For last Mothers' Day, I decided to make something special. My mom is the most kind, caring, and selfless person I know. She does so much for me and my family that words are unable to fully express how amazing she is. Back to the gift, I wanted to make an edible arrangements, since she likes fruits and chocolate. Here is what the final product looked like.

I used grapes, pineapple, strawberries, and melted chocolate chips.




I love to bake/cook basically anything that is interesting or just tastes really good! This time, I tried making my own recipe (using online references and changing portions/ingredients). It was for my mom's birthday, which we celebrated early due to it being on a school day. I made mini pies with graham cracker crust and either meringue or almond pudding filling with garnishes. They were pretty tasty and not very hard to make!

Graham Cracker Mini Pies

Yield: 10 mini pies

*Complete in this order

Graham Cracker Crust

6 crushed graham crackers (93 g)

2 tbsp butter, melted (28 g)

Directions

Mix graham crackers with butter. Line any pan with 10 cupcake liners, fill with graham mixture. Press into mold with spoon and bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes.

Custard Filling

1 egg

2 Meyer lemons, squeezed

4 tbsp sugar (56 g)

Directions

In a pan, over medium heat, dissolve sugar into lemon juice. Beat the egg in separate bowl, and slowly combine lemon into the egg stirring continuously. Beat mixture for a minute and pour back into pan. On low heat, stir constantly until custard is thickened. Transfer to bowl and cool. Place into 5 of the graham cracker crusts.

Pudding Filling

1 cup almond milk (240 ml)

2 tbsp cornstarch (15 g)

1 tbsp cocoa powder (14 g)

2 tbsp sugar (28 g)

Optional

1/4 banana sliced into 10 pieces

5 almonds (4 slivers each)

Directions

Put almond milk, cocoa powder, sugar, and cornstarch into a sauce pan. Combine until fully dissolved. Place over medium heat and stir constantly until pudding is thickened (10-15 minutes). Place pudding, while still warm, into remaining graham cracker crusts. Lastly, place 2 banana slices and 1 almond worth of slivers onto each pudding pie.

Meringue

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar (104 g)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (.84 g)

Directions

Place egg whites and tartar into bowl (mixture will need space to puff up). Place bowl into a larger bowl filled with 1 inch (2.5 cm) of boiling water. Beat egg whites until foamy, then slowly add sugar while beating. Once sugar is incorporated, mix eggs lightly until mixture is about 160 f (to kill salmonella). Take off heat for 3-5 minutes, then place it on top of the custard pies. Optional, blowtorch the meringue. Be careful not to start a fire.

Enjoy!~