Technicolor Kitchen - English version

Days ago, I finished watching the last season of The Killing and I felt happy and sad at the same time: glad because the quality I’d seen throughout the show ever since the beginning wasn’t put aside at any moment of those last six episodes, the ending was a thing of beauty that made me shed loads of tears, and sad because now two of my favorite characters are gone for good – no more of Sarah’s beautiful red hair, no more Holderisms.

I know that TV shows cannot last forever and that it is better to finish with top notch episodes than to end with no quality whatsoever, but The Killing never really had a chance: if it wasn’t for Netflix there wouldn’t even be a fourth season, there would be no closure. Such a beautifully written, acted and directed show should have been on air for longer, but I’ve complained about that already.

As I prepared myself to say goodbye to Linder and Holder, I decided that a slice of cake would fit the occasion perfectly – I needed something sweet to calm my nerves down (after watching the episodes I knew it had been a smart decision, what a wonderful yet nerve-wracking season, my goodness). This simple cake, while delicious on its own with a cup of tea or coffee, was turned into a flavorsome dessert served with whipped cream and strawberries – I highly recommend it either way.

Vanilla milk cake
slightly from the beautiful and oh, so delicious Baking Style: Art Craft Recipes

Cake:
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
3 tablespoons (30g) corn starch
¼ teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, chopped
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
4 large eggs
1 ¾ cups (350g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder

Icing:
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons whole milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously butter a 10-cup Bundt pan, dust it with flour and remove the excess.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, and salt. Stir in the poppy seeds.
Place butter and milk in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture begins to boil. In the meantime, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs at medium speed for 2 minutes. Gradually add the sugar, beating until a light mixture forms. Beat in the vanilla extract.
On low speed, add the dry ingredients in two additions, beating just until incorporated. With the mixer still on low speed, add the hot milk mixture gradually, then beat until completely incorporated (scrape the sides of the bowl). Immediately add the baking powder and mix it in.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour or until risen and golden 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 onto the rack and cool completely.

Glaze: sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Add the milk and stir until you get a drizzable consistency (add more milk if necessary). Drizzle over cooled cake. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Serves 10-12

Many people I know have been complaining a lot about the weather for many days now, but not me – I’m actually celebrating the cold days, especially after the dreadful summer we had months ago. \0/

Nothing worse than to start sweating seconds after taking a shower – I’m glad that is part of the past (at least for now).

Because of the low temperatures, keeping the oven on is always a great idea: you stay warm and there is delicious food as a result – win/win situation. :)

Last weekend was perfect for baking, and making bread is something I enjoy deeply. Without thinking too hard about what to prepare, I chose Signe Johansen’s vanilla loaf to be my afternoon project, and added cinnamon, whole wheat flour, oats and a bit more sugar to make it more my taste. The bread turned out delicious and it was also great toasted and slathered with butter.

Besides being tasty, the bread was the perfect project for another reason: I could watch a couple of Law and Order: SVU episodes while the dough proved twice.

Vanilla and cinnamon bread
slightly adapted from the über beautiful and delicious Scandilicious Baking

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds removed with the back of the knife
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
50g unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
400g all purpose flour
100g whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
75g granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
3 teaspoons dried yeast
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk, extra, for brushing the loaves
handful rolled oats, for sprinkling

Place the vanilla seeds, milk, butter and vanilla extract in a small saucepan and heat until almost boiling and then allow to cool till lukewarm.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the dough hook, mix the flours, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and sprinkle in the dried yeast. Pour over the egg and the warm milk mixture and mix on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated. Continue mixing on low-medium speed until dough is elastic and smooth, about 8 minutes.
Place the dough in a lightly buttered large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes or so until it has doubled in size. Butter two 4 cup capacity loaf pans.
Knock back the dough and divide it in half. Roll each half into a large rectangle, roughly 20x30cm (8x12in), then roll each forming a tight cylinder. Place each cylinder into the prepared pans. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for about 40 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Brush the loaves with the extra milk and sprinkle with the oats. Splash a little water in the bottom of the oven to create steam to help the loaf rise, then bake on the upper middle shelf for about 30 minutes or until the loaves are deep golden and sound hollow when tapped on the base.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 2 loaves

