Almond madeleines with limoncello glaze

It’s no secret I adore the Internet and to the list of great things that can be done with it I’ll add planning trips – flights, hotels, restaurant reservations, everything can be done with the computer, not to mention the travel blogs out there and their precious information about the places around the world – my dear friend Tania’s blog was a fantastic source when I was planning my trip to New York, a must-read for a foodie like me.
The hubby and I have plans to go to Paris again sometime in the future and when we do I know exactly where to go for posts not only about the City of Light but also about other destinations in Europe: my lovely and dearest friend Tina’s blog. Too bad it’s just for those who read Portuguese because she’s an amazing writer and her posts are a delight even if you’re not planning any trips.

Speaking of Paris and Europe I bring you today these madeleines: a very French treat with a delicious Italian touch provided by the limoncello.

Almond madeleines with limoncello glaze
adapted from Martha’s lemon madeleines

Madeleines:
50g all purpose flour
½ cup (50g) almond meal
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
80g granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
75g unsalted butter, melted

Glaze:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar
½ tablespoon limoncello, or more to taste – I used homemade
about 1 teaspoon water, if necessary

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and almond meal, removing any lumps. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and the salt until frothy, then whisk in the sugar. Whisk in the extracts followed by the flour mixture. Fold in the butter. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Brush twenty-four 1-tablespoon capacity madeleines molds with melted butter and refrigerate for 5 minutes. Fill each mold ¾ of its capacity and bake for 8-10 minutes or until risen, golden and springy to touch. Remove from the oven and immediately unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
Glaze: sift the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Gradually add the limoncello, stirring until you have a drizzable consistency – add more limoncello or the water if necessary. Drizzle over the cooled madeleines and set aside until glaze hardens, about 15 minutes.

Makes 24

Caipirinha drizzle cake

It’s been a lot of fun following Nigella’s comments about her Brazilian trip: for what she’s written she really had a lovely time around here. Apparently one of Nigella's favorite Brazilian treats was the coxinha, described perfectly by her as a sort of chicken croquette – she’s made coxinhas in her kitchen and posted the recipe on her website – along with the caipirinha, the latter being something I can totally relate. :D

Since too many caipirinhas can cause some damage having them in cake form is a good idea – here, I’ve adapted Lily Vanily’s margarita drizzle cake and the result pleased everyone.

Caipirinha drizzle cake
adapted from the delicious Lily Vanilli's Sweet Tooth: Recipes and Tips from a Modern Artisan Bakery (I bought mine here)

Cake:
225g all purpose flour
½ tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
60g unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 2 limes
2 large eggs
150ml whole milk, room temperature

Syrup:
¼ cup (60ml) water
90g granulated sugar
¼ cup (60ml) cachaça
¼ cup (60ml) lime juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla followed by the lime zest briefly. Add the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl. In low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients, then the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl then beat all together for 1 minute.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold, remove the paper and place it top side up onto the rack.
During those 20 minutes, make the syrup: heat water, sugar, half the cachaça and lime juice in a small saucepan over high heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes, or until you get a thickened syrup that is starting to color. Remove from the heat, add the remaining cachaça, then boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Prick the cake all over with a toothpick than generously brush it all over with the syrup. Cool completely before serving.

Serves 8

Marmalade muffins + moments of stress in the kitchen

I was talking to my father about my mother the other day and I remembered something she used to do when my brother and I were little: every time she made a cake she would let us lick the bowl, which was something we both enjoyed very much (I might have told you that already but I’m not sure – 936 posts will do that do one’s mind). :) She was a fabulous baker and baked very often, not only because she loved it but also because she wanted my father and I to have something tasty in our lunch boxes.

