Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 - Bun time!

Eating on Oahu: Meals

I did an adequate amount of foodie homework before flying to Honolulu for a family vacation. Here is where my research brought me.

Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood Market

Pink Snapper at Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood Market

Inside the International Marketplace in Waikiki is a food court with plenty of good eats to be found. This was our first meal in Hawaii and we ordered two plates of pink snapper as I have seen many people review this dish online. Another contributing factor was the $2 off coupon I discovered in one of those tourist booklets. 

It is delicious and well worth the $12 we paid; one and a half large pieces of snapper perfectly deep fried topped with a pineapple salsa with accompanying corn niblets and a green salad. My mom had low expectations for a food court dish and was pleasantly surprised at the good quality. She also appreciated how it was served on a hard plastic plate as opposed to styrofoam. 

Breakfast is served until 11am, and the menu looks tasty and cheap! I would recommend this place for some quality fish dishes. 

Bailey's Chocolate Cupcakes

Bailey's Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream Frosting

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, I present to you Bailey's cupcakes! My experience with this recipe has many ups and downs. Let me explain...

The first time I made this recipe, I accidentally doubled the amount of milk. Luckily, the 8 inch cake turned out perfectly fine. Now the second time I made it, I was too lazy to use applesauce so I replaced all the 'fat' with yogurt. That resulted in a very dense and hard cake. Not too good. Today, my luck has not been the greatest. (No four-leaf clover from the leprechaun for me?) Only after three trials and nearly 2 hours later did an acceptable cupcake come out of the oven. This was an unexpected blow to my baking ego, I suppose its a reminder to stay humble, haha!

Three trials later

1st trial: burnt.

2nd trial: too low of an oven temperature, expanded before becoming fulled cooked.

3rd trial: followed oven temperature in recipe + used a foil tent to shield the tops. 

Since I was baking these as gifts, I could not use burnt or ugly cupcakes. My family will take care of those...

Nevertheless, these cupcakes will please 'adults' and those who love Irish cream. Fudgey and rich in flavour, a tastey (and healthy!) cupcake for anytime of year!

Bailey's Chocolate Cupcakes

Adapted from Skinnytaste 

Yield: 8 large cupcakes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 7 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 egg
• ½ cup stout
• ½ unsweetened apple sauce
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1½ tbsp oil

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake tin with 12 liners.
2. In a large bowl sift together all the dry ingredients; sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and espresso powder. 
3. In a medium bowl combine the wet ingredients (egg through canola oil) and beat until smooth.
4. With a mixer, slowly add the sifted flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Pour about 3 heaping tbsp into each cupcake liner and bake 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

*Tip: If using a small convection oven, you may want to cover the top with some tin foil for the first 10-15 minutes and uncover to bake for the last few. This will prevent the tops from burning too fast.

Decoration Choices:

1. Bailey's Whipped Cream - Using an electric mixer, whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks. Add 1 or 2 tbsp of Bailey's and mix until incorporated. This works well for decorating cakes.
2. Bailey's Buttercream Frosting - For 8 cupcakes, beat ¼ cup of room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Sift in 1 cup of icing sugar until incorporated. Then add 2 tbsp of bailey and mix until pipping consistency is achieved.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Berry Swirl Cheesecake

Berry Swirl Cheesecake

So, you bought 24 oz. of cream cheese, used two bricks in Peanut Crumpet's birthday cake and are now left with one brick. What to do with that one brick? Make more cheesecake!

This recipe is simple and versatile; swirl in just about anything! I used blueberries this time, but you can set aside a bit of batter and add some pumpkin or peanut butter or chocolate etc. Experiment with the flavours and let us know your suggestions!

1 brick of cream cheese was enough to make a small flat of cheesecake. Enough for 6 people to have a hearty piece. Doubling or tripling the recipe will work fine, special instructions are given in the recipe.

Berry Swirl Cheesecake 

Yield: 1 loaf sized cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup berries
• 2 tbsp sugar or honey
• ½ tbsp. orange juice or water (omit if using frozen berries)
• Orange zest 
• ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 ½ tbsp. butter or oil (I used coconut oil)
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

 Directions:

1. To make the berry sauce,  cook berries, sugar, orange juice and zest in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. 
2. Lower the heat and continue to cook until reduced.
3. Once cooled, puree in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a loaf pan, especially well in the corners.
5. Blitz your graham crackers in a food processor to make crumbs. Add the melted butter or oil to the crumbs and mix until a wet sand texture is achieved. 
6. Press crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan, I recommend using a spatula.
7. Bake crust in the oven for 4 minutes.
8. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy.
9. Add egg and beat well. Then add lemon juice and vanilla and beat well.
10. Pour cheesecake batter over the crust and smooth the top.
11. Put dollops of the berry sauce over the top of the batter and gently swirl with a knife to create a marble pattern. Be careful not to hit the crust! (If you are doubling the recipe, alternate between batter and swirling to evenly distribute the filling in a thicker cake.)
12. To prevent cracking, put loaf pan in a larger pan with about 1 inch of boiling water.
13. Bake the entire cake for 35 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is puffed. For larger cakes, lower the heat to 325˚F after 30 minutes and bake for another 30 minutes.
14. After the baking time, turn off the oven and leave the cake inside for 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door!
15. After 15 minutes, cool on the counter until room temperature. Then refrigerate for a few hours before serving. You may choose to serve with extra berry sauce.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

This is probably the first recipe I have ever 'perfected'. Years ago I had a Costco-sized bag of Craisins to deal with, so I started by searching out a cookie recipe on the internet. With just a bowl, spoon, fork, measures, and basic ingredients, this quickly became a staple snack at my home. Funny enough, I soon discovered that recipe was on the package of the craisins the entire time! Being a bit of a health nut, I try to 'Rachel-ify' every recipe I deem as 'unhealthy'.  

There was a period of time where I'd make at least 3 batches of these cookies per week since my dad and brother would eat 3 in a row. They have been sold at bake sales, given away as Christmas presents, and surprise treats for friends. Sometimes, I call them my 'bear poop cookies'; bears eat berries, and these cookies are chunky. Ok sorry, I shouldn't ruin  your appetite...

These cookies are soft, chewy, healthy, quick, and impress every time.Give this cookie your own flair by changing up the mix-ins!

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Oceanspray

Yield: 12

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup butter or margarine, softened
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup oats
• ¾ cup flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• ⅔ cup mix ins (I used dried cranberries and chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and mix well.
4. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  
5. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients and mix well.
6. Fold in mix-ins.
7. Drop by mounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes. 

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