Dulce Dé Leche and Coffee Cake with Caramel Latte Glaze from Chic & Gorgeous Treats

It's Friday! That means the weekend is almost here again...and I know you guys are excited! But before you indulge into whatever weekend activities you're planning, check out what I have for you today! I'm pretty sure that just like the thoughts of the weekend, this will excite you too...and will definitely give you delight!

Are you drooling now? So mouth watering hah! Well, I didn't make this one...I wish I did though! As I've mentioned many times before, I am not much of a baker. I bake but I can't say I'm that good at it...so I really admire those who are, and Joanna Tham (or Jo as I call her) is one of them! She's the Malaysian blogger behind Chic & Gorgeous Treats...and she made that cake! I requested her to do a guest post on my favorite Dulce De Leche Cake...but to my surprise, she made something even better - a combination of two of my favorite cakes: Dulce De Leche and Coffee! Wow! She's truly amazing, isn't she? Well, I've known that for more than a year now, that's why I am a big fan of her and her blog! Jo is one of the most passionate baking bloggers I know and I tell you, she makes the most fabulous baked treats...from cakes, cookies, cupcakes to donuts, pies and tarts! She's a gifted baker I tell yah! She truly is admirable and I am thankful and honored to have her here today! Without further ado, I give you Joanna Tham...

Hi there foodies! I’m thrilled be able to guest post for Tina today. If you don’t know who I am, or that is because I am still new in the whole food blogging era, I’m Joanna, the blog owner of Chic & Gorgeous Treats. By day, I am an IT consultant and by night or mostly weekends, I pretend to be a patisserie chef, and I suspect this could be my alter ego too.

What do I have installed for you today? This is quite a mouth full. I baked one of Tina’s favorite cake but with my own spin to it. It’s DULCE DE LECHE & COFFEE CAKE with CARAMEL LATTE GLAZE. These flavor combination is truly inspired by one of my favorite caffeine drink, Iced Caramel Latte.

If you’re curious, and wondering what is the difference between Dulce De Leche and Caramel? Apart from the color and taste, they are both rich amber brown and sweet. Dulce De Leche, a Portuguese version is made from sweetened milk (in this case condensed milk), where it’s either baked in an oven, using the bain marie method or cook in a double boiler until the sugar caramelizes.

In my opinion, I think it’s much easier to make compared to Caramel which I believe is the English version. Caramel requires you to cook sugar and water together until its golden brown in color over low heat without letting the sugar burn, and lastly adding the cream to the caramelized sugar to transform it into a caramel. All it takes is 1 second of your attention away from the sauce pan and you will end up having burnt sugar. It sure has happen to me a number of times.

While I might steer away slightly from the original Dulce De Leche Cake; I assure you this DULCE DE LECHE & COFFEE CAKE with CARAMEL LATTE GLAZE pound cake is just as good. Maybe double or triple the goodness. Let me break it down for you. It has 2 flavors in a cake dulce de leche and espresso. I was really inspired by my favorite caffeine drink Iced Caramel Latte; and just knew that the coffee would help tone the sweetness level of dulce de leche and also adding that extra aroma and richness to the overall pound cake. The smell of your kitchen will be heavenly when it's freshly baked out of the oven. To emulate some classic steps of Dulce de Leche cake, I made my own Caramel Latte Glaze, with something extra too "Bailey's Irish Cream" to drizzle over the cake. To finish off, I topped off with heaps of crushed Snyder's Salted Pretzels.

Have a wonderful weekend and hope you enjoy this post as much I enjoyed baking this cake for you. Do pop over and give me a holler!

Spanakopita with Handmade Phyllo from Culinary Flavors

So how's everyone? I know it has been two weeks since my last post and though I know you all understand, I want to apologize for that. Summer is keeping me really busy and I just can't find enough time for everything. But anyway, I'm here today...and I must say, it truly feels great! Summer isn't over, so expect me to be MIA again...but today, allow me to bring you another delectable recipe for our PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around the World Series... 

