Muffin Monday - Carrot Spice Muffins

I am so busy doing nothing... that the idea of doing anything - which as you know, always leads to something - cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything.

~ Jerry Seinfeld

I've always had a weakness for moist carrot cake, packed to the brim with grated carrots, nuts and dried fruits and topped with the most decadent cream cheese frosting. So you can imagine how much I was looking forward to making this week's Muffin Monday recipe, Carrot Spice Muffins. Our host, Anuradha of Baker Street blog specified that this was to be a healthy muffin, so I reluctantly tossed out the evil frosting idea and ended up with a healthier topping instead.

Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme, Cranberry Sauce and Spiced Walnuts

Growing up in the tropics, cheese really didn't feature much in our everyday diet. We had durians and fermented shrimp paste (belacan), and that was enough odorous foods for one culture to have to endure. It's all very different the kids growing up in this more global world now, of course. 

Coconut milk, on the other hand, does feature a lot in our tropical cuisine, from breakfast snacks, main meals and desserts. Saying that, however, our use of it nowadays is in more measured amounts due to the high oil and sugar content (coconut cream especially).

Like chalk and cheese

I've been toying with the idea of mixing one of the most Eastern ingredient with one of the most Western and finally came up with this Coconut-Cheese ice cream recipe. My tastebuds know for a fact that thyme goes extremely well with cheese so that was thrown in for good measure. On its own, this creamy, distinctively Cheddary ice cream is already worthy of a gasp. But try eating a spoonful of it drizzled with warm, cinnamon-scented cranberry-orange sauce and topped with spicy, gingery walnuts, and you're bound to hear absolute silence as the world around you stops moving! Trust me when I say this, it is that good.

 Top: Cranberry-Orange sauce,  Bottom: Spicy walnuts

 

Out of the oven - spicy, sweet, crisp walnuts with ginger and cayenne pepper

Next time you have guests over for a party, be daring enough to serve this understatedly sexy, elegant and complex dessert all rolled into one. Oh, and remember to print out copies of the recipe as your guests will be asking for it!

If you're making this dessert for any adorable tiny tots, just substitute the coconut milk with regular milk and leave out the salt and spices.

Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme, Cranberry Sauce and Spiced Walnuts

Ingredients:
Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 125g (4oz) cheddar cheese, grated
• 125g (4oz) cream cheese, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Cranberry-Orange Sauce
• 1 cup dried cranberries (or 2 cups fresh berries)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar or honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

Spiced Walnuts
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon water
• 2 cups walnuts
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli powder

Method:
Coconut-Cheese Ice Cream with Thyme

1. In a small heavy bottom sauce pot, bring the coconut milk and heavy cream to a boil.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in the cheddar cheese, cream cheese, honey, thyme and salt.

3. Blend this mixture in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, then cool completely before freezing mixture in ice-cream maker.

4. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours. Let ice-cream soften 5 minutes before serving.

Cranberry-Orange Sauce

1. Combine cranberries, orange juice, sugar/honey, vanilla and cinnamon stick in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves; boil for 1 minute.

2. Strain into bowl. Reserve cranberries. Return juices and cinnamon stick to the same pan. Mix 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch in small bowl; stir into juices in pan. Stir over medium heat until juices boil and thicken, about 1 minute. Mix in reserved cranberries. Chill compote 2 hours.

Spiced Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 120°C/250°F.

2. Whisk together egg white and water in a large bowl until frothy and stir in nuts. Stir together sugar, ground ginger and cayenne pepper/chilli powder and stir into nuts, coating well. Spread nuts on a lightly buttered pan and bake in middle of oven until dry, about 50 minutes. Cool and chop into bite-size chunks.

Assembly

To serve, scoop ice cream into sundae glasses, top with cranberry-orange sauce and chopped spiced walnuts.

Tomato Muffins... Are You Kidding?

Someone somewhere was saying that tomatoes are now in season. I hadn't realised they are seasonal in some regions because here, I see them all year round at the market! Well, you live and learn.

