Summer Solstice Cocktail - White Peach Sangria

M and I decided to forgo the traditional Christian American holidays at home in favor of celebrating something more personal to us - the changing of the seasons. So this summer solstice, which was Saturday, we celebrated the sun and summer with a trip to Big Bear Lake and two liters of sangria.

I wanted a fresh, light, gulpable reward for completing our planned hike, and this sangria was exactly the right choice. I wanted the sangria itself to be a celebration of summer, so I based it upon the light, delicate flavor of the white peach, herald of summer. I added a bit of ginger for spice and fortified the wine with schnapps and brandy.

Ingredients

• 1 bottle (750 mL) Riesling, or your favorite fruity white wine
• 1 cup peach schnapps
• 3 oz brandy
• 2/3 cup simple syrup
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 cup fresh peach nectar*
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2-3 white peaches
• 1/4 lemon, sliced into wheels
• 1-2 oz sliced fresh ginger
• 20 oz club soda

Into a 2 liter pitcher or large jar (I used one of those giant Vlasic Pickles jars - I love pickles), pour the entire bottle of white wine. Follow with peach schnapps and brandy. To prepare the simple syrup, in a small saucepan, stir together 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Stir at a gentle boil for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat. Allow to cool, then pour into the alcohol mixture. Mix in orange juice, peach nectar, and lemon juice. Slice the peaches, then add immediately to the alcohol mixture. If you leave them in air too long, they will begin to brown. Add lemon slices and ginger slices and chill overnight. Add club soda just before serving and stir. Serve over ice. This stuff is a lot stronger than it tastes.

Quote - Caitlin Moran

"We need to reclaim the word 'feminism'. We need the word 'feminism' back real bad. When statistics come in saying that only 29% of American women would describe themselves as feminist - and only 42% of British women - I used to think, What do you think feminism IS, ladies? What part of 'liberation for women' is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay? 'Vogue' by Madonna? Jeans? Did all that good shit GET ON YOUR NERVES? Or were you just DRUNK AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY?” - Caitlin Moran, How to Be A Woman

Kings Canyon National Park

Over the last weekend, I went on a camping trip with my family. My brother, who lives rather far away from me now that I am in LA, also attended for one night. I was so pleased and excited about him being there, that I woke up at around 5:30 AM, while he was still asleep, built a fire and grilled a steak, a pound of bacon and four eggs to share. The whole thing took about an hour and a half, including the time to get the fire to the right level. I have no pictures of that, but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

I also did a bit of trout fishing along the South Fork Kings River, but only ended up catching a couple of small Rainbows, which I put back. I was hoping to catch a larger fish, because fresh trout is my favorite camping treat (forget s'mores).

The canyon was absolutely gorgeous - I had had no idea this park was so beautiful. I took more than my fair share of photos, and I'll put a few of my favorites below.

This fawn was bedded down beside a log along the path to Muir Rock, a huge rock especially suited for use as a diving point for river swimmers. 

I love this picture of the leaping scrub jay. Another lucky shot - I was trying to snap a picture of him on the edge of the log, but he had other plans. It turned out that they worked well for me, too.

Parts of the canyon wall had moss, which gave them a wonderful mosaic look.

I've made it one of my life goals to visit every national park in the United States. I can't wait to see what else I find!

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

The Natural History Museum of LA has a butterfly exhibit each summer, so M and I decided to take a few hours off a couple of weeks ago and take a look around.

I was surprised at how large the museum was. It has very impressive gem and fossil collections, and I especially enjoyed the live insects and rats exhibits.

There was also a great display featuring human evolution.

The gardens are a must-see; they included so many gorgeous plants, birds, and bees.

Gluten-Free Mango Mousse Cheesecake

As promised, here is my second gluten-free cake recipe. It is a mango mousse cheesecake with a coconut macaroon crust. I used 8 large Mexican mangoes at their peak for this cake.

I made this cake in a 13 x 9 pan because I was serving 25. If you'd like to prepare the cake in a spring-form pan, which may be somewhat easier, do 2/3 of each the recipe. 

Coconut Macaroon Crust

The crust is a simple coconut macaroon recipe. Instead of separating into individual macaroons, I lined the bottom of the pan with the meringue-like batter. I adapted this recipe from here.

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups shredded coconut

Line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Whisk together the egg whites and salt until foamy. Then gradually add in sugar and vanilla, beating constantly until the whites are thick and glossy and form soft peaks. 

Fold in the coconut until evenly mixed, then use a spatula to evenly coat the bottom of your pan, about 1 cm thick. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven, cool for about 5 minutes, then use the edges of the parchment paper to help you lift the crust out of the pan, and place in the center of your cake board. I like to use a large wooden cutting board. Cover and refrigerate if not using right away.

