magic bar milkshakes

Hello, old friends! 

Waaaaay too much has happened since we've last spoken. In no specific order: Mardi Gras left me with a broken knee and a broken phone and well... broke, Lady Gaga won like all of the Oscar's ever, I was featured as Yahoo's Blogger of the Week, and we all freaked out over a damn dress. (It's blue and black, let's be real.) Something's totally in the water right now. 

When life errs on the crazier side, I crave more simple pleasures. It makes sense really: when my mind is occupied with trying to be a student and a person at the same time, that special compartment where I dream up chicken and waffles cakes and king cake fries sometimes gets lost in the background. Right now, I'm on a major bar kick.... 

Magic bars. Seven layer bars. Hello Dolly bars. Whatever you call them, they're freaking delicious. 

While they're perfect on their own, I've recently discovered that magic bar milkshakes are the new frontier. Caramel and vanilla ice cream blended with graham crackers, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips, then topped with condensed milk whipped cream, toasted coconut, pecans, and actual magic bar pieces. 

Spring Break diet, who? 

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Magic Bar Milkshakes 

(makes two delicious milkshakes) 

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup caramel ice cream 
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 graham crackers 
• 4 tablespoons butterscotch chips
• 2 tablespoons semisweet or milk chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup sweetened coconut, toasted 
• 1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
• chopped magic bars (optional)

make: 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream and condensed milk and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Set aside. 

In a blender, combine the ice creams, milk, graham crackers, butterscotch and chocolate chips. Blend together until smooth. Immediately pour into glasses and top with condensed milk whipped cream, toasted coconut, and magic bar pieces. 

 

blood orange mimosa cake — #madewithchobani

Do you ever feel like everything is moving in hyper speed?

I'm having a hard time believing that it's 2015 already. Like, can somebody please teach me how to stop writing 2014 on every. single. assignment. that my glittery One Direction pens touch? Forging the number 4 into a 5 makes for an absolute atrocity and my obsessive compulsive ways have been tested beyond their limits lately. To any of my classmates or teachers reading this, I apologize in advance for any sporadic outbursts featuring some, errrr, colorful language. 

Looseleaf-induced drama aside, my life seems to be in a state of eternal fast forward as of late. The holidays came and went in virtually no time, leaving me with a feeling of constant exhaustion and general delusion that I can only describe as a holiday hangover. My symptoms are near identical to the hell that is the morning after getting a little too... turnt, for lack of another word. (Minus all of the drunk text regret, thank GOD.) 

A few weeks back, Chobani contacted me to take part in their #MadeWithChobani campaign and create an extra special recipe using their signature greek yogurt as a key ingredient. Given that I've been in desperate need of a lazy Sunday brunch and am a definite advocate for kicking a hangover with extra alcohol, I decided to cure my ailments with a mimosa cake. (Disclaimer: they also wanted something relatively healthy, but I'm a firm believer that: 1, cake is good for the soul and 2, calories don't count when you're curing a hangover. Duh!) 

This one-layer boozy citrus situation was inspired by this satsuma yogurt cake, a lesser-known gem from when I first started blogging. (Fun story: I've eaten that whole cake in one sitting on two separate occasions; it's that addictive.) I adapted that recipe to create a blood-orange scented cake made with Chobani's plain greek yogurt, topped it with a surprisingly light and airy champagne whipped cream, and then went all science-y and made blood orange "caviar" because champagne and caviar and honestly, who doesn't love a little extra drama. 

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Graham's Notes: 

• I've always been enamored by the general drama of blood oranges, so I decided to replace traditional orange orange juice with the juice of some freshly-squeezed blood oranges. They're so delicious and perfectly ripe around this time of the year, so I recommend you use them. If you're not into them, no worries, you can always use traditional navel oranges. 
• Please don't forget to add the vegetable oil at the end of the batter-making process. I did that on two separate occasions. *facepalm* 

This recipe was created in conjunction with Chobani Greek Yogurt for their #MadeWithChobani campaign, though all opinions about the deliciousness of their yogurt are my own. Take a look at what other bloggers have been dishing up by searching #MadeWithChobani on Instagram! 

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Blood Orange Scented Yogurt Cake 

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup Chobani plain greek yogurt 
• 4 small blood oranges, zested 
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla paste or extract 
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. fine salt 
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed blood orange juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar 

make: 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9" round cake pan with parchment and lightly grease and flour. 

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, greek yogurt, and orange zest until smooth and fragrant. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Sift in the flours, baking powder, and salt and mix until just fully combined. Finally, stir in the the vegetable oil. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. 

While the cake is cooling, combine the blood orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture thickens and forms a syrup, about 5-10 minutes. Immediately pour and brush over the top of the cake. 

Champagne Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 1/4 cup champagne
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar 

make:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, the cream, champagne, and sugar until soft peaks form. Spoon onto the top of the cake and top with blood orange caviar. 

