French Toast Bake

Family traditions, every family has their own around the holidays... One recipe that brings back memories... Here we have Portuguese French Toast for Christmas... Usually fried, but not this time! These are baked and  made the day before, so all you have to do in the morning is to turn on the oven!

First time I saw this recipe was on Pinterest, so I repinned it and followed the link to "Rach's blog," that gives a detailed explanation of how to fix this delicious breakfast dish. I used demerara sugar instead of brown sugar because in Brazil the brown sugar makes a very thick sauce. And I also added milk caramel in between layers... and that made all the difference!
 

 

French Toast Bake

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

1 cup demerara sugar

1 loaf Texas toast - I used 12 slices of white bread, no crust
4 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Ground cinnamon, white sugar and  confectioner's sugar for sprinkling

Milk caramel for the filling, if you like.

1) Melt butter in microwave and add demerara sugar, stir until mixed.
2. Pour butter/sugar mix into bottom of 9 x 13 pan
3) Lay single layer of bread in pan, sprinkle sugar, cinnamon and add a dollop of milk caramel on top of each slice
4) Beat eggs, milk, vanilla and 1 tbs sugar
5) Spoon half of egg mixture on bread layer
6) Add second layer of bread slices
7) Spoon on remaining egg mixture, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top
8) Cover and chill in fridge overnight
9) Bake at 350° F (180° C) for 40 minutes
10) Sprinkle powedered sugar and decorate with strawberries or not...
11) Serve with warm maple syrup or plain.



Pour butter mixture, spread around, add slices of bread on top



Add half the egg mixture, sprinkle sugar and cinnamom. Adda a dollop of milk caramel



Add second layer of bread, add remaing egg mixture and top with sugar and cinnamon.

French toast bake... ready to be served and add some beauty to your breakfast table!

Two recipes

We celebrated our 15th anniversary on August 6th and when I looked at this picture I thought I'd share two recipes. Pumpkin compote (Doce de abóbora) and Fig compote (Doce de figo).

Compotes are very popular all over Brazil. Fruit compotes are made with pieces of fruits cooked on low heat in a thick syrup with spices, usually cloves and cinnamon sticks or even orange peels. You can smash the fruits at the end or not.

Serve compotes warm or chilled, with whipped cream or farmer's cheese. As you see they are easy to make and are very versatile.

Butternut squash compote
2 pounds (1kg) sweet butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1-inch cubes (2.5 cm)
2 cups white sugar

1 cinnamon stick
6-8 whole cloves
3 cups water


1) Over medium heat cook sugar in water with cinnamon sticks and cloves until it becomes a thick syrup.

2) Add the pumpkin cubes and cook until the squash is soft and tender, watch it as the pumpkin needs to be tender, but not breaking down into a mush. Serve warm or cold, plain, with whipped cream or soft cheeses, like farmer's cheese.


Green fig compote
2 pounds (1 kg) fresh green figs
2 cups sugar
3 cups water
6-8 whole cloves

1) Wash figs in warm water, lightly rub each one with a cloth. Cut into 4 wedges and let the edges attached. Boil in hot water for one minute.

2) Over medium heat, cook sugar in water with cloves until it becomes a thick syrup. Add figs and cook until they are soft. Serve with whipped cream or plain.

A passion (fruit) trifle

Portuguese version

Valentine's day in Brazil was June 12th and this reminded me of passion fruit trifle. An elegant dessert and just perfect for any special occasion, like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, Christmas, New Year's, etc. I usually fix this dessert for big crowds.

Passion fruit is widely used here in juices and desserts. The actual name of this fruit in Portuguese has nothing to do with the translation into English, passion fruit is known here as maracuja.

This dessert is usually served as a passion fruit mousse and only the custard and the topping are arranged in a dish, but this time a friend of mine, Sheila, served it as a trifle and shared her mother's recipe.

For the custard
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can heavy cream (use the condensed milk can to measure)
1/2 cup concentrated passion fruit juice

Whisk the condensed milk, the heavy cream and the passion fruit juice until smooth.

