Banana Hazelnut Dessert Wontons

Flipping through the newspaper 24H, I came across a deliciously looking recipe called Banana Hazelnut Dessert Wontons. It is an easy and quick recipe to follow with a baking time of only 5 minutes. After making a batch of these, I have to admit that they were not my favourite. I thought the banana and Nutella would have made these wontons amazing, but my taste buds were not feeling it. I will post the recipe anyway, and if you have the ingredients, you can try it out for yourself and see what you think.

~Ann

Banana Hazelnut Dessert Wontons

1 medium banana peeled and diced

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup brown sugar

16-20 wonton wrappers

1 egg lightly beaten

1/3 cup hazelnut spread

Powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Stir together banana, pecans, and brown sugar in a small bowl.

2. Lightly brush the edges of each wonton wrapper with beaten egg. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of hazelnut spread and 1-1/2 teaspoons banana mixture in centre of each wonton.

3. Fold over each wrapper, forming a triangle and seal edges well. (Instead of folding each wonton, I covered the banana and hazelnut wonton with an extra wrapper and sealed the edges, making a square shape)

4. Place wontons on baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Brush the tops of the wontons lightly with lightly beaten egg.

5. Bake 5-6 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool slightly and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Hey hey hey, let's bake a cake! Again. But cake's always good. ;)

Besides, this banana bread is super good for you. It's made with whole wheat flour (fiber), nuts (antioxidant) bananas (potassium) and coconut (er..hm..fiber?). See? All good stuff. =)

This is the best banana bread I've had so far. Seriously. It is at the top of my banana bread list. Go make some for you! ;)

3 cups whole wheat flour - I used 2 c. whole wheat and 1 c. all-purpose and worked out fine

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups brown sugar - I used 3/4 c brown sugar and 3/4 caster sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract - I used 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon banana extract - I ommited

1 1/2 cups very ripped bananas, mashed (about 3 bananas)

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped - I used Brazil nuts

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Grease the pan with butter.

2. In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the eggs mixture, mixing with a spoon/spatula.

3. Add vanilla and banana extracts, mashed bananas, coconut, nuts and the buttermilk, mixing until incorporated.

4. Pour into the pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

PS.: I poured half the batter into the pan, arranged some banana slices over it and topped with the rest of the batter.

Recipe taken from here (in Portuguese).

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

A few week ago I received an email from Ana informing me that in August our blog Oh So Sinfully Delicious would be a year old. I was totally taken by surprise. I couldn't believe that a year has gone by so quickly. Contributing to this blog has been a great experience for me. I got to learn so much about baking, photography, and blogging, and even though I have not contributed much for the past few months, I am keen on baking and doing more food writing.

A few months ago I purchased Cooking: A Commonsense Guide, ed: Jane Price, and Justine Upex. It's a cookbook for people who can't cook or have little experience in the kitchen. What I like about this book is, it breaks down cooking into introducing different elements, from various pots and pans that are needed, to the different cuts of meats, poultry, and seafood so when one is faced with a recipe it's not as intimidating as one may suspect.

From Cooking, I baked a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Traditionally this cake is topped with whole pineapple slices garnished with maraschino cherries, but this recipe omits the cherries and slices the pineapples in half. It's a different design but tastes just as good.

~Ann

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

20g (3/4 oz) butter, melted

2 tablespoons soft brown sugar

440g (14 oz can pineapple slices in natural juice

90g (3oz) butter

1/2 cup (125g/4oz) caster sugar (I used granulated sugar)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup (125g/4 oz) self-raising flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to moderate 180C (350F). Grease a 20 cm (8 inch) ring tin. Pour the melted butter into the tin and tip to coat the base evenly. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Drain the pineapple, reserving 1/3 cup (80 ml) of the juice. Cut the pineapple pieces into halves and arrange over the brown sugar.

2. Using electric beaters, beat the butter and sugar in a small bowl until light and creamy. Add the eggs gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla essence.

3. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Using a metal spoon, fold in the flour alternatively with the reserve pineapple juice.

4. Spoon the mixture evenly over the pineapple and smooth the surface. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

1st year celebration cake!

