Cappuccino Bavarian Cream

Now that I have to wake up at 5:30 am at least five times a week, you’d better believe my caffeine addiction has kicked into high gear!

Stumbling into the ye-that-shall-not-be-named-global-coffee-chain and getting my drink of choice (a small quad-shot Americano, touch of cream and sugar) is a vital part of my morning routine.

As they pass me that steaming cuppa joe from behind the espresso machine, I always feel like Barney Gumble in that episode of the Simpsons, the one where he kicks his alcoholism until he’s presented with a massive amount of Duff beer for winning a short film contest and he shrieks, “JUST HOOK IT TO MY VEINS!”

Yeah — that’s me and coffee.

The only real downside to having that much espresso during the week is that I turn into such a grumpy bitch if I don’t get it on the weekends, too.

That’s okay, though — I don’t care if I’m addicted. Sweet, sweet Americano, you’re so much safer than cocaine!

♥ Purin // プリン ♥

In Japan, one pudding reigns supreme!

That’s because purin (pronounced poo-reen) is the phonetically-derived Japanese version of the English word “pudding” and it’s sold everywhere in Japan.

Okay — purin to pudding might seem like a stretch to your ears, but it works if you know the rules and sound patterns for Japanese.

More examples: the Japanese, lemon-lime flavoured soft drink, ramune (pronouced rah-moo-nay), comes from the word lemonade.

Japanese also use the word furutsu (foo-root-sue) for fruit, and the word pan (pahn) from the French word pain, for bread.

Anyways, when I was in Kyoto last summer, I decided that the best use of my (very sparing) free time would be to see Fushimi-Inari shrine, home of 10,000 torii gates.

Chestnut Bread Pudding

It’s really unfortunate, but I’ve noticed that most North Americans (both diners and restauranteurs) are totally unfamiliar with chestnuts.

Not the kind in hard, spiky, lime-green shells that pepper the ground in the autumn, the kind that you used to collect and throw at people as a kid — those are horse chestnuts, and definitely not to be eaten!

I’m talking about the kind of chestnuts that are common in French and Japanese desserts — chestnuts with a slightly nutty, sort of earthy, sweet kind of flavour.

See, over on this continent, people think that chestnuts are just for eating roasted or adding to holiday stuffing.

They don’t know that chestnuts are great with sugar, vanilla, chocolate, honey, cinnamon, and coffee, too!

Panna Cotta Parfaits

Panna cotta! How could I have gone so long and never known about it?

Since I consider myself a serious pudding addict, it makes me kind of embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t ever tried panna cotta until just a couple weeks ago.

I’ve made panna cotta for myself a couple times since then, and there are definitely a few things I’ve learned about it.

First: it’s important to use high fat dairy products, since using regular milk instead of creams will detract from the smooth texture of your panna cotta.

Second: panna cotta’s sweet, light flavour is good with almost anything — no joke!

It especially goes well with peach, lemon, mint, vanilla, and white chocolate — all of which are in this recipe!

Peanut Butter Spice Pudding

Mmmmm… peanut butter.

In North America, unless you had an allergy, chances are you grew up with peanut butter  as a big part of your childhood — in sandwiches, on crackers, with apple slices, smeared over celery sticks — since it was sweet and tasty and easy for kids to serve themselves. Parents don’t have to worry about their rug rats burning down the house while making themselves a PB & J for lunch.

I dunno ’bout the rest of you, but I never really got over those formative years of peanut butter love. These days I normally go for natural, organic foodstuffs, but when it comes to peanut butter I’m always reaching for the Kraft. That brand with the two waving teddy bears on the jar… I know you know what I’m talking about — the stuff that nostalgia is made of!

Anyways, turns out that fall is peanut harvest season, which is pretty neat, since peanuts have always been a sort of “season-less” food in my convenience-of-the-Western-supermarket consciousness. Turns out they’re technically not. Duh.

Other cool facts about peanut butter:

1) The first record of peanut butter production comes from Montreal in 1884

2) Peanut paste is used as a base in a super-nutrient-packed overseas famine relief food called Plumpy’nut

3) Peanuts are actually legumes (like peas, beans, and lentils) and not nuts at all!

Ahem. Well.

Now that I’ve sufficiently shaken your world with the swift fist of knowledge, let’s talk about peanut butter pudding: the adult way of eating peanut butter off a spoon.

This peanut butter pudding recipe might sound a little complicated at first, but it’s actually really easy and delicious! There’s only one part of the pudding prep that requires some serious attention, but once you’re done you’ll be patting yourself on the back and thinking, “What was I worried about anyways?”

For this recipe I used good ol’ Kraft smooth peanut butter since I thought it would work better than crunchy peanut butter (but, seriously, I’m a die-hard crunchy peanut butter lover to the end), and then added some cinnamon and spices to “mature” the flavour a little bit. If you don’t want that “Reese’s Pieces” sort of sweetness in your pudding, feel free to use an all-natural type.