Festive pancakes made with cake mix. Does that sound like your craving? Are you dreaming of pancakes that taste like cake? I know I always want this taste combo because I have the biggest sweet tooth in the world and why wouldn’t I  make this happen? Here are my festive pancakes made with cake mix for you this Christmas. You’re welcome. Bye. (more…)

Talk about an ENERGY boost… I was in Nashville, Tennessee last week  to cover the Pillsbury Bake-Off. Lots of people assumed I was competing for the grand prize of One Million dollars, let me clarify right off the top I was not there baking, nor did I submit a recipe, I was there to cover the event for Que Rica Vida (General Mills- Latin division). I had always heard about the bake-off and have even caught a glimpse of it on T.V. , but to actually be there and feel the energy of the room and the tension of the competitive bakers was a completely different experience then I had imagined.

A lot of contestants have been submitting recipes for years and were there for the first time, and others are professional contest recipe applicants. This is a serious business for some especially when there is a million dollars at stake. It was interesting to watch and even more enticing to sample some of the finalist recipes. At the end of the four hour bake-off a panel of judges chose 4 finalist who are all vying for the grand prize. The announcement will be made on ABC’s The Chew Dec. 3rd. Do you want to help pick a winner? Vote here!

I left the bake-off so inspired by what I saw… it made me think what would I make with Pillsbury if I was in the competition. I would definitely enter under the breakfast category with these apple raisin cinnamon knots topped with a Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk glaze.

Ingredients for apple raisin cinnamon knots topped with Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk glaze:

• 1 – tablespoon butter
• 1 – piloncillo cone
• 3 – small green apples (peeled, cored, and chopped into small chunks)
• 1/2 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 – ounces raisins
• 1/2 – cup chopped pecans
• 2 – 12.4 ounces of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
• 4 – tablespoons Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan over a medium flame add in butter and allow to melt.
2. Once melted add in piloncillo. Let piloncillo dissolve, then add in apples and stir to coat all the apples in the sugar syrup.
3. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
4. Add in raisins and mix them into the apples. Cook for an additional 5 minutes allowing the raisins to plump up.
5. Remove from flame and mix in the pecans. Set to the side.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Line a cookie sheet with a baking mat or wax paper and set to the side.
8. Open Pillsburry cinnamon rolls and remove icing. Separate each cinnamon roll.
9. Working with one at a time, get a cinnamon roll and flatten it out into a flat circle with either your hands or a rolling pin.
10. Fill the center of the dough with 1 teaspoon of the apple raisin filling, then gather all edges of the dough to the top and pinch them together and twist. Creating a dumpling- like ball.
11. Place on the cookie lined sheet and continue till done.
12. Bake for 10 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and drop a dollop of Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk in the center of each cinnamon roll bite.
14. It will melt a little and spread down the sides.
15. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Disclosure:  I was invited by Pillsbury to attend the Pillsbury Bake-off.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Fall apples: I picture the shiny apples of fairy tales, a long wind ruffling through the tree branches, crunchy leaves that break under my feet, and crisp clear night skies touched with notes of frosty bites that sting the skin. That’s my version of Fall as it weaves in and out of my memory.  I devote my hours housed in my baking kitchen atop a generous heap of various types of apples. I buy every color I can find at Walmart.  The tempting fruit spheres come in hues of the season: yellow, green, and red. Take your pick, my fine pretty, as they are super affordable.   What I make depends on my mood.  Once upon a time it could be a lovely apple tea, or happily ever after applesauce. If the witch’s broom touches down on the ground she might be in search for a candied apple. Perhaps if I bake an apple crisp I will attract every mouse, bear and rabbit to wait at my back door till I serve them each a scoop. I could make mountainous apple fritters that will serve as hiding places for the tiny sprites that live among the pines. Or maybe I should feed the little girl inside of me that is always chanting “apple coffee cake, apple coffee cake, apple coffee cake….” How could I ignore those precious wishes? I take whole grain flour and mix it with apples and other sweets for the most amazing tasty wholesome cake that just might wake me from my dream, because surely this is the cake of my dreams. Now just to figure out how to get the cake out of that darn tube pan.