The people behind the Oscars have apparently developed a strategy of leaving the most powerful performances out of the competition (maybe to make sure the-not-so-great ones get the awards? Who knows). Last year both Tilda and Michael Shannon weren’t included in the game (and they were absolutely magnificent in We Need to Talk About Kevin and Take Shelter, respectively), and 2013 will be remembered by me as the year Marion Cotillard got ignored even though she kicked everyone else’s butts with Rust and Bone. The movie is so amazing I haven’t been able to write a single line about it so far (the“The Tree of Life effect”, as I call it), and Marion’s portrait of Stéphanie is something sublime. Harvey Weinstein must have felt relieved when Marion did not get nominated, for she would definitely make things a lot harder for Jennifer Lawrence – I adore her, but that Oscar was a joke (and a demonstration of the power of lobby).

These cookies, with their German name and their amazing vanilla flavor, are one of the best I have ever made (and I have made quite a few); they are delicious, melt in the mouth, and since they also look pretty they would be great as a gift or as an addition to the Christmas table – I just feel sorry for any other cookie around them as I don’t think it would be a fair competition... ;)

Vanilla beans are a luxurious ingredient and I don’t use them often, but since it’s Christmas I thought a bit of splurge wouldn’t hurt; if you intend to make the cookies don’t forget to plan ahead since the sugar needs some time alone with the vanilla. ;)

Vanillekipferl (Viennese vanilla crescents)
slightly adapted from the über complete The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes

Vanilla sugar (for dusting the cookies):
170g confectioners’ sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds remove with the back of a knife

Cookies:
245g all-purpose flour
25g confectioners’ sugar
pinch of salt
70g almond meal
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds remove with the back of a knife
170g cold unsalted butter, diced
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Start by making the vanilla sugar: place the sugar, vanilla seeds and bean in a small bowl and mix with your fingers to perfume the sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature overnight.

Cookies: in a food processor blend together the flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt, almond meal and vanilla seeds. Add the butter, pulse to combine. With the motor running, add the vanilla extract and process just until a dough forms. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Roll ½ tablespoon (leveled) of dough per cookie into a cylinder, then bend the ends over to create a half-moon. Arrange the crescents onto prepared sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart and bake for about 10-15 minutes or until pale golden.
While the crescents are still warm, gently toss them in the vanilla sugar, then allow to cool completely on wire racks.
Let the cookies cool completely before transferring them to storage tins. Sift more vanilla sugar over the cookies before serving.

Makes about 50 cookies

I don’t know about you, but sometimes my mind plays tricks on me and I just can’t trust my memory. I was listening to “Never” the other day when my husband asked whose song that was. I told him it was Heart’s and said “remember that band from the 80s formed exclusively by girls?”, but he had no recollection of it. Then I decided to show him the music video, and there was a man playing the drums and another playing the guitar. “I could have sworn there were only girls on this band”, I said, and the hubby stared laughing. :D

Having too many cookbooks can wreck someone’s memory as well – thank heavens for EYB. I set up to make Nancy Baggett’s beautiful cookies – I was thrilled with the idea of a pink icing made without artificial food coloring – but really could not wait 6 hours for the cookie dough to chill (who has that kind of time these days? Not me). Ok, I’d slather the icing onto someone else’s vanilla cookies. As usual, I reached for Martha, but rolling cookie dough was definitely out of the question. I knew I’d seen drop sugar cookies somewhere, but my memory had already been tricked by people with big hair, I could not trust it. :) EYB helped my find John Barricelli’s super easy recipe, which I modified slightly for I did not want the cookies to spread – it turned out perfect.

