Tuesday, May 25, 2010

TWD : Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie


Spike of
spikebakes chose this wonderful no bake recipe this week and even if I have a wonderful ice cream place just around the corner I decided to make Dorie's Chocolate Ganache ice cream (wonderful !!).


I used an unsweetened coconut for the crust letting the cookies be the only sweetener and actually made half the crust dose.
I had problems figuring out how much is a pint of chocolate ice cream and in the end eyeballed it when adding it to the bananas.
I loved my slice: we'll see tonight what the rest of the family thinks.
Please visit Spike for the recipe and the other bakers for more Ice cream pie.

BBA Slow and Steady :Light Wheat Bread


I had baked this bread sometime ago and posting about it I'm thinking about baking it again. It is a simple and straight forward recipe good for sandwiches and toasted for breakfast. Lately I've been making lots of jams and marmalades to enjoy with all these breads !
Please visit the rest of the group ( Kayte, Nancy, Cathy,Audrey,Jessica, Melissa, Wendy, Di, Karen, Natalia,Sarah,Margaret, Tracey, and Leslie ) and the original BBA site for more bread.


Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Cake Slice : Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes



This Month the Cake slice group voted for this triple lemony cake... except I didn't want to eat it all and made cupcakes that are easier to carry around in my apartment building.
The cake is made with egg whites only and is quite pale but very moist and lovely in txture due to the tiny poppy seeds.
After baking the cake is soaked with a lemon syrup that gives it most of the lemon flavour.
I loved it but ate it without frosting just not to feel too guilty !
Please visit The cake Slice to see more real triple cakes .


Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Almond Frosting
(Recipe from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne)
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
360g plain flour
300g caster sugar (I only used 200g)
4½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp poppy seeds
200g unsalted butter
1 large lemon, zest only
275ml buttermilk
5 egg whites
Poppy seeds or flaked almonds to decorate

Lemon Syrup
100g caster sugar
75ml water
1 lemon, juice only

Almond Frosting (I only used two-thirds of this)
225g cream cheese
200g unsalted butter
600g icing sugar
1 tbsp almond extract

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Heat the oven to 180C. Grease three 8 inch cake pans and line the bases with parchment paper. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix gently to combine.
Add the butter, lemon zest and 200ml of buttermilk to the flour. Beat on low until completely mixed. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes until lighter in colour.
In a medium bowl, combine the egg whites with the remaining 75ml buttermilk, whisk to blend thoroughly. Add the egg white mixture to the batter in 2-3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating only enough to incorporate the mix. Divide the batter between the three pans.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the centre, and a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out. While the cake layers are cooling, make the lemon syrup.

Lemon Syrup
In a small pan combine the sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Generously brush the cakes with the lemon syrup while they are still warm. Then allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.

Almond Cream Cheese Frosting
In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar, about a quarter at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the almond extract and then continue to beat well for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
To complete the cake, place one layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about a fifth of the frosting over the cake to cover evenly. Repeat with the second layer and place the third layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Garnish with your choice of flaked almonds or poppy seeds.
Makes 1 x 8inch triple layer cake. Serves 12-16

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

TWD : Apple - Apple Bread Pudding


Elizabeth of Cake or Death? decided on Apple-Apple Bread Pudding this week, I made it as soon as the recipe were revelaled because I loved the way Dorie introduces this pudding.
The pudding is indeed very very nice, I wanted it to be a bit brown but unfortunately the most delicious upper part got burned....but we enjoied it anyway !


In Italy there is no such thing as apple sauce or butter, I had some I had made previously in my friend the Freezer and will look around if any of the Twd bakers have alternatives for it in this wonderful bread pudding.
Please visit Elizabeth for the recipe.


Saturday, May 15, 2010

BBD # 30 Twisted Breads : Torcetti al Cioccolato



This event is hosted by Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies I'm sure you all know her: she is such a wonderful baker, cook, reviewer, mother, wife, cheese maker and everything else I'm sure you came across her creativity at least once.


She decided for twisted breads and few days before I had seen this recipe in Genny's blog and we fell in love with them.
This torcetti are not exactly sweet nor salted ..they are both. I remade Genny exact recipe (I always do the first time) but I'm sure they can be varied in many ways.
If you are a wild yeast owner it's a great recipe: you can make it with the leftovers, it doesn't need any raising time and they are just a wonderful snack !




