Guest Post: The Yummy Pixel

My name is Miljana and I started The Yummy Pixel as a food photography blog where I share my adventures in the kitchen and behind the lens. Incidentally, these are the two places where I’m happiest and most inspired, so what a better way to put those two together than to share them with the world!?

I love desserts that are light tasting and fruity - especially in the spring. Everything is in bloom, the brighter weather has started - the energy of the spring is here! The brighter weather makes you want to dress in your pretty colourful clothes that have been buried in the back of the closet for what seems like eternity! It makes you want to party!

My friend Emily has generously offered me a guest post on her very popular blog about fashion and all things pretty - PartyMixTape.   She said... make something fun, spring-inspired, something that makes you want to party!

So I thought about fun, bright, light-tasting desserts, and the first one that came to mind was Profiteroles with Mango Mojito Sauce. How can you party without Mojitos? And best of all, it's in a dessert!

These little babies I found in my favourite cookbook - Bon Appetit Desserts, and I was very intrigued by the mojito mango combination.

The timing was perfect because this last weekend was also the Orthodox Easter, so I told my mom not to worry about dessert - I would be bringing two!

The dough follows the typical profiterole/cream puff instructions - melting butter with milk, adding dough and cooking it on the stove for a few minutes before adding eggs. The dough should come out soft and sticky. If you have an ice cream scoop, it would be the best way to drop these onto a cookie sheet. They will come out even. Make sure to dip the scoop in hot water between each so they come out easier.  The recipe for the puffs may look a bit involved, but the whole process takes less than 1.5 hours, because you can do the filling and the sauce while the profiteroles are baking, and the assembly is done just right before eating.

I should mention that this dessert also takes a bit of planning - case in point - mangoes. At least 6 mangoes are required and they have to be soft and sweet. So, buy your mangoes well in advance if you can't find soft ones. Because the profiterole dough has no sugar and the filling very little, most of the sweetness should come from the mango, so it's even more important that they are ripe and sweet.

The profiteroles puff up when they bake, but stay hollow in the middle - perfect for filling. They can stand for 2-3 days but the longer they sit, the harder they get, so they should really get eaten in the first 1-2 days for maximum freshness.

The second recipe I picked was the one I found on Epicurious, and it left me quite intrigued. Avocado. In a pound cake? But, after discovering the delicious avocado pudding a few weeks ago, I decided that it was worth a try.

The recipe makes a double batch, and I believe the dough can keep for a few days, or be frozen.

Until next time, happy eating!

Toodles,

Miljana

RECIPES

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Avocado Pound Cake

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ripe mashed avocados
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans and set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add avocado and beat for another 2 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed. Beat in vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated. Add the buttermilk and the remaining flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated. Remove bowl from the stand mixer, and finish incorporating the batter with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the pans and bake on alternating racks for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate racks and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Cake will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 4 days.

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Mango Profiteroles with Mango Mojito Sauce

Ingredients:

Puffs:

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

Filling:

2 cups 1/3-inch cubes peeled pitted mango (from about 4 large; see Test-Kitchen Tip below for details)

1 cup chilled sour cream
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar, divided
Spiced Mango-Mojito Sauce:

2 large mangoes, peeled, pitted, diced

6 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt
4 tablespoons (or more) sugar
3 tablespoons spiced rum
1 tablespoon fresh Key lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons (packed) finely chopped fresh mint

Preparation:

Profiteroles:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring milk, butter, and salt to boil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until butter melts. Add flour all at once. Reduce heat to medium and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms ball and some batter films bottom of pan thickly, about 4 minutes. Transfer dough to medium bowl and cool 5 minutes. Using electric mixer, beat in eggs and yolks 1 at a time.

Drop dough by generous tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto baking sheets, making about 24 puffs. Smooth tops with wet fingertips.

Bake puffs 15 minutes. Reverse sheets and bake puffs until deep golden, about 10 minutes longer. Make small slit in side of each puff. Return to oven, turn off heat, and let dry 15 minutes. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Filling:

Stir mango and sour cream in medium bowl to blend. Beat whipping cream and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in large bowl until peaks form. Fold whipped cream into mango mixture. Cover bowl; refrigerate filling at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.

Cut cream puffs horizontally in half. Spoon heaping tablespoon filling into each bottom half; cover with tops. Sift remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar over.

Divide cream puffs among 8 plates. Spoon sauce onto plates and serve.

Spicy Mango-Mojito Sauce:

Purée mangoes in blender or processor until smooth. Transfer 1 1/2 cups purée to medium bowl (reserve remaining purée for another use). Mix yogurt, 4 tablespoons sugar, spiced rum, fresh lime juice, and chopped mint into purée. Sweeten sauce to taste with more sugar, if desired. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

This loaf is the perfect way to use up your ripe mushy avocados (if you don't want guacamole), and you can use some on top for decoration. My favourite thing about this loaf is that it's lime green inside - so pretty and so much fun! It's very moist - perfect for having with tea.