Journey-Infused Baking Recipes – CTV Extra

Recipes by Colin Asuncion. Follow him on TikTok and YouTube.

Cassava Blossoms

Inspired by the Philippines, this dessert combines a standard Filipino cassava cake layer with a shortbread base and cream cheese frosting, embellished to appear like a stunning tropical flower.

Ingredients

Cassava Cake Layer

• 2 packs grated cassava (about 2 lbs)
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 1/4 cup butter melted
• 1/2 cup condensed milk
• 1 cup granulated sugar

Shortbread Cookie Base

• 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 room temperature massive egg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all goal flour, plus extra for dusting work floor
• Food colouring

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8oz (one brick) cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ cup (one stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Optional toppings: sprinkles or shredded coconut

Directions

Cassava Cake Layer

1. Preheat oven to 350 levels. Grease a 9×13 baking pan with butter and put aside.
2. Place grated cassava into a big mixing bowl and take away any additional onerous fibres by hand. Pushing the cassava towards the facet of your bowl with a versatile spatula may help you see the onerous fibres.
3. Once the onerous fibres have been eliminated, add in all the opposite substances besides the coconut milk. Mix till effectively mixed.
4. Add the coconut milk and blend once more till utterly mixed.
5. Pour batter into the ready baking pan and bake for 1 hour. A cake tester inserted into the centre of the cake ought to come out clear as soon as absolutely baked. Set apart.

Shortbread Cookie Base

1. Make cookies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Set rack at center place. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar collectively till easy, at the least 3 minutes.
3. Add vanilla extract and egg and beat for one more minute.
4. In a separate bowl, mix baking powder, salt, and flour. Whisk till effectively mixed.
5. Add dry substances to moist substances and blend on medium till effectively integrated and a dough kinds and comes collectively. Add meals colouring and blend simply till the color is evenly integrated.
6. Turn out dough onto a floured floor and knead for a couple of seconds. Dough ought to maintain collectively simply.
7. Roll out and minimize blossom shapes with a cookie cutter. Carefully switch cookies onto a baking sheet. If slicing out cookies in several sizes, place equally sized cookies on the identical baking sheet so you’ll be able to management bake time for every dimension.
8. Bake for 12-14 minutes till edges are barely golden. Bake time will fluctuate relying on the scale of your cookies, so monitor this intently.
9. Remove from oven and funky on a rack. Set apart.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Combine all substances in bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or a big mixing bowl with a hand mixer. Mix on excessive till easy.

Assembly directions

1. Using a spherical cutter that’s smaller than your cookie blossoms, minimize circles out of the cassava cake. Set apart.
2. Take considered one of your cookie blossoms and high with a small dollop of cream cheese frosting. Place a spherical of cassava cake on high of this, after which pipe a rosette of cream cheese frosting on high.
3. Optional: Top with sprinkles or shredded coconut for extra ornament. Serve instantly, or retailer in fridge, lined.

Lemon Possets

Lemon posset is a traditional British dessert that’s unbelievably easy and luxuriously creamy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tbsp lemon juice
• Optional topping: berries and mint leaves
• 10 lemons (for serving)

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, warmth the cream and sugar on medium excessive, stirring often, till sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, then convey warmth right down to medium and boil for five minutes.
2. Remove saucepan from the warmth and add within the lemon juice. Cool combination for 10 – 15 minutes. Strain combination by way of a high-quality mesh sieve into a big pitcher or measuring cup.
3. Cut reserved lemons in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh and membrane from the fruit.
4. Fill every lemon half with the cooled posset combination.
5. Refrigerate for at the least 3 hours. Garnish with berries and mint leaves and serve.

Spiced Tres Leches Cake

The tres leches cake (Spanish for “three milks cake”) may be very common in Mexico. It’s a lightweight sponge cake soaked in a candy milk combination and topped with whipped cream.

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp floor cinnamon
• 1 tsp floor cardamom
• 1 tsp floor ginger
• ¼ tsp floor nutmeg
• ¼ tsp floor cloves
• 3 eggs
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 cup lukewarm complete milk

Milk Soak

• 2 cups evaporated milk
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup dulce de leche or salted caramel sauce

Topping

• 2 cups whipping cream, chilly
• ¼ cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Optional toppings: toasted shredded coconut, floor cinnamon, sprinkles, cinnamon sticks, star anise

Directions

1. Prepare cake: Grease a glass or metallic 9×13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 325 levels.
2. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set apart.
3. In one other bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla at excessive pace with an electrical mixer for about 10 minutes or till the combination triples in quantity and kinds a ribbon. Drizzle within the oil whereas beating.
4. At low pace, add the dry substances alternately with lukewarm milk, beating simply till easy. Pour the batter into the pan.
5. Bake for 40-43 minutes or till a toothpick inserted within the centre of the cake comes out clear. Let cool utterly within the pan.
6. While the cake is cooling, make your soaking liquid by combining the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and dulce de leche in a small saucepan and warming over medium low warmth till the dulce de leche is totally dissolved and the combination is gently simmering.
7. Remove from warmth and let cool till room temperature.
8. Using a toothpick or skewer, poke holes all around the cake floor. The extra, the higher. Be certain to not tear up the cake within the course of, however guarantee your holes are evenly unfold out.
9. Pour half the milk soak all around the cake by slowly drizzling the liquid throughout the floor of the cake. Place again within the fridge for one hour earlier than repeating with the remaining liquid. Refrigerate once more for at the least three extra hours, or in a single day.
10. Whip the whipping cream on excessive with the icing sugar and vanilla extract till stiff peaks kind. Cover your soaked cake with whipped cream by spreading it excessive with a spatula, or piping it in rosettes with a piping bag and piping tip.
11. Optional: high with toasted shredded coconut or a dusting of floor cinnamon. Slice and serve chilly instantly from baking pan.