Licking the bowl is a sport I still practice – in fact, I’ll gladly try most doughs and batters before actually baking them. What I did not expect was that this habit would actually save me a great amount of stress after a baking session: Sunday morning and I set out to make muffins. I chose Delia Smith’s marmalade muffins because I love anything marmalade and wanted to give that beautiful book a try. The batter was ready in no time and soon the muffins were in the oven. While they baked, I started making the bed and all of a sudden it hit me: I hadn’t added any sugar to the batter!!! O_O I ran back to the kitchen, grabbed the recipe and read it again – no, there was no sugar in it. It wasn’t my mistake. Then I remembered how good the batter tasted and felt instantly relieved: the marmalade alone would be enough to sweeten the muffins. Phew.

These muffins are not too sweet – obviously :) – and the marmalade topping make them even tastier. I’m a sucker for marmalade but I believe these could work with other preserves, too – apricot comes to mind, or maybe raspberry paired with lemon zest.

Marmalade muffins
slightly adapted from the master Delia Smith (mine was bought here)

225g chunky orange marmalade
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
whole milk, if necessary
1 heaping tablespoon almond meal
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
50g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

To finish the muffins:
2 heaping tablespoons orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan with 9 paper liners and fill the remaining cavities halfway up with water.
Place the marmalade in a small bowl and give it a good stir to loosen it up. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Zest and juice the orange, then measure the juice – you’ll need ½ cup (120ml); if you don’t have enough juice, make it up with some milk.
In a small bowl, whisk together the zest and juice (and milk, if using), almond meal, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Pour these ingredients into the flour mixture and lightly whisk with a fork – do not overmix or your muffins will be tough. Fold in the marmalade. Divide the batter between the muffin liners and bake for 18-20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool. You can serve these muffins warm or at room temperature – before serving, spread the extra marmalade on top of each muffin.

Makes 9

Stracciatella snickerdoodles

Last weekend, as I was baking these cookies and their wonderful smell took over my apartment, I thought that they deserved a fun name – I wasn’t a fan of the original (car-co-doodles), plus it would mean nothing to my Brazilian readers. The freckled dough in the bowl looked like the milk chocolate stracciatella ice cream I made a while ago and that was when I decided to call the cookies stracciatella snickerdoodles. “That name will surely make my readers curious about these cookies”, I thought, and that would maybe convince you to bake them. However, when I took a bite out of a cookie still warm from the oven I knew the convincing would be a lot easier: I would just have to tell you about the delicious, gooey melted chocolate bits dispersed in a cinnamon scented cookie. ;)

Stracciatella snickerdoodles
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious More from Macrina: New Favorites from Seattle's Popular Neighborhood Bakery

1 1/3 cups (175g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon table salt
85g (3oz) dark chocolate, chopped – I used chips and roughly chopped them before using
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (175g) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the chocolate pieces and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and then the egg, mixing on low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl and add the dry ingredients, mixing until they are just incorporated.
Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 165°C/325°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
Let the cookie dough warm at room temperature for 20 minutes. Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough into balls and roll them in the cinnamon-sugar. Place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Slightly flatten the cookies and then bake for about 15 minutes until light golden brown. Cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Makes about 45 cookies

Lamington bars - lamingtons for the lazy

People often tell me that they admire me for cooking and baking so frequently, and I reply that preparing food really makes me happy. However, I do have some lazy moments, too, of course, and these bars are proof: I’ve always wanted to make lamingtons but kept postponing it because the thought of baking the cake, cutting it into squares, dipping them in chocolate and rolling in coconut made me tired already – not to mention the versions in which the cake squares are filled! :) It’s a lot of work, and I’m not always up for it. Therefore, Donna Hay’s bars are perfect: they are lamingtons made in half the time, or even less, and they taste great.

Lamington bars
from the über beautiful Donna Hay Magazine

Cake:
125g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1¼ cups (175g) all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
1 cup (100g) sweetened shredded coconut, for sprinkling over the bars

Chocolate icing:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1/3 cup (80ml) boiling water
1 ½ tablespoons (21g) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan, line it with foil and butter ht the foil as well.
Cake: beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in the milk. Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer – the cake won’t color much. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Icing: place the icing sugar, cocoa, water and butter in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Cut the cake into squares and carefully pour over icing. Top with coconut.

