Spicy and Sweet

I love spicy foods. And I have recently found that I like spicy chiles (cayenne) with just about everything (the only exception I can think off offhand would probably be with caramel, but I could be persuaded otherwise). I like it with savory foods and with sweet. Here's how it happened:

This past summer, I tried Trader Joe's chile mango floes, sweet mango popsicles with spicy chilli powder. They were good but confusing - a very spicy frozen snack. I had never tried such a combination, but heard that similar sweet with spicy combos are popular in South America.

When it got colder, I tried making some Aztec hot chocolate. At the time, I had a specific recipe I followed to make the spicy hot chocolate drink. This I thought matched better, hot sweet drink with spicy.

Now, recently, I was shopping at Trader Joe's and picked up some dried mango with cayenne (chile spiced mango) to give that a try. Love it. Not as confusing like the popsicles because they don't have a temperature component, just the flavor aspect - the spicy with the sweet.

Today, in lieu of my regular thermos of coffee, I have made Aztec hot chocolate from memory and am enjoying that very much. Here's the general recipe (I didn't measure anything): hot chocolate packets ~1packet for 10oz water, cayenne powder ~1tsp, cinnamon ~1tsp, hot water. Mmmm, sweet and spicy. Give it a try if you like spicy stuff.

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

I recently decided to try making cheesecake again. I had a bad experience about 10 years ago with a family recipe and the inside didn't cook all the way. So I looked up some easy recipes and tried my luck. (Not to ruin the suspense... but it worked so well I've made it multiple times.)

Filling:
16 oz (two 8-oz packages) cream cheese
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat until smooth - *I recommend using an Immersion Blender

Crust
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs (~one package inside box)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/8 cup water
Melt butter, mix all together, press into pan.
Does not require pre-baking if pie will be baked.

Bake 350 degrees for ~50min

My first one (I made less because I put a portion into a not-so-good attempt of pumpkin cheesecake, but this tasted great and didn't need to cook as long - only about 30min).

 

For my second one, I blended in some frozen strawberries (which is why the color looks different).

 Before serving, I spread some strawberry topping on top.

I've also used half of the cheesecake filling recipe for muffin filling. I made pumpkin muffins with cheesecake filling and can't wait to try this again with chocolate muffins or brownies.

*I added the recommendation for using an immersion blender after talking with a friend who has many cheesecake-making problems. She believes her problems (sometimes explosion, sometimes collapse) had to do with how much air was in the cheesecake mixture. She uses a hand mixer and I have used my immersion blender for this recipe and never had a problem. So maybe that's the key? Anyway, it is worth mentioning.

Obsessed with Yogurt

You may recall that I reviewed a local Build your own Yogurt shop. That was my first time at a place like that, and only about 3 weeks ago. Since then, I have gone to almost every self-serve yogurt place I have seen... At Freeziac in the Mall of America in Minnesota,

At Chilly Billy's in the collegetown (Dinkytown) by the University of Minnesota,

And another one in Maryland (in Nottingham, near White Marsh), Yogi Castle. (Hubby and I both got one.)

These are my new favorite desserts. They might sound costly at close to 50 cents per ounce (considering they usually have 16-ounce or bigger cups), but it has always been reasonable for me. I guess because I don't fill the whole cup with yogurt, which is heavier than the toppings. Though I do like the fruit toppings, which I was worried would get heavy, but I still haven't paid over $5 for my yogurt and fruit creations.

I recommend trying out these new-fangled yogurt shops. They seem to be popping up all over the place, some with a modern look and some that look more family-oriented. The modern ones can look a little intimidating, but they really are generally all the same. Some do have more flavors (Yogi Castle had snickerdoodle, toffee, cookies and cream, and cake batter, in addition to chocolate, vanilla, fruit yogurts, fruit sorbets, and more), some have more toppings to choose from (the ones in Minnesota had more fruit options), and some have more unique flavors (like yogoya, the first one I reviewed, had taro yogurt). But any one would be good to visit to try out building your own yogurt to see if you like it as much as I do.

Build Your own Yogurt

I had an urge to try one of those trendy new yogurt shops, so I tried Yogoya in Timonium, Maryland.  It was fun! Make-your-own, any flavors (they had chocolate, vanilla, original, raspberry, mango, peach, banana, and taro), any toppings (fruits, cereals, candy, syrups). It is priced by weight, so you have to be careful, but for just over $8 for mine and the hubby's, I think we made out pretty well.


Mine, natural sweetness:

Some vanilla on the bottom, then raspberry, mango, banana, and a little bit of natural (like unflavored yogurt, a bit tart). Topped with strawberries, mango, kiwi, blueberries, coconut, a sprinkle of granola, and flavored mochi bits (because I wanted to try the flavors).


His, sweet and surprising:

Chocolate and taro yogurt (wasn't expecting him to like the taro enough to put it in his yogurt creation), reeses cup bits on the bottom, more on the top, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce, peanut butter sauce, and caramel sauce.


Plus, it can't hurt that they have self-serve sample cups, so you get to try as many flavors as you want before making your creation. ;)

Easy Lemonade (Made my day)

Yes, this is how I'm starting. I said it would be random.

Baltimore was HOT today (heat index above 100F) and I had the perfect idea with the ingredients I tend to keep around - frozen berries, crystal light powder, water.

Empty bottle + frozen raspberries and blueberries + lemonade powder + COLD water = most refreshing drink on a hot day. (Shake it up, maybe leave in the freezer a bit to cool down.)

The raspberries float and are in most of the sips/gulps, the blueberries are on the bottom at the end of the drink.

So that was the perfect start to a gross and hot day. Try it with what fruit and drink powder/juice you have around for some cooling and fun drink mixes for these hot days.