Deconstructed S'Mores

Hey y'all! I'm in Oklahoma City right now, so I can say that. :-)

It's been pretty quiet around these parts for a while now, but all that is changing in the next few months. My perfectionist-nature has held me back from writing so many blog posts on my favorite recipes these last 6 months. Now that I'm in my last year of medical school, I have a lot more time to blog and do other things I love but have put on the back burner for too long. Move over Ms. If-it's-not-perfect-and-shot-with-my-Nikon-it's-not-going-on-the-blog!! Let's start with my newest creation that I'd love to share with you all: Deconstructed S'mores! I had some OKC friends over for dinner and made one of their favorites. For dessert, I thought I'd pull out something new from my (nonexistent) chef's toque. For those who know me, I LOVE marshmallows! My favorites are toasted burnt marshmallows made over an open fire AND homemade marshmallows (this will be a post for the holidays). I love all things marshmallow, even those Pinwheels that no one seems to buy...

So I made this recipe mainly because I wanted an excuse to eat toasted marshmallows for dessert. I let it get fancy schmancy since it was for company. For the base and the component that brings out the campfire taste, I made the famous chocolatier, Michael Recchiuti's, burnt sugar pot de cremes. I might experiment by adding a little whiskey or even a drop or two of this premium liquid smoke. But honestly, that complex caramel flavor was everything, and I'm afraid of messing it up. Even though this recipe looks super complicated, if you follow the directions-- it's very doable! Now go forth and brûlée, my friends!!

KiwiConfections Deconstructed S'Mores

Makes 7-8 Servings

6 large egg yolks

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons water

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

3-4 Graham Crackers

1 package Large Marshmallow

To Make Burnt Sugar Pot de Crèmes

1. Separate egg yolks out while eggs are cold. Cover your bowl of egg yolks and allow to come to room temperature.
2. Heat the oven to 300°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
3. Decide on a pan that you want to use as your bain marie. In a kettle, boil enough water to fill your bain marie pan with a ½ inch of water.*
4. Combine the cream and milk in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; remove from the heat and keep warm. Whisk it while it’s warming up to prevent a film or skin forming on the milk mixture.
5. Combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons of measured water in a medium heavy-bottomed medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved. Continue to cook without stirring, until the mixture turns a dark amber color. Immediately remove from the heat!
6. While whisking, carefully add about 1/2 cup of the warm cream mixture to the caramel (it will bubble up and sputter so be sure to only add a small amount at a time), making sure to whisk the bottom of the pan, until the bubbles subside. Continue to slowly add the cream mixture 1/2 cup at a time while slowly whisking to incorporate it, until all of the mixture has been added; set aside.
7. Whisk the yolks in a small heatproof bowl until blended. While whisking constantly, slowly pour about ½ Cup of the cream mixture into the yolks until combined. Continue to add/whisk ½ Cup of the caramel/milk mixture into the eggs.
8. Pour and evenly divide the custard among the ramekins filling them three-quarters full.
9. Cover each ramekin with aluminum foil. Place each of ramekins into the pan you’ve designated as your bain marie.
10. Being careful not to get any water inside the ramekins, add enough of the boiled water to the bain marie so that the water level reaches ½ inch up the sides of ramekins.*
11. Carefully transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the tops of the custards are darkened in color and almost set, about 30 minutes.* (The entire custard will still jiggle, but it will set as it cools.)
12. Using tongs and being careful not to get any water inside the ramekins, remove each custard from the bain marie to let cool to room temperature.
13. Serve or leave covered with foil and refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, let the custards sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

*I used oval ramekins, which are wide and shallow compared to the classic ramekin which is circular and deep. If you use the circular, deeper ramekins, you’ll need the water level to reach 1 inch up the sides of ramekin. Also, it took about 30-45 minutes for my oval ramekin custards to finish cooking, but the deeper ramekins will mean your custards will take longer to cook (closer to 1 hour).

How to Create Chocolate Pretties

To Assemble Deconstructed S'Mores

1. Crumble up graham crackers
2. Sprinkle crumbled graham crackers on a burnt sugar pot de crème
3. Place 2 marshmallows on top of the crumbled graham crackers
4. Use a culinary torch to brûlée the marshmallows to your preferred level of toastiness
5. Place a chocolate pretty on top!

