MY OWN BIRTHDAY CAKE

This is my own birthday cake .. It was a vanilla cake with 2 layers, one with marmelade and one layer of buttercreme. I used sugar paste to cover the cake, the flowers and leaves are coloured sugar paste. The text I wrote on with chocolate. The side is covered with a green ribben.

CLASSIC APPLE PIE

This is a recipe I’ve found in a magazine and if you could see my copy you would know that I’ve had it for years! ou can never go wrong with an apple dessert; I’ll hardly ever eat apples but in a dessert they are the perfect companion!

Ingredients for 8 persons:

• 1 kg apples, cut and sliced in cubs
• 3 eggs
• 180 grams white granulated sugar
• 20 grams baking powder
• 180 grams melted butter
• 180 grams all purpose flour

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 175°C
• Mix the egg yolks with 80 grams of sugar to a creamy substance, this takes at least 4-5 minutes. It needs to have a yellowy colour
• Add the baking powder, butter and flour to the mixture
• Mix the egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt and mix through the rest of the mixture. Do not over-mix as you will otherwise loose your airy structure
• Butter a baking tin so the cake won’t stick
• Spoon the mixture in and push in the apple cubs with a fork. Sprinkle with 100 grams of sugar and put it in a preheated oven of 175°C for 80 minutes.

BANANA CUPCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE LAYER

This is an alternative recipe to my previous banana cupcake recipe I've put on my blog already. I can't really say which one I prefer as they both have a nice flavour (according to me).

Ingredients:

• 175 grams full-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 125 grams unsalted melted butter
• 150 grams white granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 small bananas (mashed)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Steps:

• preheat the oven to 180°C
• prepare your cupcake tray by putting the cupcake papers in
• mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl
• in a different bowl mix the melted butter and sugar until combined, beat in the egg one by one and add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract
• mix the flour mixture into the second bowl but don't do it in one go, add the flour mixture in 3 goes
• divide the mixture in the cupcake papers and put it in the oven for 25 minutes
• to decorate the top you can melt a bit of milk chocolate and pour it over, make sure that the cupcake has cooled down

AMARETTO TRUFFLES

Ingredients for 24 truffles:

• 175 grams milk chocolate
• 2 tbsp Amaretto liqueur
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• 50 grams ground almonds
• cocao powder to cover the truffles

steps:

• Melt the milk chocolate with the liqueur in a bowl set over a saucepan of hot water, stirring until well combined
• add the butter and stir until it has melted
• stir in the icing sugar and the ground almonds
• leave the mixture in a cool place until it is firm enough to roll truffles
• roll the truffles in some cocoa powder and chill them in the fridge

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.

BANANA CUPCAKE WITH FROSTING

I made these for a friend's birthday. I hardly ever use bananas in recipes but ever since I had a banana chocolate muffin I promised myself I would find a nice recipe for cupcakes.

Ingredients for 18 cupcakes:

• 125 grams butter
• 175 grams sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 large mashed ripe bananas
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp boiling milk
• 1 tsp baking power
• 225 grams all-purpose flour

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 170°C
• Cream butter & sugar till light and fluffy
• Add eggs one at a time
• Mix in mashed bananas
• Add baking soda that has been dissolved in hot milk
• Lastly mix in sifted flour & baking powder. Dont overbeat the batter
• Pour in into the cupcake papers in your cupcake/muffin tin
• After 20 minutes they should be lightly brown on top and bounce back when you press on them with your finger

Ingredients for chocolate butter cream frosting:

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 cup milk

Steps:

• Beat butter on high for about 30 seconds until soft
• Add cocoa and 1 cup of sugar and beat until incorporated
• Add half of the milk and the remainder of sugar and beat until incorporated
• Continue to add milk until you get to the consistency you want

There are many ways to go here, in this case, I simply piped the frosting onto the cupcakes with a large star tip.

VANILLA CUPCAKES WITH FLOWERS

Please use this recipe to make 12 cupcakes. I left out the lemon zest for these cupcakes. After letting them cool off you can cover them with sugar paste.

CAKE POPS

I got this idea from Bakerella, a brilliant and beautiful blog about baking. They looked so adorable that I just had to try them out. I didn’t put them on a stick because I didn’t have time to order them but that gives me an ideal excuse to try this again! :)

You can make a cake from scratch but you can also buy a cake mix from the shop. It depends on how much time you have and if you feel like making a cake yourself. I see no shame in the cake mixes as they can still taste quite nice.

Ingredients for cake balls:

• Cake mix or home made cake
• Cream cheese frostingTo be able to create balls you need to add some cream cheese frosting.

Below you have a nice recipe from the Martha Stewart site.

Ingredients for frosting:

• 113 grams cream cheese, room temperature
• 50 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
• 225 grams icing sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Steps for frosting:

• Please cream cheese and butter in a bowl and mix until creamy
• With the mixer on low add the sugar, making sure that all is incorporated
• Add vanilla and blend until frosting is fluffy (1 min.)

Steps:

• You bake your cake as usual and let it cool off
• You crumble it with your hands or a food processor
• Roll mixture into little balls and lay on wax paper covered cookie sheet.
• Cover with aluminium foil or plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours or in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Once the cake balls are chilled you can decorate them as you wish. For these ones I combined some melted with chocolate with red food colouring. For the top I coloured some white granulated sugar, I had never done that before but it doesn’t look too bad. I did cover the tops with a little bit of marmalade as it makes the sugar stick better. I just used the back of my spoon to cover the cake balls, it really doesn’t need to be much.

LITTLE WAFFLES

These little waffles are very dangerous; whilst I’m making them I’ll start eating them as well. I can make a chocolate cake without touching it but I can’t let these leave my kitchen without having some myself!