Blood Orange Caviar 

(adapted and inspired by Sprinkle Bakes) 

• 2-3 cups vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 oz. packets of powdered gelatin 
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 3 oz. blood orange juice 
• ice
• 1/4 cup coarse salt for ice bath
• a small squeeze bottle 

make:

Refrigerate the vegetable oil for at least 24 hours. The oil must be very cold to properly set up the gelatin for the caviar. When you're ready to make the caviar, fill a bowl with ice, cold water, and the salt to create an ice bath. Place the bowl of cold vegetable oil in the middle of the ice bath. 

Mix together the gelatin and cold water until no lumps are left. Set aside. 

On a stovetop over a medium-low flame, heat the orange juice until warm to the touch. (You can also do this in the microwave.) Once warm, whisk the juice into the gelatin mixture and stir until the gelatin is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer this liquid into your squeeze bottle and let come to room temperature. 

Using the squeeze bottle, drop the orange gelatin liquid into the oil until balls forms. They will eventually sink to the bottom. Repeat the process until you have enough, then scoop them out of the oil and drain through a mesh sieve. Use immediately on top of the whipped ream or store refrigerated with excess oil for up to 10 days. 

Cookies & Cream Tart

I started my junior year of college this week. 

Junior.... COLLEGE.... Um... WHAT? 

It's bizarre, really, how fast we grow up. It feels like just yesterday I was running to the office in middle school because I ripped my shorts straight down the middle because I dropped it like it was [a little too] hot on the playground. (True story; I was a wild 5th grader.) I can vividly remember the first day of 8th grade at my high school, exactly what I ate and where I sat at lunch that day, how my mom picked me up and I immediately proclaimed how much I hated it. I remember the first day of senior year, thinking about how ready I was to graduate, but how equally scared I was to leave my comfort zone. Just as vividly, I remember walking blocks upon blocks from my dorm in the East Village with the most painful blisters on the backs of my ankles for the hot minute I was attending college in New York City. and now, here I am... only two years away from being done with school forever. (Don't you dare mention grad school, just no.) 

The first day back at school after summer break has always been my least favorite day of the year. Almost routinely, my first days have always been marked by so much knowingly unnecessary, yet unavoidable anxiety. This time around was no different. I was awkward when I introduced myself, my voice started shaking whenever I had to tell my teachers that I went by Graham and not Anthony (my actual first name), and once I got home, I may or may not have chugged a watermelon martini and went to bed at 9pm out of pure exhaustion. But this year, I was actually, wait for it .... excited to go back. I guess I really am getting old. 

To celebrate my second-to-last first day of school, I decided to whip up something special. Remember: it's scientifically* proven that sugar can calm your nerves on the first day of school. 

* Disclaimer: Though Graham Blackall likes to believe he is a scientific authority, he is just a lowly boy with a sugar addiction. 

Well, attempted to whip up something special. I don't know whether or not it's because of school, but I'm having an off week in the kitchen. In 24 hours, I have ruined three different recipes. I had this lovely idea of celebrating back-to-school with a peanut butter and jelly dessert. Cute, right? Well... my oven didn't agree. First, I made a peanut butter pavlova — the meringue fell. After that, I decided to make a big giant vanilla cake that I would going to cut into a giant pb&j — my eggs scrambled when I added them into the batter. Finally, I had the genius idea of making a concord grape cake (strange, I know) with peanut butter mascarpone frosting. I had spent hours perfecting the recipe and as I was taking the cakes out of their pans, every single one of them cracked in half. This is when I realized that PB&J just wasn't going to work out. 

Luckily, I've had this recipe waiting, ready to be posted since last week. It's the most delicious white chocolate mascarpone tart in an Oreo crust. Aaand it's no-bake, so you have less chances to mess it up! To top it off, I made an Oreo whipped cream and covered the whole tart in cookie pieces and white chocolate shavings (not pictured). Absolutely amazing and pretty damn painless to make. 

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Oreo Crust 

• 10 oz. Oreo cookies
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/8 tsp. salt

In a food processor or blender, process the whole Oreo cookies (including the cream) until they turn into fine crumbs. Add the crumbs to the melted better and the salt. Mix until they form a workable crust. Press the crust into your tart pan. Freeze the crust while making the filling. 

White Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

• 8 oz. high-quality white chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream 
• 8 oz. mascarpone, room temperature
• 1/4 cup icing sugar 

In a large bowl over simmering water, melt the white chocolate until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

Whip your cream until soft peaks form. 

In another bowl, mix together the mascarpone and confectioner's sugar until combined. Add in the cooled white chocolate and combine. Fold in the whipped cream. 

Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Refrigerate overnight to set. Serve with Oreo whipped cream, cookie pieces, and white chocolate shavings. 

Oreo Whipped Cream

• 10 Oreo cookies
• 1-1/2 cup heavy cream
• sugar, to taste
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

In a small bowl, cover the oreo cookies with heavy cream. Let sit for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator to infuse the cream. Strain the infused cream into a bowl and whip with the sugar and vanilla extract until you reach your desired consistency. Use immediately or store in the fridge.