Makes 20

Ricotta and spinach stuffed shells - a nice idea for lunch on Mother's Day

Nigella promoted her cookbook in several different TV shows here in Brazil and in one of them she baked her chocolate banana muffins – she said that they would be a nice treat for breakfast on Mother’s Day. Her comment reminded me of this recipe I cooked a while ago, the first one I tried from Martha’s wonderful vegetarian cookbook: I find it perfect for a celebration day, since it can be put together in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator; all you need to do is let it come to room temperature, then bake it – easy-peasy.

Unfortunately I no longer have my mom around, but if I did I would probably make her both the muffins and the pasta bake – spoiling people with food is one of my favorite sports. ;)

Ricotta and spinach stuffed shells
adapted from the absolutely beautiful Meatless: More Than 200 of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes

Tomato sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large onion, finely diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 400g (14oz) can peeled tomatoes
¼ teaspoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful of fresh basil leaves
handful of fresh oregano leaves

Pasta and filling:
16 pasta shells (6cm each)*
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
100g frozen spinach, unthawed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch of freshly nutmeg
1 ¼ cups fresh ricotta – I used homemade
¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped

Make the sauce: in a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and the sugar. Fill 1/3 of the can with water, swirl it around and add to the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper, break the tomatoes with a wooden spoon then cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add the basil and oregano, stir to combine, cover and remove from the heat.
Cook shells in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and let cool. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Filling: in a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, cook for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the spinach and cook until it thaws, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and remove from the heat. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, parmesan, spinach and parsley. Season again with salt and pepper.
Coat a 25x15cm (6x10in) ovenproof baking dish with the sauce. Generously spoon filling into shells and arrange in pan, dipping them into the sauce. Cover with foil and bake until bubbling, about 30 minutes.

* some shells might break in the boiling water, so it’s a good idea to cook more shells than you actually need

Serves 2 generously

White chocolate, pistachio and lemon cookies

Due to incorrect information given by the bookstore over the phone I arrived really early at the mall last Friday to get Nigella’s autograph; with all that time in our hands my sister and I needed something to do, so we ate lunch and then went to the movies. The options are pretty limited these days with “Iron Man 3” taking over half the theaters, so “Evil Dead” was our choice. The original terrified my teenage years and I thought that this version would be even scarier, but it turned out to be softer – at least in my opinion. I was expecting sheer horror after watching the trailer – I was so scared I couldn’t watch it properly and thought Zac Efron was in the movie when it was really Shiloh Fernandez (!) – but the 1981 version is a lot scarier. Needless to say, my sister liked the movie a lot. :)

I usually bake a lot on weekends but because my legs hurt so much I ended up resting more than anything. Slice and bake cookies are wonderful for times like those: if you have a log of dough in your freezer you’re only moments away from freshly baked cookies – and that is never a bad thing, right? :) If you agree with me, I suggest this recipe: the flavor combo is delicious and the dough can be kept in the freezer for up to one month – let it sit on the counter while you preheat the oven and the log will soften up a little, enough to be sliced.

White chocolate, pistachio and lemon cookies
from the always delicious and foolproof The Good Cookie: Over 250 Delicious Recipes from Simple to Sublime

195g (7oz) white chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (95g) shelled unsalted pistachios
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the white chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to small pieces. Add the pistachios and pulse again until finely chopped.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in zest and vanilla. At low speed, mix in the flour mixture. Stir in the pistachio mixture. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
Divide the dough into two equal parts. Place each on a piece of parchment paper; shape dough into logs. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 3.5 cm (1.4in) log – like Martha does here. Wrap in parchment. Chill in the freezer until very firm.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap one log at a time (keep the other in the freezer). Cut into 6mm (¼in) thick rounds; space 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, 11-13 minutes. Cool completely on the sheets over a wire rack.

