tres leches cake

Tres Leches What???

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

So this week was The Runner’s birthday, and of course I made a cake.  Now, one of The Runner’s favourite things to do is to come up with extremely random ideas for dinner, cakes, or basically anything else that he doesn’t have to cook himself- which is 99.9% of what we eat at home.  About 90% of the time I ignore these random suggestions and Frankenstein-esque ideas, however because it was his birthday, and because I have time on my hands, I decided I would lean in to this one.  

I will preface this by saying that I am a STRONG believer in cookbooks and cooking and baking according to the book.  Occasionally, I will embellish with a bit of extra cinnamon or vanilla or something else relatively minor but I am normally pretty faithful to the recipe in the book.  Why?  I know they’ll work.  I know they’ve been tested, and I’m normally 70% sure that they will be edible.  I mean there have been a couple of times I’ve been let down, but on the whole, if you follow the recipe, it turns out ok.  The problem with weird, wacky, and random ideas is:

  1. They are not tried and tested.
  2. They are not thought of by a cook or baker who knows what’s possible
  3. Sometimes they’re not well thought through, even by the person who has conceived of the weird and wacky idea

But, I gave this one a go any way.  

It’s no secret that in our house, we LOVE tres leches cake. It was the cake I made before I had Thomas and I’ve made it quite a few times since. But The Runner asked for a twist.  He wanted a Chocolate Tres Leches Semifreddo Cake- or was it a Tres Leches Chocolate Semifreddo Cake.  Whatever it was, it was not something I had a cookbook for, and google didn’t have a recipe for it either.  (Un)luckily, there is AI.  I asked ChatGPT for help to create a recipe, and it gave an answer- as AI always does.  Was it a good answer?  Hmmmmmm.  Was it the right answer?  Not sure.  But I did make it.  And it wasn’t awful.  I mean, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t awful either.  It was just a bit odd- It’s something I might play around with again- maybe cutting up the cake and putting it in the semi-freddo– or maybe not.  Maybe there’s a reason why Tres Leches Semi Freddo isn’t a thing but Tres Leches Cake is.  Maybe the reason is that it’s not great….oh well.  HBD to The Runner.

Also this week, I baked cookies (of course).  These fantastic Peanut Butter Miso Cookies and these Double Chocolate cookies from Delicious Magazine. The Peanut Butter Miso are yum! Even Thomas keeps sneaking them when he doesn’t think I’m watching.

Hello Sweet ’16!

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

There are still just under 12 hours left in 2015, but I wanted to get in early with my greetings for a Happy 2016!

I’ve made my resolutions already and I’m busy preparing for a New Year’s Day brunch (as you do- or as I do really).  But mostly, I’m looking forward to 2016 and hope you are too.

Looking back on 2015, it was exactly the year that I needed.  The last 3 years have been full of the highest highs and the lowest low, so 2015 was a great year to just be.  I settled into a new job which I love (not as much as maybe winning the lottery and not working at all but….), visited three new countries that I’d never been to before (yes, I’m counting Dubai despite not leaving the airport), I tried to learn German (that did NOT go as well as I hoped) and kept doing many of the things that I love doing- cooking, pole dancing (despite breaking my toe early in the year), reading (32 books this year- just shy of my goal of 35), and of course, writing.  It was our first full year of marriage and a year that The Runner and I both learned a lot about ourselves- including resilience and patience (for me, more than him- he has the patience of the Saint of Patience).   I even had a surprise visit from The Mom.  Overall, it was a great year!

Tomorrow, we’ll start 2016 exactly how I hope it continues- with food and friends.  We’re hosting a New Year’s Day brunch filled with foods that will bring good luck and good fortune in the New Year (according to the internet!)

So, we’re having:

Whiskey, Marmalade and Mustard Glazed Ham– because in many cultures eating pork on New Year’s Day symbolizes progress, wealth and prosperity.

Manu Fieldel’s Lentil Salad– according to Italian tradition they look like coins and represent wealth.

Kale Salad– in the American tradition eating greens on New Year’s Day guarantees prosperity in the New Year.

Pete Evans’ Fig, basil, buffalo mozzarella, and balsamic salad– Eating many fruits are considered lucky and figs are a symbol of fertility

Dinner:  A Love Story’s Peanut Noodle Salad– Noodles in several Asian cultures represent long life.

Cornbread– its golden colour is said to bring gold (or wealth) in the New Year

Smitten Kitchen’s Tres Leches Cake– Tres leches cake because I’ve always wanted to make one, and a round cake because in many cultures round cakes represent the cyclical nature of life- I’m even going to bake a coin into it for extra good fortune for someone.

Nigella Lawson’s Pomegranate and Prosecco Jelly– Pomegranate’s seeds are meant to signify abundance and prosperity

Smitten Kitchen’s Fairy Tale of New York for after- I made a double batch to take to a 2nd Christmas dinner that we never made it to, so we have a LOT to get through!

So fingers crossed, with this menu, set 2016 to be delicious, abundant, healthy, wealthy and fun!

Happy New Year Everyone!