Greek Cuisine is one of those that I didn't get to enjoy when I was still in the Philippines. I don't even remember seeing a Greek restaurant there. It's only here in the US that I've tried it, and though my family don't frequently eat Greek food, we always enjoy it when we do. Among the Greek dishes that I fell in love with are the Moussaka, Gyros, Souvlaki and of course, the Spanakopita and Baklava. Today, one of my admired bloggers is sharing with us her recipe of Spanakopita, which is a savory pie made of spinach. Spanakopita came from the words spanáki which means spinach and pítta which means pie. I only get the chance to eat this at restaurants, and I would really like to be able to make this at home. I am glad that Katerina of Culinary Flavors is kind enough to do a guest post on Spanakopita for PiTCC.  Katerina is a wonderful blogger who I find really kind and supportive. Despite her busy schedule, she frequently leaves inspiring comments here on my blog and that's something I really appreciate. The best thing I admire about her is how she perfectly balances blogging with working full-time and being an awesome mom and wife. She's one of those that I consider "super Mom" in the blogosphere! Words are not enough to express how honored I am to have her here. So, are you ready to learn how to make Spanakopita with me??? Without further ado, I give you Katerina Delidimou...

Hi everyone! I am Katerina, a working mother and wife living in Athens, Greece. As a child I watched and helped my mom and grandmother cooking and baking. Food has always played a major role in my life and at some point in 2008 I decided to start my own food blog. I always try to experiment with traditional and new recipes. My husband and son are my 'guinea pigs' but as they say they wouldn't want to be anything else. When Tina contacted me and asked me to do a guest post for her blog regarding a traditional dish of Greece, I jumped right in to it. She gave me a few choices and I immediately picked Spanakopita.

Sambal Sotong (Squid Sambal) from Nava-K.com

As I've mentioned before, I really love squid. It's one of those seafood that I enjoy eating a lot! Aside from the Filipino squid dishes that I've shared here before like the adobong pusit (squid adobo), calamares (fried squid rings), and rellenong pusit (stuffed squid), there is this other dish which is non-Filipino that has so much appeal to my taste buds. It's called Sambal Sotong (Squid Sambal). This is a Malaysian dish that has become my favorite since the first time I tried it at a restaurant. For those of you who aren't familiar with Malaysian cuisine, sambal is a chili based sauce prepared mainly from dried chillies and garlic. Sambal dishes are easy to cook but they say it takes a lot of practice to make a good sambal. I've heard that the secret to a delicious sambal is to sauté the chilies until the paste separates from oil.

I requested my good blog friend, Nava of Nava-K.com to share with us her recipe of Sambal Sotong for our PiTCC's Favorite DIshes From Around The World series, and I am truly honored that she granted my request. I'm pretty sure that a lot of you in the blogosphere know Nava. But for those who don't, Nava is the very warm lady from Malaysia who has this very wonderful lifestyle blog where she shares her love for beauty, fashion and food. She's one blogger who has never failed to show her support for me and PiTCC since last year when I was just starting.  For that, I'm truly thankful to her! She's definitely one of the Asian bloggers that I look up to. She's not only a good blogger, she's also successful with her profession as a college lecturer.

Nava is someone who travels a lot, and with her very busy schedule, I'm truly glad that she found the time to be here with us today! Words are really not enough for me to thank her! Without further ado, I give you Nava Krishnan...

  

Hi everyone! Let me start off by extending a big thank you to Tina for the invitation in sharing my recipe on her blog.  I came to know Tina via blogging and from there on, we have developed a great friendship although we are far away from each other.  I suppose like how the rest of the world is connected via technology, we are the same.  We take time to visit each other’s blog, and of course her comments on my blog always brighten up my day.

I was asked to share a recipe on squids or sotong as we call it in Malaysian term.  Honestly I don't cook squids often, not that we don't like it but squids are not one of our favorites.  Therefore I was quite worried, wondering if I will do a good job cooking the squids. Thank God all turned out well and my number one food critic at home, my other half, said that the dish was great and the squids were cooked just right in texture.

