I have wanted to try Soy Sauce Eggs for a long time. Marinating boiled eggs in soy sauce until the whites turn brown from absorbing all the flavors sounded really, really good to me. I’ve pinned a few different recipes for this dish and ultimately decided to try this one because it was the simplest. Not that any of them sounded difficult, but this one only had the fewest ingredients. I’m all about a simple recipe!
Chinese Soy sauce egg (卤鸡蛋) is one of the most popular street foods with the famous Chinese tea eggs. And they are commonly served with noodles, breakfast or steamed rice.
Recipe Author: Elaine at China Sichuan Food Get the recipe
The Ingredients
This recipe for Soy Sauce Eggs had seven ingredients, and I had several on hand. Water was one of them, of course, and the pinch of salt. I also had Chinese five-spice powder, sugar, and rice vinegar in my pantry and leftover eggs from the Spicy Coconut Curry Ramen I made last week. The only ingredient I had to buy was low-sodium soy sauce.
Eggs, low-sodium soy sauce, Chinese five-spice powder, sugar, salt, rice vinegar, and water
The Process
I think everyone who cooks has one or two things they struggle with. One of mine is hard-boiled eggs. I have always liked a fully cooked yolk, and I have been able to get it right. Believe me, I have tried all kinds of methods and even a color-change egg timer that’s dropped into the pan with the eggs. No joy.
This recipe, of course, began with boiling the eggs. I gave some serious thought to using my egg cooker since it’s the only way I have been able to get hard-boiled eggs right. However, I wanted to stay true to the recipe, and it calls for boiled eggs with yolks that aren’t fully set.
The eggs didn’t peel smoothly. Two had minor tears in the whites, and two had more severe tears.
I brought a pan full of water to a rolling boil before adding the eggs. After lowering them into the water using a wire skimmer, I stirred them for the first two minutes per the instructions. This was a new method for me, but it worked well.
I boiled the eggs for seven minutes total and immediately transferred them to a bowl of ice water to cool them fast. They were ready to peel five minutes later. Two of them were easy to peel, the third was a little more difficult, and the last one was close to a disaster.
Tip: I find peeling boiled eggs is much easier when they are steamed in my egg cooker instead of boiling them on the stove.
I marinated the eggs in a sealed container for 24 hours
Making the Marinade
I mixed up the marinade while waiting for the water for the eggs to boil. To save having to clean an extra dish, I mixed it in the pan I planned to cook it in. A 1-quart saucepan was the perfect size for it, but I did halve this recipe because I only made four eggs.
The marinade was ready when the eggs were cooled and peeled. The final step was adding the eggs and letting them marinate in my refrigerator overnight.
Tip: Mix the marinade in the container you plan to refrigerate them in. I chose a deep five-cup storage container with a lid.
The eggs marinated for 24 hours, and the moment of truth was at hand. I sliced an egg and it was just like the recipe’s photo. The yolk was creamy and the white had a ring of brown on the outside. I had expected the inside/yolk to brown a bit since I broke the white, but that didn’t happen.
The eggs didn’t look so great after marinating, but slicing them in half when serving hid the flaws
Timing
This recipe doesn’t have any times at the top. The only times listed were the instructions and were for cooking the eggs and marinating. I used those times for the time rating.
Here’s how things went for me:
6 minutes to prep eggs and make marinade*
6 minutes to cook the eggs
5 minutes to cool the eggs
6 minutes to peel the eggs
24 hours to marinate
24 hours 23 minutes total
*I simmered the marinade while I cooked the eggs. It took 13 minutes total, including time for it to come to a boil.
I’ve been on a break for the past month or so as I had and healed from some minor surgery, but I’m back! I’m not quite up to full capacity, so to speak, but I’m so over just sitting around and resting. It’s mighty boring! To kick off my return, I wanted to make something spicy. I love hot and spicy food, and I love ramen, so this Spicy Coconut Curry Ramen really appealed to me. I keep instant ramen on hand for quick snacks, but the flavoring packet that comes with it has nothing on all the delicious ingredients included in this recipe. Literally, everything in it is something I like, so I can’t wait to put them all together!
An ultra-creamy, slightly spicy broth with quick-cooking ramen and your favorite Thai ingredients for huge flavor. Ready in 20 minutes, versatile, and made in one pot. Serve with scallions, cilantro, eggplant, or chicken.
Recipe Author: Anna Chwistek at Serving Dumplings Get the recipe
The Ingredients
My pre-shopping pantry (and fridge) check found a few ingredients. Garlic, chicken broth, ground turmeric, fish sauce, limes, instant ramen noodles, and chili oil were all in my kitchen.
Surprisingly, I was out of toasted sesame oil, brown sugar, sambal oelek, and red curry paste. I think the last two were victims of my refrigerator dying a while back. Everything in it was tossed to be safe, and I haven’t fully restocked.
Instant ramen noodles, eggs, sesame seeds, chili oil, chicken broth, sambal oelek, chives, garlic, ground turmeric, red curry paste, fresh ginger, unsweetened coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, and sliced shiitake mushrooms
Fortunately, I found everything I needed at my usual grocery store. They even had the sambal oelek chili paste. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it. It’s full of hot and spicy flavor!
Tip: Be sure to buy toasted sesame oil. Regular sesame oil doesn’t have much flavor, but the toasted sesame oil has tons. It should say “toasted” on the label and have a deep brown color. By comparison, untoasted sesame oil is a clear light yellow color and has a neutral flavor.
The Process
I began this recipe with the prep work in Step One. I tore the sliced shiitake mushroom into small pieces, peeled and grated the ginger, and pressed the garlic. The recipe does say to grate it, but I don’t like grating the small cloves—I always scrape my fingers when I do it. Pressing the garlic was a safer option.
Torn shiitake mushrooms
As I worked, I put on a 5-quart Dutch oven with a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil. I moved straight into frying the mushrooms until they crisped up. They didn’t need to be fussed over, so I had plenty of time to prep the remaining ingredients while they fried.
After removing the mushrooms from the pot, I deglazed it and began making the spicy broth. Once the chicken broth I used to deglaze the pan was boiling, I added the remaining broth ingredients and brought the mixture to a boil. it smelled so good!
Grated ginger and garlic
The final step was to add three packets of instant ramen noodles and cook them for two minutes. I didn’t use anything fancy, just the instant ramen packets I always buy for about $1.00 each. They came with chicken flavor packets, but I tossed those. Once the ramen was done, I removed the noodles from the broth so they didn’t get mushy while I made the soft-boiled eggs.
I used (3) 3-ounce packets of Maruchan instant ramen noodles without the flavoring packets
Making the Eggs
This recipe doesn’t include instructions for the eggs, but they were easy to make. I was tempted to use my egg cooker but decided to boil them since it’s the most popular method. I put a 2-quart pot of water on to boil as I made the ramen, it was ready immediately after I finished with the ramen.
All I had to do was lower the eggs into the pot one at a time and let them cook for six minutes. The result was eggs with soft yolks and mostly set whites. If you like your eggs firmer they will need to cook longer. The times I found for boiled eggs were:
3 minutes for eggs with runny yolks and whites
6 minutes for eggs with set whites and runny yolks
8 minutes for eggs with fully set whites and halfway set yolks
10 minutes for eggs with fully set whites and a little softness in the yolk
12 minutes for eggs with fully set whites and yolks
I cooled the soft-boiled eggs in an ice-water bath
Tip: I used a skimmer to add and remove the eggs from the boiling water, but a slotted spoon or ladle would also work.
