Dulce de leche molten cakes - an easy peasy recipe + a fantastic movie

I have a terrible habit that I think some of you might share: even though there are thousands of great movies out there I sometimes ended up watching the same ones over and over again. :)

There are times, however, when watching movies more than once is necessary: my husband hadn’t watched Whiplash yet, and since this was the best movie I saw last year I was more than willing to watch it again, this time with him. He absolutely loved it – Whiplash is, to me, the kind of fantastic movie which almost impossible to describe without using four letter words. :D
I got to watch J.K. Simmons being beyond fantastic again – he pulled a Cate Blanchett and won each and every award with that role, not to mention one of the most deserved Oscars in History.

I liked J.K. Simmons before – I am a Law and Order devotee, after all – but I really did not think he could be that great. What a pleasant surprise.

A surprise similar to the one I had with the recipe I bring you today: with so few ingredients and put together in a matter of moments, I did not expect these cakes to be so good – well, I was wrong, very wrong: they are delicious and so easy to make I see myself repeating this recipe to exhaustion – the same way I see myself watching Whiplash at least once a year from now on. :D

Dulce de leche molten cakes
from the always gorgeous and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (300g) dulce de leche
4 tablespoons (40g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F. Generously butter six 120ml capacity muffin pans or mini cake pans.

Place the eggs, yolks and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk for 4–5 minutes or until very thick and pale. Add the dulce de leche and whisk on low speed until just combined.
Add the flour and salt and carefully fold through the mixture. Divide the mixture between the prepared pans.

Bake for 6-8 minutes or puffed and still slightly soft in the middle. Allow to stand in the pan for 1 minute, then very carefully run a knife around the edges to release the cakes from the pan and invert them onto a plate. Serve immediately with ice-cream.

Serves 6

Gingerbread and peanut caramel bars

Having rediscovered the pleasure I used to feel in the kitchen I keep having ideas and imagining things to cook and bake – I can’t wait for the weekends, not only to get some rest but also to prepare something tasty. I made a broccolini pesto the other day that turned out wonderful – even my not-so-into-pesto husband liked it a lot. But right now we are in Christmas mode around here, therefore I bring you these bars: I saw them on the latest issue of Donna Hay magazine and since I am a sucker for gingerbread, caramel and peanuts I had to make them.

They might seem a bit time-consuming, but it is just a matter of respecting the fridge time for each layer – there is also a serious risk of eating the entire saucepan of caramel before pouring it over the gingerbread base, but that is a completely different matter. ;)

Gingerbread and peanut caramel bars
from the always delicious Donna Hay Magazine

Base:
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
90g light brown sugar
1/3 cup golden syrup – I used corn syrup
1/3 cup molasses
375g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
175g unsalted butter, softened
220g light brown sugar
½ cup golden syrup
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
200g unsalted toasted peanuts

Lightly butter a 20x30cm baking pan (use a deep pan, or make only 3/4 of the caramel recipe), line it with foil leaving an overhand on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup, molasses, flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt and vanilla and beat just until a dough starts to form. Press the mixture into the prepared pan, prick it all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake the gingerbread for about 15 minutes or until golden – remove from the oven but keep it on.

Make the caramel: place butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Bring to the boil then cook for 8-10 minutes or until mixture reaches 140°C (285°F) on a sugar thermometer. Carefully add cream – mixture will spit furiously – and stir until dissolved, then cook for 2 more minutes. Stir in the peanuts, remove from the heat and pour over the gingerbread base. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until caramel is slightly set around the edges (caramel will set as it cools). Cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars to serve. Keep the bars in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Makes 24

Oat, orange and ginger cookies and Saul Goodman

I know no one likes being sick and I am no exception: I’m still not sure if it is a very strong cold or the flu, but I have been in bed for the last two days – I had many plans for the weekend that had to be dropped, unfortunately (like making burgers for lunch again, including the bread), and those got replaced by watching TV in bed between naps (all the medicine I’ve taken makes me quite sleepy).

