Pizza Margherita

At my house, we have Pizza Night at least once a week. But we never go out for it- I always make it fresh. It's actually easier than you might think. And we simply LOVE it. It's one of Hubby's favorite meals!


When you make it at home, it always comes out tasting way lighter and healthier than the ones you'd get at a restaurant or pizza joint. Since we have it so often, I always experiment with different toppings. Last week, we had this amazing Pizza Margherita that was so insanely delicious that I just had to share it with all of you. I wasn't going to do another pizza post because I already featured a Veggie Pizza a while back. But this one was so amazing that I thought it deserved its own entry! =)

(1) The Thin & Crispy Pizza Crust

Please see this prior post, Veggie Pizza, for step by step instructions on how to make the dough. If it's your first time working with pizza dough, it'll be a good tutorial for you.

I love this crust and use it on all my pizzas. It's super easy to make and it produces the most amazing golden-crispy crust ever. Now, you should know that Hubby and I are thick crust type of people. Yup. We love carbs and in the past, before I started making my own pizzas, we always ordered everything with a Pan Crust. But now we're reformed! We're absolutely in love with this thin crust recipe- because it's simply better than any thick crust out there! So I implore all of you to give it a try, even if you're a usually a thick crust lover. =)


Now, if you've read the previous Veggie Pizza entry, you'll know that I have a secret method of getting the pizza crust to be super crispy. It's a non-traditional/strange way of making pizza but boy, does it deliver results! I bake the crust completely before putting any of the toppings on! Yup. It allows for maximum crispiness of the crust.

After you put the toppings on, it goes back into the oven for only about 10 minutes, to allow for the cheese to melt. This method will give you a crispy crust throughout the entire pizza. (I hate it when I order a thin crust pizza and the middle of the pizza is soggy! It's the worst!)

In my Veggie Pizza post, I also address this topic by saying:

I make my pizzas in a very unique way. I start by sauteing most of the toppings, so that they are mainly cooked through. And similar to what you do with a tart, I bake the crust first, before adding the toppings. After assembling the pizza, it then goes back into the oven for a few more minutes, simply to melt the cheese. Doing this serves two purposes: (1) It allows for a better tasting pizza. Sauteing the toppings locks in the flavor and will give you a more savory pizza. This makes it so that a veggie pizza, without fatty sausages and pepperoni, will still be full of flavor. And (2) it produces a better crust- super yummy and crispy!

(2) The Toppings

Fresh Mozzarella, sliced.
Fresh Basil, cut into strips.
Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced.

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese! YUM.

Freshly cracked pepper and sea salt.


(3) Assemble the Pizza~!

Place Mozzarella on your pre-baked pizza crusts.

Sprinkle liberally with fresh basil.


Add the Roma tomatoes.


Sprinkle the Parmesan. Liberally!

Top with all the seasonings and drizzle with olive oil, evenly throughout the pizza.


Bake in the 425 degree F oven for about 7-10 minutes until the cheese has melted.

(4) Dig In!

This pizza is SO gorgeous! It would make a beautiful appetizer for a party, if you used cookie cutters to make small, bite-sized rounds of pizza crust before topping it.


This pizza was outta this world! It was better than any Pizza Margherita we've had! My favorite part was when the Parmesan browned and became crispy on the outer crust of the pizza. It was so delicious! So make sure to sprinkle a generous amount of Parmesan onto the crust when you make this pizza! =)

I know that making pizza from scratch may seem daunting. But don't let it scare you! It's simpler than it seems. And once you get the hang of it, it's really no big deal and you'll want to make it every week! Everyone should give it a try!


Please click HERE for all the recipes shown in this entry.

The Ultimate Turkey Sandwich

I love hollandaise sauce! It just goes so perfectly on everything. Mmm...so creamy and delicious! I'm consistently drawn to menu items that offer it. Though I've had it countless times while dining out, I've always been too intimidated by it to actually make it at home. Sauces can be daunting. You know? I kept thinking that it would be something to try when my Domestic Goddess skills became more refined.

But recently, I've been feeling super bold and adventurous in the kitchen. Heck, after the Red Velvet White Chocolate Cheesecake and Tom Douglas' Triple Coconut Cream Pie, I felt like I could do anything!

