Easy Brownies

For the Brownies, you will need:

  • 1 1/2 cups flour (self-rising)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 8 tbsp. cocoa
  • 2 tbsps. vanilla
  • 1 cup oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 cup chopped cashew nuts

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients.  Pour batter in 11 x 13 ungreased pan and bake at 350º oven for 25 minutes.  Do not over bake or your brownies will be dry.  Let cool before slicing.

WW – Too Many Sweets!

Wordless Wednesday

Banana Bread

You will need:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Procedure:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add sour cream then mix.  Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

WW – Chocolate Walnut Fudge

Wordless Wednesday

Baked Mochi

Every time my mom and dad would go to Pampanga ( a province in the north), my kids would ask them to bring them mochi.  It’s a popular dessert in the province made from glutinous rice, red beans and coconut milk.  I had to ask my aunt for the recipe because I wanted to try making them on my own.  Here it is.

For the mochi, you will need:

  • 1 kg glutinous/sticky rice
  • 1/4 kg dried red kidney beans
  • 1 kg granulated sugar
  • grated dry coconut meat from 2 medium-sized coconuts
  • previously boiled hot water

1)  Soak the red kidney beans in water for five hours, then discard the water.

2)  In a pot filled with water, boil the beans  for about an hour. Discard the water again.

3)  Return the beans to the pot and add water, then add half of the sugar. Boil for another hour or longer, or until beans become mushy.

3)  Using a masher or a fork, mash the beans finely, then set aside.

For the mochi:

1)  Soak glutinous rice in water overnight. Discard the rice water, then ground (ground glutinous rice can be bought in most wet markets or groceries).

2)  Knead the rice dough into a long, thin roll, then cut into three-inch pieces.
Flatten each piece into rectangles, spoon in some filling, then roll.  Seal the edges by crimping the dough closed on both ends of the roll.  Arrange the rolls in a ceramic baking pan.

3)  Soak the grated coconut meat in about five cups of hot water for a few minutes, then squeeze out the cream. Sieve the meat and set the coconut cream aside. This is the first extraction.

4) Repeat the process, this time using a fresh batch of hot water, about six to eight cups.  This is the second extraction.  Dissolve the remaining sugar, or adjust depending on how sweet you want it, in this cream.

5)  Pour the coconut cream from the second extraction onto the prepared mochi rolls. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake on high for about 15-20 minutes. During the last five minutes of baking, uncover the pan, and pour in the coconut cream from the first extraction.