Tapas Weekend, with Farmer’s Market Salad and Hazelnut Shortbread with Chocolate

Tapas. My new favourite style of dinner. Simple to prepare, lots of variety, and a great way to try a little bit of everything 🙂
A preferred way to have meals in Spain, as well as some parts of the US and the UK, tapas (from Spanish word tapar meaning ‘to cover’) are meant to encourage socializing and conversation, with no pressure to finish a big meal.

It all started on Friday when our little group got together for dinner and somewhere along the way it was decided that it would be tapas style: different cheeses, spreads, fresh bread, olives, and best of all, Stan’s famous mussles in cream sauce, Christina’s garlic shrimp, DVG’s crostini with goat cheese, prosciutto and cranberry sauce and my crostini with cheddar, pear and walnuts.

I would say one of the most important parts of having good tapas is fresh bread. For Friday, we visited the new German Bakery in Uptown – German Baked Specialities, and got some fresh baguette for the crostinis and rye with corn flour crust for dipping.  Another important ingredient for tapas is good olive oil. Sometimes, all one needs is good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping with fresh bread!

There is something magical about old friends coming together after not seeing each other for a while, and picking up right where they left off. Conversation is flowing, the food is dissapearing and the wine bottles are getting empty.  Before you know it, you have been chatting and eating for hours! Is there anything better in the world than great friends, great food and great wine?

Aged and young gouda, double creme brie, aged cheddar, chevre, olives, pears, sausages, smoked trout…

Inspired by the success of Friday night tapa’s dinner, DVG and I decided to have a repeat of it on Sunday evening. Again, we went all out, put the whole spread on my new serving board from Argentina (horse shoes for handles?! So cool!), made different versions of crostinis and at 22h, dinner began!

We discovered we had some aged white cheddar in the fridge, and had initially intended to melt it with pear, but after tasting it, we realized it was too delicate and delicious to melt, so instead we cut up the remaining pear and had it fresh with the aged cheddar.  Such a great combination!

All that cheese and bread, we had to had some greens to balance out the ‘food equation’ 🙂  I found that the quickest way to make a delicious dressing is to mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and salt and pepper in a mason jar and cover some baby spinach or arugula with it.  The roasted red peppers add a splash of colour and a different texture to the salad.

DVG proved to be a great model for my photo whims, even having enough patience for my meticulous framing, and that’s saying a lot especially because we were both famished and tired from climbing!

The rest of Sunday afternoon was spent preparing a salad and cookies for a dinner party hosted by my mom.  My mom is an excellent cook – she whips up meals in what seems like seconds, and they are always delicious.  I consider her culinary skills far superior to my own.  And yet, sometimes when she is hosting dinner parties she asks me to prepare something ‘delicious’ and ‘decorative’, to impress her guests.  Even though, whatever she prepares is sure to be yummier :).  But, I take this as a compliment, and oblige whenever she makes such requests.

A few weeks ago, while searching for a different recipe, I came upon this one for Farmer’s Market Salad, and judging by the ingredients, it seemed like a very interesting combination of flavours.  There is roasted squash, walnuts and arugula, the most interesting was pomogranate seeds, and pomogranate molasses.  Tanginess of the pomogranate seeds was a great compliment to the caramelized squash, crunchiness of walnuts and lightness of the arugula.

Even though recipe didn’t call for this, I broiled the squash a bit after roasting it to get the charred tops, and also added fresh rosemary to the squash before roasting for extra flavour. 

The dressing for this salad is super simple – orange juice, lemon juice and walnut oil (or any other type of nut oil), seasoned with salt and pepper.  I liked the acidity of the juices combined with the smooth taste of the oil, it gave the salad a fresh and light taste.  The recipe also calls for the salad to be topped off by pomogranate molasses.  Apparently, this can be found in some supermarkets, but I failed to find it, so instead I improvised.  Half the pomogranate was seeded for the salad and half was seeded to make a sauce (a makeshift molasses if you will).  I really didn’t quite know what I was doing here, but I tried to reduce the juice from the seeds to a sauce and added some regular molases and butter.  The sauce turned out ok, but I don’t know how it compares to the real thing.

