I'm back to the battle field. I take a look at everything around me and I get ready for a new year.
Sweet days will come!...




Coconut and cardamom puddings

320 ml coconut milk
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
60 g sugar
Grinded cardamom or cardamom seeds, as desired
Lichees and green pistachio to decorate

Pre-heat the oven to 180º C.
Pour some water into a large pan (for a double-boiler).
Prepare a caramel and pour it into the bottom of small pans.
Combine eggs and sugar.
Bring the coconut milk to boil with the cardamom seeds. Seive and pour into the egg mixture.
Pour into the coated pans.
Bake in a double-boiler for 40 minutes or until firm.
Unmould when cold.

Labels: cardamom, lichees, pudding, recipes

It's cold and the turrón wraps itself in some colored marzipan to celebrate the trip.
Tomorrow I'll be back at Oporto... :)




Chocolate and hazelnut turrón

Serves 10:
400 g hazelnut praliné
400 g dark chocolate
200 g hazelnut, finely chopped

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.
Add the hazelnut praliné.
Let it cool down to 26-28ºC (tempering).
Add the hazelnuts.
Pour this mixture into lined moulds and place something heavy on top, or make a roll with the parchment paper, keeping the turrón tightly wrapped.
Reserve at room temperature until thick.
Cut as desired.
Decorate with marzipan.


Marzipan:

1 kg almond, powdered
500 g icing sugar
1 kg sugar
450 g corn syrup
350 g water

In a mixer combine well the icing sugar with the powdered almond.
Prepare a syrup with sugar, corn syrup and water until 114-117ºC.
Gently pour the syrup into the almond mixture while mixing.
Grind until desired.

Marzipan may be colored with food coloring.

Labels: chocolate, christmas, hazelnut, recipes, turron

Someone opens an orange in silence, at the entrance
to fabled nights.
He plunges his thumbs down to where the orange
is rapidly thinking, where it grows, annihilates itself, and then
is born again. Someone is peeling a pear, eating
a bunch of grapes, devoting himself
to fruit. And I fashion a sharp-witted song
so as to understand.
I lean over busy hands, mouths,
tongues that devour their way through attention.
I would like to know how the fable of the nights
grows like this. How silence
swells, or is transformed with things. I write
a song in order to be intelligent about fruit
on the tongue, through subtle channels, unto
a dark emotion.

Herberto Helder, Teoria sentada, 1977



Candied orange peel

Oranges
250 ml water
220 g sugar

Cut the oranges in quarters and remove all the pulp.
Cut the orange peels in 6-8mm witdth stripes.
Place the orange peels in a pan of cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Drain.
Repeat this process three times, using fresh cold water each time, to remove some of the bitter flavor from the pith.
Set aside.
Bring the water and sugar to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Reduce to a very low simmer, add the peesa, and poach until translucent (about 1 hour).

To dry the peels, drain them and spread on a wire rack set on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
Allow to dry and crystallize overnight at room temperature. Or place the peels on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a 140ºC convection oven for 1 1/2 hour.

Toss the peels in granulated sugar or dip them in tempered chocolate.

* Lemon, lime or grapefruit may be used in place of the orange peels.


Based on a Culinary Institute of America recipe

Labels: candied, chocolate, culinary institute of america, orange, orangette, recipes

I've kidnapped Spring... in a one-bite pleasure...




Strawberry fields

Pâte sablé

Makes 24 (5 cms diameter)
40 g egg yolks
60 g icing sugar
62.5 g butter, softened
84 g wheat flour
5 g baking powder
1.5 g salt

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.
Combine butter with sugar until creamy.
Add the egg yolks (one by one).
Gently seive the salt with flour and baking powder into the egg mixture, mixing constantly.
With a pastry bag pour the mixture into small moulds.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.


Almond jelly:

Makes 24 (4cms diameter):

300 ml milk
75 ml cream
75 g almonds, powdered
75 g sugar
7.5 gelatin sheets (15 g)

Grease (with vegetable oil) 24 small pans (or use silicon pans).
Hydrate the gelatin and dry well.
Combine all the ingredients and bring to heat until cooked.
Remove from heat and add the gelatin, stirring constantly to completely dissolve the gelatin.
Pour this mixture into the pans.
Refrigerate until firm.


Place the jelly over the pâte sablé discs.
Decorate with strawberry and pistachio.
Brush with a neutral glaze.

