Easy & Decadent Hot Cocoa Mix

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Each year during the holiday season, I prefer to give comestibles. These edible gifts have the bonus of not only not arriving with a price tag, but it’s a reflection of time and effort instead of just checking someone off of a gift list.

Hot chocolate and s’mores are some of my favorite things to consume. Nothing like sitting by a fire (or a video of a fireplace) and sipping cocoa or chomping on a burnt marshmallow. This recipe is incredibly easy and customize-able. I like to use higher-quality, locally made marshmallows, but you can also drink with mini-marshmallows. I filled each jar with 5 servings (180g) and the larger with 8 servings. Some have peppermint marshmallows from Bread Furst and some have vanilla marshmallows from Fleurir.

Here are some different packaging styles I’m gifting:

Easy & Decadent Hot Cocoa Mix Recipe

By nicole Published: December 12, 2014

  • Yield: 1¾ cup mix (9 Servings)
  • Prep: 10 mins

This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted from Cook's Illustrated. It is easily doubled and you can substitute the vanilla with whatever flavoring you want.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until powdery.
  2. Mixture keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months.
  3. The easiest way I've found to make this: Heat up 1 cup of milk in a milk frother, add 3 tablespoons mix, re-heat in frother. You could also heat the milk in a mug, add the mix, and mix with hand-held frother. 

    Curry Pork Tenderloin

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    For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired up with Sally from Bewitching Kitchen. Sally is a super smart and fit biochemist transplant from Brazil by way of  California, Paris, and now Manhattan. There are many recipes on Sally’s site, including Carrot Orzo, Farfalle with Kale Pesto, Biscoff Oatmeal Cookies, Speculaas, Pumpkin Espresso Loaf, Nutella Drop Cookies, Snickerdoodles with a Twist, Butterscotch Brownies, Pumpkin Shrimp Curry, Sabu’s Spicy Coconut Chicken, Lemony Chicken Curry, Bon Bon Chicken, and Clay Pot Pork. I could tell through my recipe selection that I was really in the mood for curry, so I chose Green Curry Pork Tenderloin. Instead of buying green curry paste for this recipe I used the yellow curry paste I had in the pantry.

    This was a very good recipe that tasted great. It did take a little while to get all of the recipe components prepared and we still needed to make a supplemental side to go with the protein. The pork was cooked perfectly and went great with the sauce. The marinade was easy to make, though we substituted the reduced sodium soy sauce with regular soy sauce diluted with water. We don’t have a grill in our building so we roasted it in the oven and finished with the broiler. I must admit that I was intimidated when it came time to make our own curry sauce, but it came together pretty easily. The sauce was quite mild so we would up the heat next time, especially since this recipe made tons of extra sauce.

    The best thing about this dish were the candied nuts on top. We couldn’t find pumpkin seeds so replaced them with shelled pistachios. The nuts were quite addictive and we used the leftovers to top a salad the next day.

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    Curry Pork Tenderloin Recipe

    By nicole Published: November 24, 2014

    • Yield: 4 Servings
    • Prep: 30 mins
    • Cook: 40 mins
    • Ready In: 9 hrs 10 mins

    From Bewitching Kitchen, adapted from Bon Apétit May 2013.

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    1. Combine soy sauce, orange juice, maple syrup, and sesame oil in a large resealable plastic bag. Add pork and seal bag. Chill, turning occasionally, at least 8 hours or up to 1 day.
    2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin seeds/pistachios and toast, shaking pan often, until seeds are brown, about 4 minutes. Add cumin seeds/powder, then gradually add sugar, then lime juice, tossing constantly to coat seeds with melted sugar and juice. Transfer pumpkin seed mixture to a foil-lined baking sheet; spread out and let cool. Season with salt.
    3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add curry paste and lime zest and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add coconut milk and bring just to a boil, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced by half, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
    4. Transfer coconut milk mixture to a blender. Add cilantro, lime juice, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water and blend until smooth. With motor running, drizzle in remaining 2 tablespoons oil and blend until creamy. Season curry sauce with salt and pepper, return to pan, and cover to keep warm.
    5. Remove pork from marinade; pat dry. Grill pork until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 140° or just barely pink inside. Let rest 10 minutes. Slice pork and serve with curry sauce and cumin-spiced pumpkin seeds. Serve with rice and vegetables.

    Kung Pao Chicken

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    For October’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired up with Nora from Natural Noshing. Nora is about the same age as me and has “a passion for nutrition and eating natural, real food — nothing too fussy, over-processed or complicated.” The fact that she avoids gluten and limits her sugar intake seemed a bit daunting at first (I am, after all, a carb-avore that loves sweets), but my worries went away when I started perusing her recipes.

    Between Almond Joy / Mounds Pancakes, Chicken Vindaloo, Fire Roasted Chicken Enchiladas with Squash and Red Peppers, Kickin Cashew Chicken, Red Thai Tofu Curry, Pineapple Upside Down Cake for One, and Spicy Kabocha Soup, I’ve bookmarked quite a few recipes to try out later.

    One of our comfort foods during while were were dating was Kung Pao Tofu from a local Chinese restaurant. Because of this, it wasn’t hard for my husband to decide on this dish as his SRC pick. Not only did he pick this dish, but he also made it for us one day while we were working from home together.

