I get excited about the Super Bowl and I get a little mushy for Valentine’s Day, but the February tent-pole event/holiday that I am absolutely most stoked about is the Oscars. Having seen all the best picture nominated movies this year, I am predicting that The Artist will win best picture this year, with The Descendants as a close rival.

Last year, I had a clear favorite movie which was The King’s Speech. This year, I can’t exactly pinpoint which one is my favorite… the movie that I enjoyed the most just as a regular moviegoer, not as a hyper-critical film enthusiast. I do have a top three list though, and in no particular order: The Artist, Midnight in Paris, and The Descendants. Loved all these films tremendously but just can’t point my finger to the absolute numero uno. However, last year around this time, I had already established my three favorite films, and this is in order: The King’s Speech, 127 Hours, Black Swan. Toy Story 3 was my fourth in case you were curious.

My sister-in-law is hosting her annual Academy Awards viewing party and attendees have to make/bring a dish inspired by the best picture nominated movies. Perhaps some Black and White Cookies for The Artist? Make Chocolate Éclairs for Midnight in Paris? How about Cream Scones with jam for War Horse? Baseball-shaped cookies for Moneyball or homemade Cracker Jack? Oh the dilemma. I’ll share on the next post what I end up making. Prize awaits for the most creative, most inspired dish. Very eager to take that prize home… whatever it may be.

I thought of reinventing this Blueberry-Pear Pistachio Tart I made not too long ago for the much-awaited Oscars viewing party. The twist was to transform the tart to a pie in honor of The Help’s nomination. I brewed the idea in my head for several days and decided that I want to challenge myself and come up with a dish inspired by The Tree Of Life. Gulp. This trippy movie directed by Terence Mallick is chock-full of imagery, a little non-linear, and honestly a little too long. It tells the story of a boy’s relationship with his father through his childhood memories while intertwining rich images of how the world started and how it became what it is now. Any ideas on what I should make to commemorate the brilliance of this film in the form of edible food? Baking a tree-shaped cake or bread is a total cop-out – although playing with the title seems to be the only viable option I can manage to come up with right now. I’ll share on the next post what my imaginative mind can whip up. Don’t get your hopes up, I might end up with a pie.

Focusing our attention back on this gorgeous tart. This uses pre-made puff pastry dough (please don’t judge) smeared with homemade pistachio paste and topped with sliced pears, blueberries, and chopped pistachios. Making puff pastry from scratch is a big task. Last time I made homemade puff pastry was culinary school days (about four years ago) and since then, I haven’t rekindled my relationship with the sometimes daunting puff pastry. It really is all about technique. It isn’t daunting once you have the technique down. I remember my chef instructor lauding my flaky puff pastry layers when we made Brie En Croute and Napoleons. That was a great feeling. But if you are pressed for time and can’t make puff pastry from scratch, like myself most days, you can opt to use a pre-made but high quality brand like Dufour and still have satisfying results.

Blueberry-Pear Pistachio Tart

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts

Yield: One 17-by-9-inch rectangular tart

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted and shelled raw pistachios, toasted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 large whole egg, plus 1 large egg yolk, for egg wash

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

All-purpose flour, for dusting

1 box store-bought puff pastry, thawed

3 to 4 Bartlett or Bosc pears, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 cup of blueberries

1 tablespoon heavy cream, for egg wash

1 to 2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

1/4 cup apricot jam

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine 1 cup of pistachios and the granulated sugar. Add in the butter and process until paste forms. Add whole egg, vanilla, and salt; process to combine.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out and trim puff pastry to 17-by-9-inch rectangle. If you are using 2 smaller puff pastry rectangles (like Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry), you can overlap the edges and seal with water to make a bigger piece of dough and then roll it out. Gently lift and transfer the dough to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (if necessary, trim the edges that got stretched out when you lifted the dough to make it look even).

3. Using an offset spatula, spread the pistachio mixture evenly over dough, leaving a 3/4 inch border.

4. Position short end of the rectangle nearest you. Arrange pear slices in two vertical rows on top of the pistachio paste, alternating the direction of the pears in each row (check the photos above), then scatter blueberries on top of the pears. Fold in edges of dough and crimp using your index finger. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400°F.