Burnt Sugar Pot de Crème Recipe Adapted from Michael Recchiuti

Red Velvet Cake Appreciation Day

Dear reader,

I wish you the happiest Red Velvet Cake Appreciation Day, which as we all know is February 14th. I hope you take the time to make and share this tricked out confection with all those you like, like-like, and even love. Definitely, don't share the scrumptiousness with frenemies-- since we all know that fruit cake is the official cake for those people. You can learn more about the history of red velvet cake here because it's way too extensive for me to summarize. The short version is that the combination of tangy, sweet, and delicately cocoa-y has enchanted Americans for several decades and continues to do so today. I have only taken the time to make this cake for my dearest friends and family. It may be a little work, and you will end up with red dye somewhere you didn't want it, but the final product is unrivaled. I've scoured the internet and made several different recipes, but this one is, without question, the best! There was even a scientific trial performed to demonstrate the recipe's superiority.

Red Velvet Cake

Makes 36 Cupcakes

3 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa + 1 Tablespoon (not Dutch process)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups canola oil

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cup buttermilk*

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 Cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
   
2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.
   
3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. Turn mixer off and slowly add red food coloring and vanilla.
   
4. Turn mixer on low and allow to mix for 30 seconds.
   
5. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.
   
6. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.
   
7. Fill cupcake liners up 2/3 of the way full.
   
8. Bake for 20 minutes

*Instead of buying buttermilk, you can also use regular milk with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice stirred in. This will cause the milk to curdle, but don’t worry. Allow this mixture to sit a couple of minutes before using it.

Fluffy Cream Cheese Icing

Makes Enough to Frost 36 Cupcakes

8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temp

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened at room temp

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

4 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar, sifted

1. Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat and high speed until fluffy.
2. Beat in vanilla and salt
3. Add the Confectioner’s Sugar in slowly in batches
4. Beat until fluffy
   

Red Velvet Cake Recipe Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Having One's Cake and Eating it Too

Thanks for visiting, everyone. The idea for this blog started about three years ago when I started posting the photos I had been taking of the food I was creating on facebook. My friends and family always asked for recipes and many of them encouraged me to start a blog. Food and photography are some of my favorite hobbies, but once I started medical school it seemed like it would be too daunting to pursue my creative passions along with the demands of school. 'Not so', my wonderful friends and family advised. Along with enjoying these hobbies, surviving medical school, getting to the gym 6 days/week, and keeping up with my friends and family...I realized that they were right: one could, in fact, have their cake and eat it too...it just might mean a bit more work. One friend in particular was instrumental in making my desire to start a blog a reality: Courtney. Thank you so much for volunteering your precious free time to help me create Kiwi Confections! The other dear friend who was persistent in making sure I stayed accountable to my own wishes is Sara. I can hear her voice in my head right now as I type this blog post. These two ladies have helped me overcome my fear that if things don't turn out perfectly, it's not worth doing. This is such an important lesson in life...but also in the kitchen! The recipe I'm posting today is one that I've been asked about countless times mainly because it makes you feel just a smidge less guilty for indulging in something universally crave-able: Chocolate Cake!

A fruit garnish like this slice of blood orange just makes it even more appetizing.
Photo Credit: Me

Amazing Black Bean Cake:

Makes a 9″ one layer cake, Serves 10


1-15 ounce can of unseasoned black beans (preferably no salt added)


4 large eggs


1 tablespoon vanilla extract


1/2 teaspoon sea salt


6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened bakers' chocolate


1/2 Cup honey
1/4 Cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9″ cake pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
2. Melt the 3 ounces of baking chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Set aside and allow it to cool.
3. Rinse and drain beans. Place beans, one of the eggs, vanilla, honey, and salt into blender. Blend on high until mixture is smooth.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.
5. Beat butter with the melted and cooled bakers' chocolate until fluffy. Add remaining three eggs one at a time, beating for 20 seconds after each additional egg.
6. Add the bean batter and cocoa powder mixture alternatively into butter mixture and mix. Beat the batter on medium high for one minute, until smooth. (Make sure you scrape the bowl in order to incorporate batter that may be stuck to the sides and bottom)
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes in the pan.
9. Once the cake is cool, run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it. Turn the cake out onto the serving dish or cake plate. Let it cool to room temperature. Once cooled, ice the cake with the Gleaming Dark Chocolate Icing.

Gleaming Dark chocolate Icing:

1/2 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa

1/8 Cup cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2/3 Cup water

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Combine sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a small saucepan. Cook this mixture on medium heat while gradually pouring in the water. Cook and stir until the mixture boils.
2. Boil the icing for a full minute while stirring constantly.
3. Remove the icing from the stove and add the butter and vanilla. Allow the icing to cool until it reaches a thick, yet pourable consistency.
   Pour the icing on top of your completely cooled and plated cake.