Serradura

Serradura-Sawdust Pudding

Ingredients 

•30 Maria Biscuits

•2 cups of chilled Heavy Cream

•1 tsp. vanilla extract

•1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk (1 can)

Directions:

1. Put the Maria Biscuits into the food processor to get a fine powder out of the cookies

2. Whip the cream with vanilla extract with an electric beater to soft peaks.  Then and half the condensed milk. 

3. Continue whipping and add the rest of the condensed milk slowly. Keep beating till until you get stiff peaks. 

4. Transfer the cream into a piping bag and pipe (or spoon the cream if you can do it neatly) it equally between 4 serving glasses, alternating layers of cream and Maria Biscuits. 

Finish of with cream as the topmost layer. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until you are ready to serve the Serradura.

FUSION FRIDAY: Maracuja No Bake Cheesecake with Bolacha Maria Crust

I don't know how the heck I came up with this, but I'm glad I did.  Please note, this dessert is NO BAKE which means, no kiddies or pregnant women should be eating this :)

Maracuja No Bake Cheesecake with Bolacha Maria Crust

2 packages of Bolacha Maria cookies (the green package one are made in the Azores)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 14-ounce can (1 1/4 cups) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons of Maracuja Liqour

Directions
Put bolachas in a large resealable plastic bag, and crush them with a rolling pin until very fine crumbs form. Pour crumbs into a medium bowl; stir in sugar. Add butter, and stir until well combined. Press the crumb mixture into a 9-inch springform pan, spreading it 1 1/2 to 2 inches up the side; press flat. Chill crust in freezer at least 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling: Using an electric mixer set at medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the condensed milk a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the lemon juice, liqour and vanilla. Pour the filling into the crust; smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Unclasp sides of pan, and remove cheesecake.

It doesn't get much easier than that!  and you don't even have to turn on the oven :)

Enjoy!

Pudim Flan

This dessert is my mother's specialty.  So much so, that I was afraid to make it.  The thought of it frightened me, and I'm not sure why!  I called her approximately 49283634 times while I was making this (OK, so it was more like 5 times, but you get my point).  I put it in the oven, and said a prayer, because I was certain this was not going to come out right.  I could have put money on this collapsing.  Even today while I was at work, I kept thinking about coming home, flipping it over and it just falling into a pile of goo.  But lo and behold, it didn't.  AND IT TASTES AMAZING!  *does a dance*  Don't be scared like me.  Try it.  You'll family and friends will thank you for it :)  
First things first: Make sure you have the correct pan to make a flan in.  Most people use something like this. 

Pudim Flan

6 eggs
1 1/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
2 cans (14oz) sweeten condensed milk
2 cups of while milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Take your 1 1/4 cup of sugar and put it in a small sauce pan on low heat.  Let this continue to slowly cook while you stir occasionally.  Please do not burn yourself!  This will be VERY HOT.
While the sugar is starting to heat up you can make your actual flan mixture.  
Place eggs and 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar in a mixer and beat on high.  Once the eggs are beaten well, add the rest of your ingredients and mix well.  You can just let this go on low until well mixed and then shut it off.
Once you sugar starts to melt and make the caramel, stay there and wait.  One minute too much and you'll burn it.  Continue to stir and help the sugar break down.  at this point,  take your flan pan and put it in the oven to heat it up a bit.  Once the sugar is completely melted take the flan pan out of the oven and pour your caramel in.  try to coat the entire bottom of the pan and sides if you can (sometimes you can't get the sides because it hardens so quickly, but that's ok!)  The pan being heated up just a bit helps you move the sugar around. Once you are done covering as much of the pan as possible, pour your batter in.  You'll hear lots of crackling from the caramel cooling.  
Get a water bath together to fit your flan pan in.  (I used a 9x13 pyrex dish with water about 2 inches deep) cover your pan with the lid that came with it (or if you didn't get one, that's ok too) Pop your pan in and put it in the oven for 1 hour.  (1 hour 10 minutes if you don't have a lid)
Your flan won't look ready.  I swore it wasn't done, and I, of course, called my mother who said it's done, it's going to jiggle that's normal.  I listened and I took it out, and it was perfect.
Let the flan cool a bit and then cover and pop in the fridge until completely cooled.
To flip, get a bowl with hot warm and put your flan pan in it to take the chill out.  Once the pan is warm to the touch, it's ready.  Take a pie plate and put it on top of the flan pan and FLIP!  You'll hear a PLOP and that's when you know it's done ;)
take off the flan pan, and ta-da!  perfection!  If you notice that you have a lot of caramel left in the bottom of you pan, you can put it on a low heat on the stove top to melt it and then pour it over the flan.

