This recipe is adapted from the Hungry Girl newsletter. I really love her stuff but I don’t like the fact that a lot of the ingredients she uses are terribly processed, and as far from “natural” that you can get. I am also not a fan of consuming aspartame or Splenda, you just never know, you know?  So here is the recipe with some minor modifications:

Chocolate Lava Cakes
(makes 4) 

For Filling
1/4 c. sugar free chocolate pudding (approx. one snack cup)
1/2 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. light or fat free liquid creamer
1/2 tsp. light whipped butter or margarine (like Becel)

Place chocolate chips in a glass (I used my glass measuring cup) and set aside. Pour the creamer in a microwave safe bowl with the butter and heat in the microwave for about 15 seconds until butter has melted and mixture is very hot.  Pour the mixture over the chocolate chips and stir until the chips dissolve. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then add the pudding and stir well. Spoon the mixture into four evenly spaced mounds on a plate and freeze for about 25 minutes until they’ve firmed up a bit.

For Cake
1 cup moist-style devil’s food cake.
1 tbsp baking cocoa
1/4 cup fat free liquid egg
1 tbsp. mini-semi sweet chocolate chips
2 dashes salt

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chocolate chips and cocoa in a small heat resistance bowl. Add 1/4 cup boiling water and stir well until chips and cocoa have dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir well.
Pour the cocoa mixture into a mixing bowl. Add cake mix, egg substitute and salt to the mixing bowl and whip with a whisk or fork for about 2 minutes. Please note that the batter will be quite thin.

Once the pudding mounds in the freezer are a bit firm, spray four baking ramekins (approx. 4 inches in diameter) with a little bit of vegetable oil. Evenly spoon the cake batter into the ramekins. Remove chocolate mounds from the freezer and place one in the centre of each batter-filled ramekin. If the mounds are frozen to the plate, use a sharp knife to “scrape” them off.  Put the ramekins in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cakes will look shiny when done.

cakes before going into oven

Carefully remove the ramekins from the oven. You can eat the cake right out of the ramekin (but make sure you let it cool a little bit because it will be very hot), or wait until it has cooled completely and plate the cake by running a knife along the edges and flipping it upside down. Pop it in the microwave for about 15 seconds to heat it back up before serving. 

Personal notes: 
Like I mentioned, I adapted this recipe from the Hungry Girl. I only made little modifications, like using plain cocoa instead of a packet of diet cocoa mix because I don’t like the aspartame in it, nor did I use the sprinkle of granulated Splenda in the batter because I found the cake sweet enough as it was (and because I don’t like using Splenda anyway). I was going to use egg whites instead of the  liquid egg but I actually forgot. I will definitely try it with egg whites next time I make them, you never know if something turns out until you try.
Anywho, I’ve made these 3 times this week for 3 different occasions and all three times I got rave reviews, the best one was from my friend’s husband (who stays away from anything fat-free btw!) who said that just adding a scoop of icecream and you could sell these at any restaurant… now that’s a compliment if I ever heard one!  So there you go, delicious lava cakes at at least half the calories of any of the cakes you can get in a restaurant. I tell you, you won’t be dissapointed!

In searching the world of empandas I found that El Salvador has a very unique kind. Firstly, they are not made of any kind of flour, but the shell is actually made of plantain, and second, they are not tradionally filled with any kind of meat!  If you are fortunate enough to try an authentic Salvadorean empanada, IN El Salvador of course, you will know what I’m talking about regarding their unique-ness…. I found the following recipe in a cookbook called “Comida Tipica” (literal translation is “Typical Food” but it means “Traditional Food”) by Vilma de Escobar, who is famous in El Salvador for making our traditional dishes and writing cookbooks that are easy to follow. So, I thought this would be the best recipe to try and to post… Also, our empanadas are fried, in trying to make a healthy version I baked them with great results. Here we go:

Empanadas (makes 20-24 empanadas)
6-10 Ripe plantains (enough to get 3 cups of paste, see notes)
Custard (recipe follows)
Oil in a spray pump (you can use non-fat cooking spray but not the same results)
1/4 c. granulated sugar

