#dessert

Electric Lunchbox #40: Chocolate Cheesecake

Theresa Pizarro3 Comments

Another cheesecake…this time with chocolate crust, chocolate filling, and chocolate topping.

Whew! For the chocolate lover in your life! ❤️

Of course you can totally leave out the topping but I would just go all out since it is just a small cheesecake.

This cheesecake recipe checks all the boxes – easy to make, creamy, rich, sweet, chocolatey…,made in your Electric Lunchbox, it’s something you can prepare any time your craving hits! The ingredients are easy to find anywhere. **Just remember to chill it for a few hours, preferably overnight.**

So chocolatey, so creamy!

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*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny ELB cup, unless specified.*

Perfect for a small celebration! 🎉🍾

Crust:

6 Oreos, crushed

1 tablespoon melted butter

Cheesecake:

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melted

1 (8oz) bar cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

Topping:

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Crust: grease the big bottom bowl of the ELB. Line bottom with a parchment paper cut to fit. Mix together crushed Oreos and butter. Press onto the bottom of the ELB bowl.

Cheesecake: Melt chocolate chips in 30 second increments in the microwave and stir until smooth. Beat cream cheese and add melted chocolate, sugar, egg, sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat just until combined. Pour over crust and cover with foil.

Add 120 ml water in the ELB base, cover and let steam for about an hour. Remove from lunchbox carefully and check if the edges are set but the middle is a little jiggly, but almost firm.

Cover and cool completely on a wire rack. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. Run a knife along the edges, turn out the cheesecake onto a plate, then invert on the serving plate. Return to the fridge while making the topping.

Topping: Place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second increments until soft and shiny. Pour cream in and stir until smooth. Pour over cold cheesecake and smooth the top. Chill about an hour more.

Dig in! 😊

Electric Lunchbox #38: Puto (Philippine Steamed Rice Cake)

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And another Filipino food! I love Puto – steamed rice cake. I have been trying to get the authentic rice based recipe right to no avail. Rice, sugar, water/coconut milk…a few other ingredients but it’s never right. I got it perfect once but never got to repeat it.

The more modern flour based puto is easier to make and more predictable. So here itbis made for the ELB!

Toppings can be cheese or preserved, salted eggs, but I like to use both when I have them.

Hope you enjoy it!

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*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny Itaki cup, unless specified.*

Mix the following in a small bowl:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

Add in:

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

Pinch of salt

Grease the big bottom bowl or medium top bowl of the ELB. pour mixture in.

Top with the following:

salted egg and/or grated cheese

Cover with foil and add 3 ELB cups water in base. Cover and pet steam until done, about 55 minutes. Carefully open the ELB and insert a skewer to test doneness. If it comes out clean, it’s done. *Add more water and steam a little longer if necessary.*

Brush top with more:

Melted butter

Serve hot. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

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I almost always have a couple of bananas that turn brown before we get to eat it. I usually just toss them in the Vitamix or Thermomix to make a smoothie. Or peel and toss them in a baggie in the freezer for later. But every so often I save some bananas on the side to allow them to really get ripe and spotty.

Those bananas end up as this banana bread that is so good I often wonder why I don’t make it more often. The extra ripe bananas make it so fragrant and flavorful. The brown sugar gives it a hint of caramel flavor, while the chocolate chips adds a lot of extra flavor. Feel free to use nuts instead, but I urge you to try it with chocolate chips at least once. 😉

I like to make this in pretty bundt pans, like the one pictured above, so it is ready to serve without any decorating as it’s already beautiful. A light dusting of confectioners sugar is enough if you want to dress it up. I have this bad habit of picking up pretty baking pans so often I still have some that haven’t been used. Need to bake more often! Feel free to use a 13”x9” pan or even muffin tins if you want to! I promise that it will still taste good!

If you have a Thermomix, this comes together in about 3 minutes. If not, a little elbow grease and maybe 10-15 minutes, is all you’ll need. It’s an easy recipe that kids can make with adult supervision when baking. Enjoy!

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup milk + 1 teaspoon vinegar, mix and set aside 5 minutes

2 – 3 bananas, mashed (1 cup)

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or walnuts

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan. (13”x9” pan or muffin cups will work too! Just adjust time.)

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with brown sugar, milk and vinegar mixture, mashed bananas, oil, and vanilla.

Stir in flour mixture and mix until just combined . Fold in chocolate chips (or nuts).

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about an hour, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. (13”x9” takes about 30-45 minutes, cupcakes about 18-25 minutes.)

Electric Lunchbox #35: Choco Flan/Flan Cake

Theresa Pizarro1 Comment

You all know how I adore flans – I have to try every single flan I cross paths with – Spanish Flan, Filipino Flan, Japanese Purin, Crema Volteada in Peru, Cuban Flan……and I love all variations of eggs, egg yolk, milk, cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and caramel! I even tried one that had cream cheese mixed in and that was yummy and super rich!