Ingredients:

• 250 grams all purpose flour
• 250 white granulated sugar
• 80 grams vanilla sugar
• 150 grams softened unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• a pinch of salt
• waffle iron

Steps:

• Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and the vanilla sugar to a creamy substance, this takes at least 4-5 minutes. It needs to have a yellowy colour.
• Add one egg after another and mix.
• Add the flour and salt and mix until you have a smooth consistency
• Cover it and leave it to set for an hour (I know, horrible to have to wait sooo long!!)
• Warm up your waffle iron, butter it and put a spoonful of batter

TIP1: don’t put too much batter, I found it nicer to have little waffles than to have large ones that make a complete mess in your waffle iron.

TIP2: If you cannot buy vanilla sugar you can create it yourself. Just put some sugar in a jar and add a used vanilla pod, let that set for a few days and you’ll have lovely smelling-like-vanilla sugar.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

This has to be the messiest recipe I have ever tried but the most fun to make.

I made it for Christmas last year and handed it out to my family. They loved it because it seems like you want to all that trouble whilst it is actually quite easy to make. Please do not do this when you have just cleaned your kitchen as the chocolate will get everywhere!

I did notice that whilst you roll the little balls your palms warm up so for me it was impossible to do them all at the same time, I had to stop half way and take a break.

Ingredients for 40 truffles:

• 1/2 450g jar dulce de leche caramel toffee
• 100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), chopped
• 2 x 200g bars milk chocolate, chopped
• 142ml pot double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• about 85g cocoa powder , to coat

Steps:

Make the middles first. Heat the Dulce de Leche in a pan for 1 min until warmed and runny, then stir in the chopped dark chocolate and leave to melt. Stir until smooth. Cover a dinner plate with cling film, oil the cling film well, then tip the mix onto it. Cool, and then freeze for 2 hrs or until very firm.

Put the milk chocolate into a bowl. Bring the cream to the boil in another pan, and then pour it over the chocolate. Leave for 2 mins, then add the vanilla and stir until smooth. Cool, and then chill until set.

Peel the caramel from the cling film, then snip into thumbnail-size pieces; wet kitchen scissors work best. Spread cocoa powder over a large baking tray. Take a heaped tsp of the truffle mix then, with cocoa-dusted hands, poke in a caramel chunk. Squash the mix around the caramel to seal, then roll into a ball. Put onto the tray, and then shake to coat in the cocoa. Repeat with the rest of the mix, then freeze, or chill if making less than 3 days ahead.

Tip: The recipe left me with quite a bit of caramel but I used it to fill up vanilla biscuits. You bake some simple vanilla biscuits and stick two together with some caramel you kept in the fridge, delicious!!

Thank you BBC GOOD FOOD magazine for the recipe!

ALMOND MACAROONS

This is a lovely dessert to take to friends, it’s easy to make and presents nicely with the chocolate cover. In lots of recipes it is coconut and chocolate but I also like it in this version.

Ingredients for 20 cookies:

• 2 egg whites
• 225 grams milk chocolate
• 225 grams white granulated sugar
• 175 grams ground almonds

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff
• Add the sugar and ground almonds, carefully add them so you don’t over-whisk and loose the airy structure
• Prepare a tray with parchment paper I always cover the paper with a drop of oil so the cookies slide off easily
• bake it in the oven for 20 minutes
• Allow them to cool and then cover with chocolate

This could get messy but I just melted some chocolate, poured it into a soup bowl and then dipped the cookies in whilst holding them with my fingers. As they rise a few centimeters I didn’t have problems to hold on to them without getting my fingers in the chocolate. I did put the cookie on its head so the chocolate side was facing upwards. That way it can dry and it won’t stick.

Keep them cool but don’t keep them in the fridge as it will influence the chocolate.

LEMON MERENGUE PIE

This lemon meringue is great if you want to impress people. I admit, there are more exciting things than a lemon tart but with the meringue it takes it to a whole other level! You can make creative swirls so you’ll end up with a piece of art. :)

This is one of those recipes that I prepare when I know I have a bit of time on my hands. T here are three parts to this recipe; the pastry, the filling and the meringue.

Pastry

• 250 grams of sweet biscuits
• 100 grams unsalted butter

Steps:

• grease a cake tin of about 24 cm diameter
• mix the biscuits in a blender so you end up with crumbs
• melt butter and add it to the crumbs
• spread the mixture in the tin and push it down, you'll need to create a 2 cm border
• put this tin in the fridge whilst you prepare the filling

Filling

• 75 grams all purpose-flour
• 330 grams white granulated sugar
• 125 ml lemon juice
• 300 ml water
• 60 grams unsalted butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons of lemon zest

Steps:

• mix the flour with 1/3 of the sugar in a large bowl
• gradually poor in the juice and mix until you have a smooth mixture
• boil some water (a few centimeters) in a pan and put the bowl on top of the water, with the steam of the water you warm up your mixture.
• stirr gradually until the mixture cooks and becomes thicker, make sure that it has the consistency of a hollandaise sause
• take it off the pan and stirr in the butter, egg yolks and lemon zest
• keep stirring until the butter is completely incorporated
• let the mixture cool off for about 10 minutes

Meringue

• 4 large egg whites
• 130 grams white granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Steps:

• Wisk together your egg whites until foamy.
• Add the cream of tartar and beat until you have soft peaks.
• To add the sugar you’d best do it spoon by spoon as the whites might otherwise collapse.

Compiling the pie

• take the tin out of the fridge
• pour in the cooled down mixture
• spread over the meringue
• put it into a preheated oven of 200°C for about 5 minutes,

This type of cake is best served cold so let it cool off and then keep it in refrigerated. The hardest part for me is to wait until it gets cold. I did try it once and it is not recommended to eat it warm, it just doesn’t do it justice.