Cranberry and orange cake...to get into Christmas mood

by Karolina, 22nd December

It's been quite a while since I was here...I wish I had time machine...like a pasta maker :) So I could produce some more of it! But before I find one (preferably on sale :)), I'll have to do with these 24 hours per day.

I have sooo many Christmas ideas and inspirations...but I guess I won't be able to share it this year. A bit too late now....time ticking to Christmas.
And don't get me wrong - I'm excited :) I just wish I had couple more weeks left....
Oh well...next time!

So now, just quickly  lovely cranberry, orange and nuts cake that would be lovely for Christmas.

The general recipe for this cake comes from lovely Joy the Baker.
She uses pecans and coffee in her cake. I replaced the pecans with honey covered peanuts and omitted the coffee. And not streusel (sorry Joy - that was too much for me :)).
You can either go with Joy's lovely recipe or just change it a little bit like I did.

What I really like in this cake is that is made with orange juice which keeps it very moist and tangy and sweet at the same time.

Check it out!
And keep warm :)

Chocolate pear molten cakes...

by Karolina, 18th November 2012

I have a sweet tooth...I really do.
It's really difficult for me to say no to the chocolate or cake.Or chocolate cake in that matter...

I do promise myself to not eat sweets anymore...but then again I find recipes like this one:
http://ourchocolateshavings.blogspot.com/2009/10/chocolate-pear-cakes.html

And tell me how can I resist?

Especially that this recipe involves lovely Fall produce - pears.
Pears and chocolate - another match made in heaven!

The recipe is fairly simple and I'm quoting after Chocolate Shavings with a few small changes:

Chocolate Pear Cakes
by Chocolate Shavings (my comments in Italics)
Serves 2

1/2 stick of butter (I used about 50g)
2 tablespoons of lightly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of cake flour
1 good pinch of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of milk
2 pears
Pistachios (optional)
Preheat your oven to 350F (180 C). Add the softened butter and sugar to a medium-size mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the egg and beat until just incorporated. Using a small whisk, whisk in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter batter in small batches, whisking the mixture until homogeneous. Whisk in the milk.

Peel the pears making sure to leave the steam intact. Using a small knife or melon baller (I used apple corer), carefully scoop out the core of the pear leaving the pear intact. Ladle the batter evenly into 2 individual ramekins. Form a well in the middle of the batter with the back of a spoon and place the pear inside the well. Gently press down so that the batter settles around the pear. (It worked better for me to first place the pears into ramekins and then cover them with  the dough)
Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the batter is set. The inside of the batter will be gooey so the toothpick test will not be a good indication here. Let the cakes cool and serve with chocolate ganache.
I added some crushed pistachios as well for extra boost and pinch of colour.

If you like gooey, chocolaty desserts - this one is for you. With a little less guilt afterwards - you're eating pear after all :)

Purple rain...

by Karolina, 28th October 2012

"Autumn had come, giving not a damn for the inconvenience it caused"- these words by Andrey Kurkov say it all...

The short days have come bringing the chill with it. Beautiful Indian summer is over and rainy, grey time had taken over :(

To fight cold weather blues I made these...

Purple madeleines with a hint of lavender.

As a base I used Dorie Greenspan's recipe for madeleines. After all if you learn, learn from the best!

However I was making violet madeleines, so I infused the butter with little bit of dried lavender and for the colour I used a few drops of coloring. I didn't want to have just one plain colour. So I added tiny drop of colouring when the dough was already in the madeleine pan and then swirled it using wooden stick. Like this I got pretty purple swirls.

I'm really happy with the result. I got nice fluffy madeleines with hint of lavender which reminded me of summer and quite quirky look :) Together with nice cup of tea made be forget the weather outside - so definitely reccomended.

And how do you like my madeleines?

What is your way to beat autumn blues? I'd love to hear from you!

Lavender fields

by Karolina, 30th September 2012

I love the smell of lavender. I use lavender soap and air freshener. I have lavender on the balcony to remind me of Provence.

unfortunately this is not my garden...

But can you imagine -  I have never tried lavender in the kitchen!
I had to change it quickly...especially seeing some mouth-watering recipes online.
I managed to get dried lavender at the local farmers' market and went back home to experiment :)

So far, so good :) I made lovely lavender creme brulee using this recipe from No onions please.
Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to make any pictures...sorry...

Then I tried it again and again and again in different combinations, using different ingredients...

Today, I wanted to show you my super quick lavender peach tart.
This was my variation on the subject, as I needed some dessert and needed it now!
And that's how this tarte came to life...

Quick peach-lavender tarte

2 peaches (pitted and cut into wedges)
1 pack of puff pastry
1 cup of custard
1 teaspoon of dried lavender

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Roll out the pastry and fill the tarte (quiche) tin with it. Make little holes with fork or fill the pan with baking beans. Bake the pastry for about 15 minutes until starting to brown.
Fill the pastry with custard and arrange the peaches. Sprinkle the top with lavender.
Put back into the oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Done :)

Final effect was simple, rustic tarte with lovely sweet, peachy interior with delicate flavour of lavender.