So here it is: The Ultimate Turkey Sandwich

It's a face-up sandwich with egg battered thick-cut bread, topped with turkey breast, fresh spinach, crispy pancetta, sundried tomatoes, and the highlight: hollandaise sauce. You're gonna have to use a knife and fork for this one!

(1) The Hollandaise Sauce

Prepare a bain marie, also known as a hot water bath. Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring it to a boil, then reduce heat so the water is barely simmering.

Whisk yolks off the heat until they become pale. (Obviously they're not pale yet in this picture, I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of it when it was in the correct state. lol. Oh well, I'm still a Domestic Goddess in training, right? hehe)

After they've become pale, place the bowl over the bain marie.


Whisking constantly, cook until the mixture is thick enough to hold a trail from the whisk and begins to hold its shape when drizzled from the whisk. Remove from heat.


Add butter 1 tbsp at a time, whisking until each addition is incorporated completely before adding the next.


When all the butter has been added, season with lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. You're done!

(2) The Pancetta & Other Toppings

Place four pieces of thinly sliced pancetta on a lined baking sheet. Bake in the 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until crispy.


Remove immediately from the pan and blot dry with paper towels.


The other toppings: turkey breast (left over turkey from Thanksgiving would be the best, but since I didn't have any, I went ghetto and got some smoked turkey breast from the deli. It was still pretty delicious!), sun dried tomatoes, and fresh spinach! If you're using sliced deli turkey, make sure to warm it up before serving it on the sandwich.

(3) The Bread

Use a thick-cut type of bread. It's usually called Egg Bread or Texas Toast. You can find it at your regular grocery store, in the sliced bread aisle. People commonly use it for french toast, because it can hold on to the egg batter really well, without tearing.



Create an egg batter by combining eggs, milk, and salt. Coat each slice of bread generously with the batter.


Drizzle a bit of olive oil on a griddle set on medium-high heat. Brown each side, about 3-4 minutes.


Transfer immediately onto a serving platter and begin to assemble your sandwich!

(4) Assemble your sandwich

Basically, pile everything on top of the egg battered bread! And add a side of hollandaise sauce.

Or pour it directly on top!

I don't know what I was so worried about. The hollandaise sauce was super easy to make! It came out really well. It was creamy and super tangy from the lemon and cayenne. It had a really delicious flavor that went well with the sandwich. Hubby really enjoyed it!

Hollandaise sauce is awesome because it provides a great base to build flavors upon. You can change it up with countless variations. I saw a recipe the other day for a Citrus & Chive Hollandaise sauce that apparently goes great on steamed asparagus! It's now on my to-try list, since I'm no longer intimidated by it! =)


Please click HERE for the recipes shown in this entry.

H's Cupcakes

A while back, I did a post on Grace's Cupcakes. Grace is the G in GH Kim Photography, our incredible wedding photographers. They did such an amazing job on our wedding photos that I offered to make her whatever she wanted for her birthday. She chose the Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes, which turned out fabulously!

Well, this month it's Hun's turn! He's the H. =)


He chose the Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting, one that I recently posted. Apparently Hun is a huge sweet potato fan and wanted it for his birthday party...just a small get together of close family & friends. All 60 of them. *gulp*

Grace was super nice about it and asked me if 5 dozen cupcakes would be too much for me to handle. And of course I said "no problem!" What kind of domestic goddess would I be if I offered my catering services and then backed out simply because the task was daunting? It presented itself as a challenge and I was determined to triumph! Besides, this would be good practice for when I start my bakery one day. =)

I had never in my life made so many cupcakes before in one go, but I was a determined woman on a mission! I meticulously planned out what I would do: making detailed grocery lists in the exact amounts needed, drawing sketches of the toppers and wrappers, re-writing the recipe for the amounts that I needed to make bigger batches, etc.

At first I had thought about making wrappers that matched the toppers. I did a few sketches and sent them over to Grace for approval. She mentioned that maybe doing the wrappers would be too much, and on second thought, I agreed. There was no way that I could make 60 toppers and wrappers in a few short days. So we stuck with H toppers. I originally wanted to do them in blue, because.. well, no particular reason, I guess. But then Grace mentioned that Hun's favorite color is black. And her's is white. lol. Are black and white even colors? hehe. Oh well, I'm really not one to judge, since my entire wedding was done in black and white (with a splash of green). So black H's it was!

