Technicolor Kitchen - English version

I think that whenever inspiration fails me when I want to bake something I bake brownies: I can’t think of any other baked good that is a hit with pretty much everyone I know. Not to mention that I absolutely love brownie batter: when I could still eat dairy I would always leave some batter left in the bowl for my own moment of happiness while the brownies were in the oven. :)

The brownies I bring you today combine the tart flavor of raspberries with the sweetness of white chocolate: nothing like sour or citrus kick to make white chocolate even more special. However, raspberries go well with all kinds of chocolates, so I have made this exact same recipe using both milk and dark chocolate chips to replace the white chocolate and it worked like a charm.

Brownies with white chocolate and raspberries
own recipe

¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, chopped
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
1 cup (90g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup (46g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
¾ cup (75g) frozen raspberries, unthawed
100g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) square pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides, and butter the foil as well.

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugars, cocoa and vanilla, followed by the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Fold in the flour and salt. Fold in raspberries and white chocolate.

Spread batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out with moist crumbs. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

Happy New Year, everyone!

I wish each and every one of you all the best in 2017 – lots of love, joy and happiness.

I am back at work, after having a week off to enjoy Christmas and spend time with my family. It was a calm week, filled with good food, TV shows and movies, hot days – which are a nightmare for me, but hey, it is summer, after all – and loads of rest, including strategic naps after lunch. ;)

I did not bake much, however: I felt paralyzed with heat and was not brave enough to turn on the oven. I made a chocolate cake for my nephew – he asked for one after watching an episode of Peppa Pig – and it was pretty much it. But I bring you a recipe I made many weeks ago and that tasted delicious: these financiers made with orange and berries. The berries become little pools of jelly when baked and their flavor pairs beautifully with the orange.

These financiers are everything I want 2017 to be: beautiful, delicate, perfumed and delicious: fingers crossed that I get my wish. ;)

Orange berry financiers
adapted from the always delicious Simply Bill

¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
¾ cup (75g) almond meal (finely ground almonds)
1/3 cup (46g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
5 egg whites
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (35g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
¼ cup (30g) raspberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
icing sugar, extra, for dusting

In a large bowl, place the orange zest and the sugar and rub them together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the almond meal, flour and salt. Stir in the egg whites, butter, and vanilla until batter is smooth. Fold in the berries – if you prefer, leave some to be placed on top of the financiers before baking them. Cover batter and refrigerate the batter for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour ten 100ml capacity mini cake or muffin pans.
Pour the batter in the pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden – a skewer inserted in the center should come out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pans over a wire rack for 2 minutes. Carefully unmold onto the rack and to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Financiers are best served the day they’re made, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If days are too hot, keep refrigerated to avoid the berries going moldy.

Makes 10

Weeks ago I told you I had dropped River because it made me feel miserable – I wanted something to cheer me up, not to bring me down.
Cut to a couple of days later and I started watching The Night Of – yes, I know, I don’t even understand myself, I don’t expect you to. :)

What an amazing TV show. What a fantastic cast – John Turturro was born to play John Stone, and I found him even more perfect for the part after reading that the first choice to play the lawyer had been James Gandolfini, and after Gandolfini died Robert DeNiro got cast. The movie gods were really watching this show, since that failed too. In my head those two actors would never be able to do John Stone justice – they lack the frailty that is so important in the character. I can’t imagine Galdonfini, so big, tall and with that characteristic loud and strong voice playing John Stone.

I can’t imagine Gandolfini doing what Philip Seymour Hoffman did with his Truman Capote.

I loved the show as a whole – writing, directing, cast, everything was beautifully put together, so perfectly as I hadn’t seen in quite a while (Breaking Bad comes to my mind, as you can imagine). Yes, the show was depressingly sad and dark and each night I would go to sleep with it engraved in my mind, but it was so great I could not drop it as I had done with River. Having some chocolate around for after each episode of The Night Of is the tip I give you – these mini cakes are a good idea, too (and the raspberries can be replaced by pieces of dark chocolate for a nice variation of the recipe).