Do you cook with lavender? I'll be happy to hear what you've tried to do with lavender.



Summer chocolates...

by Karolina, 26th July 2012

Nice chocolates, no?

OK, I have to be honest...these are not really chocolates...
These are my summer chocolates :)
Packed with fruits, yoghurt and what makes is even more appropriate for summer - they're COLD!
So, probably I should have called it frozen yoghurt in form of chocolates...but "summer chocolates" sounds better. Don't you think?

Why did I make it?
Because summer is like box of chocolates :)

To be honest, I had some leftover blueberry smoothie which didn't fit into the bottle....and then this amazingly thought came to my mind..."Where is my chocolate mold?".

That's how these little babies came to life.

And you know what....I loved it :)

Because it was pretty much an improvisation, I can't give you exact measurements when it comes to the amounts of needed ingredients...but I'll give you rough idea. I hope you don't mind too much and this will actually push you to experiment a little bit.

So, for summer chocolates (yes, I still think it's a good name) you'll need:

- blueberries (handful or 2)

- natural yoghurt (best would be Greek one)

- honey or sugar (to taste)

Blend all together , making sure that you have smooth cocktail. Pour into silicon chocolate mould or silicon ice mould. Freeze...(a few hours should be enough)

And what to do with these?

Well...You can of course fool everyone around that these are real chocolates and wait until they bite in.... :)

OK, just an idea ;)

But even better will be to :

- add it instead of ice-cream on top of your warm  pie and watch how it slowly melts...mmmm

- put it on top of fruits (for example bananas) for extra creaminess

- blend a few of them for instant cold smoothie goodness

- mix in with your muesli and milk for added flavour

Just a few ideas...

I'm pretty sure you can come up with some more (I'd love to hear about them - so please put a comment below).

Have some "summer chocolates" with me!

I(ce) S(cream)

by Karolina, 11th July 2012

I scream ice-cream! :)
It's been pretty hot here in the last couple of weeks..not that I'm complaining - sunny weather is always good. However, the heat makes me want ice-ceam. Very badly...
I should/try to avoid zillions of  calories hidden in my favouite summer treats...so I tried a few "healthy" ice-cream. Don't worry, it's not one of these things where "healthy" mean "yucky" :) In this case it means "yummy"!

These are my Blueberry Yoghurt Lollies. Not only it's nice and healthy, but easy as well. Seriously!

All you need is:

- blueberies (couple of handfuls)

- natural yoghurt (fat free or normal)

- honey (if you like it sweeter)

You just blend it all. Of course you can just drink it as smoothie and it will be good enough. But for the ice-cream lovers I propose next step...

Pour the mixture into ice tray and pop into the freezer. After half hour/hour insert the lolly sticks (or coffee stirrers). Leave it in the freezer for a few hours and then enjoy :)

To take them out of the tray, insert the tray for a few seconds into warm water.

Note: of course you can make it in the ice-lollies foms. I did it in ice tray because:

1. I didn't have the forms at that point yet

2. I wanted to have smaller portions as a little snack

I think they make great summer party treat as well. Of course timing is everything when it comes to ice-cream, so make sure you don't take them out too ealy. Have a tray of ice at hand as well.

And what is your favourite summer treat?

Speedy Hostess (2)

by Karolina, 8th July 2012

Speedy Hostess is back :)
Today, I wanted to show you a perfect entertaining idea which will make your party preparation or last minute entertaining stress-free.

Pretty little pastries...Quick and cute.
This is really no-brainer.
A few simple ingredients combined together + pretty presentation.

OK, this involves cooking shortcut, kind of baking cheating...Store-bought pastry shells. I always keep pastry shells in the cupboard. They're life-savers for last-minute parties! Seriously, if you don't have them in your pantry yet, go and get them...now!
Don't get me wrong, I really like making things from scratch, but sometimes little shortcut means that you have a few more minutes to prepare something yummy or that you actually have time to do your hair before guests arrive, or just that you have 5 minutes before the party to chill out with glass of wine instead of frantically running around the kitchen.

So, how to create these tiny beauties?

It's just assembling job really...(and simpler than Ikea stuff, I promise :))

You need:
- pastry shells
- whipped cream or mascarpone
- fruits for topping

Fill the shells with cream or cream cheese (depending what you have on hand) and top with a few fruits. I used variety of fruits to have nice colour palette - blueberries, red currents, strawberries. But actually any berries will be great. In winter when it's much more difficult to get hold of nice fruits , I would use cut pieces of peaches in syrup or even dried fruits. Really, the choice is huge and sky is the limit when it comes to different variations. Arrange cups nicely , decorate with fruits or leaves (I used some red currants and mint leaves). And you're ready to go!
5 minutes and pretty little tea snack or dessert buffet option is ready.

Do you use any shortcuts in the kitchen?
I'd love to hear about it from you.