5. Whisk together the egg yolk and cream in a small bowl. Brush the edges of the tart with the egg wash. Chop remaining 1 tablespoon pistachios and sprinkle on top, followed by the turbinado sugar. Bake until crust is deep golden brown and fruit is juicy, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool.

6. While tart is cooling, combine jam with 1 1/2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until softened and loose, about 2 minutes. Brush the apricot glaze over the pears and blueberries. Serve tart warm or room temperature.

Web freedom won… at least for now. The force of the entire online community was so impressive the past few days that SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) votes have been shelved indefinitely. No imminent Wikipedia shutdowns and no closing down of sites without due process in the near future until the bills are both revisited again possibly later this year. So thank you, if you participated in one way or another, in the mass online protest earlier this week. We can enjoy all the web content out there with great freedom.

Be in the know. Here’s a really good Gizmodo article about what SOPA means to you and me.

In the spirit of this temporary web victory, and big hopes to having a ‘perfectly-imperfect’ online privileges for all, I leave you with Dorie Greenspan’s much-loved World Peace Cookies. The recipe for these cookies have been published multiple times online and in-book (magazines and baking books alike). I wouldn’t be surprised if you had made these superb chocolate cookies a thousand times over in your lifetime.

These cookies shine because of the “generous” amount of fleur de sel in the dough. I don’t mean generous like  A LOT but it has a good amount of salt compared to other cookie recipes. In her book, Baking From My Home To Yours, it asks for 1/2 teaspoon of fleur de sel. But she also gave a substitute of 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt if you don’t have fleur de sel sitting in your pantry… I know they can be a little pricey. I used gray sea salt when I made my batch and it was divine.

I also made these cookies during the holidays and my family went nuts for them. We drank hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows to wash down the cookies for our post-Christmas dinner treats. Just perfection.

World Peace Cookies by Dorie Greenspan recipe as published by American Public Media (The Splendid Table) and by Bon Appetit. Or get the printed version here.

*Dorie warns that the cookie rounds may start to crack as you slice your cookie log… just patch the bits back to the cookie and everything will be fine. Trust Dorie.

Fresh cranberries are usually available from October to December. If you’re lucky, availability might even bleed into January. I’m a hoarder when it comes to kitchen supplies and ingredients – cans of pumpkin purée, 250-count parchment sheets, and two-pound bags of Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate discs from Surfas to name a few. So this season, I started stocking up on fresh cranberries before they are all gone… I just throw them in the freezer if I won’t be using them right away.

A delectable dish to make using fresh cranberries is an upside-down cake. I’m sure some of you have upside-down cake recipes that track all the way back to your grandparents, or your sassy aunt makes a version whenever there’s a family barbeque. Dust off that recipe card because you might want to experiment swapping out the classic pineapple rings with ruby-red cranberries.

This Cranberry Upside-Down Cake is from Cook’s Illustrated (one of my favorite recipe sources to try and test). The cake uses a separated egg method. The yolks are added with the rest of the ingredients while the whites are beaten separately until soft peaks are formed. The whites are then folded into the batter resulting to a firm cake (to hold all that cranberry topping) but with a light crumb.

There are a lot of batter recipes out there for upside-down cakes. One that I really like is the addition of cornmeal in the dry ingredients. It gives the batter a slight nutty texture which works well with stone fruits. This one, however, uses blanched slivered almonds that’s been ground to a fine powder.

When baked, the cake looks like it’s adorned with sparkling gems. And it glistens with the addition of this cranberry reduction, almost like a caramel sauce. This sweet reduction helps add balance to the tart cranberries. Not too sweet, not too sour. There’s still a mild pucker – but guaranteed with a smile.

If you are not yet a member of Cook’s Illustrated, you must. It’s a gift you can give yourself for 2012. Tons of kitchen tips, tested recipes, and equipment ratings. Since I didn’t make any adjustments to the cake, I will not post the recipe on this blog but you can access it here with their 14-day free trial.

