#recipe testing

Want to make Boiling Isles themed recipes? Join the TOH Cookbook Zine as a chef and/or recipe tester!

We have multiple recipes ready for testing, some recipe ideas in search of a chef, and room for more ideas!

We also have space for writers, artists, and beta readers. If you're on the fence about participating, our Discord server is open to anyone interested in this project even if they do not submit a contribution.

I have reached the stage with my MIL's recipe box that I need to test recipes and take notes while I do so in order to translate the chicken scratches and runes of instructions into something people who don't cook everyday can use.

The first up, because it was very easy and Kiddo has a birthday this month, was a Cinnamon frosting. The easy part was Partner looking at the 'recipe' and going "Oh, that's just American buttercream." Which I do know how to do. Once Partner reminds me which one is American. The note taking was just noting down the weights of volumetric measurements and figuring out when to put the vanilla and cinnamon in. "Cream butter + sugar. Add cream until frosting consistency." is not sufficient for an entire recipe. Not if it'll actually taste like cinnamon.

Which it did.

It was lovely and we're keeping this one.

Chocolate Lava Torta Recipe:

Eggs, whole - 4

Sugar, white - 180g

Salt - 2g

Vanilla Extract - 10g

Butter, melted - 150g

Dark Chocolate, chopped (or chips so long as the cacao percentage is 60-70%) melted into butter - 190g

Flour - 4 tablespoons (40g)

Preheat oven to 400F (200C)

Melt butter and chopped chocolate together in the microwave or over the stove until smooth. Set aside to cool.

Beat eggs, vanilla, salt, and sugar together until doubled in volume - not white but like a pale yellow. Not exactly aerated. 

Mix in the combined melted butter and chocolate until thoroughly mixed.

Fold in flour.

Pour into an 8 inch (20 cm) cake pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake for roughly twenty minutes, until set on the sides but still wobbly in the center. 

Cool to room temperature, invert onto a serving plate, and enjoy. Serves about eight people or two very hungry weirdos in the dead of night. Photos in order

Video of cake testing technique

-☁️

no!! they’re just really good friends and hwa likes taking care of her. we’ll get into that as we progress through the story, i promise!!!

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Room Temperature Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup White Sugar

2 Eggs

1/4 tsp Vanilla 

1 tsp Pumpkin Spice

1 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Salt

1 1/4 Cup Flour

2/3 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1 1/2 cup of shredded apples, with juices

Recipe 

1. Preheat oven to 350*F / 175 *C. Spray/Rub down a 9″ baking pan of choice with oil.

2. With a hand or stand mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until combined. Incorporate the eggs, one at a time. Once homogenous, add in vanilla, pumpkin spice, baking powder and salt. Using a sieve, mixing in shifted flour - doing so in 1/3 cup segments allows for a better time. Add pumpkin puree and mix. Fold in shredded apples with their juices. Pour carefully into baking pan.

Was planning on making something for a dinner that my friend is hosting, so before that, I decided to test out the recipe first on a smaller scale.

A simple mix of toasted spices, waiting to be cooled before getting ground up into a powder.

It turned out A LOT better than I expected! Although I need to dial down a little on the spiciness the next time (gotta be careful with the chilli padi).