For dessert, I decided to make these simple hazelnut shorbreads that are especially decorative because they’re half dipped in chocolate.  I find them to be super easy to make, and always a hit.  They are soft and crumbly and the creamy chocolate taste is a nice contrast to the dryness of shortbread.

I would recommend shaping these on the smaller side before you bake them (about the size of half of your finger), because they grow, and they are much more decorative if they are smaller.

Another tip, which may seem obvious, but it wasn’t to me when I first made these, is to transfer the melted chocolate into a deep container with a bigger opening ( a mug would work) as this makes it easier to dip the shortbread at the right angle.

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Click on each photo to view the high resolution images.

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RECIPES

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Farmer’s Market Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 to 5 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled seeded butternut squash (from about one 2-pound squash)

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• Pinch of dried crushed red pepper

• Coarse kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons orange juice

• 1 1/2 tablespoons walnut oil or other nut oil

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

• 4 ounces arugula (about 8 cups lightly packed)

• 1/2 cup walnuts,toasted, coarsely chopped

• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

• 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses*

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss squash, olive oil, and crushed red pepper on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Roast 15 minutes. Using spatula, turn squash over. Roast until edges are browned and squash is tender, about 15 minutes longer. Sprinkle with coarse salt. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

 

Whisk orange juice, walnut oil, and lemon juice in large shallow bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add arugula, walnuts, and pomegranate seeds; toss to coat. Season to taste with coarse salt and pepper. Spoon warm or roomtemperature squash over salad. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses and serve.

 

* A thick pomegranate syrup; available at some supermarkets and at Middle Eastern markets

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Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup husked hazelnuts

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Place hazelnuts on baking sheet. Bake until they’re a shade darker and fragrant, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

 

Lower oven to 325 degrees F.

 

Place hazelnuts in blender or food processor and pulse to coarse bits; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt to blend; set aside.

 

Beat butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until smooth. Beat in egg. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Add the chopped hazelnuts and mix until distributed evenly throughout.

 

 Form into finger sized logs, about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons dough each, and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake until firm, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on racks.

 

In a saucepan over lowest heat or in a double broiler, melt chocolate. Dip 1 end of cooled cookies into melted chocolate. Place back on cookie sheet to harden.

 

Triple Chocolate Truffle Tart with Raspberries for Mom

“How old are you today, mom?” 56 she says. And adds how she’s getting old. But then later that day she calls in a panic that she miscounted and really she’s 57! “I’m old” she says. I start laughing.  My mom is cute.   And always brutally honest.  But that’s part of her charm – at least one always knows how she really feels :). Once she mentioned that no one has ever baked her a cake of any sort for her birthday. And I thought to myself, that’s not right – my dear mommy deserved better than that :).   So, instead of traditional cake, I decided to make her a tart.

The Triple Chocolate tart is just that – very chocolatey, cocoa is baked into the crust and the filling is a mixture of white and dark chocolate. The tarness and slight sourness of the raspberries break up the sweetness of the chocolate and balance out the sugar in the tart and add a fresheness to it.

I found scotch to be a good combination to sip along with this tart, and you can even go as far as to infuse the raspberries into the scotch.

After the crust is baked, and raspberries are set on the bottom of the tart, the chocolate mixtures are poured over and have to set for a few hours. I found the white chocolate took longer to set. Needless to say, the tart has to be refrigerated and covered so that the crust doesn’t dry out. I found the crust to be challenging to spread out, it was breaking and it needed a lot of flour to keep it from sticking. The parchment paper really helps in transferring from the board to the tart pan – definitely a good investment that parchment paper! 🙂

We put one single candle into the tart for my mom to blow out (we didn’t want to remind her how old she actually was :)).  She was so happy to have the whole family there – she always complains how we don’t spend enough time together and how we don’t talk enough. I was just happy that I fulfilled a long-time wish of hers and that the tart actually turned out.

It feels like forever ago that I’ve baked something and I almost forgot how great it feels to look at the finished product and even better to photograph it. Not to mention the incredible smell that fills my entire house 🙂
Until next time, toodles!

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Click on each photo to view the high resolution images.

