WEEK 3 - Tres Leches Cake

This is the third week of my Major Project and I made a Tres Leches Cake. This cake is very popular all over the world, especially in Latin-America countries, but it has also become famous in the U.S. in the past years. 

The recipe I chose to make is from a Peruvian webpage called Peru Telegraph. The author explains that Tres Leches Cake is not originally from Peru but it is so famous in all South America and Central America that Peruvian people have already made their own recipe by changing some ingredients and parts of the original process.

In the article "Tres Leches Cake History and Recipe" from What's Cooking America, the author describes this cake as follows,

"A dense, moist “three milks” cake topped with a cloud of vanilla whipped cream.  What makes it unusual is that after baked, it is perforated and soaked in a mixture of three different milk products: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk or heavy cream, hence the name Tres Leches".

I used sweetened condensed milk (A) evaporated milk (B),  and whole milk (D) for the milk syrup. I only used the heavy whipping cream (C) for the topping. In other countries they use heavy cream instead of the whole milk in the milk syrup mixture. 

Made with Thinglink

(Click here if you can't see the interactive version of my Thinglink project)

Here is the list of ingredients I needed for this week (I skipped the rum):

Cake:

• 180 g all-purpose flour (1.5 cups)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 pinch of salt
• 150 g white sugar (3/4 cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 80 - 100 ml whole milk (a good 1/3 cup)

Milk Syrup:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (397g / 14oz)
• 300 ml evaporated milk (1 1/3 cups)
• 300 ml whole milk (1 1/3 cups)
• 1 - 2 tablespoons tablespoons of rum (Baileys tastes delicious as well)

Topping:

• 250 ml whipping cream (1 good cup)
• 50 g white sugar (1/4 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• cinnamon

Made with Thinglink
(Click here if you can't see the interactive version of my Thinglink project)

This time I made a video to show you the steps for making a Tres Leches Cake. It was a long process and I made a few adjustments to the original recipe. I have never made a video before but Kizoa was really fun and easy to use. If you can't play the video, click here.

 Made with Kizoa

This cake turned out delicious! I am glad it did because it was a lot of work. 😁

My Tres Teches Cake

WEEK 2 - "Papa a la Huancaina"

For the second week of my Major Project, I decided to make "Papa a la Huancaina." This is a typical Peruvian appetizer. In 196 Flavors, the author described this dish as follows,

"Papa a la Huancaina is an appetizer composed of thickly sliced boiled potatoes that are smothered in a subtly spicy velvety sauce. This traditional recipe offers a balance of cheesy, spicy, salty, bitter, starchy flavors and textures for a delicious result...Huancaina sauce is often found on Peruvian tables as an excellent accompaniment to many other dishes like pasta, fried yucca or chifle (fried plantains) for example".

I used a recipe from Peru Delights, where you can find different original recipes from Peru. For this dish, I needed the following ingredients:

• ½ cup aji amarillo paste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 4 soda crackers
• 8 oz. queso fresco (fresh white cheese)
• Salt
• Iceberg lettuce leaves
• 6 yellow potatoes, boiled and peeled
• Black olives
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut in slices
• Parsley sprigs

                                                               Made with Thinglink

(Click here if you can't see the interactive version of my Thinglink project)

I got all the ingredients easily except for fresh aji amarillo chili peppers, which can't be find in the U.S. I bought ají amarillo paste online, as some articles said that it would work the same way. I also used Russet potatoes instead of yellow potatoes. In the article from The Spruce, the author talked about the importance of ají amarillo for Peruvian cuisine:

"The aji amarillo is a member of capsicum baccatum, one of the five domesticated pepper species, and is grown all over Peru. Aji means chili pepper and amarillomeans yellow in Spanish. This chili is 30,000 to 50,000 on the Scoville Heat unit scale and is considered part of the Peruvian "holy trinity" when it comes to their cuisine, along with garlic and red onion".

There aren't many steps to make "Papa a la Huancaina". I made a Haiku Deck presentation to summarize the process. To access the presentation and change the time interval between slides click here.

Original recipe from Peru Delights

I think this dish turned out very good! I served it as an appetizer but also as a side for spaghetti. I was afraid the sauce wouldn't taste good because I didn't have fresh chili peppers, but it  tasted really good. I can't wait to try the next recipe!

