Tiramisu

   Tiramisu , which means 'cheer me up'. Actual translation would be  - 'lift me up'. The reason for this name I believe is because of usage of coffee, which supposed to lift your mood and make you happy. 
   This created recipe is the original recipe used without any liquor, which has been created in Sienna.  It is very easy recipe to follow and easy to multiply or divide the quantity for your need.  


All you need is : 

3 eggs, separated, at room temperature
3 tbsp of sugar
300g of Mascarpone cheese
packet of Italian Savoiardi biscuits
good quality of coffee
cocoa powder of grated chocolate

All you do is : 

1. Separate the eggs in different bowls. Using the egg whites first, whisk them until stiff, halfway through add pinch of salt. (inserted spoon should stay stiffed in, it means, it in required consistency). Leave it aside when needed. 
2. Add sugar to egg yolks and whisk until creamy. Add soft cheese and whisk further for few seconds. 
3. Then carefully add half of egg whites to egg yolk mixture and gently with back of the spoon fold in the egg whites to bring in air until folded and repeat the same with rest of egg whites. 
4. Lay biscuits in dish neatly. Then pour over enough black coffee to soak them. Then spread over the cream in thick layer, then lay biscuits opposite way and repeat the process until you use all your biscuits and cream. 

Leave the dessert in fridge to soak up for at least 24h. When ready to serve sprinkle over cocoa powder or grated chocolate.
Bon Apetit! :)              



P.S. If you can't find good quality Savoiardi biscuits you can easily use sponge fingers or even sponge cake which has been cut in thick strips.                                

                                      Stefanie's Chocolate Fudge Cake. 

   I did learn how to bake this from very passionate Italian baker. In the actual process she shared some tips and gave me loads of advice. Herself she owns a little cake shop in England, Bradford - ''Koffie & Cake''. The interior inside its beautiful and very welcoming, all the cakes and meals are home made, which means you're in treat for sure!
  As Stefanie explains this recipe is very different from usual one, and you will see along you will make it yourself. Me myself I am total fudge cake virgin, so I wouldnt know. But hey, i believe her :)




Let's get started! 

All you need is :

340g Callebaut dark Belgian chocolate (60%)
100g hot water
175g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
200g plain yogurt
3 eggs, at room temperature
3 level spoons of cocoa powder
1 tsp of good quality vanilla paste
250g plain flour
pinch of salt
sachet of vaniglinato
60g double cream



All you do is :

      Preheat oven to 180C (fan oven to 160C). Prepare two small loose bottomed cake tins, grease bottom and sides with butter and line with baking paper.
      In a small bowl you need 140g of dark chocolate, and pour over 100g boiling water and leave it when needed. In another bigger bowl cut in butter and sift in caster sugar. Mix together with electric whisk while texture is even. Add eggs one by one ( the best method by adding eggs is before adding them in bowl crack them in separate mug, so you'll be able to see if the egg is good or not, if not, use another egg, surely you don't wanna make another sugar and butter mix ). Then whisk further for a minute. Then stir that chocolate with hot water mixture while its smooth and looks like melted chocolate. Pour this mixture and cocoa powder into sugar and butter bowl, mix further with whisk. Add plain yogurt and continue to whisk. Add vanilla paste. Add straight into bowl sift in all flour along with vaniglinato ( you can get them online - http://www.capriflavors.com ) or instead you can use 1.5 tsp of baking soda. Then again mix further with electric whisk until mixture is even and smooth.
     Divide mixture in these two prepared cake tins, smooth the top and put in the oven. (Good tip that Stefanie gave me is, before putting cakes in oven line a tray with water right down the bottom of the oven, it will make the cake more moist, and wont dry out, which, by the way, totally works!! )
     Bake the cakes for 40 minutes or until wooden skewer comes out clean.
     Take the cakes out and remove from the tins and leave it to rest and cool for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile you can make Ganache cream, which is slightly different and lighter in texture.
In a small saucepan bring to boil the double cream and add on rest of 200g dark chocolate, and mix it through with spatula until you get smooth enough baste to cover your cake.
When the cakes are cool, put one on the platter and put a bit of cream on top to cover it, not too much, otherwise it will come out from sides. Put other cake on top, press it down slightly and pour rest of the Ganache cream on top and smooth it all over the rest of the cake and sides too with palette knife.

