Air Fryer Nation

 Air fryers have taken the culinary world by storm. It;s a must have for any home chef and makes cooking  and now baking easy. it's rising in popularity because of this.

Christina Morales , a regular contributor to the Wednesday New York Times Food section wrote about this fantastic machine in today's section.Most home chefs like myself use them more than we do our ovens (I only use my oven now for baking Christmas cookies and holiday roasts).  Everything can be made in them as more and more functions are being added. Hard to believe that the air fryer is not that old.It was invented by inventor Fred van der Weij in the Netherlands in 2005. He was looking for a way to make fries t home.A convection oven dried them out. It took hum three years to develop a prototype  for his egg shaped fryer, Philips produced it and it made its' debut at the Internationale Funkausstelung, a major consumer electronics fair in Berlin. Soon major appliance companies like Cuisiinart, Ninja, Cosori and Instant Brands quickly introduced models.The air fryer is so popular now  that they're are even vlogs and cookbooks dedicated to it. America went wild for them  thanks to being gadget crazy.

Ms. Morales includes two recipes.One is for an easy chicken parm along with another for a cheesecake! Yes, many home chefs are baking in air fryers. It's the usual recipe for the parm which involves dipping the chicken breasts  first into eggs then in the batter of bread crumbs, Parmesan and seasonings. It's a quick fry, but you will have to fry them in batches. Then it's spreading the marinara and sprinkling the breasts with shredded mozzarella cheese. It's cooked again until the crust is a deep brown. Ms. Morales recommends serving it with more sauce and any kind of pasta but you can also put in on Italian bread as a sandwich.  The cheese cake which turns out without cracks or flaws is the classic recipe  The graham cracker crust is made first and pressed into a spring form pan  then in the air fryer basket. The cheesecake batter is poured over that, almost hitting the rim of the pan. it's baked at 300 degrees Farenheit for twenty-five to thirty minutes. Cherry pie filling can be poured over it but you can also use pineapple or chocolate syrup too,

The air fryer is here to stay. There's so many dishes we can make in it from savory to sweet. Get one today and discover how great it is.

Cake Pops Pop

There's a new treat phenomenon hitting restaurants and parties - cake pops. These fun yummy takes on classic lollipops are now easy to make. Once a domain for only gourmet bakers . they're now being created for something as simple as a family dessert or holiday party.

The treat is only a few years old and it's the first sweet that received its' buzz through social media. People gobbled up this idea of a fun cake that's not messy to eat and easy enough for little hands to hold and bite. Restaurants started making their version , first using cheese cake which can be scooped into small orbs using melon ballers. It was then used on regular cake and the next step was a cake ball maker. This last looks like a waffle iron except that it has a mold pocked like a golf ball's surface. Another lookalike section is put over that and then pops baked.

Like cupcakes, cake pops can be made in a variety of flavors using any cake mix. . Bakers can vary using marble and carrot mixes and even add a squirt of jam inside for a surprise. The cakes are them dipped in melted chocolate or frosted with a regular bought or homemade frosting. Luckily there are You Tube videos that help neophytes with icing their first batch. If you're making cake pops for the holidays think about attaching two balls together to form snowmen or even penguins. There are so many ways in which to present them for any holiday. They can be dipped in pastel white chocolate for Easter or frosted in orange to make cute pumpkin pops for Halloween.Cake pops also make great favors at showers and weddings too.

Cake pops are the latest craze that foodies are going wild over. Now they can be made as easily as cookies, thanks to pop makers. They're a fun spin on traditional cake and a perfect sweet for the upcoming holidays.