Peanut butter and raspberry mini cakes
slightly adapted from this cookbook

3 eggs
200g smooth peanut butter
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons canola oil
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
100ml whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons (30g) all purpose flour
about ½ cup fresh or frozen (unthawed) raspberries – I used 4 in each mini cake

Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Generously butter and then flour a 12-hole muffin pan.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and the peanut butter until smooth. Whisk in the sugar, oil, baking soda, baking powder, salt, milk and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the flour. Divide the mixture between the holes of the muffin pan. Top the batter with the raspberries, dividing them among the cakes, gently prodding them into their middles.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden and puffed and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the cakes from the pan and transfer to the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream if you want.

Makes 12

I was sitting on my couch one Saturday morning, surrounded by cookbooks, trying to decide what to bake for the weekend (I told you I usually plan ahead, but that sometimes that doesn’t work), when Nigel Slater showed up on my TV screen preparing a beautiful, luscious cake, made with plums – I instantly knew what to bake that day. :)

I did not have any plums around (or anything fresh, for that matter), therefore I decided to use raspberries instead. I wasn’t too happy with the copious amount of golden syrup used in the cake – here in Brazil I can’t find the ingredient and have always replaced it with corn syrup, but since I’ve been trying to ban that ingredient from my pantry I went with honey, instead – 200g of it.

The cake turned out moist and delicious, similar to gingerbread in both texture and flavor and with the sour hit of the berries making everything more interesting – thank you, Nigel, for making my Saturday so much more flavorsome and perfumed.

Spiced honey and raspberry cake
slightly adapted from the stunning Tender, Volume 2: A Cook's Guide to the Fruit Garden

200g honey
125g unsalted butter
125g brown sugar
250g all purpose flour
1 lightly heaped teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 lightly heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 lightly heaped teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
240ml whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g frozen raspberries, unthawed

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 23cm (9in) cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Warm honey and butter very gently in a pan until the butter melts. Stir in the brown sugar. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt into a bowl. Add the honey mixture and stir to combine. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and whisk until you get a smooth batter. Pour into the prepared pan, then sprinkle with the berries. Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Carefully unmold, peel off the paper and transfer to a serving plate.

Serves 8-10

Months ago, my sister told me she had to do a project for school: she and her colleagues would have to create a recipe video and she asked for my help. :)

The kids – they’re twenty years old, I call them kids – came to my house on a Saturday and we had an amazing afternoon together. We recorded the video – actually, they recorded me making tartlets – and it was a lot of fun (and a lot of work, too).

By the end of the session, I served cake and cookies to my guests and they told my sister that from that moment on they wanted to do all the future projects at my house. :D

So here it is: the video and the recipe right after it. I hope you enjoy watching my freckled hands in action! :)

Lemon cheesecake tartlets
slightly adapted from the always beautiful Donna Hay magazine

Base:
100g digestive cookies
30g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:
1 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup sour cream*
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
100g raspberries

Butter six 8cm-tartlet pans (with removable bottoms). Place the cookies in a food processor and blitz until ground. Add the butter and process to combine. With your fingertips, press the mixture into the pans and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, salt, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk in the egg, then pour it over the base. Bake for 15 minutes or until slightly firm. Cool completely then refrigerate for 1 hour.
Dust with icing sugar, pop with the raspberries and serve.

* 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 6

I love baking but admit that turning the oven on in the winter is much more pleasant than doing so on hot days (though that doesn't really stop me). :)

To me, certain baked goods have a summery feel: I look at them and it feels like the sun is shining, even though it's raining and cold outside (as it is right now here in Sao Paulo). As I type this text with nearly frozen fingertips and a cup of piping hot tea by my side, I look at these lovely madeleines and think of a sunny day, I think of spring and flowers, while I plan on making soup for dinner because of the weather.