(1) The H Toppers

I thought it would be fun to do a bunch of H's in all different fonts. So I got some thick card stock and printed out a few sheets of them. I sliced them into strips, and then into individual squares.


I also got some thick black card stock from Michael's. It had a cool shiny sheen on one side and a super deep black on the other. Perfect!


I found this awesome 1 inch square paper punch and went at it! I ended up with 144 little black squares. No kidding! lol. I made 6 dozen little H's. =)


I used mounting tape to affix the H's. This made it so that they kinda popped out. It was super cute!

Ta-DA!

To finish them off, I glued toothpicks and added a back side. Done!

(2) The Cupcakes and Frosting

Here are some of the ingredients it takes to make 60 cupcakes: 5 lbs of sweet potato, half a bag of brown sugar, half a bag of flour, ten eggs, 5 sticks of butter, 40 oz of mascarpone, 5 cups of heavy whipping cream. I barely had enough counter space to hold all of it!


Wow! That's a lot of cupcakes! Not all of them are pictured here, either. Hehe. Couldn't get all of them to fit into my photo station. =)

Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes w/ Mascarpone Frosting

Please see this entry for the recipes and "How-To."

Hun had decided that he wasn't going to have a cake at all. My cupcakes were it. The most important element of any birthday party is the cake, right? If I messed up on these, I would have to run out to Costco to buy him a sheet cake large enough to feed 60. And it would probably be ugly, with pink roses. Plus it would taste like pure sugar paste in your mouth. The pressure was on. Did I mention that I've never made a cupcake batch this large?? *gulp*

So I started baking these at like 10am and finished at around 6pm. The entire time, I was perpetually stressed out and totally freaked out. lol. I don't really know why. I mean, I could practically bake cupcakes in my sleep.

I felt fine when I woke in the morning and was pumped to start on them. But as the day went on, I got more and more nervous, and my imagination ran wild: what if something goes wrong? I don't have enough ingredients for an extra batch. Dang! Why didn't I get enough ingredients for an extra batch?? Sixty people are going to eat these and if they're horrible, all of them will know that I was the one who made them! Then my career as a baker would be over before it even started! I'd be known as the girl who baked disgusting cupcakes! A total fraud! No one would ever want to come to my bakery if I ever start one.

(3) Assembly of the Cupcakes

Everything went relatively smoothly with the cupcakes, with only a couple of hiccups along the way. (Mainly because I was frazzled, which caused me to make silly mistakes.) But it wasn't anything major that wasn't salvageable.

By the time I was onto the frosting, I was in a relatively good mood....

Until I realized that the mascarpone frosting was the DIVA of frostings. No kidding. It was SO fragile. I already knew it was, when I made a dozen of them last week. But to frost 5 dozen was a whole different story! It literally melts. Like, if you got a tiny drop of it on your hand, it would turn into sugar syrup in a minute or so.

By the time I frosted a dozen of them and placed them into the box, the first dozen already showed signs of melting! My beautiful swirls of frosting were sitting in a tiny pool of sugar syrup that was beginning to develop at the base! So I had to keep my bowl of already-made frosting in the fridge. I would fill my bag with enough to pipe 5 cupcakes, run over to pipe them, and then run back to the fridge to "reload." All the while, praying that my already frosted cupcakes wouldn't melt before I finished the entire 30 that fit into one box!


Whew! It was a close one, but I got through it! Keeping the frosting well refrigerated between each piping session proved to work really well. It kept the frosting stiff enough to work with, even though the heat from my hand was melting it pretty quickly, before it even made it onto the cupcake. The ones that melted a little bit congealed just fine in the fridge after a couple of hours!


One more snag: after I boxed them, I realized that I could fit 30 of them into each box, and only needed two of them. wow. not good. For regular sized cupcakes, you're supposed to only be able to fit 24. I didn't realize this last week when I made them for the first time, but they're significantly smaller than regular cupcakes! I think it's because they're so dense with the potato mixture. I felt really bad and wanted to start on a new batch so that I could deliver 6 dozen, but it was too late! =/ It was already approaching 6 pm and I was out of time! Grace later joked that American generally eat too much anyway, so the petite size of the cupcakes were perfect. lol. That made me feel a bit better.


Yay, I did it! I sent them home with Grace and she commented on how beautiful they looked. It felt good that I was able to pull off my first big cupcake order! This was really good practice for when I have my own business one day and it turned out to be super fun... in retrospect! lol. I spent the entire day baking and frosting cupcakes, what could be better?!

