Sweet Cherry Pie.

This past weekend, I was invited to one of my girlfriend's homes for afternoon coffee. I was super excited about getting together with my friends and I wanted to bring some homemade treats with me for us to share, but I was really in a time crunch and didn't have time to make a dessert from scratch.

Thank goodness I had some pie dough I made a few weeks ago stored away in my freezer and ready to go! I cut one corner and bought a canned cherry pie filling to go into my dough for the sake of time, but despite it not being homemade, it was still delicious.

I still wanted to put my own spin on the pie so instead of making one giant pie, I made mini individual sized pies! They were so cute and easy to distribute to whoever wants them without cutting into a whole pie and making a mess. I also made a lattice crust to give it that extra aesthetic to make it look like a miniature pie. It's super easy!...

After making the pie crust (recipe at end of post), use a cookie cutter or a cup to cut circles from the dough that are 4 inches circles. Place the circles into buttered muffin/cupcake tins and fill them with the cherry filling, 1/4 of a cup.

Photo courtesy of tablespoon.com. 

Then get to work on the lattice crust! Use a pizza cutter to cut small even strips of dough and use basic weaving over and under techniques to create a rustic look with the lattice. With this size of a pie, I used 6 dough strips in total: 3 horizontally and 3 vertically. Brush the top of the pie with an egg wash (a beaten egg) to give it that golden finish in the oven.

I baked these babies at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cherry filling is oozing and voila!

These could have come out a little prettier, as my lattice crust needs a little work, but these pies tasted like perfection. Little personal cherry pies with sweet, juicy cherries wrapped in a soft, buttery crust. These are sure to appeal to your guests tastebuds as well as their eyes!




Pie Crust Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup butter (cold)
• 5-7 tablespoons cold water 

Directions:

1. Put flour into a mixing bowl with the butter.
2. Using a pastry cutter or dough hook, cut the butter into the flour.
3. Add the salt and water. 
4. Mix until dough is formed.
5. Cut the dough in half and wrap both separately in saran wrap.
6. One can be used for freezing. The other should be put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to cool before rolling it out to use. 

Miniature Cherry Pies

Ingredients:

• Pie crust (recipe above)
• 4 cups of pie filling (the filling can be altered at your choice i.e. apple, blueberry, peach, etc.)
• 1 egg, whisked

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin tins with butter or cooking spray.
2. Roll out a single pie crust on a flat surface. Use a large cookie cutter or a cup to cut out circles that are 4 inches. Press each circle into the bottom of the muffin tin so that a tiny rim of dough sticks out at the top. Repeat with the other 12 tins.
3. Fill each cup with 1/4 cup pie filling, or until the filling nearly fills the cups. 
4. Use the remaining dough to cover the tops of the pies. To make a lattice crust, use a pizza cutter to cut out thin strips of dough, then lace together to form a lattice. To make a standard crust, cut out a circle of dough large enough to cover the top of the crust. Use your fingers to gently press the top crust to the bottom crust until they stick together and no gaps remain. 
5. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of each pie with the whisked egg.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling begins to bubble.
7. Remove and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Then carefully use a knife to loosen the edges of each pie and gently lift each pie out. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. 

Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. I've always loved this day, even when I was single, because personally, I think its a day to show your love to all your loved ones, not just your significant other. I always made treats and exchanged Valentines with my closest girl friends.

I started preparing for the fun of Valentine's Day this year with a cute heart manicure. On gray nails, I just used a toothpick to drop two droplets of red nail polish on my nail and dragged them diagonally to connect them and form a heart.

This year, trying to avoid the dinner crowd and boring prixe fix menus, my boyfriend decided to make me dinner at his house. I decided to make the dessert to finish off our dinner. I took a small shortcut by buying this yummy chai tea latte cake mix from Target. It tastes so authentic and has little cinnamon chips incorporated in the batter to give it something special. It also includes mix for the vanilla frosting.

I added my own touch by baking them in Valentine inspired cupcake papers, sprinkling on heart shaped sprinkles, and creating chocolate garnishes to top them off. To create the garnishes, I melted milk chocolate in the microwave in a squirt bottle, mixing the chocolate every 30 seconds. Then using the squirt bottle, I piped different shapes the and word "Love" on wax paper and let it cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes. They slide right off the wax paper and can be secured on the cupcake with the frosting.

