Calling Gwen!!!

[FrekeChild]

Oh my! I totally forgot Pars! I love Pars!!!

For Thai I like Siam Cafe on San Mateo.

Tres Leches is really hard to describe. I''m about to go look up to see if I can find any recipes in any of my books...

Have you tried the new Nob Hill restaurant? Nob Hill Bar and Grill They had a piece on it in the Lobo before school let out.

Oh and this is kind of odd, but I LOVE ZEA! I haven''t had anything in NM like their prime rib. Yum!

Ok. Off to look up a Tres Leches recipe.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/8/2008 10:28:29 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Oh my! I totally forgot Pars! I love Pars!!!

For Thai I like Siam Cafe on San Mateo.

Tres Leches is really hard to describe. I'm about to go look up to see if I can find any recipes in any of my books...

Have you tried the new Nob Hill restaurant? Nob Hill Bar and Grill They had a piece on it in the Lobo before school let out.

Oh and this is kind of odd, but I LOVE ZEA! I haven't had anything in NM like their prime rib. Yum!

Ok. Off to look up a Tres Leches recipe.

I have been to Pars, but it has been years! I went with some coworkers and this guy complained the whole time about sitting on the ground. hehe I did go to Siam Cafe once but I must have gotten something not so good, what do you get there? I do like I love Sushi and I love Japanese Kitchen. I try not to go to chains, if I can help it. hehe Never heard of Nob Hill Bar. I do like that Irish pub for a beer in Nob Hill

(I forget what it is called but it is close to Il Vicino).

 

[FrekeChild]

Oh I love Pars! But I love all food so that doesn't really matter much, I think.

At Siam Cafe I got some kind of curry chicken. It was pretty good-better than I was expecting. I don't remember the name but it had a yellowish coconut sauce and potatoes in it.

The Nob Hill Bar just opened maybe in April? I like the sweet potato fries from Kelly's at Nob Hill. Are you thinking of O'Neills for beer? (I think thats the name?) I love the martinis at Martini Grille-especially with blue cheese stuffed olives. Yum!!

I'm guessing you work downtown and that's how you know all the yummy restaurants down there. I have a tendency to try to avoid downtown at all costs. It seems like it's crazy busy during business hours and crazy busy at night when people are at the bars-otherwise it almost seems empty. BFs family owned a restaurant at 4th and the freeway-Dos Amigos, but they moved it up to Juan Tabo and changed the name to Mis Amigos. We go there when we're in the area. I think the old building is now a Wecks. Which I like sometimes, but it's always so busy that I tend to not bother.

I wish I could avoid chains, but BF is a fan of Applebees, so we usually go there at least once a month.

I found two recipes for Tres Leches cake, but I'll have to post them later because I have to get ready to go back to school tomorrow. One is regular (from The Joy Of Cooking) and the other is coconut/rum with strawberries and kiwi (from The Gourmet Cookbook). They both sound pretty awesome. I think it's kind of like bread pudding in the end texture, just not quite so eggy. I bet there is a Mexican bakery around somewhere that sells it-but I don't know how we'd find one....

ETA: did IndyGal come to NM yet? I'm guessing she's here now, I haven't seen any posts from her in a while...I can't wait to hear what she thinks.

 

[Skippy123]

Sounds good, best wishes tomorrow. I do love bread pudding, if you find any bakeries let me know.

 

[Skippy123]

Freke, I went to Relish today, I took some pics for ya. . . wanna see? hehe

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 6/9/2008 4:10:18 PM
Author: Skippy123
Freke, I went to Relish today, I took some pics for ya. . . wanna see? hehe

I do, I do!

 

[ladypirate]

You guys are making me hungry! I may have to head over to the local patisserie...

 

[FrekeChild]

Ack! I don''t know how I missed it!! yes I want to see pics Skippy! (I told BF that we must go to Relish sometime soon-he''s warming to the idea.)

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/10/2008 7:37:14 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Ack! I don't know how I missed it!! yes I want to see pics Skippy! (I told BF that we must go to Relish sometime soon-he's warming to the idea.)

Wonderful, you should go. Everytime I go I see so many people I know there; I think it is because we all love it. hehe I got super busy so in a few days FC and Gwen I will post a couple of pics and no, nutella pics, sorry, they sold out that day but there are a couple of sammy's; my friends were "what is she doing?!" haha That place is hopin!

 

[FrekeChild]

Hahaha!!!I''m waiting for those pics Skippy!!! (My friends think I''m totally weird with the camera too-no worries!!)

 

[luckystar112]

Is there a type of cake that calls for peanut butter? Perhaps you could substitute nutella for that.
Or, you could substitue the PB in PB frosting for nutella?

If I''m way off, ignore. I''m not a baker!

 

[FrekeChild]

Date: 6/12/2008 6:29:01 PM
Author: luckystar112
Is there a type of cake that calls for peanut butter? Perhaps you could substitute nutella for that.
Or, you could substitue the PB in PB frosting for nutella?

If I''m way off, ignore. I''m not a baker!