In a large soup pot boil the whole plantain (peel and all) with water until soft. Once boiled (handle with care, they are extremely hot!) peel the plantains  and run them through the food processor, (I used a potato masher and did it by hand. I would suggest the food processor method for a smoother paste). 

mashed plantain

Once the plantains are mashed and free of lumps place in a large bowl and refrigerate the paste until completely cooled (approx. 1 hour).  Once cooled, knead the “dough”. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Form small sized balls (approx. 1 to 1 1/2 in.) for each empanada and make a round by placing the ball between 2 sheets of wax paper or plastic and flattening with the bottom of a plate or bowl or using a tortilla maker.

round with filling

Put a tsp of custard in the middle and close the round to make a half moon, pinching the ends together. You may get some of the custard oozing out, it’s ok. You can play around with the amount of filling to your taste.
Place the empanadas on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with oil. Lighly spray the empanada with oil as well.
Baked in the preheated oven for 15 minutes on one side, turn them over and bake 10 minutes on the other side.

Sprinkle with granulated sugar and serve.

Custard
2 Cups of skim milk
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 tbsp. corn starch
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks

Blend all ingredients (except the vanilla) in a blender for approx. 10-15 seconds. Place mixture in a saucepan and bring to a boil mixing constantly, once it thickens mix the vanilla in and remove from heat.  Let it cool. The custard can also be enjoyed on it’s own with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

fresh custard!

NOTES: Plantains are not as hard to find as you may think. I found some in my local market. However, most of the time, they will be green and not quite ripe. So, to speed the process, keep in a plastic bag in direct sunlight for a couple of days. Remember to check on them daily because over-ripe plantains are really not pretty.
The cookbook I have is written like you were talking to your friend, or your grandma, when you ask for a recipe that they may not have written down, so I did my best to put the measurements in. (in the book they say, “enough sugar to sweeten” or “form into a ball”). The empanadas can be fried but I needed a “healthy” option for my health-conscious friends so I baked them. They turned out GREAT! In fact, I will be baking them from now on!  They were a hit at the BBQ I brought them to!
The recipe can definitely be doubled or tripled if you need more empanadas, so don’t be afraid to do so!

Today’s Quote: “Like you I love love, life, the sweet smell of things, the sky-blue landscape of January days.”
                                                                                                                              – Roque Dalton (Salvadorean Poet)

I made this cake for a birthday celebration at work and followed the recipe and I made it into a birthday cake just by adding colour sprinkles.  If you want to see the recipe you can find it here, the blogger also has other recipes that I will try when I need to make a chocolate birthday cake. This particular cake  I made with the chocolate cream cheese frosting but I used chocolate pudding for filling. I also used 1/4 cup less sugar for both the frosting and the cake and it was just amazing!  There was not a crumb left!  So I can say, without a doubt, that this cake was a success! Got Milk?

Quote to share: “Las cosas claras y el chocolate espeso.” (Ideas should be clear and chocolate thick.)
                                                                                              -Spanish proverb

I have found that tea lovers all have their favourite tea cup, tea pot and other tea accesories that they use and are quick to give their opinions on so I also have a small collection of tea accesories that have moved around with me for years. I’m always interested in how different cultures drink their tea, or what types of tea they drink. 

My small tea collection

Some of the traditions I’ve found are very interesting.  My dad went to medical school in the USSR and he told me that while he was there he drank black tea with no sugar in it but having  a bit (teaspon) of jam, honey or condensed milk in your mouth before taking a sip of the tea, basically blending the sweetness with the tea inside your mouth.  And of course, who hasn’t heard of the Japanese tea ceremony (made famous by that scene in The Karate Kid part II) where they use matcha green tea powder whisked with a bambo whisk .  I personally like what most of us “westerners” call high tea:  tea served with sweet and savoury dainties, scones and jam with devonshire cream. I prefer loose tea to bags but tea bags can be life savers if you’re dying for a cup of tea and you’re either a) in a hurry, or b) somewhere where loose tea is impossible to find.