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RECIPE

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Triple Chocolate Truffle Tart with Raspberries

Chocolate Pastry:

• 1 cup (250 mL) flour

• 1/4 cup (50 mL) cocoa

• 3 tbsp (45 mL) granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter

• 3 tbsp (45 mL) orange juice

Filling:

• 1 1/4 cups (300 mL) whipping cream

• 3 oz (90 g) white chocolate

• 8 oz (250 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

• 2 tbsp (25 mL) butter

• 2 cups (500 mL) raspberries

 

1. In a food processor, gently combine flour, cocoa, sugar and butter until mixture is just crumbly. Add enough orange juice for mixture to come together. Remove from food processor and form into a ball. Flatten slightly, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Remove pastry from refrigerator and roll out on floured board until 1/4-inch (5-mm) thick. Place in 10-inch (25-cm) tart or flan pan with removable bottom or four 4-inch (10-cm) individual tart tins. Prick base.
3. Place a sheet of parchment paper or foil over pastry and weight with beans or rice. Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 10 minutes, remove beans and rice and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked through. Cool.
4. For filling: bring cream to boil in a medium pot. Remove from heat and remove 1/2 cup (125 mL) cream to another bowl. Stir white chocolate into the cream in bowl and bittersweet chocolate into the pot. Stir until chocolates are melted. Stir 2 tsp (10 mL) butter into white chocolate and remaining into dark chocolate. Reserve.
5. Scatter raspberries over the bottom of tart shell. Pour over dark chocolate cream. Swirl through white chocolate cream. Garnish with more raspberries, if desired. Chill to set slightly.

 

In Belgium: Stories from the Land of Chocolates, Waffles, Beer and Fries

Belgium! The land of beer, chocolates, waffles and fries! What’s not to like? Pair that with the beautiful architecture, rich history and nice people and who wouldn’t like living there? I would move in a second! 🙂 This visit to Belgium was inspired many years ago by a movie that sparked an interest to see Brugge. The movie is called In Bruges, and though the movie wasn’t anything to write home about, the setting for the movie left a lasting impression on me. So this summer, I was lucky enough to make this old wish come true! I realize
it may be hard to cover all the culinary wonders of Belgium with one post (I could probably have one post just on waffles :)), but I’ll give it my best try 🙂

First morning in Bruxelles, breakfast was none other than waffles 🙂 And of course, the token cappuccino for me 🙂 And can I say that I really like the ones served in glass cups cause of all the layers that are visible. I’m still trying to perfect this art 🙂

So, a little education on different types of waffles you can find at every corner at any city in Belgium 🙂 The waffle featured in the first photo is what’s called a Bruxelles waffle, and the waffle in the photo above is what’s called a Liege waffle (recipes for both kinds are at the end of this post). The main difference between the two is the thickness of the batter before they are pressed in the waffle machine. The Bruxelles waffles are usually bigger and fluffier, with deep ridges – their batter resembles that of North American pancake, slightly runny, but thicker than batter for crepes. Liege waffles (originating in the little town in south of Belgium called Liege) batter is more denser, more bread like and thicker. They are often smaller when prepared (see above), not as fluffy and their ridges are not as deep.

Here, at a waffle spot in Ghent, the girl is showings us how a Liege waffle looks like before it’s grilled. If you could look closely, you would see pockets where sugar is stuffed in, so that when they’re ready, they can be eaten with no toppings (often some powdered sugar is enough). However, there have tons of choices for toppings for both Liege and Bruxelles “Gaufre”, such as melted chocolate (my favorite), fruit and whipped cream, even real Canadian maple syrup! 🙂  Liege waffles also have their own Liege waffle maker that allows the grills to get to the right temperature as not to burn the sugar.  The lady in the above picture also pointed out that flipping the waffle maker half way through the cooking process helps to evenly distribute the chunks of sugar in the batter, so it wouldn’t all run to one side.

Needless to say, my chocolate covered Liege gaufre was gone before you could say chocolate! 🙂

Even the little bee couldn’t get enough! 🙂

According to our guide book, the place best recommended for waffles is Aux Gaufres de Bruxelles, and it didn’t dissapoint (as you can see from my above clean plate :))

So after breakfast, and some searching for Astérix and Obelix murals, we worked up an appetite for lunch.  One of the recommended places was an old stagecoach inn from 1762  In’t Spinnekopke (In the Spider’s Web).

