Tiramisu

Yesterday I made a brioche and said I would prepare other things during the day, as I had friends coming over for dinner. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the dishes (apart from the dessert, a quick pic before eating it) but I can tell you everything was delicious :-) For starter, I made a warm goats cheese salad, topped with a sort of chutney of yellow bell peppers and raisins.. It was sooo soft and yummy. Then for the main course, I made a fresh salmon risotto, and served it with grilled asparagus. That was easy to prepare and very good too.
And, most important, for dessert, a tiramisu! I love tiramisu. The combination of coffee and chocolate, and the soften of the mascarpone..mmmmm and it is so easy to prepare. You can prepare it the day before you need it, or the morning and no baking is required.. simple to make and sure to impress!
I've always used the same recipe and it comes from my sister in law who's Italian. I trust it is done the same way in Itlay, so I don't change a thing to her recipe!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
250gr mascarpone
50gr caster sugar
coffee
grated dark chocolate
Ladyfingers biscuits
Marsala, Amaretto

Stiffly beat the eggwhites, with a tsp of sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar and the mascarpone until frothy. Add some grated chocolate to the mix and stir. Delicately add the eggwhites.
Prepare some filtered coffee or espresso coffee (about a bowl).  Add a tsp of sugar and Marsala or Amaretto.
Place the ladyfingers at the bottom of the gratin dish, covering the all dish. Pour some coffee onto the biscuits. They should all be covered. Add half of the mascarpone mixture on the biscuits. Cover the mix with a new layer of ladyfingers (dipped in the coffee), and cover them again with the rest of the mascarpone mix. Cover it all with some cocoa powder or grated chocolate. Store in the fridge for at least 8 hours before serving it, and enjoy this wonderfully light dessert!

Flourless Chocolate Torte

OK, more chocolate.. I was planning on doing a fruit cake, with rhubarb, but I can't find rhubarb anywhere! I went to different stores, had a look online, went to the fruit market and it is nowhere to be found... They didn't even know what it is! So my challenge is to find some and bake one of my favourite cakes.. but for the time being, I baked a flourless chocolate cake. Instead of flour, I used ground almonds. It adds a lovely taste to this yummy cake.

Here is the easy recipe to follow:

Ingredients:
200gr dark chocolate
200gr unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 medium eggs, separated
150gr caster sugar
100gr ground almonds
50gr pure cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 180C°. Grease a round tin.
Melt the chocolate and butter together, and add in the vanilla extract. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with 50gr caster sugar until pale. Then pour in the melted chocolate and butter mixture, fold in the ground almonds and cocoa powder.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add the remaining sugar (100gr) until combined. Gently fold the egg whites in 3 times in the chocolate mix, until blended. Pour into the tin and bake for 35 minutes.
Easy and delicious!
The cake is a little bit crumbly so it is better to let it cool down before taking out of the tin.

Chocolate & Oreo Brownies

Mmmm I love the smell of the warm chocolate. I have just taken out of the oven some delicious chocolate brownies and I can't wait for them to cool down to taste them.
I used to watch that show on BBC Two called "Baking Made Easy" on Saturday mornings, while I was at the gym (unfortunately, it only broadcasted for a few weeks) and I came to see Lorraine (the pastry chef) bake those great chocolate brownies with a twist, as she added some Oreo cookies in them. I had to try them too..
I have baked those brownies several times and they're always a success as the recipe is so easy to follow. The brownies are soft and moist and dense with chocolate. Ohhhh they are perfect!
So, If you love chocolate as much as I do, try them and even add different cookies to see if it works out!

Here is the very easy recipe:
Ingredients:
165 gr butter
200 gr dark chocolate, grated, or finely chopped
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod / vanilla extract
165 gr brown sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp cocoa powder
A pinch of salt
a pack of Oreos (around 150 gr)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper. Melt the butter and the chocolate in a pan over a low/ medium heat. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. The add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin.
Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake for 25–30 minutes. Leave to cool down and indulge yourself a big piece of brownie!

Chocolate Brownie cake

I have just moved to a new flat, city, country and that kept me busy and away from baking, for a while.
Finally settled in my new home, I craved a cake. I have all basic ingredients in the pantry and some cake tins and I was thinking of a cake I could make. I don't have an egg beater yet and and that doesn't leave me with a lot of possibilities.. So I found a recipe of a chocolate brownie cake that I changed a little (again, because I didn't have all the ingredients) - and to my surprise it turned out quite good. It is so chocolaty, gooey, sweet.. yummy! I ate a piece nearly right after baking it, and I served it with some plain yogurt. (it looks broken on the picture because i cut it when it was still hot and fell apart)
So, chocolate lovers, aprons on, let's bake!