This recipe is a typical Malaysian style with the spicy, tangy and a mild sweet taste. I added another extra ingredient, that being the Petai or stinky beans. I am not sure whether you can find the beans over at your place and if it’s not available, you can do away with it.  The other option will be using long beans or French beans to replace the stinky beans. I did have some difficulties in looking for the squids and the nearest I found was the smallest type. After cleaning and slicing them into rings, they became even smaller. Small squids does not take a long time to cook, thus I was done with cooking within 10 minutes or so. If you are using the bigger type of squids, you probably will have to cook them for a longer time.  Do not overcook the squids as they will become rubbery.

I shall stop here and move on with the recipe now. Hope you will like this...

Chicken Biryani from Playful Cooking

Truth be told, one of the few things that my husband and I have in common is our love for food. We enjoy cooking and eating together since our dating years. We've shared the best and worst meals of our lives...but there's nothing about food that we have ever argued about. Back when we were in the Philippines (when we didn't have the  girls yet and didn't care that much about frugality), Ryan and I used to enjoy eating out a lot! We really loved trying different cuisines...but I don't remember being able to try Indian Cuisine back then. Actually, I don't even know if there was as Indian restaurant in Manila that time. It was only here in Texas that we got our first experience with Indian food...and it was like we fell in love with it at first taste! Ryan and I both love spicy food...and with all the different herbs and spices used in Indian Cuisine, we find it perfect for our taste buds. 

For our PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around The World series, I want to share with you one of the Indian dishes that have become my favorite. It's called Chicken Biryani. 

Biryani is a dish that's popular in India and Pakistan and is made of rice, herbs, and spices as well as vegetables or meat like beef, chicken, lamb, goat, fish and shrimp. The chicken version is my favorite. I just love the aroma and texture of this dish! It's an all-in-one meal that's so tasty and comforting! 

Today, I am happy to bring you Kankana of Playful Cooking to share with us her Chicken Biryani recipe. Kankana is from India but is now living in California with her wonderful husband. I met her last year when I was just starting to blog. She has become one of my favorite bloggers not just because of her mouth watering recipes and vivid photos that never fail to amaze me, but much more because of her very warm personality that can clearly be seen on her awesome blog. I'm truly glad that she found the time to be here with us today despite her busy schedule! I really can't thank her enough! Without further ado, I give you Kankana Saxena...

Thank you Tina for making me a part of this series and it was my pleasure to prepare the Chicken Biryani for you. Hope you will enjoy it! 

I am a passionate foodie and wannabe photographer who married the most amazing man in the world and I am currently enjoying life in sunny California. My cooking is mostly healthy with little bit of indulgence here and there. We all need that in our lives, don’t we? I like fast and easy cooking and that’s what you can mostly expect to see in my blog :) 

Today, I am sharing a Chicken Biryani recipe that I learned to cook from my brother when I visited home last winter. As a kid, I remember my brother would spend more time in the kitchen than I would but this time, my little brother totally impressed me with his cooking skills. 

One afternoon, he prepared Chicken Biryani and that was the first time that I actually enjoyed biryani. The strong aroma and warm flavors made me crave for it more than ever! 

Biryani is a very popular dish in India made with rice, meat and lots of spices! There are typically two types of biryani - Kacchi/Kutchi(raw) Biryani and Pakki(cooked) Biryani. For Kacchi biryani, uncooked marinated meat and rice are layered and cooked together. For Pakki biryani, both rice and meat are partially cooked. Then, they are layered to cook for some more time and the flavors blend between the rice and meat. 

I prepared Pakki biryani and it's very much like Hyderabadi biryani. It involves a lot of steps but at the end, it will all be worth the effort!

Chocolate Mousse Cake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake

It's the third Wednesday of the month...and PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around The World is back!

Today's recipe is different from the first two we've featured before. It's something rich, moist, sweet and decadent! It's the first "cake" guest post in our series...and I am both excited and humbled that Lizzy of That Skinny Chick Can Bake found the time to share her recipe of my favorite Chocolate Mousse Cake!

I'm sure you all know her! She's that fabulous, sweet and very caring lady who's such a valuable asset in the food blogging community, not only for her mouthwatering recipes and stunning pictures, but much more for her very warm and inspiring personality. I met Lizzy through Foodbuzz and I have been a big fan of her since then. I am not much into baking so I really admire those who are good at it, and Lizzy is one of them. Though she's not from France where chocolate mousse originated, when I think of cakes, she is the first person that comes into my mind! Baking queen is what I consider her to be and I truly feel so honored to have her today! Without further ado, I give you the amazing Lizzy...

