Devil’s food loaf

I’ve told you already that I’m not easily seduced by chocolate cakes, but sometimes I feel like making nothing but something with chocolate and when that happened last I remembered Annie Bell’s amazing chocolate Victoria sponge cake I made years ago and I knew that if I made one of her recipes I would be glad with the result.

I love how certain authors automatically come to my mind when I want something very specific.

The result was indeed really good: this is a much simpler cake, made in a loaf pan and with a rich and delicious glaze that transforms the cake into a wonderful dessert. One could, of course, omit the glaze for a tea time treat and serve the cake with some icing sugar on top only – that would still get you a great cake, I guarantee. But if you want something slightly more decadent, to finish up a dinner or to go with a movie session, go ahead and prepared the glaze, too – I am sure you won’t regret it.

Annie Bell writes for The Daily Mail, and I highly recommend you check her recipes out.

Devil’s food loaf
slightly adapted from Annie Bell

Cake:
½ cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa
¾ teaspoon baking soda
3 medium eggs*
1 1/3 cups (233g) brown sugar, packed
½ cup (120ml) canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

Frosting:
60g dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 70% cocoa solids
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, sifted
2 tablespoons whole milk
½ tablespoon honey

Lightly butter a 20x10cm (8x4in) loaf pan, line it with paper and butter the paper as well. Whisk the cocoa with 100ml boiling water in a small bowl using a small whisk, then whisk in the baking soda and leave to cool for about 20 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl using an electric whisk until smooth and combined. Whisk in the vanilla. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the mixture and stir. Stir the cocoa mixture. Pour into the pan and give it a couple of taps on the work surface to bring up any bubbles. Bake for about 1 hour or until the cake is risen and a skewer inserted at the centre comes out clean. Run a knife around the edge of the cake, leave for 10 minutes and then carefully unmold onto a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, peel off the paper and place onto a serving plate.

For the frosting, gently melt the chocolate with the butter in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. At the same time combine the cocoa, milk and honey in a small saucepan and heat almost to boiling point, giving it a whisk. Pass this through a sieve into the bowl with the melted chocolate and whisk to a thick, glossy icing. The icing can set quickly so should be used straight away (but if necessary you can rewhisk it in the bowl over the heat with a teaspoon or two of water).

Smooth the glaze over the top of the cake, taking it to the edge and letting it drip down. Set aside for a couple of hours for the frosting to set.

The cake will keep well in a covered container for several days.

* since I only had large eggs at hand, I selected the smallest I could find to use in this recipe

Serves 6-8

Chocolate gingerbread cakes, pixie and bob

Besides TV shows and Christmas baking, this month has also been about my decision to grow out my pixie: I’d decided that a month or so ago, then dropped the idea and thought of keeping the pixie, but then I fell in love with Emma Stone’s beautiful bob and now I cannot wait to have that haircut (and I’ve thought of stealing her color, too, since I’ll inevitably have to start dying my hair soon to cover the grey strands).

Food, movies and hair styles – one can definitely find all sorts of things on this blog. ;)

I’ll have to patient for it will take months for my hair to grow that long, and it will certainly be an interesting exercise for me; luckily in the kitchen I don’t have to wait too long to eat something delicious (which is one of the reasons why learning how to cook can be so empowering) and these cakes are proof of that: small as they are, they bake and cool quickly and in no time at all mine were looking beautiful on the wire rack, just waiting for the ganache to set – if you’re impatient like me you can go ahead and eat the cakes as soon as you finish spreading the ganache on top of them: I promise I won’t tell a soul. ;)

Chocolate gingerbread cakes
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Delicious Australia

Cakes:
¼ cup honey
¼ cup molasses
125g brown sugar
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
½ cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon freshly ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
65g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
crystallized ginger, to garnish

Ganache:
200g dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
100ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 12-hole muffin pan and line the bottoms with a circle of baking paper (I cut the bottoms of cupcake liners and used them to line the pan). In a small saucepan, place honey, molasses, sugar and milk and cook over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool.

Place flour, cocoa, baking powder, spices, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add egg, the cooled mixture and vanilla and process until a smooth batter forms. Divide among muffin holes and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold, peel off the paper and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ganache: heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it starts to bubble around the sides. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and butter and set aside for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. cool to room temperature, then spread over the cooled cakes and garnish with the crystallized ginger – I had some ganache left, so I refrigerated it and rolled into truffles and dusted them with cocoa powder.

Makes 12

Chocolate, coconut and banana cake

I love trying new things and I am sure I am not alone: when movies are concerned, for instance, writers and actors become directors, directors work as actors or make cameo appearances, and so forth. Change is good; variety is the spice of life.

While some are very successful working in different areas – I think Antonio Banderas should focus on directing more after I watched Crazy in Alabama, and let us not forget that Quentin Tarantino was a writer before working behind the cameras – I can’t say the same about others: I started watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut the other day, but the movie was so awful I changed the channel after fifteen minutes of it. Poor Joseph, go back to acting, will you? :)

As I said, change is good – maybe except for JGL? ;) – not only in the movies but also in the kitchen: this moist and delicious cake, very chocolaty, is made without eggs and yet the result was really, really good, as the banana not only acts as the egg replacer but also adds a wonderful flavor to the cake.