The next step was to add the boiled eggs to a bowl of ice-water to cool for a few minutes. Once that was done, I served up the ramen noodles in plenty of broth and topped them with crispy mushrooms, chives, sesame seeds, and a dash or two of chili oil. A sliced egg on the side was the final garnish, and this dish was ready to eat.
Timing
This recipe listed 5 minutes to prep, 15 minutes to cook, and a total time of 20 minutes. Here’s how my time was spent:
7 minutes to do the prep work in Step 1
10 minutes to cook the mushrooms and finish the remaining prep work
8 minutes to make the broth and cook the ramen noodles
25 minutes total
It took me a little extra time to peel the garlic and ginger, and I think that’s why it took me a little longer to finish the prep work. I also gave the mushrooms a quick rinse and patted them dry. Also, removing the ramen from the broth so it didn’t get mushy while I made the eggs took a minute or two. I have a feeling the next time I make this recipe will be faster.
The above time doesn’t include making the soft-boiled eggs. Looking back, I think I could have made them with the ramen, but I was cautious and made them separately this time. Here’s how it went:
6 minutes to cook the eggs
4 minutes to cool
2 minutes to peel
12 minutes total
I’m not including time to make the eggs in the time rating, only the ramen and broth.
You might think I would be tired of strawberries after that wonderful bourbon-strawberry jam, but I sure wasn’t. Strawberries are something I never get tired of so I wanted to try another strawberry recipe. My Pinterest boards have tons and tons of strawberry recipes, and I was having so much trouble deciding what until I found this Strawberry Smoothie Bowl. I have pinned bunches of smoothie bowl recipes but I hadn’t tried any. Until now, that is!
This Strawberry Smoothie Bowl is perfectly sweet, decadently creamy, made with 3 ingredients and healthy enough for breakfast!
Recipe Author: Laurel Petty at Damn Good Veggies Get the recipe
The Ingredients
This was a no-shopping recipe. I always keep frozen strawberries and bananas on hand for smoothies. I also had some leftover dairy milk from a dinner recipe I made earlier in the week, so I was all set.
It was only later that I realized the ingredient listed as “milk” probably meant nut or oat milk since the recipe is also listed as vegan. I debated re-making it with almond milk but decided it probably wouldn’t make much difference in the flavor.
The recipe also lists “toppings of choice”, so I dug around my kitchen and found many possibilities. I had plenty of seeds, nuts, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips, so I had a lot of options. What I completely forgot to include in my photo of ingredients was granola. I had a brand-new bag and totally missed it when I was gathering the toppings.
Milk, frozen banana, and frozen strawberries with optional toppings: honey, chia seeds, hemp hearts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter, shredded coconut, pistachios, and walnuts
The Process
You might think that making a smoothie bowl is just like making a smoothie, but it was a little different. All the smoothie recipes I make say to add all the ingredients and blend until smooth. I don’t know if it’s true of all smoothie bowl recipes, but the process for this one was a little different.
This smoothie bowl recipe had me add the frozen fruit to my blender and let it sit for two minutes to thaw and soften slightly. Then I had to blend the fruit until it was chopped into small pieces. The fruit didn’t seem to have softened much, and there was a lot of clatter for the first few seconds of blending/chopping! But the blender quickly did its thing and I had tiny bits of strawberry and banana in no time.
Whole frozen strawberries and frozen banana pieces in the blender
Now it was time to add the milk. I began with 1/4 cup, gave it a blend, and checked the consistency. I could see that it wasn’t the smooth pink texture shown in the photo, so I added another 1/4 cup of milk and blended. It was beginning to come together, but I had to add another 1/4 of the milk to get the creamy texture I wanted.
The mixture was smooth and creamy but also thick like frozen ice cream. Because of that, it didn’t blend quite as easily as a regular smoothie. I had to scrape down the sides and stir the bits at the bottom to get them all mixed in. There were a few stray chunks of fruit here and there, but most of them were blended in.
Chopped frozen strawberries and banana before adding milk to the blender
Topping my Smoothie Bowl
Once I transferred the pink smoothie mixture into a large shallow bowl it was time to add my toppings of choice. I love this because it makes the recipe so flexible!
Like the smoothie part’s ingredients, the toppings were also things I had on hand. I didn’t use the honey shown in the photo of the ingredients, but I used everything else. I also added some granola to make a tasty and filling breakfast.
Timing
This recipe listed 10 minutes total time. I either came in just under if you only count making the smoothie or just over if you include adding the toppings. Here’s how my time was spent:
Recently my in-laws did a Costco run and picked up a huge container of strawberries. As soon as I took it out of the bag, I knew I had to try some new strawberry recipes. But what would this giant container become? A quick scan of my Pinterest boards, and I found something I have always wanted to try: jam. I was delighted when I read this Easy Bourbon Strawberry Jam recipe and saw it could be made on the stovetop without canning. Plus I’ll try almost anything with bourbon!
This is the easiest recipe for delicious homemade strawberry jam! It’s made without pectin and canning, and it’s as simple as simmering strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and bourbon until thick.
Recipe Author: Pate Giltner at The G & M Kitchen Get the recipe
The Ingredients
That giant Costco container of strawberries was just over 2 pounds, so the main ingredient was covered. I also had lemons and bourbon on hand. Unfortunately, I didn’t have quite enough sugar, so I made sure to pick up a batch at the grocery store.
Strawberries, bourbon, sugar, and lemon juice
The Process
The instructions for this Easy Bourbon Strawberry Jam were straightforward and easy to follow. The consistency of the jam needed to be tested on a frozen plate, so I popped a salad plate into the freezer and moved to the prep work.
I weighed out two pounds of berries, gave them a wash, and removed the leaves and stems. Next, the strawberries went into a 2-quart pot with the sugar, bourbon, and lemon juice. I gave it all a good mix and let it macerate.
Macerated strawberries
I didn’t notice much change in the strawberries’ appearance when I checked on them 30 minutes later, but it felt like there was more liquid in the bottom of the pot. Macerating is supposed to draw out juices and soften fresh fruit, so everything was working as it should when I noticed the extra liquid
Now it was time to cook the strawberries and turn them into jam. Once the berry mixture reached a boil, I let it simmer for 20 minutes before testing the consistency on the frozen plate. It was very thin, so I let the berries continue to simmer for an additional 20 minutes. and re-did the test.
The consistency had thickened after cooking for 40 minutes but still seemed thinner than store-bought jam. The recipe notes say to err on the side of thin because the jam would thicken as it cooled. I followed that advice. I poured the jam into a large storage container and let it cool for 30 minutes before adding the lid and refrigerating it overnight.
Testing the jam’s consistency on a frozen plate
Timing
This recipe listed 5 minutes to prep and 20-40 minutes to cook, making the total time 25-35 minutes. Here’s how my time was spent:
10 minutes to prep
30 minutes to macerate
14 minutes to reach a boil
20 minutes to simmer
2 minutes for 1st consistency test
20 minutes to simmer
2 minutes for 2nd consistency test
30 minutes to cool on the counter
2 hours 8 minutes total
A shorter, easier-to-read list of the times is:
10 minutes to prep
30 minutes to macerate
54 minutes to cook
4 minutes to test (both times)
30 minutes to cool
2 hours 8 minutes total
The times listed on the recipe don’t seem to include testing or cooling, so I’ll only use prep, cooking, and macerating for the time rating. I came in a little over everything but the macerating step, but not by too much.
It’s March, and I’m still having fun with blood oranges since today is all about this beautiful Blood Orange Mixed Berry Smoothie. I’ve tried blood oranges in recipes for cocktails, mocktails, salads, cakes, a tart, and even lamb chops. But one way I have never had blood oranges is in a smoothie, at least until today.