For the whipped cream
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar

Whisk the cream with an electric mixer in a bowl until soft peaks form.

For the trifle

6 thick slices of sponge cake (you can also use graham crackers or cookies)
6 oz (180 g) milk or white chocolate, shaved or squares

For the passion fruit topping
1/2 cup concentrated passion fruit juice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 passion fruit

1) Scrape the seeded pulp of the fruit into a saucepan, add water, sugar, cornstarch and passion fruit juice. Boil the mixture over medium heat until the sugar granules dissolve completely and the mixture is clear. Remove the pan from the heat.

2) Assemble the trifle. Arrange a layer of cake pieces in the bottom of a serving dish. Pour some of the custard evenly over the cake, sprinkle shaved chocolate and pour whipped cream. Repeat layering, ending with whipped cream.

3) Pour the passion fruit topping, sprinkle more shaved chocolate. Refrigerate.

Chocolate Truffle with Mole Sauce

A friend brought a bottle of mole sauce by Rancho la California from Mexico and I wanted to make something special for my husband. It turns out that he's allergic to one of the sauce ingredients, and I forgot!!! Anyway, since my kids enjoy chocolate truffle so much, with this one it wasn't any different, it was love at the first bite, I had post it! And this recipe goes to my little Valentines...

When you take the first bite you experience a sweet flavor from the milk chocolate, then your taste buds notice the pepper. Inside the truffle the creamy mixture is soft and smooth, with a rich texture that can be enhanced with the addition of grapes, strawberries, cherries, brandy etc.

Chocolate Truffles with Mole Sauce
7 oz (200 g) heavy cream (I used soy cream)
8 oz (250 g) milk chocolate, cut into small pieces
5 oz (150 g) semisweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon mole sauce (optional - this recipe works without the sauce)

Filling (optional)
Seedless grapes, cherries, blueberries, etc. - these are optional, you can make truffles without any filling and they still taste great!

I think my favorite truffle filling is passion-fruit cream, it tastes so Brazilian!

Coating
1/2 cup unsweetened dry cocoa

Make the truffle mixture

In a double boiler, melt milk chocolate and semisweet chocolate. Add heavy cream and stir until smooth. Add mole sauce if using, stir again. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.

Shape and coat truffles
Scoop a teaspoon of chocolate mixture. Use a small cookie scoop to do this or form ball with your hands. If adding a fruit, do it now, then then roll the truffle in cocoa. Store and cool in airtight container until ready to serve.

Yields 22 truffles.

Holiday Cooking, Blogger Style - A too good to eat fruitcake

Thanksgiving approaches... then suddenly we realize that holiday season is just around the corner! It is so nice that the 3rd Holiday Cooking recipe exchange at Overwhelmed with Joy is here already so we can start collecting recipes! This year I am sharing the best ever Christmas cake I have ever had!

The combination of saffron and honey is just out of this world... This is a light cake and so easy to make. You can make it ahead of time or at the last minute! The recipe was adapted from the British magazine Good Food, that I received as a gift from a friend.

All recipes I tried from the December 2007 issue were a hit with my family!

Conversions
The conversions are rounded up or down as appropriate. I use grams and cups... but many people use ounces. For the dried fruits, you can get 2 handfuls of mixed fruits and it will work great, no need to be precise...

Honey saffron Christmas cake
2 tbsp brandy
A pinch of saffron powder (about 1⁄4tsp strands)
1 cup (8oz/225g) golden caster sugar
2 sticks (8oz/225g) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups (225g) plain flour
2 oz/50g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
11 oz/300g raisins or sultanas
4 oz/100 g apricots, sliced
4 oz/100g cherries, halved
4 oz/100g dates, sliced
3 oz/85g mixed peel (I used candied orange peels)
2 oz/50g whole blanched almonds, roughly chopped
 2 oz/50g walnuts, pieces

 To soak
3 tbsp brandy
2 tbsp honey

Directions:
1) Heat oven to 360°F/180°C. Grease a round, deep 8inch/20cm cake pan. -> I used a ring mould and it baked more quickly.