I might bake another batch of these madeleines before I start chopping leeks, potatoes and carrots for the soup - I know how good it feels every time I take something beautiful and delicious from the oven, it is an instant mood booster. I might even make some savory madeleines to go with the soup - now that's a tough decision, so enjoy the sweet version while I think it through. :)

Madeleines with lemon curd
adapted from the beautiful The Little Paris Kitchen: 120 Simple But Classic French Recipes and the always delicious Gourmet Traveller

80g unsalted butter
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
65g granulated sugar
½ tablespoon light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
½ tablespoon mild honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
115g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
18 frozen raspberries, unthawed
about 2 tablespoons lemon curd, in a piping bag
melted butter, extra, for brushing the molds

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, add lemon zest and set aside until cooled to room temperature but still liquid (2-3 minutes).
Place the granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, honey and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy (4-5 minutes). Sift over flour, baking powder and salt and fold through.
Fold in butter mixture a little at a time until just incorporated, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (4 hours or up to overnight).
Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Brush eighteen 2-tablespoon capacity madeleine molds with melted butter and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Brush the molds again and refrigerate for another 10 minutes. Divide the mixture between the molds (do not spread it out) and press a raspberry deep into the batter. Bake until golden and cooked through (8-10 minutes), then immediately unmold onto a wire rack. While the madeleines are still hot, pop the piping nozzle into the hole of each raspberry and squirt in bit of lemon curd.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 18

I was never aware of Jon Hamm before Mad Men (and apparently I wasn’t the only one) and despite my pet peeves with the fifth and part of sixth seasons I must be honest: there could not be another Don Draper – he’s just perfect for the part.

Being used to watching a very serious – and sometimes rude – man on the show it was a surprise to see him in a comedy, and days ago I was even more surprised with him pulling off a dark comedy show, and doing it brightly. The amount of shock doubled when I saw on that same show that Harry Potter, I mean, Daniel Radcliffe is absolutely amazing portraying someone completely different from HP – I never imagined he had such great timing for comedy.

Everything about A Young Doctor's Notebook is superb: the supporting cast, the writing, the production. It was some good two hours I spent in front of TV and I now eagerly wait for another season – while that doesn’t happen, let’s keep Mother Russia in mind with this delicious dessert created in honor of Anna Pavlova.

Chocolate pavlovas
adapted from the wonderful Bon Appetit Desserts, inspired by the beautiful Annie Bell's Baking Bible

Meringues:
4 large egg whites (112g)
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

To assemble:
1 cup (240ml) chilled heavy cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted
200g fresh raspberries

Meringues: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt in large bowl until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until whites are thick and resemble marshmallow creme, about 5 minutes. Beat in cornstarch, vinegar, vanilla and cocoa. Drop meringue onto prepared sheet in 6 mounds, spaced 5cm (2in) apart. Using back of spoon, make slight depression in center of each.
Place meringues in oven. Immediately reduce temperature to 120°C/250°F. Bake until meringues are dry outside (but centers remain soft) and pale straw color and lift easily from parchment, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool on sheet on rack. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Before assembling the pavlovas, beat cream and sugar in medium bowl until medium peaks form.
Place meringues on plates. Spoon whipped cream into the center depression. Arrange raspberries top of the cream.

Serves 6

The Oscar nominees were announced yesterday and several of my favorites are part of the list: Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Martin Scorsese, Judi Dench, Alfonso Cuarón, Amy Adams... I don’t trust the award but it is a joy to see talented people being recognized for their work.

After watching Gravity a couple of months ago – and being pretty much blown away by it – I wanted, with all my heart, to see Sandra Bullock walk up the Kodak Theater stairs (without tripping, of course) to receive the Best Actress in a Leading Role award: she’s amazing as Ryan Stone, a performance that to be honest I wasn’t expecting from her – I adore Sandra, but had no idea she could stretch her acting like that. It was a nice surprise and I wanted her to be recognized by it. However, I watched Blue Jasmine yesterday and Cate Blanchett accomplished what I would call sheer perfection on that film – up to this moment I cannot stop thinking about her as Jasmine, the way she builds the character and express her emotions, with no vanity whatsoever, completely available for what the script and the director wanted from her. I’ve been a fan of Cate’s for years and thought I’d seen the best of her acting in Elizabeth, but apparently I was wrong – Blue Jasmine is the peak of a career packed with amazingly crafted and portrayed characters.

I am sorry, Sandra, but I am switching sides. ;)

And since I am being very fickle today, I’ll no longer say that my favorite add in to a banana muffin are blueberries – yes, they’re great paired with banana, but the slightly sour flavor of raspberries are even better mixed in the tender, delicious muffins.

