Marble Chiffon Cake

The Marble Chiffon Cake is delicious! It looks delicious too, right?

We made this cake in class earlier this week and I just have to share it with you guys. It's not as sweet as cakes you see from the store, which I personally like. It tastes great too. I plan on recreating this cake later on to bring to parties. I know that it will be a big hit.

I do warn you that the beating of the egg whites is really important. It is what gives some structure to the cake. In this culinary class, we are learning some of the science behind cooking and baking as well, which I love! Anyway, here is the recipe and I hope you guys enjoy this cake!
By the way, don't you love how we marbled the cake?

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup cocoa 
• 1 ½ cups + 2 Tbsp sugar  
• 1/4 cup water 
• ½ cup + 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 
• 1 Tbsp baking powder  
• ½ tsp salt 
• 7 egg yolks, at room temperature 
• ¾ cup water 
• 2 tsp vanilla 
• 7 egg whites, at room tempera­ture 
• ½ tsp cream of tartar 

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 325°F.

2.      In a small bowl, combine cocoa, 2 table­spoons sugar, ¼ cup water, and 2 tablespoons oil until smooth; set aside.

3.      In a large bowl, stir together the flour, 1 ½ cups sugar, baking powder and salt; add ½ cup oil, egg yolks, ¾ cup water and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until ingredients are com­bined. Beat 5 minutes on high speed, scraping bowl several times.

4.      Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl and beat, using clean beaters, until stiff peaks form.

5.      Pour batter in a thin stream over the entire surface of egg whites; fold together gently. Remove a third of the batter to another bowl; gently fold in the chocolate mixture. Pour half the vanilla batter into an ungreased tube pan; spread half the chocolate batter over the vanilla batter.

6.      Repeat layers; gently insert a spatula or knife into the batters and swirl gently for a marbled effect. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes; or until cake springs back when touched gently.

7.      Remove cake from the oven; invert the pan until completely cool. Loosen the cake around the edges and middle of the pan; remove insert; loosen the bottom of the cake from the pan and invert onto a cake plate for serving.

 
I hope you guys enjoy this cake. Make it tonight!

What's your favorite type of cake?

I personally love angel food cake, ice cream cake or sponge cake. My most favorite are the ones from the Chinese bakery! I really don't like cakes that are too sweet. 

Do you prefer having your cakes decently sweetened or really sweet?

Chocolate Banana Brownies

I love brownies. They are one of my most favorite desserts. 

What I don't like about them is that they are normally not healthy. So, what does a girl do when she wants brownies? Make a more healthier version of it, of course. 

Don't get me wrong. Brownies are unhealthy, but they are okay to eat in moderation. To make them healthier, make a few substitutions and it'll still taste good. Here's the recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3 cups confectioners sugar (2 cups regular sugar, or use raw sugar. The confectioners sugar has cornstarch added to it, hence, the more you need to add for the same amount of sweetness)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, protein powder, sugar and baking powder. 
3. In another bowl, mix together the bananas, peanut butter and milk. 
4. Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients while mixing. 
5. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. 
6. Bake for 40 minutes. 
7. Take it out, let it cool and enjoy. 

I hope you guys enjoy these brownies! 

What recipe would you like me to "healthify"? 

Do you like the combination of chocolate and banana?

Stay tuned for a really simple pizza recipe (Don't worry. You don't have to make your own pizza dough). It'll be up later this week. I made it yesterday and it was yummy! 

Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies (gluten free and flourless)

You must try these cookies. Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies, that is. I made them and they taste so good!

What I really like about these cookies (besides it being delicious!) is that it uses simple ingredients. You won't believe it. Almond butter, eggs, honey, dark chocolate (if you want to add it) and baking powder. The baking powder part is not necessary, but I like how it makes the cookies expand more. 

I was really surprised that they solidified after baking. They have no flour in them. But they turned out pretty good. You can't tell it's flourless and the texture is very similar to a regular cookie. They are chewy. 

I guess I should give you guys the recipe now. Here it is. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond butter (I used the freshly ground one from the store)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking powder
• chopped pieces of dark chocolate (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl (except the chocolate) until it's smooth and creamy. 
3. Fold in the chocolate. 
4. Drop tablespoon size balls of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. This made 12 cookies. 
5. Take out, let them cool and enjoy! 

I hope you guys enjoy these cookies.

In non-food related news, I still have a bruise from getting my blood drawn on Wednesday. It's always so hard to find the vein. They sometimes have to poke me a few times until they find one. I could go into more detail on that but I'll save you guys from the details.