But the verdict is still out! Hun's party isn't until tomorrow night, so I don't know how people will receive it. I'm still a tad bit nervous about it, like what if I dumped in too much baking powder and the cupcakes are bitter?! I tasted one of them, but only from one batch. What if a different batch was messed up? But alas, I'll just have to wait patiently until after the party. Grace said she'll get back to me on it. =)

Happy Birthday, Hun!

Triple Coconut Cream Pie

Hi All, sorry for the late post this week! (I post twice a week, once during M-W and once during Th-Sun). I've been really under the weather, so instead of blogging, I've been sleeping for most of the week.

Anyway, I've been so incredibly excited about this recipe ever since attempting it last Friday. I've been dying to share it with all of you! It sure is something to rave about! In fact, I love it so much that I feel compelled to bully all of you, my readers, into making this pie immediately after reading this entry! Don't collect $200, don't past "Go," just go directly to your kitchen and begin to bake! =)

Because it's none other than Tom Douglas' famous Triple Coconut Cream Pie!

*sigh* Isn't it gorgeous?

Here's another photo of the pie, in case you missed the first one.

Ok, so I hate coconut. Absolutely can't stand it. Seriously. I never order anything coconut. So when my friend, Bryn, fellow foodie and blogger, emailed me about a coconut pie at Dahlia's Bakery, I was super skeptical. She raved about how people who don't even like coconut will like this one, and said something about it providing inspiration to me, because it was just that good. I didn't really understand how my least favorite ingredient can provide inspiration. So, incredibly wary, I Googled Dahlia's and found their menu online. They had some mouthwatering selections. Interesting.

So apparently Bryn's dad is a huge food fanatic and fan/friend of Tom Douglas. The guy apparently does guest posts for Tom's blog! Like it's, you know, no big deal or anything. Insanely cool! So I Googled this pie of Tom's and apparently it's been the #1 famous dessert in Seattle for like 12 years. And apparently every Seattlelite has tried it. Furthermore, even the out-of-towners seem to know about it and it's become a major food attraction. Say what?! I felt ashamed in that moment- I mean, I've always prided myself on being a true Seattlelite, and now that statement seemed to be false. How can I call myself a true Seattlelite if I've never tasted Seattle's most famous pie?

It seemed like the pie now had something to prove. And I had something to prove. If trying this pie would turn me into a true Seattlelite, then eat this pie, I will! Besides, being a passionate coconut hater, I dared this pie to change my mind about that ugly, hairy, and entirely unappealing tropical fruit.

We went that very weekend. Yup. Made a trip into Seattle especially for this pie, braving the wind, the rain, the awful Seattle traffic, and the high probability of not being able to find parking. All for this pie.

The moment I sunk my teeth into it, I thought I had died and gone to Fat Kid's heaven. It was utterly amazing. And I was speechless. It was everything that Bryn promised it would be! The crust was so buttery and flaky. The filling was so creamy, subtly sweet, and light on the palate. And all the while, there was a subtle hint of coconut. I loved it. It was simply divine. I had been inspired. I wanted to run back to my kitchen and attempt to replicate it immediately! Thank you, Bryn!

I was all prepared to research coconut pies for about a month to try to recreate the recipe, when Bryn casually mentioned that she thought her dad had said something about the actual recipe being in one of TD's cookbooks. But she didn't mention which one. So I thought I'd try Googling it. And what do you know? The recipe is everywhere! I can't believe that he would share this recipe with the world! Heck, any other person would've kept it a secret!

I wanted to see if I could execute the recipe and produce something as good as the one I tasted at Dahlia's. So I set out to find only the best ingredients. Because TD's famous pie deserves only the best.



The recipe called for shredded coconut and coconut flakes. I took one look at the shredded coconut at Safeway and thought "ew." So I went off to Whole Foods. They had these beautiful organic shreds and flakes in the bulk food aisle! It wasn't waxy and heavily preserved like the ones you get in a bag at Safeway!


I also got this organic Madagascar vanilla bean that sold for an incredible $170/lb! Luckily, this single vanilla bean was only $3.50. But can you believe the price?! Anything for this amazing pie~!