RECIPE :

400 gr sourdough (not refreshed) (I use a 50% sourdough :100gr sourdough,100gr flour,50 gr water)
4 TBS flour
60 gr olive oil
80 gr bittersweet chocolate cut in small pieces
salt
Fleur de sel

Start kneading the oil in the sourdough, add the flour, the chocolate and the salt. Form in any desired shape sprinkle with Fleur de Sel. Bake until nice and crunchy about 20 minutes in a 400° preheated oven.

Please visit Genny for more beautiful photos !!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Daring Cook's Challenge : Enchiladas


Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Foodhave chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.
I must thank very much Barbara and Bunnee for this month's challenge but my dear husband even more, you should have seen his smile when I left my second enchilada to him !!
This wasn't a green chile stacked enchilada because the corn tortillas we found are very big and Andrea found the maze flour only tonight (I know I'll become very good in making tortillas !) and, as Barbara knows I've never even imagined a tomatillo before she asked me if they could be found in Italy (nor a Anaheim chile) !
I've made a sauce with chicken broth, flour, chile, cumin, cinnamon and tomato sauce. Filled my warmed corn tortillas with grilled chicken, sauce and cheese (lots of cheeses in Italy but no Monterey Jack !) and rolled and cheesed and sauced and ovened them : YUMMY !



This is the original recipe for you tomatillo owners :

Ingredients

1½ pounds Fresh Anaheim chiles (about eight 6 to 8 inch chiles) 24 ounces 678 grams - roast, peel, remove seeds, chop coarsely. Other green chiles (NOT bell peppers) could probably be substituted but be conscious of heat and size!)
7-8 ounces Tomatillos (about 4-5 medium)212 grams - peel, remove stems
4 cups Chicken broth (32 ounces/920 grams)
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons yellow onion, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ tsp Kosher salt (add more to taste)
¼ tsp Black Pepper (add more to taste)
2 tablespoons Cornstarch (dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening)
Hot sauce, your favorite, optional
2 Boneless chicken breasts (you can also use bone-in chicken breasts or thighs)
3 tablespoons Olive oil or other neutral vegetable oil (use more as needed)
Kosher salt and pepper
12 Small Corn tortillas (5-6 inch/13-15 cm). (you can also use wheat tortillas or other wraps)
6 ounces grated Monterey Jack, 170 grams (other cheeses (cheddar, pepper jack, Mexican cheeses) can be used. Just be sure they melt well and complement the filling)
Cilantro for garnish, chopped and sprinkled optional

Directions:

Roasting Fresh Chiles

1. Coat each chile with a little vegetable oil. If you are doing only a couple chiles, using the gas stove works. For larger batches (as in this recipe), grilling or broiling is faster.
2. Lay the oiled chiles on the grill or baking sheet (line pan with foil for simpler clean-up). Place the grill or broil close to the element, turning the chiles so they char evenly. They should be black and blistered.
3. As they are completely charred (they will probably not all be done at once), remove them to a bowl and cover with plastic, or close up in a paper bag. Let them rest until they are cool.
4. Pull on the stem and the seed core MAY pop out (it rarely does for me). Open the chile and remove the seeds. Turn the chile skin side up and with a paring knife, scrape away the skin. Sometimes it just pulls right off, sometimes you really have to scrape it.
5. DO NOT RINSE!

Green Chile Sauce

1. Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil and remove the papery outer skin from the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. You can also grill the tomatillos until soft.
2. Drain and puree in a blender or food processor.
3. Return the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the chicken broth, chopped green chiles, minced onion, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 4-5 cups, another 10-15 minutes.
6. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.

