Sunday, October 26, 2014

Chocolate Bomb






Recently, I have watched a cooking program where this recipe has taken me in completely. As I was searching for such a dessert for my sweet tooth hubby, this hit the target. To be honest, for me it is too crunchy and a lot of chocolate but I got the good feed back from my hubby. I have to confess something that I have no time and nerves left to make nice photos. I wasted 3 slices already. Nothing turned out as it looked in real and attracted me. But making such a long break, I had this photo problem earlier which lead to posting nothing in the end. Now, I don't mind. I guarantee this will be a very nice option for you and your guests. Something really rich in taste and attractive in shape.

The recipe is from Emel Basdogan! Thanks Emel for sharing this delicious beauty with us!

There we go :

Utencils:

An oven tray
2 round bowls for the batter
1 round glass bowl for shaping and cooling
Spatulas
Hand mixer
Sauce pan

Please preheat the oven to 160C/ 330F.

Make sure before you start that you have all the ingredients measured and prepared. Eggs at room temperature. Flour sifted. Orange zest and juice prepared. 

Ingredients:

Sponge Cake:
7 eggs ( whites and yolks seperate)
1 egg full :)
160 gr. / 1 cup caster sugar
130 gr. / 1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup of fresh orange juice
2 pinches of salt

Beat the egg whites. Once the egg whites lose the transparency, add in the salt. Adding salt in it will make it hold on tight.  

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and 1 egg with the hand mixer. From this moment on, we will not need the hand mixer. Add in the sugar and zest until it takes a texture thick like mayonnaise. Pour in the orange juice. Fold it with a spatula. Once they are mixed add in the egg whites slowly, making sure that the air bubbles are still inside. Pour the batter on the oven tray which is already lined with the baking paper. Put it in oven and bake about 20-25 min. in turbo mode. 































Ganache:
200 gr. cream
275 gr. bitter chocolate
150 gr. pistachios
1 tsp orange zest

Heat the cream in the sauce pan. Once its heated, take it away from the stove. Add in the chocolate pieces and mix. Let it melt with the heat of cream. Very important is it should never be made on the stove. The chocolate can not tolerate the heat! When the colour turns brown, add in the zest and the pistachios. Cool it in the fridge.





































Cream:
200 gr. cream
2 tbs icing sugar
16 gr. vanilla powder
100 gr. chocolate chunks

Beat the cold cream adding icing sugar, and vanilla powder with the hand mixer. Add in the chocolate chunks and let it cool in the fridge.












Final step:
Take the glass deep bowl and cover it with a stretch film. This will make sure that the shape of the cake will come out from the mould without sticking. Slice the cake in triangle shapes and lay them at the bottom of the bowl. Pour in the cream mixture and as the last chocolate ganache. Cover the left over cake pieces at the bottom. Then close it with stretch film and let it cool down as long as possible.  I would suggest minimum 4 hours.

















I hope you enjoy this delicious dessert as it is really a chocolate bomb!



Thursday, October 16, 2014

Savory Cookies





I am normally on the savory side of the cookies rather than the sweet ones. I tried many recipes and here is one I will share with you. This recipe is from my friend Eda. This is associated with her in general, at our teatime gatherings. I made some changes on her ingredients. I am still trying to cut down on access oil in recipes, therefore I skipped the olive oil and the result still came out good. It is crispy outside and fluffy inside.
 

INGREDIENTS:
 
DOUGH
200. gr butter
400 gr. flour
100 gr. yoghurt
5 tbs milk
1 tsp vinegar
1/2 a tsp salt
16 gr. baking powder
1 egg (white inside the dough and yolk on the rolls)

Preheat the oven in 180C/ 350F. 


FILLING
5 tbs chopped parsley
200 gr. mashed feta cheese



HOW TO MAKE IT:

Add in all the ingredients for the dough in the container and start mixing. I used my bread machine for the kneading. Keep kneading until it takes a non sticky texture. If your dough comes too sticky, you can add in some more flour. It might change from flour to flour. 


Once it is ready, you can start preparing the shape. Shape them as desired. I preferred to make round pieces and put the cheese-parsley filling in the middle and folded as I turned it in my hand. I put them on the non stick tray. Using a brush, put the egg yolk on each savory cookie. 



Then they are ready to go in the oven. In fan mode/turbo/ convection, bake it for 25 min. You can check the bottoms of the cookies. If they are golden brown at the bottom, it means they are done.






Here is the result. I hope you enjoy eating these delicious savory cheese cookies.

Bonne à petit!


Saturday, October 11, 2014

Frittaten Suppe- Pancake Soup




Well todays soup comes from Austria. This is my husband´s favourite soup that he loves eating only when we visit his mother. I don’t know why I never tried that at home before. As it gets harder to choose a menu for everyday, I came to the idea that he must be missing this soup. It is really very simple but a bit time taking as the pancakes should be seperately prepared. It is a typical  traditional Austrian soup which was made by the farmers in the former times. As they worked outside in the mountains in the cold, they needed sth rich and heavy to give them energy. Those times are over, but this soup has found its place in the traditional cuisine of Austria.

INGREDIENTS: 

1,5 liters of water
3 soup cubes (I prefered the beef cubes)
1 medium size onion (peeled and sliced)

3 carrots
2 pieces of leek 
3-4 pcs of fresh parsley
1 piece of celery

5 pcs of chives (to serve)


For the pancake : (Julia Child´s pate a crepes recipe)
4 eggs
1 1/2cup of flour
1 cup of cold milk
1 cup of cold water
1 tbs melted butter
1/2 salt
salt

HOW TO COOK:
Soup:
Put all the ingredients of the soup in the pan and boil in low heat. 





Pancake:
Put all the liquids and beat them with a mixer. Adding the flour and the melted butter finish the beating. Make sure that there are no residues on the sides of the container. With the help of a rubber spatula, dislodge it and mix again until you get a homogenous mixture. Cover it and rest it in the fridge for about 2 hours.
Take the batter out from the fridge. Get a nonstick pan and pour a few drops of olive oil for the first crepe. Take a spoon and pour the batter starting from the middle of the pan and turn it around with the other hand to give it a good round shape. Wait about a minute to have a nice gold color for the first side and half a minute for the other side.
 




As the cooking part is over, cut the pancakes in thin slices to mix later on in the soup when serving.
 




SERVE:                  
In a soup bowl, put the sliced the pancakes in and pour the liquid part of the soup, spread the cut chives over and serve. 

I hope you enjoy making this soup from Austria!

MAHLZEIT!