Banana raspberry muffins
slightly adapted from the wonderful Olive magazine

250g all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
50g light brown sugar
50g granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk*
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping cup frozen raspberries, unthawed

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugars and salt. In another bowl, mix the bananas, eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Pour them over the dry ingredients and mix lightly with a fork – the batter will look lumpy and it’s OK, don’t overmix or your muffins will be tough.
Divide the batter equally among the paper cases and top with the raspberries, pressing them gently into the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold, transfer to the rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 12

My sister, a.k.a. my movie buddy, did not watch The Hunger Games when it was released last year, so I asked her to do it last week so we could watch Catching Fire together. She did and loved it, and then loved the sequel, too, and when I arrived home there was a text message from her on my phone: “can I borrow the books?” :) I can totally relate since last year, after watching the first movie, I got hooked on the books, too and couldn’t put them aside.

As the movie production went ahead, it was a delight to hear that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jena Malone were attached to the project, and while I wasn’t very sure about Sam Claflin playing Finnick Odair back then all I can say now is <3 <3 <3. :D

I’ll admit I was wrong about these bars, too: I’d ignored them forever because I’d made several different jam bars already. But with no fruits at home other than frozen berries and bananas, no chocolate either – the horror, the horror – and a bag of oats begging to be used I gave in and baked the bars, only to learn how delicious they were and how silly I’d been till then.


Berry-berry streusel bars
slightly adapted from the huge The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh

Crust:
180g rolled oats
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 cup (175g) firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:
125g frozen blueberries, out of the freezer for 30 minutes
125g frozen raspberries, out of the freezer for 30 minutes
2/3 cup raspberry jam (I used half raspberry, half cherry)
5 teaspoons all purpose flour
finely grated zest of 2 large limes

Crust: preheat oven to 190°C/375°F. Butter a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan, line it with foil leaving an overhand on two opposite sides, and butter the foil as well.
Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Add butter; rub with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press half of crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust until light brown, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly.

Filling: mix blueberries, raspberries, jam, flour and lime zest in bowl. Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over. Bake until topping is golden, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 24

After the disappointment with American version of “The Great British Bake Off” I wasn’t sure I would watch “The Great Australian Bake Off”, but when I read that Dan Lepard would be one of the judges I immediately changed my mind: I’m a huge fan of his amazing recipes, each and every one of them I have tried so far turned out delicious. The other judge is Kerry Vincent and the woman is merciless: her sour comments and lack of tact drive the contestants to tears – she’s a crankier version of Paul Hollywood, while Dan is absolutely adorable, much like Mary Berry (I like him even more after watching the episodes).

I had never heard of Kerry Vincent before and kept thinking that Delia Smith could be an excellent judge for the show, but I guess that being Australian is a requirement (I had no idea Lepard was an Aussie). :)
The show is not as good as its British cousin, but it’s way better than the American version – I highly recommend it for those of you baking fanatics (like me). :)

Speaking of Delia, this wonderful cake is an adaptation of a recipe that comes from her latest cookbook, which is packed with superb baked goods and beautiful photos.

Apple, raspberry and pecan muffin cake
slightly adapted from Delia's Cakes (I bought mine here)

275g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 level tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
170ml whole milk, room temperature
75g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
110g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and in 1cm dice
100g raspberries, frozen and unthawed
1 heaping tablespoon demerara sugar
75g pecans, roughly chopped
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 190°/375°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan with a removable bottom, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients over the egg mixture and fold in with a fork – do not overmix; fold in the apples, then transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Sprinkle the batter with the raspberries, then the demerara sugar and finally the pecans.
Bake the cake for about 1 hour, checking after 50 minutes – a skewer inserted in the center should come out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the cake from the pan using the removable bottom. When completely cooled, invert the cake onto a place, peel off the paper, then invert it again onto a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Serves 8-10

I adore fried food, but living in an apartment I rarely feel like frying things – I try to avoid having the whole house smelling like the dinner we’d just had. Up until a couple of months ago fries had been the exception because both the hubby and I love them, but after trying Annabel’s recipe for oven fries the problem was solved – Joao told me they were even tastier than the original fried version.

