Happy New Year and Bonbon project 2.0

The New Year has come. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with their beloved ones, friends, colleagues, whoever, with whom you could cook, bake, eat perfect foods together and had a great time.

For Xmas this year since I am a gourmand and have this gastro blog, I didn't have another chance but only prepare eatable presents for everyone, my family and friends also. I prepared a lot of delicious things already before xmas, in all December but from all I loved making bonbons. It has endless number of variant and who doesn't love chocolate. The bonbon as xmas present proved perfect choise. All my family was struck dumb by the small sweet surprises which is always the best proof for me. :)

Right before Christmas I  bought a new bonbon silicone chocolate molds what I needed to try immediately. Of course! 

I made 4 different kind of bonbon with different fillings or design:

1. Bonbon filled with lemony white chocolate cream and sour cherry jam (I have prepared this before)

2. White - dark chocolate striped bonbon

3. White chocolate bonbon filling with sour cherry jam

4. White chocolate bonbon filling with orange dark chocolate cream

1. Bonbon filled with lemony white chocolate cream and sour cherry jam 

Ingredients (15 pieces):

15 dkg dark chocolate (minimum 60%)

For the filling:

4 tablespoon cream 

10 dkg white chocolate

4 coffee spoon yoghurt 

1 lemon's zest

+ home-made sour cherry jam

1. For first step let's prepare the filling. Melt the white chocolate with the cream above medium heat, stirring constantly. When the cream is solid, set aside to chill. When it's cold (after 5-10 minutes), addmix the yoghurt and lemon zest. Set aside again until preparing the chocolate shell in the forms. 

2. Melt the 2/3 of chocolate slowly in another saucepan stirring constantly. When it's completely melted, take from the cooking-stove, turn the rest of chocolate into the melted chocolate and stir until they get melted as well. 

3. Wih the help of a paint brush (Yes, you can use what we painted in elementary school with if we haven't purchased a professional bonbon brush yet) grease the holes of bonbon form. Hold toward the lights to see whether you haven't left any small hole anyway the filling runs out through it. Place the form in the fridge to congeal. If you want to play it safe, grease again with the chocolate (as I did also for the very first time).

4. When our chocolate shells chilled, place some white chocolate filling with a small coffee spoon, then some jam but leave some millimetre place for the feet of bonbons to close them. Pull down the unnecessary chocolate with a spatula so the feet of bonbons will be nice and plain.  

5. When we are ready witht the filling, put them back inthe fridge for minimum 1 hour then carefully turn out the bonbons from the form and you can taste them immediately. 

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Colourful tiny cakes in winter - vegetable-cheesy quiche

I prepared these colourful small quiches for a Saturday breakfast since I needed to try my newly bought pie forms. For the dough I used again the recipe of, Michael Roux from his book Pastry: Savory and Sweet. You can make 6 quiche (baking in 10 cm round shape form)  from the below ingredients.

Ingredients:
For the dough: 
250 g flour
1 egg
150 g soft butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon cold milk (I used yoghurt instead of milk) 

For the filling (what I prepared this time):
2 db triangle cheese
2 smaller red pepper
1 medium-sized onion
olive oil
salt, pepper, nutmeg
1 egg+ 2 egg yolks 
2 dl cooking cream
3-4 tablespoon chopped parsley

1. Knead the linzer pastry as usual. In a big bowl crumb the flour with the butter, add the caster sugar, vanilla sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, mix the ingredients and knead the pastry by hand very quickly. Put it in the fridge for about 1 hour but at least for 30 minutes to chill.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C and to prepare the basket forms, oil them properly in order the pastry not to get stuck in them. Roll out the pastry and cut it with a pastry cutter then arrange the pastry into the forms. Bake them in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. When they are ready take them out and let them cool.

3. While the baskets are in the oven, let's prepare the filling. Peel and chop the onion, sauté with olive oil in a small saucepan then add the sliced red pepper. In another bowl mix the egg with the cream and cheese, sprinkle with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and finally mix with the vegetables.

4. Fill your chilled baskets with this filling then place back to the oven for another 15 minutes. 

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Kladdkaka - The famous Swedish chocolate cake

We arrived at the next stop of our series about Swedish desserts, the kladdkaka.