    This recipe won’t solve your craving for Chinese take-out style because it is much lighter and less greasy. It tastes fresher, especially with the crunch of the red bell peppers. Since the dish is relatively easy and quick to make, next time I’d like to try boosting up the spice as well as swapping the chicken for tofu.
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    Kung Pao Chicken

    By nicole Published: October 27, 2014

      This recipe is from Natural Noshing, as part of Secret Recipe Club.

      Ingredients

      Instructions

      1. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add protein, peanuts and red pepper flakes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
      2. Add bell pepper and mushrooms and cook another 1 -2 minutes.
      3. Add ¼ cup of water, green onions, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger. Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are crisp tender.
      4. Stir in cornstarch or let sauce thicken, 1 minute. Serve over cooked rice or quinoa and enjoy!

      Matcha Pocky Cake with Yuzu Curd Filling

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      Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been gone for so long! I’ve been quite busy the last few months. I got married in September and just got back from my honeymoon to Maui, O’ahu, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Before all that happened, I took an impromptu trip up to Pittsburgh to visit my bridesmaid, Stephanie. I was a bit hesitant to make the drive all by myself, but after a grueling bus trip last October, I was convinced that driving would be better.

      Stephanie’s birthday is also in August, so I took the opportunity to make an attempt at a super cute Pocky cake from Sprinkle Bakes. My version turned out pretty well, though when frosting the cake I accidentally mis-aligned the layers, which affected the way the pocky sticks stacked.

      I like a strong green tea flavor, so I used about a cup of organic matcha powder between the cake and frosting. Paired with the dark chocolate and yuzu filling, this was the perfect light and refreshing cake to snack on after a long drive.

      hapatite-1070390About the matcha I used: Sugimoto America is a complete supplier of Japanese green tea and a subsidiary of Sugimoto Seicha, a Japanese green tea company founded in 1946. Based out of Seattle, they were nice enough to send me some great samples of their product, including some powders to bake with.

      Their tea is grown and harvested on the mountain slopes of Shizuoka, the tea capital of Japan. All of their tea is blended, roasted, and packed by Tea Maestro Sugimoto, who received the Agricultural Minister Award in 1986.

      Matcha Pocky Cake with Yuzu Curd Filling Recipe

      By nicole Published: October 23, 2014

      • Yield: 1 6-inch cake with 2 layers

      This cake recipe is adapted from a vanilla and strawberry version by Sprinkle Bakes.

      Ingredients

      Instructions

      1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
      2. In a standing mixer, beat butter using the paddle attachment until creamy and lightened. Add the sugar gradually; scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat in the vanilla.
      3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour.
      4. Divide batter between pans and bake approximately 22 minutes for 6-inch layers, 24 minutes for 8-inch layers. Cool cakes in pans for 5 minutes, unmold and cool completely on wire racks.
      5. Green Tea frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the butter and confectioners sugar. Begin mixing on low speed until crumbly, and then increase to high and beat for 3 minutes.
      6. Add vanilla and green tea powder and beat again for another minute until light and fluffy.
      7. Yuzu Curd Filling: Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer. Slowly add the eggs and yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour in lemon juice and mix again. Expect the mixture to look curdled, this is normal.
      8. Cook the mixture over medium heat in a medium-size saucepan until it looks smooth (no longer curdled.) Increase the heat slightly and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens. Clip a thermometer to the side of the pan and cook until the mixture reaches 170 degrees.
      9. Remove the curd from the heat. Transfer the curd to a bowl and press plastic wrap on the surface of the lemon curd to keep a skin from forming. Chill the curd in the refrigerator. The curd will thicken further as it cools.
      10. Assembly: Frost cooled cakes with an off-set spatula and transfer remaining frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip (a zip-top bag with the corner snipped would probably work also).
      11. Pipe icing in straight lines across the top of the cake. When finished, smooth the edges with an off-set spatula.
      12. Press the pocky dipped-side down into the sides of the cake until completely covered.

      Eco-Cha: Dong Ding Oolong

      Description

      This batch of tea comes from Yong Long Village, just above Dong Ding Mountain. Yong Long is known for a rich red soil which differs from other locales in Lu Gu Township. The unique flavor of the Dong Ding Oolong produced here is attributed to this soil quality, along with the fact this region is home to the most concentrated population of the most skilled oolong tea artisans in Taiwan.

      Flavor: Roasted summer squash, artichoke, cashews, dried fruit. Clean, tangy finish.

      Available through Eco-Cha | Facebook

      Tasting Notes

      Though roasted, this tea is still light. The aroma is of roasted corn, nuts, and leaves–perfect for the first crisp day of Autumn. Sipping on the tea after brewing, I get a strong taste of barley, but it isn’t strong enough to be off-putting. This would be great brewed as an iced tea with some honey, or brewed extra strong since the flavor was a bit watery for me.

      About Eco-Cha

      Eco-Cha was created to represent the artisan tea industry in Taiwan. The tea is responsibly sourced, artisan tea direct from family-run tea gardens in Taiwan.

      Disclaimer: Photos are from Eco-Cha. Tea was provided for review.