Ingredients for whole grain apple coffee cake:

• For the topping: 3/4 – cups brown sugar (packed)
• 1/2 – cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 – cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 – cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 – teaspoon sea salt
• 6 – tablespoons cold butter (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
• For the center: 1/4 – cup brown sugar
• 1 – cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• For the cake: 2 – cups sugar
• 3 – eggs
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 – cups vegetable oil
• 1/4 – cup orange juice
• 3 – cups whole wheat flour
• 1 – teaspoon baking soda
• 2 – teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 – teaspoon salt
• 1/2 – teaspoon powdered ginger
• 3 – cups chopped apples (peeled and cored)(about 3 to 4 apples)
• 1 – cup shredded sweetened coconut
• For the icing: 1 – cup powdered sugar
• 4 – tablespoons Cacique’s crema Mexicana

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spray a tube pan with a non-stick baking spray. Set to the side.
3. For the topping: In a bowl combine brown sugar, pecans, oats, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix with a fork to combine. Then using your fingers mash cold butter into dry mixture until it forms into little crumbs the size of peas. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
4. For the center: In a bowl mix brown sugar, pecan and cinnamon together. Set to the side until ready to use.
5. For the cake: In a mixer add in sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and orange juice. Mix to combine completely.
6. In a bowl sift whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and ground ginger together. Slowly add dry mixture to wet ingredients until combined.
7. Add in apples and coconut. Mix until completely combined.
8. Pour half of cake batter into greased tube pan.
9. Sprinkle center mixture into top of batter. 
10. Top center mixture with remaining batter.
11. Smooth the top of batter with a spatula, then top cake batter with topping reserved from the fridge.
12. Bake cake for an hour and a forty minutes.
13. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack until completely cooled. I like to let it cool over night. 
14. Remove cake from tube pan (see video below on how to remove cake from tube pan) and place on a cake stand. 
15. For the icing: Whisk powdered sugar and crema Mexicana together. Drizzle over the top of the cake and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. 
16. Enjoy! 

Watch this quick video on how to remove cake from tube pan!

My son is at school for a good portion of the day, and my main concern is – Is he eating? I know he might take a bite here and there, but I can’t be sure he’s gonna eat his lunch everyday. He just turned five, and sometimes eatting isn’t at the top of his list when he knows he can be playing with his friends. I take matters into my own hands, and always make sure to fuel him up in the a.m. before he heads to school. A few months back I was in Bentonville at the Walmart headquarters where we (the Walmart Moms) learned all these great ways to get our kids eating. The nice people from Dannon and Kelloggs made a few yogurt/breakfast treats that were kid and adult friendly. I jotted down mental notes, and called them from my memory bank now that my boy is in school. Last week while I was in the refrigerator section of Walmart, I came across the yogurt selection. I remembered these incredible dippers they had  made out of yogurt, where you dipped a piece of fruit in the yogurt then dipped in a crisp cereal. Light bulb went on, and I grabbed a tub of vanilla yogurt. I came home, made a few dippers to snack on and then made a few cups of parfait filled with fruit, granola, pistachios, and a few sprinkles of poppy seeds for the following morning. I just felt the parfait was something the whole family could eat together at the table in the morning before we each step out to meet our busy days. I was so pleased when everyone dug in and asked why we don’t eat this tasty breakfast more often. Now I know how to get breakfast on the table at a lightning speed and still have time for a little bonding.

Ingredients for breakfast yogurt parfaits:

• black grapes
• Dannon vanilla yogurt
• granola
• strawberries (sliced)
• poppy seeds
• yellow raisins
• pistachios

Directions:

1. In a tall glass or jar drop a few black grapes on the bottom of cup.
2. Top with 2 tablespoons of yogurt.
3. Top with 2 tablespoons granola
4. Top with 2 tablespoons of yogurt.
5. Top with sliced strawberries.
6. Top with 2 tablespoons of yogurt.
7. Sprinkle in a pinch of poppy seeds, raisins and pistachios.
8. Top with a black grape. 
9. Enjoy!

When I was a little girl my grandfather would come home Friday afternoon from a long week of working hard with a brown bag filled with pan dulce. He would place the sweet bread in a dish on the table in preparation for his weekend routine. I always knew on Saturday morning as I heard the clink of his spoon stirring his ceramic cup that he was enjoying a cup of coffee with a little bit of abuelita chocolate grated in and an entire piece of pan dulce. He would set out a small jar of dulce de leche for me to have as a spread on my pan dulce in the event that I may have wanted to be extra sweet that morning.

