strawberries and cream scones

Somehow people have this misconception that scones are difficult and tedious to make with little or no corollary satisfaction. And by people I mean me. It's not like they're brownies am I right. But anyways, this week I had my first attempt at the "difficult" triangular devils, and to my surprise they were nothing of the sort. These scones were moist  and buttery with a delectable creamy crumb and sweet pockets of fresh strawberries laced throughout. If you're a non-foodie that's code for "you will not be disappointed if you make this right now!"

Keep reading if you want to learn my patented (not really) 5 Step Scone Making Method: Dry, Butter, Wet, Form, and Bake. As always the ingredient list will be at the bottom of the post. 

coming soon - strawberries and cream scones

Scones are dry, hard, and tough to eat. But Strawberries and Cream Scones are fluffy, creamy, berry-y and delicious. They're also really quick and easy to make. 

strawberry pavlova trifle

The resurfacing heated debate of whether pavlova originated in New Zealand or Australia was really the inspiration for this week's chow creation. Just kidding - I just really like yummy things and this was surely that and even more! This pavlova layered dessert is not only delicious, but it is also texturally and aesthetically delectable. The crunchy chewiness of the pavlova, layered between smooth creamy pudding and accented with fresh sweet strawberries. This is to die for - literally, if God told me this was his welcome gift I would die right here right now (I'm just kidding, please don't kill me now. At least let me finish the post). 

To kick off this three component dessert I'm going to separate some eggs. You only want the whites. If you get just the smidgiest bit of yolk in your whites consider it breakfast and start over. The yolk will prevent the whites from whipping and you'll be standing over your pavlova for hours wondering why it stays flat. Reserve 3 of the egg yolks for the vanilla pudding. 

dairy-free strawberry banana ice cream with flambeed bananas

Three Ingredients. Three minutes. Strawberry Banana Ice Cream. It's elementary Watson. Do you know why bananas are the best curved fruits on the planet? Well besides the fact that you can bake banana breads and banana cream pies with them, they're also perfect for making creamy, thick, luscious ice cream. Finally a healthy and fun way to get the family to eat their fruits (I've got nothing for those icky vegetables). And for you foreigners and babies who did not understand the title, yes, this is dairy-free. So how do we make a dairyless ice cream? I'm glad you asked. 

Through magic culinary voodoo we're about to turn an ordinary tropical fruit into a cold and creamy dessert. Yup, who knew pureed frozen bananas could make such thick and satisfyingly rich ice cream. I did. Okay, now you do too. This recipe basically calls for only three ingredients. Two of which you probably guessed were strawberries and bananas. And you might be thinking to yourself, this is probably one of those yucky healthy recipes that those vegans came up with on their hippie buses to world peace, but I can assure to you that only half of that is true. Yes this dessert is 100% animal exclusive, but no it taste just like a creamy ice cream or sorbet you get from the store. So follow me to creamy heaven as we make the healthiest, surprisingly tastiest ice cream we've made on this blog to date. 

roasted strawberry tart - featuring cheater's puff pastry

A couple weeks ago I made for ya'll a delicious Mini Blueberry Tart. And that was fun and all but, you really haven't had fun until you've made this tart. And I know you're probably thinking to yourself, what's the difference, this one is just going to be topped with strawberries instead of blueberries. It's okay to be wrong sometimes. Instead of a pate sucree for the tart crust, we're going to be using a puff pastry. But not just any puff pastry dough, our own homemade one. That's right, so if you've been itching to now how those fancy french get their dough to become all flaky and such stick around for the answer.

The donations at the Chow Creations studios have been basically nonexistent this week. Which means a couple things. The first is that I'm broke. And the second means that I'm too broke to buy puff pastry dough, or good puns. Which means I have to make my own, which isn't the easiest thing to do, a close second to performing open-heart surgery on a fly. That's why I've devised this Cheater's Puff Pastry Dough which allows you to make puff pastry in less than 5 minutes. What what.

strawberry lime oatmeal squares - snack on awesomeness

What's that? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the awesomeness of this dessert. When you take that first bite your teeth barely crush that crisp crunchy crust, however then it sinks into the soft fruity center. Buttery, strawberry-y, and slightly tangy, I don't think there's much more you could ask of this chow-fection. By the way, just to let you all know, in order to even comprehend this post you need to have read my previous post on how to make Lime Curd. That's pretty much the other half of this recipe so head on down there if you do not want to be just half as smart as everyone else. Seriously stop here if you have not read it. I mean it. He said assuming all of you could see his very serious expression.

Okay, so those of you who are left have either done what I've said, or are internet trolls, whoever you are you're definitely in for a treat. I take an easy shortbread crust, heartened with nutty bursts of oats, and layer it with strawberry preserves and lime curd. Absolutely delicious, and not to mention super easy. Seriously, as easy as mixing things in a bowl. So let's get started!

strawberry mousse chiffon cake - brought to you from the mystical lands of atlanta!

Chiffon sounds interesting right? I bet it was the only reason why clicked this link. Well sorry to disappoint you but, a chiffon cake is nothing but a sponge cake in French. Disappointing right…wait, I bet you don’t even know how to make a sponge cake. Hypocritess ;) This cake is light and fluffy, layered with my Five-Second Strawberry Mousse, and covered with whipped cream. For the holidays I flew to Atlanta to see how the great bakers there bake their cakes, and to also share this delicious chow-fection to the entire world (otherwise known as the 5 people who have visted this blog and my immediate family). The recipe demonstrated in this blogpost is none other than of famous Chinese chef, Victor Hsu, also known as my uncle, and also referred to as “who is that guy?” Well you would be right, he is a nobody, but there’s one thing he is known for, Chiffon Cakes. After smuggling from Taiwan the secrets to making perfectly light, fluffy chiffon, he perfected it with his own mad scientific flair. Littered below are his many pro tips on how to make a perfect chiffon cake that will surely impress your relatives and friends this holiday season. So without two twists of a peacock’s feathers let’s get bakin’ so we can get cakin’.

Uncle Vic begins his recipe by weighing out his dry and wet ingredients. For me I don't have a digital scale, or any scale for that matter, so in the recipe below I converted all the measurements to volume, however a part of me agrees that weight measurements would be more precise. Once your mise en place is complete we can begin to mix the meringue for the cake. The thing with a chiffon cake is that it doesn't have baking soda nor baking powder in the batter. For a cake to rise you need one of the two components, a mechanical leavener, or a chemical leavener. Usually in cakes and cookies we add baking soda or powder, these are called chemical leaveners. When they are baked they cause a chemical reaction in the batter that rises the cake. In things like puff pastry, or chiffon cake there are certain components in the dessert that cause it to rise. In puff pastry it is because of all the layers of fat and flour that expand when they're stack on top of each other. In chiffon cakes the air pockets in the meringue expand with steam causing the cake to rise. These are called mechanical leaveners.