So where do you go from here. What type of tea should you drink with what and in what occasions? I say just follow your own choice and drink what you like the most and what you feel like drinking. I don’t think there really is a “wrong” way to drink tea, there are some guidelines though, like you would usually add milk and sugar or lemon and honey to black tea and drink green tea plain, herbal tisanes can also be taken plain or with honey and lemon, I personally like my oolong and rooibos tea plain but you can also add some sweetener to it.

At my first Steeped Tea party I made a selection of delectable tea treats. Aside from the lovely tea sandwiches that a couple of my friends kindly made and brought I made some delightful Alfajores, I made some substitutions for a chocolate cake to make it healthier and I made some buttermilk scones with whole wheat flour.

Alfajores: (pronounced Alfa-hore-es) is a traditional Spanish cookie found in regions of Spain and Latin America. It basically consists of two round biscuits joined together with jam or dulce de leche and covered with powdered sugar.

12 tbsps. (180 ml.) butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
2 tbsps. cognac
2 1/2 cups cornstarch (I used one cup cornstarchand 1 1/2 cups arrowroot powder)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
Dulce de Leche, or Cajeta, or Arequipe or Manjar Blanco (see recipe below), or basically a sweet caramel spread.
Powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar, about 1 cup will do.

Cream the butter and sugar together, then mix in the remaining ingredients except the dulce de leche until well blended. Knead on a floured work surface until the dough is smooth and let rest for 15 minutes.
Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch and cut into rounds using a cookie cutter (if you don’t have a cookie cutter you can improvise by using the top of a glass like I did, the amount of cookies you get depends on how big you make them). Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 20 minutes. When cool, spread some dulce de leche on the bottom of half the cookies and press another cookie on top, allowing some of the dulce de leche to squeeze from the sides. Sift powdered sugar on top of them.

alfajores

Dulce de Leche: You can use store bought dulce de leche if you’d like (or if you can find it) but I find satisfaction in knowing that I made it myself, don’t you? There are also different ways to make it and I decided to go with the “safest” route.

4 cups (1 litre) whole milk (Cow or Goat milk will work well)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Add all the ingredients to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir well to dissolve the sugar completely.
Set the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low and simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened and caramelized, about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.  It will turn a dark shade of beige (or a light caramel colour).
Transfer to a clean glass jar and refrigerate.

Chocolate Tea Cake:  I found this recipe at meganscookin.blogspot.com but was not impressed about the amount of butter that it called for, so I made a healthier version. The cake turned out very dense, like a brownie. But it was very good!

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 c. unsweetened apple sauce
1 c. sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
zest of one orange
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup powdere sugar
2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and grease paper.
Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Cool.
Combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well before adding the next. Add the vanilla, zest and yogurt and mix well. Add the cooled chocolate and mix for 30 seconds or until incorporated. Scrape the inside of the bowl.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the bowl and fold into the mixture until combined.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake on the middle rack for 50 minutes then turn the heat off but leave the pan in the oven for 10 minutes. (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack in the pan for 15 mins. Carefuly invert the cake on the cooling rack. Remove the paper. Flip the cake right side up.

For the glaze: Combine the powdered sugar and the orange juice in a small pan. Bring to a boil and, stirring occasionally, cook for 2 minutes. Using a skewer,poke holes about an inch apart in the warm cake. Brush with the glaze. Cool completely before slicing.

Quote today: “If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you.” ~Gladstone, 1865

But in keeping with the theme of my blog, I also searched for some other international cookie treats and found some unusual ones, some new twists on old favourites, and a savoury-sweet cookie… here we go:

From Mexico: Polvorones de Canela (Mexican tea cakes)
Polvorones are a type of shortbread made with cinnamon and rolled in powdered sugar.  There are many varitions out there and the ones I made are a simpler version than the “mexican wedding cake” cookies (I didn’t add any nuts to mine). Polvorones, both the tea cake version and the wedding cake version, are traditionally served at Christmas, weddings and quinceañeras.