Tomatoes have always been to me a savoury ingredient, however at the same time, I was fascinated by its many uses including, quite rarely, in a dessert. I decided to tweak my existing muffin recipe to make sweet tomato muffins. I omitted the egg and butter and replaced those with silken tofu, raspberries and banana, which worked just as well to hold the batter together. Sitting surrepticiously on the shelves, I discovered these delightful dried, candied tomatoes and threw them in the mix for a bit of flavour and excitement. No discernable taste of tomato in there yet, but hey, there's always the frosting. Yes, tomato paste mixed into the buttercream - the sweet-savoury flavour totally worked!

Walnuts, silken tofu, sea salt, candied tomatoes

Of course, when you're serving these, refrain from telling your guests about the secret ingredient (tomato). Listen to them oohing and aahing about the muffins first and when they've finished the whole lot, drop the bombshell. I always enjoy watching people's reactions (surprised, disgusted, appalled, never happy they ate tomatoes as a dessert!). It just shows me how brainwashed we are sometimes about where food should and should not belong - also, it's great party entertainment. *grins*

Candied Tomato Muffins with Tomato Frosting
Makes: 30 standard-sized muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup (250g) silken tofu
1/3 cup Maple Syrup or Golden Syrup
¼ cup corn/vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small, ripe banana
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
2 cups plain flour
¼ cup wholewheat flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup candied tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup roasted walnuts, chopped

Tomato Frosting:
2 ¼ cups icing sugar, sifted
½ cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon tomato paste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line muffin cups with muffin paper.

2. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and sea salt in a bowl and set aside.

3. In a blender or food processor, pulse together the tofu, syrup, oil, vanilla, banana and raspberries until smooth.

4. Pour tofu mixture into the flour mixture and gently until combined. Gently fold in the tomatoes and walnuts. Fill each muffin cup with about 2/3 full with batter.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a skewer inserted into the muffin comes out clean.

6. When completely cool, pipe tomato frosting on the cupcakes.

Tomato Frosting:
1. Beat the butter until creamy. Add the icing sugar gradually, beating first at low speed and then fast once all the sugar has been added, Beat frosting until stiff.
2. Add the tomato paste and beat until smooth and creamy. It is now ready to pipe.

Chocolate-Chilli Walnut Cookies

Some days, you just want to cry on somebody's shoulders, or into a pillow. You let it all out, howl away, then you feel much better. Don't you? Sometimes, eating good, comforting food works wonders for the tearful soul too, but I wouldn't recommend this all the time (unless you're a full time athlete with a fearfully healthy lifestyle!). Eating is certainly no way to cure anything, especially psychological hunger.

Hmm...Wrong kind of stuff to write in a blog about FOOD, right? Darn right (nearly)! Guess I was envisioning the comfort part and the pillow part when I wanted to introduce you to this next recipe of mine : Chocolate-Chilli Walnut Cookies. No worldly, sophisticated hostess or gift-giver should go without this delicacy in their cookbook arsenal. Chocolate and chilli? So what, it's a pairing that's been done for centuries, back from the time of the Mayans in South America. Walnuts? Nothing special there. But how about this.... placing a chocolate chunk in between two flat cookie dough pieces to form a "pillow" and watching it ooooze when you bite into a warm cookie? Now, that's hot! Hot and comforting, in many sense of the words.

For cookie fans under 10 years old, you might want to omit the chilli powder and sea salt, and they will love you for it. Adult cookie recipients may not need your shoulder to lean on so much once they've eaten this, just make sure you make it available at their doorstep during those tough times, you know!

Chocolate-Chilli Walnut Cookies

Ingredients:
125g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
1 tsp baking soda
200g dark chocolate, cut into ½-inch chunks
1/3 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped
Sea salt, to sprinkle

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

2. Sift the flour, baking soda, cocoa and chilli powder in a bowl.

3. Beat the butter and sugar in another bowl until mixture is light and creamy (4-5 mins).

4. Add the egg, then add vanilla and beat until combined.

5. Fold the sifted dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, then gently stir in the walnuts.

6. Scoop out a tablespoon of the cookie dough and form into two balls. Flatten each ball with your palms. Place a piece of dark chocolate in the centre of one flattened dough and cover it up with the other piece of dough. Flatten one last time in between your palms to seal the cookie, sprinkle sea salt on top, then place on baking tray 2 inches apart.

7. Bake for 12 minutes, and cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Key comforters: Chocolate, chilli powder and walnuts

Peek-a-boo!

 

Till next time.

Kisses,