Blood oranges have a unique sweet-tart flavor that is so good, but that’s not only why I love them. I have to confess that it’s that gorgeous dark red color that I’m obsessed with! I buy them by the bag and have been making random blood orange recipes for the past couple of months, and I’m still not over them. So today I’m adding the to this smoothie that’s full of healthy goodness in a combination I never would have put together. I need to find out if it’s as good as it looks!
A delicious blood orange mixed berry smoothie smoothie that’s packed with lots of nutrients and the perfect way to start your mornings!
Recipe Author: Marsha McDougal at Maple Jubilee Get the recipe
The Ingredients
My pre-shop refrigerator and pantry check for this recipe’s ingredients was very fruitful (pun intended!). Of course, I had blood oranges—I’ve had them on hand almost constantly since January.
My refrigerator had the last bits of a bag of golden flaxseeds. One door over, my freezer held frozen bananas, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. And just across my kitchen, I found some raw honey in my pantry.
Naturally, I had water on hand, so all that was left on my shopping list was spinach. I chose pre-washed baby spinach since it’s more tender and has a milder flavor than mature spinach. The stems are also much softer and don’t need to be removed, saving lots of prep time.
Blood oranges, frozen raspberries, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, golden flaxseed, honey, banana (frozen before use), and baby spinach
The Process
Most of the ingredients can be measured and added right to the blender. My berries were frozen separately, so I added a 1/2 cup of each (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries).
Blender pitcher filled with smoothie ingredients
The last ingredient I added was the blood oranges. One of the things about this recipe that appealed to me was the blood oranges do not have to be juiced. This is a breakfast recipe for me, so it needs to be easy. I don’t want to drag out my electric juicer and wash it after I’m done.
Peeling and Seeding the Blood Oranges
The blood oranges needed peeling and seeding, so I used a knife to speed things up. It’s a super easy and fast way to remove the peel and bitter white pith between the peel and fruit. This was my first time trying this technique, and I’m using it from now on!
Here’s how to do it step by step for those who prefer reading:
Cut away the ends (top and bottom) so the orange is stable when you set it on your cutting board.
Hold the orange with one hand to keep it stable and run the knife from top to bottom to remove the peel in strips. Let the firm peel guide your knife along the curve of the orange so you don’t remove too much of the fruit.
You can take the time to remove any stray bits of pith or leave them on and skip this step.
If you need to seed the orange, turn it onto its side, cut it in half, and pick out the seeds.
Blending My Smoothie
Once the oranges were peeled and deseeded, I hit the blend button and let my blender do its thing. Most smoothie recipes say to put everything into a blender, blend, and pour, but they never seem to work easily for me.
I upgraded my blender because of this and still don’t always have an easy time with smoothies. There’s at least one scrape down of the sides and stir of the ingredients but usually more than one. Sometimes I resort to shaking the blender pitcher if that doesn’t work.
Not with this recipe! I didn’t time it, but it couldn’t have taken more than 90 seconds. All I had to do was watch to ensure everything blended smoothly.
This recipe yielded 28 ounces or 3 1/2 cups
Timing
This recipe listed a total time of 5 minutes, and mine took the same amount of time. Here’s how my time was spent:
3 minutes to peel and deseed the blood oranges
2 minutes to assemble and blend
1 minute to pour and garnish
6 minutes total
I did take a little longer than the time listed. I’m sure it was because I got picky and removed the small bits of pith left over after peeling with my knife. Looking back, I don’t think it was necessary, and I’m sure my next Blood Orange Mixed Berry Smoothie will come together much quicker.
I have been in the mood for seafood lately. It’s been a while since I made a seafood recipe, so I went looking for a good one and found this Poached Seafood Salad with Lemon Dill Sauce. It was actually my second choice since the first one I chose had littleneck clams. I tried two stores, and they were both out. Neither had frozen clams (is that a thing?). I was left to search Pinterest for a new one while tucked into a corner of the store, hopefully out of everyone’s way. This recipe looked like a good one and has a new vegetable for me, celery root. And most importantly, no littleneck clams. It might have been my second choice, but I don’t feel like I settled!
A lovely light salad to make anytime of the year, is a plump and juicy Poached Seafood Salad made with large shrimp, scallops, squid and a few tiny salad shrimp for good luck.
Recipe Author: Leslie at Scrumpdillyicious Get the recipe
The Ingredients
I happened to be at my local Fresh Market when I found this recipe. The ingredients were all things they would stock, but there was one I wasn’t sure of. Celery root isn’t something I have noticed on the shelves, but I haven’t been looking for it since I have never had it. I rolled on over to the produce shelf and sure enough, it was right there.
Tip: Celery root is exactly that, the root bulb of a celery plant. It is a root vegetable that can be eaten raw or cooked. Celery root is also known as celeriac, knob celery, and turnip-root celery, although it is not related to the turnip.
With the celery root in my cart, along with a bunch of dill and a few lemons, I rolled out of produce and up to the seafood counter. Scallops and squid were easy, the shrimp might not have been exactly what the recipe called for. They had colossal shrimp but not the teeny tiny salad shrimp I was picturing in my head. Instead, I went with the smallest shrimp they had, wild American shrimp 31-40 per pound.
Lastly, I picked up a container of sour cream. I knew I had the remaining ingredients on hand, so shopping was done with one trip.
Colossal shrimp, wild American shrimp, mayonnaise, caraway seeds, capers, sour cream, cleaned squid with tentacles, sea scallops, fresh dill, lemon juice, celery root, white pepper, table salt, and Maldon flake salt
The Process
This recipe is a three-in-one with poaching the shrimp, making the sauce, and making the remoulade. All three were very easy to do even though two were first for me.
This wasn’t my first time poaching seafood, but it was my first time poaching these types of seafood. I love poaching salmon with herbs, white wine, and lemon juice. This was much simpler, though, with plain water. I set a pan on the stove to boil and began my prep work while I waited for it to boil.
All I had to do to prep for this part was peel the colossal shrimp and cut the squid into rings. The tentacles were already separate from the tubes when I bought the squid. I let the water come to a gentle boil for a few minutes and turned the heat down to medium-high (8 out of 10 on an electric stove).
Prepped shrimp, sea scallops, and squid
Tip: I used a 2-quart pot filled with about 4 inches of water to poach my seafood, and it had plenty of room.
The water took about 7 minutes to come to a gentle boil with tiny bubbles visible. That left just enough time for me to make the Lemon Dill Sauce as well because it was super simple. I just chopped some dill, combined all the ingredients, and mixed them thoroughly.
Poaching the Seafood
The recipe does not list poaching times, so I took a quick look online and used those times as guidelines. It also says to poach one at a time. I wasn’t sure if that meant one scallop, squid, or shrimp at a time or one type of seafood at a time. I chose the latter.
Tip: Don’t lower the stove’s heat too much once the water begins bubbling. Adding cold seafood will cool the water and can interfere with the cooking process. I compensated for that by keeping the heat at medium-high.
I began with the scallops and let them poach for 90 seconds. The squid was next and took a mere 30 seconds. It was still rubbery despite the short poach. I chalk it up to their small size. One also had some of the ink sack left in the tube that I could not rinse out. It turned the water an opaque grey color and made it hard to see what I was poaching but didn’t seem to change the color or flavor of anything.
Tip: A large skimmer made it easy to add and remove the seafood from the pot. Lowering the seafood into the pot using the skimmer made things safer by preventing splashing.
