Even before the quarantine, I’m sure that most of us have spent hours upon hours staring at our phone screens just to procrastinate and do our homework the day that it’s due. Whether your platform of choice is Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or Facebook, that platform of choice has quickly become all of them. But one that has been especially on the rise, is of course,Tik Tok. 

     I haven’t dared to download the app. Yet somehow, I still come across hundreds of Tik Toks. But, I have to admit, the food related tik toks may have caught a little too much of my attention. For this reason I tried out three popular recipes to taste and decide if they were worthy of making them again. 

     I will be rating them on a scale of 1-5 based on taste, presentation, texture, and level of difficulty

note* recipes are found below ratings

Dalgona (whipped) Coffee

Rating: 5

     I had doubts about this one at first, but I was more than impressed as soon as I took the first sip. I found it very easy to make and even easier to memorize (I’ve already made several). The key is to make sure that you mix the coffee topping very well, if you don’t then the coffee or sugar may not dissolve all the way. It is not very strong but it can easily be adjusted to your preferences. I found the proportions to be just right for my kind of iced coffee. The whipped coffee brings a delightful overall smoothness to the traditional coffee that gives already addicting coffee an even greater amount of addiction. 

Churros

Rating: 4

     This recipe was easier than I thought it’d be. It took me less than an hour to make and the texture of the churros were crispy and just right. I shaped my churros in spheres because I didn’t having a piping bag or star tip on hand but it didn’t affect the texture and they looked just fine. The only thing that was a miss for me was the taste; it was a bit bland, but that’s an easy fix. I think adding a bit more vanilla or filling them with caramel or chocolate would bring out the flavor. 

Fluffy Pancakes

Rating: 1

     These not only took me over an hour to make but they also happened to be the absolute worst pancakes I have had in my life. In fact, I think it’s an insult to call these pancakes. The “pancakes” were appealing to look at for about two minutes; after that they deflated and crinkled up like raisins. The “pancakes” themselves tasted like eggs. I couldn’t taste anything else but the slight amount of syrup that I had drizzled. The only thing that prevented me from rating this a zero was the texture. It wasn’t the fluffiest but it was still a bit nice. Would I ever encourage anyone to make these? To simply put it, I don’t think that’s a real question. 

Dalgona (fluffy) Coffee

Ingredients: 2 tbsp hot water, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp instant coffee powder, milk to serve, ice to serve

Directions: 

1. In a bowl combine hot water, coffee, and sugar 

2. Whisk with a hand or electric mixer until fluffy

3. Fill cup with desired milk and ice

4. Top cup with coffee mixture

Churros

Ingredients: 2 cups flour, 2 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 1 pinch of salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 1 cinnamon stick, oil (recipe didn’t specify), cinnamon powder and sugar for coating

Directions: 

1. In a pot heat water until boiling

2. Add in sugar and cinnamon stick, salt, vanilla, and butter

3. Remove cinnamon and add flour

4. Remove pot from heat and set aside

5. Whisk eggs and quickly mix into pot 

6. Scoop mixture into piping bag

7. Turn on stove to medium high and heat oil

8. Pipe mixture into pan and fry churros until golden brown

9. Remove churros and coat in cinnamon sugar 

Fluffy Pancakes

Ingredients: sugar (video did not specify amount but I used 2 tbsp), 2 eggs, 4 ½ tsp flour, ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 pinch of salt, 1 tsp water

Directions: 

1. Separate egg yolks and egg whites and place them into two different bowls

2. Pour in the milk, vanilla extract, and salt in the bowl with yolks and whisk 

3. Add in flour and baking powder and stir until combined then leave aside 

4. Whisk egg whites while gradually adding in sugar until stiff peaks are formed

5. Gently fold egg whites into the first mixture until fully incorporated

6. Turn on stove to low heat and butter pan

7. Place 2 scoops of the batter on the pan then cover with lid for 4 minutes

8. Uncover lid and place a second scoop of batter on top of each pancake and flip carefully. Add in water to the pan. 

9. Remove pancakes from pan and add toppings