Tagged: chocolate
Disaster in the Kitchen: Chocolate Cream Chouquettes with Caramel and Fleur de Sel
Just to show that making things from school at home has some very unavoidable differences. I think that up to the last step of the recipe everything was going fine, and then the caramel came in. And it stuck to the plate….So you can learn from my mistake already: It is imperatively important to oil your plate/tray well before setting the glazed chouquettes!
On Saturday’s Events
I suppose dinner parties can’t be fun if something unexpected doesn’t occur. In the end, there were only four of us, and it couldn’t have possibly been better otherwise. What I really love, is to be with the people I feel truly comfortable with (to the point of eating the cake with bare hands, straight from the stand). Highly improbable of happening, with seven people around. But that’s just plain me. I give honours to my best guests ever, Hemout and Miguel Maria. These are my V.I.P.’s!
Since the amount of people reduced so drastically, some of the dishes were left apart. I didn’t plate the smoked salmon. The best choice ever, because the turkey meatloaf was just to the count and everyone seemed to have preference in a hot dish, opposed to the “tapa” styled dinner. The chocolate cake was definitely a killer, and really made us sit back on our chairs! It was great…
Thank You.
Good Morning to WordPress!
So, Automattic has finally come to Portugal for an informal meeting! My stay in Lisbon was short for the last week (hidden in the Alentejo), but I just couldn’t miss the opportunity to thank the community for the brilliant tool they have provided me.
Sunday night, and monday morning at 7 o’clock, giving the last touches to the Sugarbilly gift basket! Most of the decorations are also handmade, like the cards and paintings that you see in the pictures (taken by my dad). I wanted to be an illustrator while in school, so this is a side of my personality which is difficult to omit. I love psychedelic colours and funky drawings, and I don’t see a reason for not making this completely Sugarbilly!
I made three varieties of little treats. Different textures, tastes and colours, to make it as live as I possibly could! From left to right, on the picture above: Figgy Walnut Biscotti, Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies, and Lavender Cream Cheese Cupcakes.
(Note: I was terribly preoccupied with the frostings. The chocolate, to be more precise… This is almost 35ºC at 8 o’clock in the morning. So I’m really dying to receive some feedback!)
Black-Bottom Cupcakes
This one’s for my mother. The quest has been long, don’t even know how I managed to remember after such a long time!
These cupcakes are my mother’s childhood favorites. I know that this recipe is somewhat common, but there’s one little ingredient that makes the difference: apple cider vinegar. Is it the reason for making the ones my mother avidly confirms, the best, I have no idea. But it’s the only difference between recipes that I have taken note of.
The original recipe for these Black Bottom’s substitutes the cream cheese for mascarpone, but I stuck to the cream cheese. I figured the probability of a jewish family making these cupcakes with mascarpone generally slim.
This batter is so good, you could eat it with a spoon. If you don’t have problems with raw eggs, the filling is also nice…
Belo Sol da Alvorninha
Beautiful morning in Alvorninha, with the exception of some serious windy moments, forcing trees to dance under the warm, and gold sun.
Every morning I go check out our Tangerine trees, just to make sure there’s nothing there to bring home. The usual is bringing a whole basket-full of Tangerines…unfortunately they go rotten very easily. Just so that doesn’t happen again, I thought of a better idea (and the most obvious): Tangerine Juice! During my Tangerine picking, I left my Marble Cake in the oven. It was supposed to be a Zebra Cake…but I’m afraid I didn’t get hold of the trick yet! The recipe is actually for a Marble Cake, but I don’t know if that’s what made the difference…
Nevertheless, the smell of a nice fresh cake, and cool Tangerine juice just makes the day shine in a different way.
Apple Cake with Dark Chocolate Ginger-ish Sauce
Herbal tea on a Saturday morning music, and yesterday’s cakes…
I haven’t made an Apple Cake for quite a while. I love it with a cup of hot Green Tea, and a little sauce on the side. As I’ve mentioned in my last post, my days have been spent mostly in the search for the perfect chocolate fudge (and studying driver’s license theory…). Didn’t want to put chocolate in the cake, as it would make it dense and not as smooth and fresh.
It may sound surprising, but this is the first cake recipe that I made alone (that is, without my Grandma Lena’s help). It belongs to a friend of hers, and it’s my favorite apple cake of all times. I actually think that most fruit cakes are vaguely similar, with the exception of the “upside-down’s”. Even so, it took me quite a while to make the click in this recipe. If you don’t let it cook, the texture will turn out real soggy…like a block of Edam cheese.
I only made half a recipe, but I’m writing it down in the original format. The measurement units used for these two recipes are different, so should you find it confusing, look here for help in the conversion.