The colossal shrimp went in next and turned from blue to pink right away. Shrimp turn pink and go opaque when cooked. The colored water made it hard to tell, so I had to keep checking. I let them poach for 2 minutes.
Poached shrimp, sea scallops, and squid
Lastly was the small shrimp. I poached them in 3-4 batches for 30 seconds. The colored water not only made it hard to tell when they were done. It also made it hard to make sure I fished them all out before beginning a new batch. Then I set everything aside and began the remoulade and sauce.
Tip: Be careful not to overcook your seafood and remember it will keep cooking when it’s removed from the pan. You can stop that by running cold water over it or simply cook it for the shortest time possible, remove it from the pan, and allow it to finish cooking in the strainer.
Making the Celeriac Remoulade
The Celeriac Remoulade took a little more effort than the Lemon Dill Sauce. I have never had or prepared celery root so I turned to YouTube to learn how. I found a video that shows how to julienne celery root.
Tip: Celery Root Remoulade is a classic French dish that is similar to coleslaw. Thin strips of celery root are tossed in a mayonnaise-based sauce and served raw. Recipes vary but often include lemon juice, Dijon mustard, capers, and cornichon pickles.
I had scrubbed it thoroughly the day I bought it, so I began by peeling it. The recipe says to use a vegetable peeler, but mine wasn’t up to the task. The outside was tough, and I had to peel with my chef's knife.
Next, I cut the celeriac in half and sliced it thinly with my mandoline. The video shows how to do it with a mandoline and without. The mandoline is great for speed and even thickness, but it’s also very sharp. Be sure to use the handpiece and not your bare hand like the chef in the video!
Peeled, sliced, and julienned celery root
Tip: I put the julienned celery root in a bowl of water to keep it from turning brown, and drained it when I was ready to assemble the remoulade.
Then, much like the Lemon Dill Sauce, I added the rest of the ingredients and stirred to mix and adjusted the seasonings. Not it was time to assemble.
First, I mixed 1/2 cup of the Lemon Dill Sauce with the cooked seafood. Then I placed some of the celeriac remoulade in the bottom of two shallow bowls and topped them with the seafood and a lemon wedge.
Timing
This recipe did not list any times at the top or in the instructions, so I’m not adding a time rating. I did keep track of the time, though, and this is how my time was spent:
7 minutes to boil water
2 minutes to peel colossal shrimp (they came deveined)
4 minutes to mix and season the Lemon Dill Sauce
14 minutes to poach the seafood
14 minutes to make Celeriac Remoulade
2 minutes to assemble 2 servings
37 minutes total
That breaks down to 23 minutes to prep and 14 minutes to cook. I counted the time for the water to boil as prep since I did prep work while I waited.
My favorite candies are Ferrero Rocher, and hubby gets me some every Valentine’s Day. I used to happily eat them over the next few days, but I decided to use them in a recipe this year. I did that in 2022 with the Ferrero Rocher Nutella Tart, and OMG was it delish! I got lazy last year, but this year I’m giving this Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake a go. Cakes are probably the most difficult baked dessert recipe for me. This one looks like a lot, but I’m determined to recreate it in my kitchen. Plus the Ferrero Rocher candies don’t go on until the end, so I won’t waste them if it’s a disaster. Spoiler: it wasn’t!
As spectacular as it may look, this Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake isn’t nearly as complicated to make as you may imagine… but it certainly won’t fail to impress, and please, the chocolate lovers in your life!
Recipe Author: Sonia at My Evil Twin’s Kitchen Get the recipe
The Ingredients
This Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake was a big project, so it was no surprise that the ingredient list was long. I did my usual pre-shopping check and found I had a few. Unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, instant coffee, and all-purpose flour were all in my pantry. My flour wasn’t unbleached, but it didn’t seem to make a difference in the cake.
That left me with a good amount of things to buy and I was able to get them all at my regular grocery store. Most are pretty straightforward as far as the amounts, but a few of the measurements were a little different.
For example, most recipes I have made call for tablespoons of sticks of butter while this one called for over a pound of butter. The buttercream alone used five sticks plus two tablespoons of butter, and one package of butter is four sticks or one pound.
I wasn’t entirely sure what size of Nutella jar to buy for this recipe. I opted for the largest jar, 35.3 ounces/2.2 pounds/1 kilogram, and used almost all of it.
The buttercream needs 1.1 pounds of sugar, so I chose a four-pound bag. There were some leftovers even after having to redo the buttercream, but I used most of it.
Making this Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake was a lot! The blog post advised making it over two days, and that’s what I tried to do. It ended up being over three days when the buttercream didn’t turn out as planned…
Making the Cakes
This was most definitely the easiest part of the whole process and similar to cakes I’ve made before. The basics were to mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry ingredients, combine the two, and bake in greased and floured cake pans until a toothpick comes out clean.
But everything I make is a learning experience. Previous baking recipes have taught me to weigh my ingredients for the greatest accuracy. This recipe also taught me to weigh my batter for even distribution. It’s a simple step that ensures accuracy and perfectly even-sized cakes.
Tip: Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for accuracy. I weighed everything in this recipe that had a weight listed, including the filled cake pans.
Weighing the cake pans with batter ensured evenly sized cakes
Once the cakes were baked and cooled, I noticed they had a domed shape on top. I used my cake leveler to level them all to an even height before double-wrapping and freezing. Don’t have a cake leveler? You can use a long knife (I recommend a serrated bread knife) or dental floss to level the cakes. I like a combination of the two: I make the edges with dental floss then slice on the markings with a bread knife.
Tip: Be sure to freeze the cakes on a flat surface. The soft cake will mold itself to whatever it sits on while it freezes.
Speaking of freezing, make sure you have the shelf space to freeze them. I put one on top of a bag of peas and it froze with a slight curve. The cake began to hug the slightly rounded shape of the bag as it froze. I had to let it thaw a bit before it flattened back out.
I leveled the cakes before wrapping and freezing them
My First Attempt at Swiss Meringue Buttercream
This Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake recipe uses a more Swiss meringue buttercream—something I have never made before. It’s similar to the Italian meringue buttercream I make for Vanilla Maple Whiskey Cupcakes. Both use egg whites, granulated sugar, and butter whereas the more popular American buttercream is made with butter and powdered sugar but no egg whites.
Making this new type of buttercream wasn’t too difficult. I separated the egg whites, weighed out the sugar and butter, and got cooking. The first step was to mix the egg whites and sugar, then place the bowl over a pot of simmering water. The mixture needed to be stirred gently while it warmed to allow the sugar to dissolve.
Tip: Mix the egg whites and sugar in the bowl you plan to mix them in. In my case, that was the stainless steel bowl from my stand mixer.
Next, the egg white-sugar mixture went into my stand mixer for 10 minutes. The bowl was filled with fluffy white meringue but the time it was done. The final step was to slowly add the butter and vanilla extract then give the buttercream a final mix so it could “tighten up”. That final mix was really when it went from looking like meringue to looking like buttercream.
After whipping the egg whites and sugar for 10 minutes on high speed
Here’s where it all went wrong…
It all went smoothly according to the recipe. My mistake was dividing it and adding the Nutella before refrigerating it overnight. The next day I took the buttercream out and let it sit on the counter to come up to room temperature. It took a few hours!
It also needed to be whisked in the stand mixture to fluff it up. That also took away the streakiness that I needed for the watercolor effect. The worst part was the graininess. I think that’s the right word, anyway. There were small grains of butter that just wouldn’t mix in no matter what I did.