The Swedes has many national day around the year when they celebrate the day one of their national desserts such as kanelbullens dag (the Swedish cinnamon rolls) on 4th October or Fettisdagen (the Fat Tuesday) when the whole Swedish nation eats semla or like today, on 7th November when everyone bakes kladdkaka at home. 

The word "kladdkaka" means sticky cake. This cake is the first dessert what the Swedish children learn to bake from their parents. It's similar to the American brownie but the kladdkaka's middle is more soft and sticky because of the chocolate. Generally it's served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

You can find kladdkaka in almost every café and restaurant all around Sweden, somewhere it's good, somewhere it's better but unfortunately you can meet with less good one also, whose middle is not soft - which is essential for kladdkaka. In addition like every other Swedish cake, the kladdkaka has also frozen version as well therefore who is too lazy to bake, they can also buy a quite delicious cake in the supermarket. Since it's as quick as lightning to prepare and doesn't need any special qualification or practise, it's hard to find an excuse why you couldn't bake it at home.

Like every dessert, million different kinds of kladdkaka exist but all consist butter, cocoa powder, flour, egg but with different rate. Moreover, kladdkaka has improved variant as well, which is added vanilla or chocolate in, but the result is always very similar.  

From the million versions I chose the famous kladdkaka of Leila Lindholm from her book, A Piece of Cake.

Ingredients:

50 g butter
1/2 dl oil
2 egg
2 dl castor sugar
1 dl brown sugar
2,5 dl flour
4 tablespoon good quality cocoa powder (I use only Holland!)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt

butter and flour to grease the form
50 g dark chocolate (min. 70%)

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.

2. Melt the butter in the microwave oven or in a small sauce pan then add the oil. 

3. In a big bowl whisk the eggs and the castor and brown sugar with a hand mixer till foamy then addmix the oily butter. 

4. In another bowl mix the dry ingredients, the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla sugar and cocoa powder and stir into the egg mixture. 

5. When it's ready pour in the prepared, buttered and floured about 24 cm round cake pan with removable bottom and sprinkle with some breaken chocolate pieces. 

5. In the middle of the oven bake the cake for 25 minutes. When you will stick a knife in it, don't surprise, it'll be sticky a bit because of the melted chocolate on its top. 

Serve with freshly whipped cream. 

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Bonbon project 1.0 - Bonbon filled with lemony white chocolate cream and sour cherry jam

The long weekends always give a handle to try those dishes, cakes and recipes we have deferred for a long time. I also devoted partly my weekend for this vagary. On the one hand these wonderful bonbons were prepared on Saturday, and yesterday ginger-cinnamon Williams pear jam. Wowowowow!! Even I made both for the first time but I wanted to create something special and unique and to be "very unpretentious" I think they turned out well.  

I stated that I still need to improve related to bonbon (I would like if my bonbons were sooo shiny as the most delicious ones are) in technics, variations, tastes, forms but what is essential that 8 from 10  bonbons  came out in one shape from the form. The other reason why I needed to try to make them is that in 2 weeks I will need to prepare in Stockholm and at the time I won't be allowed to make lame bonbons. :)

My mum has bought the forms for me a few weeks ago in Lidl, but in Hungary you can buy also in Butlers, Tescoma products can be bought in almost all kitchen utensils store, in almost every big shopping mall (in Budapest: Allee, Westend, Aréna) and online on the Hungarian website: Gasztroshop, Sodrófa.hu. For the persons who lives in Sweden (;-)) the FikaMera is a very useful web store!!!!! Soon I will also purchase the ingredients only from here. 

For start I wanted to try only one portion, the important for me was to see how to use the chocolate, how to temper then how to grease the form with the melted chocolate to make equable thick chocolate layer then in the end if I reached the last step without any big mistake how to conjured the bonbons out from the form without breaking. In short, to know all of this above, I turned in to the blog of Praliné Zsuzsi, and Csak a Puffin, to learn the basics and get inspired. In this way I reached to the lemony white chocolate and sour cherry jam filling. 

I aim at summarize the most important things what a starter bonbon maker should know before starting a bonbon project.

