This recipe was me creating my take on Cauldron Cakes from the Harry Potter series. I did get the Cauldron Cakes from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, and while it was not terrible by any means, my one gripe was that the cauldron part of the cake was just a silicone…
Tag: cinnamon
Chocolate-Miso-Apple Tart
This recipe was inspired by an old episode of the Japanese Iron Chef, where the challenge was to make desserts with apples and chocolate. I love the idea of combining chocolate, something sweet, bitter, and creamy, with apples, which can take on a lot of spice, bitterness, and are naturally sweet and tart. I just…
Hummingbird Cake with Miso Caramel and Ginger Cream Cheese Ganache
I first remember hearing about hummingbird cake when I was watching an episode of Cupcake Wars, where it was mentioned as a Southern wedding cake that featured bananas, pecans, sometimes coconut or pineapple, and a cream cheese frosting. It sounded like a banana-nut muffin, but with frosting, if we are being honest here. Not that…
Cajeta-Duvalin Layer Cake
This recipe was meant to be a celebration of my friend, Frances. Frances, or as I lovingly call her, Francois, is a longtime friend of mine, dating back to when we worked together at the Portofino Hotel and Marina in Redondo Beach in 2018. We were in the same department, and we were basically partners…
Carrot Financier with Whipped Tonka Bean Goat Cheese and Raisin Gelee
Carrot cake is comfort. Not only because it contains carrots, so I feel like I am being healthy and eating a vegetable when it is saturated with sugar, and not even just because the spices bring out nostalgia, but also because, and this might be a little petty, an ex of mine is allergic to…
Cannoli Cupcakes
These cannoli cupcakes were my solution to buying far more ricotta than I needed. I purchased a tub of ricotta cheese with the intention of making pasta with it. But I ended up needing way less ricotta than what the commercially sold tubs provided, so I had to think about other things I could do…
Apple-Gjetost Molten Cheese Tarts
So a while ago, I went to Japan, and experienced the amazingness that was the Pablo Cheese Tart. A buttery shortbread dough with a creamy, oozy, molten cheesecake-like filling, and a caramelized topping, it was like eating a basque cheesecake and an egg tart, but in one! I made a rendition on them using White…
Chocolate Chip-Miso Caramel Bread Puddings
Dislike bread pudding for two main reasons – I grew up watching Chopped, and everyone made bread pudding/French toast in the dessert round, and my ex loves bread pudding. That being said, my dear friend Amanda(I have like 8 friends named Amanda, but one of them, just not the Amanda from Masterchef who I think…
Gjetost-Miso Apple Pie
Whenever we go apple picking in the fall, I always end up with a surplus of apples that I need to use up. So many apples to the point where half of them usually go bad by the time I finally have an idea or two that could utilize them. Because of that conundrum, I…
Pumpkaboo Mousse Cake
Pumpkaboo is one of those Pokemon that made me fall in love with the otherwise incomplete games that were Pokemon X and Y. It is a cute little critter that resembles a Jack-o-Lantern, a bat, and a black cat, all in one, and it can come in 4 different sizes, with the super-sized one being…
Caramel Apple Naked Cake
This cake was a special request from my dear friend, Justina. She wanted an apple pie-inspired Milkbar naked cake for her birthday, and I just wanted to make sure it was 100% to her liking. She wanted there to be doughy, buttery bits, caramelized chunks of apples, and some sort of creamy component, all of…
Om Ali with Pistachio-Cardamom Cream
I came up with this recipe because I had a lot of leftover brioche and phyllo, and I needed to use it up someway, somehow. Luckily for me, there is a dessert that literally can use up both, which meant that I did not have to sacrifice space in my freezer for either of those…
White Rabbit Carrot Cheese Tarts
I was inspired to make this recipe by the Pablo Cheese Tarts, which I was fortunate enough to have on my second last day in Japan. Those cheese tarts featured a buttery crust, and an oozy, gooey cheese filling, very reminiscent of both a basque cheesecake and a molten lava cake. I only bought six…
Banana-Custard Phyllo Pita
I came up with this recipe because I was craving something banana pudding/banana cream pie-esque, but with super flaky, laminated pastry, like puff pastry or a croissant. The thought of crispy dough, custard, and cooked down bananas just sounded really good to me in the moment, so I figured, why not make that a reality?…
Carrot Cake Bunny Shortbreads
These carrot cake shortbreads came about because I had about half a bottle of carrot juice in my refrigerator, and I needed to find a creative use for it. So then I thought, why not reduce it down into a jammy consistency, which will then have an intense carrot flavor to it, and then use…
Lucuma Alfajores Stack
So the initial idea for this recipe came about because I had purchased lucuma pulp for the first time, and I was trying to figure out the best way to utilize it. Lucuma is a fruit that allegedly tastes like caramel, and is the number 1 most popular ice cream flavor in Peru. Personally, after…
Tayde’s Cake
This recipe is in dedication for Tayde, who was a former patient at St. Jude’s Children Hospital, a childhood cancer(acute lymphoblastic leukemia) survivor, and now a healthy mother of two. Her floral-themed art pieces were featured at the Creator’s Summit at St. Jude, which I was lucky enough to attend(thank you, Shari from my first…
Carrot Cake Castella with Honeyed Goat Cheese
This recipe was directly inspired by a petit four I had at Singular restaurant in Kyoto. When we ate there, they used carrot juice to make this light and airy cake, and paired it with a soft whipped cream cheese topping. Castella is a type of cake that originated from Portugal, but has since made…
Sticky Toffee “Cinnabon” Loaves
One of my personal favorite memories during filming Masterchef: Back to Win was when a bunch of us(i.e. Gabriel, Samantha, Dara, and I) ordered Cinnabon to where we were staying, and we just ate Cinnabon while trying not to feel stressed about the competition(before anyone asks, Bri had an appointment when that happened, or else…
Lu Rou Fan Rice Bowls
Lu rou fan, or æ»·è‚‰é¥ as it’s written in Chinese, is a Chinese/Taiwanese dish that consists of braised meat, usually pork, with rice, and it’s usually served with pickled daikon and an egg that is usually braised or cooked with the stew. At least that’s how I was raised to eat it. The stew is…
Freddy's Harajuku 