Buttermilk Panna Cotta

A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit dear friends in Seoul.  It was the middle of August and the humidity and heat were pretty unbearable.  Luckily we had guests passes to the fantastic pool at the Grand Hyatt and used the facilities quite often.  

After a day of swimming and sunbathing my favorite thing to do was visit the on-site hotel bakery and buy their delicious panna cotta, served in these adorable glass jars.  The cool and creamy cooked cream covered with fruit coulis was the perfect way to beat the heat.  

My version of panna cotta includes buttermilk in the recipe. The slight tang of the buttermilk beautifully complements the jam topping.   It's the perfect light dessert to enjoy this summer!

P.S. The jars in the photos are the ones I collected from my Seoul trip...I ate my fair share of panna cotta!

Morning Glory Muffins

Why is it that nowadays some places have the chutzpah to refer to massive un-frosted cupcakes as "muffins"?  Have you stopped by the bakery department of your local Costco lately?  You know which ones I'm talking about.

In search of something more to the core of what a muffin should be I was really happy to find this recipe from Cook's Country.  I'd never heard of Morning Glory Muffins before but with ingredients that included carrots, coconut, walnuts, apples and pineapples it sounded delicious and healthy to boot.  Full disclosure: I'm a sucker for anything with pineapple and coconut!

I made these for Mother's Day breakfast recently and they got the thumbs-up.  How could they not?  They met all of Mom's requirements: not too sweet, moist and super flavorful. 

Coffee Crunch Cake

By the time I moved to San Francisco Blum's pastry shops had been long closed, but their desserts continued to live on.  My sister told me about their most famous creation, Coffee Crunch Cake, and brought me a slice from Yasukochi's Sweet Stop in Japantown.  

Coffee-flavored desserts aren't really a favorite of mine, but the combination of sponge-y lemon scented vanilla cake frosted with whipped cream and covered with light, airy honeycomb textured coffee candy was divine.   I had to see if I could make it for myself.

Luckily I didn't have any trouble finding a recipe online, one that was originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle.   Overall the cake was delicious and very well-received.  The only adjustments for next time would be to make an oil-based chiffon for the cake and to use stronger coffee, like espresso, for the coffee flavor to really come through in the crunch. 

Meyer Lemon Icebox Cheesecake

Spring is finally in the air!  I shouldn't complain because here in San Francisco we haven't had anywhere near the snow and rain storms that the East Coast has experienced.  But still, you better believe I'm loving the sunny weather we've seen over the last few days.  I hope it's here to stay.

What better way to celebrate than with a dessert that's light, refreshing and citrus-y?  I'm a sucker for anything lemon so I've been hankering to make this Lemon Icebox Cheesecake from Cook's Country for quite some time.   My version uses delicious meyer lemons, my favorite variety.

I've made CC's icebox cheesecake for this blog before, but the addition of lemon was the main draw and this recipe is bursting with it.  From the use of lemon sandwich cookies in the crust, rather than the typical graham crackers, to a homemade lemon curd mixed in to the filling and decorated on top.  Get ready to pucker up and celebrate the season!