In preparation for the breakfast I had to make for my IT team (+ the Superbowl) I’ve been playing with different types of flour and wondered what I could do with the rest of the mochiko in my cabinet. After I asked O what he’d think about mochi waffles, he looked at me incredulously (pfft, what? why? how?)

Well, hell – if there is a will, there is a way.

If there’s anything that’ll “bring me joy” …it’s WAFFLES. Not just any waffles – Belgian waffles. Liege waffles. (Sometimes…toasted homestyle Eggo waffles).

In making this recipe, I have a few confessions:

1) I cringe a little working with yeast. Thankfully, we live in a world of baking powder – the handy dandy replacement to act as the yeast substitute ingredient.

2) I don’t have that awesome liege waffle iron for deeper pockets. However, I did have Lars pearl sugar – which I cannot emphasize enough: is completely life-changing. Pearl sugar contains its crystalized form so that when you bite into the baked good, you not only enjoy the dough but also little instances of sweet, crunchy crystals. If you don’t have it or can’t find it at your local gourmet store, you can order it from Amazon.

I will use pearl sugar at any given opportunity for a baked pie or pastry.

My latest favorite type of waffle: crispy slightly sweet waffle with a sticky, stretchy texture filling inside. Best when served fresh out of mini waffle irons, but also great when re-toasted in the oven.

Oh – and another tip: don’t be afraid of adding more sugar / playing with different toppings. I mixed in 1/4 C semi sweet chocolate chips into my batter and some of my IT friends loved it.

MATCHA MOCHI WAFFLES

Ingredients

Preparation Time

15 min.

Cooking Time

20 min.

Ready In

35 min.

Serving Size

12 mini waffles

• 1/4 C mochiko
• 3/4 C whole milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 lg egg
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 C mochiko
• 2 tbsp matcha powder
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp pearl sugar (optional)

Directions

Step 1.

Stir 1/4 cup sweet rice flour and 1/4 cup whole milk in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 60 seconds in intervals of 20 seconds. Stir contents together between each interval. The resulting mixture should come together to form a white sticky dough.

Step 2.

Let the batter cool for about 3 minutes. Transfer the dough to a stand mixer bowl or large bowl.

Step 3.

In a small-medium bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup milk, vanilla, egg, and melted butter. Pour this batter into the stand mixer or bowl with the milk and mochiko batter. If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. If not, mix the batter well until well incorporated.

Step 4.

In another bowl, whisk the remaining 1 1/2 C + 2 tbsp sweet rice flour, 1/2 C sugar, 3 tbsp pearl sugar (optional), matcha powder, baking powder, and sea salt into a bowl. Add to mixing bowl and continue to mix on low speed until combine. Increase speed to medium and mix until smooth. Dough will be thick and sticky. If it is too dry, add tablespoons of milk in increments.

Step 5.

Preheat your waffle iron to medium-high. Lightly coat the waffle iron with a non-stick spray. Add about 3-4 tbsp of waffle batter (depending on size of waffle iron and preferred size waffles) and firmly close the lid. Cook for 6 minutes.

The two past weeks have been total back to back charette weeks. I started working at Bluestone Lane as a barista trainee / cashier / avocado toast maker / banana toast maker / whatever toast maker, while graphic designing avatars and logos for my UCLA doc friend’s health app, preparing UX/UI design slides for a grocery store while  applying for a UX/UI bootcamp program, and collaborating geeky projects with AutoCAD  like preparing this tantalizing pie for every mathematician’s favorite holiday:  PI DAY.

Every time I think of the  pi day, I flashback to my high school moment  of being confused and excited to see swarms of tiny students carry all kinds of magnificent pies to their classrooms before first period started. Yet once I wiggled my way through geometry, I learned that geometry wasn’t as terrifying, that proofs weren’t as difficult as everyone made them seem, and  pi was more than just a strange 3.14 number to memorize; it’s a glorious  number that enables us all to calculate anything circular. Oh pi, I’ve always loved working with you in the classroom and in my kitchen.

So, what pie do we have here? I wanted to prepare a green dessert because I’ve realized I haven’t had a recipe for St. Patrick’s Day and found a cool lime pie recipe, but required too much work for me with the handmade crust and  tools that I didn’t want to purchase, especially because I’ve been  living with my brother in his tiny cute apartment. So I figured I could save myself (and ourselves) tons of time and money by preparing a St Patrick’s Day  pie with a ready made crust that we can all find in Target and/or other grocery stores, and focus more on a creamy boooozy part, with the magic of 2 tiny bottles of tequila, fresh limes, and  a tub of fluffy cool whip.Yes, every spoonful or forkful of it… is purely tantalizing. So,  go grab your ingredients, your bottles of booze, and whip up some of your own pi day pie for pi day / St. Patty’s / whatever spring holiday or gathering.