2) Heat the brandy in a small pan, then add the saffron and leave to infuse off the heat for a few minutes. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl, then beat together until creamy and smooth. Mix the fruit, nuts and brandy saffron mix into the batter and stir well.

3) Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour if using the ring mould.

Or... if you like a darker cake... you might want to cover loosely with foil to stop the top over-browning. Turn oven down to 280°F/140°C and cook for 1 hour more OR until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan then, while it's still warm, prod the cake all over with a skewer.

4) Mix the honey (microwave honey for 15s) and brandy together and spoon over the cake. Garnish with confectioner's sugar, pipe some whipped cream and dress up with fruits in season. I washed the fruits and coated them with confectioner's sugar.

You can wrap up the plain cake in foil and keep it in an airtight container until Christmas, feeding with more honeyed brandy every so often. Well, I made one last year on Christmas Eve and decorated right away... and still... it tasted great!

Spanish caramel flan

I love to try new things and recipes for guests... We had a family gathering and when I told my mom I was going to make Spanish caramel flan, a flan without condensed milk I received fake smiles and nods from everyone in the kitchen... The reason? My mom makes the best Condensend milk flan I have ever tried, a traditional recipe in Brazil that is so easy to make that I think no one bothers to try a new recipe!

I had been willing to try a different flan recipe for quite some time... and on the way to my parents' house I bookmarked the Spanish flan from the book Perfect Desserts - a collection of over 100 essential recipes (Parragon Publishing) that I got from a friend. Well... the dessert turned out superb and no one was disappointed!

For the Custard
2 1/2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
1/2 orange with 2 long, thin pieces of rind removed
1 vanilla bean, split, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks

For the caramel
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons water
a few drops of orange juice

1 5-cup flan dish (quiche dish), a round mould or 4 to 6 ramekins
1 large baking/roasting pan for the water bath

1) Pour the milk into a pan with the orange rind and vanilla bean and extract. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and stir in half cup of sugar. Set aside 30 minutes to infuse.

2) Meanwhile make the caramel: put 1/2 cup sugar and 4 tablespoons of water in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, then boil without stirring until the caramel turns deep golden brown. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in a few drops of orange juice to stop the cooking. Pour into a lightly greased flan dish or ramekins and swirl to cover the base.

3) Return the pan of infused milk to the heat and bring to a simmer. Beat the whole eggs and egg yolks together in a heatproof bowl. Pour the warm milk into the eggs, whisking constantly. Strain into the flan dish.

4) Place the flan dish in a baking pan and fill with enough boiling water come halfway up the sides of the dish. Bake in a preheated oven 325° F/160° C for 60-75 minutes until set and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the flan dish from the baking pan and set aside to cool completely. Cover and let chill overnight. To serve, run a metal spatula round the flan, then invert onto a serving plate, shaking firmly to release.

Yogurt Parfait with Mango and Cardamom

Mango, brown sugar and cardamom! These were the three delicious ingredients on my list for this month's joust at the Leftover Queen forum! And I ended up with a parfait.

Did you know that "parfait" means literally "perfect" in French? And also it is:
1 : a flavored custard containing whipped cream and syrup frozen without stirring

2 : a cold dessert made of layers of fruit, syrup, ice cream, and whipped cream
(Merriam-Webster dictionary)

My parfait is made with frozen greek yogurt. Parfaits are usually made in layers in a tall glass, but I used a serving plate instead.
For the custard:
2 cups greek yogurt (substitutes: vanilla yogurt or ice cream)
2 to 3 tablespoons honey

For the mango syrup:
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 to 4 cardamom pods, split open
1/2 cup water
1 mango, peeled and sliced

1) Mix together greek yogurt and honey. Line bottom and sides of muffin pans with loose fitting plastic wrap or parchment paper. Divide the mixture between the lined muffin pans and freeze for about 2 hours.

2) In a sauce pan heat sugar, cardamom pods and water until sugar dissolves for about 5 minutes. Add mango slices and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and leave fruit to cool.

