anahorvath.com

Tag: dessert

  • Star Puff Pastry Recipe

    My mom recently stumbled across this fun and very pretty looking star puff pastry dessert that we definitely tried and really enjoyed! I’ll just cut to the chase right away with the recipe and if what you see in the picture below interests ya, then stick around! 

    Ingredients:
    -2 packages of puff pastry (we use the one by Pepperidge Farms, with this you just want to make sure you can get puff pastry that can be cut into circles about the size of a pie and rolled!)
    -33.5 oz jar of Nutella (you will use the entire thing!)
    -One egg (you’ll end up beating it)
    -Strawberry jam

    Recipe:
    Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Place your first puff pastry sheet on the parchment paper. Cut the edges so that you make a circle with the puff pastry. Place Nutella on the puff pastry using a spoon. Do not place any on the outer edge of the puff pastry though! Leave about an inch on the edges. We found that it was easiest to warm up the Nutella in the microwave for like 15 seconds so it was softer and easier to move around. 
    After you’ve placed the Nutella, go ahead and place your next puff pastry sheet over top of your first. Repeat the process of placing Nutella and then the next puff pastry sheet until you’ve placed the fourth puff pastry sheet on top. Don’t put Nutella on top of your last layer. Instead, lightly roll the dough so that the Nutella has a chance to spread evenly in each layer. With this done, take your fingers and gently press on the edges of your puff pastry so that the edges will seal somewhat. 
    Using the mouth of a glass, press gently into the center of your pastry to leave a mark. With this circle, you’re now going to make 16 even cuts from that circle. With these 16 even slices, you’re now going to take 2 slices (1 in your right hand and 1 in your left) and twist the slices. Twist the slice on the right to the right twice and the slice on the left to your left twice. After this, join the slices by folding the edges over. You can use water here too to help make a better seal for the slices. Repeat this until you have 8 points. 
    Now, beat your one egg and brush the beaten egg all over your pastry. This will help give it a nice golden color when it’s done baking! Place your puff pastry in the oven and let it bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown! Once, your pastry is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes. Once it has cooled, brush strawberry jam over the top of the pastry. And that’s it! That’s how you make a star puff pastry!

    I’ve never been the biggest fan of Nutella but I really enjoyed it in this star puff pastry dessert. I think the puff pastry and the strawberry jam helped calm down the strong Nutella taste and it was really yummy! I hope you get a chance to try this one out! Trust me, it’s MUCH easier than it looks. Then, you’ll have something pretty to look at and then eat! Enjoy your star puff pastry!! 

    star puff pastry

  • A Birthday Weekend in New Mexico

    New Mexico
    This is meant to be upside down. Haha. My grandpa has some great brick walls at his house. 🙂

    This past weekend was another visit to New Mexico. Road trips can be pretty fun! We celebrated my aunt and dad’s birthday on Saturday and then just spent quality time with family which is always good. 🙂

    We left on Friday with my whole gang, dogs and all and enjoyed a nice and cool drive down to Farmington, New Mexico. We made our regular stops at Gunsmoke outside of Buena Vista, Colorado, South Fork, and the McDonald’s in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Marty and Boo, my doggies, always enjoy road trips, and Marty has always really enjoyed getting to stick his head out. Both Marty and Boo really enjoy getting to eat the occasional French fry too, after our McDonald’s stop. Haha.

    Friday night we enjoyed a great dinner with lots of veggies from our garden and angel food cake for dessert. The angel food cake with fruit was a highlight for sure. 🙂

    Saturday was my dad’s birthday as well as my aunt’s birthday. We spent the day relaxing, eating more good food, and playing Uno. There was just a lot of good time with family. We also went dorm room shopping at Target. Shockingly, the Target in Farmington had better options than the ones back in Broomfield! We also did some shopping for my aunt’s new kitten. She’s a cutie!

    For the big birthday dinner that night, we had root beer floats and a delicious peach cream pie for dessert. Safeway makes some delicious and cute cakes nowadays, let me tell ya!

    With the birthday festivities over, Sunday was spent getting ready to go back to Colorado and just like that, our fun, family weekend was over. We were welcomed back to Colorado with a lot of rain and cooler temperatures which is always refreshing. The road trip back to Colorado is always really long (it has always been 7-8 hours but the desire and anticipation to get home seems to make it longer). The views are always beautiful too. Some of the drive can be boring, but it has always been fun to see what’s out there.

    I’ve really enjoyed the time my family has spent in New Mexico. I wish that the visits could be longer but the time my family and I spend together is always great and so worth it. Family is so important and will always be.

    It’s crazy to think that summer’s almost over now! I’ve got one more week of freedom, ahhhhhh. I hope you all have a great week!

  • The Inventing Room Has Some Pretty Sweet Treats

    The Inventing Room: one of the quirkiest and most fun dessert places I’ve ever been to. It’s inspired by the room in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where Violet Beauregarde chews the bubblegum and turns into a giant blueberry. It has crazy different desserts and used liquid nitrogen to make all of its ice cream and many parts of its many desserts!

    My dad decided it would be fun to check out some good dessert place in Denver, and that’s just what we did. We arrived at The Inventing Room a little after they opened, which was around 2 today I think and the place was busy but not packed. The building looks kinda industrial and modern, but there’s also a whimsical and fun vibe to it.

    When we ordered, the cashier handed us a bag of popcorn that had been left to sit in liquid nitrogen and it was fun to eat. If you’ve ever seen those Nitro Ball things that are fairly popular, it was like eating those. The popcorn was cold but still yummy and then it was like being a dragon! Kinda fun, right?

    I ended up ordering the s’mores cream puff which is one of their best-sellers, my mom got the lemon curd creme brûlée crepe, and my dad and sister both got Butter-beer floats (inspired by the drink in Harry Potter!). Some of the other menu items included a nitro peach pie, a unicorn galaxy tart (which I’m dying to get the next time we go back), Mexican fried ice cream, and a Colorado honey sundae which sounds so yummy. They had ice cream (what dessert shop doesn’t?) and you could make your own sundaes. There was also handcrafted candy which looked interesting and I think it would be fun to try in the future.

    Overall, the desserts were yummy, the service was good, and my family and I will be heading back! If you’re looking for a weird but super fun place to go and please your sweet tooth, I recommend The Inventing Room. Parking can be a bit tricky to find, but it’s free so that’s convenient. I would also totally recommend trying the s’mores cream puff (the toasted marshmallow was DELICIOUS) and just going to have some fun. 🙂 The Harry Potter tasting plate sounds like it could be a lot of fun for all of the Harry Potter fans out there.

    I hope you all have a good week and I’ll see ya next Sunday! Stay sweet! 🙂