I did, however, had another exception days ago when I made Gourmet Traveller’s pistachio doughnuts – I’d been meaning to make them forever. The doughnuts turned out really good and being cake doughnuts (no yeast involved) it didn’t take me too long to make them from start to finish. The problem was the rose water glaze: disappointing and too sweet, it tasted of nothing but icing sugar even after I squeezed half a lemon in it. The raspberry syrup, prior to the addition of the icing sugar, was really delicious, so I suggest you make it up to that point and dunk your doughnuts in it. Another suggestion: after photographing and eating the first doughnuts, I fried the remaining batter like small churros (instead of piping it into rings) and liked them even more: they were easier to move around in the frying pan and turned out crispier on the outside.

Pistachio doughnuts with rose water glaze
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Australian Gourmet Traveller

Doughnuts:
75g pistachio kernels
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, lightly beaten
vegetable oil, for deep frying

Rose water glaze:
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
10 raspberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
1 ½ cups (210g) icing sugar, sifted
3 teaspoons rose water, or to taste

Process pistachios in a food processor until finely ground, transfer to a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, vanilla extract and salt. Stir to combine, make a well in the centre, then add milk, butter and egg. Mix until smooth, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 2cm-fluted nozzle, refrigerate to rest for 1 hour.
For rosewater glaze, combine sugar and 50ml water in a small saucepan, stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, add raspberries, crush them with the back of a wooden spoon, then simmer until syrupy (2-3 minutes). Strain into a heatproof bowl (discard pulp), add icing sugar, whisk until smooth, then whisk in rose water and set aside (thin with a little water to drizzling consistency if necessary.)
Preheat oil in a deep-fryer or deep-sided saucepan to 180°C/350°F. Pipe 8cm-diameter rings onto squares of lightly oiled baking paper. Slide rings, in batches, into oil and cook, turning occasionally, until puffed, golden and cooked through (3-4 minutes; be careful as hot oil may spit). Drain on absorbent paper, then, while still warm, drizzle with rose water glaze and place on a cooling rack until glaze sets. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 18-20

I love brownies and make them quite often, so when I saw these little beauties on one of my Donna Hay magazines I had to make them: raspberries are naturally tart and taste wonderful with chocolate, not to mention that the brownies looked adorable shaped as tartlets. The recipe is really easy to prepare and if you're having people over I am sure these tartlets would impress your guests; I also think they would be a nice idea for dessert on Valentine's Day (here in Brazil it is celebrated next week on the 12th). ;)

Dark chocolate and raspberry brownie tarts
from the always gorgeous and super delicious Donna Hay Magazine

200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (88g) brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
¼ cup (35g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
¾ cup raspberries – I used frozen, unthawed

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Lightly butter four 10cm-round springform cake pans, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Place chocolate, butter, sugar and cream in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Add the vanilla, then cool for 5 minutes.
Place the eggs , flour and salt in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until combined. Pour into the prepared pans and top with the raspberries. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Makes 4 – I made the exact recipe above, used 10cm tartlet pans and got 5 tarts (since the pans are nonstick, I just brushed them lightly with butter and did not use baking paper)

I love baking with coconut - it's an ingredient I always have in my pantry. I had other plans for the coconut used in these adorable little cakes, but when I saw them on the magazine I could not resist. The cakes tasted great and were super tender, and it was also an opportunity to use the mini Bundt pans I hadn't used in ages; while unmolding the cakes I remembered why: it is always so difficult to remove them from the pans! Luckily the raspberry glaze covered some of the damaged parts, and it was so delicious I want to make it again to serve with vanilla ice cream or panna cotta.

Coconut and raspberry cakes
from Dish

Cakes:
280g unsalted butter, room temperature
280g granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (100g) unsweetened flaked coconut
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
about 2 ½ cups frozen raspberries

Raspberry glaze:
200g frozen raspberries
200g raspberry jam
½ cup (120ml) water
2 teaspoons icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously brush eight 200ml capacity mini Bundt pans with melted butter.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over the mixture, add the coconut and fold the ingredients in along with the milk and lemon zest.
Fill the cake pans halfway full. Top with 5 raspberries, then spoon over the remaining batter. Top with 4 raspberries. Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool over a wire rack for 15 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely.
Make the glaze: put the raspberries, jam and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture is thick and reduced. Remove from the heat and tip into a fine sieve over a medium bowl, using the back of the spoon to press the mixture until only the seeds remain in the sieve. Discard the solids. Add the icing sugar to the glaze, mix to combine, let cool then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Spoon the glaze over the cakes and serve.

