I WON!!!!!!!! Announcement of results of Mindmegette recipe competition

I WOOOOOON!!!!!! I'm soooo hipersuperextremely happy now!!:) 

The result of the Mindmegette recipe competition was announced today which was organized from 25th September to 24th October 2012 by Mindmegette (it operates the largest Hungarian recipe collection) and Lidl supermarket. The full list of winners can be found HERE.

The famous Queen Elisabeth Cake also appealed to the jury so I hope it will become world-famous. And after all you won't try this cake now, it's your own fault then!! :)

I share the recipe again you to take fancy easier to prepare.

Ingredients (for oven pan - 40 cm*40 cm):

For the base:

8 egg whites

8 tablespoon sugar

10 dkg flaked coconut

10 dkg unground poppy-seeds
2 tablespoon flour
1 coffee spoon baking soda

Vanilla cream:
8 egg yolks
6 púpos evőkanál liszt
20 dkg sugar
1 liter milk
20 dkg marge (or butter)

Biscuit layer:
250 g cocoa crisp biscuits

Whipped cream layer:
1/2 l whippable cream
25 g dr. Oetker Whip it! (stabilzer for whipping cream)

How to prepare the base:
In a big deep bwol start to beat the egg whites with a hand mixer, then when it's almost ready, add the sugar spoon by spoon and beat until it's totally hard. Admix the poppy-seeds, the coconut and flour with baking soda carefully.

Smooth the dough in the oven pan (lined with baking paper) then bake in the oven what you have preheated to 180°C beforehand. Pay attention because the dough bakes very quickly (within a few minutes). It's ready when its top is nicely golden brown. Peel the baking paper from it while it's still lukewarm and let it cool while prepare the cream.

How to prepare the vanilla cream:
Mix the egg yolks with the flour till smooth then add the sugar and the milk in a pan. Stirring constantly, cook it to dense above medium heat. Set aside, let it cool then when the cream it's already just lukewarm, admix the marge.

How to set up the cake:
Grease the cream on the coconut-poppy-seeds sponge cake then place the biscuits on it. Wait for a while (until the cream cools) before preparing the whipped cream.

How to make the whipped cream:
I always put the whippable cream in the freezer for 30 minutes before using, so I did the same this time as well. Believe me, it will be much easier to work with it in this way and with using the "Whip it!" you will get perfectly hard whipped cream for sure.

For the whipped cream, beat it slowly until they are foamy, then increase the speed. Add the dr. Oetker whip it! Be careful, and do not overbeat the cream. It is ready when you titl the bowl and the mixture does not slide around. When it's ready, grease the whipped cream on the top of our cake and put in the fridge.

It's expedient to prepare half day before serving. 

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Halloween choco-pumpkin bundt cake

I have planned for weeks to bake something from pumpkin. Constantly I have read this kind of recipes on Hungarian and foreign blogs. I could resist till Saturday. The cold, rainy weather as it was on Saturday I think is always perfect for weekend baking in the warm kitchen so I dropped in the Great Market Hall, bought a nice half of pumpkin, arriving at home, threw in the oven for 1,5 hour then started to bake.

I "updated" the original recipe a bit, I changed the normal sugar to erythritol. It didn't get too sweet because I put less than the quartered sugar amount. It's very delicious cake, soft for days, and because of the spices (cinnamon, ginger and clove) I was into Christmas mood immediately. :) The bundt cake was a perfect match with Lila Kancso's amazing blue grape jam made with xylitol.

Ingredients:
40 dkg roasted pumpkin
1/4 cup oil
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 coffeespoon clove
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1/6 cup Update Zero sugar = erythritol (or 1 cup sugar)
2 eggs
10 dkg finely chopped walnut

+ castor sugar for decorating

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Grease an bundt cake form with oil and flour.

2. In a big bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, spices (cinnamon, ginger, clove), baking soda and salt. In another ball whisk together eggs, oil, sugar (erythritol) and the smashed pumpkin. Whisk flour into pumpkin mixture and walnut until well combined.

3. When it's ready, pour into the prepared cake form and bake in the preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes until the dough doesn't stick to the knife you stick in the cake. When it's ready, let it cool then before serving sprinkle some castor sugar on it. 