I picked up Better Call Saul but I’m not sure I’ll go on with it: maybe I was expecting more than I should because of how much I love Breaking Bad, but aside from the pilot I did not enjoy it much (I’ve watched four episodes), and I think it is a shame since Saul was one of my favorite characters (and Bob Odenkirk played him to perfection). Have you watched the show? How did you like it?

Aside from making burgers I planned on baking cookies too this weekend, but that is not going to happen – I’m off to bed again, but I’ll leave you with a tasty and easy cookie recipe that doesn’t even require a mixer. These cookies smell amazing from all the orange zest and ginger and since they are packed with oats I find them great for snacking between meals.

Oat, orange and ginger cookies
adapted from the always delicious Donna Hay Magazine

¾ cup (130g) light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
2 cups (180g) rolled oats
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (90g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a large bowl, combine sugars and orange zest and rub them with your fingertips until sugars are fragrant. Stir in oats, flour, ginger and salt. Add butter, egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

Roll 2 leveled tablespoons of dough per cookie into balls and place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool in the sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then slide the paper with the cookies onto the rack and cool completely.

Makes about 30

Almond syrup cake and more bad TV news

I apparently spoke too soon, guys – days ago I found out that another one of my favorite TV series has been cancelled. :(

The good thing is I’m not the only one disappointed by the news about Hannibal and like me many others are hoping that the show gets saved by Netflix or some other network – let's hope it works, right, boys? ;)

I’ve loved Hannibal ever since its beginning – how could I not? – and might be a little behind on the episodes because so many other shows have grabbed my attention lately, but it is still one of the best series I’ve seen even though I know it might be a little too graphic for many people – I don’t mind the gore at all because in that case it is absolutely necessary to the story being told, and not only splashed there to shock.

I haven’t baked much lately (which is a shame), but I did make this delicious cake weeks ago and here it is: I know I can be a little too repetitive when it comes to almond cakes – or TV shows ;) – but this one is really special: it tastes delicious and if there’s any syrup left after the cake is gone it is wonderful poured over pancakes or waffles.

Almond syrup cake
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Donna Hay Magazine

Cake:
3 eggs
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 ¼ cups (125g) almond meal
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
finely grated zest of 1 lime
2 tablespoons Amaretto
½ cup (60g) flaked almonds

Syrup:
1 cup (240ml) water
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (60ml) Amaretto

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter it as well.

Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for about 8 minutes or until thick, pale and tripled in volume. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour, baking powder, salt, almond meal, butter, lemon zest and Amaretto. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan over a wire rack while you make the syrup: place water, sugar, vanilla and Amaretto in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until reduced and thickened. Pour ¾ of the hot syrup over the cake gradually, making sure it gets absorbed by the cake before pouring more syrup. Cool completely in the pan, then carefully unmold.

Serve the cake with the remaining syrup.

Serves 8-10

Milk rolls

It is always a joy to receive the latest issues of the food magazines I subscribe to: I usually bookmark a lot of recipes but it takes me some time to actually make them, especially if the magazines arrive on those days when a trip to the grocery store is more than necessary.

When I received my Donna Hay magazine a couple of weeks ago, for instance, both my fridge and my cupboard were a bit on the empty side, but when I saw the recipe for these rolls I knew I would make them the following morning: the small list of ingredients consisted of basics I still had a bit of around, it wouldn’t be a problem. I did bake them and they looked beautiful when I took them out of the oven – they smelled fantastic, too.

I posted the photo on Instagram and it was welcomed by many people, therefore I felt like sharing the recipe here on the blog – the thing is: I gathered my family around the table, made some coffee and the rolls disappeared on that very same day. :)

Everyone loved the rolls, so I made them once again and thought they looked even better, more golden – now that I’ve managed to take a decent photo of them I bring you the recipe and I am sure many of you will like it for it is really easy to make and the rolls are divine.

Milk rolls
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Donna Hay magazine

330ml whole milk
65g unsalted butter, room temperature and chopped
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons dried yeast
2 eggs
650g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt

For brushing the rolls:
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon whole milk

Place half the milk in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, add the butter and sugar and stir until butter is melted. Add the remaining milk. Set aside until lukewarm, then pour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside until foamy, 5 minutes or so.

