1st. Birthday cake

My daughter had birthday on friday, a normal working day even that it was Easter. Still I wanted to make a small cake for her (and for us), her party will be on sunday then the we will have the bigger cake. So I prepared a small Madeira sponge with my own twist and then I decorated with marzipan.

The ingredients you need for this sponge are:

• 2 round tins about 18 cm each, greased and on the bottom lined with baking paper
• 250 gr. flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 175 gr. soft unsalted butter
• A pinch of salt
• 175 gr. caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• The zest and juice of half orange (the original is with lemon, but I thought orange will be sweeter and it was perfect!)

In a bowl put the butter and using a mixer beat for about 2 minutes, when starts getting lighter and creamier add the sugar, mix for another 5 to 10 minutes until is very light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs one by one, mixing every time. With the last egg add the baking powder and a bit of flour. After that the orange zest and lemon, mix well and the rest of the flour. Mix until all the flour is well combined. Divided into the 2 tins and bake in a 170 degrees preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until has a nice golden brown color. Then leave to cool down completely in a wire rack and then you can take out of the tins and decorate.

My decoration, normally for such a cake you can make buttercream, but I wanted to have a bit healthier, so taking one of the sponges and cover the top part with mascarpone and strawberry jam. Then take the other sponge and put on top of this one, cover the top again with a small layer of mascarpone, this is just to make sure you the marzipan with stick in the cake. The decoration you can just do how you wanted, just let your imagination goes!

Blondies

Today was/is my daughter's birthday, even that it was Good Friday, she had school, they had Easter Breakfast, the older kids took care of it. Also because of her birthday she wanted to treat in the class, so yesterday evening we prepared two portions of blondies, is like brownies but then with a twist of white chocolate and almonds, absolutely delicious!

The ingredients you need for 1 baking tin of 20x30 :

• 75 gr. butter (unsalted)
• 400 gr. chopped white chocolate 
• 90 gr. caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 200 gr. self-rising flour
• 2 tea spoons vanilla extract
• 100 gr. chopped almonds
• Icing sugar

First of all greased the baking tin and cover with baking paper. Melt the butter with 300 gr. of the chocolate in a bowl in a pan with slow boiling water, the bowl can not touch the water.

In another bowl mix the eggs, vanilla en sugar, it's much easier if you use a mixer, also gives a bit of lightness to the cake. Add the chocolate mix by the eggs and scoop light the flour. Then add the almonds and the rest of the chocolate. Put carefully the dough into the baking tin, make sure is well divided.

Bake in a 175 degrees preheated oven for about 25 minutes, until you get a nice crust on top. Take out of the oven and let it cool down completely before you take out of the tin. Cut in pieces and sprinkle with some icing sugar.

You can keep for about 4 days in good air-tight tin. Once you make it will become a favorite, at least in our house, it's one of those cakes that keeps coming back. Enjoy!

Quiche with ham and spring onions

Another baking recipe, yes, last weekend I did a lot of baking, coming weekend even more ...
Saturday evening we had quiche for dinner, it was just a traditional quiche, easy and delicious. I had a bit of an accident when I was going to put in the oven, but lucky me I manage to fix it and it was fantastic.

The ingredients you need for a 26 cm. quiche are:

• 6 slices puff pastry
• 150 gr. smoked bacon in slices
• 3 to 4 spring onions in rings
• 100 gr. york ham in small pieces
• 5 eggs
• 150 gr. grated cheese 
• 125 ml. double cream

Greased the quiche baking tray and dust with a bit of flour, that way you don't get a soggy bottom. Then cover the base with the puff pastry and with a fork pinch a few times.

Bake the bacon in a dry pan, after that drain in some paper towel, then make a bit of crumbles with it. In a bowl mix the ham with the spring onions and the bacon. In another bowl mix the eggs with the double cream and the cheese very well. Add the ham/bacon mix into the quiche, divide well and add the eggs mix.

Bake in a 180 degrees preheated oven about 50 minutes, until golden brown. Serve with a fresh salad and a good wine! 

Of course you can change the ingredients, so instead of bacon you could have some spinach's or courgette, tomatoes, rocket salad, leak, whatever you prefer, that's the great of quiche you can have anything in.