Labels: almonds, glaze, jelly, pate sablé, recipes

These last weeks had been busy... time is devoted to work on fridays' buffets and the little time I have isn't enough to get some rest and to keep my blog alive.
When weekend arrives I just want to go home. I don't want to hear anything. I just want my hot bath and go to sleep without worrying about the next day.
I must try to relax until the sleep brings me the light saturday morning...




Meringue coconut custard tarts

Makes 10 (12 cm diameter):

Pastry:
250 g wheat flour
30 g sugar
125 g butter, softened
2 egg yolks

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour 10 small tart pans.
Combine well all the ingredients.
Roll out the pastry over a lightly floured work surface.
Put on the moulds.
Pinch the pastry’s sides and bottom with a fork, cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil and put on some ceramic pie weights (dried beans would work too).
Bake for 15 minutes.
Take off the paper and bake for 5 minutes more.
Set aside.
Reduce oven to 150ºC.

Coconut custard:
120 g de Wheat flour
160 g grated coconut
160 g sugar
2 egg yolks
500 ml milk

In a pan, combine all the ingredients together and bring to heat to thicken.
Pour the filling over the crust.

Meringue:

4 egg whites
250 g sugar
grated coconut, to sprinkle

Whisk the egg whites and gradually add sugar until stiff peaks form.
Top the filling with meringue and sprinkle some grated coconut.
Bake until meringue is dry. ( 20-30 minutes)

Labels: coconut, meringue, recipes, tarts

Between the cake cylinders some leftovers remained...

Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Re... Create!




Caramel little cakes

Makes 12 (12g each):

90 g caramel cake
25 g toffee
30 g nuts, roasted and finely chopped (almonds, nuts, macadmia nuts, hazelnuts,...)
25 g whole milk
20 g laminated almonds to coat, roasted

Combine together the cake with toffee and nuts and make small balls.
Roll each small ball in the laminated almonds to coat.

Labels: cakes, caramel, nuts, recipes, toffee

Today I feel again like the little child wit the pockets full of caramels...
I care my cakes like candies and childhood unwraps in front of my eyes...

Labels: buttercream, cakes, caramel, daring bakers

Stretches, rolls, unfolds in chocolate...




Chocolate tagliatelle with chocolate sauce

Serves 4:

200g wheat flour + flour
2g salt
2-3 eggs
40g icing sugar
50g powdered cocoa

3 l water (to cook the tagliatelle)
20g butter
50g icing sugar to sprinkle

Sieve the flour with salt to a bowl. Set aside.
Whisk the eggs.
Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa into the whisked eggs and combine well.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour and work by hand into a smooth paste.
Leave in the fridge for 90 minutes wrapped tightly in wrap film.
Gently flour the work surface and cut the dough in 3 pieces.
Stretch the dough with the rolling pin until very thin.
Spread more flour on the stretched dough and roll it tightly.
Cut 5mm wide ribbons from the rolled dough and unfold them onto a gently floured dry cloth, for 30 minutes.
Heat the water in a saucepan and boil the tagliatelle for a few minutes (as soon as they come up they are ready).
Dry the pasta in a large colander.
Sautée with butter and sprinkle with icing sugar.


Chocolate sauce:

Makes 500 ml:

130 g 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped
250 ml water
70 g icing sugar
125 ml double cream


Combine well all the ingredients and bring to boil in medium heat stirring constantly.
Reduce to low heat and cook until creamy and it stays at the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and serve immediately.

You could also let it cool down at room temperature, strring occasionally.
You can keep it in the refrigerator for two weeks on an hermetic container.
To serve, place it in a double boiler, stirring occasionally.


Source: Pierre Hermé

Labels: chocolate, dark chocolate, pasta, pierre hermé, recipes, tagliatelle

I swear they taste great!...




Peanut tarts

Makes 10:

Pastry
100 g wheat flour
15 g butter
50 ml milk (as necessary)
a pinch of salt

Combine well all the ingredients.
Let it rest for half an hour covered with wrap film.
Roll out the pastry over a lightly floured work surface until very thin.
Put on small moulds

Filling:
300 g sugar + 150 ml water
100 g peanuts, roasted and powdered
30 g butter, melted
5 egg yolks
1 egg white
zest of 1/2 lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Bring the water to boil with sugar on a covered pan.
Uncover when it starts to boil and let it boil for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the butter.
Let it cool down for a while.
Combine together the remaining ingredients.
Pour the syrup gently over the peanut mixture.
Pour this mixture into the small moulds.
Sprinkle with icing sugar.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Labels: peanuts, recipes, tarts

I'm used to buy some chocolate chips' snacks that I love and today I conviced myself to create some snacks that resemble my favourites...