3) Remove the parfait from the freezer. Remove the plastic wrap or parchment paper. Place the parfait on serving plates and drizzle the mango syrup around each one.

Recipe adapted from Woman and Home magazine.

Romeo and Juliet - a sweet pizza for my Valentine

It's Valentine's Day in many countries, but here... What are you making for your sweetie, neighbor or friend?

Here's a sweet pizza I made, with guava paste and cheese, a common combination found in many latin countries and known here as "Romeo and Juliet." The name might have come from the famous play by Shakespeare, but the idea is that "cheese and guava paste" make an irresistible and perfect combination.

Also, Portuguese has two genders for nouns, so Cheese is masculine and Guava is feminine. A language peculiarity that makes Portuguese a beautifil language but very confusing for English speakers who have a hard time trying to figure out the gender of things.

My contribution to "A heart for your Valentine" event. If you would like to participate, please find the instructions here.

To make the Romeo and Juliet pizza:
1 recipe for personal pizza
1 can guava paste cut into cubes
cream cheese, white cheese or mozzarela

Cover the pre-baked pizza with the cheese and the guava paste and bake in preheated oven until cheese and guava paste melt.

Guava and guava paste

Peach Cobbler - October AFAM (A Fruit a Month)

It all started with a magnet I bought long time ago in Atlanta, Georgia, the "Peach State." I had never tried peach cobbler before and decided to give it a shot. And one thing intrigued me, the difference between Cobblers, Crumbles and Crisps. The best explanation I found, of course, with Martha Stewart. I changed the recipe on the magnet a little, because I used canned peaches.

Mansi is hosting an event called A Fruit a Month. This month's fruit is Peach. To participate all you have to do is post a recipe on your blog, include a brief intro about the fruit choice and the concept of your dish. For more instructions, please visit her blog.

The roundup will be announced between 5th-7th November. So make sure you send in your entries before Nov 1st.


Peach Cobbler
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 tbs baking powder
3/4 sugar
1 large can peach halves, drained (or 4 cups fresh peeled peaches sweetened to taste)

1) Melt margarine in 8 x 12 inch (20 x 30 cm) dish. Mix flour, baking powder, milk, and sugar. Add to melted margarine.

2) Add peaches, but do not stir. Bake at 375 °F (180 °C) for about 40 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Hints:
- You can use self-raising flour, in this case, do not add the baking powder.
- Use any juicy fruit: peaches, apples, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries.

Pear Pudding with Lavender Syrup

The Leftover Queen has this month's foodie joust challenge with white chocolate, lavender and pears. I knew what to do with the three ingredients, but I was not sure where I would add the lavender, to custard or syrup. So, I decided to cook the pear with a few leaves of lavender, and here is my entry: a simple homemade dessert that you can make using either canned or fresh peaches.

I offered this dessert to two friends, one is a foodie and the other one is not. Both of their faces brightened as I passed the dishes with scoops of this Pear Pudding with a slight lavender flavor and white chocolate drizzled on top.

Ingredients
For the syrup:
6 fresh pears (or 2 15-ounce (450 g) cans pear halves in light syrup)
1 teaspoon lavender leaves (about 5 leaves)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon lime juice

For the custard:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plain low-fat or fat-free yogurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 oz/100 g white chocolate melted (1 minute in microwave) to drizzle on top

Directions
- Grease a 9 1/2x1-1/2- or 10x1-1/2-inch quiche dish (use a one piece-bottom pan, removable bottom may leak)
- Preheat oven to 375°F/200°C

If using fresh pears:

1) Start with the syrup. Bring the water to boil, then stir in the sugar, lime juice and add the lavender leaves. Cook for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile...

2) Remove peel, core and cut pears into halves. Add pears immediately to lavender syrup, cook 2 minutes.

3) With a spoon, remove pears from syrup, arrange pear halves, flat sides down, in bottom of the prepared dish.

4) Score the round side of each pear half by making shallow crosswise cuts across the top.