Recipe:
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1/2 c. powdered/icinig/confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt (if you use salted butter make sure to omit the salt)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour (unbleached)
For polvo (rolling “dust”):
1 cup powdered/icing/confectioners’ sugar
1 tbsp Cinnamon (or more to taste, I used 2 tbsps)

Mix softened butter with sugar thoroughly until it becomes a smooth and creamy mixture.
Add cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Mix in flour to make a stiff dough. Chill dough for half an hour to an hour.
Preheat oven to 350F. and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Form chilled dough into approximately 1-inch balls.
Mix 1 cup of icing sugar with the tbsp. of cinnamon, and roll balls in this cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until nicely browned. You can either dust them with or roll them in the sugar & cinnamon mixture again. Cool completely on wire racks.

Notes: Make sure that you use the exact amount of butter that the recipe calls for, the polvorones are made to literally melt in your mouth if you follow the recipe but, even though they are still edible, they may turn out a bit crunchy and not polvo (literally means dust) like at all if you skimp on the butter. I like to roll them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture before presenting them. The above recipe makes approx. 30 polvorones but you can double or triple the recipe with no issues at all. The cookies are excellent with tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Yumm!

From Catalonia: Panelletes
These cookies are traditionally made in Catalonia, Spain on November 1st, All Saints’ Day. Again, there are a hundred different variations of these “cookies” depending on family recipes or tastes. They can be made with regular potatoes or sweet potatoes or yam.

Recipe:
1 Cup cooked sweet potato or yam
1/2 c. sugar (granulated)
1 2/3 c. ground blanched almonds
1 lg. egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 c. pine nuts or slivered almonds (optional)

Mix all of the ingredients except for the slivered almonds, together. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls or flatten them if  you prefer.  Arrange Panellets about ½-inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. Press a pine nut (or slivered almond) onto the top of each ball for decoration.
Bake for about 15-20 mins. They will almost not change appearance. Transfer the cookies to a platter using a spatula.

Notes:
These cookies got mixed reviews. A LOT of people really liked them and wanted the recipe while others didn’t mind them but didn’t think they would try them again. I personally really enjoyed them. I felt like I was having something “healthy”" thanks to the sweet potato. They are great on their own or to accompany a cup of tea. I think it’s something to definitely try… (unless you don’t like sweet potato!)

From Italy: Torcettini from Val D’Aosta
These are twisted shaped cookies are savoury but rolled in sugar. It uses active dry yeast in the recipe and it resembles a palmier in taste. These torcettini were a favourite of Queen Margherita of Italy, it is known that she liked them so much that she knigthed the baker on the spot in Saint Vincent!  I made a mini version of this and rolled them in red sugar to make them more festive. Another excellent tea cookie!

Left to Right: Torcettini, Panelletes and Polvorones

From El Salvador: Peperechas
Peperechas are a sweet layered bread that is usually served with afternoon coffee. Growing up (and as an adult too) it was always one of my favourite things to walk to the corner bakery in the afternoon to get freshly baked sweet bread and peperechas were always my sweet bread of choice. It’s my younger sister’s favourite and, by her request (or, really, her nagging and begging) did I venture to attempt to make these. To my pleasant surprise, they weren’t that difficult to make, there are a lot of steps that you must follow to the letter but SOOO worth it.  Here is the recipe that I used (with my own twist)…

Recipe:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
8 tbsps. bran
Filling:
Pineapple jam (use guava jam if pineapple no available)
Panela candy, grated (optional)
For sprinkling:
1/4 cup white sugar
red food colouring

Colour the white sugar with the food colouring and set aside. Mix the yeast and the warm water together.
For the dough. Mix flour with dry ingredients and on a flat surface make a well in the middle of the flour:

Add the butter and the yeast water:

Knead together until forming a dough and set aside for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into 2 parts and roll both parts out on a floured surface.

Spread one part with the jam and sprinkle with the grated panela:

Cover with the other half of the rolled dough. Sprinkle with the coloured sugar and cut into rectangles.

Place rectangles on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. They will be browned and crunchy.

Notes:
Very biased review here.  I loved them! And so did everyone who tasted them. I used pinapple spread to make them but I know that guava jam/spread works well too. These cookies’ name literally translates to “whore” or “prostitute” because of their red sugar on top. In El Salvador we also make a version with just white sugar on top and are called Honradas which translates to “honest woman”. It’s just a fun and interesting fact.