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Desserts

Conchas (Mexican Sweet Bread)

I have conchas to share with you today!

These babies were a labor of love. I started developing the recipe for back in August, and because they need a good amount of attention, I only got to test them a few times. There are a few things I learned, and I’m happy to share the knowledge so you can easily make these at home.

One of the more important things I realized, especially after making pan de muerto last year, is that you need to take your time with bread, don’t take any shortcuts and don’t rush your process. Give the yeast plenty of time to proof, and give your dough enough time to really rise.

Conchas (Mexican Sweet Bread)

The quality of your ingredients also makes a difference. Fresh ground spices will give you a more flavorful bread. I like to use the milling blade from my nutribullet to grind down cinnamon, and cloves, and then I just use a microplane to grate fresh nutmeg. If you happen to have any vanilla bean paste, vanilla beans, or high quality vanilla extract, use it instead of imitation vanilla extract. Be sure to keep imitation vanilla out of the streusel though or you’ll end up with a something that tastes like play-doh. I used imitation extract the first few times and It took me a while to realize it was really messing with the taste.

When it comes to equipment, you can easily score the streusel topping with a knife, but if you’d like a concha cutter, you can purchase the one I used here. I also suggest using food coloring gel instead of liquid food coloring if you decide to add some color to your topping, as the liquid will make your topping really sticky and you’ll need a lot of it to get good color payoff.

I know they are a bit of a process but I promise they’re so worth it! Be sure to share your pictures with me if you happen to make them!

Nos vemos pronto!

Click here for more pan dulce recipes!

Classic Tres Leches (Pastel de Tres Leches)

Polvorones Rosas (Mexican Pink Sugar Cookies)

Horchata Birthday Cake

Momofuku Milk Bar Inspired Horchata Birthday Cake

I think I’ve fallen in love with New York.

My first time visiting was actually earlier this year in April, when I got to go on a work trip for two days, but I didn’t get to really experience much. This time around, I got to spend a full week, which was more than enough time to get a taste of all the sights, smells, and bites Nueva York had to offer.

We had noodles, dumplings, pizza, ice cream, even more pizza, arepas, bagels and lox, and of course…even more ice cream. I’m pretty sure I ate my weight in pizza and ice cream while I was there.

Momofuku Milk Bar Inspired Horchata Birthday Cake

It was a super last minute trip, but we managed to snag a really affordable airbnb in Hells Kitchen just two weeks prior to leaving, and it was great to see how close we were to just about most of the places we wanted to visit.

We had bagels and lox every morning, because out where I live in Southern California (Riverside), the only place where you can find a bagel, is at Panera. Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company was our go to spot while we were there. We had their Nova sandwich which came on an everything bagel with nova lox, scallion cream cheese, red onions, tomatoes and capers. Every bite of this sandwich was perfect. I’m crying just thinking about how much I miss it.

We also had pizza, because you can’t go to New York and not have pizza and out of all of the places we tried, Prince Street Pizza was hands down the best we had. We stood in line for about 10 minutes, looking at all of the pictures of the celebrities who had eaten before, skeptical of wether or not the place would be worth the hype. But it was. The pepperoni was thick and plenty, and the crust was nice and crispy with just the right amount of cheese on it.

For ice cream, we tried Van Leeuwen’s which was nothing to rave about, Big Gay Ice Cream which became a melty mess as soon as the cone was handed to us, Amorino Gelato which was good, Seed + Mill which was also good, and of course Milk Bar which was very good.

I left the city feeling inspired, and very full and when I got home a few days later, I got to work and decided to make a cake inspired by our trip. It’s a take on Milk Bar’s Christina Tossi’s concept of her naked birthday cake with crumbs, but it’s even better because it’s horchata flavored! The cake itself is a moist cinnamon cake, drizzled with an horchata soak and topped with an horchata buttercream and topped with crunchy crumbs and sprinkles. The recipe is pretty easy, just make sure to give everything enough time to come to room temperature, or you’ll get stuck with a broken buttercream like I did!

Momofuku Milk Bar Inspired Horchata Birthday Cake I was trying to keep this post brief so I didn’t mention a few other places we ate at, but I couldn’t go without mentioning Xian Famous Foods and their amazing noodles, and Levain Bakery which had the softest and most gooey cookies I have ever had in my life.

This cake is a winner, and I hope you get to enjoy it as much as I did. Everyone was left asking for seconds, which is always a sign of success if you ask me.

Nos vemos pronto! Stay chingonx!

Cortadillo (Mexican Pink Cake, Pastel de Niños)

Hola, felíz Friday!

Because it’s Friday, I thought it would be nice to end the week on a sweet note, so today I’m sharing a recipe for cortadillo, also known as Mexican pink cake and Pastel de Niños.

If you’ve ever visited a panadería, chances are, you’re probably seen cortadillo before. It is a moist and very very fluffy yellow sheet cake that melts in your mouth, topped with a hot pink icing (sometimes white) and rainbow nonpareils. In a sea of golden bollillos, brown cuernitos and white conchas, the hot pink slices of cortadillo always stood out to me and I think that’s why I loved it so much.

Pumpkin Pie Sundaes with a Peanut Butter Magic Shell

Hola! Today we are making pumpkin pie sundaes with a peanut butter magic shell!

With the holidays just around the corner, it’s nice to be able to repurpose leftovers into something. Whenever I celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, we always seem to end up with a surplus of pies, and sundaes is a good solution to the dilemma of trying to figure out what to do with all the leftover pies.

To go along with the sundaes, we’re making a peanut butter magic shell, a cinnamon peanut butter sauce that will instantly harden upon contact with the cold ice cream.

Making the magic shell sauce is really easy, and it only takes 4 ingredients, peanut butter, coconut oil, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Peanut butter is one of my favorite things to use for a magic shell because it takes spices really well, and it goes great with just about every ice cream flavor there is and it is always available in my pantry.

From festive desserts to seasonal soups, peanut butter is a versatile, affordable ingredient that provides a tasty, nutritious boost to all kinds of dishes and drinks during the holidays – and all year round. Visit here for even more delicious peanut butter recipes.

Nos vemos pronto!

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