Pounding Sake Bombs and New Foods

Ever pounded a sake bomb before? If not, you might be missing out on one of the littlest things in life that could make life more meaningful to live! I'm blessed to have that one friend in my life who can break me out of my shell and try new things that feel like adventures although they are actually quite small in significance. (But I believe that the more you value the littlest things in life, you can tend to view life on the brighter side more than not, and who doesn't want to enjoy life as best they can?) Without this friend, I would never have experienced the fun and enjoyment in pounding a sake bomb (among other things I have never tried before, such as making paper clips jump).
If you've taken sake bombs before, did you drop the tiny cup of sake into your larger cup of beer with your hands? If so... THAT'S BORING! But no offense - at least you've taken sake bombs before ;) But when I ask if you've "pounded" sake bombs before, I am referring to setting up the tiny cup of sake on a bridge of chopsticks lying on the rim of your larger cup of beer... and when ready, you POUND the surface they're sitting on with force, allowing physics to do the sake bomb drop for you, and then you chug your drink like a champ ;) If you haven't pounded a sake bomb before, I recommend you try it with a good group of friends - you won't be sorry O:) well... maybe not until the next day ;)

Also, here are a couple of dishes you can try with your sake bombs some time. These are offered at a Japanese restaurant called "Umami" in San Francisco, California, United States.

Hamachi "Pastrami" Carpaccio

Ahi "Poke" Tacos

Both dishes are delectable. Give it a try and let me know what you think ;)

Low-Fat Cheesecake versus Regular (Fatty) Cheesecake: An Experiment

For the 2011 holidays, my friends requested that my next baking project be a cheesecake. But not everyone likes the idea of a low or non-fat cheesecake. I have friends that love the taste of fat, so to speak, in certain foods. In my baking projects, though, my challenge is always to see how popular baked goodies can be made healthier.

So the roundabout question is...

Can cheesecake be made low in fat?

I decided to bake a tester cheesecake, low in fat using all the same recipe ingredients except using non or low fat versions of those ingredients (which were cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, and [for the crust] graham crackers).

First Homemade Low-Fat Cheesecake

My coworkers and friends taste-tested my first homemade low-fat cheesecake, and it was successfully liked as they could not tell it was low in fat. Even the person who gave me the recipe (who is also a great baker himself as he is a descendant of a well-known baker who owned Anderson's Bakery back in the olden days) really liked the cheesecake and had nothing bad to say about it. This was a good sign!

Then came the "game day" - I had planned on baking both the low-fat and regular full-fat versions of the cheesecake using the recipe I had and offer it at my friend's infamous holiday party to determine if anyone could tell which was low-fat and which was a regular full-fat cheesecake. The results are in:

• All attendees enjoyed both versions of the cheesecake and could not tell the difference between the two versions
• Three attendees who are known for "loving the taste of fat" enjoyed the low-fat version and guessed incorrectly as to which cheesecake version was which
• Only one out of the 23 attendees guessed correctly but commented that he could not really tell but is just guessing

 So perhaps it is possible to bake a healthier cheesecake that can be enjoyed by everyone =)

Homemade lactose-free baking successes =)... and taxes =/

It's that time of the year again for Americans... the dreaded need to complete the annual tax return. Those who receive money back will be happy, and those who have to owe the government more money than they already paid via their paychecks and other taxes paid through purchases, etc. feel screwed and upset =P Which one of these categories did you fall under this year? o.O
Either way, successfully baking yummy treats can make the situation even better =) I have two homemade lactose-free recipes to share!
The first one is a blueberry streusel pastry recipe - these are supposed to be muffins but since I haven't invested yet in muffin pans, I will call these blueberry streusel squares =) I based my recipe off of this original one: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Streusel-Muffins-2/Detail.aspx
- My modifications were only using the egg white (no yolk), using Silk Light Vanilla soymilk, and using olive oil instead of butter/margarine with reference to this handy conversion found via Google searching --> http://www.amazingoliveoil.com/substitute-olive-oil-for-butter.html
These turned out great! It's sugary but this experiment allows me to think that there are alternatives for folks like me who have become lactose-intolerant and prefer to eat low-fat foods ;) yay! Note: since I didn't have any muffin pans to use, this came out as a big rectangular blueberry muffin LOL

