Kulinarya April Challenge: Polvoron

Hurray for this month's Kulinarya challenge... Polvoron!!!

This sweet and uberly easy treat is very close to my heart as I have been making these since elementary school! I used to sell these together with other delightful Filipino goodies such as yema (dulce de leche), cheese sticks and ube(purple yam) candies. So when I knew that this will be for April's challenge, my first reaction was "oh yeah!!!

Now, Polvoron comes in many variations. The classic which doesn't have any add-ons and mainly consists of four ingredients- toasted flour, butter, sugar and powdered milk. Other flavored variations include cookies and cream, pinipig, cashew, chocolate and durian. Yes, durian polvoron which is obviously native here in Davao City as we have quiet an all-year round harvest of durian, geezzz you have to make durian flavored with just about anything ei! =)

I don't have any written recipe for this as it is super easy, even my toddler can do it, but of course I won't let him just yet as it involves some cooking in the stove.

My recipe is 1:1:.5:.5, super easy to remember right?

Some said it's better than Goldilocks, so try it yourself if you share the same verdict, and of course, don't forget to let me know. =)

Instead of using one type of powdered milk, I combined skim milk and buttermilk which made it more creamier.

Polvoron 1155

1 cup All Purpose Flour (APF)

1/2 or .5 cup butter non-salted

1 cup powdered milk (half skim milk and half of buttermilk)

1/2 or .5 cup white fine sugar

Add-ons: Optional

1 small pack Oreo Cookies (3 cookies)

1/4 cup cashew nuts chopped finely

1/4 cup pinipig

Procedure:

Turn heat to medium. Melt butter in a shallow pan.

Lower the heat, add APF, toast until light brown. Stir continously as flour tend to burn very easily.

Add powdered milk and sugar. Stir for the next 2 minutes to combine. Turn off the heat.

I divided this classic polvoron into three equal parts and placed in bowls and made a variation of cashew and cookies and cream and of course classic polvoron. Just stir in the add-on of your choice.

Mold using polvoron press and wrap individually with chinese paper. I "lost" my polvoron press and so I ended up using the measuring cups instead for the design in the picture. The 1/4 cup worked really well. Invert and just lightly tap the bottom of the cup and let the gravity do the rest.

Enjoy the buttery and milky goodness of Polvoron!

Read more...

Strawberry and Ricotta Cheese Crepes with Balsamic Sauce

I think I am loving too much pancakes these days. A week ago, I made Cherry Ricotta cheese Pancakes and although it was delicious, I still prefer traditional pancakes, not too light. I love my carbo. =)

Because I still have ricotta cheese left, I thought of making ricotta filled crepes. Crepes are basically very thin pancakes. I feel a little bit guilty of eating too much pancakes so what a nice excuse to eat the french version of it. =P

Then, I went to the local store and found fresh organic and locally-produced strawberries. What a perfect combination! It was indeed! Drizzled with balsamic vinegar sauce, it is a match made in heaven. Simple but heavenly.=)

Strawberries and Ricotta Cheese Crepes with Balsamic Sauce

Crepes

1 c All purpose Flour/Cake Flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup evaporated or fresh milk

2 whole medium eggs

1/4 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon rind

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Set Aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg one at a time until well incorporated. Pour in vanilla and lemon rind. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Mix well just until smooth and no lumps.

Over medium heat, grease griddle with a little butter.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter.

Once the top starts to bubble, lift the edge with a pallete knife to see if it’s turned golden brown, flip it over and cook the other side which should only take about half a minute.

Strawberries and Ricotta Cheese Filling

5 pieces of Strawberries sliced (macerate with 3 tbsp demerara sugar & 2 tsps lemon juice)

extra strawberries for garnish

1/2 c ricotta cheese

1/2 c whipped cream

1/2 c lemon/orange yogurt

1 tbsp sugar

Combine ingredients until well blended.

Spoon over crepe and roll. Drizzle with balsamic sauce and dust with icing/confectioner's sugar. Garnish with sliced strawberries.

Breakfast served!

Read more...

Lemon Pancakes for the mohawk-haired Baby Boy

First of all, I would like to give credit to my mom, who makes the best pancakes! I have never ever eaten pancakes as good as hers. I've been making these babies over and over again however I can't seem to do it exactly the way my mom does. There's really something about our mothers "cooking" that we can't seem to duplicate. Even if I use the same ingredients, it just doesn't seem to end up like hers which in a way has led me to stick with my own version. =)

Our son, Orlov, loves pancakes too! We used to have this for breakfast after an early morning walk at the park. Although when I was still at home, I used to just make a simple pancake recipe and top it with store-bought maple/honey syrup. Fruits on pancakes isn't as common back home. I'm trying to add different flavor/fruit each time so that when I come home, he would enjoy a different twist on one of his favorites.

Lemon Pancakes with Honey Lemon Syrup

1.5 cups All purpose Flour/Cake Flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup evaporated or fresh milk
2 whole medium eggs
1/4 stick unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon rind

1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Set Aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg one at a time until well incorporated. Pour in vanilla, lemon rind and lemon juice.

Gradually add the dry ingredients. Mix well just until smooth and no lumps.
Over medium heat, grease griddle with a little butter. Pour about 2 tablespoons of batter. Once the top starts to bubble, lift the edge of the pancake with a pallete knife to see if it’s turned golden brown, flip it over and cook the other side which should only take about half a minute.

Honey Lemon Syrup

2 tsps butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix together and warm over low heat stirring constantly.

Pour over stacked pancakes and garnish with lemon wedges.

I also made this using an orange. Just substitute the lemon with orange or any other fruit of your choice. Garnish with orange sections and/or whipped cream.

Now, shall we eat pancakes?

Read more...