Mango Swirl Cheesecake

This part was the most spoon-licking good, but requires the mangos to be at their peak. If you can't find ripe mangoes, or if you feel that baking with a perfect mango is heresy (I've heard it), I suggest using canned mango puree. 

Ingredients

• 2-3 ripe mangoes
• 1 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbs coconut milk
• 6 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temperature
• 7 eggs
• 1 1/2 tbs gluten-free flour

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Skin the mangoes and remove the pits. Place the flesh into a blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup sugar and cocount milk and purée. 

In a large bowl, slowly whisk the cream cheese until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly after each addition. Sprinkle the flour in and mix until just incorporated. 

Add 1 cup of the mango puree into the mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared pan. Pour another 1 cup of mango puree on top of the cheesecake batter, then swirl it in with a fork. 

Bake for 55 minutes, then turn off and crack open the door to the oven. Let the cake come gradually to room temperature over several hours, then chill in the refrigerator. Remove the chilled cake from the refrigerator and flip onto the crust. You may need to borrow a friend's hands for this part. Don't worry too much if it cracks - you will be covering it with mousse anyway.

Trim the edges to give a nice, straight edge. Wrap tightly with wax paper around all of the sides, leaving about 2 inches of paper sticking out of the top. Chill until ready for the next step.

Mango Mousse

This mousse recipe is light and flavorful, and lime adds a little extra acid which I think heightened the flavor. I basically used the exact recipe from Slate.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbs fresh lime juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 cups mango puree

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, lime juice, salt and water. Cook over medium-low heat without stirring until it forms a golden-brown syrupy liquid. 

In the mean time, beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then pour in the syrup solution in a very thin stream while beating vigorously. Continue until the whites are thick and glossy.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft, fluffy peaks form. Stir about 1/2 cup of the whipped cream into the mango puree, and fold the rest into the egg whites. Fold the egg white mixture into the mango puree until just incorporated, then spoon over the top of the cheesecake to make a flat layer. Chill in the refrigerator while preparing the glaze.

Mango Glaze

The mango glaze is a must for this recipe! It ties the whole cake together visually, and it's so much easier than I expected it to be.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp gelatin
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups mango purée
• 1/2 cup mango, cubed

In a small saucepan, mix together the water, gelatin, and lime juice. Stir once and leave at room temperature about 3 minutes. Add the sugar, turn on low heat, and bring to a simmer while stirring. Bring to a boil while stirring, then remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature, then stir in the mango purée. Toss in the cubed mango to coat, then pour slowly over the cake starting in the center and circling out, dropping the mango cubes near the center. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Serve chilled.



As you can see, I decided to add a bit of decoration. I whipped up 1/2 cup of heavy cream and added a small amount of yellow food coloring while whipping, to give a pale yellow cream. If you prefer, you can add 1/4 cup of sugar to the cream. I spooned the cream into a piping bag with a large star tip and piped 1 cm diameter dollops around the bottom edge of the cake, at an angle. It look a little bit like sea shells when piped this way.  

Enjoy!

Gluten-free Tri-Layer Dark Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake - Femia Cake

It has been a long time (six months!) since my last post. The first semester of my PhD has come and gone, and now I am enjoying the slightly more relaxed summer semester in the lab. One of my lab group's traditions includes a birthday-cake rotation, where the person whose birthday it was last provides a cake for the next birthday-person. Mine passed in late April, so I made a cake last week. I've been asked for the recipe, so I decided to type it up here.

I call it the Femia cake, after the birthday girl, and it is glorious. It is a tri-layer cake with a thick dark chocolate ganache on top, and a full 1.5 pounds of bittersweet chocolate baked in. I was inspired by this quadruple chocolate cake recipe, but wanted a plain cheesecake layer to give the palate a tart flavor to contrast with all that chocolatey deliciousness. The first layer is an extremely rich flourless rose-chocolate cake - have I mentioned before that I was diagnosed about a year ago with Celiac? - which is followed by a New York style cheesecake, then an adaptation of Julia Child's dark chocolate mousse recipe, and finally that decadent ganache. I spent a good hour fretting over what to do for decoration until I decided to set it off with a simple sprig of rosemary, which happened to be flowering in my garden at the time.

I had to work during the days preceding, so I only had evenings and early mornings to bake. I decided to go after this cake in three separate attacks.

Flourless Chocolate Cake Layer

The first was the flourless chocolate cake layer, which I made in a 9-inch round cake pan two nights before it was to be presented. The recipe is adapted from an Allrecipes entry.