Makes about 50 cookies

Coconut and cherry banana bread and meeting Nigella

Something I never imagined possible happened a couple of days ago: I met Nigella Lawson! :) No, I wasn’t dreaming – she actually came to Brazil to promote her book "Nigella Kitchen" and I went to the book signing held in Sao Paulo. I had to stand in line for four hours – my legs hurt like hell up to this moment – but it was all worth it: the woman is a goddess. Beautiful beyond words, she greeted me with a kind smile and we talked for a couple of minutes before she signed my book – I was so smitten that I told her she was wonderful twice. :)

While leaving the bookshop I told my sister (who was with me the whole time, even though she did not quite know who Nigella was) that I felt really inspired to cook and bake after meeting Nigella. She told me that I should make one of Nigella’s recipes, and I did: a moist, perfumed banana loaf that lighten up my kitchen the same way Ms. Lawson lightened up my Friday. <3

Coconut and cherry banana bread
from the beautiful, always delicious and now autographed Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home

125g soft unsalted butter
4 small-medium bananas (450g/1 pound unpeeled), mashed
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (160g) plain flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2/3 cup dried cherries – mine were really big, so I coarsely chopped them
1 1/3 cups (133g) desiccated coconut – I used sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F*. Lightly butter a 900g (2lb) loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well – I used a 21x11xcm (8½x4½in) loaf pan.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and take it off the heat. Cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat the sugar into the cooled, melted butter, then beat in the mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture. Finally, add the dried cherries and coconut. Fold well so that everything is incorporated, then pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for about 50 minutes, but start checking after 45 – a skewer inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove it from the pan and cool completely over a wire rack.

* out of distraction I ended up baking my bread at 180°C/350°F

Serves 8-10

Orange and pistachio financiers

Financiers are one of my favorite baked goods: I love their chewy texture and they are also very versatile when it comes to flavors – the sky is the limit. A small bag of pistachios in the freezer was the perfect excuse for baking these financiers: since the lemons I had in my fridge were reserved for a cake I replaced their zest with orange and I think the result was better than the one from the original recipe.

Orange and pistachio financiers
slightly adapted from the always sinful and delicious Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth

½ cup (50g) almond meal
1 cup (135g) unsalted pistachios, lightly toasted and cooled
1 ½ cups (210g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
8 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, melted

Combine the almond meal, pistachios and the confectioners’ sugar in a food processor and process until the mixture is very fine and powdery.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the granulated sugar, orange zest, egg whites and vanilla just until smooth. Sift the flour and salt together over the batter and fold in gently. Carefully stir in the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Generously butter 24 financier molds. Fill each mold ¾ full and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Remove from the oven and immediately unmold onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar to serve, if desired.

Makes 24 – I halved the recipe above, used 2-tablespoon capacity molds and got 24 financiers

Chocolate whisky cupcakes with peanut butter icing

Every time a new DH magazine issue arrives I go crazy with so many delicious recipes and it’s a tough task to choose which one to make first. This time, however, it was a bit easier: I decided I would only make something if I had all the ingredients home. Since I was out of cream cheese all the gorgeous cheesecakes would have to wait, that way I settled for these cupcakes: tender and deeply chocolaty, they are enhanced by the delicious icing. The original recipe called for smooth peanut butter but I used crunchy and thought that it worked really well, adding a nice bite to the smooth frosting. The recipe also called for a caramel sauce to be poured over the frosting but to me the cupcakes were sweet enough without it – more sugar wouldn’t do them any good.

Chocolate whisky cupcakes with peanut butter icing
slightly adapted from the always delicious and stunning Donna Hay Magazine

Cupcakes:
200g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons whisky
140g unsalted butter, chopped
½ cup (45g) Dutch-processed cocoa, sifted
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
275g granulated sugar

Peanut butter icing:
160g icing sugar, sifted
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
80g unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-hole (½ cup capacity each) cupcake pan with paper liners.
Cupcakes: in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Place the whisky and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa. Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla and whisk to combine. Whisk in the sugar, then the flour mixture and mix until smooth. Pour the batter equally into the prepared pan (don’t go over 1/3 of the capacity or the batter might overflow) and bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen and cooked through when tested with a skewer. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing: place the sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and fluffy, 6-8 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the cream and beat for 1 minute. Spread the icing over the cooled cupcakes.

*homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above, used 1/3-cup capacity muffin pans and got 9 cupcakes

Apple and marzipan rolls + an interesting read

One of my favorite things to do is reading about how movies are made and especially how directors and actors are chosen for each project; there are characters impossible to imagine being played by someone else – can you picture Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones? – while with others I would have taken a different route: for instance, I would have chosen Vanessa Williams to play Storm instead of Halle Berry.
Ryan Adams’ has posted an excerpt from William Friedkin’s memoir in which he describes the casting for “The Exorcist” – it’s a very interesting read. I find Ellen Burstyn’s performance in that movie one of the best I have seen in my entire life and it is amazing to find out that she hadn’t even been considered for the part. It is also curious how Jason Miller got cast as Father Karras. Friedkin is a director I admire – can’t wait to watch “Killer Joe” – and I ended up adding his memoir to my already too long wish list. :)

***

Ever since making Paul Hollywood’s marzipan for the first time I’ve been enjoying recipes I had bookmarked for years – these rolls come from Waitrose’s website and are every bit the delicious treat I’d imagined them to be.

Apple and marzipan rolls
slightly adapted from Waitrose

2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
7g dried yeast
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
100g unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk, lukewarm
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
200g golden marzipan, grated – I used homemade, recipe here
1 large Granny Smith apple
½ cup (75g) golden raisins
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
icing sugar, for dusting

Place the flour, yeast and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Make a well in the center and add the egg, butter, milk and vanilla and mix to combine. Mix at low-medium speed until it starts to form a soft dough. Continue mixing for 5-6 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic – or knead by hand for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a lightly buttered large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about 1½ hours or until the dough has doubled in size. Meanwhile, butter a 23cm (9in) round cake pan.
Punch the dough with your fist to deflate, then tip it out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out to a 40x20cm (16x8in) rectangle. Scatter the marzipan over the dough to within 1cm (½in) of the edges. Peel, core and chop the apple and scatter over the marzipan. Mix the raisins with the cinnamon and sprinkle them over the apples. Starting from a long edge, roll up the dough into a long, thin sausage shape.
Using a small sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 even-sized pieces. Place them with their cut sides face-up in the prepared tin. Cover loosely with a piece of buttered plastic wrap and leave to rise again (prove) for about 1 hour until the buns have risen and become tightly packed in the tin (mine took 2 hours to prove). Towards the end of the proving time, preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
Uncover the buns and bake for about 30 minutes until deep golden. Cover with foil towards the end of the cooking time if they start to over-brown. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 8

Black forest cookies

Years ago, when I started using American recipes in my kitchen, one thing I really wanted to try making was chocolate chip cookies: they're not part of our food culture and there were two store-bought versions - one was nice, but very expensive, and the more affordable one was on the dry side. Now that I have made my share of chocolate chip cookies with great success - they're infinitely better than the store-bought ones - I love trying variatons like this, with the addition of dried cherries: they add a chewy tang to the classic cookies. Really, really good.

Black forest cookies
slightly adapted from the absolutely gorgeous Annie Bell's Baking Bible (I bought mine here)

1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (75g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
50g dried cherries
150g dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until light and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in the cherries and the chocolate.
Roll 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie into balls and place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until pale gold all over, but slightly darker around the edges.
Loosen the cookies straight away, then leave to cool completely on the sheets.

Makes 25-30

Coconut buns + a TV show disappointment

I waited months for the fifth season of “Mad Men” to arrive on Netflix but after watching all the episodes I did not like it much. :/

* spoilers *

I hated the fate of my favorite characters, Joan and Lane, and Don Draper doesn’t seem to be the interesting character he once was – at least Pete and Peggy had great finales. Seasons 1 through 4 are such favorites of mine, I hope season 6 gets back on track again. Have you watched season 5? Did you like it?