Mussels are one of the Belgium’s prized specialties, and wanting to try an authentic Belgian dish, I opted for “Waterzooi Moules”, pictured below.

Waterzooi is a typical stew of Flanders, with zooi meaning to stew – it’s made with various vegetables and then a choice of chicken, beef or seafood.

So, what is one to do, when you get snacky after walking around all day, admiring the Belgian architecture?  Well, get a cone of fries of course!  Another pride of Belgian cuisine, and one that is taken quite seriously, is the fry.  And don’t make a mistake of asking for “french fries” at a restaurant, as one fellow tourist did at a table next to ours in Brugge – he was met with a stern look from the waitress – “We don’t have French fries” she said 🙂  It is a common misconception that these little guys originated in France, when in fact, they were invented in Belgium sometime at the end of the 17th century.  Fries are so important to Belgians that there is even a Fry Museum in Brugges (below).

 

You can find a fry stand (or ‘friekot’) almost anywhere in any Belgian town, and it’s made fresh right in front of you, served in a cone shaped carboard container with salt and  many different mayo based sauces.  Instant heaven!

Another big passion of the Belgique is beer. Belgians have been brewing beer since the Middle Ages, and there are literally 1000s of brands and kinds to choose from (even for a non-drinker it’s overwhelming).

One of the most distinctive beers in Belgium is the Lambic beer, which is fermented differently from most other beers (which are fermented using carefully cultivated strands of brewer’s yeasts) – Lambic is produced by spontateous fermentation – it’s exposed to wild yeasts and bacteria, naturally occuring in the Senne valley in which Bruxelles lies. This gives the beer a dry and cidery taste. There are more sweet kinds, mixed with fruit – the most common being the Kriek and the less sweet Geuze.

Kriek is perfect for non-beer drinkers, in my opinion, at least if they are anything like me, and don’t like the bitter taste of beer. Kriek is more like carbonated very fruity cherry juice with undertones of beer – very refreshing! 🙂

In Brugge, the only family brewery still left – De Halve Maan, offers daily tours, which includes a glass of their unpasteurized goldenblond Brugse Zot, as well as the great view from top of the brewery.  Their premium brew – Straffe Hendrik comes in 750 ml bottles, in 9% and 11% alcohol variety.  The 9% is very smooth with no bitter aftertaste, and especially good when paired with the local Brugge Blomme cheese.

Old empty beer bottles in the Halve Maan brewery.

So, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Belgium? For me, it’s always been chocolate. Chocolate shops are everywhere and there are SO many options and chocolat artisanal to choose from. One can either chose his/her own selection or buy the pre-selected assortment. And then there are many other chocolate confections to choose from, as evident from the photo below 🙂 Something for everyone 🙂 One thing to remember, that I’ve learned from a serious chocolatier, is to never put chocolate in the fridge as it ruins the taste – keep it in a cool dark place. 🙂

Our trip continued from Bruxelles to Ghent, a lovely small town on the canals, with charming architecture, and plenty of interesting cafes, such as this one – The Pi Cafe! 🙂

The 3.14 Cafe in the GroentenMarkt Quartier in Ghent specialized in coffee drinks, so this seemed a perfect spot to try out some novelties. Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the name of the lovely creation below, but I do remember it has some kind of alcohol in it (perfect for a morning drink , I’d say :)). 

Latte Macchiato at Cafe 3.14 in Ghent.  Apologies for the brand placement.

People watching is my favorite part of sitting at a cafe, and we were lucky enough to catch this sweet gesture in front of the bakery, right beside Cafe 3.14.  Do you think she’s a tourist?

The visitor information office in Ghent, underneath the Belfry Tower was quite useful, and offered walking tours of the town.  Needless to say, all that walking around in the sun makes one quite hungry 🙂  The reward?  A lovely meal of steak with hollandaise sauce and fresh fries (what can be better?)