I spread a bit onto a layer of frozen cake and the graininess did not go away. I had to face the fact that the buttercream was ruined and into the trash it went. Immediately afterward I realized I didn’t photograph it so I could show what happened.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Take Two
Once I bought more eggs, butter, and Nutella, I gave this a second try. This time I made the buttercream the same day I planned to assemble and decorate my Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake. Sucess!
The buttercream came together as smoothly as it did the first time, and I had no problems coloring it with the Nutella. I had two bowls of streaky vanilla-Nutella Swiss meringue buttercream ready to use on my forthcoming cake.
I used a silicone spatula to mix the Nutella with the vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream
Frosting the Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake
Frosting cakes is far from my strong suit, but there were some really helpful tips in this recipe. First, I placed the cakes on a cake board. The recipe advises using a cardboard cake board, but I chose a reusable plastic version. They are so handy!
The author’s tip about freezing the cakes first was great advice! I did the crumb coat and then a second layer without needing to chill the cake in between steps. The cakes seemed to hold together better when frozen, but there were a lot of crumbs in the frosting. Still, it smoothed out well and the crumbs weren’t a big deal since this cake has a rustic look.
It’s not part of the recipe, but I assembled and did the initial layers of frosting on a revolving cake table. It allowed me to rotate the cake as I covered it with frosting and made smoothing it much easier. It’s also lighter than my “pretty” cake stand, so moving it in and out of the refrigerator was a bit easier. I kept the cake on this revolving table until I added the ganache in step 14.
I frosted the cake while on a rotating cake stand/table using an offset spatula to apply it and bench scraper to smooth it
Making and Adding the Ganache
I’ve made chocolate ganache before, so this wasn’t new territory for me. I like to use a double boiler for ganache because I feel like I have more control. However, this recipe called for microwaving the ingredients. I went with it, and it worked! The ganache came together just as the recipe said with no extra heating required.
I reserved half a cup of ganache, placed it into the freezer, and began adding the remainder to my cake. I went slowly and cautiously, and I ended up with some satisfying chocolate drips down the side of the cake. It took me two goes of pouring a little ganache and spreading it with my offset spatula until it dripped.
After applying the chocolate ganache
The only mistake I made here was how I froze the 1/2 cup of ganache. I put it into a container with a lid, and it wasn’t close to fudgy after 30 minutes. I think the lid held in the heat and kept the cold air from reaching the ganache. Once I removed the lid it had a fudgy texture after another 10 minutes in the freezer.
Decorating my Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake
I struggle with using a piping bag, and this one was even more difficult since it had to be loaded with ganache and buttercream. It took some patience, but I got it done and even used the same piping tip linked in the blog post (Ateco 826).
My first swirl was mostly ganache. I didn’t think to push it out so I didn’t immediately get the mixed effect. My swirls were also far from perfect and too small. It sounds like a disaster, but it wasn’t. I added more frosting until I was mostly happy with the results. Then I unwrapped the Ferrero Rocher candies and squished them onto my imperfect frosting swirls and they suddenly looked great!
The final touch was spooning a drizzle of chocolate ganache onto each Ferrero Rocher buttercream decoration. And boom! I had a gorgeous Nutella Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cake to drool over while I took photos.
A slice of the completed cake
Timing
This recipe (or recipes) did not have times listed except those in the instructions. I didn’t have a breakdown of prep, cooking, cooling, and total time so I am considering the accuracy of the cooking times for the time rating.
Here’s the breakdown of how my time was spent on this recipe:
Devil’s Food Cake
29 minutes to prep
30 minutes to bake
30 minutes to cool in pan
10 minutes to cool on rack
11 minutes to level and wrap
1 hour 50 minutes total (overnight freezing not included)
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
10 minutes to prep
28 minutes to cook and mix
7 minutes to divide and color with Nutella
45 minutes total
Assembly and Decoration
19 minutes to assemble and frost cake
15 minutes to chill
5 minutes to add Nutella streaks
30 minutes to chill
16 minutes to make ganache & divide
30 minutes to freeze ganache
7 minutes to drizzle remaining ganache over top of cake
23 minutes to set drizzled ganache on cake
13 minutes to decorate cake
1 hour 52 minutes total
4 hours 27 minutes grand total
There were a few times that overlapped like being able to make the ganache while the cake chilled the second time and then adding it to the cake while the divided portion froze. Otherwise, most of it was consecutive steps. It’s also worth noting that this does not include time for the cakes to freeze. I planned to freeze mine overnight, but it ended up being a couple of days since I had a mishap with the first batch of buttercream.
That Blood Orange Cheesecake Tart wasn’t enough blood orange for me! I decided to grab another bag and try a beverage recipe. This Sparkling Blood Orange Mocktail with Turmeric is full of things I like in addition to blood orange, like anti-inflammatory ginger and turmeric. And since I’m not drinking much alcohol lately, this recipe was a must-try!
A refreshing sparkling blood orange mocktail recipe packed with healthy nutrients. Each sip infuses turmeric, ginger, fresh squeezed juice, mint, and rosemary.
So I’ve already mentioned most of the ingredients. I had ground ginger and turmeric on hand since I cook with them a lot.
Although I have been finding blood oranges steadily at my usual grocery store since January, I didn’t have quite enough leftover from the tart I mentioned earlier. I picked up another bag along with fresh rosemary, fresh mint, and some cans of seltzer water.
I had honey and simple syrup on hand, so I was set in case I wanted to add an optional sweetener. Besides ice, I was all set!
Blood orange juice, rosemary, mint leaves, honey, ground ginger, ground turmeric, and seltzer water
The Process
I busted out the ice cube trays to make “real” ice cubes for this recipe. My refrigerator makes pyramid-shaped cubes, but they’re small and melt fast. Ice trays aren’t as big of a pain as they were when I grew up, so I don’t mind using them for special drinks like this.
Once I had my ice done and glasses in hand, it was time to make my mocktail. Well, mocktails since this is a recipe for two drinks.
First up was juicing a few blood oranges. It took five to make one cup of juice, and I used my electric citrus juicer since it’s fast. I got picky and decided to strain the juice with a fine mesh strainer to remove the pulp. Next, I whisked in the powdered spices.
Juicing blood oranges
From there it’s all done in the glasses. I powered the blood orange spice mixture into two rocks glasses filled with ice and topped it with seltzer water.
Tip: Bruising mint leaves helps to release their flavor. There are several techniques to do this like crushing them in your hands, on a hard surface, or with a muddler.
The recipe mention this, but I smashed the mint leaves in my hands to release their oils before dropping them into the drinks. Next was a sprig of rosemary and it was time to give my freshly made mocktails a taste.
The flavor was a bit tart and bitter, so I added honey to one of the mocktails. It didn’t mix easily mix into the cold drink, so it didn’t add much sweetness. I tried simple syrup in the other drink, and it did better in both sweetness and mixability. Still, there was a residual bitterness from the spices, and I didn’t notice the mint at all.
Timing
This recipe lists a total time of 10 minutes, and I was right on that. Mixing in optional sweeteners added a minute or two to each drink since I tried one with honey and one with simple syrup.
I had a few blood oranges left over from the Winter Retreat Blood Orange Kale Salad I posted a while back. There was no way I was going to let them go to waste, so I went looking for another blood orange recipe and found this Blood Orange Cheesecake Tart. This beautiful pastry was made of blood orange curd layered over cheesecake, all inside a graham cracker crust. It looked and sounded too good to pass up! Plus it seems fair to make a blood orange dessert after making such a healthy salad.
Super creamy and balanced cheesecake topped with an easy tangy fresh blood orange curd, surrounded in a classic graham cracker crust!