Vanilla cookie buttons with strawberry icing
adapted from two great sources: The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook and The All-American Dessert Book

Cookies:
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (175g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg

Icing:
½ cup strawberries
2 cups (280g) icing sugar
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, very soft but not melted
generous ½ tablespoon corn syrup

Make the cookies: 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. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and creamy. Beat in the egg. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Make balls using 1 ½ teaspoons of dough and place 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden on the bottom. Cool on the sheets for 2-3 minutes, then slide the paper with the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing: Sift the icing sugar in a medium bowl. In a food processor, process the strawberries with 2 tablespoons of the icing sugar until puréed. Press the mixture through a fine sieve to extract as much of the strawberry pulp and juice as possible. Add 2 tablespoons of the strawberry pulp to the icing sugar, with the butter and corn syrup and mix to combine. Gradually add more strawberry pulp, mixing until desired consistency.
Dip the top of the cookies into the icing and place them onto a wire rack for the icing to set, about 2 hours – there might be some icing left.

Makes about 70

Looking for a recipe to use up the jam left in the jar after making this cake, I found an old magazine scrap with a recipe for apple cupcakes with blackcurrant icing; I thought it sounded delicious but did not have any apples around (I’d devoured them in crumble form a couple of hours before, mea culpa). Then I thought that a neutral flavor, like vanilla, would be a good substitute for the apple since it would let the icing shine – that was how these tender, simple yet flavorsome cupcakes were created.

Vanilla cupcakes with blackcurrant preserves icing
adapted from the wonderful Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen + an old magazine scrap

Cupcakes:
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ stick (85g) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (90g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon whole milk, room temperature

Icing:
½ cup (70g) icing sugar
100g blackcurrant preserves
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a twelve-cavity muffin pan (1/3 cup capacity each cavity) with paper liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add egg and beat until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and milk mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until just combined.
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them two-thirds full, and bake until tops are pale golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in centers comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.
Make the icing: sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl. Add the preserves and mix well. Gradually add the lemon juice, mixing until desired consistency. Pour over the cooled cupcakes and set aside to set, about 30 minutes.

Makes 12

I have to tell you two things about these cupcakes: first, they were delicious; second, the icing was a bit of a pain in the neck to make – I beat it forever using the electric mixer and it still did not firm up like the one on the magazine (I believe it happened because I used a different kind of cream).

It was not as quick as I’d expected it to be, but I wasn’t determined not to quit – I was already feeling bad for quitting “In Bruges” after watching it for 50 minutes...

Raspberry trifle cupcakes
from Donna Hay magazine

Cupcakes:
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (274g) caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon (337g) all purpose flour
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
generous pinch of salt
1 cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
1 cup frozen raspberries
¼ cup (60ml) sweet sherry*

Whipped custard icing:
1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
4 egg yolks
¼ cup + ½ tablespoon (56g) caster sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 cup double (thick) cream**
1 tablespoon icing sugar

Start by making the custard: place the heavy cream and vanilla (seeds and bean) in a saucepan over low heat and cook until just comes to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reheat the mixture. Place the egg yolks, sugar and corn starch in a bowl and whisk thick and pale. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture over the yolks, whisking continuously. Return to the saucepan and stir over low heat for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Let cool, then refrigerate until required.
Now, the cupcakes: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two 12-hole ½ cup (120ml) capacity muffin pans with paper cases. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Sift over the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until combined. Add milk and beat in low speed until combined. Fold in the raspberries. Divide batter among prepared pans and bake for 15-18 minutes or until risen and cooked through when tested with a toothpick. Carefully remove from the pan and place on a wire rack. Drizzle the warm cupcakes with the sherry and cool completely.
Finish the icing: add the double cream and the icing sugar to the cool custard and whisk until stiff peaks form. Spoon the icing over the cupcakes.

*I didn’t have any sherry at home, so I drizzled the cupcakes with vanilla extract
** there is no double cream in Brazil, so I whipped 1 cup whipping cream until stiff peaks formed, combined it with the custard then whipped it again

Makes 24 – I made ¼ of the recipe above, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity pans and got 6 cupcakes

If you read this post the fact that I burned my tongue eating this crumble will come as no surprise. :D

I made the crumble before the tartlets, and my curiosity for the rhubarb flavor would not be stopped by a piping hot bowl of dessert, right?