Stacked Green Chile and Grilled Chicken Enchiladas

1. Heat a gas grill to medium high or build a medium-hot charcoal Coat the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Grill the chicken until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes a side for boneless chicken breasts.
3. Cool and then slice into thin strips or shred.
4. In a small skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Dip the edge of a tortilla into the oil to check – it should sizzle immediately.
5. Using tongs, put a tortilla into the pan and cook until soft and lightly brown on each side, about 15-20 seconds per side (at the most).
6. Drain on paper towels.
7. Add oil as needed and continue until all 12 tortillas are done.
8. In a baking dish large enough to hold four separate stacks of tortillas, ladle a thin layer of sauce.
9. Lay four tortillas in the dish and ladle another ½ cup (4 ounces/112 grams) of sauce over the tortillas.
10. Divide half the chicken among the first layer of tortillas, top with another ½ cup of sauce and 1/3 of the grated cheese.
11. Stack another four tortillas, top with the rest of the chicken, more sauce and another third of the cheese.
12. Finish with the third tortilla, topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.
13. Bake until the sauce has thickened and the cheese melted, about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes.
14. To serve, transfer each stack to a plate. Spoon any leftover sauce over the stacks and sprinkle with cilantro, if you wish. The stacks may also be cooked in individual gratin dishes.

Additional Information:

Roasting chiles: Whether you roast the chiles on a grill, under the broiler, or use the gas burner element on your stove will affect the time it takes. If you do all the chiles at once on a grill or using the broiler, it will take 15- 30 minutes, plus time to steam (10 minutes) and time to peel and remove seeds (20 minutes).
http://www.ehow.com/how_5106125_roast-anaheim-peppers.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4437304_roast-anaheim-green-chiles-grill.html

Cooking tomatillos: If you boil the tomatillos, it will take 5 -10 minutes. If you grill them, it will take 2-5 minutes. If you broil them, it will take 8-12 minutes. This can be done the same time the chiles are roasting. After they are cooked, they need to be pureed, which takes a few seconds in a blender.
http://culinarycory.com/2009/08/08/roasted-tomatillo-salsa/
http://jerseygirlcooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/roasted-tomatillo-salsa.html

Cooking chicken: If you grill your chicken, it takes about 5 or 6 minutes per side for boneless chicken breasts- depending on thickness of breasts. Other pieces (thighs, for example) or bone-in chicken will take longer. If you roast your chicken, a bone-in breast takes about 30 minutes (depending on size). Be sure chicken is done but not overcooked, since it will be in the oven in the last stage of the recipe.http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-to-make-juicy-grilled-chicken.html

Corn Tortillas (from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen)
Makes about 15

1 3/4 cups masa harina
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons hot water

Pour hot water over masa harina, cover and let sit 30 minutes. Add (additional) cool water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough is soft but not sticky. Divide the dough into 15 balls and cover with plastic wrap.

Heat a large (two burner) ungreased griddle or two large skillets, one on medium-low and one on medium-high.

Put a ball of dough between two sheets of plastic. If you don’t have a tortilla press, press to a 5-6” circle using a heavy frying pan or bread board or other heavy, flat object. Put the tortilla into the cooler pan or cooler end of the griddle. The tortilla will probably stick, but within 15 seconds, if the temperature is correct, it will release. Flip it at that point onto the hotter skillet/griddle section. In 30-45 seconds, it should be dotted with brown underneath. Flip it over, still on the hot surface and brown another 30 seconds or so. A good tortilla will balloon up at this point. Remove from heat and let them rest while cooking the remaining tortillas. Use quickly.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

TWD : Quick Classic Berry Tart



Here is my quick tart even if it took little time ove a few days to prepare !
I finally saw a tart pan few weeks ago in the market near my house and got even if it is 8 rather than the most useful 9 inches but this way we had strawberry tartlets for dinner yesterday too !!
In Rome we find these wonderful strawberries called Favetta di Terracina it is the most delicious kind of strawberry I know : quite small and so sweet my kids never put any sugar on it. When you'll come visit (in this season) I'll buy some for you !! By the way if you come to Rome I'll be so glad to take you around !!
Anyway we loved the tart very much, it is a common kind of tart in Italy with all kinds of fruits and very appreciated.
I made the crust with hazelnuts and the cream with the vanilla pod.
Cristine of Cooking with Cristine is our gracious host this week and how not to be grateful for such a welcomed recipe ?
Please visit Cristine for the recipe and my colleagues TWD bakers for more tarts !