Cool Brittania, part 2

by Karolina, 15th June 2012

This is the last post from my Diamond Jubilee inspired posts. I can't promise thought that it's the last of Britain and British  in here :) 
Today... tea cake :) Literally a tea cake...

Recipe for this cake is from Moje Wypieki blog with small changes (see my notes)

Lady Grey tea cake

Ingredients:

• 200 g flour
• 50 g potato flour (note: you can use maizena or cornflour instead)
• 150 g caster sugar
• 130 g butter or margarine
• 4 eggs
• 4 tbs milk (note: I usually need more0
• 2 ts baking powder
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• 3 ts dry Lady Grey team - about 2 tea (I usually use 2 teabags of Earl Grey)

* note: cake on the pictures is made from 2/3 of the above ingredients. I made smaller version (ran out of eggs :))

Method:

• Beat butter/margarine until fluffy. Add sugar and keep mixing. Add eggs - one by one while mixing
• Flours sift together with baking powder and mix in tea. 
• Add to butter mix alternating with milk, while mixing. Add vanilla extract and mix.
• Butter bundt cake form  and fill 3/4 with the cake
• Bake around 30-40 minutes in 190º (first 15 minutes in temperature 160ºC).
•  Take out, cool and Enjoy :)

I really like this cake as it's not too sweet, moist but not heavy. And best of all - nobody can guess what's the secret ingredient :) I had once professional chef asking me what was inside - because he couldn't put his finger on this specific taste.

To make this cake little more dressed up for the occasion I added Union Jack bunting.

This bunting took me less than 10 minutes to make. I printed some Union Jack pattern, cut triangles from it. Glued triangles to get double-sided bunting :)  Then glued triangles together and to the wooden skewers. Ta-da! :)

So I leave you with this lovely tea cake and (with the special dedication to all my British friends) - Land of Hope and Glory from last year's Proms.

Enjoy!

Little Miss Pea party/part 3...

by Karolina, 22nd May 2012

...or dessert table :)
Yay! Probably my favourite part of any party ;)
Desserts tables have become extremely popular lately (thank you Amy Atlas for being such an amazing inspiration!) and now we can't really imagine a party without one.
Of course this party being baby shower just HAD to have a dessert table

This is the table I made for Little Miss Pea baby shower. Of course I kept the green theme here.
Check some details below:

These are simple butter cookies covered in white chocolate coloured green. They look messy, but that's how I like it. It's keeping green theme of the party at the same time I think they're very "baby" style :)


Btw, I love that polka-dot washi tape :)

 This is my other favourite - chocolate lollipops with pistachios. They were fun and quite easy to make with good quality melted chocolate.
And that's how they looked at the end...

I used piece of Styrofoam covered in green polka dot paper to hold them. I think they will be great for any kids party - although on our party shower they were quite a hit as well :)

Centerpiece of dessert table was this sponge cake with pistachio cream and marzipan "peas". how do you like it?
The biggest hit though were these:

Lime baby cakes with whipped cream and strawberries. I didn't expect them to be that popular but they were definitely a bit hit. If you'd like to make them, check this link.

I really like this hint of red on the green cakes :) How about you?

Let me know how you enjoyed by green dessert table

Strawberry fields...(with rosemary)

by Karolina, 19th April 2012

Spring is here!!! Yay!!!
Spring symbolizes for me everything nice and pretty - my birthday, flowering fruit trees, sun rays waking up all creatures and plants around, new and colourful fruits and veggies...
I could probably give up all other seasons for Spring - mild & nice Spring.
Are you fan of Spring as well?

I would like to show you today little breakfast/dessert recipe.
It's a celebration of my favourite colour - Red :) and even better - it has strawberries in!

I like in this recipe for its simplicity but at the same time refined taste.

It combines cheese (Philadelphia style or any similar cheese), strawberries and....rosemary syrup.

Yep...rosemary, you read it right. 

First time I tasted combination of sweet with rosemary was in cute little cafe in Krakow where they served raspberry mousse with rosemary. It intrigued me...I tried it..and I was caught...Absolutely exquisite combination!

So this time I decided to try it in a little bit different combination.

You know what you're thinking - rosemary syrup - it sounds like some awful cough syrup.I promise - it is not. It smells divine and is excellent addition to cocktails and fruits.

First the syrup - really easy to make.

I usually do in proportions 1:1 - sugar + water and add a few sprigs of rosemary. Let it simmer until the sugar is dissolved, cool down, take out rosemary and...ready :)

Check the recipes for simple rosemary syrup here or here

Once we have syrup ready...time for yummy cheese delight

Strawberry cheese with rosemary syrup

250 g cheese

a few strawberries

2-3 tbs rosemary single syrup

Mix the cheese to fluff it a bit, add syrup spoon by spoon until well combined. 

Cut strawberries into chunks or slices and add to the cheese mixture. 

If you like it very sweet sprinkle with confectionery sugar.

Enjoy!

Tell me how you like it. 

I'm really, really curious how you'd like the combination of fruit and rosemary syrup.  

This will be excellent with rasberries too...I'll definitely try when raspberries will be in season.

Bon appetit!