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Breakfast

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting

Fall has officially hit and I am here for it. Every year it takes so much self-control to not make pumpkin everything once Labor Day is over. I was waiting until we were in proper fall. No pre-matureness here! It’s time for these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Frosting to shine!

For this post, I teamed with ALDI, the place I go for all of my fall essentials. I stocked up on all the sugars, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and lots more. I also picked up their Simply Nature Organic Pure Pumpkin Puree and it has the loveliest texture (not too watery, not too thick) and prettiest bright orange color.

Here is how these differentiate from regular cinnamon rolls.

Replacing some of the eggs with pumpkin.

I adapted my cinnamon roll recipe and added less eggs. The pumpkin took its place. That’s the commonality you’ll find in many pumpkin baked goods: The pumpkin can act like an egg…but not entirely. I made sure to still include 1 egg (my other recipe calls for 3 eggs). Baking is interesting, isn’t it!?!?

The amount of pumpkin pie spice needs to be on point.

Too much and it tastes medicinal and just tacky. Too little and you’re like THIS IS BLAND. One of the first recipe tests was a bit bland so we added more. We went for balance so there’s a bit in the dough and some in the filling. The pumpkin pie spice also accentuates the pumpkin flavor.

October 13, 2019 by Adrianna Adarme

Chocolate Cardamom Morning Rolls

Breakfast, Holiday, The Holidays, Winter

These Chocolate Cardamom Morning Rolls are it!

The autumn shift is happening all around us! Pumpkins and gourds are starting to show up at the markets, watermelon is now very bland and lacks any sort of sweetness, melons are slowly fading, and while LA has temperatures that are still kicking, there have been a few mornings that have felt brisk. Autumn is so close!

I wanted to kick this season off with these Chocolate Cardamom Morning Rolls with Artisan Collection by Nestlé® Toll House®. Their two luxurious options are: Extra Semi-Sweet and Extra Dark. Both are really delicious. I’ve used them in a few baked goods and the chocolate is rich and has amazing deep flavor. These baking chips are made from single-origin chocolate from Ghana and are available now! Ghana is fortunate in having wonderful rich soil, making it ideal for its top exporter: cocoa beans. The chocolate is really high-quality and pairs with all sorts of flavors like caramel, walnuts, cinnamon, honey and more!

October 7, 2019 by Adrianna Adarme

Pastelitos de Guayaba con Queso (Guava Pastelitos)

Breakfast, Desserts, Quick and Easy

If you’ve never had pastelitos de guayaba con queso (guava pastelitos), I think it’s time!

I was blessed to live half of my childhood in South Florida. And while I will admit that Florida is wild (especially if you just watch the news), it is also a place where some of my favorite, most formative memories occurred. If you’re Latinx, South Florida can also be a really magical place. It’s a place where a lot of us feel like “home.” It’s one of the only places in the entire country where literally everyone looks like you. I really only appreciated it when I finally left. And whenever I go back, it still makes me happy all over again.

What Are Pastelitos?

Like most Latin American cuisines, baked goods are a critical part of the Cuban food experience. Cuban bakeries usually have cases filled with sweet things like arroz con leche, turrones, flan, torticas de moron and of course, pastelitos con guayaba.

Pastelitos de guayaba con queso are super popular in Miami. Give me one of these and a cordadito and it’s feels like heaven! Pastelitos are a stuffed puff pastry filled with guava paste and some sort of cheese, usually a cream cheese-like texture.

I actually had never even thought to make them until I went to a Latino market in Pasadena the other day and saw all this guava and was like OHHHH.

How to Make Pastelitos!

This recipe could not be more simple. It leans HEAVILY on store-bought puff pastry, though if you’re in a mood, you could make your own. I used a few different store-bought brands and found that Pepperidge Farm brand resulted in the nicest/flakey/traditional pastelitos.

The store-bought guava paste makes this so ridiculously simple. I made it a bit different by beating the cream cheese with some sugar, vanilla paste (because I’m fancy) and a pinch of salt. I added it to a piping bag and piped it onto the squares of puff pastry. Small slices of guava on top and that’s it!

You can find guava paste at most Hispanic markets. Goya sells guava paste, as does a few other brands.

You simply cut up the puff pastry into rectangles, pipe the cream cheese filling onto half of the squares, top with slices of guava, top them, seal them with egg wash and that’s it! They couldn’t be more simple.

May 31, 2019 by Adrianna Adarme

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