Mmmmm....now you''re making me want to make peanut butter cake!!!

I think I''ll probably use a chocolate cake to base the recipe I *create* on, and sub in Nutella for melted chocolate, exclusively because of the high sugar content. I''m also going to sub out some flour for ground hazelnuts, and possibly throw in a little bit of dark chocolate as well.

I went to the grocery store and was looking for Nutella so I could gather my supplies in case I have some extra time pop up before the weekend-AND THEY DON''T CARRY IT. WTF? The little sausage place is supposed to be open again so I''ll probably go there instead.

I have to say though that the chocolate peanut butter spread they had at the grocery store looked pretty interesting.

But luckystar-I''m LOVING the idea of subbing in Nutella for PB in a peanut butter frosting recipe...***making mental note to self***

 

[bobbin]

I made this nutella cake today- http://www.recipegoldmine.com/nutellaN/nutella-cake.html

I didn''t divide the mixture, instead I doubled the nutella and made only one mixture.

It was good, really moist, but didn''t taste too much like nutella.

 

[FrekeChild]

.

 

[FrekeChild]

Ok. So we shall see how they turn out, because they are in the oven. Oh yeah, I made cupcakes instead of cake. This is half of a cake recipe, because I forgot to buy butter and only had enough for 1/2 the recipe I wanted to use.
Here is the recipe:


Freke''s Nutella Cake
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp + large pinch salt
1/4 cup ground hazelnuts

3/4 cup sugar
6 Tbl butter

1 Tbl Frangelico
1 large egg

just over 2/3 jar or 200 grams (371 grams jar)
1 oz dark chocolate (I used Lindt 85% cacao-2 squares) broken into 1/2 inch pieces)

1/2 cup milk or half and half (I used 1/2 and 1/2 because my milk went sour)

Preheat oven to 350* F.

1. Sift or mix together with a fork the first three ingredients. Add hazelnuts and mix well again.
2. Cream together sugar and butter until lightened and fluffier.
3. Beat slightly the egg and Frangelico.
4. Heat Nutella and chocolate for about 20-40 seconds in 20 second increments, in the microwave.
5. Add egg mixture to butter, mix until incorporated.
6. Stir together the dark chocolate and nutella and make sure they are completely mixed together. Stir into the egg/butter mixture.
7. Add flour in 3 parts alternating with adding milk in 2 parts in between the flour additions.
8. Put batter into greased/floured 8" or 9" pan (2 pans for twice the recipe) or cupcake tins. Bake cuppies for around 15-20 minutes and cakes for around 40 minutes.

Ok. Don''t use the above recipe unless you want deflated cake. Needs more gluten. I just pulled them out of the oven and they are totally deflated in the middle. LMAO!

So back to the drawing board. However, I''m going to use the above recipe to create another one. As soon as these are gone (good thing I only made 1/2 the recipe!)I will try another version!

 

[FrekeChild]

Made another version-this one without the butter, sugar and some other changes. Not what I''m wanting either. More of a Nutella bread instead of cake. So I will move on to the next version-more fat and sugar, and more nutella. One thing about this bread version is that it does taste like nutella-but it should-it was only nutella, ground hazelnuts, egg, salt, baking powder, half and half, Frangelico, and flour.

So basically if I combined the first version with the second version, it would be perfect.

(BTW, the first version is a oily disgusting mess that has taken over my freezer and will be saved for rumballs at Christmas time! I literally was scraping the "cake" off of the paper cups. And by the end, my hand was slick with oil/fat from the grease that had gone through the paper. Gross.)

So. The plan is to a) add some butter back to the recipe b)add some sugar back to the recipe c)increase leavening d)increase Nutella (moving onto second jar-first is empty) d)add more liquid. Ta da! Perfect Nutella cake.

(Gwen, you''d better appreciate this! I should so send you all of the screwups!)

And so I don''t forget the recipe when I go pass out in 2 minutes:
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 T half and half
1 large egg
half jar of Nutella
1 T ground Hazelnuts
1 tsp salt
1 T of Frangelico

Off to bed with me!

 

[gwendolyn]

LOL, I do appreciate it, I do, I do! I swear it! Nutella bread sounds pretty good too--I have a feeling if you tried to ship it to me, the customs dudes would munch it all down before I had a chance to.

Seriously though, if it''s turned out to be too much of a pain in the patoot, don''t worry about it! I am still drowning in thesis writing, so I''m not going to be baking for at least a month. AND I promised J to bake his favourite Kahlua choco-chip cheesecake for him before I bake anything else, so there''s plenty of time!

 

[FrekeChild]

Lol. I think I'm going to have to break the "bread" down into chunks and then save it for rum balls. It's sweetish but not as sweet at Nutella-you know? Basically I'm going to have to hunt down some more Nutella if I don't get the next one right. Which should be interesting...

And don't tell me that I don't have to do it! It's gone farther than that now! I was sitting on the couch thinking about the first batch at eleven pm-not doing my homework-and I jumped up and told BF- "I have to make another one. I don't want to hear it."

