Feb 14, 2013

Happy Valentine’s Day with Red Donuts

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donuts

Hi everyone,

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day. Today is a day to remember those you love and to show them your appreciation; what better way to do that than by making them something sweet to eat!

My youngest son just finished his undergraduate studies a couple of weeks ago, and today he went to collect some papers from university. I wanted to surprise him with something he’d enjoy, and since its Valentine’s day and everything is red, I made some donuts and added some red food coloring to the glazing to mark the occasion though I don’t really think that donuts are romantic. I think I might have put a few drops more of food coloring than I should have because the glaze looks blood red 😛 The important thing is that it put a smile on his face.

So today remember to show your loved ones a little affection. If they’re fans of donuts, make them some of these: smiles guaranteed!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon dried instant yeast
  • oil for frying

Preparation:

  • In a bowl, sift the flour with instant yeast
  • In another bowl, whisk the milk, egg, sugar, salt and oil then add the mixture to the flour, mix together until you have a soft dough
  • Cover the bowl in a cling film and leave the dough to rise and double in volume, for about one hour
  • Cover the surface you are working on with flour and roll the dough with a rolling pin to about 2 cm thickness then cut into a donut shape; leave it to rest for 15 minutes
  • Heat the frying oil (enough for deep frying) and fry the donuts from both sides for about 3 minutes on each side, until they turn golden color. Place on a kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil and allow to cool before glazing them with your choice of chocolate or red glaze

donuts1

For the chocolate glaze:

  • Boil one cup of cream with 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons corn syrup then pour over one cup of sweet chocolate chip and stir until the chocolate melts, then add one teaspoon of vanilla

For colored glaze:

  • Mix one cup of icing sugar with one tablespoon of water or milk and add few drops of food coloring

ET VOILA… C’EST TOUT! BON APPETIT!

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Jan 22, 2013

Cracked Chocolate Cookies

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chocoate cracked biscuit 1

Making cookies is something I enjoy a lot because watching my children’s happy faces while eating them is priceless. This recipe especially is something else. During the Christmas vacation, they requested of me to make these cookies, as it had been years since I had made them last… and believe me, as soon as the cookies came out of the oven, half of them were already gone! I also made new fans with my grandkids.

What else can I say? You’re going to love them too.

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup soft butter+1 tablespoon
  • 6 tablespoons cocoa
  • 1  2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • dash of salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 1 cup icing sugar

Preparation:

  • Melt the better and stir in the cocoa, allow it to cool before adding the sugar, eggs, the vanilla; beat well
  • In another bowl, sift the flour with salt and baking powder then add it to the cocoa mixture and add the walnuts if you’d like.
  • Place in the fridge for 1/2 hour then preheat the oven to 180 C
  • Take a small piece of dough, shape it into a ball, roll it in icing sugar
  • Place on an ungreased tray, bake for about 9 minutes, The center should remain moist
  • Allow to cool and enjoy (or eat them warm)

chocolate cracked biscuit

ET VOILA… C’EST TOUT!  BON APPETIT 🙂

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Sep 22, 2012

Glazed Cup Cakes With Nutella

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Cupcakes are always happily welcomed by everyone, small children and adults alike. This simple recipe is a success every time I make it, and no one can get enough 🙂

It is a definite must- make recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 130 gs butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons Nutella

For the icing:

  • 1 egg white
  • 1  1/2 icing sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • chocolate vermicelli, for decoration

Preparation:

  • Preheat the oven to 180 C
  • If the Nutella is a little hard, soften in a double boiler over a low heat until soft
  • Mix in a bowl eggs, sugar, flour then add the butter and the baking powder
  • Fold the Nutella to the previous mixture until you have an homogeneous batter
  • Divide this batter into 20 cup cake cases and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, and let it cool

  • In the meantime prepare the icing by whisking the egg white and the icing sugar until well blended
  • If you desire you can add food coloring for the icing for variety

  • Sprinkle with chocolate vermicelli for decoration

ET VOILA… C’EST TOUT… BON APPETIT.

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May 12, 2012

Profiteroles And Eclairs

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It is Saturday and the weekend has begun! I like to have some home made desserts for the weekend. Today I decided to make both Profiteroles and Eclairs since they are made from the same dough and filled with the same creme patissiere; the only difference between them is their shape.

Making this recipe requires two kinds of ingredients:  one for the dough and the other for the creme patissiere (filling).

Ingredients for the dough:

  • 100 grams of unsalted butter
  • 1 cup of water
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 cup of all purpose flour
  • 4 eggs

Preparation of the dough:

  • In a small pot boil the water with butter and a pinch of salt
  • Add all the flour at once and mix vigorously until you have a consistent dough
  • Remove from fire and let it cool for 5 minutes, then add one egg at a time, mixing well in an electric mixer until well blended in the dough (you can use a wooden spoon to mix the eggs if you like, but it will take more effort)
  • When you finish mixing all the eggs in the dough, leave it to cool
  • Preheat the oven to 180 C
  • Grease a tray with a bit of butter, place the dough in a piping bag and using a large nozzle make circle shape to make the profiteroles, and long ones to make the eclairs
  • Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the top of the dough becomes light golden color

Ingredients for the creme patissiere:

  • 1/2 cup powder milk
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation of the creme:

  • Boil the milk in a casserole and add the vanilla
  • In a bowl mix the sugar with flour and egg
  • Pour the mixture of egg, sugar and the flour slowly to the milk whisking constantly until thickening, then allow to cool. It is better to cover the creme with a cling film to prevent forming hard layer on the top when cooling

Filling the dough with creme:

  • Make a small hole in the profiterole ( the round shape) using a wooden stick
  • Place the cream in a piping bag and using a fine nozzle fill the dough.
  • For the eclairs (the long shaped ones) make a small cut on the side of the dough and with a small spoon spread the cream into it
  • For the final touch you can either sprinkle the sweets with icing sugar or make chocolate icing.

Chocolate icing:

  • Boil 3/4 cup of fresh milk with 1 teaspoon icing sugar and 1/2 teaspoon butter
  • Cut 50 grams of dark chocolate into small pieces and place it in a bowl
  • Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and mix well until the chocolate dissolves

With a small teaspoon put the icing chocolate on the top of eclair and place on a grill to cool completely.

N.B : If you want to fill it with chocolate cream instead, replace 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 tablespoon of cocoa in the ingredients.

ET VOILA..C’EST TOUT! HAVE  A NICE WEEK-END 🙂

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