Hi everyone! I'm Lizzy of That Skinny Chick Can Bake. I am a self taught home cook who loves making every dish both beautiful and delicious. My family is full of chocoholics and this is reflected in the embarrassingly high number of brownie recipes on my blog! My household composed of a hungry husband and 3 grown up kids plus one sweet, geriatric pup named Lambeau.

I am thrilled to be kicking off Tina's guest posts on cakes for her  PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around The World series. She has asked a number of her baking buddies to demonstrate some of her favorite cakes. I was excited to see a chocolate mousse cake as one of her options and nabbed it immediately! My youngest son's birthday was approaching and I was certain this would be his idea of nirvana.

Chocolate is melted, eggs are separated, whites are whipped. Lack of flour makes this cake smooth and silky...a melt in your mouth wonder. The birthday boy was smitten with this fabulous cake...I hope you will be too!

Chocolates are gently microwaved with butter, till smooth and melted.

 

Springform pan is buttered and wrapped in foil.

Egg whites are whipped till stiff.

Egg whites are folded into mixture of chocolate, egg yolks, and flavorings, then scraped into prepared pan.

 Baked in a bain marie (water bath) to perfection.

Thanks again Tina, for inviting me to your incredible blog! You are a constant inspiration both as a home cook and a mom. You are such a dear and supportive blogger friend. 

PiTCC Goes Japanese with Nikujaga from Just One Cookbook

It's the third Wednesday of the month...and it's time for PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around The World!

Today, I am sharing with you a dish from the Japanese Cuisine which Ryan and I really like. I am not sure if I have told you before that Ryan worked with a Japanese company right after we passed the engineering board exam until he left for the US. He had been on several job related trips to Japan ranging from one to six months, which made him love everything about Japan most especially its friendly people, its fascinating state of the art railway system, the heated toilet seats (LOL), the huge electronic stores in Akihabara and its cuisine, of course. Though I haven't been to Japan myself (except for those stop overs in Narita Airport on the way to and from the Philippines), I have come to love Japanese food mainly because I have been influenced by Ryan. When we were still in the Philippines, we regularly ate at Japanese restaurants in the Makati area like Saisaki, Sakura, Jipan, Tokyo Tokyo, Yoshinoya and Teriyaki Boy. Gyudon, Katsudon, Tendon, Unagi Don, Takoyaki and Yakisoba became my favorite Japanese food among many others. But our featured dish for today is something that we got to eat not from a restaurant but from several parties hosted by Ryan's Japanese boss. It's called Nikujaga which is basically a dish with meat, potatoes and onions stewed in sweetened soy sauce. 

It has been years since we last had this dish. Just like in the Philippines, it's not in the menu of the Japanese restaurants we've been to here in Texas. I've tried cooking it before but I don't think it came out as authentic as it should be...there seem to be some flavors missing. I'm truly glad that through my good friend Nami, I can share with you this simple but really delicious dish and we can all learn the authentic way of cooking it. I'm sure most of you know Nami...but for those who don't, well, let me tell you that she's one of my favorite bloggers. She was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan and now lives in SF Bay Area with her Taiwanese husband and two adorable kids. She's the author and co-founder of this blog called Just One Cookbook where you can find the most authentic Japanese recipes and cooking tips. I'm truly glad to have known her! With a husband like mine who loves Japanese food so much, having Nami and her blog is truly a big help! And today, I'm so honored to have her here on PiTCC! Without further ado, let me bring you our second guest blogger for PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around The World series...Namiko Chen!!! 

Hi everyone!  My name is Nami and I am the author, cook, and photographer behind my blog, Just One Cookbook where I share quick and easy Japanese food and recipes.  I’m really excited to be here today to share with everyone Tina’s favorite Japanese meal, Nikujaga.

Nikujaga (Japanese: 肉じゃが) literally means “meat and potatoes”, from two of the main ingredients niku (meat) and jagaimo (potatoes). It’s the Japanese version of beef stew; however, it contains a fairly small amount of meat.  The meat is added for flavor rather than substance, just like most of Japanese cooking.  It is simmered in the classic Japanese seasonings of soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. Unlike Western stews, the simmering time is much shorter because nikujaga uses thinly sliced meat.  Beef is commonly used for this dish but in eastern Japan, pork is more popular.

  

Nikujaga is a comfort food for the Japanese and it is a very popular meal cooked at home.  It is often considered as “mother’s taste” meal (“ofukuro no aji” in Japanese) as each household cooks it just slightly different.  The food itself is very simple and homely, and the warm bowl of your mother’s nikujaga brings one back to their roots.  It is probably the most popular dish among all kinds of nimono (Japanese stewed dishes). 

Thank you Tina for having me here today and I hope you and your readers will enjoy this dish!  Now let’s get cooking!

PiTCC Goes Italian with Risotto alla Marinara from Manu's Menu

Just like what I mentioned in my last post, I am launching a new series called "PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around The World" today. It's where I will ask a fabulous blogger every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month to guest post here on PiTCC with one of my favorite non-Filipino dishes. 

I am a person who loves to eat and though I love Filipino Cuisine so much, I enjoy lots of other cuisines too. This new series on my blog is my way of sharing with you what those other cuisines are and what specific dishes from those cuisines please my taste buds.I believe that doing this will give both you and me the chance to learn authentic recipes from trusted resource people in the blogging industry, and that's really awesome, right???

As I've told you many times, I'm a big lover of seafood. That is why I've chosen a seafood dish to be featured first on PiTCC's Favorite Dishes from Around The World. It's also Holy Wednesday today and some people abstain from eating beef, pork and poultry, so this is really timely! The dish I'm talking about is called Risotto alla Marinara or simply Seafood Risotto. 

I had this delicious Italian dish several times at Italianni's Restaurant when I was still in the Philippines. I have been wanting to learn the original version of it, and yes, now is the perfect time! I believe no one can give me the most authentic recipe for Risotto alla Marinara other than my good friend Manu of Manu's Menu. Manu and I started food blogging almost the same time last year. Though we haven't met in person yet, I feel that we have a very special bond. We may not keep in touch that often, but I know that she's someone I can really depend on here in the blogosphere. Her willingness to do a guest post for PiTCC is a great proof to that, right??? With her very busy schedule both as a mom and blogger, I am glad that she found the time to be here with us today. It is such an honor for me to have her! Without further ado, let me bring you our first guest blogger here on PiTCC...Manuela Zangara!!!

Hi everyone! I am Manuela, the author and creator of Manu’s Menu. I was born and brought up in Milan (Italy) by Sicilian parents and my passion for cooking can be traced back to my childhood, when I used to prepare meals together with my parents. I come from an artistic family and I often say that cooking is my art of choice. After moving to Australia in 2006 and becoming a mother of 2 beautiful daughters, I decided to create a blog to share my passion for cooking and to spread the concept of authentic Italian home cooking to the world.  

When my dear friend Tina asked me to write a guest post on Risotto alla Marinara for her beautiful site, I couldn’t have been more thrilled. I have a soft spot for risotto, and it is the first dish I learned how to cook completely on my own as a child. Making risotto is very easy, you just need to know a few simple rules and the great part is that the method is always the same: after you master the basic technique, you can make ANY kind of risotto you like. Making Risotto alla Marinara is no exception and even though it does require a bit of time and a few extra steps, it is no more complicated than any other risotto. “Alla Marinara” literally means “seaman style” and it is basically the same as “Alla pescatora” (“fisherman style”) and“Ai frutti di mare” (“with seafood”), so it is a seafood risotto and it is most commonly found in the coastal areas of Italy where fresh seafood is abundant. You could cook it with any combination of seafood (the ingredients vary slightly depending on “today’s fresh catch”), but I was lucky enough to find the most classic combo of ingredients at the fishmonger: prawns, calamari, mussels and vongole (or pippies/clams).  

Making this risotto with fresh seafood makes a huge difference, so I highly recommend it. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I did!