Once Sunday morning would roll around the pan dulce would be hard and perfect for a french toast breakfast. I would rise early and watch my grandfather as he dipped the two day old stale bread into a creamy bath of eggs, milk and cinnamon. He would then butter a pan and cook the wedges into Mexican French Toast perfection. He would then place it on a communal platter and drizzle the top with dulce de leche and berries.  I would take a plate and so would he, and as I became older I would join him in washing it all down with a warm cup of coffee.

This was our ritual, our bonding time, our time to catch up while the rest of the house still found peace in their dreams. He would share stories of his childhood living in between Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas and how rough it was for him, his single mom, and all his siblings living through the depression. Some of the stories were so unreal and sad that all I could do was be thankful that he made his way via a freight train to Los Angeles to build a life here, and make the best of his situation. His stories play out like a beautiful mariachi ballad drenched in tears and boisterous laughter. He is my hero.

Recently I was at a tasting and the Mexican chef made french toast out of pan dulce. It immediately took me back to the days of living under the same roof as my grandfather and enjoying Sunday breakfast with him drenched in our latin history. I decided to recreate the dish with my own spin to it. As I was shopping for the ingredients I went to grab some coffee-mate for the cafesito, and noticed they now made Dulce De Leche flavor and Abuelita chocolate flavor, yes you read right. Can you believe that deliciousness? I grabbed two of each, one for him and one for me. This past Sunday I invited him over for a pan dulce french toast breakfast and stories of our Hispanic heritage and waited to hear the clink of the spoon against the ceramic mug.

Ingredients for pan dulce french toast in a dulce de leche sabor:

• day old pan dulce
• 3 – eggs
• 1/2 – cup milk
• 1/2 – teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 – teaspoon vanilla extract
• butter to grease the pan
• 3 – tablespoons coffee-mate dulce de leche flavor
• 1 – cup powdered sugar
• fresh berries
• a cup of coffee
• 1 – tablespoon coffee-mate abuelita flavor

Directions:

1. On a large cutting board slice pan dulce into wedges. Set to the side.
2. In a bowl whisk eggs, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together.
3. Lightly dip pan dulce wedge into egg batter. 
4. In a pan over a medium flame add a small amount of butter to grease pan. Once melted, add in soaked pan dulce wedge. 
5. Fry pan dulce in butter on all side until fully cooked about two to three minutes per side.
6. Place on a large plate.
7. In a small bowl whisk coffee-mate dulce de leche and powdered sugar, until there are no clumps. 
8. Place dulce de leche mixture in a small plastic bag and cut a small snip in the end. Drizzle over the french toast. 
9. Top with berries. 
10. Serve with a cup of coffee and Coffee-Mate abuelita flavor.  

WAIT…. There’s more! I am giving away a Coffee-Mate kit! The giveaway consists of 1 hand designed coffee mug (by my buddy Crafty Chica), two coupon vouchers, a set of coffee coasters, and a coffee sleeve (pictured below). Enter for a chance to win!

Where there’s pink frosting, there’s gotta be donuts. I recently celebrated by son’s birthday in a big way with over 135 guests. There were lots of treats and it was a very boy driven day. I don’t think there was anything pink in sight for miles. As I stood there observing the kids at the party I realized we had a lot of little girls running around too. I watched them running with long hair and cute braids, some even had glitter in their hair. It made me miss celebrating my own girly side, and I made a small mental note when the chaos of life dies down a little I would take some time to be ultra girly again.

Yesterday I was organizing my pantry and came across some decorative colored candy sprinkles, you know the type you see on either Mexican or Italian cookies. I purchased  them a while back and still hadn’t done anything with them. That instant was the perfect time to be girly. I fancied myself eating a pink donut topped with candy sprinkles. Now to get from point A to B was going to be a bit challenging. I started thinking of everything pink. I looked in the fridge and found some fresh cherries (strawberries or blueberries would have worked fine as well), then found a box of pink cake mix flour in my pantry too. It was all coming together. I wanted my pink donuts to be a little more dense than cakey, so I thought “Hmmmm, I bet if I add Maseca to this pink party, that will definitely do the trick!” And it did. Thanks to my wonderful versatile Maseca corn flour, I had pink donuts all day long, and it felt grand to be a girl.