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The famous Hungarian gulyás (a.k.a goulash)

Everyone loves the most his/her mum's gulyás soup but my mum's one is really amazing. When I go home with Mr. M, he always asks her to make gulyás for him and asks me also many times in Stockholm. I always follow mum's instructions related the cooking method so did I this weekend...

First of all we need to make it clear what is gulyás. There is a nice and very detailed introduction of gulyás on wikipedia if for some reason someone wouldn't know it.

Traditional Hungarian gulyás is a soup, not a stew as it's known almost everywhere around the world. What is known for instance in Austria or Germany as gulyás, is called pörkölt (means: "roasted") in Hungary which is stew with boneless meat (beef, lamb, chicken), onion and sweet paprika powder. Some vegetables such as tomato, bell pepper, garlic can be added as well.

A lot of different versions of gulyás exist such as
- hamisgulyás - fake goulash (vegetable and beef bones are added instead of beef meat)
- babgulyás - bean goulash (use kidney beans instead of potato)
- székelygulyás - goulash á la székely (reduce potato and add some sauerkraut and sour cream)
and many many other version you can taste while travelling at the different regions of Hungary as well.

First of all I feel called upon to introduce everyone the traditional Hungarian gulyás! So here you are!

Ingredients:

40 dkg beef cut into 2x2 cm cubes

1 medium-sized onion

1 green pepper

1 tomato

1 hot green pepper (optional)

2 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika powder

1-1 medium-sized carrot and white carrot (approx. 20-25 dkg)

30 dkg potato

1 coffeespoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon gulyás cream

pinch of balck pepper

1 small bay leaf

1,5 teaspoon salt (by taste)

For the galuska
1 small egg
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup water
pinch of salt

1. Wash the meat and cut into 2x2 cm cubes. Peel and chop the onion. Wash the green pepper and tomato, cut the pepper into slices, peel the tomato then cut also into tiny cubes.

2. Heat the oil in a saucepan, sauté the onion for about 5-10 minutes till soft then add the beef cubes and stir till it whiten. The meat will ooze some water, liquid as well. Cook the meat for about 10 minutes in it as well then sprinkle with some paprika powder.

3. Add the pepper slices, tomato, salt, gulyás cream and some water which covers all the ingredients in the sauce pan. Cover and cook above medium heat till the meat is almost soften (min. 1 hour).

4. Meanwhile peel the carrots, cut into slices, cut the peeled potatos to small cubes. Wash the hot green pepper (only if you like hot), carefully cut its stalk then add all the vegetables and about 1,2 l extra water. Season with cumin and cook under cover.

5. While your soup cooks, prepare the small noodles (galuska) in it. Beat the eggs in a small bowl, add a pinch of salt, the flour and water, mix properly to form a smooth dough. About 10 minutes before the soup is ready, take a teaspoon of dough and put in the soup. It should just slip off the spoon. Keep spoon the dough till it runs out from your small bowl.

6. If it's needed you can season with some extra salt, pepper. Take care of the hot pepper. If it wants to go to pieces but you don't like the very hot, take it out on time. :)

You can serve it with hot pepper or paprika cream, Erős Pista or as it's known abroad Red Gold Hot.

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LET'S PLAY!!!!!

I start a game today.If we reach the 200 likes, one lucky who shares Baklavaria's facebook page, will win a Christmas Swedish cookie and cake collection what I prepare and will home deliver as well of course.

Bring it on guys!! :)

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Lemony poppy-seed cake with raspberry cream

Poppy-seed can come any time, in any form and amount. I can always be carried off my feet with poppy-seed. Especially when it's coupled with lemon. 

We had some leftover mascarpone and whippable cream from Mum's birthday cake so we invented that we bake something that she can take to her workplace as well to celebrate her b-day with her colleagues. I haven't baked anything for them for a long time what they remark quite often. :)

Since we didn't have ladyfinger at home, we couldn't make tiramisu. But we had frozen raspberry for the mascarpone, wuuuu how delicious it would be putting it on a special cake base...we were thinking, what kind of cake it could be....Mum said some choco-cocoa cake...I said brownie then...waaaa but it's too sweet....but what should it be then? 

On Monday I have uploaded to Nosalty (a Hungarian recipe website), my recipe of "Poppy-seed cake with cherry marmalade and lemon mousse", which had such a big success (within 12 hours 3.500 people checked it) that I was swooned by happiness. And this time the big idea came.  What would be if we baked the cake base for our raspberry cream. Yes, that's it!!!! This poppy-seed cake is simply brilliant, as it bakes in the oven, the flavour of poppy-seed and lemon mix can be felt all around the flat.  I honestly recommend this to everyone for one or....more trial.