Add the egg, flour and salt and mix with the dough hook until you get a smooth dough, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a large lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 40 minutes. Butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) metal baking pan and set aside.

Punch the air from the dough, divide into 15 equal pieces (mine were 75g each) and roll each into a smooth ball, using your hand as a cage to roll the dough around. Place the dough balls side by side onto the prepared pan, about 1cm apart. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside for 40 minutes or until risen – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.

Beat the egg yolk and milk together with a fork. Brush the rolls with the mixture and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when tapped with your fingers. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature – the rolls can be kept in the freezer for up to 1 month, just let cool completely and wrap in Ziploc bags.

Makes 15

Chocolate, banana and coconut muffins

I love baking as a whole, and muffins are such favorites of mine: they’re easy to put together – no electric equipment involved most of times –, taste amazing right out of the oven – not need to wait for them to cool completely – and can turn any breakfast in a treat. I hadn’t, however, baked muffins in a long time, and I honestly don’t know why.

When the latest issue of the always wonderful Donna Hay Magazine arrived I immediately dug in and found several muffins recipes – they all looked mouthwatering and if it weren’t for the frozen bananas I had in my freezer it would have been difficult to choose which recipe to start with.

I found these muffins delicious warm, when the chocolate chips are melted – for some reason they are less interesting when cool, therefore they taste way better out of the oven – if there are any left, a handful of seconds in the microwave oven should do the trick.

Chocolate, banana and coconut muffins
from the always gorgeous and mouthwatering Donna Hay Magazine

2 ½ cups (350g) purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (50g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (30g) Dutch cocoa
2 eggs
½ cup (120ml) coconut milk
½ cup (120ml) canola oil
3 small very ripe bananas (400g), mashed with a fork
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate, in chips or chunks – I used one with 53% cocoa solids

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, coconut, sugar and cocoa. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, oil, banana and vanilla. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir just until combined; do not overmix. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until risen and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove muffins from pan and place on a rack until cool enough to handle. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe and got 8 muffins

Spiced chocolate fudge

It is always a joy for me to do the Christmas series here on the blog: the baked goods are delicious and they make my apartment smell wonderful, too. :)

There is, however, a problem: there are so many great recipes I have a hard time choosing what to prepare. On top of the cookbooks, the Christmas themed magazines start to arrive packed with beautiful suggestions for the holidays and it becomes even more difficult for me to decide which recipes – let’s not forget the time when I saved a recipe for almost a year so I could feature it on the following Xmas series (yes, I am that crazy). :D

I already had a list of recipes to prep this year and wasn’t planning on changing it, but when the Christmas edition of Donna Hay magazine arrived I had to add this fudge to the list: everyone loves chocolate and it goes so well with spices – not to mention the recipe yields a ton, which is fantastic when there are many people to feed.

Donna’s recipe was a bit fiddly, so I borrowed her idea of adding spices to fudge and used a much simpler recipe with great results.

Spiced chocolate fudge
adapted from here and Donna Hay Magazine

335g (120oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon freshly ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
seeds of 4 cardamom pods finely ground
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt

Line a square 20cm (8in) baking pan with baking paper; set aside. Place chocolate, sweetened condensed milk and water in a small saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, spices and salt. Pour mixture onto prepared pan and smooth the surface. Chill fudge about 30 minutes or until firm. Cut into small squares.

Makes 64

Choc chip gingerbread cookies to kick off the holiday season

My favorite time of the year is here already – time does fly, as I wrote a year ago. And, same as last December, this year’s Christmas series start with cookies: they are delicious, easy to make, everyone I know loves them and they’re the perfect homemade gift, that is why I chose this recipe to kick off the holiday celebrations around here.

The recipe comes from Donna Hay, who never disappoints, and chocolate chip cookies are another thing I am grateful to this blog for, learning how to make them myself after watching the cookies being devoured in cartoons and movies for years – a touch of molasses and spices and they’re turned into Christmas cookies in no time.

When I opened the tin a day after baking the cookies to take the photos for this post the smell was to wonderful I had to eat a couple of them before grabbing the camera. ;)

For more holiday posts, click here.