Just so you know it, it was all worth it. :D

Rhubarb and vanilla crumble
from Simple Essentials Fruit

850g rhubarb, trimmed and chopped
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (162g) demerara sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped with the back of a knife

Topping:
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (78g) caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, cold and chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Combine the rhubarb, sugar and vanilla bean and seeds in a bowl. Transfer to a 6-cup (1.5l) capacity ovenproof dish. To make the topping, combine the flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub with your fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pile the mixture on top of the fruit and bake for 50 minutes or until the topping is golden and the fruit is soft.

Serves 4 – I made 1/3 of the recipe above and used a 2 ½ cup (600ml) capacity bowl

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! You guys are the best! ♥

I turned 32 a couple of days ago, and this blog turns 4 today – for this double celebration I baked a lemon cake (and please let’s pretend you are surprised with the flavor choice). :D

Lemon-poppy seed cake with vanilla-cream cheese frosting
slightly adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Cake:
3 cups (420g) cake flour*
2 cups (400g) caster sugar
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, room temperature, coarsely chopped
grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
1 ¼ cups (300ml) buttermilk
5 egg whites
1/3 cup (80ml) water

Vanilla cream cheese frosting:
2 vanilla beans
5 cups (700g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
224g (8oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter three 20cm (8in) round cake pans. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper.
Combine the flour, 1 ¾ cups (350g) of the sugar, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed to blend the ingredients and break up any lumps, about 30 seconds. Add the butter, lemon zest and 1 cup of the buttermilk to the flour mixture. Beat on low – be careful, the flour may fly everywhere – until completely mixed. Raise the speed to medium and beat for 1-2 minutes to lighten and aerate the batter.
In a medium bowl, combine the egg whites with the remaining ¼ cup buttermilk; whisk to blend thoroughly. Add this mixture to the batter in 2-3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating only enough to incorporate. Divide the batter among the prepared pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes.
While the cakes are cooling, make the lemon syrup: in a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the remaining ¼ cup (50g) of sugar, the lemon juice and the water. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Turn out the cake layers onto wire racks and generously brush them hot lemon syrup over the warm cakes to moisten evenly. Let cool completely.

Make the frosting: split the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the sugar with the back of a knife. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Continue to beat until very fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and beat well.

Assembling the cake: place one cake layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about a fifth of the frosting over the cake to cover evenly. Repeat with the second cake layer + another fifth of the frosting, then place the third layer on top. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Garnish with whatever strikes your fancy.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

Serves 12-16 – I made the exact cake recipe above but only 2/3 of the frosting and it was enough to fill and frost the entire cake

Let me start today’s post by ashamedly confessing that I doubted Donna Hay. I did, I must admit it. I made these cheesecakes and they looked so cute in the oven, I thought that adding the crumble topping would ruin them. But I’d already melted the butter, so I carried on with the recipe.
The topping is delicious and goes perfectly well with the smooth, creamy cheesecakes.

Donna, my dear, I will never doubt you again. :)

Vanilla and macadamia crumble mini cheesecakes
from Donna Hay magazine

370g ricotta
300g cream cheese
1 1/3 cups (267g) caster sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Base:
125g digestive/shortbread cookies
½ cup (50g) almond meal (ground almonds)
45g unsalted butter, melted

Crumble topping:
100g digestive/shortbread cookies
½ cup (70g) unsalted macadamias
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
50g unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 140°C/285°F.
Make the base: process cookies in a food processor until crushed. Add the almond meal and butter and process until combined. Grease a round 22cm springform pan and line the base with baking paper. Press the crumb mix over the base and refrigerate (I left it in the fridge overnight).
Place the ricotta and cream cheese, in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla and process until combined and smooth. Pour the mixture over the base and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set.
In the meantime, make the crumble topping: place the cookies, macadamias, vanilla, sugar and butter in a food processor and process until roughly chopped.
After baking the cheesecake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, top it with the crumble mixture and bake for a further 10 minutes or until top is golden. Allow to cool in the pan, then serve.