* end of spoilers *

If “Mad Men” was a disappointment to me I can’t say the same about these buns: they are super tender and delicious both on their own and with some raspberry jam; the recipes from "Baking by Flavor" never let me down.

Coconut buns
slightly adapted from the always delicious and wonderful Baking by Flavor

2 ¼ teaspoons dried yeast
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
1 large egg
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream*
¼ cup coconut milk
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour, divided use
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 sweetened (33g) shredded coconut
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into chunks

For assembling the buns:
1 egg, beaten with a fork, for brushing the rolls
about ¼ cup sweetened shredded coconut, for sprinkling over the rolls

In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the hook attachment mix the yeast, ½ teaspoon of the sugar and warm water. Let stand for about 5 minutes or until foamy. Add the egg, vanilla, remaining sugar, sour cream and coconut milk and stir to combine. Add 2 cups of the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and coconut and mix at medium-low speed until a dough forms. Gradually add the butter, mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes – if the dough is too sticky, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour, but be aware that this is a soft dough. Transfer to a lightly buttered large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour. Refrigerate for 4-5 hours or overnight.
Butter a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan. Set aside.
Remove the dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead 3-4 four times, then divide into 9 equal portions. Roll each into a ball by cupping your hand and pushing dough against work surface as you roll in a circular motion. Arrange rolls 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared pan and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let proof until doubled in size, about 2 hours. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
Brush the rolls with the egg wash and sprinkle with the coconut. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Makes 9

Chickpea curry with roasted cauliflower and tomatoes and a trip that changed things up around here

Those of you around here for a while know that my husband is a classic case of picky eater – there are lots of things that he just won’t eat. That makes me sad because he is missing out on several delicious things, but what can I do? I can’t force him – I hated it when my stepmother forced us to eat her disgusting food and that was the reason why I started cooking. I consider it his loss – I eat all the good food myself and call it a day.

Last year he went to China on a business trip and that was one of the greatest gifts the Universe could have sent me: several days and many spring rolls afterwards he came home a changed man – at least in the food department. Yes, he’s still a bit picky and likes to stick to his usual favorites, but he’s been trying things he hated before and without me pushing. He ate this vegetarian curry – one of Martha’s great recipes – which blew me away because he doesn’t like chickpeas. Or cauliflower, for that matter. Because he was being such a good boy I replaced the cilantro with parsley – baby steps, people, baby steps. One or two more trips to China and I bet he’ll become a real foodie – maybe I should give his boss a call and send him a box of brownies. ;)

Chickpea curry with roasted cauliflower and tomatoes
slightly adapted from the wonderful Meatless: More Than 200 of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes

½ head cauliflower (about 450g/1lb), trimmed and cut into florets
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon curry powder
3 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 ½ cups baby spinach*
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves – I used parsley

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F. Toss cauliflower with 1 teaspoon olive oil and arrange in a single layer on one side of a rimmed baking sheet. Toss tomatoes with 1 teaspoon olive oil and arrange on other side of sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until florets are browned in spots and tomatoes are soft, about 25 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and curry powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer 8 minutes.
Add cauliflower and cook until warmed through and chickpeas are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in spinach and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

* I added about 80g frozen spinach instead of the fresh stuff because that is what I had at home; the curry turned green, which to some people might be unappetizing (for the record, it tasted great); right before serving, I added a handful of fresh baby watercress to the curry.