Crunchy, light and deliciously addictive...




Dark chocolate, sunflower seeds and Maldon snacks

Makes 14 (12 g each):

100 g wheat flour
20 g olive oil (2 tbsp)
30 g sugar
Water (about 30 ml)
Sunflower seeds
Dark chocolate, finely chopped
Maldon salt

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add the flour, the sugar, the olive oil and water and combine everything to a firm dough.
Form small strips with the dough (grissini-like) and place them in the baking sheet.
Top with sunflower seeds and chocolate chips.
Sprinkle gently with Maldon.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Labels: dark chocolate, maldon, recipes, sunflower seeds

Out of time peaches, an island's fantasy...




Peach cakes

Serves 6-8 or 16 small pans (7cms diameter).

100g butter, softened
150g sugar
2 eggs
150g cake flour
1 tbsp milk
6 peaches
1/2 tsp powdered cinnamon
Icing sugar to sprinkle


Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and line with parchment paper a loaf pan or small round pans.
Combine butter and sugar until white and creamy.
Add the eggs (previouly whisked), milk, flour and cinnamon and mix well for a few minutes to smooth the dough.
Pour the dough into the pan and spread the peach dices, pressing a little into the mixture.
Sprinkle with icing sugar.
Bake for 35 minutes (large loaf pan) or 18 minutes (small pans).

Wait 40 minutes before unmoulding the cake.
Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.

Labels: cakes, peach, recipes

Today I volunteered myself to house arrest and devoted my sunday to laziness...
A laid morning over a late breakfast and a slow afternoon between the couch, the truffles and the bed...




Caramel truffles:

Makes 34 (11 g each):

100 g sugar
20 g butter at room temperature
125 g cream
142,5 g dark chocolate, chopped
85 g milk chocolate, chopped
Cocoa

Caramelize sugar with a bit of water.
Add the butter then the warm cream.
In a bowl, pour the toffee over the chocolate and stir until creamy.
Cover the bowl with wrap film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
Put the cocoa on a plate.
With greased hands make small balls with the truffle mixture and gently roll each truffle in the cocoa to coat.

Labels: caramel, chcolate, cocoa, milk chocolate, recipes, truffles

This post was already published on the portuguese version of flagrantedelicia.com but I've never found time to translate it.

They speak for themselves...




Quindins

Makes 12:

5 egg yolks
25 g coconut, grated
75 ml coconut milk
100 g sugar


Pre-heat the oven to 140º C.
Grease 12 small pans with plenty of butter and sugar.
Sieve the egg yolks.
Add the remaining ingredients and combine well.
Fill 2/3 of the pans with this mixture.
Bake in a double boiler covered with aluminum foil for about 45 minutes.
Unmould while slighly warm.

Labels: blog, coconut, eggs, recipes

Romantic and melancholic, Fall always tastes like sunset...
The decline of days in a warm colours degradé and bigger nights escort my increasing sleep.
Cold's arrival doesn't cheer me up... I always feel some ceremony with coats and unconfortable with this restart.
Nevertheless I can't avoid the dry leaves crackling, some rain kisses and my crush on chestnuts...




Chestnut gnocchi with hazelnut and milk chocolate sauce

Makes 65 gnocchi:

250 g chestnuts, peeled
250 ml whole milk
10 g butter
50 g wheat flour
30 g sugar
12 g manchego cheese, grated
1 egg yolk

Water to cook the gnocchi
1 vanilla bean
25 g butter
40 g icing sugar

Combine the butter with the vanilla seeds.

Bring the chestnuts and milk to low heat for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked.
Purée the chestnuts.
While warm combine the chestnut purée with all the other ingredients.
Lightly flour a work surface and place the dough in a ball on the work surface.
Roll out the dough into a 3 cms wide rope. Cut this rope into 3 cms pieces.
Gently place the tines of a fork over each gnocchi.


Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.
Add the gnocchi.
Gnocchi are cooked when they start to float.
Sauté with butter and vanilla and sprinke with icing sugar.