Serves 8-10 – I halved the recipe above, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity mini pans (with removable bottoms) and got 9 mini cheesecakes (baked for 25 minutes, pans only buttered, I did not line the bases with paper)

Not only my readers are the sweetest people ever, they also give me wonderful ideas – Barbara left me a comment once about homemade marshmallows she used to order and told me that her favorites were the chocolate chip ones. Hey, that is one marshmallow flavor I hadn’t tried yet! :)

So I made choc chip marshmallows, inspired by the lovely Barbara. And for the record, they became my sister’s favorites, too. :)

Choc chip marshmallows
adapted from here

2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
½ cup (120ml) warm water
330g caster sugar
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons glucose syrup
1/3 cup (80ml) water, extra
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

For rolling the marshmallows:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20cm (8in) square cake pan and dust with icing sugar.

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115°C/240°F) on a sugar thermometer.

With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the vanilla and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Fold in the chocolate chunks – some of them will melt lightly, causing the marbled effect. Pour into prepared pan, cover with foil or baking paper but do not let it touch the marshmallow. Set aside overnight in room temperature.

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the pan. Cut into squares with a lightly oiled knife.

Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container.

Makes 36

Blogging has made me change my mind about lots of foods: dishes I did not like, or should I say thought I did not like, have become favorites. And jellies are a good example: I thought they were boring until I tried the ones made with real fruit juice.

This passion fruit jelly is a bit different from the one I made before – the other recipe mixed passion fruit and orange – and goes really well with the panna cotta; the only “but” for me here was the panna cotta – I prefer it creamier and would use less gelatin next time.

Passion fruit jelly panna cotta
from Donna Hay magazine

Jelly:
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon gelatin powder
4 passion fruit – it will depend on their size, you might need less
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) caster sugar
1 ¼ cups (300ml) water, extra

Panna cotta:
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons gelatin powder*
2 cups (480ml) single or pouring cream
1/3 cup (47g) icing sugar, sifted
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

To make the jelly, place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatin. Stand for 5 minutes or until the gelatin absorbs the water. Strain the passion fruit pulp through a fine sieve – you should have approximately ¼ cup (60ml) juice.
Place the juice, sugar and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes to dissolve the gelatin. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and divide between six ½ cup (120ml) capacity molds/glasses (if you intend to unmold the dessert, lightly grease the molds with neutral vegetable oil). Refrigerate until set (4-5 hours).
Make the panna cotta: place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle over the gelatin. Stand for 5 minutes or until the gelatin absorbs the water. Place the cream in a saucepan over medium heat with the sugar, vanilla bean and seeds. Stir occasionally, allowing the cream to come to the boil. Add the gelatin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or just until gelatin is dissolved. Pass mixture through a fine sieve and allow to cool to room temperature before pouring over the firm passion fruit jelly. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.
Serve in the glasses or unmold into plates.

* if you’re not unmolding the dessert, use less gelatin in the panna cotta – it is much more delicious when it’s creamier

Serves 6

One of the things I love about watching now movies I saw for the first time on my teen days is seeing known, acclaimed actors at the beginning of their careers. I watched “Witness” last week again, after so many years, and saw Viggo Mortensen as one of the Amish guys (those of you who have been reading me for a while know I’m a huge fan – he is part of my acting Olympus, along with Mr. Fiennes and Mr. Roth). :)
I did not remember Viggo was at that movie, but I once read something here that I completely agree with: even then one could see he had potential, and now, after working with great directors – pairing up beautifully with another favorite of mine – he’s one of the best out there.

I guess I can say the same about this dessert: rice pudding is already good and comforting, but gets even better made with real vanilla and topped with this Port syrup.

Vanilla rice pudding with Port syrup
slightly adapted from Donna Hay magazine

1 cup Arborio rice
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
4 cups (960ml) whole milk
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (212g) caster sugar

Sticky Port syrup*:
½ cup (88g) brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (60ml) Port wine

Place the rice, cinnamon, vanilla (seeds and bean), milk, cream and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-35 minutes or until rice is al dente. Discard the vanilla bean**.
Make the syrup: place the brown sugar and the Port in a small saucepan over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 minute or until syrupy – it will thicken as it cools.
Divide the rice pudding between six cups or small bowl and top with the sticky Port syrup.