Serves 4 – I halved the recipe above, we both ate generously and there was still curry left, enough to serve one more person

Cinnamon swirl loaf cake

I find cooking or baking from a cookbook for the first time a tricky thing: if the recipe turns out good – which is the case most of the times – I feel like using that cookbook right away again, over and over, sometimes to exhaustion, but if the first recipe turns out bad I tend to put the cookbook aside. I know I shouldn’t do it because bad recipes can happen to anyone but I really can’t help it. Do you feel the same way?
After the amazing almond citrus drizzle cake I’d been meaning to use this beautiful cookbook again; the urge of baking a cake and some heavy cream about to go to waste in the fridge were the reasons I chose this cinnamon loaf: it turned out delicious, very tender and perfumed, perfect with a cup of tea or coffee – David Lesniak and David Muniz have done it again. :)

Cinnamon swirl loaf cake
slightly adapted from the gorgeous and delicious Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple

Cinnamon sugar:
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (44g) brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Cake:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (175g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream*

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 22.5x12.5cm (9x5in) loaf pan.
Cinnamon sugar: combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Cake: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream in 3 or 4 additions, mixing just until incorporated – finish mixing by hand with a spatula. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with ½ the cinnamon mixture. Cover with another 1/3 of the batter and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon mixture. Spoon the remaining batter over it then, using a small knife or spatula, make a zigzag line from one narrow side of the pan to the other. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely.

*homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 6-8

Poppy seed thumbprints

I'm a visual person so I am naturally draw to cookbooks and magazines with beautiful photos - that is why I got hooked on Donna Hay Magazine, for instance; however, from time to time I try to use the cookbooks with the less gorgeous visual content because I know that I might be missing on some great recipes. Carole Walter's book on cookies might not have the most beautiful photos around but the woman is a fabulous baker: everything I have made from it turned out delicious and the instructions are clear and precise. These thumbprints were a doddle to make and were a hit with the hubby's coworkers.

Poppy seed thumbprints
from the great Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup poppy seeds
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
raspberry preserves, or use the flavor you like the most

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Mix together the flour, salt and poppy seeds in a large bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium-low speed until smooth. Pour in the sugar and mix just until incorporated. Add the egg yolks and vanilla, mixing only until blended. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just to combine after each addition. Do not overmix or this dough will become oily.
Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough into balls place 5cm (2in) apart on a lined cookie sheet. Using a wooden spoon with a rounded handle no wider than 1cm (½in), make a deep indentation with the tip of the handle in the center of each cookie. Place the cookies in the oven. After 10 minutes, remove the cookies from the oven and re-press each indentation. Then fill the centers with preserves. Point the tip of the spoon down into the indentation and slide the preserves off with your fingertip. Do not overfill these or the preserves will run over. Return the cookies to the oven, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back. Bake for 5-7 minutes longer until the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Using a spatula, loosen the cookies from the pans and cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 45 cookies

Orange and whiskey cake + more movies

As you know, horror movies scare the bejesus out of me, but my sister adores them – since she doesn’t complain about my movie choices I gather all the courage I have (which, to be honest, is practically none) and watch the scary movies with her – it wouldn’t be fair to deny her that, right? My defense mechanism consists on closing my eyes on the most frightening scenes and Jessica finds that really funny. :)
A couple of days ago we watched “Mama” and I’ll admit that I screamed a couple of times in the theater – yes, I am 34 and pathetic. :) Still, I liked the movie a lot but needed something lighter to decompress and nothing could have been more perfect than “Ruby Sparks”, which turned out to be one of the loveliest movies I have ever seen! A clever plot, a well written script, a great cast and beautiful music, all mixed in a movie that will make you feel moved yet good. It’s so adorable I wouldn’t mind watching it again anytime soon – I tend to repeat things I love, and Lisa Yockelson’s cakes fit that category; this orange whiskey version follows the butter rum cake formula – a tender cake laced with a boozy glaze –
and is equally delicious – whiskey is as good paired with citrus as it is with chocolate.

Orange and whiskey cake
slightly adapted from Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes

Cake:
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
4 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (120ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons whiskey

Glaze:
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, chopped
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon whiskey
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously butter a 10-cup capacity Bundt pan, flour it then remove the excess flour.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until soft. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Next, beat in the orange zest and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. On low speed, alternatively the flour mixture in three additions and the orange juice in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix in the whiskey.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes – in the meantime, make the glaze: combine all the ingredients in a small heavy saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat.
Carefully unmold the cake onto the rack. Brush the cake generously with the hot syrup. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Serves 10-12