Cavacas

This is not something I grew up eating, but I had many friends who loved these.  When I decided to try out all these recipes, this was one I was dying to try.  I had heard so much about them, but had never tried them.  I have to say, these were easy, and were really delicious!

Cavacas (Portuguese Popover)

2 cups of flour 
1 cup of oil 
1/2 cup of whole milk 
8 eggs at room temp
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Sugar Glaze: 
2 cups of confectioner’s sugar 
zest of one lemon 
about 2 tablespoons of milk 


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease regular size muffin tins.  Make sure you grease them really well, any sticking ruins the entire popover. 
Using a mixer,  beat (on med.-high)  all ingredients for at least 20 minutes without stopping. Fill the muffin tins to about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Place on the middle rack. 
Bake for about 45-50 min.
Combine all of the glaze ingredients and stir until smooth. I tend to use slightly more than 2 tablespoons milk. While Cavacas are still warm, spoon the glaze over each one or just submerge each one in the glaze. Serve on the same day since they will dry even more for the following day. (Although I think I liked them even more on the second day!)

Mousse De Morangos

What tastes better than a fresh fruity dessert?  One that has Port Wine on top is the answer ;)
Since strawberries are currently in season for my end of the country, I wanted to take advantage of the time to make a Strawberry Mousse.  I've paired it with a Port wine reduction on top because the two just go so well together.

Enjoy!

Mousse De Morangos 

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
1 tablespoon water
8 oz strawberries, pureed (save a couple strawberries to slice)
1/4 cup  sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup heavy cream-VERY COLD
Whip cream


1) Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and set aside to bloom (soften).

2) In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, stir together the strawberries and sugar just until hot.

3) Add the gelatin and stir until it is completely melted. Let cool to room temperature.  This is VERY important, it will melt the next step if you don't.

4) In the meantime, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Once the strawberries are at the right temperature, carefully fold the whipped cream into the fruit mixture.

5) Pop a few sliced os strawberries into your bowls. Pour mousse into bowls and chill for at least 4 hours.  Serve with whip cream placed on top.


To make it a little fancier, here is a recipe for a Port Wine Reduction that goes so well just drizzled on top, or just take strawberries and pour this on top and then spoon it onto ice cream.  To.Die.For.

Port Wine Reduction:

1 cup port wine

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon orange zest

Combine the port wine and zests together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer to reduce the mixture to 1/4 cup and is about the consistency of syrup, 25 to30 minutes. 

Queijadas De Leite

I love Queijadas.  I mean, really, who doesn't? These custard little egg cups are a little piece of heaven.  Queijadas de Nata are my favorite, but they are a lot of work.  Work that I will learn to do because of this blog, but these are the ones we grew up with.  These are easy to throw together and taste amazing :)

Queijadas De Leite

5 large eggs
3 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of flour
3 cups of sugar
2 bars of butter at room temp. (very important!  you can not melt the butter as it will cook the eggs)
Vanilla extract to taste

Pull everything out for easy baking!  Seriously, it's my number one tip.  Nothing I hate more than running around grabbing stuff when I'm in the middle of something, and usually have dirty hands.

Put your sugar in the mixer

Cream the butter and sugar together

Whip them up til creamy

Always crack eggs in a separate bowl to help stop with the "oops a shell!" moments

Beat the eggs with the creamed sugar and butter

Add your vanilla.  This is my secret.  You're only suppose to put a dash, I usually put 1 tablespoon.  I love vanilla!

start adding in our flour a little at a time.

Time for the milk.

The batter is runny.  Unlike cake batter.  It may not look right to you, but it is right, I promise!

Pour your liquid into greased or lined cupcake tins.

This recipe will give you 3 dozen.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. 

Cook until they start to crack and are golden brown.  Once you pull them out they will fall a little, they are suppose to!

Pull them out and enjoy :)

Ready to serve!