Recipe Author: Angela Chung at Moments of Sugar Get the recipe
The Ingredients
I only had a few ingredients on hand: granulated sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract. That left a seven-item shopping list. it was full of basic items like butter, cream cheese, etc. Nothing on that list was unusual, and I found everything at my usual grocery store.
Blood orange zest and juice, graham crackers, lemon juice and zest, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, cream cheese, unsalted butter, eggs, heavy whipping cream, kosher salt, and sour cream
The Process
The recipe divides the process into 3 major parts: graham cracker crust, cheesecake layer, and blood orange layer.
Making the Graham Cracker Crust
As with any tart, this recipe starts at the bottom with the graham cracker crust. While I love the taste, graham cracker crusts aren’t my favorite because they are very delicate and crumble easily.
The recipe doesn’t mention it, but the graham crackers needed to be pulverized into fine crumbs. To do that, I broke up 13 graham crackers so they would fit into my food processor. It had them ground into crumbs in a minute or two and gave me more than enough crumbs.
Next, the crumbs were mixed in a large bowl with the rest of the crust ingredients. The crust was made by pouring that mixture into a tart pan and pressing it into the sides and bottom.
Unbaked graham cracker crust
This recipe has a great tip about using a cup to press down the crust mixture. I used a combination of my fingers and a measuring cup with a flat bottom. A ramekin or drinking glass with a flat bottom would also work. Finally, the crust was baked for 10 minutes.
Tip: Moving a tart pan with a removable bottom is accident-prone—the removable bottom is easily dislodged! Pick up the pan by the sides only, and place the tart pan on a sheet pan before making the crust to eliminate that risk. Leave it on the sheet pan throughout the entire process, including cooling it in the refrigerator.
Making the Cheesecake Layer
This was the easiest part of the recipe for me as it only took 10 minutes of active time. The ingredients were all mixed in my stand mixer, although a hand mixer would have worked too. The instructions were nice and clear and guided me through the process with no questions.
Once the filling was mixed up, I poured it into the cooled graham cracker crust that I left on the sheet pan it was baked on. Then it was back into the oven for 27 minutes followed by 30 more minutes of cooling in the oven once turned off.
Baked and cooled cheesecake layer
I moved on to prepping and cooking the first batch of blood orange curd while the tart cooled in the oven. That involved some juicing, testing, and separating egg yolks, but I wanted all the ingredients ready to go before starting.
Making the Blood Orange Curd
I’ve made lemon curd before, but it’s been a while. All I remembered was it needs to be stirred constantly and cooked on low heat so it doesn’t turn into scrambled eggs. This recipe followed what I remembered, so I felt confident going into this part.
First, I added all the ingredients to a 1-quart saucepan and mixed until the sugar dissolved. Then I put it on the stove at heat level 1, added a thermometer, and started stirring with a silicone spatula. I kept stirring and stirring and stirring…
I used a fine mesh cocktail strainer to ensure the zest was strained out of the curd for a smooth finish
It took a lot longer than 10 minutes for the curd to thicken and come to 170°F. It took me 26 minutes (including stirring in the butter) plus another 6 minutes to strain it. The mixture was so thick I had to press it through the strainer with a small silicone spatula, and I ended up with 1/3 cup of blood orange curd.
The curd was thick enough to spread curd over the surface of the cheesecake layer−think spreading mayo on bread for a sandwich. I tried and tried to spread it evenly, but there just wasn’t enough curd for an even coverage. I even moved it onto a rotating cake decorating stand.
The cheesecake layer still showed through in a few spots, and I wasn’t happy with that. I contemplated leaving it and covering the patches with decorations and ended up deciding to make a second batch of curd. I’m picky like that!
The cheesecake showed through the first layer of blood orange curd
Making the Second Batch
This time I turned the heat up to 4, somewhere between medium-low and medium, and got to stirring. The mixture was much thinner than the first batch by the time it reached 170°F, and it only took 16 minutes to cook and strain it. And this batch yielded 1/2 cup of curd.
I didn’t let the second batch of curd cool too much and thicken up before I poured it over the tart. I began in the center and slowly moved outward, while slowly spinning the stand. This time there was enough to reach the edge. I was able to cover the whole tart by pouring on the curd, and it gave a very smooth finish.
There were a few tiny spots that didn’t reach the edge, but jiggling the pan took care of that. I also used a toothpick to fix a few dips. It broke the surface tension, and another jiggle smoothed out the dents. I was overjoyed!
I worked so hard to get that beautiful finish that I didn’t want to risk messing it up with foil. Instead, I moved the tart into my cake and cupcake carrier, slapped on the lid, and called it a day. I left the tart to set in the refrigerator overnight and decorated it the next day with leftover blood oranges and mint leaves.
The second layer of blood orange curd completely covered the cheesecake layer
Timing
This recipe lists 40 minutes to prep, 40 minutes to cook, 4 hours of resting time, and 5 hours 20 minutes total. Here’s how my time was spent:
Graham Cracker Crust
10 minutes to prep the crust
10 minutes to bake the crust
Cheesecake Filling
10 minutes to prep the cheesecake filling
27 minutes to bake the cheesecake filling
Blood Orange Curd
9 minutes to prep the curd
26 minutes to cook the curd (1st batch)
7 minutes to apply the curd (1st batch)
16 minutes to make blood orange curd (2nd batch)
3 minutes to apply the curd (2nd batch)
4 hours to chill and set in the refrigerator*
5 hours 58 minutes total
The above does not include 30 minutes to cool the cheesecake layer in the oven or time to cool once removed from the oven. That was done while I prepped and made the first batch of blood orange curd.
*I used the minimum time listed in the recipe of 4 hours to chill and set for the time rating, but I let mine set up overnight.
It’s blood orange season! I can’t find them year-round, but I can buy them by the bag at my usual grocery store for the first few months of the year. I’m on bag number three right now, so stay tuned for more blood orange recipes. But today I’m indulging in this gorgeous Winter Retreat Blood Orange Kale Salad. The photos were so beautiful that I was instantly drawn to it. A quick read showed me this salad is packed with healthy things I love, so it wasn’t hard to decide to try it. Plus it has steamed broccoli, and I have never steamed anything. New skill unlocked, I hope!
This Winter Retreat salad is packed with superfoods like kale and blood orange that will nourish you from the inside out. Build immunity and a healthy glow by eating nutrient dense and seasonal foods!
Recipe Author: Silvia Dunnirvine at Garden in the Kitchen Get the recipe
The Ingredients
I needed to buy almost all the ingredients in this lovely salad. All I had was sea salt and oil-cured black olives. The recipe says “pitted olives” but not the type. They’re good, but oil-cured olives are next-level! They have a stronger, saltier flavor that I love, and I had just enough left for this recipe.
So off to the store with high hopes of finding everything in one stop. I almost did it! My go-to grocery store had everything but the lacinato kale. All they had was curly kale. It would probably work, but lacinato kale is milder and tastes better.
I really wanted that lacinato, so I ran home, put away my groceries, and ran up the street to the fancy grocery store. They had it! I bought a bunch and a few other things because that store was pure temptation for me, and left with a smile on my face.
Tip: If blood oranges are out of season, try cara cara oranges. They have pinkish-red flesh and similar sweetness. Other types of oranges will work in this recipe too. Navel oranges, mandarins, tangerines, and clementines all have a sweetness similar to blood oranges but lack the distinctive berry taste unique to blood oranges.