Here is the easy recipe to follow
Ingredients:
100 gr butter
250 gr caster sugar ( if possible, half of brown sugar)
140 gr dark chocolate
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100 gr flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
Optional ( i didn't have): 1 tbsp golden syrup and 2 tbsp cocoa powder


 Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line a 20cm cake tin. Melt the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, chocolate (and golden syrup) tpgether on low heat. Remove the pan from the heat. Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk Add the eggs, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder (and cocoa powder) to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a greased cake tin and bake for 30 min. Eat warm or cold :-)

Chocolate and Almond Biscottis

Ahhhh chocolate.. today I had to make something with chocolate, it's been too long since I've had it. I have been looking and looking to do something with chocolate, almonds and chocolate chips (again, using what i have home), but not a basic cake or brownie.. and I found biscottis! I made them last month with pistachios and they were very yummy, but nothing beats a chocolate biscotti to go with a cuppa.
I have mixed a few recipes and came up with the one below. The biscottis taste great, i like the extra chocolate chips, they add extra goodness to those yummy biscottis!
This is actually my second try. I made them yesterday and burnt them a little - they didn't taste too bad, but I really wanted to make them right, so I had another go today; and it is a success!

 

Ingredients:

That will make 15 to 18 biscottis

55gr butter, softened
125gr caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract
145 gr plain flour
30gr cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
Big pinch of salt

Handful of sliced almonds

Handful of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven 175°C.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smoothly blended. Add eggs and vanilla extract, beat again until smooth. In another bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Mix into butter mixture until smooth. Stir almonds and chocolate chips into dough. Shape the dough into a log on the baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes. Slice the log into 1/2 inch slices. Place slices back on sheet, and bake for another 6 minutes. Flip slices over and bake for 6 minutes more. Ready!

Chocolate and Cherry Bread (Brioche) Pudding

Guess what, more berries today! But it should be the last recipe with berries in a while :-) Today I am using some cherries and chocolate (still using the ingredients I already have).
I found this recipe of Chocolate Cherry bread pudding on this lovely blog and thought it was perfect for tonight. I am going out to dinner at a friend's house and of course volunteered to make dessert! I didn't want some heavy creamy chocolaty dessert, instead, I think this bread pudding is ideal, and I have never ever made bread pudding before.. so here's my opportunity to impress :-)

Ingredients:
200gr pitted sweet cherries (I used frozen ones)
235gr sugar
235ml Sherry or Amaretto
1 loaf brioche (oh, yes, I did have to buy that one!)
200gr chopped dark chocolate
700ml milk
2 tsp of vanilla extract
pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
3 large eggs

Make the cherry compote: In a saucepan bring the Sherry and 100gr sugar to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cherries and continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the cherries have softened and the liquid has thickened. Set aside and leave to cool down
Preheat the oven 175°C. In a large saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla to a simmer. At the same time, whisk eggs, remaining sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Once the milk is simmering, pour a small amount into the egg mixture while whisking. Then pour the rest of the milk, whisking constantly.
Then prepare the baking dish, greasing it with butter. Slice the brioche and place the slices at the bottom of the dish, sprinkle half of the chopped chocolate. Cover with the cherry compote, then the remaining brioche and sprinkle the rest of the chocolate. Pour the custard mix over the bread and let it soak for 5min.Bake 40 minutes.

It looks so lovely, crunchy on top, and I'm sure all gooey in the middle. I have to wait a few more hours before I can taste it.. cant wait!!!!

Chocolate, Walnut and Banana Cake

I ate my first piece of banana cake only a few months ago and absolutely loved it. I had never tried any banana muffins or cakes before and thought I should definitely make it at home one day. The day has come! Old bananas on the kitchen counter? Today is finally the day I make it. So I flipped through my baking recipe book and the internet and found many different recipes: recipes with or without milk, chocolate, nuts, oatmeal..I have decided to use the one described below, adding chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. I think it's a great combination.
For a first try, I am pretty proud.

Ingredients:
(Should serve 12people)
175gr plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
Half a tsp of baking soda (optional - I did not have nay and omitted it)
125gr unsalted butter
150gr caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
275gr very ripe banana
150gr dark chocolate chips
handful chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda. In a second large bowl, beat together the melter butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the vanilla and mashed bananas. Beat well.
Then gradually add the dry ingredients in. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.
Pour into a greased tin loaf and bake for 50min to 1hr (to check, insert a skewer in the centre and it should come out clean).
Optional: icing the cake with icing sugar mix with water.