Ingredients for Maseca’s berry good baked donut:

• 3 – eggs
• 1 1/4 – cups water
• 1/3 – cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 – cup Maseca Corn Flour
• 1 – box pink cake mix flour
• 1 – cup fresh cherries (stems removed, pitted, and cut into pieces)
• 1 – cup powder sugar
• 1/8 – half and half
• pink food coloring
• candy sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Spray a donut pan with a non-stick spray. Set to the side.
3. In a mixer add eggs, water, vegetable oil, Maseca, and pink cake mix flour. Mix until smooth.
4. Add in fresh cherries (or berry of your choice), and mix to combine.
5. Use a heaping 1/8 cup of batter and fill each space in donut pan. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely on cooling rack.
8. In a bowl whisk powdered sugar and half and half together until smooth.
9. Color with pink food coloring. Mix until the color desired is reached.
10. Dip one side of each donut into the pink frosting then place back on cooling rack to dry.
11. Sprinkle the top with candy sprinkles and allow frosting to set for about 2 hours before eating.
12. Enjoy! 

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Maseca. However, the recipe and opinions are my own.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Latina Bloggers Connect and California Sweetpotatoes. All opinions and recipe are my own.

It’s a vivid memory that drives me to write this post. I had to be about 25 years old at the time of this story and I was sitting in a diner in NYC. The windows were fogged up due to the humidity and heat outside while the cool air blow around the restaurant making it a cool haven. A cat slipped by me under the table and made a bed on my feet. I don’t remember the name of the place other than it was the name of the lady who owned the joint. What I do remember clear as day is eating sweetpotatoes for the first time mashed into a thick puree sitting next to a perfectly grilled piece of chicken. The introduction of this fine sweet papa was all I needed, to know that it would be a flourishing relationship, and I would make it my business to go down every avenue the sweetpotato traveled. I have picked up many fun facts along the way. For instance, “sweetpotato” is one word, and has more than a day’s worth of vitamin A. Or did you know sweetpotatoes are grown in the sand and not in the dirt and are naturally sun cured on the vine before harvest?

Fast forward to present day, and I open my front down to the chirping of a bell that the UPS man on the other end is pushing. To my delight he is carrying a big box of sweetpotatoes. As I sign my name across his screened pad, my mind has drifted to a far away place of sweetpotato possibilities, and they are endless. Endless I say. Oh the joy…. What shall I make? What shall I make? I could make sweetpotato pancakes. No, too simple. I could make sweetpotato flan. I think I got something like that on my blog already. I could make sweetpotato en tacha sauce for dia de los muertos…. Too soon for that. I could make sweetpotato churros. I can’t find my churro tool to press them out into the long logs, bummer. I could make sweetpotato churro waffles with cajeta and candied pecans on top. Bingo! The winning idea took flight. Here is my waffle recipe… hope you like it.

Ingredients for sweetpotato churro waffles:

• 1 – sweetpotato  (small sweetpotato peeled and cut into 2 inch rounds) (you will need 1/2 cup sweetpotato puree)
• 2 – egg yolks
• 1 1/2 – buttermilk
• 3/4 – cup butter (melted)
• 1 1/2 – teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 – teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 – cups flour
• 1 – cup sugar
• 3 1/2 – teaspoons baking powder
• 3 – egg whites
• cajeta
• candied pecans

Directions:

1. In a small pot filled with water over a medium flame, bring water to a boil.
2. Add in sweetpotato rounds and boil for 25 to 30 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Drain water from sweetpotatoes and mash into a puree.
4. Preheat waffle iron by turning it on.
5. In a large bowl whisk egg yolks, buttermilk, butter, vanilla, and 1/2 cup sweetpotato puree together. whisk until batter is smooth. Set to the side.
6. In a large bowl sift 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and baking powder together.
7. Mix wet ingredients (buttermilk/sweetpotato) with dry ingredients (flour/sugar), and mix until completely combined. Set to the side.
8. In a mixer, whip egg whites until peaks form.
9. Then gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter. 
10. Pour 1/4 cups of batter onto the waffle iron. 
11. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. 
12. Then repeat with more batter until all done.
13. In a large bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon together.
14. Dust waffles off with sugar cinnamon mixture.   
15. Stack up waffles and top with cajeta and candied pecans!
16. Or if you prefer your sweetpotato churro waffles plain…. here is an option without the cajeta. 
17. Enjoy!