Adios!

Have you made flourless cookies before?
What's your experience getting your blood drawn?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Whole Wheat Cookies

Hey hey everyone! How are you guys doing? Well, I'm doing fine, thank you very much. My first year of college ended like a week or two ago. I can't believe how fast it went! Time flew by so quickly! I definitely have to say that my 2nd semester was much better than my first. I will write a reflection (or do a vlog) about my first year of college. Hopefully soon, but we'll see.

Anyway, I'm here today to share this peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe with you. As you know, I love sweets. I also love cookies. Chocolate chip cookies, that is. However, I didn't want to make a full batch of cookies. So, I improvised and it resulted in 7 decent sized cookies. They taste pretty good too! They're almost all gone (whoops..). Anyway, I guess it's not all MY fault. My siblings love cookies too.

So, here's the recipe for the cookies. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup (or less) chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup white sugar*
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoon peanut butter 
• 1 egg

*You can also use 2 tablespoon brown sugar and 2 tablespoon white sugar instead. 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, olive oil, peanut butter and egg. 
3. Sift together the flour and baking powder and add it to the wet ingredients. 
4. Form 2 tablespoon shape balls and place them on a baking sheet. 
5. Bake for 10-11 minutes. 
6. Take the out, let them cool and enjoy!

It's that simple to make! 

I also baked some whole wheat chocolate chip banana muffins yesterday and my brother loves them! He says I'm the best baker ever. I guess it's because I put a lot of chocolate chips in them and he loves chocolate chips. Here's a picture of the muffins and here's the link the recipe (using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour). 

Do you like chocolate chip cookies?

Do you try to "healthify" unhealthy foods? 

Protein Chocolate Cake

Hey hey everyone. How are you guys doing today? I can be better. I'll talk more about it later. But, for right now, it's protein chocolate cake time. Who doesn't love chocolate cake?

What I love about this cake is that it's healthier than other chocolate cakes. You also get protein from it too. You won't regret making it.

 So, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup protein powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp coffee granules (instant coffee)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup agave
• 1 banana, mashed

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Sift together the protein powder, cocoa powder, baking powder and coffee granules. 
3. In another bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. 
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix.
5. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray. 
6. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. 
7. Let it cool and enjoy. 

I hope you guys like this cake recipe. It's healthy and delicious! The texture is a little bit different but the taste is great! 

Anyway, I have two more finals tomorrow. It's my bio final and my family and social issues class final. Wish me luck! This week has been crazy! I'll talk more about it later. 

Do you guys like chocolate cake?

Do you like taking exams?

They're so stressful because of all the studying I have to do!

Secretly Healthy Mocha Vegan Brownies

I know. I know. I've posted a lot of vegan brownie recipes already.

The first one I posted was this one (click on the word) and my 2nd one was this one , which I personally like better than the first. Everyone that has made the 2nd one loves it! It also helps that it's fat free and mostly all healthy ingredients are used (except for the sugar).

Well, this one is a bit different. As you know, I baked cookies with avocados the other day. That inspired me to bake some brownies with avocados. I know. I'm getting obsessed with baking with avocados. Hey, avocados have healthy fats in them! It's better than using butter. Anyway, I plan on baking a cake or cupcakes with them. No one notices that avocados were used to make these baked goods! Trust me on that. I baked the brownies just last night and there's only one piece left, I think. Wait, there's no more.  My father ate a lot of them (yes, I'm also guilty of eating one too many, or two).

Anyway, I guess you guys really want the recipe now. Well, here you go.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup mashed avocado (about 1/2 of an avocado)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Cream together the avocado, oil and sugar. 
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. 
4. Pour into a greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
5. Let it cool and enjoy. 

I do warn you though, the bottom can get a bit sticky. These are more like fudgey brownies! You can bake them a little longer as long as they don't burn. Use the toothpick test.

I hope you guys enjoy these brownies. It's good to experiment once in a while with baking. You never know how the product will turn out. In this case, it turned out good!

I also had a fun day today but I'll talk more about that the next post. I watched a very educational movie. I'll leave it at that.

Do you like brownies?
Do you like watching educational shows or programs?

Whole Wheat Chocolate Sugar Cookies

You won't believe what are in these cookies. And, guess what? They taste great! If you're looking for a healthy cookie for people to enjoy, you've come to the right place. Here's the recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 small hass avocado
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. In a bowl, cream together the avocado, olive oil and brown sugar. 
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. 
4. Drop by 2 tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie pan. I just put it on aluminum foil. 
5. Bake for 13 minutes. 
6. Take out and enjoy. 

