Kelapo Just Desserts Weeks 1 & 2

Welcome to our new Thursday feature, Kelapo Just Desserts! Here, we will recap the highlights/lowlights of last night’s Top Chef Just Desserts on Bravo, as well as make a recipe inspired by the episode. The twist? Adding coconut oil, of course! While some TV Chefs already use our favorite oil, most of them are in the dark. No worries! We are here to make their recipe ideas even better. We’d also LOVE to hear your thoughts on last night’s episode and any recipe ideas you want us to try.

On to last night’s episode…

 

First, let me say that the departure of Lina last week made me very happy! Glad we didn’t need to watch her negativity again this week. There sure are a lot  of crazies this season. Looking forward to learning more about these people so we can pick someone to root for. I can say with confidence that it won’t be Craig (Take it down a notch! What is he doing on this show? Does he know how to do anything?), Orlando (ego much? Plus, lemon and chocolate together, yuck!), Melissa (frownie face this episode and last. Cheer up!), or Carlos (bossy bossy bossy!) Why didn’t they show us how Rebecca hurt her hand? It was such a major part of the show, yet we have no clue what happened to her. Am I the only one who thought they were going to get to that at some point?

 

The Quickfire Challenge was a good one! I always enjoy watching the beautiful and tasty creations they come up with in no time at all. I was surprised that Katzie was shown using written recipe. I didn’t realize they were allowed to do that, although it makes sense.  The lemon challenge was so great because I also feel that lemon desserts are hard to get right. They are always overly sweet, which ruins the deliciousness of the lemon. Some of these desserts looked gross (chocolate and lemon together? YUCK!) but most were right up my alley! Sign me up for Katzie’s Lemon Crepe Ribbons with Egg Yolk and Butter Emulsion and Candied Fennel Seeds. Very original! Or how about Van’s Lemon Curd Semifreddo with Coconut Brown Butter Streusel and Blackberry Compote. Delish. The winner is a very happy Michael.

 

The Elimination Challenge broke everyone into teams where each chef was responsible for a different layer. I was expecting these cakes to be so much more beautiful! Other than the modern silver sheet music cake from the green team, these were some hideous looking cakes. Though, when Gail said “what’s the point of cake if it’s not beautiful?” I laughed out loud. Really? I’ll take an ugly, delicious cake over a dried out Crisco-y masterpiece any day. However, since I’m only able to judge these cakes from the comfort of my couch, I am allowed to pretend that appearance is all that matters. But food expert Gail should definitely not have this view.  Johnny annoys me a bit, but I think it’s because he reminds me of The Donald’s son. None of the other host hold a candle to my beloved Hubert!

 

In the end, Vanarin from Houston goes home. His pineapple forest in Episode 1, combined with his very ugly musical instruments last night sealed it for the judges. I did think they were mean there at the end. Poor guy. I love pineapple and I’m sure your forest was delicious.

 

And now, our recipe inspired by last night’s episode! The most intriguing cake for me was the cardamom cake made by Melissa. Someone on the show said it was their favorite one, so I decided to search for a recipe and make it myself. Now I consider our spice cabinet to be pretty complete, but I couldn’t find cardamom anywhere. Perfect opportunity to branch out a little and try a new spice cake. For my super adorable white chocolate music note nod to the symphony themed episode, just put some warmed candy melts in a ziplock, snip the corner and draw whatever your heart desires on a strip of wax paper. Cool and voila!

 

Recipe for Cardamom Orange Cupcakes (not quite Melissa’s Cardamom Sponge Cake with Ginger Cream and Strawberry Jam but delicious anyway!)

 

Cupcakes:

½ cup softened sweet butter

½ cup softened Kelapo Coconut Oil

1 cup sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

4 eggs

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp orange extract (or for a double Just desserts theme cupcake, try lemon!)

 

Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

½ cup Kelapo coconut oil

¼ cup sour cream

1 ½ Tbsp grated orange zest

1 tsp orange extract

 

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease muffin pans with coconut oil or place cupcake papers in the pans. Combine all the cupcake ingredients in a medium bowl and mix until smooth with an electric mixer. Spoon batter into cups and bake for 20 min. Cool before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat all the remaining ingredients until smooth, Spread on each cupcake and decorate with your white chocolate shapes. Store unfrosted in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

 

Then pack your tools and go!

 

-AM

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