My sister loves the coconut delight Girls Scout cookies(formerly called Samoas before that was deemed a problematic name). When I went to the newly opened Levain bakery location in West Hollywood, we basically got one of every cookie on their menu(mostly to justify the 1 hour/30 mile drive to there). One of those cookies was…
Tag: pastry
Starry Night Lilikoi Cookies
These cookies were the brain child of me being on a cute, linzer sandwich cookie-type of kick, and me having passionfruit puree to play around with. I thought from a visual standpoint, how cute would it be to make these cookies look like a starry night’s sky? And voila, that’s how we ended up here…
Peanut Butter “Oreos”
One of my favorite cookies, Oreos are pure nostalgia for me. One of my early childhood memories was shortly after landing in Taipei, jetlagged, and eating Oreos with Taiwanese milk in our apartment in Linkou. I’m not sure if everyone knows this, but Oreos are actually vegan! I got my start in baking with vegan…
Chocolate and Cacao Chip Shortbreads
Back in college, I wanted to do a fun take on cookies and cream, and so I made a panna cotta with chocolate chip shortbreads. The shortbreads themselves were buttery and light, but the chocolate actually had this very enjoyable crunch to it after a batch of them had to sit through the cold Boston…
Oreo Langue de Chaats
Now I have been on a langue de chaat fix ever since I came back from Japan. I love how thin and light those tuile-like biscuits are(they are so feather-like that I almost don’t feel guilty eating 20 of them in one sitting), while the creamy filling is just melts on your tongue, and with…
Silken tofu with crab dashi
I have been wanting to do a dish like this after I ate this amazing snow crab hot pot in Osaka, at the iconic Kani Doraku restaurant(it’s known for having a giant crab statue hanging from the front of the building, and as the decor suggests, having an all-crab menu!). The vegetables and tofu, stewing…
Peanut Butter and Oreo Tartufo
Tartufo reminds me of when my friend, Amanda, and I went to Babbo Pizzeria and Enoteca(rest in peace) back in Boston. It was on the dessert menu, and we had 0 regrets in ordering it. Tartufo is an Italian dessert, translating to “truffle”. But in this case, it refers to a ball of ice cream,…
Assam Tea-ramisu
So a while ago, I purchased assam tea to make some desserts with, only for me to receive twice the amount I intended on ordering, and being stuck with more assam tea than I knew that to do with. For those unfamiliar with it, assam is a kind of black tea, popular in countries such…
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…
Thai Tea Pumpkin Pie 2.0
A long, long time ago, I made a Thai tea pumpkin pie, and I loved it. Thai tea adds such a distinct, perfume-y flavor that just lifts the somewhat bland pumpkin puree, giving it spice, creaminess, and sweetness, all things that work in a pumpkin pie traditionally! This time around, I wanted to go with…
Maple-candied Pumpkin and Acorn Cake
This cake was inspired from when I was in Kyoto, admiring all of the autumn nature-themed artwork in several of the local museums there. I wanted to make this yellow-ish cake with pretty reds and oranges, indicative of autumnal colors, and flavors. And since I play Animal Crossing, I am fully aware that maple leaves…
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…
Pink Peach-Moscato Pound Cake
So this recipe came about because I had leftover pink peaches from another recipe, and I did not want those to go to waste. Pink peaches are made by taking the peels off of white peaches, turning that into a simple syrup, then cooking the white peaches in said simple syrup. The syrup, through being…
Spheal Dango
Originally, these were just going to be ring seal dango(round mochi-type rice dumplings). However, that idea kind of shifted towards doing Spheals instead thanks to my dear friend, Justina, who straight up to me to do that. And I am (mostly) glad I listened to her, especially after seeing the end product! I say mostly…
Pink Peach and Calpico Cheesecake
This pink peach dessert came about because I was gifted with some white peaches from my mom, and whenever I have white peaches, making a pink peach dessert is a priority! I grew up with a white peach tree in my backyard, and I always equate those to pleasant summer memories, eating white peaches with…
(F)red Velvet-Berry Cheesecake Layer Cake
This red velvet cake recipe came about because I had leftover mixed berry coulis in my fridge and leftover graham crackers from the Graham Central Station cake, and I needed to figure out how to get rid of them. Initially, I wanted to do a ruby chocolate-mixed berry cheesecake, but I also wanted to do…
Pumpkin Toast with Koji Mascarpone
This is one of those rare instances where all of the ingredients for this recipe happened to be all there in my refrigerator already. I had leftover pumpkin from making a cake with it, I had bread from a failed milk bread sandwich attempt, and I had both heavy cream and koji as my usual…
Gulab Jamun Madeleines
Gulab (and angoori) jamun have quickly become one of my favorite Indian desserts. These little ghee-fried milk balls are soaked in a saffron-cardamom-rose syrup, causing them to have a soft, melt-in-the-mouth texture. However, I find that setting up all of that ghee to fry with takes forever, and it’s really expensive too. Ghee is far…
Freddy's Harajuku 