Christmas Red Velvet Cake

This Christmas, I baked my most challenging cake yet.

I covered it with homemade fondant. I piped icing poinsettias and leaves. It took a lot out of me, but it was so worth it.

Because this cake wasn't about me. It was about a very special church...who really knows how to serve God and celebrate his love.

With each day that passes by, the more I come to adore this group of people. I respect them for what they have endured. I remain humbled before their unbelievable kindness and little acts of care.

I am honored to serve them, and I wish them nothing less than the good Lord's absolute best in the year 2012.

Chocolate-Espresso Snowcaps

Have you ever flown over the Rocky Mountains?

I did, a long time ago, and I remember being at a complete and total loss of words. All below and in front of my view were ridges and ridges of mountain peaks, all at once majestic and breathtaking in their grandeur and beauty.

Then there were the snow-capped mountain up ahead, and all I could think about was how this could possibly be real. You almost think it's a picture the way the mountain holds its ground as it has done for thousands of years. You never really forget the experience.

These cookies remind me of those mountains. Kinda sorta, just enough, but still, enough. lol.

Coffee crystals give them an irresistibly earthy aroma, and the chocolate gives them their pitch-black shade. Those of you who like your coffee black, here are your ideal cookies.

I hope you love these cookies, nature, and every moment of your precious lives.

Brandy Snaps

I ended the year right with some brandy.

As in, made some desserts with that brandy, is what I mean. Heh.

It's hard to find brandy snaps around the United States, as they are delicacies commonly found in the U.K. or Australia. It was an interesting experience making these, as I had never tasted them before. I like them. I think this particular recipe uses a bit too strong flavoring of the brandy, so I personally reduced the amount in mine in the second batch, but they are crisp and very yummy.

Feel free to fill them with whipped cream. Or if you're like me, you can serve them on their own. Brandy snaps make for wonderful gifts or desserts for dinner guests.

Happy baking and entertaining!

Gingerbread Cookies

Holiday season calls for cookies.

Lots of cookies.

And it also calls for a little pep talk.

I'm talking to those of you out there who have never baked cutout cookies because you were too scared to do so. Because it looks hard. Because I tried and it didn't work. Because there is a Kroger right down the street. (Oh, give me a break!!!)

You need to stop that. Like now. Like...this milisecond.

This was my very first time baking cutout cookies and decorating them. I did it, and so can you. Make them before Christmas. Make them after Christmas. Make them whenever you get a craving for chewy spice cookies.

Are we good? Yeah?

Yeah!

Coconut Cake

Ahh...coconut cake.

One of the few true Southern foods that isn't deep fried. :P

If you're a huge coconut fan like I am, you will fall head over heels in love with this cake. This has coconut milk in both the cake batter and the buttercream... not to mention tons and tons of shredded coconut all over the top and the sides.

I say you make this for someone really special.

Someone who hugs you on a rainy day. Or a bad test day or a bad hair day or a bad whatever day.

Someone who loves you for no reason. Or for all the reasons.

Almond Diamond Cookies (a.k.a Margaret Cookies)

In Korea there are these cookies called Margarets.

Don't ask me why they're called that, but what I do know is that Margaret cookies are basically soft almond cookies with a diamond pattern on top. They're pretty popular in Korea.

Well, it just so happens that I have a good friend named Margaret. And it just happens that she loves cookies...especially MY cookies.

Some friendships are just meant to be. I swear it on an almond cookie.

We met during our Freshman year at Oxford College, where we both enrolled in Art 101 during our first Fall semester. She sat in the front row, I sat in the second row, and we didn't get to talk much- in class nor outside of class. But one day, as I was getting ready to leave Williams Hall after my recreational dance class, she came in for her next class. One thing led to another and we were talking about our research papers for Art and how she needed a second opinion on her paper and I would love to look over it and hey, why don't we meet sometime around this place on this day and before I knew it two years had passed and I was baking her namesake cookies and writing a blog post about it.

I am so thankful for Margaret because our friendship came as a surprise to me. Even though I am Korean-born, I don't have a lot of Korean friends. It's just awkward...talking with both International and American-Korean students. I feel as though a stiff cultural barrier stands between us, as ironic as that sounds. I wish I could befriend a lot of them, but it's so difficult when I feel like we're each operating on different social wavelengths.

Margaret is a self-labled "Korean-Korean," and I'm, uh, stuck somewhere deep in the nuances of the Korean and American culture. But we're friends. I can list reasons why we are and why we couldn't or whatever, but at the end of the day, we are there for each other. We worry about each other, and we pray for each other. And that's what really matters.

Did any of you ever end up being friends with someone in a totally unexpected way? Someone that you thought you'd never be friends with?

Funny how life works out sometimes, huh?

:)

Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This morning I woke up early to bake these Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chunk cookies.