You won't believe that there are avocados in this recipe. Trust me. No one will notice. I suggest you guys make these the night before. They taste better after sitting overnight.

All of the taste testers said that these cookies were good. One of them was my professor and he says he's not very fond of avocados. All of them were surprised that there were avocados in them. I dare you to make these and test them on your friends and family.

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. I have finals coming up and I have to study. Then, it's summer vacation! Well, until my summer classes start.

Have you tried any desserts made with avocado?

Do you think it's weird to add avocados to desserts?

If you're in school right now, are you ready for summer break?

Healthified Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino

Hey hey everyone. How are you guys doing?

I'm doing great, thank you very much. I only have 2 more weeks of school left. Then, it's finals week! It's crazy because I have a debate for my sociology class on Thursday. Then, I also have a group psychology research project presentation coming up. There's also my psychology exam on Thursday.

Anyway, on the bright side, the weather has been great. It's been in the 90's all week. On the downside, it's going to get a bit colder now. But, as of right now, it's warm and it makes me want something cold to drink. So, I thought, why not a frappuccino? I thought about buying some from Starbucks, but they are so expensive. They are having the half of promotion right now but I don't want to waste all that money when I can make some right at home.

And, you know what? It's delicious! My brother even likes it. You can make it even healthier if you want to by substituting some ingredients. It'll still taste great. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk (any milk of choice)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (you can use dark chocolate chips or carob chips)
• 2 tablespoon chocolate syrup (I used the sugar free kind)
• 2 cups ice
• 2-3 tablespoon sugar
• whipped cream (optional, you can use the fat free kind if you want)

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients into the blender container. 
2. Blend until it's thick. 
3. Top with whipped cream if you want to and drizzle it with some more chocolate syrup, Enjoy! 

It's that simple! And, it tastes pretty good. My brother loves it! 

It's great to drink on a warm day. I love warm days. Shorts, tees, dresses and skirts. It's great! Once it gets warmer, I get to go swimming. I love swimming. The only thing is that I don't like getting tanner than I am right now. I'll have to deal with it though. It's not that bad. I was born tan. It's probably due to my dad's farming genes. He was born in a village in China and they were farmers. 

Anyway, my week has been alright. I've been lifting weights, doing cardio, studying, doing homework and hanging out with friends. 

My breakfast as of late has been oatmeal with pb2, chocolate chips, truvia and ground cinnamon. I drink coffee with this. Sometimes, I use real peanut butter instead or I add in apples. It depends on my mood. Here's an ugly picture: 

By the way, the Trader Joe's Spicy Black Bean Dip is alright. I feel that there's too bit much of a vinegar taste to it. It took forever to open the jar. It was on too tight so I had use a knife to go under the lid to get rid of some of the air. The Trader Joe's  dark chocolate with raisins and pecans was a disappointment. I didn't like the taste of it. My favorite Trader Joe's brand items so far are the Cookie Butter and their almond milk. Yummy!

Here are a lot of other items I've tried. 

 This is Annie's Light Honey Mustard Dressing. I love that it's all Natural. There's no artificial flavoring or preservatives that are bad for the body. It also tastes good! It doesn't taste healthy at all.

 The Unreal candy is so good! Sure, the color isn't that pretty but it tastes like regular M&M's. It's healthier though. No GMOs, no high fructose corn syrup and no artificial coloring. I also bought the Yes2 blueberry wipes stuff so that I can use it to clean my face after my workouts.

 I've been using the baby spinach in my salads with black bean burgers. The pretzel chips were alright.

The LUNA Bar Carrot Cake is new and I love it! It's like a chewy carrot cake without all the fat. There's not much of a frosting like the regular carrot cake but the actual cake part is spot on!

I ate this whole bag of sweet potato chips before my night class on Thursday. It was so good! Good thing it wasn't regular potato chips, right? Haha. Don't judge me. I'm trying to make myself feel better. 

What made me feel even worse is that I went to Ecogrounds during the 15 minute break and bought the Mocha Javalanche. At least I said no whipped cream and asked for soy milk instead of the regular milk they use. It was a bit too sweet. It was hot that night and I needed the energy to stay awake. 

I also tried Starbucks Java Chip Light  Frappuccino. It was so good! 