Lychee Mango Jelly Cups

Inspired by Taiwanese lychee jelly, this layered dessert cup has candy and floral lychee jelly and a mango jelly layer.

Ingredients

Lychee Jelly

• 2 (7g) envelopes unflavored gelatin (14g in complete)
• 1/4 cup room temperature water
• 1/2 cup scorching water
• 2 cups lychee nectar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup finely chopped lychee fruit (canned or recent)

Mango Jelly

• 2 cups ripe mango puree
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp unflavored gelatin powder
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Lychee Jelly

1. Pour 1/4 cup of room temperature water right into a small bowl. Add the gelatin and whisk till integrated. Set apart for 5 minutes to let the gelatin bloom.
2. In a small saucepan, mix the remaining scorching water, lychee nectar, and sugar. Heat the combination over medium warmth, stirring till the sugar is dissolved and the combination is scorching however not boiling.
3. Remove the pan from the warmth and whisk within the reserved gelatin, ensuring there are not any lumps.
4. Pour the combination by way of a high-quality mesh sieve right into a liquid measuring cup to catch any unmelted lumps of gelatin. Skim off any bubbles on the floor with a high-quality mesh strainer. Slightly cool for about 5-10 minutes.
5. Place a tablespoon of chopped lychee fruit into the bottoms of your cups / ramekins. Pour liquid combination into every cup till every is ¼ full (quantity will fluctuate relying on the scale of your cup). Place cups within the fridge for at the least 2 hours to agency up.

Mango Jelly

1. Strain mango puree for a easy texture.
2. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin powder over 1/4 cup of chilly water. Set apart for five minutes.
3. In a saucepan, mix the remaining water and sugar on medium low. Heat till the sugar dissolves.
4. Add the mango puree, lemon juice, and bloomed gelatin to the saucepan and scale back warmth to low. Stir till the gelatin is totally dissolved. Do not boil.
5. Remove from warmth and let cool for five minutes. Pour a layer of this mango combination on high of your chilled lychee jelly cups. Refrigerate for one more 2 hours or till utterly set. Optional: Top with chopped fruit and/or whipped cream.

Napoleon Cake

The Napoleon cake is sweetened pastry cream with puff pastry layers that may be a common vacation deal with in Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic states.

Ingredients

• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 packages store-bought puff pastry, thawed however nonetheless chilly
• Fresh berries for topping

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 levels. Roll out the puff pastry gently with a rolling pin till it’s a bit thinner. Cut out 6 or 8-inch rounds with a paring knife, utilizing a cake pan or a plate as a information – you will have 6 – 8 rounds in complete;
2. Transfer the rounds to parchment lined baking sheets. Using a fork, poke holes throughout the floor of the dough (that is referred to as docking). Bake the rounds within the oven for five – 7 minutes, or till golden. Remove from the oven and trim the sides of the rounds whereas they’re nonetheless heat through the use of a paring knife so the rounds are even.
3. Bake any scraps of dough you’ve left – you will have these later.
4. Make pastry cream: In a saucepan, mix milk and 1/2 cup sugar. Heat over medium till simply boiling.
5. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk collectively egg yolks and complete eggs. In a separate small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cornstarch, then whisk into the eggs till easy.
6. Slowly drizzle the new milk into the egg combination, whisking continually to keep away from curdling. Return the combination to the saucepan and prepare dinner over medium warmth, stirring continually, till thickened and effervescent.
7. Remove from warmth and stir in butter and vanilla till absolutely integrated.
8. Transfer to a heatproof container and press plastic wrap instantly onto the floor. Chill within the fridge till chilly, at the least one hour.
9. While the pastry cream is chilling, take the baked dough scraps and crumble them into crumbs. Set apart.
10. Assemble cake: Spread a small dab of pastry cream on a serving platter. Place the primary pastry layer on high to safe it. (Optional) Place an adjustable cake ring across the layer for straight edges.
11. Reserve 1 cup of pastry cream for the perimeters and refrigerate it.
12. Spread a beneficiant layer of pastry cream over the pastry layer. Repeat layering cake and pastry cream, ending with custard on high. Sprinkle the pastry crumbs excessive to stop drying.
13. Let the cake sit in a single day within the fridge.
14. If utilizing a cake ring, run a knife across the edge and take away it. Spread the reserved pastry cream over the perimeters. Press pastry crumbs onto the perimeters and sprinkle extra on high.
15. Garnish with berries and extra pastry cream, piped into rosettes on high of the cake (optionally available). Refrigerate till able to serve. Serve chilly or room temperature.