BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE

I really like this dessert, it's easy to make and very delicious. It's just an ideal "it's Sunday afternoon and raining outside" kind of treat! :)

Ingredients:

• 750 grams frozen red fruit (blackberries, cherries, ...)
• 120 grams of unsalted butter
• 150 grams of all-purpose flour
• 50 grams of white granulated sugar
• 1 pinch of salt

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F
• put the frozen fruit in an ovenproof dish
• Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl
• Rub the butter with your fingers until the mixture ressembles breadcrumbs
• spread the crumble over the fruit and place it in the oven
• remove from the oven after 40-50 minutes
• the crumble should be brown and crisp when it comes out of the oven

You can serve this warmed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, your visitors won't be able to resist :)

ECLAIRS

Ingredients:

• 225 ml cold water
• 75 grams unsalted butter
• 100 grams all-purpose flour
• a pinch of salt
• 3 eggs

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C

• Mix the butter and water in a pan on a low heat, bring it to a boil and take it off the heat

• Mix in the flour all at once

• Put the pan back on the heat

• Continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the dough dries out and stops sticking to the sides of the pot

• Take the pan off the heat and stir in the eggs, one at a time, you’ll need to stir quite energetically to get a smooth mixture

• Put the mixture in a baking sac and squeeze out finger sized éclairs onto a baking sheet, do not put them too close together

• Bake for 10-12 minutes

• When you take them out of the oven they should be light and slightly brown, when you open one it should be empty, this will enable you to fill it.

• You let them cool

• once cooled you make a little cut on the side with a knife so you can push in the piping bag, this pipping bag can either be filled with whipped cream or creme anglaise

• once filled you can cover them with a layer of chocolate, to do that I just melted some chocolate (I didn't add any cream)

LEMON CUPCAKES

I made these for work to celebrate my birthday. It's a good alternative if you don't want something that is too sweet. I can't really explain why but I just love the sight of the lemon zest in the frosting. Makes about 12 cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes:

• 120 grams soft unsalted butter
• 145 grams white granulated sugar
• 185 self rasing flour
• 125 dl milk
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• zest of one small lemon

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 C
• mix with blender at low speed the butter, sugar, flour, milk, extract, zest and eggs for about 2 minutes
• mix for another 2 minutes at maximum speed
• put the paper liners in the muffin tin (12)
• distribute the mixture and bake the cakes for about 20 minutes
• let them cool off before you cover them with frosting

Ingredients buttercream frosting:

• 2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk or light cream
• zestg of 1 big lemon

Steps:

• Cream the butter until smooth and well blended
• Add vanilla extract
• With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar
• Add milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes)
• Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed
• Mix in the zest

Once the cupcakes have cooled off you can cover them with frosting, it's best to use a piping bag as you can make pretty swirls with them.

BASIC CAKE RECIPE

Ingredients for 6 to 8 persons:

• 4 eggs (about 200 grams)
• 200 grams white granulated sugar
• 200 grams unsalted butter
• 200 grams all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Split egg yolks and whites.
• Mix the egg yolks and sugar to a creamy substance, this takes at least 4-5 minutes. It needs to have a yellowy colour.
• Mix in the lightly melted butter, flour and baking powder into the yellow mixture.
• Mix the egg whites until foamy and gradually add them to the mixture. Don’t be too quick even if you want to speed things along, you’ll be sorry later as your cake will not rise.
• Butter the cake tin to make sure that the cake does not stick, if you don’t have any extra butter you can also use vegetable oil (just don’t use oil that has a flavour otherwise your cake will taste like e.g. olive oil).
• Poor the mixture in the cake tin and bake it at 180°C for 45 min up to 1 hour. When you take out the cake after 45 min you can check if it is sufficiently baked by pushing a wooden skewer into it, if there is still dough sticking to it put it back in the oven.

Tip: when you fill the cake tin it should not be filled over 75% otherwise you won’t have a nice rise.