Happy MLK weekend and let’s see if Tim Tebow makes it past Tom Brady. #NFL

Four days spent in Baja for New Year’s celebrations is becoming a boisterous but endearing family tradition. This is the 2nd year we spent New Year’s Eve at my husband’s family’s beach house in Las Gaviotas, a cobbled-street private beach community in Rosarito, Mexico. Weather was insanely cold. Not what we had hoped for but it was kind of ethereal with the dense fog and chilly atmosphere (although driving in the thickest fog you can imagine was nerve-wracking).

Spending New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with the entire immediate Diaz clan was endearingly boisterous (I think I mentioned that), being surrounded by four little ones not lacking in energy and spirit and tears. I absolutely love spending time with my three nephews and my niece. You can get them to play any game you can think of with vigor and laughter. However, no matter how fun it starts, it usually ends pretty ugly. One fights the other and crying ensues… then screeching and then throwing of random things. Ahhh, the joys of being a kid… a carefree spirit and a free pass to do irrational outcry in a snap of a finger. Something us adults wish we could still do.

But no matter how many times they wail over the most ridiculous things, my nephews and my niece are way too adorable to easily get exasperated about.

The one dessert that caused a bit of a stir with the kiddies not too long ago was these Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting I made for my father-in-law’s birthday. As soon as they saw Nilla wafers on top, each one wanted a piece even before the birthday celebrant had a chance to see them (or eat one).

Karen DeMasco’s The Craft of Baking had a recipe for Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream. It looked really yummy but I thought the peanut butter frosting would be too rich (I also made a Chocolate Espresso Cake for the birthday party). Having been in the mood for banana pudding at that time (I just had Magnolia Bakery’s Banana Pudding the week before and it blew my mind because it was soooooo good), I decided to swap out the peanut butter with vanilla frosting to recreate the banana pudding flavors I was still craving seven days later. Ergo, the Nilla wafer topper on each cupcake. Ta da!

Everyone enjoyed these cupcakes very much – kids and adults alike. The banana flavor was prominent and the cakes were ultra moist. The vanilla-flavored frosting worked incredibly well against the banana cupcakes… it did not compete with the banana flavor, in fact, it enhanced it a thousand percent.

What’s good about this dessert is that you can make it year-round. It’s true that I am a sucker for seasonal baking but sometimes you need go-to recipes you can make in a flash with accessible ingredients and crowd-pleasing results. This is one of them.

Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

Adapted from Karen DeMasco’s The Craft of Baking. I recommend that you purchase her book (via Amazon or Barnes & Noble or other book stores), it’s totally worth it. This recipe makes 12 standard-sized cupcakes while frosting makes about 4 cups (depending on how generous you are, there might be some leftover frosting).

Cupcake Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

3/4 cup to 1 cup mashed bananas (from 2 medium bananas)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Frosting Ingredients:

3 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 Nilla wafers as topping

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your standard 12-cup muffin tins with cute cupcake liners.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and grapeseed oil. Whisk in the mashed bananas, egg, egg yolk, buttermilk, and vanilla.

3. In another bowl (or over a piece of parchment paper like I do), sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gently combine the flour mixture into the banana mixture with a whisk. Do not overmix. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them three-quarters full (as most bakers, I like to use an ice cream scoop so they are even in size). Bake, rotating halfway, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely while you make the frosting.

4. Beat the room temperature butter in an electric mixer until pale and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

5. With the mixer on low, add the sifted confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer. Beat the mixture thoroughly after each addition and scrape down bowl. In between additions, mix the butter in medium to high-speed for a few seconds to fluff the frosting and inject some air. It will look aerated and fluffy after all the sugar has been added.

6. Add in the vanilla and mix until completely smooth.

7. Place the vanilla frosting in a piping bag with a small round tip attached (I used Ateco #806). Pipe the frosting in a circular way on top of the completely cooled cupcakes (or feel free to frost however style you want). Finish each frosted cupcake with Nilla wafers on top.

*Frosting can be refrigerated for about a week in an airtight container if you want to prepare ahead of time. Just bring it down to room temperature and beat in the mixer for a few minutes until smooth and spreadable. Assembled cupcakes can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days… just leave out the Nilla wafer because it will get soggy in the fridge (just top a new one when you serve).

