This recipe is from my Aunt who used to make coconut macaroons at home in the Philippines. She would make different sweets all the time. Everything from leche flan to pastilyas, she would do. I remember bringing her treats to school with me and selling them to my classmates. My favorite is still her coconut macaroons. I like making macaroons using her recipe because they come out of the oven nicely toasted on top, yet still remaining soft inside.

Ingredients
2 Cups Shredded Coconut
1 Beaten Egg
1/2 Cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
3 tbs. Sugar
1 Cup Condensed Milk

Steps
In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix together. All of the ingredients should form into a thick batter like mixture.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Get a 24 cup mini muffin baking pan out and place muffin paper cups into each hole. The paper cups keep the macaroons moist inside and they make cleaning up much easier. If you don’t have a muffin baking pan at home, do what I did and just buy 2 or 3, 12 cup disposable muffin pans. They work fine. Take spoonfuls of the macaroon mixture and place them into the cups.

Bake the macaroons for 20-25 minutes. You will know they are done by the golden color that forms on the top of the muffin cups. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes.

Making these macaroons always brings back good memories for me. I can look back at when I was younger, sharing these treats with my friends.

This is definitely not your ordinary dessert that you grew up with… Ice cream and sorbets infused with liqueur? Dessert just got better.

I first had a sample of Silver Moon Desserts at the SF Chefs.Food.Wine event a few weeks back. They were showcasing their Mojito Ice flavor. Little cups of white sorbet garnished with mint, were just calling out to be tried. Just after one spoonful, we were hooked. The texture reminded me of a soft snow cone with the flavors lime and mint rushing at you. The rum didn’t overpower the dessert at all, which I appreciated. That could explain why we couldn’t resist taking more samples.

It was here where I had a talk with Sheri Tate, the president of Silver Moon Desserts. With my camera swinging around my shoulder, Sheri quickly figured out that I was a food blogger. I had the chance to talk to her about Silver Moon Desserts. This Los Gatos company launched their ice cream and sorbets in 2008, and quickly gained industry recognition, already winning several awards in a short time span. Before leaving their booth, Sheri offered me a list of stores selling her desserts.

The Mojito Ice flavor left me with such positive impression, that I had to have one in my freezer at home. So, I finally made it to a store nearby in search of it. There wasn’t any Mojito Ice available at the store I went to, so I took it as an opportunity to try out a new flavor – the Mango Mimosa sorbet. It sounded too good to pass up. The sorbet was a combination of sweet mango and champagne. Again, the flavor of the champagne wasn’t too overwhelming. It’s more of a hint rather than a full rush. The flavors paired well together. What I liked best was how light it was. You can enjoy a scoop or two of sorbet without feeling overly full.

Continue Reading » Silver Moon Desserts: Say Goodbye to Ordinary Ice Cream

One of my favorite treats is polvoron, a Filipino shortbread made from flour, sugar, milk, butter, and nuts. I have been making polvoron ever since I was a little girl growing up in the Philippines. I learned how to make polvoron from my sister, who learned how to make it from my mom. Back home, we would use peanuts to add flavor to these treats. When I decided to make polvoron, I noticed I was out of peanuts. I substituted the peanuts for some macadamia nuts and the flavor still reminded me of my original family recipe.

Its soft and powdery texture is sweet delight.

Continue Reading » Polvoron with Roasted Macadamia Nuts

Yesterday afternoon I went cherry picking at Chavez U-Pick Cherries in Brentwood. It was a warm sunny day and great to be outdoors. Being at the farm allowed you to pick out your own cherries. This way, you can try to look out for the more sweeter ones. The best part is, you’re supporting a local farm and having fun at the same time.

The cherries cost us $2.50 a pound. We bought about seven pounds. They are absolutely sweet, plump, and juicy. When we got home, I wanted to try to make a simple dessert with the cherries. Besides Egg Custard Pies, I don’t do much baked desserts. So, I went came up with a basic dough that is similar to Polvoron. Polvoron is a Filipino pastry treat that is made with flour, sugar, butter, and milk.

Continue Reading » Baked Cherry Crumble