5) In a blender container or food processor bowl combine flour and granulated sugar. Cover and blend or process until combined. Add yogurt, eggs, vanilla, and 3/4 cup of reserved pear syrup. Cover and blend or process until smooth.

6) Pour the batter over pears. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

7) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or just until center is set when gently shaken. Cool on a wire rack about 30 minutes. Drizzle melted white chocolate on top with a spoon. Serve warm.

If using pears in light syrup:
Drain pear halves, reserving 3/4 cup of the syrup. Arrange pears, flat sides down, in bottom of a greased pan. Boil 3/4 cup syrup for 5 minutes with the lavender leaves. Continue from step 4.




Recipe inspired by BHG.

Milk Caramel - Dulce de Leche

My mom used to make this creamy milk caramel when we were kids. When I was seven and still lived on a farm, I was eating caramel outside our house, in the balcony, with so much gusto and I was stung by a wasp! Time went by, we moved into town and she never made this again, she would tell me it only tasted good with raw milk which we didn't get in town. Some time ago I was telling her how much I missed her milk caramel and we decided to give it a try with pasteurized milk and ta da... there it was right in front of me, my delicious milk caramel!

Dulce de leche is the Spanish word for milk caramel, in Portuguese it is called "Doce de leite."

Ingredients
4 cups (1 liter) milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Pour milk, sugar and cornstarch in a non-stick saucepan and and cook it over low heat, stirring fairly constantly for about 45 minutes or until the milk achieves the consistency you want.

Serve plain or use it as cake filling.

And speaking of sweet things, my dear blogging friend Vi of East Meets West Kitchen honored me with the Rocker Girl award! Thank you Vi!!! I don't feel I deserve it but now it is my turn to pass this badge on to my blogging friends. I would like to nominate all my friends on my side bar, under "Blogging Friends" as I truly think you all deserve it and YOU all ROCK!

Bread Pudding Souffle with Whiskey Sauce

This bread pudding turns into one of the most delicious souffles I have ever eaten. I used leftover italian bread as it was the only bread I had available. The flavor of the sauce is fantastic because of the whiskey (I have used brandy too). I first saw this recipe on Epicurious and then later on the Commander's Palace website, one of the finest restaurants in New Orleans.

My advice is to bake the bread pudding and the sauce in advance. Then, about half an hour before dessert, you bake the pudding again, this time as a souffle. Or, if you do not want to leave your guests waiting while you fix the souffle, you can bake it sometime during the day and then warm it up in the microwave before serving. Your choice, both work wonderfully.

You will need an 8 x 8 x 2 (aprox. 20 x 20 x 5 cm) inch square baking pan and 6-8 ramekins.

Bread pudding

3/4 cups Sugar
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
3 Medium Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp. Vanilla
5 cups New Orleans French Bread, 1" cubed
1/3 cup Raisins

Whiskey sauce

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 Tbsp. Corn starch
1 Tbsp. Water
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1/4 cup Bourbon

Meringue

9 Medium Egg Whites (I reduced to 6 egg whites)
3/4 cups Sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

To make the bread pudding, first preheat oven to 350°F/180°C degrees.

1) Grease the square baking pan. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs until smooth, then work in the heavy cream. Add the vanilla, then the bread cubes. Allow bread to soak up custard.

2) Place the raisins in a greased pan. Top with the egg mixture, which prevents the raisins from burning. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until the pudding has a golden brown color and is firm to the touch. If a toothpick inserted in the pudding comes out clean, it is done. The mixture of pudding should be nice and moist, not runny or dry. Cool to room temperature.

3) To make the whiskey sauce, place the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Whisk corn starch and water together, and add to cream while whisking. Bring to a boil. Whisk and let simmer for a few seconds, taking care not to burn the mixture on the bottom. Remove from heat.

4) Stir in the sugar and the bourbon. Taste to make sure the sauce has a thick consistency, a sufficiently sweet taste, and a good bourbon flavor. Cool to room temperature.

