Pumpkin Chocoflan

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Flan is a very popular and delicious dessert in Latin America. It is creamy and has a nice caramel topping BUT if you add a chocolate cake layer on the bottom, you will get the perfect celebration cake for any occasion. The flan part is usually a vanilla flavored one but because Fall season is just around the corner, I decided to make a pumpkin flan which has the right amount of spices and pumpkin. Chocolate and pumpkin are great together!

The method that I use to make chocoflan is a bit different from other recipes that you will find. First, we make the caramel. Then, we semi bake the flan until it is a bit set. Finally we make the chocolate cake batter and we pour it on top and finish baking. This trick will help you achieve better and clean layers and you will get the right texture for both flan and cake.

This post is sponsored by my favorite sweetened condensed milk Magnolia. Visit their website so you can see where you can find their products.

Let’s start baking and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @Pastry_Tales because I just posted videos of how I made this dessert.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies

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Cookies are always on my baking list so today and after testing my recipe for a couple of times, I finally came out with the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies you will ever have. Yes, the recipe is very easy, you just have to be careful to follow the trick that I give you of how to take away some of the moisture of the pumpkin puree. Do not skip this step because it will be very important to achieve a nice texture, you don’t want soggy pumpkin cookies, right?

Let’s start with the recipe and if you would like to watch how I made this cookies, click HERE to watch the video.

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Pumpkin Sheet Cake

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Happy September and Happy Fall baking! Here is my first new recipe for Fall season. This pumpkin spice sheet cake is very easy to make, soft and with the right amount of pumpkin and spices. The icing is glossy chocolate ganache which is the perfect match for this kind of cake.

Video of how I made this cake is posted on my Instagram @pastry_tales

Let’s start with the recipe.

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Passion Fruit Pie

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Hello friends! I know, I know… I have not been posting much during the last month. My brother and his family came to visit  for a month , I was pretty busy and tired at the same so there was no baking time for me.

I have been trying to catch up with my regular baking so here is a new recipe which is my last Summer recipe for this year. And because today, I’m hosting a collab on my Instagram and it is all about Summer pies and tarts, I decided to use a fruit that I ate all the time during Summertime while growing up in Peru. This tropical fruit is called Passion Fruit or Maracuya or Parchita. It has different names in Latin America but it is the same fruit.

This pie has an Oreo crust which is the perfect combination for the tangy/sweet flavor of the filling. The filling is very easy to make, just 3 ingredients: passion fruit puree, sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. I topped it with a Meringue frosting which I  decided not to torch (like my Key Lime Pie) but I use some poppy seeds to decorate. If you find fresh Passion fruit, you could use the seeds to decorate.

I was not able to find fresh passion fruit. I went to my local Hispanic store and I found frozen passion fruit puree (without seeds) and that is what I used and worked really good. The brand is Goya and I like it because it does not have any sugar added. If you buy it frozen like me, grab some and place it in a measurement cup

If you want to watch how I made this recipe, visit me on Instagram @Pastry_Tales

Let’s start baking!

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Yo-yo Alfajores

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I love when people give me ideas of what to bake next. A follower on Instagram suggested that I should try making Yo-yo alfajores. By now, I think you know what alfajores are, shortbread cookies filled with dulce de leche, very popular in South America. After a couple of tests I would like to introduce you to this new version of Alfajores. Yo-yo are very popular in Uruguay. They are a bit different than the alfajores you will find on my blog. The dough is very soft and they don’t have flat tops like regular alfajores, they have a small dome that makes them special. Filled with dulce de leche and lightly coated in chocolate.

Also, in regular alfajores we use a a rolling pin to strech out the dough and use a round cookie cutter for the cookie part. In this case we do not do that. We pour the cookie dough into a pastry bag and we pipe on a baking sheet. Doing this method, we will create the small dome we need on the cookies.

