Hola los dientes dulces!

I just returned from a lovely vacation in Mexico

and I couldn’t resist sharing some of the wonderful dishes that we had on our trip with you.

One of my favorite Mexican desserts is Tres Leches cake and when we requested this traditional Mexican cake for our last dinner, the chef at our resort was kind enough to Satisfy My Sweet Tooth and make the cake for us.

All of the food we had was amazing.  I especially enjoyed the different ceviches we sampled throughout the trip.  Ceviche is so simply prepared but so undeniably fresh and refreshing.

This is a sample of 4 different ceviches that we ate during a Tequila tasting at our resort.

And how could I leave Mexico without having some fish tacos and short rib enchiladas?

Now it would not be very nice of me to leave you drooling over all of the wonderful dishes I got to enjoy on my trip and offer you nothing for yourself would it?  So, here is my recipe for chicken enchiladas!  I know it may be tempting just to buy the enchilada sauce pre-made from the store, but this sauce is so simple that it will be finished by the time you have made the filling and wrapped it up in the tortillas and the fresh flavor is so worth it.

Chicken Enchiladas

Sauce:    (recipe adapted from The America’s Text Kitchen Family Cookbook)

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 (16 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water

1. Heat oil in medium/large sautée pan over medium heat until simmering
2. Add onion and salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes
3. Stir in chili powder, garlic and cumin (this mixture will look dry) and cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds
4. Pour in the tomato sauce and water and stir
5. Turn heat to medium-high, bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes

Onions tender and translucent

Mixture will appear dry after adding spices

Filling: 

• 1 rotisserie chicken (meat shredded, I used only white meat)
• 6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups shredded colby-jack cheese
• 2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chiles

1. Mix all ingredients with spatula until well blended

Assembling the enchiladas:

• Filling
• Sauce
• Corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Spray 9X13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray
3. Wrap 4 tortillas in moistened paper towel and microwave for 10 seconds (this makes the tortillas more pliable so they do not tear while you are filling them)
4. Place about 2 Tbsp of filling into each tortilla, roll it up and place it seam side down into the baking dish
5. Continue steps 2-4 until you have filled your dish with one layer of rolled and filled tortillas
6. Lightly spray the top of this layer with nonstick spray
7. Pour half of enchilada sauce over this bottom layer
8. Repeat steps 2-4 to make second layer of enchiladas
9. Pour remaining sauce over top of second layer and sprinkle with cheese
10. Spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray and cover baking dish
11. Bake 25 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes
12. Serve with sour cream, salsa, cilantro, lettuce, jalepenos, and any of your favorite Mexican toppings!

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When did cupcakes become so popular?  You know what I mean.  I’m referring to the fact that until the past several years, cupcakes were for children’s birthday parties and maybe baby showers.  Today, there are bakeries that ONLY sell cupcakes, several TV shows dedicated to cupcakes, and many restaurants have the small sweet treats on their dessert menus regularly.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am thrilled.  I love cupcakes and enjoy seeing creativity expressed through exotic flavor combinations.

Personally, I give some credit for the cupcake craze to Sex and the City.  In one episode, Miranda and Carrie sit on a New York City street curb eating cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery.  Watching the glamorous characters sink their teeth into the lovely thick pink frosting while discussing their love lives made many fans want to sample the cupcakes themselves.  The official Sex and the City Tour in NYC highlights Magnolia Bakery as one of the stops.  After graduating from college, my dad took me on my first trip to New York to celebrate.  I am a huge Sex and the City fan and was ecstatic when he surprised me with tickets for the tour to see many of the locations made famous by the show.  Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery were included on the tour and it was love at first bite of buttercream!

Today, Magnolia Bakery has several locations.  I have been to New York many times since that first visit and it is my favorite city to travel to.  On many of my visits, Magnolia remains one of my favorite stops.  Although the Bakery makes many types of desserts, such as whoopee pies, cookies and puddings, their chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting are arguably their most coveted sweet treat.  In my opinion, the cupcakes have the perfect cake:frosting ratio which is 2:1.  The cake is light and moist and that combination with the creamy, velvety buttercream is pure bliss.  So light and lovely in fact that one cupcake is never enough. Not only are the sweets scrumptious, but the bakeries themselves are delightful with pastel decor and a retro, yet elegant feel.  They are what a sweet tooth’s dreams are made of.

My husband knows me so well.  We got engaged in New York and then he took me for a cupcake breakfast at Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street the morning after his proposal.  He always knows how to Satisfy My Sweet Tooth.

My family travelled to NYC this past Easter and one of the newer New York locations of Magnolia Bakery at Rockefeller Center was the perfect place for a midnight snack.

Magnolia cupcakes are iconic New York to me.  Next time you are in the City That Never Sleeps, stop for a small treat.  You will not be disappointed.

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