5) To make the meringue, preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Butter six 6 ounce ramekins. In a large bowl or mixer, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Add the sugar gradually, and continue whipping until shiny and thick. Test with a clean spoon. If the whites stand up stiff, like shaving cream, when you pull out the spoon, the meringue is ready. Do not overwhip, or the whites will break down and the soufflé will not work.

6) In a large bowl, break half the bread pudding into pieces using your hands or a spoon. Gently fold in one-quarter of the meringue, being careful not to lose the air in the whites. Add a portion of this base to each of the ramekins.

7) Place the remaining bread pudding in the bowl, break into pieces, and carefully fold in the rest of the meringue. Top off the soufflés with this lighter mixture, to about 1 1/2 inches. Smooth and shape tops with spoon into a dome over the ramekin rim. Bake immediately for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately. Using a spoon, poke a hole in the top of each soufflé, at the table, and pour the room temperature whiskey sauce inside the soufflé.

Recipe adapted from Commander's Palace.

Chocolate Éclair Cake

Cream puffs and éclairs always catch my attention at every bakery, imagine then a whole cake made with this pastry. I found this recipe on Kerri's blog, and decided to give it a shot. A week later, it was my husband's birthday, and guess what he asked me to make? So, here is his favorite cake recipe.

Crust:
1 cup of water
½ cup butter of margarine
½ tsp. Salt
1 cup plain flour
4 eggs

1) Put water and butter in a medium saucepan, bring water to boil & simmer until butter melts. Remove from heat.

2) Mix salt & flour & add all at once to water & butter mixture. Stir until dough forms a ball.

3) Add one egg at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition. Spread in a
greased jelly roll pan (15x10x1 inches) (38x25x2.5 cm) I think a 13x9 (33x23) pan would work if you don’t have the bigger one.

4) Bake at 400ºF/205ºC for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and press flat (wait a minute or two so you don’t burn yourself). Cool.

5) Spread filling, topping and glaze over crust. Serve cold.

Filling:
2 packages of instant vanilla pudding.
2 ½ cups of milk
1 8oz (227 g)package of cream cheese, softened

With electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and add just a little milk at first (if you add too much at once you’ll end up with lumps of cream cheese). Keep adding milk gradually while beating. Then add the 2 puddings and beat until thick. Spread over crust.

Topping:
1 8oz tub of Cool Whip

Spread on top of pudding mixture.

Glaze:
½ cup of chocolate chips
2 tbsp. Butter or margarine
1 cup confectioner's sugar (icing sugar for the Aussies)

Melt choc chips with butter in the microwave or on the stove. Stir in confectioner's sugar.
Drizzle over the Cool Whip.

Make at least 2 days ahead so crust can soften and flavors blend.
(I never make it ahead and it tastes wonderful anyway.)

I use this pastry cream recipe instead of the vanilla/cream cheese filling:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 can milk (use the can to measure)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Vanilla

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine sweetened condensed milk, milk and cornstarch. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. The mixture will thicken. Add the vanilla. Transfer to a shallow bowl and press plastic wrap directly to prevent a skin from forming. Use as a filling for cakes, éclairs etc.

Cardamom Coffee and Cream Granita

There is no limit for the use of cardamom. It is a sophisticated, intensely fragrant spice with digestive properties. My first contact with cardamom was through Anneke, who cooked this Thai rice for us long time ago. And Valentina inspired me to use cardamom for the first time! I fell in love with its aromatic fragrance!

And as Spring has sprung, let's celebrate with this refreshing granita, that tastes like a capuccino!

Granita
(Adapted from Fine Living)

5 cardamom pods
2 cups strong, freshly brewed coffee
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
Ground cinnamon (sprinkle over granita)

Directions:
1) Split cardamom pods, grind the seeds with a mortar and pestle, and sprinkle seeds in with coffee when brewing.
2) Combine coffee and sweetened condensed milk with a hand-mixer.
3) Place mixture in metal bowl and freeze for 4 to 5 hours, and remember to spoon it sometimes.
4) The granita is ready when it has a creamy consistency with little ice crystals. Spoon into shotglasses or cups, sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy this frozen capuccino!