Dessert

Colombian Eats, South American Inspired Treats

April 19, 2015 // Posted in Desserts, Food I Ate, Food I Made, Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes, Travel

April 19, 2015 | Posted in [post_category]

TiffanyBee.com | Maté Carrot Cupcakes with Greek Yogurt Frosting

If you’ve ever taken a little gander at my recipes, you might notice I don’t have very many baked goods & that’s because I’m not much of a baker. You’d think my love for science would translate to baking being my forte, but no recipe = inedible hot messes. In high school, I baked a lot of cakes using a Better Homes & Gardens cookbook my mom had. I loved that I could easily make an apple, carrot, or miscellaneous fruit cake from scratch & I always had friends over to lick my cake pans clean. I didn’t think it was challenging back then, but now? Trying to create the best chocolate chip cookies from scratch or even some elegant French macarons result in failure. I probably jumped the gun trying to tackle the macarons, but I figured since they’re some of the hardest things to bake; if I can’t cut it with those, I’m probably just bad at baking.

On the other hand, cooking comes really natural to me; toss a bunch of complementary ingredients together et voilà, dinner! So, one day I stumbled upon a beautiful recipe for Earl Grey Tea Loaf Cake & I was inspired to use my love for tea in my next baking adventures. While I still haven’t quite perfected the macaron, I have to start with my baking basics: cake. I’ve made a bunch of different breads in the last 3 weeks, but this recipe for my Maté Carrot Cupcakes is one of my favorite things I’ve baked so far. Using my new love for DAVIDsTEA’s Honey Bee maté, I figured it’d be delicious to bake with, but the remaining question was “in what?” Since maté originates in Argentina, should I make an Argentinian inspired cake for the first time or should I make a fancy smancy version of a cake I’ve made before? I went with the latter, because I figured I wasn’t about to infuse maté with 3 different kinds of meat.

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How to Trick Your Tastebuds Into Thinking You’re on a Tropical Holiday

August 25, 2014 // Posted in Desserts, Drinks, Drinks I Made, Food I Made, Photo Journal, Recipes

August 25, 2014 | Posted in [post_category]

My mother has a stellar memory bank for numbers & fun stories, so she’d often tell us her hilarious childhood stories as she drove us to school. However, not all the stories she told were her own; many of them were ours. One childhood story my mom frequently told was how I used to sing lullabies to my baby brother, but with silly lyrics that were reflective of my language acquisition at that age such as phrases on mowing the grass. A story my mom still loves to tell is how Toddler Tiffany used to absolutely love squatting down in the snow, grabbing a handful of it, & just eating it like it were a doughnut. I may have been born in the spring, but I swear my ethos/spirit animal is a beluga whale. Sad news for Adult Tiffany: there’s no snow in Southern California for me to eat. Adult Tiffany prefers winter over summer. Adult Tiffany thinks speaking in third person is really lame, but for some reason, is still doing it.

So, what about all of those summer recipes you keep posting then, you ask? Listen, you can’t fault me for capitalizing on the season, its fresh fruits, & great recipe inspirations that come with it. Just because I’m bad with heat, doesn’t mean I don’t love the recipes of the season! Now that I’m back from my holiday, I’m posting two new recipes. Since California is experiencing the worst drought in the history of recorded droughts, it’s not exactly wise for us to be participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS, however you can still do something to help spread the word & donate to the cause. You can dump pool water on yourself while you’re in a pool or ice water while you’re standing over an area of your garden that needs watering. What else can you do? Well, shoot, just make some ice pops or an iced tea, social media that thing, & head on over to ALSA.org to donate! No offense to the guy who came up with the challenge, but I’d rather do something useful with ice than to let it go to waste. Tired of ice pops & iced tea recipes, you say? How about sangria with boba instead?

With my love for boba & Two Buck Chuck, why not combine the two with some fresh fruit & juice for a delicious original concoction for your next Sunday Brunch? So, how do you trick your tastebuds into thinking you’re on a tropical holiday you ask? Well, follow the simple steps below. (Remember to hover over the images for captions.)