Our walking tour recommended eating in the Patershol Quartier, famously named the ‘gastronomical centre of Ghent’.  However, it seems that most of the restaurants here are not open for lunch, so we walked to the nearby Vrijdagmarkt (Friday Market) plaza (and once home to the tanners guild), which, when it’s not housing the Friday market is full of restaurants and cafes.  Vridagmarkt is also home to “socialist ‘house of the people’ (Ons Huis, Bond Moyson), which was once the hospital of the first people’s of Ghent.

In the Vrijdagmarkt, there were plenty of choices to choose from, and mostly on the expensive side, so we were lucky to find this little gem – De Gulden Valk – that offered a lunch menu for 12 euros, that included soup, steak and fries 🙂  Oh and of course – Kriek 🙂

Walking around in the the Patershol Quartier in Ghent, we passed by this lovely fascade and I couldn’t pass up photographing it – the red brick and the red door contrasted with white flowers made for a perfect photo opportunity 🙂  And it’s just one of the many examples of the Flemish architecture – I was in photo heaven 🙂

In Brugge, while hiding out from the rain, I got to enjoy this yummy creation below.

And when it was time for an after-dinner treat, this whipped-cream cappuccino (a first for me), didn’t dissapoint 🙂

On our last morning in Brugge, we were lucky to stumble upon this hidden oasis, right beside the Minnewaterpark and the Lake of Love.  ‘t Oost!  promotes the ‘pursuit of happiness’ and encourages  ‘slow food’ – savouring every bite, while enjoying one’s surroundings.  They have menus in 4 different languages, and even a huge map on the wall in which you can indicate with a pin where you come from 🙂

My simple breakfast consisted of a latte macchiato, a croissant and a typical Flemish almond cookie 🙂

A couple of locals have just left the cafe, and the evidence of their morning coffee is a testament to the enjoyment of life’s simple pleasures…

Today’s specials are featured at the front entrance of ‘t Oost 🙂

Plants in the backyard terrace of ‘t Oost.

After savouring every sip of my latte macciato, it was time for more gastronomical exploration!  Chocolate! Yumm!

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RECIPES

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Gaufre de Bruxelles

• 3 1/4 cups (1 lb. — 500g) all purpose flour

• one sachet (7g) instant dried yeast

• 4 medium eggs

• whole milk (you can also add some sparkling mineral water and make them even fluffier)

• two sticks (1/2 lb. — 250g) butter

• vanilla sugar

• some salt

1. Take a cup of milk and heat it until it is lukewarm then mix in your yeast. You can now leave the yeast standing for a while.

2. In the mean time – melt the butter, but stop as soon as it melts, don’t over heat it or even burn it – you will lose the taste. You also need to…

3. …separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and beat the egg whites until you get snow.

4. Now take a big giant huge bowl and throw in all the flour, vanilla sugar (one sachet) and some salt. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and fill it with melted butter, dissolved yeast and egg yolk.

5. Mix while you are adding milk (and some mineral water if you want). You should mix it really well so there are no lumps. The question you might ask here is how dense should the dough be, how much milk? It should be thick, think pancakes and then make it a bit thicker.

6. OK, now gently mix the beaten egg whites into the dough…don’t overmix.

7. Leave the dough to rest and rise at room temperature for a while. How long? Until the volume of the dough doubles or even triples! We told you to take a really big bowl. If you are in a hurry then wait for 30 minutes to one hour, but if you can, make the waffle dough in the evening and leave it overnight.

8. Use the oil to grease the waffle iron (which should be hot hot hot) so your waffles don’t stick to it and pour the dough in it. Bake the until they turn golden brown.

9. Sprinkle some powdered sugar all over the Brussels waffles.

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Gaufre de Liege

• 6 tablespoons warm milk (no hotter than 110°F)

• 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar 


• 2 teaspoons instant yeast

• 1 1/2 cups (230 grams) bread flour, sifted

• 1 teaspoons cinnamon

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1 medium egg

• 1 egg yolk

• 1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, at slightly cooler than room temperature

• 140 grams turbinado sugar, or pearl sugar if you choose

1.  Dissolve the sugar in the warm milk; then add the yeast. Make sure that the milk is not too hot, lest it kill the yeast instead of promoting its growth. Place a plate or some kind of cover on top of the bowl with the milk, sugar and yeast. Set aside for about five minutes. When you check on it, the yeast should have bubbled up, looking light brown and spongy.