PI DAY PIE

Ingredients

Preparation Time

4-6 hrs.

Cooking Time

10 min.

Ready In

About 7 hours.

Serving Size

4-6

• 1 9" graham cracker crust
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/4 C tequila (or lime juice)
• 1/4 C fresh lime juice
• 3 lg. eggs, plus 1 yolk
• 1 C blueberries
• 1 8 oz. cool whip container
• 1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
• 1 lime

Directions

Step 1.

Make the margarita curd: In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together the lime juice, extra lime juice / tequila, sugar, eggs and egg yolk.

Step 2.

Whisk continuously and place over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until a creamy, thick custard consistency forms, 6 to 8 minutes.

Step 3.

Gradually whisk in the cubes of butter until incorporated and remove from the heat. Pour into the prepared pie crust. Freeze until completely firm, 4 to 6 hours.

Step 4.

Make the lime whipped topping by squeezing the juice of one lime into the 9 oz. cool whip tub. Using a spatula, mix the whipping cream and spread over the pie.

Step 5.

Freshly zest one lime onto the pie. Carefully place a 3″ ring mold over the pie and garnish the blueberries into the ring mold. Remove the ring mold. If you don’t have a ring mold, garnish with blueberries evenly over the pie. Serve immediately or tightly wrap and refrigerate for up to 2-3 days.

My god. What an experience. Caroline…CAROLINE! (outkast reference) I don’t think I’ve ever studied so much for a recipe and been on the edge of a terrifying fail yet  hope for the best. I thought making ice cream was simple – you just dunk all the ingredients and magic happens, right? NO. There is  SO much that goes into ice cream for a fail free ice cream recipe.

Through the various fails (after desperately texting my ice-cream-machine owner friends and gluing my eyes to Youtube/various ice cream blogs), I’ve  learned to followed a bunch of tips:

1) Change the freezer temperature to 0, and put the ice cream maker freezer bowl in a bag (to prevent odors), place in the back and freeze it all for at LEAST 24 hours.

2) Chill the batter in the freezer for a few hours.

3) Use everything FAT. You think you can diet and eat ice cream by substituting with low fat? HELL NO. Get the fattest creams and milks for the creamiest textures.

4) Put the dry ingredients out LAST.

Rose Saffron ice cream with Pistachios

Ingredients

Preparation Time

15 min

Cooking Time

15 min

Ready In

12-24 hrs

• 1 1/2 C whole milk
• 1 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp saffron
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp rose syrup
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 C shelled pistachios
• 1/4 C edible rose petals

Special Equipment

Ice Cream Maker

Directions

Step 1.

In a sauce pan, add the sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.

Step 2.

Add the heavy whipping cream and heat until lightly boiling and the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from stove top.

Step 3.

Place 1 tsp of sugar with saffron in a small mortar or dish and grind it until it’s a fine powder.

Step 4.

Add the sugar and saffron into the milk mixture. Stir in the rose syrup and allow it to cool down. Pour it into a container and refrigerate for a few hours.

Step 5.

Crack the eggs and separate the egg yolks into a separate bowl. Slowly taper in the egg yolks to prevent the egg yolks from cooking, while gradually stirring until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes) Pour into the same container and refrigerate for overnight.

Step 6.

Once mixture is chilled, pour into ice-cream maker. Follow the instructions of your ice cream maker and begin churning, about 20-30 minutes.

Step 7.

When done churning, transfer the thickened, creamy ice cream mix into a container and freeze for at least 6 hours to solidify.