Choc chip gingerbread cookies
slightly adapted from the gorgeous Donna Hay mag

2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
125g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup molasses
100g dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 70% cocoa solids

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy and light. Add the molasses and dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the mixture comes together. Stir in the chocolate.

Using 2 leveled tablespoons of dough for each cookie, roll mixture into balls and place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then slide the paper with the cookies onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 25

Dark chocolate and dulce de leche puddings

By your comments and emails I think you’ve been enjoying the healthier recipes I’ve been posting here in the past few months, and that makes me really glad – I believe that eating better food has increasingly become important to many people, even to young people like my sister.

However, I’m sure I’m not alone here when I say that certain situations call for decadent sweets: a celebration, friends coming over for dinner, a broken heart – these are not the time to think of nutritional values, these are the times for butter, cream, chocolate, or all of them together.

You can go ahead and add dulce de leche to that mix, too – why not? :D

All those ingredients are combined in these puddings, and they are delicious, but very, very rich, so be warned; they also work well for entertaining because they can be assembled in advance and be placed in the refrigerator – when you want to serve them, pop them in the oven, they are ready in no time at all.

Dark chocolate and dulce de leche puddings
slightly adapted from the always amazing Donna Hay magazine

1 can (380g) dulce de leche
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
200g dark chocolate, chopped
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter
3 eggs
½ cup (88g) brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (50g) almond meal
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Place the dulce de leche in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the cream and mix well to combine. Divide the mixture among eight 1 cup (240ml) capacity ovenproof cups or ramekins.

Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8–10 minutes or until doubled in size. Fold the chocolate mixture, almond meal and salt through the egg mixture. Divide between the cups, on top of the dulce de leche. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until risen and the centers are soft – do not overbake or the mixture might overflow.
Stand for 5 minutes, then serve.

Serves 8

Polenta and ricotta chips and cooking from scratch

As I told you yesterday, I love making things from scratch if and when I have time for that, and the recipe I bring you today is a good example of that: in these delicious polenta and ricotta chips, I used homemade vegetable stock, homemade ricotta and homemade tomato sauce.

The vegetable stock is a precious hint I got from a good friend of mine: she makes her stock with the skins peeled off the vegetables (carrots and potatoes, for example), mushroom stems, parsley and basil stalks, the green end of leeks, that is, all the tidbits that would end up in the garbage. I’ve been making stock her way for a long time and always have some stashed in the freezer, and that is the one I used to cook this polenta.

The tomato sauce is the one I make over and over again, with canned tomatoes and lots of fresh basil, oregano and thyme, and it’s the one my husband eats by the spoonful if left to his own devices – if there’s bread in the house I have to make sure he doesn’t eat the whole batch of sauce with it before I even have the chance to proceed with whatever I was making in the first place. :D

And the ricotta is a recipe from the wonderful Donna Hay magazine I got years ago, 2009 to be more precise, and from that moment on I’ve never used store-bought ricotta again – I’ve been using this homemade ricotta for all sorts of things, always with amazing results. It has great texture and flavor and it is quick to make. Back then I used to line the colander with fine muslin, but a while ago I bought a fine mesh strainer and it does the job perfectly without the cloth.

This post might sound like a nightmare for those of you who don’t like making things from scratch, and I’m not here to preach, but believe me when I say that besides tasting a lot better than the store-bought versions they’re all easy to make – not to mention they’re very budget friendly, especially the vegetable stock.

I know it may seem like a bore to turn each polenta chip after their first 20 minutes in the oven, but that was the way I found to make them crisp and golden without frying (which was called for in the original recipe) – please don’t hate me. :)

Polenta and ricotta chips
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Donna Hay magazine

2 cups (500ml) vegetable stock
1 cup (170g) instant polenta
1 cup (80g) finely grated parmesan
25g butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g ricotta*
canola oil, for brushing
tomato sauce, for serving

Place the stock in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Gradually add the polenta, whisking continuously for 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir through the parmesan, butter, salt and pepper. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add the ricotta and fold through to combine. Spoon and press the polenta into a lightly buttered 20cm (8in) square cake pan and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and brush it lightly with oil.
Remove the polenta from the pan and slice into thick chips. Arrange them on the prepared sheet 1cm apart. Bake for 20 minutes, then carefully turn each chip and bake for another 20 minutes or until golden and crisp.
Serve immediately with the tomato sauce.