Even though our dinner was at home, I still wanted to doll up for the evening and I picked a special outfit for the occasion...red being the theme of the day and all!

Top: Zara
Skirt: H&M
Shoes: Steve Madden
Jewlery: Levik's Jewelers and Swarovski

I picked out the perfect card too...Target is my go to store for any holiday.

Now for our dinner...I'm so happy to say that my boyfriend actually used one of my blog recipes, Pesto Linguini for one of our dishes. See fellas? You too can impress your girls with my recipes! He also added his own steak recipe to the menu, which was delicious. Food is great, but the presentation of the table was even more great.

Chef Seto.

Folks, this just goes to show that Valentine's Day doesn't have to be a day of emptying your wallets. A personal touch and handmade food/gifts can make your night special and meaningful. I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day whether or not you are with someone special. Valentine's Day is about love, and everyone can experience that. 

Holiday Time.

Hi all! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I really felt the holiday spirit this year and channeled that into my decorating, baking, and activity. I want to share some ideas and recipes with you all for you to enjoy as well!


Oh, Christmas Tree!

I started out the holidays by decorating our family tree with my family, of course while listening to Holiday jazz music.

Gingerbread House

Then my boyfriend surprised me with a gingerbread house kit so we could make our own cute little gingerbread house! Not only was it the cutest cookie house, but it was also a really fun bonding experience. Let's just say, it was hard, but we overcame our creative differences with our construction.

Our cute little house with a cute little candy family.

Centerpieces

Now, Thanksgiving is usually the holiday my family gathers at my house, so I didn't go all out with a formal dinner table for Christmas, but I made small centerpieces using the vases I used for my Thanksgiving centerpieces. I used these for regular dinners I'd have with my parents and brother and will likely use them when we gather at my house for Armenian Christmas on January 6.

I stacked layers of Christmas ornaments of varying sizes and pine cones. I painted some pine cones I found in my backyard with silver paint to match the color scheme of the ornaments. I wrapped the vases in holiday themed bows to finish the look.

"Ugly" Christmas Sweater Party

Okay, so I was invited to an ugly Christmas sweater party, and let's face it, I love a good theme party! I totally went along with it. I don't know if you would necessarily classify this sweater as ugly, but it was definitely a staple in my wardrobe this month.

Home Alone is my favorite movie to watch during the holidays. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting in a Jar

The holidays don't stop at home! I just started a new job and don't know my coworkers well enough to get them personal gifts yet, so I decided to give them a gift of my baking talents. I figured just making cupcakes or any dessert was not special enough to give as a gift, so I put a little twist on red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting...I put them in little half pint mason jars and tied recyclable forks to them and attached little gift tags for each of my coworkers.

The recipe I used for the red velvet cupcakes is at the end of this post.


LA Zoo Lights

Next it was onto the LA Zoo Lights event! Every year, I like trekking to neighborhoods that go all out with decorating their homes with lights and other decor. This year, I found the LA Zoo Lights, which turned the zoo into a holiday light fest after hours. All the walkways were lined with holiday lights and fun little light exhibits. They even had alcoholic drinks of every variety. If it wasn't so cold outside, I would have ordered one, but I stuck to my hot chocolate and a churro! This is going on until January 4, so its not too late to see this spectacle for yourself...

So pretty!

These fixtures were made with recycled plastic water bottles.

A twinkling lights tunnel.

Santa's land with paparazzi monkeys. 

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

I came home from the light show feeling even more in the spirit, so I decided to make my special cranberry walnut oatmeal cookies! I make them every year for the holidays and I get so many compliments on them. Everyone has a secret recipe and this is mine. I would love to share it with you, but then it wouldn't be so special! However, I will gladly share the cookies with you :)

I hope everyone had a happy holiday filled with family and love. May you all have a wonderful New Year!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups flour
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp cocoa powder
• 1.5 cups canola oil
• 1 cup room temperature buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tbsp red food coloring
• 1 tsp white distilled vinegar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 

Instructions: 

1. Mix all wet ingredients (oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla) in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder).
3. Combine the two bowls and mix well. Place in cupcake tins sprayed with baking spray without cupcake papers. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes.
4. Place on wire rack to cool. Once cooled, cut each cupcake in half and assemble the bottom half of the cupcake into the mason jar. Fill with cream cheese frosting, then place the upper cupcake half on top of the icing then top off again with more icing. 

