Matcha Green Tea Latte

I prepared my matcha green tea latte with the same procedure one would use for making white hot chocolate. The drink is made with a blend of lightly sweetened matcha green tea, white chocolate, steamed milk and heavy cream. You wouldn't want to drink this every day, but that's what holiday treats are all about!

This recipe can be modified to feature many different seasonal flavors. Peppermint, cinnamon and other spices come to mind. You don't have to go to the local coffee shop to enjoy holiday specials anymore; be your own barista and save the change for stocking stuffers.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

What's the cure for a chilly Fall afternoon? A pumpkin spice latte. I decided to make some today because the girls have the week off from school and they really wanted to cook. They wanted to make a pumpkin pie, but I thought it would be fun to take our pumpkin pie recipe and turn it into a drink.

I've had pumpkin spice lattes in the past that really only have nutmeg and cinnamon. I made ours with real pumpkin purée, and I sweetened the latte with condensed milk, as I do for cà phê sữa nóng (Vietnamese-style coffee).

It was such a hit. I served the latte in tall glasses, and as quickly as I poured it, the girls drank it. Sunny actually took to drinking it directly from the saucepan!

There's definitely going to be a big pot of pumpkin spice latte on the table for Thanksgiving. If you try it, I bet it'll be on your table as well.

Coffee and Cardamom Flavored Creme Caramel

Crème caramel is one of my favorite desserts. It's basically a rich custard with a layer of soft caramel. I dressed this one up with a little espresso powder and cardamom.

Making these desserts reminded me of my childhood. My mom would tell me every day not to eat anything before dinner, but after coming home from school, I would always make a beeline to the refrigerator when she wasn't looking. I would get one crème caramel, flip it onto a plate, and let the delicious caramel flow in every direction. It didn't last very long; I would inhale the dessert and lick all the caramel off the plate before I got caught. You would think that I wouldn't really have enjoyed the dessert because I ate it so fast, but there was something thrilling (and delicious) about sneaking a bite without anyone knowing.  Maybe that's why I named my site Pham Fatale.  I've been in the (food) espionage business for a long time!

These covert operations inevitably would make me too full for dinner. I know I was a terrible child! My parents always wondered why I never ate, and have probably been unaware of my antics until now. Sorry Mom!

I think, in America, crème caramel and flan can be used interchangeably.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Cherry Cream Cheese Frosting

The idea of a gluten-free chocolate cupcake came up during a dinner with friends. Laura's husband has a gluten allergy and was telling me the challenges she faces. I found out that she often uses chickpea flour as a replacement for all-purpose flour.

Chickpea flour is common in savory dishes in Indian cuisine and is the main ingredient in paratha, a flat Indian bread. I was concerned that its heavy, grainy flavor would be too prominent and overwhelming for a dessert. I added a wide variety of flavorings like fresh ginger, cinnamon, rum, Medjool dates and of course chocolate to cover this up. The result was a dense chocolaty cake that has the internal consistency of fudge. The addition of cherry cream frosting is a nice complement to the fudgy cupcake and adds a bit of moisture to cover up any remaining grainy texture of the chickpea flour in the cupcake.

Sable Cookies (French Buttery Shortbread)

Sablé cookies are very famous in Brittany on the West Coast of France. They are very similar to shortbread, except they are made with egg yolks. They also have a characteristic sandy outside edge and they are very rich in butter. Sablés have a mild sweetness that is a perfect complement for sweet mousses or parfaits.

These cookies take me back in time to my childhood. I remember coming back from school and inhaling them with a huge glass of milk.