First off, a belated Merry Christmas to all of you! The last two months have been insane… both good and bad. The parties and family gatherings have been a blast. Loved ones, alcohol, music, and good food are truly the four essentials to a great party. But as much fun and great laughs we had during this memorable holiday season, we can’t help but morosely look back at the loss of my grandmother and my husband’s.

The hustle and bustle that comes along the busy month of December proved to be a nice distraction from our recent losses. Trips to the always-crowded malls, frustrating lines at the grocery stores, fighting for limited parking spots, waiting at the post office only to find out they ran out of holiday stamps, and countless emails/calls to a favorite retailer because they messed up my online order. Yup, the stress of Christmas surely reminded me to be more like our grandmas – to remember to not sweat the small stuff.

Despite the craziness, I sure hope you all got to spend quality time with your loved ones. That you continued with family holiday traditions even if one important person isn’t there anymore to celebrate with you.

I want to leave with the Fire Truck Cake I made for my nephew’s birthday in November, before Erik’s Abuelita passed. Even though she was already too weak to join us for Landon’s birthday party, I knew that she would have been so impressed with this cake.

My sister-in-law’s theme for his 2nd birthday was fire trucks. So I was tasked to make a fire truck cake to go along her flame cupcakes. I have to say, this cake was heavily inspired by Heather of Heather Drive Blog. She made a Fire Truck Cake herself that was so awesome, I pretty much used her fire truck cake advice and ideas to make mine. She was actually inspired by another blogger, Julie, of Peanut Butter and Julie, who also made a fire truck cake! I love how this cake has evolved from one person’s great imagination to the next. So thank you Heather and Julie! You guys are cake rock stars!

My cake is homemade Vanilla Genoise with orange syrup and Orange Buttercream. Since this cake is so labor-intensive, I say forget about making your cake and frosting from scratch, feel free to use a boxed cake and store-bought icing because you will need a lot of time to assemble this cake. Trust me, do that if you want to save time. I made my cake and frosting from scratch… well, because that’s my preference, even though I had to stay up all night to finish the cake (especially after a long night at work). In the end, the kids will just poke the cake, eat off the icing and pretty much destroy it, which at that point, the adults will say, “no thank you” to the cake since it’s been touched and abused by the little ones. It’s probably also extra slick by the time the candle blowing scene has taken place… you have seen drool when kiddies fight to blow the candles, right? I don’t have kids but I know that legitimately happens (#truestory). That’s why you have extra goodies, like cupcakes or shots of tequila, to keep the adults happy.

Proof that kids poke whatever's on the table

Have a happy new year y’all!

Pardon my absence. My hectic and demanding work has usually been the culprit of my semi-hiatus here. I think now it’s obvious that my MIA status is because I badly miss my two favorite people in this world.

*Also remembering Erik’s Abuelita Lupe who we lost 2 years ago at the alarming age of 86 as well. Another dynamic woman and another favorite person.

We love you fair ladies in heaven. Keep us safe.

I’m sure we’ve all noticed that traffic is back to sucking again. Driving in Los Angeles during rush hour is the worst thing of my daily work routine, next to retrieving voice mails that are 3 minutes long. When my commute to work transitions from 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes, it means that school is back in session and fall is here before you know it. I dream of one day only commuting for under 30 minutes or using a well-designed public transportation system that can take me to work and back. That dream might take years to happen granted I live in Southern California (sigh).

As a warm welcome to fall, I made this very simple yet visually stimulating Fig Cake. Making this cake wasn’t only a kitchen homage to baking fall-inspired dishes but it was also a celebration cake for my mom who triumphantly went through two surgical operations in the last few months and kicked whatever tumor, lump, ball, or marble growing in her body to the curb. Yeah mother!

When we got the news that my mama had to do another surgery after her last one in May/June, I thought to myself, “what did they see this time that requires sharp scissors and anesthesia?” But in the back of my head, I am grateful that my mom’s doctor is so keen in applying all preventive measures to really make sure she’s cancer-free. There I said it, like Laura Linney’s character, Cathy, on The Big C would… no qualms about saying the C word out loud. In all seriousness, the entire universe was on our side and we are truly indebted that my mom is healthy and strong as can be.