* I used homemade ricotta: 3 cups (720ml) whole milk = 200g ricotta

Serves 4

Chocolate self-saucing pudding - perfect to go with a soccer game

Warm desserts are something I crave even in hot days (I’m crazy, I know), and if I don’t make them when I have other things going on in the oven I think of them every time I sit on my couch to watch a movie or a TV show (there days those have been replaced by soccer games, actually). :)

I am not a chocoholic and will choose a fruit based dessert over chocolate any day, but while going through one of my old Donna Hay magazine issues searching for inspiration I saw these really pretty chocolate pots and having tried self-saucing puddings before (including chocolate ones) I could not resist them – to the kitchen I went to make these, especially for the Germany vs Ghana game. It is an easy recipe, quick to put together and that needs little over 10 minutes in the oven. Next time I want to give it a try using almond milk.

A really good match and a delicious dessert to go with it – what else could I ask for on a Saturday afternoon? ;)

Chocolate self-saucing pudding
from the always wonderful DH magazine

100g all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
45g brown sugar
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
35g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:
90g brown sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup (240ml) boiling water

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Place flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa, brown sugar, milk, butter, egg and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Divide the batter among four 1-cup capacity ovenproof bowls or cups and place them on a baking sheet.
Sauce: combine the brown sugar and coco in a small bowl and sprinkle over the puddings. Top each pudding with ¼ cup (60ml) boiling water. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the top is firm, like a cake (the sauce will be underneath). Serve right away.

Serves 4

Broccolini, bacon and quinoa fritters and Katey Sagal

One thing I don’t understand is why Sons of Anarchy hasn’t been showered with awards – it is an amazing show, with great writing and acting, the whole cast being so constantly perfect. There are shows with tons of awards that to me make no sense at all, like the ultra-boring Frasier (one that you already know I absolutely hate).

I was really curious about SoA’s third season because of Katey Sagal’s Golden Globe win, and by the end of it I had to agree that she kicked some serious ass, but to me she’s been doing that ever since the pilot – I don’t get the sole nomination, she should have gathered many more; an actress that gravitates from comedy to drama with such class and talent has all my respect.

Adding more grains to the meals I cook is one goal I’ll try to achieve, and Bill Granger’s quinoa fritters are a good way to do that: a bit of broccolini for iron and crispy bacon for flavor and something that was already good became even greater – just like Katey Sagal’s portrayal of Gemma Teller.

Broccolini, bacon and quinoa fritters
adapted from Bill Granger and Donna Hay magazine

100g quinoa
3 rashers of bacon
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
30g freshly grated parmesan
1 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
1 large egg
80 broccolini florets, steamed and finely chopped
canola oil, for frying

Place the quinoa and 200ml water in a small saucepan, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for about 12 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Cool.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the bacon and cook for 3–4 minutes or until golden. Drain in paper towels, then chop.
In a medium bowl, combine the quinoa, spring onion, parsley and parmesan. Add flour, salt and pepper, lemon zest and egg. Stir well to combine, then stir in the bacon and broccolini.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat and 2 tablespoons of mixture per fritter (cook them in batches). Cook for 2-3 minutes each side, or until browned. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Makes about 10

Ham and arugula quiche and something good that won't last long

As I move towards the last episodes of The Killing, I keep thinking of how unfair it is for such a fantastic TV show to be cancelled at such an early stage (the show’s been cancelled twice, actually, which is even more shocking). I’ve read that Netflix has ordered a fourth season consisting of six episodes to conclude the series – thank you, Netflix – but it is still hard for me to understand how something so good can last so little – the über boring Frasier had eleven seasons, for crying out loud.