For the cream cheese frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1 8 oz. package of room temperature cream cheese
• 0.5 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3.5 cups powdered confectioners sugar

Instructions:

1. Mix together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
2. Once mixed thoroughly, add the confectioners sugar one cup at a time and mix through.

Voila!

Valentine Mocha Cupcakes.

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays out of the year. Most people associate Valentine's Day with romantic relationships, boyfriends, girlfriends, but I like to associate it with a day to express love to people you love most...not solely restricted to a romantic interest or spouse. For that reason, I wanted to do something special for not only my boyfriend, but for a few loved ones, so I made some delicious Valentine's cupcakes!

I tried something new and added some coffee to my cakemix to create a mocha cupcake. I also took a crack at making chocolate buttercream frosting from scratch and it turned out great. Recipe follows...

It is imperative to sift all the dry ingredients to insure there are no lumps in the mix.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant espresso granules to 1 cup of brewed coffee to get a mocha flavor.

The finished cupcakes decorated with candy heart and chocolate chip X's and O's.

I bought some pretty pastry packaging from Michael's and gave a box each to my boyfriend, my best friend, Natalie, and my mom.

MOCHA CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• 3/4 cups of cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup of freshly brewed coffee
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant espresso granules 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and mix until combined with a spoon, a hand mixer, or electric mixer.
3. In another bowl, mix buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
4. With a mixer on low speed, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
5. Add the 1 1/2 teaspoons of espresso granules to a cup of hot coffee and stir to combine. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee mixture to the batter and stir to combine.
6. Distribute the batter into prepared cupcake tins.
7. Bake for 18-22 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes then remove from the tin and let cool completely on a cooling rack. 

*Note that the batter will be a bit runny, but this is perfectly fine.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a pound of bittersweet chocolate
• 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate
• 2-3 egg whites, at room temperature 
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 pound of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon of water

Directions:

1. Chop the chocolates and place in a heat proof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
2. Place the bowl of egg whites over the pan of simmering water and heat until warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.
3. Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, until the mixture holds a stiff peak. 
4. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed.
5. Scrape down the bowl and add the melted chocolate, vanilla, and espresso and mix for 1 minute until the chocolate in completely blended in. If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool and beat again.

Voila!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

The other day, I was feeling like I hadn't baked anything in a long time so I decided to make my favorite dessert...cupcakes! Now, like many others, I am guilty of taking the shortcut at times and using boxed cake mix. However, I thought some aspects of the cupcakes should have my own twist to them so I added some mini Reese's cups to the bottom of the cupcake and I made my own peanut butter frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Mix confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium low speed until creamy.

2. Add the cream and mix on high speed until mixture is light and smooth.

(recipe courtesy of Ina Garten)

Sprinkles.

Summer time is coming and that means its time for everyone's favorite treat...ice cream! But what's better than ice cream?..Mixing cupcakes and ice cream together. Sprinkles, a long time favorite cupcake spot of mine, added an ice cream parlor next door to a few locations last year and I have been addicted since. I've gotten my ice cream fix there twice this week already. With delicious flavors and even more delicious toppings, you can't go wrong here. For all you red velvet lovers, you can even enjoy a red velvet waffle cone or red velvet cupcake crumbles in your ice cream cup.

Cookie toppings.

Sprinkles sundae: cookie dough ice cream with a red velvet cupcake. 

Locations: Beverly Hills, CA and Newport Beach, CA

25

In my circle of friends, we celebrate our birthdays on the actual day and continue celebrating until a week or two after..what other way would you want to celebrate your birthday? Birthdays come once a year, celebrating yourself is only appropriate. These are the highlights of birthweek celebrations...

My week started with a romantic dinner with my boyfriend.

Houston's, Pasadena.
Recommended entrées: Thai steak noodle salad, French dip sandwich. 
Recommended wine: Belle Glos Pinot Noir.

Next I celebrated with my family.

Birthday balloons from my best friend.

Pink ombré cake with strawberries and Kit Kat made by my mom. 

                     

Me and my best friend, Natalie.

Finally, I celebrated with all my friends at one of my favorite bars, Sassafras Saloon in Hollywood. 

Revolving whiskey bottles at the bar.

My girls.

Spin the wheel, for your drink price.

L'amour. 

Homemade cinnamon and chocolate chip cupcakes for all.

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so memorable this year. I love you all!