I changed the orginial recipe a bit, you can see now: 

Hozzávalók (kb. 22cm-es tortaformához):

For the cake-base:

3 egg yolks
11 dkg butter
11 dkg sugar
11 dkg minced poppy-seed
11 dkg flour
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1 lemon's zest
225 g plain yoghurt

For the cream: 

10 dkg mascarpone

2 dl cream

10 dkg castor sugar
1/2 small package of dr. Oetker Whip it!

2 handful of fresh or frozen raspberry + some for decoration

How to prepare the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter a 22 cm round cake pan.

2. Mix the soft butter and sugar with a hand mixer in a big bowl within 2-3 minutes. Add the egg yolks one by one to the butter mixture.

3. In another bowl mix the flour with the poppy-seed, baking soda and lemon zest.

4. Add the yoghurt and poppy-seed - flour to the buttery mixture alternately. After we work together all the ingredients, pour it in the buttered cake pan and place in the preheated oven.

5. Bake the cake until it gets golden on the top and when you stick a knife or fork in it and the dough doesn't stick on it. It's worth to keep a check on it several times after 20 minutes. When it's ready, take out from the oven.

How to prepare the cream:

6. While the cake gets chill, let's prepare the cream for the top. Before using, put the whippable cream in the freezer for about 20 minutes (Believe me, it will be much easier to work with it in this way and with using the "Whip it!" you will get perfectly hard whipped cream for sure.). After 20 minutes take it out from the freezer, pour in a deep bowl and start to beat slowly with a hand mixer until it is foamy, then increase the speed. Add the dr. Oetker whip it! Be careful, and do not overbeat the cream. It is ready when you titl the bowl and the mixture does not slide around. When it's ready, grease the whipped cream on the top of our cake and put in the fridge.

7. In another bowl mix the mascarpone with the castor sugar, then the raspberry what you smash with the help of a fork before. When you mixed properly, add the whipped cream carefully, don't break the cream. When the raspberry cream is ready, grease the it on the top of our cake, decorate with fresh raspberry and put in the fridge.

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Choco-banana muffin - by Leila Lindholm

I travelled to Stockholm on 9th October, on Wednesday to spend a long weekend there and celebrate my birthday with Mr. M. Because of this perfect reason (I always find reason of course when I want to buy a new cook book) I surprised myself with the A Piece of Cake book of the already introduced Swedish blog writer-tv-chef, Leila Lindholm. 

The book is supergood, I will introduce it to you tomorrow. Although I have bought the original, Swedish version but I'm sure, that the English edition is also unexceptionable...if someone would take a fancy to this book. 

These small pretty muffins were baked for Sunday breakfast, were ready within 30 minutes with mixing-baking-everything and their marvellous flavor travelled in all the flat.  

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 dl sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
10 dkg butter
2 bananas
3,5 dl flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon cocoa powder
5 dkg melted dark chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C.

2. In a big bowl mix the eggs with the sugar, vanilla sugar and the melted butter. Smash the bananas with a fork, melt the dark chocolate and add them to the egg mix. Mix with hand mixer. 

3. Mix the flour with the baking powder, cocoa powder, then add progressively to the banana-egg mixture.  

4. When it's solid, spoon it to the muffin form which is lined already with muffin paper. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes, until you stick a knife in the small muffins and the dough doesn't stick to it. 

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My mum's birthday-day cake: Ginger carrot cake with lime mascarpone cream

My mum celebrates her b-day on 24th October. When I was thinking last week about what kind of cake I should bake for her, I wanted to suprise her with what she has never tasted and she keeps after me for it :) In this way my choice became the carrot cake. I used the same recipe as base what I posted for the first time on my blog and Mr. M. loved it also, so I was sure about its success. 

I changed the recipe a bit. This time I used mascarpone for the topping cream, grated lime instead of orange and I addmix half lime's juice to the cream as well.

Happy birthday Mum!!!