* the original recipes calls for Marsala

** rinse the vanilla bean and remove any traces of cream/milk. Let it dry naturally then place it in your sugar jar

Serves 6

I finally watched “Alice in Wonderland”, but can’t say I liked it... I found it too busy, hysterical, even for Burton.

The highlights of the movie to me were Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar – gotta love that man’s voice – and Helena Bonham Carter; even though I used rather fair roses in these cupcakes I find the Red Queen and her obsession for red roses much more fun. :)

Vanilla cupcakes with rosewater icing
from Donna Hay magazine

250g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (274g) caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
4 eggs
2 ¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (335g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (240ml) whole milk

Rosewater icing:
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (218g) caster sugar
¼ cup (60ml) water
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon rosewater
3 egg whites
2-3 drops rose pink food coloring
24 sugared flower cake decorations or crystallized rose petals*, to top the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds/paste in the bowl o an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Sift over the flour and baking powder and beat until combined. Fold through the milk and spoon the mixture into two 12-hole ½ cup capacity muffin pans lined with paper cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on wire racks.
To make the rosewater icing, place the sugar, water, cream of tartar and rosewater in a saucepan over high heat and stir just until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil – at this point, do not stir – reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, place the egg whites in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. While the motor is running, gradually add the sugar mixture to the whites and beat until slightly cooler, thick and glossy. Stir in the food coloring until well combined.
Spread the icing over the cupcakes with a palette knife and top with a sugared flower decoration/crystallized rose petal.

*to crystallize the petals: place an egg white in a small bowl and beat it lightly with a fork. Brush the clean, dry petals with the egg white and cover with caster sugar, shaking to remove any excess. Set aside to dry. Make sure you use unsprayed flowers

Makes 24 – I got 5 cupcakes making ¼ of the cake recipe above, using 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans and 1/3 of the icing recipe

Thank you all for your thoughts on the size of the photos here – I was surprised by the amount of comments! :)

Some of you liked the larger photos better – including me – but the majority preferred smaller ones (and yes, I counted the votes). :)

I’ll try to make us all happy with this size – not too big or too small – and hope you like it too.

Choc chip madeleines
adapted from Dorie’s traditional madeleines

2/3 cup (94g) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (84g/¾ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
75g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs together on medium-high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter and chocolate chunks. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines. (For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan (or pans), give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don't worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven's heat will take care of that. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, and minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the molds. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pan(s) before baking.

Makes 12 large or 36 mini cookies – I got 20 regular madeleines (like the ones on the photos, 1 tablespoon-capacity pans) + 9 using a scallop-shaped pan (2 tablespoon-capacity pans)

Today’s post is a sort of poll: what do you think of the new size of the photos here? Like it? Not so much? Couldn’t care less? Please, let me know – I can’t decide this one on my own. :)

You’ll find a magazine article featuring yours truly here (page 4) – it is written in Portuguese and I’m sorry for that, but at least you’ll be able to see who the girl that keeps asking you for votes and opinions is. :)

White chocolate and vanilla fudge cakes
from Donna Hay magazine

150g white chocolate, chopped
100g unsalted butter, chopped
½ cup (120ml) whole milk
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (73g) caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped with the back of a knife
1 egg
¼ cup (35g) self raising flour
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (75g) all purpose flour
200g white chocolate, extra

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Butter well twelve 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity mini Bundt pans*.
Place the chocolate, butter, milk, sugar and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool completely. Stir in the egg.
Sift flours in a large bowl and add the chocolate mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Spoon the mixture into prepared pans. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then carefully unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
Place the extra chocolate in a small heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. Drizzle the cakes with the melted chocolate and set aside until firm.