So imagine my surprise when a coworker at UCLA brought a flan topped chocolate cake to one of our potlucks! Heaven! I didn’t even really cared about the main dishes…I made a beeline toward the cake and took the first slice! He said it is called Choco Flan. I, of course, had to get the recipe. 😊

This recipe is for making Choco Flan in the ELB…I will be playing with the recipe more in the future as I want a thicker layer of flan. But this satisfied a chocolate cake/flan craving quickly. I will be updating the photos when I find the time to redo this recipe. If you don’t mind a little flan on a chocolate cake, this will definitely make you glad to have an electric lunchbox.

Follow me for more recipes for the Itaki! See Itaki’s offerings here! https://www.itakico.com/

*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny Itaki cup, unless specified.*

Caramel:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon water

Chocolate Cake:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 tablespoons milk

Flan:

1 large egg

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/3 cup condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon all purpose flour

1. Caramel: Place the ingredients for the caramel in the big bottom bowl if the ELB. Place on the stove over low heat and handling it with heat proof tongs, swirl constantly until you get a golden brown caramel. Set aside on s heat proof surface.

2. Cake: mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and mix well.

3. Cream butter and sugar in another bowl using an electric mixer, until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and milk. Blend well.

4. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Pour batter into the bowl with caramel and smooth the top.

5. Prepare the flan mixture: in a small bowl, mix all flan ingredients until no more lumps remain. Pour flan mixture over chocolate batter. Cover with foil and add 120 ml water to the ELB base. Cover and steam until done, about 58 minutes.

Cool completely in the pan and chill until cold, around 4 hours to overnight. Enjoy!

Electric Lunchbox #33: Cherry Clafouti

Theresa Pizarro7 Comments

Clafouti! This recipe is for a French custardy dessert that is a perfect use for summer’s sweet cherries!

I had vanpooled for work during the last couple of years I worked at UCLA (140+miles/day)and was in a group of 11 people. Some would leave, and got replaced, but the rest of us, we got to be really close. When traffic is really bad, we’d stop by McDonald’s in Gardena for ice cream, or even a combo meal, while I sometimes did a quick run at the nextdoor Japanese grocery store. Or when there is just a few of us, we’d detour to a Church’s chicken in Norwalk. Or to Knott’s Berry Farm for the chicken dinner and boysenberry pie….I love those times, as I am saved from thinking what to cook for dinner!

We’d meet up for dinner, dimsum, and we have group texts….they were an amazing group! Even now, well over 12 years since my last van ride, we still keep in touch. One passed away a year ago, others retired, but we’re still friends and chat almost every day.

This recipe is from Jerome. He is French and would talk about foods (our van’s favorite topic) that he miss a lot. This was one of them. And he taught us how to make it.

I hope you like this easy, refreshing recipe. I’ve seen the cherries substituted with other summer fruits, but to me, cherries are essential to this recipe. I tried adding a drop of almond extract (just because I love cherries and almond combo!) in the custard mix, and of course it tasted awesome.

Pitting the cherries.

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1/2 pound cherries

2 eggs

4 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour

125 ml whole milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Vanilla sugar to serve*

1. Grease the big bottom bowl of the ELB. Place the pitted cherries in and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, and salt.

3. Add flour, milk, butter, and vanilla. Blend well.

4. Pour mixture into the bowl with the cherries. Cover with foil and set on the ELB base.

5. Place 3 (120ml) little cups water in the base. Cover and let steam until done, about 50 minutes.

6. Carefully open the lunchbox and insert a skewer into the clafouti. It should come out clean. Add more water and steam longer if necessary.

7. Place the bowl in a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate until cold. Unmold onto a serving dish and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Serve cold.

*vanilla sugar – you can purchase this or make your own. To make it: bury 1-2 vanilla beans that were split down the middle in a cup of sugar. Make sure to cover the container. Leave for about a week. Use for a hint of vanilla in your coffee, tea, or desserts.

Electric Lunchbox #30: Oreo Cheesecake

Theresa Pizarro1 Comment

Another cheesecake recipe! Can you tell it’s one of my favorite desserts? 😊 The fact that it comes together rather quickly with just a few ingredients that I always have, “bakes” in the Electric Lunchbox, and is ready within about an hour, makes it ever present in my dessert rotation.

So today, I am making an Oreo version of my Electric Lunchbox cheesecake. Oreos are a big favorite in my home. I make Oreo ice cream with my Breville Ice cream maker several times a year, specially when the weather gets hot. Even straight out of the package, Oreos go pretty fast here. So cheesecake was a natural progression of one of our favorite flavor. I just know you’ll agree!

I added a layer of sour cream to cut through the sweetness and give this dessert an extra layer of taste. Of course you can omit it, or replace it with whipped cream if you wish! Feel free to adapt this recipe to your liking. It’s a very forgiving dessert that I hope you’ll enjoy with those you love.