Ingridients:

3 eggs
210 ml vegetable oil
30 dkg soft light brown sugar
30 dkg grated carrot
10 dkg chopped walnuts
25 dkg flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger
Grated zest of a half lemon

For the top:
10 dkg mascarpone
1 dl heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilia sugar
10 dkg icing sugar

Grated zest of 1 lime 

1. Peel then grate the carrot, chop finely the walnut.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

3. In a large bowl, stir the egg and sugar with whisk till it gets white then add the oil, grated carrot, chopped nuts and grated zest of a half lemon.

4. In another bowl measure the flour, the bicarbonate of soda, the cinnamon, the ginger stir them and bring the two mixtures together.

5. Pour this mixture into the prepared cake pan , smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 75 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

6. Allow to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before putting the icing on it.

7. To make the icing, put the cold heavy cream in a mixing bowl. With an electric hand mixer beat the cream. As the cream thickens, add the mascarpone and beat them together in a bowl until combined. Add the vanilla extract or sugar, icing sugar and finely grated lime zest and mix to combine. The icing should be smooth and quite thick. 

8. Spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out. Cut into slices to serve.

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Rum-almond cake pop

My first cake pops are ready. Wuhuu!!! For the first try it's not that bad. I still need to learn and improve a lot of course but they are tiny, sweet, choclish and mine :)

Before looking at what I have created, let's start the cake pop history at the beginning.

Bakerella is the mother the cake balls sticked on lolly pop stick, from who many all over the world adopted and improved it. I reckon it as an incredible idea, because:

- the cake in itself is super delicious
- it's perfect dessert for smaller-bigger party, family gathering, party at work, as present, actually anytime, anywhere for any kind of occassion 

- it's only one bite, most of the times it's just enough
- only the creativity can limit its creation. It can be made from any kind of cake base, can be decorated with anything anyhow
- it's a perfect solution of recycling the leftover, dry cakes.

The Hungarian pioneers of cake pops are Cuppcake Judit and Lilla, who has prepared already the small American cakes, lolly pops...I wanted to say cake pop in million different version.

Who still hasn't known what I'm talking about now, here you can find a video from Bakerella. You can follow step by step how the Master prepares the cake pops.

Ingredients (30 pieces):
For the sponge cake:
6 eggs
6 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon flour
1 dl oil
1/2 packet of baking powder (5 g)
4 tablespoon cacao powder (Holland)

For the cake pops
+ 10 dkg butter
+ 10 dkg regular cream cheese
+ 2 tablespoon rum

For the chocolate glaze:
+ 15 dkg good quality of dark chocolate
+ sliced almond for decorating

How to prepare the sponge cake:

1. Separate the eggs into yolks and whites. In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until foamy then set aside.

2. In another bowl mix the yolks with the sugar, cacao powder, oil, flour, baking powder then carefully addmix the whip with a spatula (try not to break the whip).

3. Pour it into a baking paper-lined oven pan and in the preheated oven (180°C) bake. When it's ready, take out from the oven, peel down the baking paper, slice up and let it cool, get dry. 

You can also prepare one day before the sponge cake, it will be drier. What's more, if you have some leftover muffin, spice-cake, any kind of sponge cake. 

How to create the cake pop:

4. In a small bowl mix the soft butter with the cream cheese, if it's needed add 1-2 tablespoon castor sugar. 

5. In a big bowl crumble the sponge cake, sprinkle with some rum, then add constantly the buttery cream cheese. It should be not too soft, but not too hard either, anyway it will fall down from the stick. When we knead properly, place in the fridge for 1 hour.

6. Form small balls from the dollop then place again in the fridge for half an hour.

7. Meanwhile melt the 2/3 part of chocolate in a small sauce pan above boiling water then melt the rest of the chocolate in it. 

8. Take the cake balls out from the fridge, dip the stick in the chocolate, stick in the cake balls and turn it in the melted chocolate. Let the unnecessary chocolate drop down. Stick your ready cake pops into polystyrene and decorate as you like. This time I used sliced almond but you can use grated chocolate, sugar decor and you can also turn into melted white chocolate, what you can colour with food colouring as well. 

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Caponata - Italian aubergine antipasti by Jamie Oliver

Naturally, what else I should have carried with me to family gathering at the weekend than my new 2kg Jamie Oliver book. During the train trip I has read Jamie's experiences in Italy, what he had studied from the local Italian people. While I was reading I had already decided what I will cook today for lunch. My choice was the Italian caponata. 