So this Fig Cake was for my mom congratulating her on a victorious journey. It’s quite easy to make but the results are scrumptious tender cake slices topped with ripe poached figs. This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours which I so love. Filled with great recipes and interesting back stories for almost every recipe… such a fun read. Dorie is such an icon to me. An impressive baker and an accomplished food writer. What I love about her is she’s very relatable. Someone you want to spend an entire day in the kitchen. She’s successful and yet she plays her success with humility and grace.

This cake screams Dorie in my opinion… no-fuss, simple, elegant, satisfying. The one itty-bitty change I did to her recipe is substituting the ruby port with rum as poaching liquid for the figs. I like port and I know how it perfectly goes well with desserts but when I made this, I was more in the mood for rum. Not only do I like rum on certain desserts (i.e. rum-soaked plump raisins for my banana bread or a boozy baba-au-rhum), I also like rum as my liquid strength (wink wink) in special occasions. Rum and Diet Coke is one of my go-to cocktails when I just want to sip something tasty and not get blitzed. =)

I also added more lemon slices to the poaching liquid and I did not cook the liquid until it got significantly reduced – to drizzle as sauce on the side of the cake. I just didn’t want the cake to be overpowered with booziness and sweetness. Instead of the sauce, I went for a heaping scoop of good vanilla ice cream and I was good to go. My mother, however, wanted more figs.

Fig Cake

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home To Yours. Makes one 9-inch cake.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dark rum

1 cup honey, separated into two 1/2 cups

Lemon slices from 1/2 lemon

Fresh figs, about 18 to 20, stemmed and halved

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

Grated zest from 1/2 lemon

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter cut into small pieces, room temperature

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the rum, 1/2 cup honey, lemon slices, and 1/4 cup of water until combined. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Once boiled, lower the heat and add the fresh figs. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, covered, or until the figs are soft and tender but not falling apart. Drain the figs and transfer to a bowl to slightly cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter or baking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper and grease again then dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

3. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix for a minute or two to extract the oils from the zest. Add the butter and beat on medium speed until creamed, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute for each addition. Mix in the remaining 1/2 cup of honey and vanilla and beat for another minute or two.

4. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix. Scrape the thick batter into the pan and spread evenly using a spatula. Scatter the cooled poached figs on top.

5. Place the pan on top of a baking sheet and bake for 55 minutes or until the cake is springy and golden brown. Use a toothpick to insert in the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done.

6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a paring knife or a small offset spatula around the cake before releasing the sides of the pan. Cool completely. Serve with good vanilla ice cream. Cake keeps at room temperature for 2-3 days covered.

Ripe peaches are still abundant at my farmers market about this time in September at 69 cents a pound. Yes, 69 cents a pound. You can’t help but be a bit giddy like Cosmo Kraemer where he raved about  the fictional Mackinaw peaches from Oregon that are only ripe for 2 weeks in a year. I think that’s my first ever Seinfeld reference on this blog which is odd because I can pretty much cite parallelisms about my life and Seinfeld… and FRIENDS… and Curb Your Enthusiasm. #tvaddict

So before summer is officially over, head to your market and buy extra more peaches to make this wonderfully easy Peach Cake. Cook’s Illustrated has been my bible this past summer. I hosted an epic BBQ gathering at my house not too long ago for my rowdy yet harmless friends and I used a handful recipes from Cook’s to serve at my party. One of which was this delightfully rustic cake that I served with sweetened crème fraiche and crème Chantilly (sweetened vanilla whipped cream). I thought the use of dried peaches (or dried apricots as substitute) to sprinkle on top of this cake before topping the cake with fresh ripe peaches was brilliant because it helped prevent the fruit from sinking down. Whether it’s an end-of-summer party, or Sunday get-together with the family, or simply your afternoon snack (no I won’t judge if you eat this whole thing by yourself), this Peach Cake is fool-proof and wholesomely satisfying.

Ciao summer and bonjour fall!

This cake recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated. Since I did not adapt the recipe, and more so out of respect to their business model, here’s a link on how you can start a free trial to their membership to get access to the full recipe of this Peach Cake.