Wow! Time flies, doesn't it? Can you believe it's been a year since we started this blog (well, a year and almost a month now...oops!)?
So, to celebrate the first year of OSSD I made... surprise... surprise... cake! It's very similar to the Mother's day cake I've posted a while ago. The only difference is that I added a thin layer of  sweetened condensed milk and lime mixture (recipe below) before spreading the whipped cream and strawberries, just to give a little tanginess. I also frosted the cake with whipped cream and put mixed fruit on top. The final result: Oh so sinfully delicious! =D

For the cake recipe and how to assemble the cake, click here.

Lime filling:
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
Juice of 1 lime - or as much or as little as you want.

Mix with a spoon or a fork the condensed milk and juice. Let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken.

Coconut Cream Pie

This coconut pie is so good we've made it several times now. Just remembering it makes my mouth water. Seriously. I won't say this is the best coconut pie I've ever had, but it's very, very close. And it's perfect  for you folks enjoying summer because is a no-bake, super fast dessert. =)

I'm off to enjoy the cold weather. Brrr. Have a great weekend!

200g Maria type cookies

100g (7 tablespoons) butter, softened

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
320ml (1 1/3 cup) milk - used wholemilk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 eggyolks
100g shredded coconut
1 cup whipping cream

1. Start toasting the coconut. Preheat oven to 375ºF/ 190ºC. Spread coconut evenly in a baking sheet. Put in the oven and, this is super important, keep an eye on it at all times! It can go from golden to black in seconds. 10 minutes should be enough, but it'll depend on your oven. Stir every 5 minutes to make sure all sides are browned evenly. It's ready when golden brown. Let it cool.

2. Finelly crush the Maria cookies in a food processor, or in a blender. Transfer to a bowl and add the butter. Mix with your fingertips untill all the butter is combined. 

3. Transfer to a 8-inch springform pan or pie dish and press evenly into the bottom and sides. Keep aside, or in the fridge if you want.

4. Make the filling: Combine condensed milk, milk and cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed pan. Whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved.

5. Put a sift over the pan and strain the eggyolks. Put over medium heat whisking constantly until it thickens.

6. Pour over pie crust and let it cool completely.

7. Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Spread over coconut cream and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Adapted from here (In Portuguese).

Super Fluffy Pancakes

This is my favorite pancake recipe. I lost count on how many times I've made them since Ann gave it to me last year. More than I should have, I guess. But what can I do, they are that good. Seriously. You should try it this weekend. Or tomorrow for breakfast, why not? They take no time to make and they freeze well, too. That way you can have pancakes for breakfast whenever you want! Do it, do it now!

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk, room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Add milk, butter, and eggs and whisk until incorporated.
3. Heat a butter-greased frying pan over medium heat and pour the desired ammount of batter.
4. Brown both sides.
5. Serve with fresh fruits and syrup.

Notes:
-Let the pancakes cool before freezing, rolled in foil or in a tightly sealed plastic bag.
-Defrost in microwave, without foil, for aprox. 1 minute.

~7-8 pancakes.
Unfortunately, Ann forgot where she took this recipe from.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

As promised on my last post, here's a refreshing, delicious summer recipe for you. This frozen yogurt is soooooo good, you have no idea. And is super easy, requires no ice-cream maker and no more than 3 ingredients - 4 if you count the salt, but everybody has is at home, right? And what is best, you can finish those strawberries you can no longer eat 'cause you were greedy and bought 4 packs last week. Don't worry, I'm not judging you. If I lived in a country with suculent, sweet and huge strawberries, I would buy tons of it whenever I could, too. ;)

400g plain yogurt
200g sweet condensed milk (1/2 can)
Pinch of salt
~250g fresh strawberries

1. Place strawberries into a blender or food processor and process until they are pureed. Pass through a fine sieve and measure 1/3 cup (75ml). You can keep the remaining puree for another batch.
2. In a metalic bowl, whisk together all ingredients until combined. Place in the freezer and whisk every 30 minutes, for 2 hours.
3. Let it freeze for another 2 hours. Take out from the freezer and let it stand for 10-15 minutes to soften. Mix with a hand mixer until smooth (this step is optional). Return to freezer until it sets.

Recipe adapted from the Passion fruit froyo from this blog. (In portuguese)