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

TWD : Burnt Sugar Ice Cream


This was Becky's turn to choose the recipe and she really hit the right spot with this wonderful ice cream !! Our pictures are not good and probably we should have been more patient with our gelatiera but it's late and as Anita said : 'It's very difficult to be patient waiting for ice cream !!'


I loved this recipe except next time I'l try to use one more cup of milk to reduce the sugar and fat (and increase the amount of ice cream !) I used a vanilla pod (bean?) instead of extract but for the rest was faithful to the recipe !!
Please visit Becky at Project Domestication for the recipe and the Bakers for more ice cream !


Monday, May 3, 2010

BBA Slow and Steady :Lavash


I must apoligize with my Slow and Steady bba friends for being very very slow with Lavash.
I had already baked them for The Daring Baker's and I loved them then as I loved (crunch crunch) them now but somehow I was slow : Sorry !
The fact is now I want to make them again but evenly thin because their crunch is delicious !!!
Please visit the rest of the group( Kayte, Nancy, Cathy, Audrey,Jessica, Melissa, Wendy, Di, Karen, Natalia, Sarah,Margaret, Tracey, and Leslie ) and the original BBA site for more bread.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

BBD # 29 Bread in Pots: Jamie Oliver's way



This month our host is The Bread Experience and she chose this very nice and appropriate theme.


Few days later I found this great recipe in The Return of the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver
and it was already baked in a pot !



This is the original recipe I halved it and used only 1 sachet of yeast, didn't use the sugar and salt and used only feta (today is Labor Day and every store is closed )

Ingredients

30g/1oz fresh yeast or 3x 7g sachets dried yeast

30g honey

625ml (just over a pint) tepid water

1kg (just over 2lb) strong bread flour

30g/1oz salt

400g mixed cheeses , grated or torn up

4 large egg yolks

10 slices prosciutto

1 handful of basil, torn up.

Firstly, prepare all your ingredients so they are ready to add to the flour: grate and crumble all your cheese and tear up your prosciutto and basil.

Then, dissolve the yeast and honey in half the tepid water.

In a very large bowl (or on a clean surface) make a pile of the flour, salt, cheese, prosciutto, and basil. Make a well in the centre and pour in all the dissolved yeast mixture. With four fingers of one hand, make circular movements from the centre outwards, slowing bringing in more and more of the flour until all the yeast mixture is soaked up. Then pour in the other half of the tepid water and the egg yolks into the centre and gradually incorporate all the flour to make a moist dough. (Certain flours may need a little more flour, so adjust until you have the right consistency).

Then comes the kneading! This is fun, but it don’t half get tiring. However you mustn’t stop! Roll, push and fold the dough over and over for at least 5 minutes. This develops the gluten and structure of the dough. If the dough sticks to your hands (which it will), just rub them together with a little extra flour.

Flour your hands well, and lightly flour the top of the dough. Make it into a roundish shape and place on a baking tray. Deeply score a cross into the dough with a knife – this will allow it to relax and prove with ease. Leave it to prove in a warm, moist, draught-free place until it’s doubled in size. If you want to speed things up then cover it with cling-film. This will take around 40 minutes or so.

When the dough has doubled in size you need to knock the air out of it by bashing it around for a minute. Now you can shape it into whatever shape is required. I divided my dogh in 12 rolls and put six of them in the pots (9 cm diameter) I rolled the rest in buns. Proof until doubled in size.

Bake in a preheated oven (220°C, 425° F) for about 30 minutes.


Daring Baker's Challenge: Traditional British Pudding


The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.


I'm sorry I'm posting so extra late but it took me more than a while to dare to use SUET !!!
Then I wondered where to get it . Finally I went to a big butcher's store and when I asked for it he looked puzzled and then got it out of the garbage... !
I finally had it !


As for the recipes I remembered that Nigel Slater in Appetite had a few recipes I liked and one of them used mincemeat that I had prepared long ago and stored in my freezer. The mincemeat was a vegetarian one but suet would be in the crust.


Once I decided to make them I wanted to try both puddings: the crust one and the sponge one I must say I loved both the sponge one was made with butter though . The crust made with suet is very very good so next thing is to try it savoury ! (I posted Nigel Slater's recipes at the end of the post)


Here I post the original recipes :

Type 1 Puddings — suet crusts.