Let us know if you make these!  Take pictures!  Give us your tips!  We love to hear it :)

Creme Torrado

It's early on a Sunday morning, and as usual we are heading to my parents house for lunch.  Sundays, just like when I was a child, is the day the entire family gets together.  Last week we showed up, ate, and then my mom pulled out my FAVORITE dessert ever.  I took a couple pictures and wanted to share the recipe with you today :)

Creme Torrado

1 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of Maizena Corn Starch
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
4 cups of milk
Vanilla to taste
1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice

Put your sugar in a sauce pan and heat on low, make sure you watch it so it doesn't burn..  Continue to cook it until its almost a caramel.  Add 3 cups of the milk and let it come to a low boil add about a teaspoon of vanilla.  While that comes to a boil take the remaining milk and add the corn starch and egg yolks to the cold milk and whisk until dissolved and well blended.  Add that to the hot milk on the stove top and let it cook for about 5 minutes.  Once you see it come together like a pudding, it's ready for the pyrex.  We have always used a round 2 qt. casserole. Set that aside.  Take your egg whites and add the lemon juice and beat until you have peaks.  Once you reach the peaks, place the egg whites on top of the pudding.  Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

Enjoy a little sobremesa somtimes!

Fatias Douradas

When I was a kid these were a special treat that we got maybe 4 times a year.  They were the best!  My job was the cinnamon and sugar at the end.  I felt like such a helper :)  These are part of what I would consider my comfort food.  They are so easy and taste amazing.

Fatias Douradas

1 loaf of day old bread, sliced into 1-2 inch pieces (we used french because it's a good heavy bread that will hold the batter well)
2 cups of milk
10 eggs, whisked
1 Cup of sugar
1 Tablespoon of cinnamon
Vegetable Oil

all your ingredients ready to go!

Take the oil and fill a dutch oven with about 3-4 inches of oil.  Keep the oil nice and heat.  You can test to see if the oil is ready by putting a little bit of flour in and seeing if it starts to fry.
While the oil heats combine your sugar and cinnamon together in a deep plate (I use pie plates).  Place the beaten eggs in another one, and then the milk in another.  Set up the station to make it as easy as possible for you.

Here is our stations all set up

My cooking assistant tonight...he makes my apron look good :)

Once the oil is ready dip your bread in the milk on both sides, let it drip an excess off, then go to the eggs  and drench the slices in that.  let the excess drip off of it again.  

Then CAREFULLY place it into the oil.  Let it get nice and lightly golden brown on both side.  

Remove from oil and place into the cinnamon and sugar mixture and cover all sides.  

Place on platter that is covered with paper towels to catch any left over oil.

Hope you make them and enjoy them!

Arroz Doce

Arroz Doce, or Sweet Rice, is a staple in many Azorean, (and Portuguese) homes.  It's one of those first things you learn to make since it's so easy.  I made some last night and had my husband document it for you :)

Arroz Doce
3 cups of milk
1 cup of sugar
lemon peels
pinch of salt
1 cup of rice (Medium grain works best)
3 eggs
Cinnamon 

Pull out everything you need first, it makes it easier than trying to read and grab things out of cabinets after you've started.

Pour your milk into your large stock pot. Peel half of the lemon (less if lemon isn't your favorite) and put the skin in the milk

I'm using a homemade "spoon" that my dad made :)  Just an extra little piece of love

Add in your sugar and a pinch of salt.

Stir to help the sugar dissolve

Bring the mixture to a boil

Pull out the Lemon Peels, my mom never did and someone would always end up with a big piece of lemon in their plate....it was like a surprise :)

Add in your rice and lower the heat

My husband insisted on taking a picture of my apron, "Rainha Do Forno"

While you let your rice cook crack 3 eggs into a bowl and whisk.  These are what give the rice the yellow color, if you want more color you can use a drop of yellow food coloring.

Add some of the rice once it's almost done cooking to the eggs so that they don't scramble when you put them into the rice.

Stir and get it all mixed in.

Put the egg and rice mix back into your pot and let the rice continue to cook and thicken.

Once the constancy looks like this, it's done!  If you get to this point and the rice isn't done cooking, take another cup of milk and heat it in a sauce pan and then add it to your rice.  Do not add cold milk to the rice and it will stop the cooking process.

Spread it out on a plate and start to decorate with cinnamon

Ta-da!

Enjoy!  If you  make this recipe, please share your photos with us on our Facebook page! :)