I’ve said it here before that I will include within the post recipes I adapted or recipes of my own (which I will admit I hardly do because my blog is not ad-supported and not generating money and I would like to leave it that way). For other recipes I only executed to test, I will source where the recipe came from (whether it came from a book, magazine article, web article, or fellow blogger) so you can buy their books or visit their site. As an advertising-for-my-day-job kinda person, I would hate to type the recipe for your ease of use without me adapting or without their permission. They deserve to get paid. Thanks and happy baking!

Summer really is equivalent to abundance. Abundance of sun and fun, get-togethers, travels, delicious seasonal menus, and with that, abundance of ripe summer produce. Rows of colorful peaches, pluots, nectarines, plums, apricots, cherries, and papayas are perfectly lined-up every Tuesday at our farmer’s market. Sprouts, my neighborhood market, usually puts berries on 2 for $5 sale per pint almost all summer-long. Clearly, our household consumes more fruit than ever in the peak of summer.

Before we get to the subject of this post (read title: Blueberry Crumble), I wanna just share with you my amazing trip to Chicago back in late July. Despite the torturous heat and humidity, Bearik and I had a blast. We walked a lot, sweated a lot, ate very well, and was inspired by the city’s breathtaking landscape and architecture. It was my first time in the Windy City and it was love at first sight. Bus/rail system connected right next to the airport? Check. Dunkin’ Donuts on the street corner? Check (there’s no Dunkin’ Donuts in Los Angeles and they are my favorite donut chain followed by Winchell’s). Throng of Cubs and Fire fans on game day walking the streets and taking public transit? Check. Ease of traveling north to south again because of public transit? Check. Cheap eats? Check. Downright NOT pretentious bars? Check. It was an immediate attraction. I FELL IN LOVE WITH CHICAGO.

My summer’s been so rad. Later this month, we go beach camping at El Capitan for a full week. I guarantee you my nephews will go bananas waking up next to the beach every day and building sand castles for countless hours. I love the simplicity of camping as a vacation alternative. The simple joy of waking up with mother nature greeting you good morning, the comforting warmth of the sun mixed with the cool ocean breeze, the uncomplicated meals cooked over a portable stove and yet it’s the most delicious meal you’ll forever cherish because your loved ones are around you.

Okay, switching gears and back to subject of this post. I plan on serving this Blueberry Crumble on an upcoming end of summer BBQ party at my house with a bunch of close friends. This recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen‘s Backyard Barbecue issue and it couldn’t be any easier. I dig dessert recipes that don’t require use of an electric mixer or five spatulas or three baking sheets. I did use a food processor to make the crumble for ease but you can always rely on your pastry cutter or two butter knives if you want a sink free of kitchen appliances to wash.

The one slight adjustment I made to the recipe is to lessen the amount of sugar. My blueberries were already sweet and I found that following the recipe’s full 1/2 cup of sugar was a little too much on the sweet side. I lessened that to 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons instead. Think about it, you will also top this with vanilla ice cream, so you definitely don’t want your bowl of Blueberry Crumble cloyingly sweet. You can also add a smidgen of ground ginger to the crumble, but that’s optional. If you like spice, then I say go for it. The ATK recipe only used cinnamon which was also fine on its own.

Wishing you a couple more weeks of amazing weather and grand time with your loved ones… and maybe with a bowl of Blueberry Crumble in hand.

Blueberry Crumble

America’s Test Kitchen advises to not use instant cooking oats nor use frozen berries and I agree. Instant oats will result to a soft crumble and frozen berries will ooze out too much liquid. You want a gooey filling with a crunchy topping, not the opposite. Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt, split in half

5 cups fresh blueberries

2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Smidgen of ground ginger (optional)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. Tumble the berries into the bowl and gently coat with the sugar and cornstarch mixture. Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish and set aside.

2. In a food processor, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt to grind and process. Add your chilled butter pieces and pulse until big clumps form – about the size of a dime. Using your hands, pinch any powdery parts of the crumble. Top the blueberries evenly with the crumble mixture.

3. Bake the crumble until the blueberry filling is bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let it cool for at least half an hour and serve.