Appetizer: "Papa a la Huancaina"

Spaghetti with "Papa a la Huancaina"

WEEK 1 - "Tallarines Verdes"

So as told you before I decided to learn how to make some Peruvian food for my Major Project! This is the first week of my Major Project and I made a dish called "Tallarines Verdes" (Spaghetti with green sauce). This Peruvian dish is very similar to spaghetti with Italian pesto sauce. However, it has some different ingredients such as evaporated milk and fresh cheese.  

I used a recipe from Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), where you can find recipes and cooking videos from all over the world. This recipe required the following ingredients:

• 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 400 g spaghetti
• 200 g baby spinach leaves
• 3 cups basil leaves
• 125 ml (½ cup) evaporated milk
• 25 g (¼ cup) walnut pieces, toasted
• 150 g queso fresco or feta, crumbled

I don't like walnuts so I decided not to use them this time. Here are the ingredients I bought for this week:

Made with Thinglink
(Click here if you can't see the interactive version of my Thinglink project)

The process to make "Tallarines Verdes" wasn't very difficult. I made an infographic to show you the steps. Click here if you want to see the original infographic.

Made with Canva

Something I liked about this recipe is that it didn't call for a lot of ingredients and they were very easy to find in the supermarket. They weren't expensive either. I have a food processor but I think someone could also use a blender to mix the ingredients.

This recipe turned out really delicious! I can't wait to try the next one and share it with you.

Development of Digital Learning Spaces

As future educators, we know that all our students will not learn the same way. Not only their interests will be different but also their learning styles and needs. Differentiating our teaching strategies is essential to ensure that each of our students can learn and develop their skills. Flexible learning spaces also play an important role in education. They allow students to collaborate with peers and make them feel more motivated to learn, more comfortable when working and more willing to pay attention. In addition to this, flexible learning spaces can give teachers more choices to interact with all the students and allow them to arrange the furniture according to the needs of each specific activity.

In my opinion, flexible learning spaces are very beneficial for students because they allow them to work with others, be part of groups and have more opportunities to learn through a variety of activities. In the video Flexible Learning Environments, they show rolling desks as an example of furniture that is appropriate for a flexible learning environment. This kind of furniture, for example, can make students focus on the activities, have more choices and develop better social skills through the interaction and collaborative work. Students can move around the classroom for group work but they can also work independently when needed. A flexible learning environment can also help suit the activities to their learning styles, as some students will prefer to work sitting while others will prefer to work on the floor or use manipulatives. In the video Flexible Learning Spaces, they explained how to take advantage of these spaces in our classrooms:

“Flexibility and functionality of spaces can be enhanced by innovative and well utilized furniture and information and communications technology (ICT)”.

Teachers need to be aware of the importance of including technology in our classrooms as well as the advantages this brings for both teachers and students. Digital learning spaces are also a way to improve learning spaces. In the 21st century, when almost everyone has a smartphone or a laptop, teachers need to take advantage of it and use this to improve the teaching and learning processes. An example of digital learning spaces is online classes. They aren’t only cheaper for students and schools, but they can also give students the opportunity to decide when they want to learn and how.

In the article How Learning Environments Are Changing, the author explains some other benefits of online classes:

“Online classes offer a number of benefits: personalized, flexible learning approaches, access to courses that are over-capacity, and collaboration with other institutions, for starters. They’re also essential for distance learning for students in rural areas, with special needs, or those being homeschooled”.

Digital learning spaces can also have a few disadvantages; for example, parents need to help monitor their children’s use of technology regularly and for some students working alone could be not very motivating. Also, all teachers need to keep up with the newest apps and technology devices. However, there are more advantages than disadvantages about digital learning spaces. Students can have access to information all the time and everywhere they go; they can decide where and when they want to study; they can choose how they want to do their work and what apps they want to use to complete a task.

In my opinion, working both online and face-to-face is the best option. Even though students have access to everything they need online, school plays an important role in socialization. Students need to interact with peers and develop social skills. This can’t happen if they do everything online. A balance between both can be very beneficial for teachers and students, and can ensure the development of our students’ skills. Educators need to enhance the use of technology in our classrooms to give students more opportunities to succeed, but in order to do this we need to be trained and keep up to date with technology. We need to effectively integrate technology into any subject we teach to make teaching more motivating and meaningful for everyone.