until combined.  Stir in the chips by hand. Press plastic wrap on to dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375F. Line baking pans with parchment paper and drop cookie mix 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10-12 mins or until lightly golden brown at the edges. Let cool completely and enjoy!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Mania Part 3

Crispy-Cakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are wonderful, give them a try and see if these can be your favorite!

Makes about 36 cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¼ tsp salt

¾ tsp baking soda

2 sticks unsalted butter

¾ cups packed light brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups semisweets chocolate chips

Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.  Beat the butter, brown and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy about 5 mins.  Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and beat . Reduce speed and add flour mixture .  Beat in chips by hand.  Press plastic wrap directly onto dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hr. 

Preheat oven to 425F, line baking sheets and drop by spoon about 2 inches apart.  Bake until golden brown  around edges but still light in the center, about 8 mins.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mania 2!!!

Hi!! Here are the best Crispy  Chocolate Chip Cookies! Enjoyyyyy!!

Makes aprox. 36 cookies

1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup superfine sugar

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Beat butter, veg oil, sugar and brown sugar in a bowl until creamy, about 5 mins The mixture will look a bit separated at this point. Beat in 1 tsp water and the vanilla until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the eggs one at a time until just incorporated, do not overbeat.  Beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Drop by tablespoons on to pans 3 inches apart. Bake until deep golden brown,  about 20mins, rotating the baking sheet halfway through.  Remove the cookies from oven and let cool. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mania!!!

     I dont know you but I'm a Chocolate Chip Cookie Freak! Yes Freak!! I love them but only homemade ones. I dont like the store bought ones at all! My kids do; they love any chocolate chip cookie.   I prefer the soft hot out of the oven ones, Oh My God! There goes the diet! Not good for my diet, even thinking of them I gain the weight! But thats another story...There are many recipes out there, some great, some good and some not soo good! But I found the best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for my taste, maybe not so great for yours. In a recent magazine I bought, I found 4 different recipes for 4 different taste buds and I will be sharing all 4 with you. One each day.  Sooooo go on and try them and discover the one you loveeeee just like I did!! My fave is the first one :

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies
2 3/4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking Powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2  Stiicks unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4  cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chip

Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together into a large bowl. Beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in the chips by hand.  Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the dough and refrigerate at least 1 hr. Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and drop heaping tablespoonful of dough onto it. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges but still soft in the middle, about 12 mins.Remove from oven and let cool about 10 mins on the baking sheets then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!!
If you have any comment you are sooo welcome to do at the end of this post.