Please Sir, May I Have S’more?

Two days ago, I made homemade graham crackers. They were certainly more crackerish than the last recipe that I had used. Today, I wanted to made an easy and fun twist on s’mores. I looked around on the internet and found a few recipes for a s’more pie. I decided to use these recipes as a starting point for my dessert and off I went. I used my graham crackers and some chocolate animal crackers for a base crust. Then, in the last first minutes of baking, I added some marshmallow and let them melt over it. As the crust was cooling, I made a homemade chocolate pudding and poured it over the base. And voila, S’mores Pudding. This was my first time making a pudding from scratch and it turned out pretty well. There were no clumps or lumps and the flavor was pleasing, so I would say it was a success. Tomorrow, I am having a real s’mores roast, sans chocolate,for me.

~thechildcooks

S’mores Pudding

1 cup crushed graham crackers(crushed chocolate animal crackers mixed in are optional, add to your liking)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 jumbo marshmallows or about 30 minis

1 recipe chocolate pudding

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter in a bowl then press into the bottom of a 9x5x3 loaf pan. Bake for 5 minutes. While the base is baking, tear the jumbo marshmallow into bits slightly smaller than your thumb(if using minis, leave untorn). After 5 minutes take the crust out and sprinkle the marshmallow evenly over the top, bake for 5 more minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool. While the base is cooling, make the chocolate pudding and then pour over the base. refrigerate until set.  

Chocolate Pudding from Betty Crocker

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt and cocoa powder in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in milk gradually. cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir some of the mixture into the eggs, then blend into the mixture in the saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into dishes. Cool slightly and refrigerate.

Graham Crackers from King Arthur

2 cups (8¼ ounces) whole-wheat flour
¼ cup (1¾ ounces) sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
¼ cup (1¾ ounces) vegetable oil
¼ cup (3 ounces) honey
2 to 3 tablespoons (1 to 1½ ounces) milk (approx.)
additional milk for glaze
cinnamon-sugar (optional)

1. In a mixing bowl, combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. In a separate bowl, beat egg till light, then add oil, honey and 2 tablespoons milk. Stir into dry ingredients until you have a fairly stiff dough, adding additional milk if necessary. Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill until firm, about 1 hour (or longer, if it’s more convenient).

2. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently until it holds together. Roll dough out till it’s about 1/16-inch thick; make sure rolling surface is well-floured, or you’ll have trouble transferring crackers to baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 375°F.

3. Cut dough into 3-inch squares, prick each square several times with a fork, and place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Brush the tops with milk, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar if you’re so inclined, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until crackers are lightly browned. Remove crackers from oven, transfer to a wire cooling rack, and cool completely.

Steaming My Buns

Image via Wikipedia

No, I did not go to a sauna. The bun in question are the light, fluffy, awesome and all-around yummy Chinese steamed buns(or Mantou     饅頭). I had seen recipes for them before and thought to myself that there was no way for me to make them and why would I be making them in the first place? I had never had them before and thought that they were only a savory application. That being said, ehrn I went to a local Chinese place I did not take one becuase I thought it would be filled wiht meat. To my surprise, when I went there again today, it was filled with a sweet yellow paste. It was so good and my sister and myself really enjoyed them. So much in fact, that I decided to see if I could make them at home. I remembered the recipes that I had seen and checked some of them out. The first one that I found used a bread machine. That one was out. The next one made eight rolls with 4 cups of flour. That one was out because, well that sounded like a really big roll. The others took types of flour that I had never heard of, let alone had in my pantry. The one I finally found was from allrecipes.com . The reviews on it were all good and the process looked simple enough: made a dough let it rise, add more flour and the remaining ingredients, knead, let rest, knead, shape, let rest and steam. The only problem I had was with the very last instruction-steam. How to steam them without a steamer was my dilemma. I finally ended up constructing one out of a stainless steel bowl and pie-cooling rack with another bowl overturned on top as a lid. The steaming process takes a long time as my bowl is small and you must leave adequate space for the buns to expand. I can fit about 4-5 in at a time and they have to cook for 15-16 minutes. I made 18 bun and am still cooking the second batch; this might take awhile. As I mentioned above, the bun that I saw online were mostly meat filled. The one I had today and the ones I am making are filled with sweets for a more dessertish end product. I filled them with peanut butter, grape jelly, strawberry jelly, cinnamon sugar and a lemon puddingy filling. My dad just tried one of the cinnamon sugar filled buns and said it was really good. Even though he did not have one at the restaurant, he said he was surprised at how close to the restaurant’s buns that they looked. He also commented on the fact that the texture was fluffy and not doughy as he thought they would be. I also made a shamrock green pudding pie for my fathers Sunday School class. Shamrock green because it is close to St. Patrick’s Day and pudding pir becuase kid like pie and monday is Pi day. I just made a simple graham cracker crust and box pudding. I would have liked to make my own pudding or custard filling, but I could not justify using four egg yolks because I know that at my house the whites will not be used. Oh well, maybe next time. I am not sure what else I will make this weekend, but it should be yummy!

~thechildcooks 

Chinese Steamed Buns

From allrecipes.com

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Mix together yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 cup warm water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Mix in 1/2 cup warm water, flour, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vegetable oil. Knead until dough surface is smooth and elastic. Roll over in a greased bowl, and let stand until triple in size, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Punch down dough, and spread out on a floured board. Sprinkle baking powder evenly on surface, and knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 2 parts, and place the piece you are not working with in a covered bowl. Divide each half into 12 parts. Shape each part into a ball with smooth surface up( if you want a filling, roll the ball flat and put about a teaspoon of filling in the gather and pinch to seal). Put each ball on a wax paper square. Let stand covered until double, about 30 minutes.

Bring water to a boil in wok, and reduce heat to medium; the water should still be boiling. Place steam-plate on a small wire rack in the middle of the wok. Transfer as many buns on wax paper as will comfortably fit onto steam-plate leaving 1 to 2 inches between the buns. At least 2 inches space should be left between steam-plate and the wok. Cover wok with lid. Steam buns over boiling water for 15 minutes.

REMOVE LID BEFORE you turn off heat, or else water will drip back onto bun surface and produce yellowish “blisters” on bun surfaces. Continue steaming batches of buns until all are cooked. Enjoy hot or reheated with a steamer.