Which, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to start a Sunday morning. 

This batter really was worth getting out of bed for. These are like miniature banana bread, but in convenient cookie form. Loads of smooth milk chocolate and crunchy walnuts. A hint of cinnamon. Hearty oats. And a heaping cup of freshly diced bananas.

Mmmmm bananas.

I suggest that you use bananas that are just the right shade of deep golden yellow. Pale yellow means the sweetness has not yet fully developed. Dotted or brown bananas may be sweet, but they also may be slightly messier to dice into pieces.

After you bake these cookies, you might want to consider baking a banana bread.

So that if you're lucky like me and have additional 16 pages from two different essays to edit, you can rest easy knowing that you got this, that you can take care of business AND bake two awesome desserts.

Because you are amazing like that and I believe in you <3

Mint Chocolate Bark

All bark. All bite.

Fast, easy, and fun to make, especially during the busy holiday season.

I think bark is one of those treats that look better when they're homemade. Wouldn't you agree?

These cuties make for wonderful stocking stuffers, part of a gift package, or a fun DIY project for kids. You can mix and match different types of chocolates, candies, and nuts.

I was in a minty kind of a mood, so I paired a layer of semisweet and milk chocolate with another layer of dark chocolate and mint chips. Luckily, I found these amazing dark chocolate and mint candy canes to go on the top of the bark. I love when my foods are color-coordinated. :D

Double-Triple Mocha Cookies

Behold... the ultimate cookie.

It's a chocolate cookie with three different types of chocolate chips in it. It has espresso powder incorporated to the batter during the butter-sugar cream stage. It's slightly underbaked and allowed to cool to a perfectly chewy consistency. It has the bite of a brownie and the aroma of a mocha latte. If that doesn't convince you to make these, I don't know what will.

So I have thus named these cookies my Double-Triple Mocha Cookies. Double for the cocoa powder in the batter. Triple for the three types of chocolate chips. Mocha for the strong but satisfying hint of coffee. Yum.

When you take these out of the oven, they will be extremely fragile. Don't try to remove them from the pan when they're still much too soft. For goodness' sake, people, thou shalt exercise self-control! Just 15 minutes! C'mon! You can do this!!

I packed and sent these cookies to two of my dear friends, but I kept a little goodie bag for myself.

And I'll tell you a secret: FROZEN double-triple mocha cookies.

The best things to come along...since warm double-triple mocha cookies.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or so they say.

But let me tell ya, this picture is worth perhaps ten gazillion words. Words that say something along the lines of how this is...oh, I don't know...the best chocolate cake ever.

Frosted with a ton of heavenly chocolate buttercream. Ooh.

Holy moly this was ONE AMAZING cake. I took one bite of the crumbs I cut off from the top, and I knew I had found my go-to recipe for chocolate cake. Fudgy, moist, sweet, aromatic, scrumptious. So good that I wanted to keep this for myself this time.

But I was good. I cut a slice, took a picture, then put the slice back where it belonged (which was NOT my mouth...sad, I know) then sent the cake on its way.

This cake is so easy to bake. So when you have a free Saturday morning or afternoon, bake yourself this most delectable treat.

I guess you can share... if you want, that is. If they beg and give you hugs and promise you roses for an entire week and swear their undying love for you and for this cake. 

;)

Pumpkin Pie

Is it an okay time to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving?

Because honestly, I can't wait until Thursday. :)

I am so thankful for so many of you who make my life with your awesomeness. I could go into more details about how cool you guys are as individuals, but that would take too much time...and I'm not even sure if I can finish talking once I get started.

See? That's how awesome you are.

So...here's a pumpkin pie for you. I baked it with love.

And I totally feel bad that it's not for you for real. Actually, by the time this post is published, it won't even exist in this world. It's gone already to a faraway place and I can't get it back.

But once I learn how to make a better pie crust, I will definitely invite you over for a piefest. Then you can keep being your awesome selves and I can keep feeding you delicious food.

I think this is the smartest idea we've had since our last smartest idea.

And I love you for getting my weird sense of humor.

Bruschetta with Tomatoes and Basil

Pizza is first on the list of foods to try in Italy.

And for good reason, I suppose. If not for the fact that it's hard to find someone who doesn't like pizza, it's hard not to pass up a slice of Pizza Margherita- "Eat, Pray, Love" style. I totally want to have "a relationship with my pizza," too, and not just because Julia Roberts makes it look deliciously chic.

My good friend Arya had the most fortunate time visiting Italy last summer. So, of course I had to ask him how the pizza was. I mean, it is the real deal, after all.

And you know what he said? He said that the pizza there is "overrated."

*GASP*

Not overrated in the sense that it wasn't good- that wasn't his point. But just that he expected a lot but ended up not being as impressed as he thought he would be.

