Flourless Chocolate Cake

I made my flourless chocolate cake well in time for this month's Daring Bakers challenge. A full post in a couple of hours, hopefully. Gotta rush for a wedding!

Updated: Full post!

Enjoyed this post? Make sure you subscribe for free updates via E-mail (no spam, I hate it as much as you do) or RSS Feeds.

Share it! |

Print PDF

Valentine Linzer Cookies

Happy Valentine’s Day! I have some Austrian Linzer Cookies for you today. These cookies are nothing short of grand – a sweet and tangy lime and strawberry preserve sandwiched between almond rich, crumbly and buttery cookies. Although you could make them any shape you like, now seems like the perfect time for sweetheart cookies and pretty pink preseve!

The cookies have a wonderfully nutty fragrance with a whole lot of hazenuts and almonds adding their characteristic richness. What I like best about these cookies is that they are simple, delicate and gorgeous to look at. I’ve never made these before and when I saw these cookies on Elise’s blog I just had to make them, for I knew I couldn't go wrong with her absolutely foolproof recipe and method.

Valentine Linzer Cookies Recipe
Yield: 20-24 cookies
Adapted from: Simply Recipes

3/4 cups butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup finely ground almonds
1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces strawberry preserve
Powdered sugar for dusting

1. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla.
2. Mix in the ground nuts.
3. Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl and mix with the wet mixture to form the dough. Roll into disks, wrap and chill.
4. Roll out dough and cut the cookies in desired shape. Make sure you freeze this for a few minutes before transferring, lest the cookie break apart.
5. Cut out the base cookie shapes. Cut out the centers of half the disks with a smaller cookie cutter shape. Re-roll scraps and repeat.
6. In a preheated oven at 350°F/175°C bake for 12 minutes or until edges turn golden. Cool on a wire rack.
7. Heat the preserve and spread the solid disks with a layer of the hot preserves. Make sure to steer clear of the edges since we don’t want the preserve oozing out. Place the top layer cookie over the bottom, pressing down lightly. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, then fill the holes with more preserves.

Serving suggestions:
Ice cream -always a fun option!
Else strawberries, like I did.
Now I'm thinking white chocolate mousse. Mmmm.

Verdict:
It's usually very hard to please my mum with my baked goodies because this is not the kind of food she has grown up with. Her's is a more Indian palate that craves spice and strong flavours. She gave the cookie two thumbs up - I've my bets on the nuts which add the richness. Just one change that I'm going to keep in mind - use hazenut. I absolutely *love* them!

Enjoyed this post? Make sure you subscribe for free updates via E-mail (no spam, I hate it as much as you do) or RSS Feeds.

Share it! |

Print PDF

Asparagus, Mint and Mushroom Frittata

I’m not so much of a breakfast person. But once in a while, especially on a weekend I like to go slow and prepare myself something more elaborate and hearty. Over the past weekend as I browsed through the River Café Cookbook (which I got at 80% discount at a local sale! :D), I came across this gorgeous Mint and Asparagus Frittata recipe. I added in some button mushrooms for good measure and the Frittata was ready in a snap.

It'd be good sandwiched in a crusty bread but I enjoyed eating it all by itself as well.

Asparagus, Mint and Mushroom Frittata
Yield: 3 servings
Adapted from: The Rive Café Cook Book

4 eggs
25g / 1oz. Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp mint, chopped
100g/ 4oz. asparagus
50g / 2 oz. button mushrooms, cut into chunks
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. Chop off the woody ends of the asparagus and blanch in very hot water for a couple of minutes and then refresh. Sprinkle some salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside.
2. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl.
3. Add salt, Parmesan and mint.
4. In an oven proof pan, heat the oil till it’s very hot. Pour in the egg mixture and keep tilting till the egg in the pan is evenly distributed.
5. While it’s still runny, throw in the mushrooms and arrange the asparagus atop the egg mixture. Let it cook for a minute or two.
   
6. Now, slip the hot pan into a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F until the top is well set and slightly golden.
7. Transfer to a plate. Chop into wedges and serve with your favorite crusty bread!
   

What I really loved about the Frittata was how flavourful it was. Even when I took some leftover for lunch to work, I was hit by the aroma of the asparagus as opposed to an eggy smell that is quite expected. I absolutely loved this – now that I realise how awfully simple this is to make, I’m going to try different combinations each time around.

Enjoyed this post? Make sure you subscribe for free updates via E-mail (no spam, I hate it as much as you do) or RSS Feeds.

Share it! |

Print PDF

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

I earnestly believe Nutella can bring world peace. Who wouldn’t be transported to a completely different world with something as little as a spoonful of Nutella?

Today is World Nutella Day and I only need an excuse to use up some more Nutella instead of devouring it off a spoon. With a little help from my eating partner, I knew Nutella Pinwheel cookies would be perfect.

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies
Yield: 25-30 cookies

125g / 1 stick butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 heaped cup sifted flour
¼ cup Nutella to spread, a little more won’t hurt, but be careful not to overdo lest it ooze!
2-3 tablespoon, toasted, chopped hazelnuts

1. Preheat oven to 175C/350F.
2. Mix the butter and sugar together till creamy.
3. Mix in the egg yolk and the vanilla essence. The mixture should be light and well combined.
4. Stir in the flour and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes so that it can firm up and facilitate easy rolling.
5. Next, roll out the dough into a rectangle of ¼ inch thickness.
6. Spread the Nutella making sure to leave one finger space on all four sides. Again, we don’t want the Nutella to ooze out!
7. Sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts and roll up the dough.
8. Refrigerate for another ten minutes before cutting the slices.
9. Lay the slices on a lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes till slightly golden at the edges. Baking time will vary depending on how thick you've cut them. Colour is a good indication.

Now there are two ways you could cut the slices - with a knife (surprise!) and a better, neater way would be with a firm thin wire (found some leftover wire from my flower making class back in school!). When you use a wire you will have a very clean looking pinwheel with no unwanted brown Nutella spots, and a crumbly looking texture, much like the first picture. When you use a knife, you will see that the Nutella smears the rest of the cookie while the knife passes through the dough, albeit smooth textured (the second image).

World Nutella Day is hosted by Sara of Ms Adventures Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso and this is my entry for the blogosphere party!

Still craving for more Nutella? There you go!
Double Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Nutella Banana Cupcake

Enjoyed this post? Make sure you subscribe for free updates via E-mail (no spam, I hate it as much as you do) or RSS Feeds.

Share it! |

Print PDF