Makes 8 – I halved the cake recipe above, used 1-cup capacity mini Bundt pans and got 4 cakes; ¼ of the glaze recipe was enough to glaze all the 4 cakes

Certain things to me are revelations, and Paul Hollywood’s fabulous homemade marzipan was one: when I was little every time my German grandmother came to visit she would bring small boxes of marzipan – she loved the stuff. Soon I began loving marzipan, too, and that was pretty much the only good thing about grandma’s visits (let’s just say she wasn’t a pleasant person to be around).

Grandma Frida stopped visiting after my mom died, and then a few years later she was gone, too, and that was the end of my marzipan-flavored days. As a grown-up I began searching for that delicious marzipan, the one I ate as a kid, and to my disappointment the versions I found tasted nothing like it – they were poorly made artificial versions of the almond paste and tasted of anything but almonds.
Last week, though, flipping through my newest purchase, I found a recipe for marzipan that seemed easy; since I had all the ingredients at home I gave it a go immediately, and the result was a thick, luscious marzipan, with an amazing texture and equally fantastic flavor, so good I had to hide it in my fridge otherwise I could have easily eaten a pound of it in one seating.

The combination of raspberries, strawberries and marzipan involved by a very tender and almond-y batter is what makes these muffins the best I’ve ever made; I would love to tell you how addictively flavorsome the warm marzipan bits tasted inside the muffins, but I’ll stop before I drool over my keyboard. :)

Marzipan and berry muffins
slightly adapted from the gorgeous Delicious - Australia

¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (185g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup + 2 ½ tablespoons (180g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 ½ cups (150g) almond meal
pinch of salt
100g marzipan, chopped into small cubes – I used homemade, recipe follows
100g fresh strawberries, chopped into small cubes
100g frozen raspberries, unthawed
icing sugar, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-hole muffin pan (each cavity holds 1/3 cup batter) with paper cases, or generously butter the pan cavities.
Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until thick and pale. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Fold in the flour, almond meal and salt, then fold in the marzipan. Divide the batter among muffin holes.
Scatter the berries over the top (I pushed them a little into the batter) , then bake muffins for 25-30 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then very gently unmold them. Transfer to a wire rack.
Dust the muffins with icing sugar and before serving – these muffins taste even more amazing while still warm.

Makes 12

Homemade marzipan
from the beautiful and fantastic How to Bake

1 large egg
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
90g superfine sugar*
1 cup (140g) icing sugar, sifted
220g almond meal
finely grated zest of 1 orange

In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and vanilla with a fork.
In a large bowl, mix together the superfine sugar, the icing sugar and the almond meal. Add the zest and the egg mixture and combine first with a wooden spoon, then with your hands. Knead the marzipan until smooth. Form into a ball, wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Marzipan can be kept well wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

*I always use granulated sugar in my recipes, but I did not want a grainy texture in the marzipan, therefore I blitzed the sugar in the food processor before using it

Makes 500g

Despite loving their first film collaboration, I’m not a fan of Burton or Depp (both together and separate). Burton’s just not the kind of director I admire, and I find Depp very limited as an actor – playing the weird doesn’t necessarily mean one is talented. To make things even worse, they butchered one of the most important movies of my childhood. Having said that, you must know that I loved "Dark Shadows" – I laughed so much I felt renovated after leaving the theater. I do not know if that was because after the awful “Alice in Wonderland” I had no expectations about Burton’s new movie but I thought the script was very witty and funny and that Depp was absolutely fantastic as Barnabas – his performance goes far beyond all that make up and one can tell he’s having a lot of fun playing the vampire. Eva Green, whom I would never have imagined had such great comedy timing, is magnificent, too. The only thing I did not like much in “Dark Shadows” was Chloe Moretz – she’s only 15 and tried too hard to be a femme fatale, all those languid looks and cascading hair and the pouting... Not good. Yet, the movie is worth watching – laughing that much on a Monday was certainly a good way to start off the week. :D

***
Crumbles are my favorite dessert and because of that all the variations of warm desserts involving fruit get my instant attention: after the apple pandowdy, it was about time I tried a different spin on that delicious dessert – the pears and raspberries were wonderful together and the biscuit topping, with lovely ginger kicks here and there, complimented the fruit beautifully.