My first bloomer

Last week started another fantastic baking program on the BBC "Paul Hollywoods bread". It was actually very good, I can hardly wait until next month, then my husband is going to England and can buy his book for me !

So on saturday I decided to give a try and start with the bloomer, even that the recipe looks very easy, it was quite tricky, I think I need to make a couple of times more until I have it in my hand. I think I added to much water, so it was sticky, of course then you compensate with some more flour.

If you want to make the best to check in BBC's website for the recipe in this link:

Paul Hollywood's bloomer

And this is my result!

Spring pasta

Even that in The Netherlands the spring doesn't want to show this year, last friday I decided to make a spring/summer pasta just to cheer up a bit, to give some sun to these freezing cold days.

The ingredients you need for 2 adults and one child are:

• 2 egg yolks
• 100 gr. grated parmesan, plus some extra
• Fresh basil
• Lemon zest and juice of 1.5 lemons
• 350 gr. fresh lasagne sheets or any other fresh pasta

In a bowl mix 2 table spoons olive oil with the egg yolks, salt and pepper. Add the parmesan, the lemon zest and juice, mix all well. Then chop some of the basil until a paste and the rest cut it, add also in the mixing bowl and scoop well. 

The lasagne sheets you can cut them in the length very thin and cook in boiling water with salt for about 5 minutes. Keep some of the boiling water, drain the pasta and add quickly to the mixing bowl with some of the water. Scoop well, serve with some more basil and grated parmesan. Also delicious with a fresh salad and bread.

Coconut Cookies

Some time ago I bought some coconut in very thin slices, my idea it was to make a kind of macaroons, but the last few weekends I had a bit of a cold, so every sunday I said, next week I make them, finally today I did. What I already said they suppose to be round like a a macaroon, but they have become a kind of a cookie and they are very good anyway! I need a different kind of ice cream scoop to make it round, so the next time I hope to have one and then they will be perfect. Meanwhile this is what I made.

The ingredients you need for about 12 cookies/macaroons:

• 150 gr. caster sugar
• 150 gr. granulated coconut
• 3 egg-whites
• 2 teaspoons honey
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanille extract

In a pan at not too high fire mix the egg-whites with the sugar, honey, salt and coconut, keep steering until everything is well mixed and starts to cook at the bottom of the pan. Then let it cool down completely.

In a baking tray put some baking paper. Using an ice cream scoop, a good one, try to make 12 macaroons about the same size, then put them in the baking try. Bake for about 15 minutes in a 150 degrees preheated oven or until they are golden brown.

Let them to cool down completely before taking from the baking tray. With a cappuccino they are absolutely delicious!

Arroz con leche

For some time I was thinking of making arroz con leche (rice pudding). When I was young my mother used to make mostly around Easter time, I am not sure why but that was kind of a tradition in our house. Well yesterday finally I decided it was time for my to try to make it and well actually it was a very good experience. First time and absolutely delicious. I have to say I was a bit enthusiastic so I made too much, well now we have for a couple of days ...

The ingredients you need, (this is for quite a lot, you could use the half):

• 1 liter full fat milk
• 250 gr. rice (I used dessert rice, but my mother had just normal rice)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 100 gr. sugar
• 1 lemon (the zest in thin slices)
• Ground cinnamon

First boil some water in a pan and cook the rice for about 10 minutes, after that drain the rice. Meanwhile in another pan cook the milk with the sugar, steering continuously. When starts boiling, add the rice, cinnamon sticks and lemon zest. Mix all well and in a lower fire cook for about 15 minutes, steering every now and then.

Scoop the contents in a serving dish big enough or in individual ones, I had 4 individuals and a big one, whatever you have at home. Sprinkle with the ground cinnamon. Let it cool down and then put into the refrigerator. You can keep for a few days if you cover with cling film.

Que aproveche!

Risotto with Leak, Carrots and goat cheese

This weekend I have been preparing old recipes but combine with different ingredients. On friday I made some couscous with paprika's. Yesterday I prepared a risotto, just with the ingredients I found in my refrigerator, simple, healthy, delicious.