Not sure if you guys heard me lip-rap Outkast’s “Roses,” but you should follow my Instagram and check out my Instastories for the next lip-rap. While the ice cream was churning and I was anxiously waiting with so. much. anxiety, I preoccupied myself by memorizing the whole damn rap by Andre 3000 AND Big boi. The big boi one is my favorite and goes like this:

“Well, she’s got a hottie’s body but her attitude is potty
When I met her at a party, she was hardly acting naughty
I said “Shorty, would you call me?”
She said, “Pardon me, are you balling?”
I said “Darling, you sound like a prostitute pausing”
Oh, so you’re one them freaks
Get geeked at the sight of an ATM receipt
But game been peeped, dropping names she’s weak
Tricking off this bitch is lost, must take me for a geek
A quick way to eat, a neat place sleep
A rent-a-car for a week, a trick for a treat
No go on the raw sex, my AIDS test is flawless
Regardless we don’t want to get involved with all them lawyers
And judges just to hold grudges in a courtroom
I wanna see your support bra, not support you
(Not support you, not support you)”

Quite inappropriate but pleasantly G of me, right? Basically the story of my college years. Jaykayyy. Anyway, it got me through this tough ice cream recipe. I’m proud to say I’ve made something refreshing and not overly sweet that stopped my mom from yelling at me for wasting money on an ice cream maker I bought.. Any suggestions for uses of the rest of the dried roses I got? COMMENT BELOW. Yuh, I got a new comment box finally working below!! Thank you so much Benson from GoodAfternoon for activating it and helping me with all the html/web design crap I failed miserably in learning.

I’m not sure how to tell you guys how heavenly and fun this strawberry tart was to make and how delicious it was at every step of the making and especially at the end. I’ve always been nervous preparing dough because of my huge fails with croissants and pretzels (sorry no fails page up yet)  but this pie crust recipe was a sure keeper after reading all the tips. If you’d like to prepare the same flaky buttery crust that I had, I’d advise you to chill the butter in the freezer for at least 10-15 minutes, use a very sharp knife to chop it up, and use cold water. To chill the water, put the water in the freezer for a few minutes until ready to use. Seriously, kneading and rolling the dough in my hands felt like I was getting my hands massaged.

BASIC FLAKY PIE CRUST (from allrecipes)

Ingredients

Preparation Time

1 hr.

Cooking Time

10-15 min.

• 1 1/4 C cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 C butter
• 1/4 C cold water

Special Equipment

9" pie crust pan

rolling pin

pastry cutter (or two forks)

Directions

Step 1.

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until mixture forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Step 2.

Roll dough out to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Remove the excess.

Step 3.

Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Remove any excess with scissors or a knife.

Step 4.

Prick the crust a few times with a fork and add a few pie weights to secure the pie crust.

Step 5.

Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. Allow it to cool to touch before assembling the pie or tart.

Did you also know that strawberries and balsamic vinegar complement each other PERFECTLY? I can’t express how much I love pairing them together. You can read more about balsamic vinegar and how to use it here.

I added this creamy soft citrus mascarpone filling underneath to enhance  the fusion of the two even more and to celebrate the refreshing flavors of spring (and soon, summer) I was a bit worried if all of these flavors are too much, but my cousin, who’s a huge foodie and came back to visit us from Seattle – LOVED IT. My mom shrugged me off for getting a bit carried away all morning preparing the pie crust and making a (little) mess in the kitchen…but my cousin, uncle, aunt, and mom loved it so much at our family gathering, that even though they were full, they each plated themselves with another slice. I not only had a whole family’s stamp of approval for this, but my coworkers who had my second tart loved it that they complimented me while I was working at my desk. I’m so thankful that I have this glorious tart recipe for my gatherings. It’s been a kickass week, really. And I’m ordering my apron for  my  film gig with AutoCAD. Life is pretty rad right now. Thank you friends for all that love and support!

CITRUS MASCARPONE TART WITH BALSAMIC GLAZE

Ingredients

Preparation Time

15 min.

Cooking Time

20 min.

Ready In

1 hr.

Serving Size

4-6 servings

• 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 C sugar
• 2 tbsp orange zest (or lemon zest)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 C strawberries
• balsamic glaze (or balsamic vinegar)

Special Equipment

Electric mixer

rolling pin

Directions

Step 1.

With an electric mixer  on medium-high speed, beat the mascarpone, sugar and cream until light and fluffy, about a minute, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl as needed.

Step 2.

Beat in the orange zest and vanilla extract. Scrape filling into cooled crust, smoothing it evenly to the edges with a spoon.

Step 3.

Wash the strawberries, slice them into desired thicknesses, and carefully mix them into the sugar.  Let them soak for about 10 minutes.

Step 4.

If you don’t have balsamic glaze, pour 1/4 C balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer until thick and syrupy, about 4 minutes; it should still swirl in the pan. If too thick, simply add another teaspoon of balsamic, stir, and remove from the heat.

Step 5.

Assemble the tart by spreading the citrus mascarpone cream evenly throughout the (cooled)  tart. Evenly spread the strawberries evenly over as layers, then drizzle the balsamic glaze over and serve.