Quiches are something I never eat unless I make them (or my grandmother – she makes mean quiches) – the soggy pastry usually tastes like nothing and the filling is tough and equally flavorless. :S When I eat quiche I want the pastry to be buttery and flaky and the filling to be silky, with a little wobble. The recipe I bring today is slightly different: the base is made with puff pastry – which was perfect for me since I was short on time that day – and the parmesan sprinkled on top of the filling creates a golden and crisp topping. Yum – thank you, Donna.

I guess that good food made properly is like good TV series: we don’t get them often, so when we do we should enjoy them to the fullest.

Ham and arugula quiche
from the always delicious Donna Hay magazine

1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
8 eggs
1 cup (240ml) single cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 sheets store-bought puff pastry, thawed
250g sliced ham, torn
2 cups baby arugula leaves
½ cup finely ground parmesan

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and place a large baking sheet inside to heat up. Heat a frying pan over high heat, add the butter and onion and cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a large bowl and cool. Add the eggs, cream, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Line two 18cm loose-bottomed lightly buttered fluted tart pans with the pastry and trim the edges. Prick the cakes with a fork. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Divide the ham and arugula between the tart shells and carefully pour over the egg mixture. Sprinkle with the parmesan and transfer to the oven (onto the baking sheet). Bake for about 30 minutes or until tops are puffed and golden.
Cool slightly and serve.

serves 8 - I made three 10cm (4in) tartlets eyeballing the amounts of rocket and ham and using 1 300g-sheet of puff pastry, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup cream, pinch of freshly ground nutmeg, ½ onion, 1 tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoons parmesan

Red velvet cookies and another German movie

I’ve been really into Europeans movies lately and, so far, I have seen really good films: after the Danish directors I went a little South and watched the excellent The Edukators (with the now Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl).

Since I’d already loved Soul Kitchen and The Wave I got into a German state of mind and decided to watch another movie from my grandmother’s home country, one that everyone I know tells me I would love, and indeed I did: Run Lola Run. It is such an amazing movie, very different from most things I’ve seen, with a very unique rhythm that is absolutely contagious – Franka Potente does a terrific job as Lola (all that running must have been physically challenging) and after I read that she could not wash her hair for seven weeks to avoid discoloring it I admired her even more. :D

My Christmas series has come to an end and I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have – the last recipe is for these delicious cookies, as red as Lola’s hair. :D

Happy Holidays!

Red velvet cookies
from the always stunning Donna Hay magazine

100g unsalted butter, room temperature
160g brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
100g dark chocolate, melted and cooled – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
185g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
pinch of salt
1 ½ tablespoons red food coloring
200g dark chocolate, in chips or small chunks
about 100g icing sugar, for rolling the cookies

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the melted chocolate. On low speed, beat in the flour, baking powder, cocoa, salt and food coloring and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips/chunks. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Sift the icing sugar into a shallow bowl. Using a cookie scoop, portion 1 leveled tablespoon portions of dough and roll in the sugar, then carefully form into a ball using your hands and roll again in the sugar, this time covering the dough ball very generously with it. Place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cracked and slightly firm around the edges. Cool completely on the sheets over a wire rack.

Makes about 50

Christmas rocky road + two out-of-this-world performances

Days ago, thanks to wonderful people who post movies on the Internet (thank you so much!), I could finally watch Behind the Candelabra and what an excellent movie it is: I expected something good because, well, it is a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, but it turned out to be so much more than what I’d expected because of Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. I could never have thought Douglas could deliver such an amazing performance – I guess that depending on how old we are we tend to associate him with the action hero type or the sexual roles he played in the past (I liked him a lot in Traffic, too, and it’s not his fault Oliver Stone ruined Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps).

For a couple of hours Douglas was Liberace, going the extra mile and doing so much more than just wearing extravagant clothes – the voice, the hair, the manners, it was all there, all perfectly executed.

I love versatile actors and that is why Matt Damon is one of my favorites: with his pretty face he could have easily settled as a heartthrob and taken the romantic-comedy route, but he chose diversity instead and has showed us what a great actor he is. He’s brilliant as Scott Thorson and it’s a shame him and Douglas are going head to head in the awards season, because both deserve to be showered with awards.