Lactose-free, Low-fat Blueberry Streusel Pastry

The second one, I intended to make the banana-walnut version of this streusel "muffin"-based pastry, but I was curious about making a chocolate version and added 3/4 cups of Hershey's "special" dark chocolate (100% cacao) powder (as on the back of the Hershey's powder container, it mentioned 3/4 cups of the powder for making a chocolate cake, so I thought... sure, why not?) But this ends up being too much chocolate powder for the base mixture already made by using the aforementioned recipe, so I had to add about 3/4 cups more Silk Light Vanilla soymilk, and then the mixture was back to equilibrium - although it looked very chocolaty so I suggest if you want to try this recipe, you must REALLY love chocolate (and you should not mind the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate, unless you use a different chocolaty powder for your recipe) ;) I then added one very ripe banana and about 3/4 cups of walnuts that I chopped up a bit. After baking, it looked like a big rectangular chocolate muffin ;)

but it looked like it needed something... a topping! I decided to glaze it with homemade vanilla glaze - so I used this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vanilla-Glaze/Detail.aspx?prop31=5 (although I used the same Silk Light Vanilla soymilk instead of actual / whole milk and substituted the melted butter/margarine for heated olive oil using the same aforementioned conversion website) - other things to note if you're experimenting with trying to make your recipes "healthier" by lessening the sugar content (etc), ... at first I tried to lessen the amount of confectioner's/powdered sugar in this glaze recipe but I found that it doesn't work out because the mixture is soupy without the right amount of this sugar so definitely follow the recipe's amount of sugar is my suggestion - however, there were reviews that stated the amount of milk listed did not make sense so everyone who used this recipe measured the milk in tablespoons instead of teaspoons like the recipe states, and so I made sure to measure my amount of milk in tablespoons instead (FYI) ;)

The reviews also stated to let your cake/pastry cool for about 20 minutes (I think I let it cool for longer than this since I kept experimenting with the sugar amount for the glaze though =X) so I would recommend this. The glaze doesn't actually solidify nicely until about 15-20 minutes after sitting on top of the cake/pastry (in my opinion or from this experience so again, FYI). And even with the glaze though, I still felt like it needed something... so I dusted it with more confectioner's / powdered sugar - looked better... still needed something... so I chopped up / crumbled more walnuts and dusted the very top of the pastry with this - MUCH BETTER! Here's the result:

Chocolate Banana-Walnut Powdered-Sugar Pastry

Even though I am a chocolate fan, I must say that the blueberry streusel wins between these two, but both are tasty treats and are lactose-free AND low-fat! Sugary - yes, but it needs some flavor right?
If you try these recipes or experiment on your own, please let me know how it turns out! I think I will try the banana-walnut version again without chocolate and with the streusel topping next time - I'm super curious as to how that will turn out. But for now, blueberry streusel for the win! =D
As for taxes... whatever the outcome is for you this year... make some yummy treats for yourself and you will feel better ;) If you are reading this and do not have to file taxes, you are LUCKY =P
Happy baking everyone =)

Homemade Donuts (Fat vs. Low-Fat) & Fat-Free Sorbet

Using the recipe at: http://annies-eats.net/2010/03/22/yeasted-doughnuts/ (Cook's Illustrated), I attempted for the first time to make homemade donuts with the help of my girlfriends =)

Cook's Illustrated's recipe worked out really well for tasty donuts

Using Cook's Illustrated's recipe, we made heart-shaped and circle-shaped donut puffs

We also made the "O"-donuts

We coated them in cinnamon-sugar...

This recipe was definitely a winner in terms of successfully making tasty donuts, but health-wise (if you are health-conscious), it is not recommended. In my next attempt to make donuts, I will try making some substitutions in this recipe to try making a "healthy" donut, as crazy as that may sound, but it's worth a try in seeing how it will turn out. Do any of you have any thoughts on making a tasty "healthy" donut? o.O

Using this recipe: http://hubpages.com/hub/Low-Fat-Donuts#, we attempted making low-fat donuts... but the result yielded baby-bagels >.< More experimentation will be done and I will continue to keep you posted on if I ever succeed in making a "healthy" donut - thoughts/comments are welcome ;)

We made fresh homemade strawberry sorbet and topped it with a raspberry - this was wonderful. Here's the recipe: fresh strawberries sliced and placed in the freezer for 2+ hours, when ready (frozen) place in a food processor or blender until it looks slushy, add some sugar and grate some lime for a bit of fresh zest, blend/process further (taste until you reach the flavor you like), then scoop into a bowl/cup/cone and place a fresh raspberry on top ;) Enjoy!

Many thanks to my girlfriends for trying these recipes with me - it was super fun! If you try these recipes, please let me know how it turned out for you =) Happy cooking/baking/EATING! =D