But you know what he did rave about? Bruschetta.

Yes, bruschetta- crisp bread rubbed with raw garlic, drizzled with olive oil, and topped with tomatoes and basil.

Since I can't try Italy's pizzas for myself at this moment, I will have to be content with these for now. Which is fine with me, because these are nothing short of divine. I think Arya himself will approve :)

Warm Apple Cobbler

Well, I'm officially sick.

I am suffering from the worst chills I've ever had in my entire life. My hands can't seem to warm up no matter what...and I'm bundled up in my fleece plush bathrobe...sipping hot tea.

On top of that, my body doesn't seem to want to make up its mind over just how sick it should be.  One moment I'm feverish all over. Next I have a headache. Still I'm not sick enough to stay in bed.

Thankfully, apple cobbler is one of those things you don't have to make up your mind about.

Warm cinnamon apples with a delicious streusel topping? YUM.

Cinnamon Rolls

It was cold outside.

I had kids to tutor...which meant I had to go outside...in the blistering wind...in order to get into the car. Yeah.

It was a legit concern at that time, people. Let's not judge.

Because I present you lovely peeps with none other than... cinnamon rolls. You know, one of the best foods ever known to man, woman, child, your best friend, the practically invisible roommate, your cousin who lives in Cali, and even that guy who still doesn't have a clue, because let's face it: boys are kind of stupid.

We are lucky to have these cinnamon rolls. Yes we are.

Challah

Have you ever been invited over for a meal?

And I'm not talking one of those dinner parties where there's bound to be either holiday food or pizza. Though I hardly ever complain about pizza...nor holiday food, for that matter.

No, I'm talking about one of those events where someone cooks... just for you! Yes, you! They take precious time out of their schedule to choose the menu, shop for the ingredients, and set the plates just in time for you to ring the doorbell. It's quite a special meal.

I had one of those meals today. I felt most loved.

Knowing my hostess, I knew I would be leaving with plenty of food and presents, so I decided to bake her bread. I made challah, a Jewish bread that's traditionally served on the Sabbath. It's an egg bread with a beautiful dark-brown finish and sweet flavor that's perfect for making french toast.

Rustic Potato-Leek Soup

Leek rhymes with eek and that's just fine with me.

Because I'm "eek"-ing with glee from the loads of mild, sweet leek and hearty potatoes in the most wonderful and comforting bowl of soup.

It really is a "rustic" soup. Good with bread. Good without bread.

Flavorful, healthy, savory.

:D

Coconut Macaroons

Here I am, about to type up today's blog post...thinking coconuts... imagining tropical beaches with sunshine and sparkling waters...and envisioning the chewy, fragrant first bite into a warm macaroon that's been drizzled with milk chocolate.

But...

Andrew Zimmerman is on the background, eating baluts, which are fertilized duck eggs that have been boiled alive around day 18 of incubation. 

Duck embryos with beer. You can't not pay attention.

Anyway, the commercials are back on, which means I can stop yapping about unborn ducklings and go on with Coconut Macaroons. 

My sincerest apologies to those of you who really didn't want to know about baluts.

My other sincerest apologies to those of you who love baluts and rave about all its good and aphrodisiac qualities. Relax- I come from a country that invented soondae. :P

 

Ricotta Calzones

Dear God,

First of all, thank you for being such a loving God. Thank you for putting up with my not-so-holy rantings for the past 21 years. I know it was hard, so I really appreciate the love.

And thank you, God, for carrots. 

I grated about three cups' worth and made a 9 x 13 carrot cake. It was delicious, as your omniscient presence knows. 

Thank you that I totally messed up the decorations on the said carrot cake above. Trying to arrange, frost, and decorate the entire thing in 30 minutes flat didn't work so well. I remain humbled before you and in front of thin-consistency red-orange frosting. FYI, that color is evil.

And lastly, God, thank you for calzones. With your grace I have redeemed myself through these cheesy suckers.

I ask for your everlasting culinary mercy for the future happenings to happen in my kitchen.

Amen.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes can make you feel better about anything and everything.

Even if you attend a radio show in the afternoon for two hours...earnestly wishing that your Korean was a teensy bit better to your own liking. Even if that show airs LIVE -as in, the host asks you something you did not expect and you can't edit the stupid rambling that rolls off your Judas tongue while your brain, in a very timely manner, just. goes. blank.

Which, of course, is precisely what happened to me.

Pasta with Pesto

 

A long long time ago, little Rae thought pasta meant mac and cheese.  And only mac and cheese. The kind that comes in a box.

Obviously I've come a long way since then.

So...let's talk pesto.

Pesto is delightful. Pesto is earthy. Pesto is the green goodness you should've had instead of those overcooked/overseasoned/overmashed broccoli and spinach you thought were how green veggies should look and taste. I mean, eew.