2.  Meanwhile, mix the sifted bread flour with the cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in the yeast mixture; then add the whole egg and egg yolk. Mix on medium speed until it is fully combined. The dough will be yellow and stiff, yielding only slightly to a poke.

3.  Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest in a warm place for about thirty minutes.

4.  Beat in the butter piece by piece; you do not have to wait for the prior piece to be fully incorporated before adding the next. When the dough has incorporated about half of the butter, the mixture will be like a very thick, somewhat broken-up paste. If you keep engaging the mixer on medium-high speed, the dough will eventually become a cohesive whole, looking smoother and more feeling more elastic. Scrape the sides of the bowl if needed.

5.  Kneading very gently, incorporate the sugar crystals just enough to get them evenly distributed. Work quickly so as not to soften the buttery dough too much.

6.  Divide the dough into a dozen equal pieces, gently forming them into balls.

7.  Place the balls of dough on a cutting board in a warmish place for fifteen minutes or so. During the last two minutes of this resting time, preheat your waffle iron until it is very warm, but not hot.

8.  Spray the griddles with cooking oil. Place each ball of dough in a whole square or section of the waffle iron. Like regular waffle batter, the dough will start to puff up. Cook the waffles until the surface is golden to dark brown. Be sure that the waffle iron you are using is appropriately deep, or else the interior of the waffle will not be cooked through. If you are using a vintage stovetop waffle iron, flip the iron every thirty to forty seconds, lifting the iron to check the rate of browning. The browning should be gradual to allow the interior to fully develop.

9.  Set the waffles on a cooling rack as they come out of the iron to promote a crispy exterior. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

10.  Any leftover waffles, if they are not dark brown, can be carefully re-cooked in a toaster for approximately thirty to sixty seconds. Leftover waffles may also be kept in an airtight container between sheets of parchment paper, for up to three days.

Makes 12 waffles

Easter Joy and Homemade Orange Honey Butter

When I was little, Easter was one of my favorite holidays. It was one of the signs that spring was upon us, flowers and trees in bloom, and we were that much closer to summer! But, more than that, it was the joy of preparing for it, watching my mom colour the eggs, collecting little pieces of grass (more on this later), and of course, the game of trying to compete for most eggs! Back home in Bosnia, we didn’t have Easter egg hunts. Instead we played the game of trying to break each other’s egg. The person with the stronger egg wins the loser’s egg, and at the end of the day, the winner gets bragging rights! For us kids, this was huge! 🙂

My mom has always been a fan of doing things the natural way, and this also applied with colouring the eggs. Instead of using artificial colours and stickers, my mom gets way more creative than that 🙂 She collects skins from red onions all year long to have to use for Easter, and boils the eggs in onion skins, so that they get this rich burgundy colour that you see in the pictures. The patterns come from flowers or interesting-shaped pieces of grass/weeds that get affixed to the egg and secured with old stockings. The eggs are then boiled for a long time and at the end, stockings and flowers are removed to show the pattern. Incredible!

This Easter I also decided to make these berry scones, recipe developed by Tyler Lawrence. He calls them the Ultimate Berry Scones 🙂 And believe me, they are divine! The scones come with homemade orange honey butter. Yes, homemade! So, before trying this recipe I have never made my own butter, and actually had no idea that this is possible to do in my own kitchen! But, it’s actually, quite simple! You overwhip whipped cream! Eventually, the butter separates from the buttermilk. You squeeze out the buttermilk from the butter and refrigerate! Voila! Homemade butter. The recipe suggests doing it ‘the old fashioned way’ but putting the cream in a mason jar and shaking it, but I wouldn’t recommend this because it would take a very long time.  Also, the recipe uses the food processor a lot, but if you don’t have a food processor, whipping the cream with regular mixer works just as well, it just takes slightly longer.  The orange zest in this recipe really gives the butter an extra dimension of flavour.