Gingered pear and raspberry pandowdy
from the fabulous Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More

Fruit filling:
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cornstarch
pinch of salt
4 large pears, peeled, cored, and sliced (1kg/2 pounds prepped)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
250g (2 cups/ 9oz) raspberries, fresh or frozen – I used frozen, unthawed
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Biscuit topping:
1 ¾ cups (245g) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon extra, for sprinkling
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (140g/5oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup chopped candied ginger
2/3 cup (160ml) cold buttermilk + 1 tablespoon extra, for brushing*

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Butter a 22cm (9in) cast-iron skillet or deep-dish pie pan.
Make the filling: rub the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl, then add the pears and lemon juice and toss until evenly coated. Gently fold in the raspberries, then transfer the fruit to the prepared pan. Dot the fruit with the butter.

Biscuit: whisk the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
Add the butter and toss until evenly coated. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the size of large peas. Stir in the candied ginger, then pour in the 2⁄3 cup buttermilk and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened (my dough was too soft, so I added 1 tablespoon flour).
The dough will be crumbly, with large pieces of butter still visible. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently press the dough together, then press it into a 22cm (9in) circle.
Carefully place the dough atop the fruit. Brush the dough with the 1 tablespoon buttermilk, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake in the lower third of the oven for 30 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the juices are bubbly and thick.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Serves 8

I love Michael Mann – he’s one of my favorite directors; so when I saw that “The Insider” would be on cable a couple of weeks ago I knew I was going to watch it again. At the end my husband, who had never watched that movie before, told me: “wow, that is an excellent movie!”, and I instantly knew he’d really loved it, like I do.
Russell Crowe is really easy to love, I’m aware of that, but to me Jeffrey Wigand is his finest role so far, even greater than Maximus – I know many will disagree with me here, but think of how much more difficult it is to play a guy with lots of flaws than it is to play a hero, and yet Crowe gets the audience by his side. To top it all off, Crowe’s physical transformation is another thing of beauty and a sign of an actor extremely committed to his craft, and yet his performance is so much more than putting on dozens of pounds – it’s the whole thing, all the details connected, blessed by a talented director. It makes me of think Robert De Niro’s Jake La Motta which to me is the best performance ever delivered by an actor, so you get the idea.

***

I have been baking bread quite often lately but mostly savory ones – I decided to switch to sweet mode after seeing this recipe on a magazine that has been growing on me a lot lately; I am crazy for cinnamon rolls and found this raspberry twist so interesting I had to try it. And the rolls turned out delicious, very tender, irresistible. The dough, perfumed with lemon zest, is very soft, easy to work with and tastes wonderful – I bet that a number of different fillings would be used with great results.

Raspberry-swirl sweet rolls
from the delicious Food & Wine

Dough:
1 cup (240ml) lukewarm whole milk
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ¼ cups (595g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Filling:
One 10-ounce package IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) raspberries, not thawed
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (74g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Glaze:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ tablespoons heavy cream

Dough: pour the warm milk into the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the dough hook and stir in the sugar and yeast. Let stand until the yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the softened butter, eggs, lemon zest and salt. Add the flour and beat at medium speed until a soft dough forms, about 3 minutes, then continue beating until the dough is soft and supple, about 10 minutes longer.
Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with your hands 2 or 3 times. Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly buttered bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.
Line the bottom of a 22x32cm (13x9in) baking pan* with parchment paper, allowing the paper to extend up the short sides. Butter the paper and sides of the pan. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll it into a 25x60cm (10x24in) rectangle.
In a medium bowl, toss the frozen raspberries with the sugar and cornstarch. Spread the raspberry filling evenly over the dough. Tightly roll up the dough to form a 60cm (24in) long log. Working quickly, cut the log into quarters. Cut each quarter into 4 slices and arrange them in the baking pan, cut sides up. Scrape any berries and juice from the work surface into the baking pan between the rolls. Cover the rolls and let them rise in a warm place until they are puffy and have filled the baking pan, about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F**. Bake the rolls for about 25 minutes, until they are golden and the berries are bubbling. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk the confectioners' sugar with the butter and heavy cream until the glaze is thick and spreadable.
Invert the rolls onto the rack and peel off the parchment paper. Invert the rolls onto a platter. Dollop glaze over each roll and spread with an offset spatula. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan

