Tiramisu

I got some small spring form pans today and decided to make some Tiramisu . I always make a very easy version, non of that separating eggs stuff... throw the egg in the mascarpone just like that and mix. Comes out like magic every time.

The delicious little things are now in the fridge cooling and setting up for a bit. Tomorrow, they'll go into work with me to get their cute little pictures taken, so I can show them to the world, before they'll get eaten.

It's tough to be a Tiramisu!

Here's how I made it (for two 4.5 inch spring form pans or you can just use one 8 inch):

1 container of Mascarpone (8 oz)
1 egg yolk
1 package ladyfingers
(use Schar Gluten-Free Ladyfingers if you need to be GF)
1 cup coffee
Amaretto to drizzle
1 Tbs Vanilla
2 Tbs Sugar

1/2 cup hot Water
1/2 packet of Gelatin

Cocoa Powder

Layer the ladyfingers on the bottom of the spring form pan, so that most of it is covered, drizzle with coffee and some amaretto, so that they are soft but not completely soaked. Set aside.

Mix the mascarpone, egg yolk, vanilla, sugar and a little bit of amaretto until it's nice and fluffy. Dissolve he gelatin in the hot water and stir for a few minutes until completely dissolved and it's cooled down a bit. Slowly mix with the mascarpone mixture a little bit at a time. Once mixed in, pour half of the mixture over the ladyfingers.

Then add another layer of ladyfingers, drizzle with coffee and amaretto as before, then add the remaining mixture on top to cover.

Put in the fridge for about 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Remove from the forms and cover with Cocoa powder. Decorate and serve.

Bon Appetit!

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

Well, I love cheesecake, but most of the time, they are really heavy and I wanted to make something a little lighter for summer. I had some strawberries in my fridge and needed to do something with them. So before I even thought of the cheesecake, I'd decided I wanted to make a strawberry sauce.

That strawberry sauce or coulis, I then used in the cheesecake, to create little pockets of fruity deliciousness in the cheesecake and, I must say, it made it look pretty too.

So, here's what you need to make this delicious and pretty easy dessert.

For the coulis:

2 cups of strawberries, cut in pieces
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cook for about 10 minutes until the strawberries are really soft and almost fall apart. Remove from the heat and put in a blender or use an immersion blender to blend for a smooth consistency. Strain through a sieve to get the seeds out and then put back into the pan, keep simmering until its thick and syrupy in it's consistency, cool.


For the crust:

1 1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 cup Sugar
5 Tbs Butter or Margarine melted

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl so everything is well combined, press the mixture in a 9 inch spring form so it is well covered and push up about 1/4 inch on the side, then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes (this will make the crust a bit crunchier). After 5 minutes take out of the oven and cool.

For the filling:

16 oz Cream Cheese or light Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup boiling Water
2 Tbs Vanilla Extract (I also added the seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean)
1 Lemon, Zest only (finely grated)
1 envelope Gelatine

In a mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, lemon zest and vanilla. Bring one cup of water to a boil and stir in the sugar and gelatine until it is fully dissolved, about 3- 5 minutes. Then slowly blend the gelatine mixture with the cream cheese.

Pour half of the cream cheese mixture on the cooled crust, then with a spoon drop little pools of strawberry coulis on top of it, so there is a bit all over the mixture, cover with the rest of the cream cheese. drop some more coulis on top and then take a knife and just move it through the coulis drops, so you create a nice marble effect on the cheesecake.

Once you are finished, cover your cheesecake and cool in the fridge for about 2-3 hours.

Then enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Inside Out Peppermint Patty CupCake

So, finally yesterday I got around to making the cupcakes I've been talking about. Somehow I got derailed every evening and just didn't get to it, may it have been Movie Night, Dinner or just working late.

I decided, to do something a little bit different and, because I like "After Eight" mints and "York Peppermint Patties", I felt I could incorporate those flavors in a cupcake. To work I went with just a basic batter recipe.