Ingredients (10 pieces):

10 dkg dark chocolate (minimum 60%)

For the filling:

2 tablespoon cream 

5 dkg white chocolate

2 coffee spoon yoghurt 

1/2 lemon's zest

+ home-made sour cherry jam

1. For first step let's prepare the filling. Melt the white chocolate with the cream above medium heat, stirring constantly. When the cream is solid, set aside to chill. When it's cold (after 5-10 minutes), addmix the yoghurt and lemon zest. Set aside again until preparing the chocolate shell in the forms. 

2. Melt the 2/3 of chocolate slowly in another saucepan stirring constantly. When it's completely melted, take from the cooking-stove, turn the rest of chocolate into the melted chocolate and stir until they get melted as well. 

You can read about the different way of melting and tempering of chocolate at Praliné Zsuzsi's blog.  She says, either to melt above  boiling water or in microwave oven but the most important thing is to measure with chocolate tempering thermometer, because if for instance we overheat the chocolate it can happen that our chocolate won't be shiny.

3. Wih the help of a paint brush (Yes, you can use what we painted in elementary school with if we haven't purchased a professional bonbon brush yet) grease the holes of bonbon form. Hold toward the lights to see whether you haven't left any small hole anyway the filling runs out through it. Place the form in the fridge to congeal. If you want to play it safe, grease again with the chocolate (as I did also for the very first time).

(If your chocolate has congealed, melt it again.)

4. When our chocolate shells chilled, place some white chocolate filling with a small coffee spoon, then some jam but leave some millimetre place for the feet of bonbons to close them. Pull down the unnecessary chocolate with a spatula so the feet of bonbons will be nice and plain.  

5. When we are ready witht the filling, put them back inthe fridge for minimum 1 hour. (or for a whole night), then carefully turn out the bonbons from the form and you can taste them immediately. 

How long are 10 binbons enough for you?

The chocolate shell was perfect, the cream was softly lemony, and with the sourish cherry jam they became a very special couple. 

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Apple-cinnamon muffin with walnut crumb

I'm already in Christmas mood, especially when the cinnamon apple started to flavour from the oven. These muffins are simple (the recipe can be sum up in 3 steps) but delicious, soft and very Christmasish :)

Ingredients (6 pieces):
1 egg
1,5 dl yoghurt
3,5 dkg butter or marge
12 dkg flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
8 dkg sugar
10 g vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 middle-sized apple

For decoration:
1 handful walnut + 1 tablespoon sugar

1. In a big bowl mix the egg and yoghurt. In another one mix the flour with the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, sugar then add the egg mixture and grated apple to this.Mix all the ingredients properly.

2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 

3. Spoon the dough into the muffin paper lined forms, sprinkle with sugar-walnut mix and bake in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes.

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WAMP Spájz autumn gastro fair - 4th November 2012

Christmans is here soon therefore the organisers arranged a WAMP for all Sunday. By the coming of winter and Christmas, WAMP Spájz gastro fair will be held on the first Sunday of November, at Millenáris in Budapest.

Who visit Millenáris, can meet not only the well-known exhibitor designers but can taste and buy unique self-made, domesticated autumn-winter delicacies.

There will be 6 different gastro sections at the fair's area like at the previous fair.

1. Dunszt: you can find in this section such as jam, chutney, fruit syrup

2. Állati: cheeses, fresh meats and fish sajtok, friss húsok-halak

3. Édes: cakes, biskuits, chocolates

4. Szalonspicc: In this section you can taste the best alcoholic drinks, local beer manufactures, wine

5. Friss: vegetables, fruits, breads and herbs

6. Vegyespolc: here you can find everything which doesn't bleong to none of the above sections: spices, vinegars, oils, coffees, teas and of course cookbooks.

As I wrote already, we can not only shop the products at the fair but taste and consumed on the spot as well. In regard to the autumn-winter weather, who got frozen in the cold can taste warm toasts, warming-up soups and cakes.

At this WAMP Spájz the very good quality, hand-made bread will get an extra attention by everyone, for what those bakeries are invited who makes special baked products.

Besides the above at separated counters you can taste special autumn delicacies made by famous Hungarian gastrobloggers.

WAMP Spájz 
Date: 2012. november 4. 10:00-18:00

Address: Millenáris Fogadó
Entrance:ingyenes

I will be there and you?

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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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