Pudding Crust for both Savoury Pudding or Sweet Pudding (using suet or a suet substitute):

Ingredients

(250 grams/12 ounces) Self-raising flour (Note* If you cannot find self-raising flour, use a combination of all-purpose flour and baking powder.)
(175 grams/6 ounces) Shredded suet or suet substitute (i.e., Vegetable Suet, Crisco, Lard)
(a pinch) Salt and pepper (Note* If making a savory dish, can be replaced with spices for sweet if wished.)
(210 millilitres/a little less than a cup) Water (Note* You can use a milk or a water and milk mix for a richer pastry.)

1. Mix the flour and suet together.
2. Season the flour and suet mixture with salt and pepper if savory and just a bit of salt and/or spices if sweet.
3. Add the water, a tablespoonful at a time, as you mix the ingredients together. Make up the pastry to firm an elastic dough that leaves the bowl clean. The liquid amounts are only an estimate and most recipes just say water to mix.

4. Don’t over handle the pastry or it will be too hard.
5. Reserve a quarter for the lid and roll out the rest and line a well-greased bowl.
6. At this point add your filling.. a couple of options are give below but have fun and go wild!
7. Roll the final piece of pastry out into a circle big enough to cover the top of the basin, dampen the edges and put in position on the pudding, pinching the edges together to seal.
8. Seal well and cover with a double sheet of foil – pleated in the centre to allow room for expansion while cooking. Secure with string, and place it in a steamer over boiling water.
9. Steam for up to 5 hours, you may need to add more boiling water halfway through or possibly more often. There is a lot of leeway in this steaming time and different recipes give different steaming times. Delia Smith says 5 hours for Steak and kidney where as Mrs Beeton says 2.5 for a similar dish! One way to tell that it is cooked is when the pastry changes colour and goes from white to a sort of light golden brown. It is also hard to over steam a pudding so you can leave it bubbling away until you are ready.

This one is a steak and onion one cooked for 1.5 hours.

This sort of pastry can also be used as a topping for a baked meat pie and becomes quite a light crusty pastry when baked.

Savoury Pudding Filling options: steak and kidney pudding.

1 full amount of suet crust (see recipe above)
(450 grams/about 1 pound) Chuck steak
(225 grams/about 1/2 a pound) Ox kidney
1 medium-sized onion
2 teaspoons well-seasoned flour
splash of Worcestershire sauce

1. Chop the steak and kidney into fairly small cubes, toss them in seasoned flour, then add them to the pastry lined basin.
2. Pop the onion slices in here and there.
3. Add enough cold water to reach almost to the top of the meat and sprinkle in a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper.
4. Follow the rest of the instructions in the crust recipe to finish pudding.
5. Cook for at least 2.5 hours (Mrs Beeton) up to 5 hours (Delia Smith).

Sweet Pudding Options: Sussex Pond Pudding

1 amount of suet pastry (see recipe above)
(120 grams/4.2 ounces) Demerara Sugar
(120 grams/4.2 ounces) unsalted butter
1 large lemon

1. Cut the butter into small pieces and put half in the basin with half the sugar.
2. Prick the whole lemon (preferably one with a thin skin) all over, using a thick skewer.
3. Place on top of the butter and sugar in the basin.
4. Cover with the rest of the butter and sugar.
5. Finish building the pudding as per the pastry recipe.
6. Steam for 3 ½ hours, or longer (for a really tender lemon), adding more water if needed.
7. To serve, turn the pudding into a dish with a deep rim, when you slice into it the rich lemon sauce will gush out.
8. Make sure each person is served some of the suet crust, lemon and tangy luscious sauce.

Type 2 puddings – Steamed Suet Pudding, sponge type.

(100 grams/4 ounces) All-purpose flour
(1/4 teaspoon) salt
(1.5 teaspoons) Baking powder
(100 grams/4 ounces) breadcrumbs
(75 grams/3 ounces) Caster sugar
(75 grams/ 3 ounces) Shredded suet or suet substitute (i.e., Vegetable Suet, Crisco, Lard)
(1) large egg
(6 to 8 tablespoons) Cold milk

1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl.
2. Add breadcrumbs, sugar and suet.
3. Mix to a soft batter with beaten egg and milk
4. Turn into a buttered 1 litre/ 2pint pudding basin and cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil.
5. Steam steadily for 2.5 to 3 hours
6. Turn out onto warm plate, Serve with sweet sauce to taste such as custard, caramel or a sweetened fruit sauce.