Lacinato kale, broccoli, radicchio, grape tomatoes, oil-cured black olives, blood oranges, avocado oil, and sea salt
The Process
This salad isn’t all raw fruits and vegetables. The broccoli is steamed, so I had to learn how to do that. Other than that, there was lots of slicing and chopping with a little bit of peeling. In other words, familiar things that I was comfortable doing.
Choosing a Steamer Basket
I had some planning to do before I made my Winter Retreat Blood Orange Kale Salad because I didn’t have a steamer basket. When I think of steaming, the classic bamboo basket comes to mind. I had no idea there was such a huge variety of steamer baskets! Besides bamboo, there are silicone, plastic, and metal baskets, and many of them fold up for easy storage.
I have very limited storage space, so I chose a folding metal steamer basket that expands from 5.1″ to 9″. It also has folding feet and a telescoping handle that can be removed for steaming larger items. I love this handy little steamer basket that fits in the palm of my hand when it’s all folded up!
Steaming the Broccoli
Now that I had my steamer basket, it was time to learn how to use it. Finding tips, tutorials, recipes, and videos was easy. The consensus is to steam broccoli for 5 to 6 minutes for that perfect crispy-crunchy texture that I like. And it’s so easy!
Steaming broccoli in a large saute pan
First, I filled a deep saute pan with about 1″ of water and put it onto the stove to boil.
Next, I trimmed the florets off the broccoli and piled them into the basket.
Then I added it to the pan once the water was boiling, covered it, and let the broccoli steam for 5-6 minutes.
I like my broccoli tender with a touch of crispness, and I for exactly that in 6 minutes.
Of course, you can adjust the time to your liking. Longer will result in a softer texture, and shorter will be crispier.
Prepping the Kale
I genuinely like kale, especially kale salads. Kale wasn’t on my radar before this blog. I assumed it was tough and bitter and I wouldn’t like it. Boy, was I wrong! Kale is great in soups, but I love a good kale salad!
A day or two before I planned to make this recipe I saw a kale stemming hack on Instagram. It looked so fast, but these things don’t always work for me. I had to test it!
You need:
1 pair of tongs with a push-pull lock at the top (the lock must have a small hole in it)
paring knife
And you need to:
Insert one leaf into the hole in the tong’s lock
Pull it through to remove the leaf from the stem
Optional: Use the paring knife to trim the stem if it’s too large to fit into the hole
Stemming kale leaves with a pair of tongs
It worked! I had the leaves stemmed faster than I ever could have done by cutting with a knife or tearing with my hands. It left the fine stems at the tips of the leaves in, but they are tender enough to eat.
Next, I chopped the leaves into bite-sized pieces, added them to a mixing bowl with some of the avocado oil, and massaged it for 2 minutes.
Massaging isn’t hard—just grab a bunch in each hand and squeeze hard. Then drop it, pick up more, and repeat. The goal is to break down the fibers and tenderize the kale, so you’ll notice the leaves turn darker green and feel softer as you work.
Massaging kale with avocado oil
Finishing Up
The most labor-intensive parts of the prep work were done, but there were still a few ingredients left. I still had to:
*The recipe says to slice and cube 2 blood oranges, but I cubed both and sliced a third blood orange for the garnish.
Once that was done, it was time to assemble this beauty. I used my favorite technique for a beautiful salad presentation. Mixing all the ingredients causes the smaller ingredients to end up on the bottom of the bowl.
Set aside a few of the small ingredients/toppings
Add the remaining ingredients to a large mixing bowl
Add the dressing and seasonings and mix thoroughly
Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or platter (optional)
Top the salad with the reserved ingredients and serve
I served my Winter Retreat Blood Orange Kale Salad on a 15-inch platter and topped it with the reserved blood orange slices, black olives, and grape tomatoes.
Pitting the olives and other salad ingredients
Timing
This recipe lists a total time of 12 minutes. I went way over that and mine took 32 minutes to prepare. I think a good part of the slow-down was pitting and slicing the olives, halving the grape tomatoes, and peeling the oranges. I’m out of practice in the first two of those things., but I admit I didn’t rush to get this salad put together. I worked at my own pace, though, and I didn’t have any trouble with the steps.
Happy National Italian Food Day! I’m celebrating with this Authentic Bolognese Sauce recipe because one of my favorite memories of Italian food was Mom’s spaghetti dinners. She would brown some ground beef and diced onion, add a few spices with some jarred spaghetti sauce, and serve it over spaghetti noodles.
I don’t think I learned this type of sauce was called bolognese until I was an adult. It also took many more years for me to learn that this was an Americanized version of an Italian classic. Real Bolognese is very simple, and I discovered the real deal has no spices other than a bay leaf or two and should be served over wide noodles like pappardelle or tagliatelle. I was intrigued, and today is the perfect reason to give this recipe a try.
This delicious Authentic Bolognese Sauce or Ragu alla Bolognese is made with fresh ingredients and cooked low and slow.
Recipe Author: Rosemary Molloy at An Italian in My Kitchen Get the recipe
The Ingredients
My first step was to check my pantry for ingredients. I had a few like olive oil (I used light, not extra virgin), tomato paste, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Not too bad, but I still had a decent-sized list of items to shop for. Most of the items were easy to find at my usual grocery store though the smallest packs of ground beef and pork were about double what is called for (I froze the leftovers).
Passata, ground pork, whole milk, ground beef, tomato paste, red wine (Merlot), celery, carrot, black pepper, bay leaves, sea salt, olive oil, and yellow onion
The only item that was new to me was the passata. It’s similar to tomato puree but they are not the same thing. Passata is a thick tomato sauce made of crushed, strained, uncooked tomatoes and may have a dash of salt. Tomato puree is crushed and strained, but the tomatoes are often cooked before canning to remove excess water and create a sweeter flavor.
There seemed to be quite a debate on whether tomato puree was an acceptable substitute for passata. I was determined to keep this recipe as authentic so I went with passata. My regular grocery store doesn’t carry it, so I ordered Tuscanini passata since it was highly rated and the best value.
The Process
The key to this Authentic Bolognese Sauce recipe is a long time slowly cooking. That helped me decide to use my 5.5-quart cast iron Dutch oven. The inside is coated with enamel so it’s safe to cook acidic foods like tomatoes and the iron holds heat well for slow cooking. It was more than large enough to make this sauce.
Active Cooking Portion
Making bolognese sauce began with prepping all the ingredients except the meat. The recipe says to cut the vegetables very fine but not too fine so they break down and become pulpy. This sauce is chunky, after all.
I chose a 1/4-inch dice, and it was just right. It was large enough to see chunks in the final sauce but small enough that I didn’t notice them while I ate. Prepping the rest of the ingredients was straightforward measuring and weighing.
Diced vegetables with other measured and weighed Bolognese sauce ingredients
I began cooking by preheating the pan with the oil when the prep work was almost done. It took about 5 minutes until it was hot enough for the mixture of onion, celery, and carrots. Onion was expected, but celery and carrots surprised me and reminded me of many soup recipes. They are definitely not things I associate with Bolognese!
Tip: It should take 5-8 minutes for the onion to become translucent and the carrots and celery to soften on low heat.
Next, the heat was turned up to medium and the meat went into the pot in the large pieces shown. I used a wooden spoon to break it up as I cooked, and it was in small bits by the time it was browned just as the recipe said.
Things continued per the recipe, and I added the remaining ingredients (except the milk) in just a few more minutes. It was time to simmer before I knew it, and all the steps were very easy to do.
Tip: Add the tomato paste and give it a good stir before adding the passata. It is easier to mix in and distribute the thick paste that way.