The scones are actually quite easy to make, not many ingredients, and the freshly squeezed orange-honey buttermilk makes them very moist. Needless to say, they were quickly gone at breakfast :). 

For dessert, I decided to make a chocolate cake. The interesting thing about this cake was that the layers are mostly made from beaten eggs, very little flour is used. The one thing that I would advise is that it’s absolutely crucial to bake the two crusts at the same time. Because most of the batter comes from the beaten eggs, if they are left to sit for any period of time, they will deflate and you’ll have a very dense and flat crust 😦

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Click on each photo to view the high resolution images.

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RECIPES

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Orange Honey Butter:

• 1 quart heavy cream

• Zest of 1 orange

• 1/2 cup honey

• Pinch of salt

Berry Buttermilk Scones:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling scones

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

• 3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed

• 1 1/2 cups fresh mixed berries (e.g. blueberries, raspberries, blackberries), washed and dried

• 3/4 cup buttermilk, (leftover from orange butter), plus more to brush scones

Directions

You can do this the old fashioned way and add ingredients to a mason jar, cover with the lid and shake vigorously for 10 minutes, or you can use the food processor.

 In a food processor bowl add all the ingredients and turn on high. The liquid will slosh, whip and then separate after about 4 minutes. When the mixture separates, (these are the butter solids and buttermilk), stop processing and strain out the buttermilk – there will be just under a cup. Reserve the buttermilk to make the scones. Strain out the butter and squeeze dry. Work the butter a couple of times to bring it together to form a nice ball. Refrigerate butter until ready to use.

 For the scones:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

 In a food processor bowl add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add cold butter cubes and pulse until you have the texture of coarse bread crumbs. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, then add 3/4 cup of buttermilk and stir to combine. As it comes together add berries and fold dough to incorporate berries but not break them up too much.

 Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a parchment lined sheet pan.  Using a pastry brush, paint the tops of each scone lightly with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar.

 Bake until golden brown, and nice and puffy, about 17 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack.

 Serve warm with the Orange Honey Butter.

© The Food Network

The Black and Tan Cake

• 4 oz (125 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

• 2 tbsp (25 mL) butter

• 8 eggs

• ¾ cup (175 mL) salted roasted peanuts

• ¾ cup (175 mL) all-purpose flour

• 1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar

• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

2 tbsp (25 mL) cornstarch

Ganache

• 2/3 cup (150 mL) whipping cream

• 6 oz (175 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

• Chopped salted roasted peanuts, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).

2. Line the bottom of two 9-inch (23-cm) cake pans with a circle of parchment paper. Set aside.

3. Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside. Place eggs (in shells) in a bowl and cover with warm water; let eggs warm to slightly above room temperature, refreshing with more warm water if it cools.

4. Pulse peanuts in a food processor until finely chopped (but not a paste). Add flour; pulse to combine. Set aside.

5. Drain water from eggs and crack into a large, straight-sided bowl. Add sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat until very pale, tripled in volume and ribbons fall slowly from beater when lifted. Beat in vanilla. Sprinkle with peanut mixture in 2 additions, folding just until combined.

6. Pour half of batter into a separate bowl. Working with 1 bowl of batter, sift in cornstarch and gently fold just until blended. Pour into 1 prepared pan. Gently fold melted chocolate mixture into second bowl of batter. Pour into remaining pan.

7. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or just until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool in pans on rack for 30 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cakes and invert onto rack. Peel off paper and let cool completely.

8. For ganache, heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat, just until bubbles form around the edge. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted and smooth. Let cool until slightly thickened but still fluid.

9. To assemble, place chocolate cake layer on a serving plate. Pour about ½ cup (125 mL) of the ganache in the centre of cake and spread almost to the edges. Top with peanut cake layer. Slowly pour remaining ganache in the centre of the cake, gently tilting as necessary to spread
ganache to the edges and letting drips flow down sides of cake. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until ganache is set or for up to 1 day. Cut into slices using a warm, serrated knife.