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Sensational Summer Yummies

August 3, 2014 // Posted in Appetizers, Drinks I Drank, Food I Ate, Food I Made, Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes, Travel

August 3, 2014 | Posted in [post_category]

Let’s welcome August with a noteworthy appetizer recipe & some other foodie pictures! I’m completely behind on editing & uploading all the pictures I have on my SD cards, so one of these days there’ll just be a post with a bunch of pictures & guess what? YOU’RE GONNA ENJOY IT…maybe. So, let’s talk about my new recipe that I obnoxiously named “Sensational”. Look, I can feel your eyeballs rolling out of your orbital fossa, but bear with me – the catchier the title, the more likely someone will check out the recipe. What makes this recipe so sensational? KEWPIE MAYO, duh, obvi, like srsly how is dat even a q?? In all seriousness doe, the combination of Kewpie mayonnaise, sesame oil, masago, & imitation crabmeat really bakes well atop New Zealand green mussels. The umami is strong with this one & I think that if you love shellfish, this is a great recipe for you to try out. It’s actually not too expensive to make given that you have sesame oil, ponzu sauce, sesame seeds, & Kewpie already. Who would have that already? People who love to make Japanese food, gosh. If you love Japanese food, invest in those ingredients; you’ll find that they are used in many recipes.

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Refreshing Summer Recipes

July 28, 2014 // Posted in Desserts, Drinks, Drinks I Made, Food I Made, Gallery, Photo Journal, Recipes

July 28, 2014 | Posted in [post_category]

Summer is nearly, kind-of-but-not-really almost over, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy a refreshing ice pop on a bright & hot sunny day. At the peak of the season, I went on a bit of a fruit binge, so I got a tray of nectarines & peaches to use in my morning smoothies alongside blueberries, raspberries, & strawberries. We got a new blender over a month ago, so I’ve been utilizing all the fruits within my reach to whip up–or blend up, rather–some refreshing & healthy smoothies. You know how it is, gotta get that “daily 5” in somehow! This recipe is simple, healthy, & absolutely kid-friendly, but if there aren’t any kids around I’ve got a solution for that too. Add an extra zing to it by adding peach alcohol – 4-5 shots should be fine. No one will get drunk off the ice pops, don’t worry…that is of course, unless you eat all 10 ice pops in one sitting.

Moving past the lugubrious notion that summer is coming to an end, cheer up with a wonderful smoothie with some seasonal fruit!

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Tea Time Thursdays: Coconut Tea & Macarons

July 17, 2014 // Posted in Drinks I Made, Food I Made, Photo Journal, Tea Time Thursdays

July 17, 2014 | Posted in [post_category]

Remember that macaron craze back in 2011? Yeah, so I was late to that party by 3 years; I just tried to make them this month. My second attempt at making them went really well, but they were stuck to the wax paper, so I had to start all over. Almond meal is pretty expensive, so if you’re a Slowpoke like me in experimenting with macarons, you’ll want to get the cheapest almond meal you can find (Trader Joe’s) so it won’t hurt your wallet so much if you mess up. The art of making macarons is a science more than it is an art & when I get my hands on more almond meal, I’ll be posting up some recipes for macarons.

For the most part of last week, I came down with a terrible cold thanks to hanging out in a cold wet swimsuit for 5 hours at a day club in Vegas. I felt as though death was approaching as I figuratively coughed out my lungs, so the simplest throat soothing remedy was a nice warm cup of tea. When you’ve a cold, it’s best to go with a pleasant green tea with ginger to help make you feel a little better. Fortunately, I just purchased a tin of loose leaf coconut tea with ginger & lemongrass from Trader Joe’s the week before. Coconut is all the rage these days & it deserves to be! It’s got amazing healthy & nutritious properties such as having the same amount of electrolytes you’d find in a sports drink & it’s rich in fiber, vitamins (C, B1, B, E, B3, B5, B6), & minerals (iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, selenium). Using coconut water instead of plain water in your smoothies will help jump start your day to a healthier one, so imagine how wonderful it is as a tea paired with ginger & lemongrass.