Freddy's Harajuku

Caramel Macchiato Bear Mousse Cake

Caramel macchiatos will always remind me of my old sister, Kim. When we worked together in D.C., she would always get them at Starbucks, and after I tried one myself, I understood the obsession. Sweet caramel cuts through the bitter coffee, while adding a light bitterness on its own, and the layer of milk or…

Beef Heart Stroganoff

I heart beef heart. I wanted to make a dish that is somewhat romantic(pasta with a soft, creamy sauce), and figured, why not put some actual heart. on it? Yes, I might have a problem. Beef heart has a slightly chewier, yet crunchier texture compared your usual steak, and I just love that. People are…

Tonka-Strawberry-Goat Milk Sundae

Whenever I think of Valentine’s, the first thing that comes to mind are strawberries. What I adore about strawberries as an ingredient is that they add a bright red color, pleasant sweetness, and some tartness to contrast rich, creamy flavors and textures. However, and these have been rising in popularity especially over the past few…

New York Strip with Potato Mochi

Meat and potatoes is a classic that I’ve done spins on before on this blog, and I figured, New Year, new take on meat and potatoes? In this case, I wanted to do another steak, but for the potato portion, I wanted to combine experienced from my recent trips to Germany and Japan, paying homage…

Chocolate-Marshmallow Entremet

This was a fun cake to make. I wanted to make a dreamy chocolate mousse cake, featuring layers of black cacao chiffon soaked with hot chocolate, dark chocolate ganache, semi sweet potato mousse, slathered in a cascade of more dark chocolate ganache, and torched Swiss meringue marshmallow. It kind of looks like a snowscape meets…

Pomelo Entremet

I don’t love winter. I might be a winter baby(Capricorn, which might explain things to those of you who are religious about zodiac signs), but I never liked the cold. I tried that for four years living in Boston, and while I loved the shoulder seasons, winter was brutal, with me being Taiwan-born, and SoCal-raised….

Venison with Squash Gnocchi and Blackberry-Sake Jus

Now I already know what you are thinking: that meat is RAW. It’s mooing. So yes, it is very rare, pretty much blue. But when it comes to a lot of game meats, such as venison or elk, cooking any of them past rare either brings out too much gamey flavor, or they turn really…

Blood Orange Mimosa Cheesecakes

Even though I purchased these adorable cheese wedge molds over a year ago, I never really use them. So I figured, I needed to do something with them. I happened to purchase a bunch of blood oranges, and was trying to think of what to pair with those. And then it dawned on me –…

Chocolate-Sesame Ovalmaltine Cake

This recipe was really me trying to think of something fun and snackable to make, using chocolate, sesame, and Ovalmaltine(think Ovaltine, but as a crunchy, creamy spread!). Ironically enough, I wound up a semi-entremet-looking mousse cake instead. It reminds me of The Good Place when a character named Janet was randomly making things cacti instead…

Brie-Honey-Ginger-Pear Entremet

Whenever I think of the winter, I think of this honey-ginger poached pear tea that my mom would make for us. I have done some desserts inspired by this in the past, but this time around, I wanted to try using those ginger-honey poached pears as a garnish for another dessert. I figured with ginger…

Fennel-Almond-Blood Orange Panna Cotta

My friend Stephanie and I were having a pizza and pasta night(because she bought a pizza oven and I bought my pasta extruder), so we figured we would have a fun time just making pizza and pasta together! To finish up the dinner, I wanted to make an Italian dessert, just to tie in with…

Nutella Zebra Banana Bread

These banana breads were the end-result of me roasting several of them in the oven for hummingbird cake, only to realize that I roasted three times the needed amount. I didn’t want to store these, nor did I want to throw them away, so in the spirit of 2020 baking memories that I did not…

Spicy Eggplant Pasta

I love eggplant. And I HATE how much the Internet has ruined what an eggplant represents. For me, I try not to associate it with…body parts. Body parts are body parts, vegetables are vegetables. Just clearing that up now, because I feel like anything who reads “spicy eggplant” will have thoughts. Or even just “eggplant”….

Matcha-Raspberry Cream Cake

Full disclaimer – this cake was a cake order for a 1 year old’s birthday party. The original cake order was actually for a 12-inch cake, which is why the raspberries look way smaller in proportion to the cake, and why I couldn’t really photograph the cake off the box(try moving a 12-inch cake made…

Buttered Radish Ribbon Pasta

For Christmas, I purchased a pasta extruder for myself, because certain pasta shapes(i.e. bucatini, penne, and mafaldine) could not be made simply by hand or with ye old pasta crank that I’ve owned since December 2013(crazy to think that was 12 years ago at this point). I first wanted to get a pasta extruder because…

Persimmon Tang Yuan

Whenever I think of persimmons, I remember my earlier childhood – our backyard had white guava, white peach, and fuyu persimmon trees, so depending on the time of year, we had fresh fruit to eat! Persimmon in particular are an interesting fruit, because depending on their ripeness, their flavor and texture can completely change. With…

Breakfast Carbonara

This recipe came about because I was making a giant chiffon cake, and had a ton of egg yolks leftover. While I can think of 5-6 desserts off the top of my head that use up said egg yolks, I figured, why not do something savory for a change? I’ve seen people on social media…

Rose Apple-Yuzu-Almond Crostata

This recipe came about because I purchased one too many hidden rose apples and I did not want it to go to waste. Hidden rose apples are a naturally pink-fleshed apple(not pink peel, like the actual color of the fruit is pink), and they are usually only available 2-3 months in the year. They have…

Pasta Napolitan

I love love love Japanese/yoshoku stye pasta dishes. They really combine the best of both Western and Eastern cuisines. Pasta Napolitan is an interesting one, because it features spaghetti in a spicy tomato sauce with onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and Vienna sausages. It is hearty, warming, and perfect for what my unofficial theme for January…

Custardy Hot Chocolate Milk Tea

Even though it’s after Christmas, I would feel like a real Grinch if I didn’t put out a hot chocolate recipe of some sign off the year on. In this case, I have been seeing a ton of people posting videos of piping marshmallow mixture around the edge of your cup and torching that, then…