Hazelnut and chocolate milk sauce

200 g milk chocolate, chopped
100 g cream
50 g hazelnuts

Pre-heat the oven to 150ºC.
Spread the hazelnuts over a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes.
Wrap the hazelnuts with a kitchen cloth and scrub to peel.
Grind the hazelnuts while warm to paste.
Combine the hazelnut paste with chocolate.
Bring the cream to boil.
Pour the cream into the hazelnut chocolate mixture and stir well.


Place the gnocchi on a plate and serve with the hazelnut and milk chocolate sauce.
Decorate with roasted hazelnuts.
Serve immediately.

Labels: gnocchi, hazelnut, milk chocolate, recipes

"Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower."

Albert Camus




Arbutus' cake

Serves 6-8 (22 cm diameter pan) or 5 small pans (11 cm diameter)

250 g sugar
150 g cake flour
50 g cornstarch
150 g butter, softened
5 eggs
about 40 arbutus

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and flour the pan.
Combine well butter and sugar until creamy.
Add the egg yolks while mixing.
Gently fold in the flour sieved with cornstarch and at last the whipped egg whites.
Pour half of the dough into the pan and spread the arbutus.
Pour the remaining dough.
Bake for 25-30 minutes (small pans) or 45-50 minutes (large pan).

Labels: arbutus, cakes, recipes

Almond biscuits

Makes 30 (15g each):

250 g wheat flour
125 g light brown sugar
125 g butter
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
Egg yolk to brush

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix together butter and sugar.
Add the egg and at last the flour sieved with the baking powder.
Shape the biscuits and place them on the baking sheet.
Put one almond on top of each biscuit and brush with the egg yolk dissolved in a bit of water.
Bake for 15 minutes.

Labels: almonds, biscuits, recipes

I who am always toiling and endeavouring
to seem that I have as a poet
the grace that Heaven did not grant me...

Miguel de Cervantes, Journey to Parnassus, 1614




Tocino de Cielo

Makes 24 small moulds (4 cms diameter) or a large pan (to serve 8):


12 egg yolks
300 g sugar
250 ml water

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Bring the water to boil with the sugar for 5 minutes or until it reaches 103-105ºC.
Coat the inside of the moulds with this syrup and set aside the remaining syrup.*
Whisk the egg yolks and gently pour the remaining syrup stirring constantly.
Seive.
Pour the mixture into the moulds and cover with aluminum foil.
Bake in a bain-marie for 40 minutes or until a needle comes out clean.
Unmould when cold.


* you could make a caramel to coat the moulds and use all the syrup in the egg mixture.

Labels: eggs, recipes, spanish traditional desserts

Today I didn't wanted to wake up... I wish I could stay at bed all the morning...
I've forced me to sleep with my eyes sutted in full conviction, despite the fact that I was an early riser during all summer!...

I love to wake up early, I love to make use of my mornings that are the most beautiful part of the day to me. I love to be able to do millions of things and I'm not used to wake up late...

But, tomorrow I'll start my Master course and my days will be totally busy...
I'm feeling super happy and anxious to learn new things but the fact that I wouldn't be able to stay in bed for "five minutes more" made me spent my last day of vacations in a deep lazy mood!

The uniform is perfectly ironed: the huge chef's jacket, the "pied-poule" pants, the enormous apron (I don't know why everyone thinks that every chef must be big and fat?!eheh).

The white shoes, a size bigger than my feet are already in the house's hall together with the mandatory white socks... everything gently placed by Miguel (yes... since our arrival he washes and irons my uniform everyday) for my return to school!

With this new moment of my life I must run at full throttle and I'm forced to leave the blog at "low heat"...

Desserts will keep to make their appearance here as I have a huge stock of made and photographed recipes for emergency cases... I'll just have to slow down a bit a try to focus more on quality here.

I also won't have much time to comment on other blogs or to answer so quickly to my emails but I'll try hard to keep visiting my favourite blogs!

Now I stop and take a deep breath ... I want to be the first at the finish line! :)

Labels: journal, school

Cookies were counted as we were eating them... numbers were bitten, one by one, in such a delicious amount the we lost track of it...

Labels: cookies, recipes, sweet potato

With small translucent seeds pomegranate crowns Autumn in a juicy pink.