So I did. And it was better than the first (how could it not be?) but still not what I was looking for!

We have to go to the grocery store today which is good because I'm down to one egg and 3 T of butter. So I need to buy more just so that I can make more Nutella (messes) cake!

 

[gwendolyn]

Mmmm, Nutella Mess Cake. Sounds deeeeeeeeelicious.

I hope your FF is a fan of the Nutella, otherwise he might hate me right now.

 

[FrekeChild]

All of my messes will be made into Rum Balls around Christmas time so no worries.

Version 3.0 is in the oven.

ETA:
1 cup flour
.5 tsp salt + pinch
5/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar (should have decreased this I'm betting)
3 T butter
1 T Frangelico
1/2 jar Nutella
1/4 cup ground hazelnuts
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup heavy cream (running out of 1/2 and 1/2)

Had to write it down before I forgot again!

 

[FrekeChild]

It's edible!!!!

And even BF likes it! So we are finally on the right track!!!!!WOHOO!!!!!

Ok. So it's dense, sweet (but not overly so) and the crumb is tender. Which makes me happy. I think the only thing I'm not totally happy with is that the Nutella flavor is a little lacking-but that's pretty easy to fix. I say pretty easy because of Nutella's composition (hazelnuts, skim milk solids, cocoa, and sugar) it messes up a normal cake recipe. So I had to decrease the fat (because of the hazelnuts), and sugar (because of the sugar-duh) and mess with everything else because the other items (flour, salt, eggs, baking soda, sugar, butter, hazelnuts, Frangelico etc) dilutes the flavor of the Nutella. So it's a hard combo. The only thing I'd do to this one though is add more Nutella (providing of course that that doesn't mess up the proportions (fat and sugar vs eggs, flour and liquids) TOO badly) to get a more pronounced flavor. I might also add a little bit of dark chocolate as well so to enhance the chocolate flavor of the Nutella while getting as much flavor out of an ingredient in a small amount as possible. Hmmm...

But yay! Something very close to what I was hoping for!!!!Almost success!!!!

Now I need to go buy more Nutella...

ETA:
I missed out on an ingredient in that last list-so here it is again:

1 cup flour
.5 tsp salt + pinch
5/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup ground hazelnuts
1/2 cup sugar (should have decreased this I'm betting)
3 T butter
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
1 T Frangelico
1/2 jar Nutella (371g)
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup heavy cream (running out of 1/2 and 1/2)

ETAA: I'm probably going to have to wait until this one is gone before I make another one-so it may take a week or so (If I start giving cake to random people on the street) plus I have to get more Nutella...hmmm...

 

[gwendolyn]

Yay! Hahah, I love that the announcement about it is that it''s edible.

It sounds DELICIOUS!!!!! Assuming I survive the next few weeks (re: my thesis), I will make a celebratory Nutella Mess Cake and take pictures and everything!!!!

You''re the bestest, Freke. Thank you.

 

[FrekeChild]

Here are pics.

First up-the first attempt-this was after I had scraped the *cake* off of the cupcake liner. You can see my fork to the right...

 

[FrekeChild]

This is the final version. I tasted it again today (last night it was still warm) and I really do think it need more Nutella, so I'll revisit it again soon enough.

I still have the 2nd version so let me know if you want to see pics of that one-I just haven't taken any of it because I was so discouraged when I finished it...

Anyway, you can kind of see that it's dense, but the texture is still pretty light.

(I want to make a version with a whole jar, but I should wait until I get the kinks out of the recipe first, and have it exactly the way I want it...)

 

[gwendolyn]

Ok, so I know you will probably hurt me, but I think the first one looks as yummy as the second! It looks soft and gooey and almost like a brownie. Maybe it didn''t taste like that, but I like my brownies a little raw so they''re extra squidgy (J''s word). The second looks good too, though...makes me want to make a warm Nutella sauce to drizzle on it with a dollop of whipped cream...mmmmmmmm....

Can you tell I''m in chocolate withdrawal? It''s been 3 weeks since I''ve had any!

 

[FrekeChild]

They were uber sickly sweet and pretty greasy-but it does look pretty good in a pic right? The *mush* that I scraped out of the liners would probably be really good with a not-so-sweet ice cream or something else.

I got another positive review from a friend on the last one, except she wants more nutella in it. So it's not just me.

Here is the first batch-all sunken in and stuff...before I tried removing them from their wrappers

 

[gwendolyn]

In the picture, they look divine.

Yummmmmmmmmmeh!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 6/10/2008 3:59:57 PM
Author: gwendolyn

Date: 6/9/2008 4:10:18 PM
Author: Skippy123
Freke, I went to Relish today, I took some pics for ya. . . wanna see? hehe

I do, I do!

Sorry, I am late to respond, hubby took my camera and deleted the pics by accident, he thought I already downloaded them. Oh well. Cake looks good FC!

 

[FrekeChild]

So when are you going to take some more?

 

[gwendolyn]

Hahah, yes, for the good of all mankind, I think you will have to return, Skippy darling, and take more pics for us.