Ingredients

• 2 tbs water
• 2 tbs rosewater
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbs sugar
• 9 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli) 
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of a round cake pan well with butter, set aside. 

In a small saucepan, mix together the water, rosewater, salt and sugar. Heat while stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. It will smell lovely. Set aside. 

Melt your chocolate by your preferred method. I like to do it in the microwave, but sometimes the double-boiler method is more practical, especially if your microwave is wacky. Cut up your butter into small pieces, then melt into the chocolate one piece at a time. Whisk in the sugar-water while it is still hot, then add the eggs individually, beating well after each addition. I used a hand-held electric mixer for this part. 

Pour the batter into the cake pan. In a separate, larger oven-safe pan (I used a disposable aluminum roasting pan), place about 1/2 inch of boiling water and place on a middle-rack in your oven. Nestle the cake pan with your batter into the larger pan, carefully so that no water gets into your cake. This is a more gentle heating method, and the extra humidity in the oven will keep the top of your cake nice and glossy. Bake for 35 minutes, then remove to cool in the fridge overnight. The center may still look wet, but that's okay. It will firm up overnight. 

Removing it the next day from the cake pan is a bit of a struggle, but can be accomplished by placing the bottom of the pan in hot water. It doesn't matter if your cake cracks, because you're just going to top it with another layer anyway!



Which brings us to the cheesecake layer! I made a simple, New York style cheesecake.

New York Cheesecake Layer

I am a particular fan of cheesecake. I love when it has just a bit of tart, and I usually accomplish this by adding lemon zest or sour cream. This time I went with both. The trick for this layer is to line a spring-form pan with parchment paper, negating the need for a crust. The edges do tend to brown, but the cake is trimmed at the end anyway to fit it all together, so that's alright.

Ingredients

• 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup milk (I used almond milk)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/8 cup gluten free flour (or regular flour, if you prefer)
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum (omit if using regular flour)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line your spring-form pan with parchment paper. This was a whole ordeal for me - it took me nearly half an hour to get it right. Trust in the weight of your batter, though. You don't need to get the parchment paper to be perfectly flat; physics will do that for you when you pour in your cream cheese mixture.

On low speed or by hand (if you're strong), combine cream cheese and sugar. Add the milk slowly, then the eggs, one at a time. Beat after each addition until just incorporated. Add the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest. Make sure to wash your lemon before zesting it! Sprinkle in your flour and xanthan gum, if using. 

Pour into prepared pan. Place a pan of boiling water into the low rack in the oven, and place your cake pan one rack above. The humidity helps the cheesecake to not crack, although this, again, isn't that important, since you're going to cover it with mousse. Bake for 45 minutes, then turn the oven off and keep the door closed. Keep it in there overnight, then refrigerate the next day. If you're in a hurry, you can cool it more quickly by placing it straight into the refrigerator, but it may crack and in that case, I would add an extra 5-10 minutes of baking time. 

Once thoroughly chilled, remove from the spring-form pan and slide it onto the base layer. Trim the edges to match, then wrap the edges with wax paper or parchment paper, leaving a couple of extra inches on the top. This will support the mousse as it cools. I taped the paper together to keep it around the cake.

Dark Chocolate Mousse Layer

This was the most luscious, smooth and creamy mousse I have ever made. It is a bit more work-intensive than other recipes I have tried, but it was absolutely worth it for me.

Ingredients

• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 6 oz unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup espresso
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup + 1 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs rum (I used white, but dark is more appropriate)
• 1 tbs water
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat a large saucepan filled partially with water to a simmer. Set a metal bowl on top, and melt together chocolate, butter and espresso. Stir until smooth, then remove from the water bath and set aside. Keep the water at a simmer.

Prepare a large bowl of ice water and keep that to the side.

Find another bowl to fit in your water bath, so you can temper your egg yolks. Nestle the bowl in the water bath and briskly whisk in your egg yolks, sugar, rum and water for about three minutes, until the mixture is thick. Remove from heat and place the yolks directly into your ice bath. Continue to beat until they are cool and thick, then fold into your chocolate mixture. 

In another bowl (this step requires a lot of dishes, sorry), add your egg whites and salt. Beat rapidly until they begin to foam, then gradually add in 1 tbs sugar.  Continue to beat until soft peaks form - don't let it stiffen! - then add the vanilla. 

Fold in a third of your egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest until just incorporated. If you aren't careful, your mousse will lose volume in this step. Pour the mousse on top of the cheesecake layer and chill for four hours in the refrigerator.

After chilling, remove the parchment or wax paper carefully. Now you're ready for the ganache!