My Christmas series continues, this time with a very easy, no-bake recipe – as Liberace clothes were studded with crystals and rhinestones, these rocky road squares are studded with deliciousness, such as nuts and dried fruit. :)

Christmas rocky road
slightly adapted from the always stunning Donna Hay mag

800g dark chocolate – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
120g dried cranberries
180g mini marshmallows
200g Turkish delight, diced
120g pistachios, coarsely chopped

Very lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan and line it with foil (the butter will keep the foil from sliding around in the pan).
Place the chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water – do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water – and stir occasionally until melted.
In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, marshmallows, Turkish delight and pistachios. Set aside about 1 cup of the chocolate mixture and pour the remaining over the ingredients. Stir until well coated.
Pour mixture into prepared pan and press it down. Drizzle with the reserved chocolate and smooth the top with a spatula.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Cut into pieces, remove the foil and serve.

Makes 74 tiny pieces (or cut them larger if you prefer)

Cookies and cream blondies and a TV show to eat them with

A couple of days ago I finished watching Hannibal and found it pretty even: it was a very good show from start to finish and I hope the second season stays that way; Cynthia Nixon will be joining the cast and there are rumors of David Bowie playing Hannibal's uncle – I mean, how cool is that? :)

No spoilers here, everyone knows that Hannibal Lecter is a killer and eats his victims, and the series is very graphic about that, which kind of eliminates the risk of wanting to eat something delicious while watching TV – I never forget the day my brother and I were watching The Fly and my father entered the room with his dinner, only to go back to the kitchen in a matter of minutes. :D

Having watched Breaking Bad, Broadchurch and Hannibal in a row, I decided to go for something lighter (so I thought), and Girls was the chosen TV show; However, after only two episodes I felt miserable with those characters, there was nothing funny about any of show. I felt so sad after that hour that all I wanted was something sweet – too bad these delicious blondies were long gone by then.

Cookies and cream blondies
slightly adapted from the always stunning Donna Hay magazine

250g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
200g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g white chocolate, melted
100g cream cheese
150g Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, add the vanilla and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and chocolate and mix on low speed just until combined.
Spoon half the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Top with spoonfuls of cream cheese, then sprinkle with the cookies, distributing the ingredients evenly. Spoon over the remaining blondie batter and spread to cover the cookies and the cream cheese completely.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 24

Blackberry and almond upside down cake + a memory from long ago

The first upside down cake I ever saw was a pineapple one made by Ofelia on TV – I believe it’s fair to say that she was the Brazilian equivalent to Julia Child and I loved her cooking show when I was younger (11-12 years old, to be more precise). Back then, her show was aired weekday mornings, while I was at school, but my brother would tape it every day for me – you might think he did that out of sheer kindness but in fact he did it because he knew that I would cook and bake all those delicious recipes as soon as I got home. :D

Many years later, when I started blogging, I saw Martha’s gorgeous cranberry upside down cake and fell in love with it, but unfortunately fresh cranberries do not exist here in Brazil. That image got stuck in my head, though, and after that I ended up making upside down cakes with other flavors, but I have to say: this blackberry version, a recipe from DH magazine, is the prettiest and tastiest of them all.

Blackberry and almond upside down cake
slightly adapted from the always amazing Donna Hay Magazine

450g frozen blackberries
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar, divided use
125g unsalted butter
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
slightly heaping ¼ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup (50g) almond meal
2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk*

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20x7cm round cake pan (do not use one with a removable bottom or the juices will escape), line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Place the blackberries on paper towels and let them thaw slightly while you make the cake batter.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, 180g of the sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, almond meal and buttermilk and beat on low speed just until incorporated. Set aside for a moment.
Cover the bottom of the baking paper with the blackberries and sprinkle with the remaining sugar (70g). Spoon the batter over the berries, then bake for about 50 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for about 2 hours or until just warm. Carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate, remove the pan, then the paper.
Serve it on its own or with whipped cream.

* homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Serves 8-10

Raspberry jam rolls and "Hannibal"

After some thought, I decided to put Game of Thrones aside and go for something more interesting: between Bates Motel and Hannibal I ended up choosing the latter, Mads Mikkelsen and the comments left on my blog in Portuguese being the reasons. I’m halfway through the show and loving each and every minute of it: the dark atmosphere, the music, the writing and the great acting are amazingly combined and what a surprise it was for me to see Scott Thompson in a drama series (I loved The Kids in The Hall back in the ‘90s, wouldn’t miss it for the world).

I’m not a fan of Anthony Hopkins and after watching Manhunter I found Brian Cox a much better Hannibal Lecter; now I think Mads Mikkelsen is giving those two a run for their money. :D

***
One of the latest DH mag issues I received features one basic sweet yeasted dough turned into several different recipes – they look so beautiful I felt like baking them all, but started with the jam one since it was what I had in my fridge. It was, indeed, a great way to start: these rolls are really simple, yet very delicious.

Raspberry jam rolls
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Donna Hay Magazine

1 ¼ teaspoons dried yeast
2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk, lukewarm
55g granulated sugar
450g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
200g raspberry jam
icing sugar, for dusting

Combine the yeast, milk and a pinch of the granulated sugar in a large bowl and set aside until foamy. Add the flour, remaining sugar, cinnamon, salt, eggs, vanilla and butter and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic (I used my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook for the entire process). Shape into a ball, transfer to a lightly buttered large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Butter a 12-cup muffin pan. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it out onto a 60x25cm (24x10in) rectangle. Spread the jam over the dough leaving a 1cm border. Starting with the longest side facing you, roll the dough tightly to enclose the filling. Cut the roll into 12 slices and place each one of them, cut side up, into the muffin pan. Cover and set aside to prove again for about 40 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to the rack. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12

Double chocolate peanut butter cookies and being short

Back in my school days, I hated being short – I had all sorts of nicknames, and not many were cute as Smurfette (I believe that was the only one I liked). At 34 I no longer care and funnily enough I have developed a taste for mini food – humans are strange beings, I know. :D

A jar of peanut butter in the cupboard and a Donna Hay magazine with several pb recipes (which had already produced these lovely cupcakes) were the reason behind these cookies. I decided to make them fairly small using only 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie, and since they did not spread while in the oven – partially because I added more flour to my dough and partially because I did not flatten them before baking – the result was a tiny, delicate cookie that reminded of petit fours served with tea - the difference is that these are much better served with a glass of cold milk.

Double chocolate peanut butter cookies
slightly adapted from the always amazing Donna Hay Magazine

185g all purpose flour – my dough was much too soft, I ended using 200g flour total
¼ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (130g) crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
175g light brown sugar*
1 egg
75g dark chocolate chips
75g white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until creamy and well combined. Beat in the egg until evenly incorporated. On low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Using 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie, roll into balls and place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown, especially around the edges. Cool on the sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to rack and cool completely.

* I used less sugar than the amount called for in the recipe, but still thought the cookies were a tad too sweet – if I were to make these again I would use 150g sugar

Makes 45

Dark chocolate and raspberry brownie tarts

I love brownies and make them quite often, so when I saw these little beauties on one of my Donna Hay magazines I had to make them: raspberries are naturally tart and taste wonderful with chocolate, not to mention that the brownies looked adorable shaped as tartlets. The recipe is really easy to prepare and if you're having people over I am sure these tartlets would impress your guests; I also think they would be a nice idea for dessert on Valentine's Day (here in Brazil it is celebrated next week on the 12th). ;)

Dark chocolate and raspberry brownie tarts
from the always gorgeous and super delicious Donna Hay Magazine

200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (88g) brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
¼ cup (35g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
¾ cup raspberries – I used frozen, unthawed

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Lightly butter four 10cm-round springform cake pans, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Place chocolate, butter, sugar and cream in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Add the vanilla, then cool for 5 minutes.
Place the eggs , flour and salt in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until combined. Pour into the prepared pans and top with the raspberries. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Makes 4 – I made the exact recipe above, used 10cm tartlet pans and got 5 tarts (since the pans are nonstick, I just brushed them lightly with butter and did not use baking paper)