Horchata Pudding

I love the taste of horchata, and decided to try to mimic the flavor as accurately as I could into a rice pudding. This is the result of my experiment - the best rice pudding ever. E-V-E-R. It's insanely sweet and has that smooth milky taste you love, with slight whispers of vanilla, and caressing mildly spicy notes of cinnamon that follow. It's quite a rush.This stuff is also rich, as in if you fed it to a racehorse, it would die. Thus, proving the true yumtasticness of this rice pudding. I attribute it to the use of heavy cream and arborio rice. This is a recipe where the quality of ingredients will really make a difference. I used Mexican vanilla, and whole Mexican cinnamon sticks for a more authentic flavor. Almonds add a nice smooth flavor underneath it all. I know some people like a bit of lime in their horchata, so if you want feel free to garnish this with some lime zest.
All the time and effort that this recipe demands is worth it, and a great way to spend a long cold day when those come up. I just pull up a stool next to the stove, get a book and a glass of gin and tonic, and stir. It makes for a fragrant and relaxing respite in life.

Does it get any better than this? I think not.

Horchata Pudding
What You'll Need...
3/4 cup of arborio rice
1 stick of Mexican cinnamon
3 cups of milk
3 cups of heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, preferably Mexican, split lengthwise -or- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of sugar
large pinch of salt
1 cup blanched skinless almonds

What You'll Do...
1) Place rice in a small sauce pan with two cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then drain. Transfer rice to a heavy 3 quart pot.

2) Add 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of cream, sugar, cinnamon stick, and salt. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the pod to the milk and rice mixture. Place over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until milk has been absorbed by rice, about an hour. Rice should be tender and rice should be creamy.

3) Add another 1 cup of milk and cream and continue cooking for another 20-30 minutes. Stir often, if not continuously, to prevent the bottom from burning.

3) When it is done, you should be able to pull the spoon through the middle of the pudding, and the pudding take a second to fill in the breach. (It should be pudding consistency, albeit hot pudding.) Chop the almonds and fold into the pudding. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature and thicken.

4) Serve in small portions and garnish with ground cinnamon.

For a traditional horchata drink recipe, check out the recipe here at Life Begins at 30.

Feel free to use 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom in lieu of cinnamon and use in the place of vanilla rice pudding in the Cardamom Pistachio Cupcakes with Rice Pudding Filling recipe!

Chipotle Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes

I busted these out after a bad meal, which I promise I will recount later. I needed to erase the stagnant memory of the interchangeable bar, crappy music, poor service, and annoying patrons. So I checked out what I had sitting around the house. My friend Eric and my partner Rob both wanted something sweet, so of course we went the cupcake route. I didn't have any chocolate or cocoa powder so I had to resort to box mix.

Dark chocolate cake mix to be exact. But if you know me, I can't just do plain chocolate. Oh no. We have to mix it up. All the ladies clap your hands, we're gonna mix it up in here. We broke out the cinnamon and a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. No boring cupcakes here.

Girls, let me tell you, boredom is the mother of all invention. They say idle hands are the devil's tools. The cure for boredom is curiosity, but there is no cure for curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat. A cat's got nine lives. Man only has one, so live life like there's no tomorrow. Cause tomorrow may not come. But no worries. The sun'll come out tomorrow. So rise and shine. It's a brand new day. Many fine things can be done in a day if you don't make that day tomorrow. So spice it up! Carpe diem!

Sieze the cupcake.

Chipotle Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes about 18 cupcakes

What You'll Need...
1 Box of Dark Chocolate cake mix (I feel actual pain writing those words, or it's the tendonitis...)
Whatever the box tells you you'll need. Probably eggs, water, and oil.
1-2 tablespoon pureed chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (base on your heat tolerance)
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, plus some extra
powdered sugar

What You'll Do...
1) Mix the cake mix as the box says. Again. Physical pain.
2) Place the chipotle peppers in a food processor and puree. Add two tablespoons to the mix. Add the cinnamon.
3) Scoop into cupcake papers. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
4) Let cool. Combine the powdered sugar and some cinnamon to taste in a bowl, then place in a small mesh duster thingy that I'm sure has a name but it escapes me right now. Dust heavily with powdered sugar. Place doily or wire rack on the cupcakes to get a pattern if desired.

Other Similar Cupcakes
Chocolate Five Spice
Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes with Ancho Chili Pepper
Pumpkin Curry Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache & Coconut
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Peppercorn

Fall Weather Cookies - Cinnamon Cranberry Biscotti

Biscotti is definetly an adult cookie, and an aquired taste if I do say so myself. I don't recall how, but one day, miraculously, I suddenly enjoyed it. Maybe it's one of those unseen steps into adulthood.

Heading into most coffee shops and cafes I usually avoid biscotti. This is mainly because most biscotti is simply too... I think the word is "blah." Often processed in large quantities, and only in basic popular flavors like chocolate, anise, and almond it just gets a bit tired. Plus, while I know it should be a bit stale, I don't wanna' chip a tooth.

For these reasons, I prefer making my own. Not only does it taste better it's very easy to make. I often make it to give for Christmas gifts, and house warming presents. This version makes use of four flavors layered on top of each other to create a really full bodies cookie, perfect with coffee or tea on a crisp cold day near a fireplace or under a blanket. The cinnamon gives this just the perfect amount of spice, the cranberries stand right beside it surprising you with mouth watering bites of tartness. The vanilla and almond extracts really shine through as well, and fill your house with this wonderous aroma that fills your mind with images of warm fall and winter memories.

The whole ordeal is fun, shibby, and the end product is totally yumtastic. I have a lot of great memories attached to this biscotti, so I earnestly suggest you start some yourself.

Cinnamon Cranberry Biscotti
Makes about 24 pieces

What You'll Need...
3/4 cup of butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cranberries

What You Do...
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookies sheet or line it with parchment paper.

2) Let the butter and eggs come to room temperature. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Next, beat in the eggs and the extracts, combine well.

3) Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt; mix into the egg mixture.

4) Fold in the cranberries. Shape the dough into two equal logs approximately 12 inches long. Place logs on baking sheet, and flatten out to about 1/2 inch thickness. This can be kind of difficult so prepare to get your hands sticky. Try to make sure they are perfect rectangles to ensure perfect pieces and even baking.

5) Bake the logs for about 30 minutes in preheated oven, or until edges are golden and the center is firm. Remove from oven to cool completely on the pans. When the loaves are cool enough to handle, use a serrated knife to slice the loaves into 1/2 inch thick slices.

6) Return the slices to the baking sheet. Bake for 5 more minutes. Turn over all the biscotti and bake for another 5 minutes. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Notes: You may want to let these sit in the container with the lid ajar for a day or two. These really do get better the more stale they become. Feel free to dip these in melted white or bittersweet chocolate, or use nuts in lieu of cranberries.