(1) The Coconut Pie Crust

Combine flour, sugar, shredded coconut, and salt into a food processor. Pulse until you get a crumbly mixture. Then add 3-5 tablespoons of ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until you get this crumbly mixture.

Press the dough into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour.


Emile Henry 4 Life! This is the only baking dish that I ever use for pies. Why? Because it has magical pie baking abilities. Yup, it'll give you a perfectly even, golden, and flaky crust every time. Even novices can bake a perfect pie in this baby. I have two large ones and four small ones. lol. Excessive? Not at all.


You know the drill. Roll out the dough on a non-stick surface, preferably with a non-stick rolling pin. Transfer it to your pie plate and cut off the edges.

Return to the fridge for about an hour before baking.

Once the pie dough is properly chilled, place a piece of parchment paper over the pie pan and pour in some ceramic pie weights or beans. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees F, then remove the parchment paper and beans. Continue to bake for another 14-17 minutes. Keep an eye out. If the edges get too brown, cover it with foil.

Beautiful and perfect! EH does it again!

(2) The Coconut Pastry Cream

Combine milk and shredded coconut into a medium sauce pan.

Split your vanilla bean in half, scrape out the seeds, and add everything to the sauce pan.

Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture up to a boil.

Now, in a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and eggs until well combined.

Temper the eggs by adding a small amount of the boiled milk & coconut mixture into your egg mixture bowl while whisking. This will keep your eggs from getting scrambled.


Now pour everything back into the medium sauce pan. Whisk over medium-high heat until the pastry cream thickens and begins to bubble. Keep whisking until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes more.


Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add in butter and whisk until it melts. Remove and discard the vanilla pod.


Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and place it over a bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until it is cool. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming and refrigerate until completely cold. The pastry cream will thicken as it cools.

(3) The Whipped Cream Topping

It's better to use a stand mixer for whipped cream. Why? Cuz I'm lazy.

Use 2 1/2 cups of chilled heavy cream.


Add 1/3 cup of sugar.


Beat on a medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.

A few minutes later, you've got whipped cream! So easy, I could do it in my sleep.

(4) The White Chocolate and Coconut Garnishes

And now for the garnishes- there are two that go on top: white chocolate curls (yum!) and toasted coconut flakes.


I got a really good bar of chocolate from Whole Foods. The real kind with cocoa butter. YUM! You'll need a good peeler. Mine has a ceramic blade that is super heavy duty and won't rust. Only cost like $10 at Sur La Table. A great investment. And it's red! Practically the color of every kitchen utensil I own. hehe.


Here's a trick to getting really smooth curls: hold your hand over the bar for about 30-60 seconds to warm it up before running your peeler over it. It'll give you really smooth, giant chocolate curls! If your chocolate is too cold, you'll get flakes.


To toast your coconut flakes, place them on a cookie sheet and bake for about 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees F. Stir them every 2-3 minutes.

In the recipe, TD says that they brown fast and will burn easily. He wasn't kidding! You really have to keep an eye out on these. I almost burnt mine! See how they're super dark?

(5) Assemble the Pie

First, smooth the pastry cream into the cooled pie shell.

Place your whipped cream into a pastry bag with a jumbo tip.

Pipe on your whipped cream to get beautiful giant swirls!

Garnish with lots of white chocolate and coconut flakes!

Keep chilled in the fridge until ready to serve. It will only be good for about 24 hours. If you leave it for 48 hours, the crust will get slightly soggy.

Wow, so I don't know if it was my super high quality organic ingredients or my meticulous attention to executing this recipe, but the pie was glorious! It tasted just like the real thing! The pastry cream and whipped cream was so light and fluffy~! And even with my super expensive ingredients, it was still less than what you would pay at Dahlia's ($35) !

And now, not only have I tasted the pie, I have made it in my kitchen. I am officially a true Seattlelite! lol.

My friend Karen took most of it to her family get-together. She said that her family usually doesn't like traditional "western" desserts (they're Chinese), but they loved this pie and consumed the entire thing! I guess Bryn was right- it converts all haters! lol. Karen said she wished there was more crust! I agree 110%. The crust is always the best part of any pie, in my opinion. mmmm....caaarbs! This one was especially unique because it had coconut shreds in it. =)

Alright, so....now is the time to get out of your chair and go straight to your kitchen to try out this recipe!


Tom Douglas' Triple Coconut Cream Pie
From Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen

Please click HERE for the entire recipe.