Variants:
Spotted Dick - Add 75g/ 3oz currants and 25g/1 oz of mixed chopped peel with the sugar.
Syrup or Treacle or Marmalade Pudding – put 2 Tablespoons of golden syrup, treacle or marmalade at the bottom of the bowl before adding pudding mix.
My Fair Lady Pudding – Add finely grated rind of 1 medium orange or lemon with the sugar.
Ginger Pudding – replace the sugar with 100g/4oz of treacle, and add 1/2 tsp ground ginger.


Here are Nigel Slater's:

Crust Pudding :

200 gr self raising flour
100 gr suet
water about 6 TBS (I used less)

apples 1 kg peeled, cored and cut in thick slices
juice of one lemon
mincemeat about 8 TBS

Pastry

work the flour with the suet and add just enough water so that it comes together.
rool the dough in a thick sausage and cut it in thin slices and press the in the buttered pudding basin s that it is covered leaving enough doug to roll for a lid.

Filling

cut the apples and mix with the lemon juice, add the mincemeat anf fill the prepared basin.

top it with the pastry lid.
Cover the pudding basin with greaseproof paper with a pleat cover it with foil and place it in a pan of boiling water filled so that the water comes to about a third of the basin . Steam for a good two hours (for me they were more and in the end I broiled the top that lookes too ugly!).

A sponge Pudding and his own Sauce.

100 gr butter
175 gr sugar
1 lemon
2 oranges
4 eggs
40 gr flour
400 ml milk

Grate all the rinds and flavour the sugar with them cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Separete the eggs and add the yolks to the butter mixture. Add the fluor and the milk followed by the juices of lemon and oranges.
Beat the egg whites until firm and add to the rest .
Fill a soufflè dish half way and put it in a rosting tin filled with hot water so that it reaches half of the soufflè dish. Bake for an hour or so until the top of the cake is springy.
As for the crust cake I used the broiler (too much !!).





Tuesday, April 27, 2010

TWD : Chockablock Cookies



This week Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet chose for us this all in one cookie recipe. When i started the cookies I was on the verge of a terrible migraine so I didn't check my pantry being so sure I had everything. But I didn't . And in spite of puffed rice instead of rolled oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts these cookies are (sadly were) amazing !!
(I used almonds and dried cranberries too !).
Thank you Mary !! Please visit Mary for the recipe and the other bakers for more !

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

TWD : Sweet Cream Biscuits


This time it was Melissa of Love at First Bite


who chose this recipe and not knowing exactly how a biscuit should look and reading the P&Q I learned a few things but maybe not enough ! As you can see my biscuits are barely holding together because I was afraid of overdoing it, and I sprinkled them with muscobado sugar as Mary did (she used maple sugar).
Anyway we enjoied them with jam (no butter for me !) and loaded with whipped cream and strawberries !! Please visit Melissa for the recipe and the other bakers for beautiful biscuits !




The Cake Slice : Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting and some Forgotten Posts


Here is the last cake I made for The Cake Slice I'm always in search for banana cakes or breads or wahtever can help with my secret banana's freezer drawer and this was a good one it looks much more festive than my usual breads and it tastes wonderfully moist .
I must confess I didn't use the recipe's chocolate frosting because I really can't get myself to like the butter/confectioner's sugar frosting and tried a milk chocolate ganache from a famous italian pastry chef : Maurizio Santin.


If you wish to try this delicious cake here you can find the original recipe from Southern Cakes Nancie McDermott.
And if you want to try the ganache here is the recipe:

Bring to a boil 200 gr of heavy cream with 20 gr corn syrup. Add 210 gr milk chocolate and mix, add 70 gr butter mixing until smooth.
I let the ganache cool and then filled and frosted the cake.
Please visit the blog for more bananas cakes and please welcome my more than late last two months cakes !!


Pinepple upside down



Mississippi Mud Cake