*You can make this one day ahead and keep fully cooled crumble in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap.

I am loving that summer is here! It’s been a gloomy June in Los Angeles and seeing feeling the temperature rise to 90-100 degrees now that July has kicked in tells me that it’s going to be one hot and kickin’ summer.

I’ve been very busy lately with the new job and all (actually still with the same company but now I moved on to a sister agency). I am adjusting back to having an insane commute – 1.5 hours each way – and adapting to the new environment. Advertising is a whirlwind. There are the perks and pseudo-glamorous side but there’s high-level stress that pierces you if you are not ready for it. Having hobbies and interests outside of advertising keeps me balanced and lucid. I’ve been playing a lot of tennis recently. In fact, I meet with a coach weekly to pump up my game even more. My husband is teaching me golf (to me, he’s the Rickie Fowler of the Diaz clan) and I devote weekend mornings to yoga.

Then there’s my love for baking which is slightly being challenged by my finicky oven. The guys at GE claim to have fixed it but every time I attempt to bake something, it decides to act up and not heat up to the right temperature. However, when Bearik uses it (for roast chicken or potatoes) it stinking works!??!!?? Why, oven? WHY? I think my oven hates my guts. I named her Olga for cussing purposes in the kitchen when she lets me down.

I baked these Cranberry Chocolate Scones for Father’s Day weekend. It took me two hours to get Olga (my oven) to preheat at the right temperature. Yeah, Olga still cooperates… but she has to throw a tantrum 1-2 hours before she decides to cooperate with you. Tolerance is mandatory for Olga, especially if you want your goodies made. I’ve perfected the virtue of patience, thanks to Olga.

Now back to the scones and let me just say that the two-hour preheating ordeal paid off. They were incredibly delicious and not dry at all. You are probably imagining hockey pucks right this moment but I beg you to get that image away from your head. These scones are light in texture and flavor, not dense like most ones out there. This recipe is adapted  from The Sono Baking Company Cookbook written by John Baricelli. If you watched Everyday Food on PBS before, then you’ll recognize his name. His bakery in Connecticut is also of the same name: The Sono Baking Company and Cafe.

John actually used sour cherries with the chocolate and he only used heavy cream as the fat/liquid ingredient. I slightly changed it by substituting sour cherries with cranberries (just because I had a lot in my pantry) and I used buttermilk/heavy cream ratio for my liquid ingredients. You will notice that there’s no butter in this recipe. I was worried too… I usually add a couple of tablespoons of butter into the mixture to add flakiness and boost flavor. But after eating one bite out of the baked scone, I didn’t even think about the absence of butter. It was so toothsome and satisfying and just the exact opposite of those brick looking (and tasting) scones you buy at coffee shops. Mmm mmm mmm.

Cranberry Chocolate Scones

Adapted from The Sono Baking Company Cookbook by John Baricelli. You can buy his amazing book here. The recipe calls for a lot of baking powder but have no fear. You want these puppies to rise especially with all the flour in the recipe. Makes 12 to 15 scones.

Ingredients:

5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for cutting

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Zest from 1/2 orange

3/4 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate

2 cups heavy cream, chilled, plus extra 1/4 cup for brushing tops of scones

3/4 cup buttermilk

Sanding sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and zest. Stir in the dried cranberries and chopped chocolate.

2. Add the heavy cream and half of the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and fold using your hands or a rubber scraper until the flour mixture has absorbed the cream and buttermilk. Add remaining buttermilk a little bit at a time until the dough starts to come together and there are no visible dry clumps.

3. Turn the dough into your work surface that’s been lightly floured. Ever so gently press and pat the dough with floured hands and form into a 1-inch thick round. Using a 2.5 inch to a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible, dipping the cutter into a small bowl of flour after each cut to prevent sticking. Lightly re-roll the scraps (don’t overwork it) and cut out more rounds. Place the cut scones about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

4. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375°F. Once scones are chilled, lightly brush the tops with remaining 1/4 cup cream and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Bake the scones for 25 to 30 minutes and until they are golden. Cool on your sheet pan for 5 – 10 minutes and then transfer the scones to a wire rack to completely cool.

Enjoy!