About the filling: Sometimes dulce de leche is a bit hard to find but for this recipe I am using dulce de leche from a can by La Lechera. If you can’t find this milk-based caramel at your grocery store, you can make your own just by cooking one can of sweetened condensed milk. There are different methods to do this, boiling the can in a pan, instant pot, baking or in a saucepan. You can find recipes of how to make your own dulce de leche in other recipes here on my blog.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you would like to watch how I made these tasty cookies, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

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Strawberry Tres Leches Cake

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This is my Summer version of tres leches cake. I added strawberry puree to my 3 leches mixture. Each bite has a bit of the sponge cake soaked with this homemade strawberry milk topped with a light whipped cream frosting. Serve it cold and enjoy! 

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made this cake, visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

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Strawberry Icebox Cake

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I’ve been trying to come up with quick and no bake desserts for the last 2 weeks. It has been hot and the last thing I want to do is turn my oven on. Even though we have A/C in the house I just don’t want to have something hot going on in my kitchen. We have been grilling lately so I don’t have to cook much (well, hubby is preparing the meat on the grill when I am doing sides). Anyway it has been working out well for us and my oven has been off for a few days.

Today, I’m hosting a new collab on Instagram and our theme is No-bake Desserts. Perfect timing because I wanted to post this recipe for a long time. This Strawberry Icebox Cake (Carlota de fresas) is my twist for the key lime one that I already have posted here on my blog.

I’m using Maria cookies but if you want to use any other cookies like graham crackers you can welcome to do so. The strawberry filling is made with fresh strawberries, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, unflavored gelatin and a touch of lemon juice. Serve it super cold and it’s perfect for Summertime.

Don’t forget to watch my stories on Instagram because I just posted how to make this dessert, click here . Also, if you make this, tag me so I know you made it!

Let’s start with the recipe.

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Chocolate Cherry Banana Muffins

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When I go grocery shopping I always get bananas. I use them for smoothies or like a snack. Sometimes I forget to use them and they turn really black and today was one of those days… I had 3 super ripe bananas so I decided to make my Summer version of banana muffins. Cherries, chocolate and banana are so good together. This recipe is super easy so you should try to make these at home.

Let’s start baking and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram so you can watch how I made these muffins @pastry_tales

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Strawberry Poke Cake

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Last day of June! Where did the month go? I know I haven’t been posting much lately but it has been so hot in California that I did not feel like baking so much. Also, we are getting things ready at home because my brother and his family will come to visit and stay for almost a month so I’m pretty excited about that, I haven’t seen them since covid started.

This is a very easy recipe that you can make at home and perfect for Summer. A poke cake is a type of cake that has holes poked in it after baking. Then, a liquid is poured over the baked cake to soak into the holes. Usually people buy a cake mix to make this kind of cake but I don’t like cake mixes at all so I’m teaching you how to make the perfect vanilla sponge cake that will be soaking strawberry jello. The frosting is a light whipped cream and decorated with fresh strawberries.

Let’s start with the recipe and if you want to watch how I made this cake, don’t forget to visit me on Instagram @pastry_tales

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Pinwheel Alfajores

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Happy Friday! First of all, I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted for me during the last couple of weeks. A special thank you to everyone who voted everyday and to the ones who bought hero votes. Sadly, I did not pass to the next round because I ended up third and I had to be first of my group. I am still very thankful to see how many people voted for me! Maybe, I will try again next year.

Now, let’s talk about this recipe. As you might know, I am a BIG FAN of alfajores. Alfajores are very popular cookies in South America and each country has their own version. They are filled with dulce de leche which is a milk-based caramel. You can buy dulce de leche at the store or you can make your own. This time I could not find dulce de leche cans at my grocery store so I got a can of sweetened condensed milk and cook it in my instant pot. It took 40 minutes to cook and voila! I had dulce de leche. Also, you can find this milk-based caramel under different names like manjar, manjar blanco, cajeta or arequipe.

This recipe is my collaboration for the collab I’m hosting on Instagram #dulcedelechecollabfriends so I wanted to give my alfajores a twist from the regular ones. I decided to make 2 cookie doughs and make a pinwheel effect. The result of this experiment is delicious! Just ask my husband, he can eat like 5 of these with coffee.

Check out my video of how I made these alfajores on my Instagram @pastry_tales

Let’s start with the recipe!!

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