** the temperature worked out for me but apparently did not for other people, who had their rolls too dark; you might want to check the rolls earlier or bake them in a lower temperature

Makes 16

I have a very specific question for you today: have you read “The Hunger Games” trilogy? Because I liked the movie a lot and have been thinking of reading "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" and would love to hear the opinion of those who have read the books. Would you recommend them? I wonder if these books would grab my attention the same way the Millennium trilogy did.

These were my third attempt at raspberry muffins: before them I’d tried a recipe by Donna Hay and another by Alice Medrich, but both were disappointing. Cindy Mushet's, however, are perfect: delicious, tender and the raspberries don’t get mushy in the batter.

Raspberry muffins
from the great The Art and Soul of Baking

2 cups (280g) unbleached all-purpose flour
⅔ cup (133g) + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (84g/¾ stick) unsalted butter
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk*
2 large eggs, room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
170g (6oz) raspberries, fresh or frozen (do not defrost)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin.
Whisk together the flour, ⅔ cup (133g) of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
In a medium skillet, melt the butter with the lemon zest. Turn off the heat. Add the buttermilk and let it sit for 1 to 2 minutes, just until it is tepid. Pour the liquid into a medium bowl, and add the eggs and vanilla. Whisk until well blended.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into the well then stir into dry ingredients just until combined – do not overmix; batter should be lumpy. Gently fold in the raspberries until evenly distributed.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Stir together the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the tops of the muffins.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops feel firm and a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean. Transfer the muffin pan to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Gently run a knife or spatula around each muffin to free it from the pan, lift the muffins out, and transfer them to the rack to finish cooling (careful, these are tender while hot). Serve warm or at room temperature.

*homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above, used 1/3 (80ml) capacity muffin pans and got 8

I watched "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" last Saturday and the fantastic movie – what an amazing cast! – goes right into my list of reasons why Gary Oldman is one of the greatest actors out there – possibly the best I have seen acting so far (Robert De Niro lost that spot a long time ago). The movie is not everyone’s cup of tea, though – I saw some people leaving the theater long before the movie ended. Well, their loss. I’d loved the movie already and this video made me admire it even more.

The picture of this tart on the book made my mouth water and realizing how straightforward it was made me love it even more: a very simple crust (that also works as the crumble topping) that doesn’t have to be chilled or blind baked, and a filling made with berries and sugar, only – it doesn’t get much easier than that. Or more delicious. :)

Raspberry crumble tart
from The Grand Central Baking Book

Crust:
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen – I used frozen, unthawed
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 25cm (10in) springform pan*.
Dough: whisk the flour and salt together. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until creamy and light in color. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low, add the dry ingredients and stop mixing when the ingredients are fully incorporated but the dough is still crumbly – this happens quickly; don’t overmix, otherwise you’ll end up with a ball of dough. Set aside 1 cup of the dough and refrigerate. Sprinkle the remaining dough onto the prepared pan, distributing it evenly. Bring the dough slightly up the sides of the pan, then press it onto the pan to hold it in place. Prick the dough all over with a fork, then bake for 25 minutes or until toasty brown.
Remove the pan from the oven. Distribute the raspberries over the crust and sprinkle with the sugar – I forgot to do that and only remembered after sprinkling the dough over the berries; then I sprinkled the sugar over the dough. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of dough over the filling.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the berries collapse and begin to release their juices and the topping is slightly brown. Cool the tart over a wire rack before removing it from the pan.

* I made the exact recipe above using a shallow 24cm tart pan with a removable bottom; I used 1 ½ cups of dough for the topping

Serves 8