Yesterday, I stopped by Fluid, the coffee shop where I go nearly every week when I go to work. I bought their Zen Smoothie, which is a green tea smoothie. They used soy ice cream in it! I also bought their oatmeal cookie, which had coconut, white chocolate chips and some dried fruit in it. It was so good and chewy. the smoothie had too much soy ice cream in it. I couldn't taste much of the green tea. Here's how both of the items look:

Well, I guess that's it. I just finished typing up my history paper and now, I have to work on my debate. I'll see you guys next time. My next post will be about school lunches.

How was your week?

What's your favorite thing to eat or drink when the weather gets hot?

Peanut Butter Agave Protein Balls

Hey hey everyone. How are you guys today? It's my first official day of Spring Break and guess what? It's spent at home, relaxing.
I guess it's okay, even though I'd like to travel instead. I want to visit Spain, China, Hawaii or some other places. Anyway, I'm satisfied that I've been pretty much productive on my first day of break. I finished writing my history paper and I ran 6 miles today. For my history paper, I had to read Slaughterhouse Five and write a response paper to it. As for my running, I had to run on the treadmill. It was okay though. I wasn't even planning running that long but I guess I just kept going since I was listening to my favorite songs.
Anyway, I'm here to post this recipe, my Peanut Butter Agave Protein Balls. I just made them recently and they are delicious and addicting. If you add dark chocolate chips, it tastes even better (well, if you like chocolate, that is). These still taste great just as is. So, here's the recipe.

Servings: ~ 21 peanut butter agave balls
Calories: ~ 70 calories each

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup agave
• 1 cup oats
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream together the agave and the peanut butter. 
2. Mix in the oats, protein powder and ground cinnamon. 
3. Form into balls and place on a plate.
4. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 
5. Enjoy!

I hope you guys enjoy the protein balls. 

So, the past weekend has been fun. On Saturday, I went to Starbucks and In-N-Out Burger. It was fun and it was nice. It's been such a long time since I last ate a cheeseburger. I felt like a pig eating it but it was alright. I ordered the White Chocolate Mocha with Soymilk from Starbucks.

Yesterday, I went to Six Flags with the family. It was fun. I'm just scared now, since for the roller coasters that go upside down, it doesn't feel that secure. The safety belt is kind of loose on me. Other than that, I love roller coasters. 

I also ordered the Shamrock Shake from McDonald's after spending a few hours at Six Flags. 

It actually looked somewhat like the actual picture. The cherry looked fake though. I didn't eat the cherry. However, the rest of the shake tasted like a vanilla milk shake with mint flavor mixed in. It wasn't bad. It looked kind of cool since it's green but it's not something I would order again. I just wanted to try it since it's only available in March. 

After, my family and I went shopping and I bought these heels. 

I know, I bought heels on Saturday but I couldn't resist buying these. They were only 10 dollars! They look good on me too. I'm getting obsessed with heels now. Well, maybe it's because I'm short....Anyway, I just hope I don't trip while walking with them on. They're 5 inch heels. The other pair is 4 inch. 

Also, I've been using this No. 7 Total Renewal Micro-dermabrasion Exfoliator

I actually really like this product. After using it, it makes my skin feel softer and smoother. My acne also is looking better too. I'm not breaking out that much and I've been using it for a couple weeks. 

I guess that's it for now.

So, do you like writing papers?

What's your favorite type of shoe?

What exercise do you do?

Chocolate Crescent Rolls

 I actually created this post last year on January 4, 2012. I thought I had published it but it turns out I didn't. Since I'm so busy, here's the post. Enjoy! You can make these for Valentine's Day. ;) 

Hey you guys. What's up? Today, I decided to make Chocolate Crescent Rolls. We bought the crescent rolls from Costco a while back, and we needed to use it up. I decided to look up recipes using these rolls, and this recipe came up. I guess I purposely looked for a dessert like recipe, since I love sweets. I also love chocolate. Yummy dark chocolate. This was my first time making this, and I'm pretty satisfied with the results. They were devoured right away. I guess because these are quite addicting, even with the use of dark chocolate chips. Anyways, my siblings love these and I do plan on making them again. But, this time, I may add some other things to, like peanut butter or marshmallows. It'd be cool to make smores. So, here's the simple recipe.

Ingredients: 

• 1 -  8oz crescent rolls
• chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)
• powdered sugar (optional)

Directions: 

1. Open the container and unroll the dough. Split into 8 triangles. It should be precut. 
2. On the fat end of the triangle, add as many chocolate chips as you want. Then, you roll it up. Do this with the rest of the triangle dough. 
3. If you want, before adding the chocolate chips, add some peanut butter. Then add the chocolate chips. 
4. Bake at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown. 
5. Take out and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy.