Baklava Cups Recipe

Couple months ago, I tried to make my very first Baklava (recipe here).  This is one of the most additive desserts I ever ate.  After my first successful attempt, I wanted to make this little treat again for our Easter's dinner; however, I want to make it a little bits different than the one I made the last time.  So I went online and find a pretty interesting recipe from Food Network.com.  The one appears on Food Network.com looks different than the traditional one I made the last time.  The ingridents are also a little bits different too.  I used walnuts and almonds as the recipe called for.  Also added bread crumbs and dried apricots too.  Don't under estimate the bread crumbs, they actually make a BIG different in the texture of the filling.  And the dried apricots make the baklava cups lighter than the traditional one.  

A traditional Baklava I made couple months ago.

The one I made the last time was closer to the one I had in Greece.  The one I made for Easter's dinner had a little Italian twist on it since Giada De Laurentiis is an Italian.  The one I made the last time was a little bits sweeter than the one I made for Easter.  They were different, but I loved them both!  Try both receipes and let me know what you think=)

This recipe was adopted from Giada De Laurentiis's recipe, you could also click here for her demo video:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 1 stick butter, melted, divided
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 12 sheets phyllo dough
• Special equipment: 2 mini-muffin tins

Time:  60 mins

Make: 6 sheets phyllo dough make a dozen, 12 sheets make 2 dozens

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the almonds, walnuts, apricots, bread crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, and salt in a food processor. Run the machine until the mixture is very finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and the honey and stir to combine
3. On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of phyllo. Using a pastry brush and the remaining melted butter, lightly cover the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Continue until there is a stack of 6 sheets of phyllo.
4. Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 12 equal pieces (Cut lengthwise into 4 pieces and widthwise into 3 pieces.)
5. Gently press each cut piece of phyllo into the mini-muffin tin cups. Press 1 tablespoon of the nut mixture into each of the phyllo cups. Gather the ends of each of the phyllo squares and twist to make a sachet shape. Continue shaping the remaining sachets in the other mini-muffin tin.
6. Bake until the edges of the phyllo are golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
7. When cool enough to handle, remove the baklava sachets and transfer to a serving plate.

Waffle + Pizza = Waffza at Love to Go (San Gabriel, CA)

Hours:

Mon-Thu 11 am - 10 pm Fri-Sat 2 pm - 12 am

307 S Mission Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

I always admire entrepreneurs (just like myself); these people are fearless, innovative, passionate, driven, open mind and they always have that JUST DO IT positive attitude and a strong work ethic. The market has not been going to anywhere these few years, it's extremely challenging to become an entrepreneur.  I hope all of us could just hang in there during this tough economy.  Believing in yourself and your companies because your confidence will show to your customers, your employees, your stakeholders and your suppliers.    Eventually, our passions and services will touch people's hearts.

A refreshing Kiwi yogurt Italian soda

I met this girl, Sundi from church when I was living in Pasadena back to year 2000.  I heard so many good things about her cookings, her sweet personality and her food from others at the church we both went to.  Few years ago, I found out that she finally opened her first cafe, Love to Go in City of San Gabriel, California.  I am so excited and happy for her when I first discovered this news.  Because turning your interests and hobbies into a career require a lot of efforts, time, money and a lot more...Her passion towards food have shown on her works.  She created this sweet treat called waffza (think about a combination of waffle and pizza).  This signature dessert is very popular at her cafe (so does their Italian soda).  I am so honor to share her journey and passions with everyone on my blog.

Enjoy these interview Q&A, and I truly wish that after reading this post, you could sit back and take a moment to think about what you are passionate about and GO FOR IT because life is too short to wake up with regrets.

Mrs. G = G
Sundi = S

G:  When did you open your own store, Love to Go?
S:  I opened my store on April 18, 2010

G:  When did you discover you have passion toward food?
S:  When I was studying in college, I started cooking dinner for my friends, brothers and sisters from church all the time.
One day, I saw a commercial on TV about Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena.  I immediately made a phone call and scheduled a visit at their campus.  After the visit, I finally made up my mind and decided to complete an associate degree in Culinary Arts.

Four different types of waffzas

Hong Kong style peanut butter waffle pocket

G:  What inspired you to create waffza?
S:  I found out that many people in the States like to eat waffles.   They also like  pizzas. I think people like these two food because you could put a lot of different toppings on these two food items.  I got inspired by pizzas and waffles and create waffza. At first, I made my waffza on a whole waffle and topped with ice-cream, whipped cream, strawberries and bananas, later I realized most of the people could not finish the whole waffza by themselves.  It made me wonder how I could alternate my creation with more varieties. At last, I came up with the idea of separating the whole waffle into smaller size (their original quarter size) and decorate them slice by slice...Waffza was created ^.^

G:  What is your favorite waffza?
S:  I like all of my waffza, but the most favorite waffza that I love is the banana & nut coated with dark chocolate.

A banana waffza cake

A strawberry and banana waffza cake

Easy Panna Cotta Recipe

Panna Cotta means cooked cream in Italian.  It is a classic Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It is generally from the Northern Italian region of Piemonte.  The dessert could serve with fresh fruits or hazelnuts.  If you want to have some bitter sweet flavor, try green tea powder (aka matcha) panna cotta.

Here is my recipe (adopted from all recipe.com):

Ingredients:

1/3 cup reduced fat milk

1 (0.25 ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin (look for it from the jello section at the grocery store)

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (look for it from the baking section at the grocery store)

6 cleaned ramekin dishes

Direction:

1. Pour milk into a small bowl, and stir in the gelatin powder and mix well. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, stir together the heavy cream and sugar, and set over medium heat. Bring to a full boil, watching carefully, as the cream will quickly rise to the top of the pan. Pour the gelatin and milk into the cream, stirring until completely dissolved. Cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla extract and pour into six individual ramekin dishes.
3. Cool the ramekins uncovered at room temperature. When cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before serving.
4. Serve with fresh berries (optional).