Follow me for more recipes for the Itaki! See Itaki’s offerings here! https://www.itakico.com/theresa

*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny Itaki cup, unless specified.*

Crust:

7 oreo cookies, crushed

1 tablespoon melted butter

Cheesecake:

1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Extra Oreo cookies

3 Itaki cups water, for the base

Topping:

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon sugar

1. Line bottom of the big bowl with parchment paper cut to fit. This will make it easier to remove the cheesecake from the bowl when done.

2. For the crust: Crumble the Oreos and whirl in a food processor (or use a ziplock bag and a rolling pin) until it becomes fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix well. Press mixture into the bowl with parchment paper liner.

3. In a small bowl, using a handheld mixer, blend cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Pour half of the mixture over prepared crust and top with extra Oreo cookies to cover the batter. Pour the rest of the batter over and smooth the top. Tap the bowl a couple of times on the counter to remove air bubbles. Cover the bowl with a piece of foil.

4. Pour 3 Itaki cups of water (120 ml) in the electric lunchbox base. Place the bowl in the base, cover, and let steam until done, about 55 minutes.

5. Carefully remove the bowl from the base, and let cool to room temperature. Chill for 4 hours to overnight.

6. Run a knife along the edges and invert bowl onto a plate to release cheesecake. Remove the parchment and invert onto a serving dish.

7. In a small bowl, mix sour cream and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Pour over cold cheesecake and spread to cover the top. Crumble additional Oreos on top if desired. Serve cold.

Electric Lunchbox #28: Red Velvet Cake

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Red Velvet Cake! Once called Waldorf Astoria cake, this cake had a resurgence a few years ago and for a good reason – it’s flavorful and beautiful at the same time!

I love the contrast of the deep red, chocolate flavored cake and the white cream cheese frosting that usually envelopes it. Perfect match!

So….I figured it’ll be fun to make it in the Electric Lunchbox so that I can have it anytime without heating up the oven. It’s been really hot lately here in Southern California, that I actually bought a turkey roaster to bake my bread outside. But that is for another story! Back to my Red Velvet Cake – since it’s such a small, cute cake, it will be just enough for the three of us, with no left overs calling my name at midnight. Which is one of the many reasons I love making desserts in the electric lunchbox! I hope you’ll like this recipe!

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See Itaki’s offerings here! https://www.itakico.com/theresa

*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny Itaki cup, unless specified.*

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg

1 tablespoon red food color

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 cup flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

FROSTING

1/2 bar of cream cheese (4 oz)

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

A drop of vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Spray the big electric lunchbox bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, mix together oil, egg, red food color, vanilla, buttermilk, and vinegar. Beat until well mixed.

3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt over the mixture. Add the sugar and mix just until combined.

4. Pour into the prepared bowl, cover with foil and set on the electric lunchbox base.

5. Add 3 Itaki cups water to the base, cover and let steam until it shuts off, about 55 minutes.

6. Carefully open the lunchbox, test the cake by inserting a skewer in the middle. A few moist crumbs on the skewer is okay.

7. Place the bowl on a wire rack to cool completely. Invert cake into a serving dish.

7. For the frosting: combine all ingredients in a small bowl and beat until thick and fluffy. Spread on the cooled cake. Top with sprinkles and serve.

Electric Lunchbox #27: Coffee Flan

Theresa PizarroLeave a comment

I love flans! If you’ve been following my posts, you’ll realize that I have a few recipes for flan already. But this flan is mildly coffee flavored so I just had to share it in case you’re like me and love coffee too! 😊

This is what happens when you don’t chill the flan enough before unmolding! 😂

As you can see from the photo, I wasn’t patient enough to wait for it to cool much before unmolding and so my photo was a disaster. It still tasted great but looked not very appetizing. I wanted to show that oops moment often happens while developing and testing recipes!

Follow me for more recipes for the Itaki! See Itaki’s offerings here! https://www.itakico.com/theresa

*NOTE that this recipe uses regular sized measuring cups, NOT the tiny Itaki cup, unless specified.*

Caramel:

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon water

A couple of drops of lime juice

Flan:

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups milk

2 teaspoons instant coffee

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons sugar

Place all caramel ingredients in the bottom bowl of the Itaki Pro (or medium bowl of the Itaki Jumbo). Heat over low flame until it caramelizes. Set on a heat safe surface and let cool.

Meanwhile, mix flan ingredients in a small bowl and beat to combine and melt the sugar. Pour over the caramelized sugar and cover with foil.

Place 2 Itaki cups if water in the base, place the flan in and cover. Steam until it shuts off, about 40 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and chill in the refrigerator until cold. Run a knife along the edge and place a plate on top of the bowl. Invert the bowl onto the plate carefully to release the flan.

You can serve this over shaved ice and drizzle top with espresso.