This Sicilian food is eaten by the Italians warm as vegetable side dish or cold as antipasti. The key of the caponata's success is the good quality of ingredients, the fresh aubergine, the racy tomato and the vinegar. 

Ingredients (for 4 person):
2 bigger aubergine
5 bigger tomato
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 small banch of fresh parsley
sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
1 heaped teaspoon oregano
2-3 tablespoon white wine vinegar
one handful of green olives (seed removed)

olive oil

1. Wash the vegetables, cut the aubergine, tomato into bigger pieces, peel the onion and garlic. Chop finely the onion and cut into thin slices the garlic cloves. 

2. Pour the olive oil in a bigger sauce pan, add the aubergine, season with oregano and salt and cook for approx. 4-5 minutes till golden brown. 

3. Add the onion, garlic slices and the finely chopped parsley and cook for another few minutes.  If the aubergine seems too dry, pour more olive oil. Add the olives and pour all with the vinegar and season with pepper. When all the vinegar has evaporated, add the chopped tomato and steam for 15 minutes. Our caponata is ready, when the tomato gets soft as well.

4. Taste before serving. If it's needed season with salt, pepper and sprinkle with some fresh parsley. 

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Leila Lindholm - my favorite Swedish blogger

The Swedish Leila Lindholm knew already as a child that she wants to devote her life to the art of gastronomy therefore went to restaurant schhol without saying. She collected experiences not only in Sweden but in New York's famous restaurants. 

A kép a leila.se-ről származik

She also worked as a food stylist for ads and commercials in Swedish and foreign food magazines. She started  to cooperate with the Swedish TV-channel, the TV4 in 2004, where she created a completely new type in the history of food television. 

Instead of posh and fancy restaurants' recipes she invented something new. She started to deliver food for stressed out families with small kids. Since then she made several tv gastro shows which hit high records. 

Besides the above she is the author of 5 cook books as well. Her books: Leilas middagtips (Leila dinner tips), Leilas guldkant på vardagen,  Hello cupcake!, A piece of cake and One More Slice. All her books has been sold in record numbers in Sweden. In consideration of the big success the books have been published in many other European countries too. In Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Netherlands. 

When she published her 4th book, the One More Slice, her publishing company, the Walter and Books started also. This book keeps going where her previous cake bible, the Piece of Cake finished. This new book became a bestseller immediately in Sweden, it jumped to the top of the sales charts, what is  also proved by that 50.000 copies were sold throughout the country within a half year. The book was published in Great Britain, Germany, France, Denmark and Finland in 2011 spring. Otherwise she awarded the Swedish Publishing Award as well. 

The 5th book, the Hello Cupcake! was published in 2011 October, and since 2012 spring it's availablein abroad too .

The nowadays many times awarded gastro blogger, businesswoman (who became a mother meanwhile) has besides her blog, an own online webstore too where own brand kitchen equipments, which is used by Leila too. 

Who is interested in the books One More Slice or A Piece of Cake szakácskönyv (and doesn't live in any of the Scandinavian countries) can order them on Amazon. I will purchase of Leila book next week for sure! :) 

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Best Tuscan tomato soup - inspired by Jamie Oliver

The season of fresh domestic tomato will end in Hungary soon (and when I will be in Stockholm, I won't have a chance to eat a delicious REAL tomato, which tastes as it should :)) therefore I wanted to prepare everyhow this warm (but it can be also served cold in summer) Tuscan tomato soup. The recipe is from Jamie Oliver. I changed it a little, for instance skipped the bread. 

Ingredients:
0,5 kg tomato
2-3 cloves of garlic
0,5 banch of fresh basil (approx. 10-12 bigger leaves)
0,5 l good quality tomato sauce
salt, pepper
olive oil

1. Peel the tomato, cut into slices and place in an oven-proof pan. Peel and cut into thin slices the garlic, wash and chop the basil leaves aslo and sprinkle all these on the tomatos and pour with olive oil.  In the preheated oven (180-200°C) steam for approx. 15 minutes so their falvours will be more intense and delicious.

2. When it's ready, put the tomato in a sauce pan, pour the tomato sauce with 1 dl water on it, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Even Jamie hasn't written using blender but I did so the soup got more solid. If it's too thick for you, add some more water. 

On warm summer days, but especially on chilli autumun-winter evening it can be a perfect dinner.

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