If you want to do some decoration on with some white chocolate, for example writings for birthdays etc., you have to let the cream set and cool. One way is to do some decoration is to do them on the baking paper and let it set and peel of the paper and put the white chocolate on top of the cake.

And my personal verdict for this cake is - its beautifully moist and light, yet very chocolaty :)

Azevias de Gila (Sweet Pumpkin Pockets)

     

      This is a classic Portuguese Christmas dish for a dessert of pastry pockets stuffed with a sweet pumpkin and lemon filling. Traditionally this is made with a type of pumpkin known in Portuguese as gila or chila. This is Cucurbita argyrosperma variety 'Pima Bajo Segualca' summer squash which has a pale flesh that is more fibrousy that other squashes. The ripe fruit can be stored for up to 6 months.

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

250g plain flour

75g cold lard or butter

1 egg

pinch of salt

a little cold water to bind the dough

For the Filling:

250g cooked sweet pumpkin flesh (boiled until tender and chopped)

150g sugar

freshly-grated zest of 1 lemon

pinch of cinnamon

2 egg yolks

50g ground almonds

icing sugar, to dust

Method:

   Begin by cooking the sweet pumpkin. When done make the pastry. Combine the flour and salt in a bowl. Dice the lard (or butter) and rub into the flour mix with your fingertips to form a dough.
   Add the egg and stir to mix then add just enough water (if needed) to bring the ingredients together as a dough. Cover in clingfilm (plastic wrap) then chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
   Now turn to the filling. Turn the cooked pumpkin into a food processor then add the lemon zest, sugar, cinnamon, egg yolks and ground almonds. Pulse until smooth (if necessary add a little water) then turn the mixture into a bowl.
   Remove the dough from from the refrigerator and turn out onto a lightly-floured work surface. Flour a rolling pin and use to roll out the dough very thinly. Use the rim of a glass or a pastry cutter to excise rounds from the pastry (re-roll the remaining scraps and cut more rounds from them).
   Place a teaspoon (or a tablespoon) of the filling on one half of the pastry then fold over and seal to form half-moons. Pierce the top with the tines of a fork then either deep fry or bake the pockets until golden brown and cooked through. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Apricot and nut biscotti

Hello, my fellow bakers. In the some past weeks I've been obsessing with biscotti baking. I just love that crumbly texture and taste of filling I chose to put in. One day I just googled the recipies of biscotti - oh my word - they are more than men in the world :) I'd really love to if you'd post some of your favourite biscotti recipies, I'll try them and let you know how it went.
   Here I'm gonna post my far most favourite recipe!

       

250g plain flour
250g caster sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
50g dried sweetened strawberries, chopped
100g dried apricots, chopped
50g medjod dates, pitted and chopped
75g shelled pistachio nuts
50g whole blanched almonds
50g shelled hazelnuts
zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
2. Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the half of the beaten eggs and mix well, then add half of what's left and mix again. Now add the last quarter a little bit at a time until the dough takes shape but isn't too wet ( you may not need to use all of the eggs). Add the fruits, nuts and lemon zest and mix well.
3. Divide the mixture into six, roll into sausage shapes about 3cm in diameter and place at least 6cm apart on lined baking tray (wetting your hands before rolling these helps to prevent the dough sticking). Lightly flatten the "sausages".
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes to cool and firm up.
5. Using a serrated knife, cut the biscotti on an angle into slices 5mm thick. Lay the slices back on the baking tray. Return to the oven and cook for 8 minutes, then turn the slices over and cook for a further 10-15 minutes or until a pale golden color. Cool on wire rack, then store in airtight jars. 