I get that some of you will absolutely hate pesto. I do. Pesto will be an acquired taste for those of you who grew up hating garlic and herbs and anything that's not drenched in cream sauce. And still, that's A-okay. One day you will know and appreciate the aperitive, robust fragrance that will grace your kitchen many times over.

Because I just know you're classy like that.

Pan-Seared Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

I was having one of those weeks recently.

You know, one of those weeks when you're sick for no reason. You can't get in touch with the one person who can make your day no matter what. You can't come up with a new recipe for your blog. You find out that your troublesome student does, in fact, has a history of behavioral problems.

But hey, such is life. You just gotta accept it and move on to the good stuff.

Like figuring out how to put tilapia and pineapple together.

Sweet Yogurt Scones

I'm a real, bona-fide weirdo.

I don't eat meat. I think to pair buckwheat noodles with pomegranates (see here). I've never had a boyfriend. I'm a Korean who's an English major. I don't like skinny jeans, leggings, logo T-shirts, and animal prints. I once did a rhetorical analysis on "Fireflies" by Owl City. I run a cooking blog.

And then there's where I baked scones for the first time. 

I made them in the late afternoon and ate one as dessert. Then I had dinner... that consisted of rice, kimchi, egg, and seaweed. 

I don't deny my strangeness. You shouldn't, either. 

Cappuccino Cookies (Baking Marathon Pt. 2)

Coffee + White Chocolate. In cookie form. Need I say more?

I know I'm not supposed to do this...but I always taste my cookie dough before baking. Come on- I know you do it, too. Certain things in life you're supposed to do even when told otherwise. This is one of them. (But do make sure a hospital is nearby- salmonella is scary stuff!)

I never thought I would meet a recipe where the cookie dough tastes better than the finished cookies. But it was. I was amazed. I was floored. I was in love there for a second.

Biscotti Toscani (Baking Marathon Pt. 1)

Food equals love. That's my cooking philosophy.

I go into crazy mode when I'm baking for people I love. I get picky about baking every dessert from scratch. I become obsessive about giving something that I consider perfected and mastered. I eat the burnt cookies and give the golden ones away. I brush off excess crumbs before packaging. I cut the ends of the ribbon. I send them off with kisses.

Today I visited some of my sweetest and dearest at Oxford College. So understandably, I was up by 7:30 AM... and baking nonstop from 8:30 AM to noon.

I made banana bread (get the recipe here), biscotti toscani, and cappuccino cookies. It was a busy morning. I loved it.

Soba Noodles with Pomegranate

After a long day, I found myself standing by the kitchen counter and staring at a little packet of Korean crackers for dinner.

A split second later, the crackers were in the trash, and I scoured the fridge for inspiration. And that's how I came around to making buckwheat noodles with pomegranate vinaigrette.

Buckwheat noodles, or soba noodles, may equal unusual "health food" to Americans, but really, it's just Japanese vermicelli. I grew up eating these noodles with seasoned kimchi, and it's really tasty. However, I was eager to invent something new, and what got my attention was the bottle of pomegranate vinegar and the pomegranate seeds I prepared the day before.

Quinoa Pilaf with Shrimp

You know how some people just don't "do" breakfast? How some people get a latte and pretend it's enough to last them until...who knows when?

Well, I love my morning cup of Joe, but I'm a definite breakfast girl. So when I didn't have a chance to eat until around two in the afternoon, I was starving. And in need of a stellar meal.

And so I found quinoa.

Sunday Afternoon Banana Bread

I am convinced Sunday is the kind of day when you need something comforting to brace you for the week ahead. It's the last day when you can pretend that the weekend is here. It's the day when you can no longer ignore the mountain of work that's all miraculously due on Monday morning at eight o'clock. It's too late to ask the professors for an extended deadline. There's no dog to take the blame.

Obviously you need to bake banana bread.

You can't go wrong with banana bread. Brown, overripe, ugly bananas are transformed into a beautiful crown of a loaf. Nuts, chocolate, and other fruits are incorporated at the baker's preference. The house gets filled with the baking aroma of banana and cinnamon. It's super easy to prepare, and super delicious hot off the oven.

Banana bread is also a miracle food that tastes even better the next day. So...Monday morning breakfast, anyone?

Hello!

Welcome to The Pretty Apple, my first baking/cooking blog!

After years of kitchen mishaps and fond memories, I have finally decided to bring my culinary shenanigans to the internet. I am beyond excited to start what will hopefully be an awesome long-term project for the years ahead. Thank you to all of my dear friends and family who ate my food, survived, and encouraged me to create this blog. You guys are swell.  :)

To friendly strangers, acquaintances, visitors, prince charming, long-lost-but-now-found relatives, a big "hello" and a hearty "nicetomeetyou."

Here's to yummy foods!