Portugese Custard Tartlets with Peaches

Looking for something easy-to-make and delicious for your sunday afternoon cup of coffee?
Try this, they are yummy !!!

Ingredients for 12 tartlets:

1 pack of readymade puff pastry
1 package of vanilla pudding mix (for 1/2 liter of milk)
1/2 liter of milk
80g sugar
1 vanilla sugar
1-2  peaches
150g Crème fraîche
cinnamon and sugar

Method:

Mix the vanilla cream custard powder, 100ml milk, sugar, vanilla sugar and stir well until smooth.

Bring 400ml milk to the boil. Stir in the milk-custard powder-sugar-mixture, boil and simmer for at least 1 minute.

Fill into a bowl and cover with cling film directly on the surface, now leave to cool.

Cut out 12 circles from the puff pastry (about 9 cm in diameter) place them into Muffin forms of  Muffin tray and press the edges. Place the tray/forms in a cool place.

Preheat oven to 175 ° C.

Slice the Peaches into thin wedges.

Now stir the Crème fraîche into the custard.

Spoon the custard equally into the puff pastry lined muffin forms and place peach slices on top.

Sprinkle the top with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon to your liking.

Bake in the oven for about 30- 35 minutes.

Bon appétit or better, bom apetite!

Zucchini/ Courgettes and Feta Cake

About a couple of years ago I found a cookbook by Sophie Dudemaine “Sweet and Savoury Loaves” and really loved the concept.

Easy prepared cakes looking good and tasting even better…..

Here I found a cake made with Zucchini and adapted the recipe a bit to my liking.

Ingredients:

150g flour

1 sachet or 2 tbsp baking powder

3 eggs

80ml oil

125ml milk

½ tsp salt

½ freshly ground pepper

100g grated Cheese (a mature cheese would be great fro that, something like a Gruyere)

200g Feta Cheese, cut into cubes

1-2 Zucchini, cut into cubes

Method:

Thoroughly mix the flour with baking powder, eggs, oil, milk, salt and pepper.

Add the grated cheese, Feta and Zucchini.

Mix everything until well combined.

Use a non-greased loaf form.

Preheat the oven on 180°C and bake the cake for 45 minutes, until crispy brown and golden.

Sweet Raisin Bread with Almonds

For us the perfect sweet bread for Easter...
It is really easy to make and I really love that it's made without candied fruit.



Ingredients

500g flour
1 sachet of yeast
70 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
100g raisins
80g almond slices
60g butter
250 ml milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 tablespoons of oil
some margarine for baking dish

Method

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, raisins and almonds.
Gently warm the milk and add the butter, let the butter melt.
Now add the milk-butter-mixture and egg to the flour mix.
Thoroughly knead the dough.
Place the dough in a bowl cover with a kitchen towel and store it for 20 minutes in a warm place.
Grease a loaf pan, knead the dough once more vigorously, pour into the mold and make a 0.5 cm deep cut in the middle.
Mix the milk and oil and spread half of it with a brush on the bread.
Let the dough rise again for additional 10 minutes, then put it in the non-preheated oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes.
Brush it again with the milk-oil mixture after 15 minutes of baking time.

The bread is ready when it’s nicely golden brown and crisp.

Cheese and Onion Muffins

This is a recipe that is always a hit....
Easy to prepare and very versatile.
Add some crispy fried bacon or chopped olives, or...
Just use your imagination!

Ingredients for a 12 Muffin tin

190g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 tablespoons onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon garlic, chopped
125 g of cheese, grated
60 ml of oil (corn oil or sunflower oil)
300 g butter milk
50 g cheese, grated, for sprinkling
fat for the form

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C. Grease the muffin tin.

Mix the dry ingredients – means the flour, baking powder, salt, onions, garlic and cheese - mix thoroughly.

Whisk the egg. Add the oil and buttermilk and mix well. Finally add the dry ingredients and gently fold in until they are moist.

Then fill the dough into the wells of the tin and sprinkle each muffin with some grated cheese.

Put in the hot oven and bake on middle rack for about 20-25 minutes.

My Mums Potato Cake

My Mum loves to make this cake.
Every time I tell someone that she is baking her Potato Cake I look into puzzled faces...
No one can imagine that you can make a sweet cake just with Potatoes, no flour needed.
But give it a try it's delicious...



Ingredients

For the cake:
375 g boiled potatoes
300 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar
1 pinch salt
4 eggs separated into 4 egg yolks and 4 egg white
150 g semolina
1 pinch baking powder
100 g ground hazelnuts

For the cream:
250 g potato
4 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. rum
50 g ground almonds

1 tsp. cocoa powder for decoration

Method

Mix sugar, vanilla sugar, salt and 4 egg yolks until fluffy.
Gradually add potatoes ( process them through a potato ricer before that).
You get the best results if you cook the potatoes the day before.
Then add the semolina, baking powder and ground hazelnuts and stir.
Beat the egg whites until fluffy and gently fold in.
Bake for 50 minutes at 175 ° to 200 °, switch off the oven and leave the cake in the warm oven for another 10 minutes.

Prepare the cream.
Beat the butter until fluffy, gradually add the sugar, then stir in potatoes (processed through a potato ricer like the ones you used before), in the end add the rum and almonds.
Divide the cake into 3 cake bases.
Spread the bottom base with the cream, apply the second base on top, spread the top of that base with cream as well. Now apply the third base on top of that.
Now you cover the whole cake with the rest of the cream.
Sprinkle the top of the cake with cocoa powder for decoration.

Chocolate Mud Cake

This is a cake for chocolate lovers...
Dark, rich and decadent. Not too complicated, but it never fails to impress.


For the cake

300g butter
300g dark chocolate
5 eggs
5 tablespoons sugar
1 pinch salt
150g flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

Ganache

400g cream
400g semi-bitter chocolate coating
30g butter


Method

Preheat the oven degree to 160.
Butter the form.
Melt the butter for the dough in a pot over low heat.
Chop the bittersweet chocolate coarsely, mix with the butter and let melt.

Beat the eggs with the sugar and 1 pinch of salt until fluffy .Mix the flour with the baking powder and butter, add the liquid chocolate-cream into the mix.

Put the mix into a cake mould, bake 35-45 minutes in hot oven. Put the cake for 15 minutes in the form on a wire rack.

Warm the cream for the Ganache over low heat. Cut the chocolate coating into pieces and let melt.
Divide the chocolate-cream mix in half, stir in the butter in one half until it melts.
Let the cake and creams rest overnight, creams in the refrigerator.

Half the cake into two cake bases. Whisk the chocolate cream until stiff, spread on cake bottom and put the other on top. Bring the chocolate butter cream to room temperature to cover the cake.

Cool the cake for at least 2 hours.

I call this death by chocolate....