Slow Cooking
I put my Authentic Bolognese Sauce on low and set a timer for 3 hours. I also set a second timer for 30 minutes to remind me to stir the sauce from time to time. It’s easy for me to forget, so I just kept re-starting that time each time I gave the sauce a stir.
The Bolognese is ready to serve over pappardelle noodles after simmering for 3 hours
When the 3 hours was over my house smelled so good! All I had to do to finish it up was pluck out the bay leaves and stir in a little milk.
Oh, and I needed noodles! I put another 5-quart pot of water on to boil around 15 minutes before the sauce was done. I used an entire 16-ounce bag of pappardelle, and it took 11 minutes to boil until it was al dente. The noodles were finished 5-10 minutes after the sauce.
Timing
This recipe lists 20 minutes to prep, 3 hours to cook, and a total time of 3 hours 20 minutes. Here’s how my time was spent:
22 minutes to prep
8 minutes to chop and measure the ingredients
5 minutes to soften the vegetable
6 minutes to brown the meat
3 minutes to stir in the remaining ingredients from Step 4
3 hours to cook
3 minutes to remove bay leaves, add milk, and stir (Step 5)
3 hours 25 minutes total
I was barely over the total time, and I think the slow-down was while I prepped the ingredients since I had to weigh the meat. The packages of both were just over 1 pound, and it took a few minutes of removing bits of meat to get to 10 1/2 ounces.
Have you ever heard of Baked Alaska? I have, sort of. I know it’s an old-fashioned desert, but that’s about it. Well, I was going through my food calendar, and I noticed February 1st is National Baked Alaska Day. That prompted me to find out what exactly baked Alaska is because why not? Turns out it’s a round/circular layer of sponge cake topped with a dome of ice cream. The ice cream is then topped with a layer of browned meringue.
I chose these Mini Baked Alaskas because the full-size recipes I found serve 8-16 people. It’s just the two of us, and we would never finish that in one go, and this isn’t a storable kind of dish. The ice cream would melt in the refrigerator, and the meringue would be ruined by freezing. It’s a one-shot kind of thing, so individual servings were just what I needed!
These individual baked Alaskas are the perfect dessert for two!
Recipe Author: Christina Lane at Dessert for Two Get the recipe
The Ingredients
The author used black cherry sorbet in her Mini Baked Alaskas, but I couldn’t find it. I went to three grocery stores that day, and none of them had sorbet or gelato with cherries. The closest I found was Chocolate Cherrish Passion ice cream from Publix. Per the packaging, it’s “cherry-flavored ice cream with chocolate fudge ribbons, sliced black cherries, and liquid cherry-filled candy hearts.” Yum!
I had some of the other ingredients on hand like baking powder, cornstarch, and granulated sugar. I also had some Maraschino cherries soaked in bourbon, so I used those instead of Morello cherries. That left me shopping for eggs, milk, unsalted butter, and almond extract in addition to the ice cream.
This recipe for Mini Baked Alaskas consists of a layer of sponge cake, a layer of ice cream with a cherry center, and a layer of meringue that’s torched until browned. This recipe walked me through the whole process.
Making the Sponge Cake
Most of the work is making the almond-flavored sponge cake. This part wasn’t very different from most cakes. My only question was whether I had the right type of loaf pan. The recipe calls for a 9″ x 5″ bread loaf pan with sharp corners, so a Pullman loaf pan was what popped into my head. It’s a box with very sharp corners that have no rounding at all. And I don’t have one. My plain old 9' x 5' loaf pan does have slightly rounded corners, so I decided to use it and not buy yet another piece of equipment.
I cut 2 pieces of parchment paper to the length and width of the loaf pan
I used my loaf pan to trace two pieces of parchment paper to fit perfectly and skipped greasing it per the recipe. That part made me nervous, but I decided to trust the recipe and started on the cake. I have to say this recipe was great! Each step was laid out and easy to follow.
Tip: Switch steps 4 and 5 if you have a stand mixer to save some time. That way you can sift the flour and other dry ingredients while the mixer handles the egg and sugar.
Other than switching steps 4 and 5 to save myself a few minutes, I filled the recipe to the letter. Waiting for the cake to cool was the hardest part but worth it. I got a thin piece of cake with no tears or issues removing the parchment paper.
Assembling My Mini Baked Alaskas
First, I had to cut out the small round pieces of cake. My first idea was to trace the scoop with a paring knife, then I realized I had the perfect tool for this job: biscuit cutters. I have a set with several sizes, so I chose the one closest to the ice cream scoop’s diameter. It made this part very easy and precise. In fact, I was able to cut out four pieces of cake instead of just two.
I used a biscuit cutter the same diameter of the ice cream scoop to cut out the cake
The ice cream was next. I have a spade-style ice cream scoop, so I had to order a round ice cream scoop. The ice cream needs to be a half sphere, and my scoop just wouldn’t do that. My new ice cream scoop made perfect little domes.
With the ice cream still in the scoop, I used a small measuring spoon to scoop out enough to stuff in a cherry then replaced the ice cream over it. Then I added the round piece of cake, turned the scoop upside down, placed the cake on a tulip-style cupcake wrapper, and released the ice cream. Next, I dropped the cupcake wrapper into a ramekin and put my almost-Baked Alaskas into the freezer for 1 hour.
Tip:Tulip-style cupcake liners are just folded squares of parchment paper. That makes them easy to fold and drop into a ramekin for freezing. It also makes them easy to lift out and unfold when you are ready to plate and add the meringue.
I chilled the ice cream and cake in a tulip-style cupcake liner
Adding the Meringue
I was almost there! My next step was to add the egg whites and sugar to my stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to make the meringue. Well, technically not meringue since the recipe says not to beat the eggs to stiff peaks. It’s really eggs and sugar whisked until fluffy, but “meringue” is shorter.
At any rate, I was a bit worried about this step because it was very different from anything I had ever done before. Again, I trusted the recipe and it walked me through it with no problems. I smoothed on as much of the meringue as I could get onto the ice cream and ran a fork through it to create the swirls and whorls.
Now it was the final step, and the one I was looking forward to. It was time to torch the meringue. I love any excuse to use a kitchen torch, so I started waving it over the newly made but un-Baked Alaskas until they browned to my satisfaction. I love how they turned out!
By the way, the original way to brown the meringue was by waving a red hot metal salamander over the finished dessert. It’s not the kind of salamander you’re thinking of! It’s more like a small, round metal plate on a long arm. It was set into the fire to heat then waved over the dessert until it browned. A modern way to do this is under your oven’s broiler or by torching it.
The History of Baked Alaska
If you would like to learn more about this storied desert, I highly recommend taking a peep at a couple of articles. Britannica has a short entry that mentions three possible inventors.
Check out Meet Baked Alaska’s Prototype, ‘Alaska, Florida’ by Diana Hubbell over at Atlas Obscura if you want a deeper dive into what seems to be the most popular origin story. Additionally, it has a recipe adapted from what may be the OG Baked Alaska. The recipe is adapted from The Epicurean by Charles Ranhofer of Delmonicos’ Restaurant in New York City. Yes, THE Delmonico’s that opened in 1837 and is still serving Chef Ranhofer’s Alaska, Florida to this day, though they call it Delmonico’s Original Baked Alaska.
Timing
This recipe lists 2 hours to prep, 15 minutes to cook, and a total time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I broke down the prep time as I completed various milestones. Here’s how my time was spent:
That’s right in line with the recipe’s total time. I’m a little surprised because I fussed over this and took my time. That was especially true when I made, applied, and torched the meringue. I was sure my Mini Baked Alaskas would have gone way over the time listed.