* I made slightly larger cakes, using four 1 cup (240ml) capacity Bundt pans

Makes 12

The egg white saga goes on: what to do with all those poor egg whites left from the almost insane ice cream making going on in my kitchen? I did bake a batch of meringues last Saturday, but they ended up in the garbage can. I’m glad Julie Le Clerc’s adorable book was around – these friands are delicious.

Speaking of sagas, I don’t get all the hate towards “New Moon” – sure, it’s no “Raging Bull”, but that doesn’t mean it’s crap, either. I haven’t read the books but adored the movies, despite Bella’s annoying inferiority complex. Not to mention that Taylor Lautner is oh, so cute. :)

Almond, vanilla and raspberry friands
from Little Cafe Cakes

175g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup (100g) ground almonds
6 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (210g) icing sugar, sifted
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour, sifted
1 cup (105g) raspberries, fresh or frozen – I used frozen

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Butter well 10 mini cake or muffin pans.
Place the butter, ground almonds, egg whites, vanilla, icing sugar and flour in a large bowl and stir just until combined.
Spoon the mixture into prepared pans – they should be just over ½ full. Top each friand with 3-4 raspberries. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to stand in pans for 5 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.

Makes 10 – I halved the recipe, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans and got 7 friands

In one of my many visits to Gourmet Traveller’s website – don’t you love their wonderful recipes and gorgeous photos? - I saw this ice cream and thought it would be the perfect way to (re)start ice cream season at home.

I bought the raspberries but forgot the liquid glucose – luckily, David’s fabulous book came to the rescue; I tweaked the recipe just a bit and used a vanilla bean, to get a deeper vanilla flavor.

Raspberry swirl ice cream
from The Perfect Scoop

Ice cream:
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
2/3 cup (133g) caster sugar
pinch of salt
1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
5 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry swirl:
1 ½ cups (160g) raspberries, fresh or frozen (I used frozen)
4 tablespoons (48g) caster sugar
1 tablespoon vodka (I used white rum)

To make the ice cream, combine milk, sugar, salt and 1 cup (240ml) cream in a medium saucepan. With the back of a knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into mixture, then add pod. Bring mixture just to a boil, whisking until sugar has dissolved, then remove from heat. Cover and let stand 30 minutes.
Reheat cream mixture over medium heat, stirring, until hot. Whisk yolks in a medium bowl, then add half of hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly, then pour yolk mixture into remaining cream mixture in saucepan, whisking. Cook custard over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 76 to 79ºC/170 to 175ºF on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil).

Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. Stir in vanilla and remaining ½ cup (120ml) cream, then return vanilla pod to mixture. Chill, uncovered, until cool, then chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Ah hour or so before churning the ice cream, make the raspberry swirl by mashing the raspberries together with the sugar and vodka with a fork (if using frozen raspberries, let them thaw a bit first) until they’re juicy but with nice-sized chunks remaining. Chill until ready to use.

Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As you remove it from the machine, layer it in the container with spoonfuls of the chilled raspberry mixture.

Makes about 1 ½ liters (1 ½ quarts)

Before today’s recipe, I should warn you about something: I’m completely in love with these mini bundt pans, so get ready to see them around here quite a lot. Even a simple recipe like a butter cake gets a whole new dimension baked in such pretty pans. :D

The original recipe called for just a sprinkling of cocoa powder over the cakes, but I thought they deserved more: the chocolate glaze my mom used to pour over her delicious carrot cake. :)

Chocolate chip pound cakes
from Donna Hay magazine

250g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
250g all purpose flour, sifted
¼ cup (60ml) milk
¾ cup (116g) chopped dark chocolate

Chocolate glaze:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF; lightly grease a 20cm (8in) round cake pan and line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.*

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 10-12 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and beat well to combine. Fold through the milk and chocolate.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the pan, then unmold into a serving plate.

For the glaze: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high medium until it boils and cocoa and sugar are dissolved.
Remove from heat and pour over the cake.

* I halved the recipe, used 1-cup (240ml) capacity mini bundt pans and got 4 cakes; I generously buttered the pans and unmolded the cakes right after taking them out of the oven

Serves 8