Pomegranate, almond and pistachio Financiers

Makes 10:

45 g wheat flour
2 g baking powder
100 g sugar
35 g almonds, grinded
20 g pistachio, grinded
100 g egg whites
60 g butter
Fleur de Sel
Pomegranate seeds

Bring the butter to boil on low heat until golden.
Set aside.
Combine well all dry ingredients.
Add slowly the tempered (30ºC) egg whites.
Gently fold in the tempered (30ºC) butter.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.
Grease and flour 10 small moulds.
Pour the dough into the moulds and add some pomegranate seeds.
Bake for 10 minutes (depending on mould size).
Unmould.
Decorate with pistachio and pomegranate seeds.

Labels: almonds, pistachio, pomegranate, recipes. financiers

For an exquisite taste...




Pumpkin and chèvre pies

Makes 4:
500 g pumpkin, pureed
3 eggs
120 g chèvre
100 g fresh bread crumbs
100 g self-rising flour
120 g sugar
125 ml spice scented whole milk (cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, nutmeg,...)

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.
Grease 4 pans (12cms diameter).
Mix together for 10 minutes the pumpkin puree, the eggs, the chèvre, bread crumbs and milk.
Add the flour and combine well.
Bake for 50 minutes.
Top with the syrup.


Syrup:
"Panela" sugar

In low heat melt the panela with a little bit of water.


Pumpkin purée:
Pumpkin
Sugar

Purée the pumpkin and sweeten as desired.

Tuiles

150 g sugar
62,5g wheat flour
2 eggs
150 g nuts, grinded

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Combine all the ingredients together.
Pour the mixture over a silpat with the desired ..
Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown.
Let them cool down to stiff.

Labels: chevre, desserts, pumpkin, recipes

IT RAINS!

It rains...

But what does it matter!,
if I am here sheltered by this door
listening to the rain that falls from the sky
a silent melody
that no one else listens to
but me?


It rains...

But it is the fate
of those who love
to hear a violin
even in the mud.

José Gomes Ferreira




Viennese lemon cookies

makes 12:

50 g icing sugar
125 g butter, softened
1 g salt
Zest of 1/4 lemon
20 g egg white
150 g wheat flour
Icing sugar to sprinkle

Combine well butter and sugar.
Add lemon zest and salt.
Mix with the egg whites and flour.
Pour the batter into a pastry bag with a star noozle.
Over a silpat or a lined baking sheet draw "W's" with 4 cms width.
Refrigerate for 1 hour (minimum).
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Labels: cookies, lemon, recipes

The sweet potato was still on the top of the shelf, in a so old and sweet loneliness that asked for commiseration.
She was looking at the kitchen with such a rawness that I was afraid that some resentment could become bitter...



Sweet potato cakes

Makes 10:

125 g sweet potato, baked and pureed
125 g light brown sugar
100 g cake flour, sieved
3 eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and lightly flour 10 small cake moulds (or a large one).
Combine well sugar with egg yolks.
Add the sweet potato puree and at last the flour.
Gently fold in the whipped egg whites.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Labels: cakes, recipes, sweet potato

Drama rolls itself... first came in the peach, in a tenor tone, declaiming sweet poems.
Then, like a soprano, came the raspberries in a sour sharpness that carries away all the orchestra.
Lovably, the libreto ends and the opera is touched by the promiss of an endless love.




Melba roll

Serves 12:

Cake layer:
4 eggs
100 g sugar
50 g cornstarch
100 g almonds, powdered
a pinch of salt
75 g butter, melted
Peach jam
Raspberry coulis
Fresh raspberries

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.
Grease and line with parchment paper a rectangular baking sheet (35x40 cm)
Whisk 1 egg, 3 egg yolks and sugar.
Add cornstarch, powdered almonds and at last the butter.
Gently fold in the egg whites whipped with the salt.
Pour the mixture into the baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes.

Unmould the roll and spread evenly the jam on top.
Using wax paper as an aid, roll up cake jelly roll–style, beginning with a long side. Carefully transfer, seam side down, to platter, using wax paper to help slide cake.
Decorate with the raspberry coulis and fresh raspberries.


Raspberry coulis:
70 g raspberries
5 g icing sugar

Place the raspberries and icing sugar into a food processor or blender and blend to a puree.
Pass the puree through a sieve into a bowl.
Refrigerate until required.


Peach jam:
1 kg peaches (peeled and sliced)
800 g sugar
15 g pectin (hydrated)

Bring the sugar to boil with a bit of water
Add the peaches and pectin.
Continue to boil mixture and stir frequently until desired thickness.
To test whether the jam is ready, place a cold metal spoon in the mixture and tilt. The jam should form a single stream.