For this risotto the ingredients you need for 2 adults and 1 child are:

• 1 leak in small rings
• 2 medium carrots in small dices
• 4 garlic cloves (we love garlic)
• 250 gr. risotto rice
• 1 liter vegetable stock (bouillon) 
• 1 glass white wine
• Some dried thyme
• 100 gr. goat cheese with honey
• Zest of half lemon
• Tomatoes

In a pan with some butter and olive oil bake the leak a few minutes, then add the garlic, carrots and some of the thyme, cook for about 10 minutes, add the risotto, scoop well, after 1 or 2 minutes will start getting glaze then blush with the white wine. Let it cook until all the wine is gone, then add slowly the bouillon, in soup spoon at the time. Until the bouillon is finished and the rice is ready.

Scoop 3/4 of the goat cheese, mix all well, divide into 3 plates, add some more of the dried thyme, a bit of the lemon zest and the rest of the cheese.

Serve with some roasted tomatoes (you can grill them in a 200 degrees preheated oven, sprinkle with some salt, pepper and olive oil, for about 15 minutes) or with some salad, of course some bread and a good white wine.

Pasta with Mushrooms

Another busy week has passed, this time also because I had a cold for a few days I didn't have much time to keep my blog up to date. We had a lot of healthy food all week, just to help recovering. Also I made a very nice pasta with mushrooms. The ingredients you need for 2 adults and one child are:

• 10 gr dried porcini mushrooms
• 200 gr. chestnut mushrooms in small pieces
• 3 garlic cloves
• A bit of dried spanish pepper
• Fresh thyme
• 1 tea spoon truffle oil 
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Fresh chopped parsley
• 250 gr pasta (any pasta is good)
• 100 gr. huttenkase

Cook the pasta in water with salt following the instructions of the package.

Put the dried porcini mushrooms in a cup with boiling water, leave for a while, after that add the leaves of the thyme. In a pan bake in oil the garlic, the spanish pepper and the mushrooms, then add the porcini mushrooms mix into the pan and let cook for a few minutes.

When ready put the mushrooms into a blender and mix them very fine, put them back into the pan, 2 soup spoons of the cooking water from the pasta and the truffle oil, add some salt and pepper, let it cook slowly for a few minutes again.

When the pasta is ready add to the mushrooms and a bit more of the water from the pasta in case is too dry. Then the lemon zest with the parsley, scoop all well, adding the huttenkase. Serve with a fresh salad and some bread. Absolutely delicious and easy!

Beef steak with paprika pesto

This recipe I took form The Free Range Cook book from Annabel Langbein. I have change one of two ingredients, but basically is based on her book. It is easy, simple and absolutely delicious.

The ingredients for about 250 ml. paprika pesto are:

• 3 red paprika's
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tea spoon sweet paprika powder (pimenton)
• 3 table spoons roasted almonds
• 3 table spoons chopped fresh coriander
• Oil, salt and pepper

You have 2 ways to roast the paprika's, one is to do it in the oven, about 20 minutes in a 240 degrees preheated oven. The other way, I learned from my mother, put them on the fire until they start getting black. In both systems you will have to let them cool down and then peal them carefully, catching the water that comes out, you will need it for the pesto.

In a small pan bake in a bit of oil the garlic together with the paprika powder, just a few seconds, after that put the mix into a blender, add the pealed paprika's and their water, the coriander and almonds. Spiced with some salt and pepper, mix until is a nice puree. 

The ingredients you need for the special beef steak in sticks are (for 3 people, 2 sticks per person):

• 400 gr. beef steak cut into 2 cm. dices
• 1 red onion in pieces
• 1 red sweet paprika in 2 cm. pieces
• 1 tea spoon ground cumin
• 6 wooden sate sticks
• 250 gr. white rice

To start put the sticks in water meanwhile you prepare all the ingredients. Then divided equally the beef, onions and paprika between the sticks. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the cumin. Grill in a barbecue or grill pan with some olive oil, about 2 minutes per side. Serve with some white rice, the pesto and bread.

Of course you can make other combinations, instead of white rice, you could baked rosemary potatoes, or cocos rice. The sticks you could prepare with other vegetables, like mushrooms or green or yellow paprika. The pesto you could make with peanuts instead of almonds. There are endless combinations. Which one are you making?