Here is what you need to make 12 delicious "Inside Out Peppermint Patty" Cupcakes,



For the batter:
125 g butter (unsalted), soft and cut in small cubes)
125 g flour (sifted)
125 g sugar
125 ml milk coffee (latte)
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tbs coffee (ground)
2 Tbs cocoa powder
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips
Splash of Amaretto or Rum




In a medium size bowl, whip the butter until it is soft and creamy, slowly add the sugar and the egg, while continuing to mix on high speed (you can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer). Then start mixing in flour and milk coffee, little by little, so the batter gets nice and smooth, once all that is added, add in the cocoa powder, the ground coffee and a couple splashes of Rum or Amaretto. Finally mix in the dark mini chocolate chips.


Fill the batter in the prepared cupcake pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Cool on a rack. While the cupcakes cool down you can prepare your frosting. I used a ready made "Pillsbury" Vanilla Frosting for this, but you can make your own. I just didn't have time to do it this time.


For the Frosting:
1 tub Vanilla Frosting
1 Tbs Peppermint extract


Mix the vanilla frosting well with the peppermint extract, so you have a nice creamy texture. Fill it in a pastry bag. Take a skewer and poke a little whole in the bottom of each cupcake, then pipe some of the frosting inside each cupcake. Change out your nozzle to a star nozzle and pipe remaining frosting on the cupcakes.
Decorate cupcakes with a mint leave and half and "After Eight". You could also just use chocolate sprinkles or thinly shaved dark chocolate.


Enjoy! 

ChocolateCoffeeCake with Chocolate Glaze

Today I felt like making something sweet that reminded me of home and my Grandmother at the same time. My Grandma used to make a cake we called "Black Chocolate Cake" and she made it for me everytime we came on vacation. The other sweet I remembered was a piece of cake we used to buy at a bakery in downtown Schaffhausen called Aschinger. It was called "Studentenschnitte" which loosely translated means "Students Slices". It is a slice of chocolate cake with a bit of crunch in it, that is covered with a chocolate and powdered sugar white glaze.

My hubby went out with friends so I got to work. I grabbed my Grandma's recipe and went to town, measuring and calculating ingredients. So I pretty much mixed the things I remembered together.

For the cake batter:

2 eggs (separate egg yolk and egg whites)
100 g unsalted butter
160 g flour
50 g ground almonds
50 g bread crumbs
300 g confectioners (powdered) sugar
4 Tbs cocoa powder
3 Tbs ground coffee beans
250 ml milk coffee
Splash of rum or amaretto
Splash of vanilla essence
1 Ts Cinnamon
14 g baking powder


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare round cake pan so cake won't stick. I butter it first and then pour some bread crumbs in it, swing it around and bread crumbs will stick to the butter. Shake off the excess and set aside

Separate eggs and beat egg whites until little peaks form, you can tell it's ready when you can turn the bowl upside down and the egg white doesn't come out.

Mix bread crumbs, cocoa, ground coffee beans and ground almonds in a bowl and set aside. Then mix butter, egg yolk and sugar until fluffy, add in rum/amaretto and vanilla essence. Little by little add flour, baking powder, liquid and bread crumb mixture. Once all ingredients are mixed gently fold in egg whites.

Pour into prepared cake pan and bake in pre-heated oven for about an 50 minutes to an hour. You can test if the cake is done by sticking a wooden skewer in it. If it comes out clean the cake is done.

Before applying the glaze I covered it with apricot jelly. To spread it better you need to thin it out a bit and maybe you have to put it through a sieve to get an even consistency. So just take a couple of tablespoons of apricot jelly, a little bit of water and heat in the microwave, stir until combined then pour on the cake and let dry for 15 minutes.

Now you're ready to glaze your cake. You can use a store bought chocolate glaze or you can make one. Mine was very easy

150 g dark chocolate
50 g unsalted butter
50 g powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbs water

Melt chocolate, butter, sugar and water in a thin walled bowl over a pan of barely boiling water (don't let the bowl touch the water). Once it smoothly runs over a turned spoon it is ready to go on the cake.

Just pour on the cake and tilt cake from left to right to cover cake evenly. Do not use a knife or spatula, it will prevent the cake from being shiny. Let dry and then serve with some whipped cream and a nice cup of coffee!

YUMMY!