Quickly pour hot mixture into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1 cm headspace; wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process jars in boiling-water bath 10 minutes.

Labels: peach, raspberry, recipes

"They cannot know nor dream
How much dreams command life,
How, when a man dreams,
The world leaps and bounds,
Like a brightly coloured ball
Between a child’s small hands."

António Gedeão, Pedra Filosofal in Movimento Perpétuo, 1956




Indian milk candy

To 130 g (13 small 10g balls):

500 ml whole milk
57 g sugar
10 g butter
Cinnamon and curry

Bring the milk to boil strring constantly to thicken (as a soft dough); approximately 20 minutes.
Add sugar and butter and keep stirring while cooking in low heat until you can create a ditch in the bottom of the pan when you run the spoon through the center of the mixture.
Put the mixture into a plate and allow it to cool down.
Roll 1 teaspoon of mixture into small balls (grease your hands with butter before making the balls).
Roll the small balls in a 2 cinnamon:1 curry mixture.
Place balls in small paper cases and the on a serving plate.

Labels: cinnamon, curry, india, milk, recipes

...and sugar for my honey...



Corn and honey pancakes

Makes 12:

170 g wheat flour
15 g baking powder
35 g sugar
200 g sweet corn, baked
250 ml whole milk
30 g butter
2 eggs

Make a puree with half of the corn, stain and set aside.
Mix together the flour with sugar and eggs.
Add milk, the corn puree and the remaining corn.

Cook on a hot, greased griddle.
Cook until brown on one side and around edge; turn and brown the other side.
Serve with honey.

Labels: corn, honey, pancake, recipes

I rewrite the story...
I dare to get rid of the Wicked Witch and give the day off to the seven dwarfs...
I take the poisoned apple and turn it into a fairy cake...
The "lived happily for ever" still exist, even before the ending...
Light kisses, dream glass case...




Mashed apples and vanilla cake

Makes 3 little cakes:

125 g butter, melted
125 g light brown sugar
4 eggs
125 g cake flour, sieved.
3 apples
1/2 vanilla bean
5 tpsp sugar


Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
Grease and line with parchment paper small cake pans (12 cms diameter).
Mix together sugar and butter.
Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and then the whisked egg whites.
Add the flour.

Bring 2 apples to boil with sugar and vanilla until cooked.
Mash.
Peel and slice the remaining apple in thin slices.

Pour half of the batter into the pans.
Pour the mashed apples mixture.
Finish with the remaining batter.
Top with the apple slices.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Labels: apple, cakes, recipes, vanilla

When I've started "flagrante delícia" I had no idea about all this things worked and I didn't realize immediately the extreme importance of pictures in a world where we also "eat with the eyes".

Later I was forced to do some work on my blog and some of the first posts were left in "stand-by" waiting for the light that could make them live again.

So I go back to flagrantedelicia's first recipe and recover the black and white film from my premiere:
- Lights, camera, action!... here we go for the mousse remake!




Dark chocolate mousse

Serves 4:

170 g. 70% dark chocolate ( Valrhona, Green & Black's, Lindt…)
80 ml cream
1 egg yolk
4 egg whites
20 g. de caster sugar


Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.
Bring the cream to boil and set aside.
Remove chocolate from the bain-marie and add the cream stirring constantly until smooth.
Fold in the egg yolk and stir.
Whisk the egg whites until firm peaks form and add the sugar slowly.
When the chocolate is at 40ºC, gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites with a tongue.
Fold in the remaining egg whites.
Refrigerate at least for one hour.
(It's very importante to use 70% chocolate).


White chocolate mousse

Serves 4:

67,5 ml + 500 ml cream
67,5 ml milk
25 g sugar
300 g white chocolate, finely chopped
3 egg yolks
1,5 gelatin sheets

Bring the 67,5 g. of cream to boil with milk and sugar.
Pour this mixture into the egg yolks stirring constantly.
Bring this mixture to 85ºC in a bain-marie, strirring constantly.
Let it cool down until 25ºC.
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie.
Add the chocolate and gelatin (previously hydrated).
Stir well.
Whip the remaining cream (firm but not stiff).
Gently fold in 1/3 of the cream and then the remaining cream.
Refrigerate.

To combine together both mousses, use immediately.
Decorate with white rose's petals and a chocolate drop.

Labels: chocolate, mousse, recipes, white chocolate