Dark Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• 9 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1 tbs espresso
• 1 cup heavy cream

Place your chocolate and espresso into a medium-sized bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cream while stirring until it just begins to boil. Careful - cream will quickly boil out of the pan. Pour the hot cream into the chocolate and whisk together until smooth. I whisked it a bit more to give it a slight amount of volume.

Allow it to cool slightly, then pour over your chilled mousse, starting at the center and circling out. Chill for an hour or so before serving. Garnish as you'd like - edible flowers are always impressive.

My lab group was so happy with this cake that the cake's namesake asked me to bake for the next birthday, as well, and the group is spotting me for the cost of ingredients. I'll also go gluten-free for that one! Who says gluten-free can't be indulgent?

Quote - Malala Yousafzai

"I don't know why people have divided the whole world into two groups, west and east. Education is neither eastern nor western. Education is education and it is the right of every human being." -Malala Yousafzai

Amidst Heavy Pollution, Beijing Takes to Televising Sunrise

Smog in China's capital city has thickened to dangerous levels, while public concern over environmental health seems to have led China's President Xi Jinping to take action against the dizzying accumulation of pollutants in Beijing and Shanghai. Shanghai is expected to close 500 of its most heavily polluting and hazardous facilities, and Beijing has drafted a plan to implement fines against businesses, construction sites, and residences which exceed emission limits, reports Bloomberg.

ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images

Much of the recent increase in global air pollution has been from the burning of coal in developing countries, China included. Despite the "clean coal" movement in the U.S., coal is the primary contributor to global warming and is also a leading cause of smog, acid rain, and toxic air pollution; there are methods to limit pollution by coal in coal-fired power plants, but they are often neglected due to cost.

The Guardian describes the rise in coal emissions as resulting in part from outsourcing by the U.S. and U.K., citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recent report on global CO2 emissions and warning that this is not only China's problem.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Beijing and the other 10 provinces warned this week by the China's Meteorological Center of hazardous smog conditions are left peering through the gloom at an LED sunrise, waiting for their leaders to heed the warnings scientists have been giving for the past decade.

Quote - Marie Curie

"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful." - Marie Curie

Winter Road Trip - Northern California, Cont.

On the road trip I took all over Northern California, I shot a few rolls of film. These are some of my favorites. Oh, yeah. That girl on the log is me, so I didn't take that one. 

Lizzie Velasquez on Defining Yourself

Lizzie Velasquez, a 24-year-old motivational speaker and author, was born with an extremely rare medical condition that does not allow her to gain weight. She has 0% body fat and must eat once every fifteen minutes or so to sustain her energy. 

Lizzie has been the subject of bullying because of her appearance since she first started attending kindergarten. The worst of it came more recently when some online bullies made a video labeling her "the world's ugliest woman" which received over four million views and to which some commenters responded asking Lizzie to "please, just do the world a favor: put a gun to your head and kill yourself." Instead of letting bullies like this tear her apart, she chose to define herself not by her condition, not by their hate, but by her own successes. In her own words, "I can't see out of one eye, but I can see out of the other. I might get sick a lot, but I have really nice hair." 

Her perspective is so beautiful and inspiring, and her message is so simple: define yourself according to your own goals and your own successes. Don't let other people define you, because ultimately, their opinions don't matter.

Hear and share her story below. We only need 361,645 more views to reach four million. 

Quote - Amelia Earhart

I heard this quote on television yesterday and it really stuck with me:

"Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."

Winter Road Trip - Northern California

My boyfriend and I moved from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles in June of 2013, and we have been missing the Northern California wilderness. We decided to take a two-week vacation over the holidays to visit his family in Mill Valley and to spend New Year's in Yosemite with one of our best friends and her parents. I took the opportunity to practice photography; I learned in college on a Pentax K1000 film camera, and I am trying to master digital photography with my boyfriend's Canon Rebel XS.

The first trail we hiked on our trip was Coyote Ridge in Mill Valley.

We followed up with a walk along the boardwalk through Richardson Bay, where I admired the diversity of wildlife. 

We then drove to Yosemite to spend a few days over the New Year's holiday with our friend and her parents in a rented Yosemite West condo. We stopped on the way to visit with my brother and our podcast co-host in Manteca.

After Yosemite, we returned our friend home to Santa Cruz - I drove and it had so much fun. I love curvy mountain roads. We then traveled back to Mill Valley for a few more days and one incredible hike with my boyfriend's brother to Alamere Falls, one of the few tidefalls in the world.

When I went back to work for my final week before graduate school, my co-workers noted that I had been "revitalized." I think this was in response to me dropping the f-bomb every few sentences and making at least one crude reference to inter-generational love-making. Anyway, I think they're mostly right. This trip made me feel great, and I am so looking forward to my next road trip; perhaps Yellowstone?