P.S. I did not use all of the sugar what's shown in recipe, biscotti in the end came out quite sweet, but if you like them sweet do use it all. 

 

Anzac biscuits

         Funnily enough, I don't really like porridge, but I love oats in biscuits, flapjacks and other desserts. These recipies are quite delicious, they disappeared fast!!! So make sure you make more of them if you have big family or just lot of hungry friends :)

85g porridge oats

85g desiccated coconut

100g plain flour

100g caster sugar

100g butter, plus extra for greasing

1tbsp golden syrup

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Heat oven to 180C. Put the oats, coconut, flour and sugar in a bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the golden syrup. Add the bicarbonate of soda to 2tbsp boiling water, then stir into the melted butter and syrup mixture.
2. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter ad syrup mixture. Stir gently to combine.
3. Put dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on the buttered baking sheets, about 2.5 cm apart to allow room for spreading. Bake in batches for 8-10 min until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Chocolate box

Hello, everyone. This is my first blog. Here I'm gonna post some tried baking recipes from the best baking recipe books. For example, this recipe is from "Decorating Biscuits". I just loooove these, as well my friends. It's gonna take quite a time and bit of patience, but it's well worth it. This chocolate box can easily make a great gift...because who doesn't love chocolate, right? :) When I made this, all my kitchen was covered in chocolate and smelled of chocolate... felt a bit of like in fairytale of Hans and Greta in sweety house :) I think it would be great to include the kids in preparation and coating the biscuits, it's gonna be so much fun for them. Use your imagination to coat them in chocolate, just let to alternate the variety of chocolate. They tasted great when they were completely set and with hot cup of coffee. Let me know if you tried, and how did it go?

So, you will need:                                             for icing and decoration:

60g butter                                                        150g white chocolate
175g self raising flour                                        150g milk chocolate
25g good-quality cocoa powder                        150g plain chocolate ( at least 70% cocoa solids)
60g light muscavado sugar                                 cocoa powder, for dusting
2 egg yolks
60g black treacle/molasses

1. Finely chop the butter and put this, along the flour and cocoa powder, into a food processor. Blend until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, egg yolks and black treacle/molasses to form a dough.
2. Roll the mixture under the palms of your hands into a thick, even sausage, about 30cm long and 4 cm wide. Neaten the edges of the sausage, then wrap in clingfilm and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C and grease a large baking sheet.
3. Use a sharp knife to cut the mixture into 8mm thick slices and transfer them to a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until slighty risen, the transfer pieces to a wire rack to cool.
4. Finely grate 15g white chocolate. Melt the remaining chocolate, and milk and plain chocolate into seperate bowls. Line a tray with greaseproof paper.
5. Dip a third of the biscuits into the melted white chocolate, allowing excess chocolate to drip into the bowl. Tranfer to tray and sprinkle with grated white chocolate.
6. Place the spoonful of melted and plain chocolate into seperate piping bags and keep in warm place. Coat half the biscuits in the remaiming milk chocolate and half in plain chocolate, using a fork, and tranfer to the paper-lined tray. 
7. Snip the merest tip of the piping bags. Scribble freehand lines of milk chocolate over a each plain covered biscuits. 
8. Pipe swirls of plain chocolate over the milk chocolate-covered biscuits and if you wish, you can decorate with chocolate coffee beans or chocolate buttons. Leave the tray of biscuits in a cool place (not in fridge) to set (takes a few hours).

P.S.
I usually use for baking unsalted butter, if you can take a hold of them, if not, salted butter is ok.
Try to use for these biscuits very-good quality chocolates with less sugar and saturated fat content.
If you like sweet biscuits use all 60g sugar, but for me it felt a bit too sweet, so I would put a bit less.
Make sure you store them in airtight container in slighlty cool place.