 

Serves 10 to 12

 

Of Golden Rugalachs, Cannolis and Saint’s Days

Every October, my family celebrates, what in English can be best translated as Saint’s Day. Saint’s Day or Krsna Slava is the Serbian Orthodox tradition of the ritual celebration, veneration, and observance of our family’s own patron saint. The custom itself goes back to 7th century BC and you can read more about it here. Every October 12th, my family gathers with 20 or so of our closest friends for celebration, singing, dancing and of course tons of great food. My mom makes many great goodies, mostly traditional Serbian fare (see below for her homemade roasted red pepper salad). On this day, my contribution has usually been baked goods, and I see it as an opportunity to bake something new every year. This year I opted for Golden Rugalach and Cannolis. I wanted something fairly easy and delicious at the same time.

The Rugalach’s flakey pastry is my favourite part, as it just melts in your mouth.

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Another thing that I really like about this rugalach is that it makes for really pretty photos. The golden colours of the apricot preserve, baked eggwash and hazelnuts are very vibrant against the white plate.

This was my very first time making cannolis. It turns out that if you don’t make the shells yourself, the process is quite easy. I chose a recipe that called for store-bought shells and I just made the filling. The combination of ricotta and chocolate chunks and cranberries is very nice. The recipe calls for dried cherries but I substituted cranberries. The filling can also keep in the fridge for several days. I ended up not using all of it so I made crepes a few days later that ate up the filling 🙂

On the day of Slava, I went to my parents house early to help with the preparations. My mom was busy at work, preparing and plating her roasted red pepper salad. I couldn’t resist capturing some of it, especially how skillful she is in the kitchen. She seems to whip up things out of nowhere and in no time, of course! 🙂 (how do moms do this?) The red roasted peppers were perfect eye candy for my 50 mm.

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For high resolution images, please click on each photo.

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recipes

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Golden Rugalach

Ingredients

Dough:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut in pieces and chilled

• 8 ounces cream cheese, cut in chunks and chilled

• 2 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt

Filling:

• 3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted

• 1 cup apricot preserves

• 2/3 cups golden raisins

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• Egg Wash:

• 2 egg yolks

• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions

For the dough: Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles coarse sand with some pea-sized pieces of butter, about 20 times. Add the cream cheese and sour cream, and pulse until it comes together in a rough dough (with some uneven pebbles sized-pieces). Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface and divide into 4 equal portions. Pat each portion into a flat square and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze dough for 15 minutes

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Meanwhile, chop the nuts in a clean food processor. Add the preserves, raisins and salt; puree to make a very smooth paste. Roll a portion of dough into a 6 by 14-inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. (Don’t worry about slightly rough edges; these will be rolled inside of the rugalach.) Spread 1/4 of the filling over the surface with a small spatula. Starting with a long side, roll the dough up into a tight cylinder ending with the seam on the bottom. Press the top slightly to flatten; wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze for another 15 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. (The cylinders can be frozen for up to a month.) Meanwhile, evenly position the racks in the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

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Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Slice the cylinders into 1 1/2-inch pieces, and place rugalach seam-side down on the prepared pans. Whisk the egg yolks together and brush this glaze over the top of the rugalach. Sprinkle with sugar and bake until pale golden and crispy on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly on the baking sheet. Carefully transfer rugalach to a rack to cool. Serve. Store rugalach in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days

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Chocolate Cherry Cannoli

Ingredients:

• One 475 g tub extra-smooth ricotta cheese

• 3 tbsp (45 mL) icing sugar

• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

• ⅓ cup (75 mL) chopped bittersweet chocolate

• ⅓ cup (75 mL) dried cherries, chopped

• 24 cannoli shells (see Tip)

• Icing sugar or unsweetened cocoa powder

Scrape ricotta into fine mesh sieve set over bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes. Place ricotta in another bowl and discard any liquid. Whisk in icing sugar and vanilla with ricotta until smooth. Stir in chocolate and cherries until well distributed.

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Spoon mixture into piping bag or large resealable bag and cut opening. Pipe mixture evenly into cannoli shells and place on platter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. (The cannoli shells will soften the longer they sit.)

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Sprinkle with icing sugar or cocoa powder before serving.

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Tip: Look for cannoli shells at Italian delis, specialty food stores and large grocery stores. Some bakeries will sell you empty shells provided you call ahead to order.