I have no intention of giving up on eggs – I just love them too much – and that was not even the reason why I baked this cake: I just got hypnotized by the beautiful photo I had to make it, especially because the recipe comes from a cookbook that the more I cook from, the more I love it.

Chocolate, coconut and banana cake
cake slightly adapted from the marvelous A Modern Way to Eat: Over 200 Satisfying, Everyday Vegetarian Recipes (That Will Make You Feel Amazing), glaze from the wonderful Annie Bell's Baking Bible

Cake:
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 ½ cups (150g) almond meal
1 cup (95g) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
150ml maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
150ml coconut milk
50ml whole milk, room temperature
1 large ripe banana, mashed

Glaze:
100g dark chocolate – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
25g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature

Cake: preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x7cm (8x3in) round cake pan with a removable bottom, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, almond meal, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla, coconut milk, milk and banana. Mix well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 35–40 minutes, until it feels firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. Don't worry if the cake has cracked on the top, as this will all get covered by the chocolate glaze.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Carefully unmold, peel off the paper and transfer to a serving plate.

Glaze: place chocolate and butter in a small heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until melted. Remove from the heat and whisk in the milk. Set aside for 5 minutes, then spread over the cooled cake.

Serves 8

Banana waffles with chocolate sauce

My sister came over the other day for lunch and she spent the afternoon here with me, but this time, instead of playing Super Mario, I suggested we watched Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, for she had never watched the original version – I’m really biased here for this is one of my all time favorite movies and I cannot conceive the idea of a Willy Wonka other than Gene Wilder (sorry, Johnny, but you really sucked at playing that part). :)

She loved the movie – which was no surprise to me – but at some point she told me it wasn’t easy watching it without having something to snack on: all that chocolate made my sister crave something sweet, and since we’d had such a light lunch I thought that waffles would make our afternoon even nicer.

I used a recipe from a Brazilian blog I adore but instead of adding chocolate chips to the batter as my friend Richie did, I made a chocolate glaze to pour over the waffles – Willy Wonka would be proud. ;)

Banana waffles with chocolate sauce
slightly adapted from a beautiful Brazilian blog

Waffles:
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
200ml whole milk, room temperature
1 medium banana, mashed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate sauce:
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk

Waffles: place ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine until well blended and smooth. Let batter sit for 5 minutes before using.
Heat the waffle maker until very hot; lightly coat with nonstick spray. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the machine, close and cook until cooked through and golden.

Make the chocolate sauce: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking, until thickened.
Remove from heat and let it stand for 5 minutes before pouring it over the waffles

Serves 4

Chocolate rye cake

I’m not a chocolate cake person as some of you already know, but I’m aware that most people love them, especially the ones I share my baked goods with so from time to time I catch myself searching for a good chocolate cake recipe.

I found a beautiful loaf on Good Food magazine and it looked chocolaty, delicious and, above all, moist – this is one of my pet peeves with chocolate cakes: some of them turn out too dry – so I gave it a go. The recipe called for almond meal, an ingredient I love using in cakes because of how much it improves their texture, and I added a bit of rye flour to see if it was any good paired with chocolate.

Rye flour is as great with chocolate as it is with citrus, plums, berries, leeks and cheese – beetroot and onions, too, but more about that soon. :)

The cake turned out tender and flavorsome, and moist as I expected it to be – a good, simple chocolate loaf. The original recipe called for drizzling melted chocolate – both dark and white – over the cake, but I did not think that was necessary: in this case, less is definitely more.

Chocolate rye cake
slightly adapted from Good Food magazine

175g unsalted butter, softened
175g granulated sugar
3 eggs
70g all purpose flour
70g rye flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
85g almond meal (finely ground almonds)
100ml whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
70g dark chocolate, in chips or chunks, slightly dusted with flour – I used one with 53% cocoa solids

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20x10cm (6-cup capacity) loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, flours, baking powder, almond meal, salt, milk, vanilla and cocoa until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, then scrape into the tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden, risen and a skewer poked in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 30 minutes, then carefully lift using the paper and transfer to the rack to cool completely before peeling off the paper.

Serves 8-10

Chocolate orange financiers and going for something slightly different

I used to think that I was immune to gore – David Cronenberg is one of my favorite directors, after all – but I might be getting less resistant to it as I get older: I haven’t been able to continue watching Hannibal (I saw two episodes of season 2 months ago) and I gave up on The Knick after only fifteen minutes. :S

I intend to go back to both series (very soon, I hope) but I can’t imagine myself watching them now. Days ago I was looking for something different, even if ever so slightly, and started watching Betrayal, the reason being my love for Night Stalker, a TV show I watched years ago (to this day I haven’t met anyone who watched it, too).

Night Stalker got canceled in a heartbeat, and Betrayal won’t have a second season – poor Stuart Townsend is definitely not the luckiest guy in the world when it comes to TV shows. :(

I’ll continue watching Betrayal anyway – so far, it’s kept me interested and it doesn’t involve blood or chopped people. That is what I want for the moment. :)

I might go back to gore soon, who knows? The same way I always go back to financiers: I can’t resist baking them, even though I tell myself I’ll keep the egg whites in the freezer until I have enough of them to bake an angel food cake. :) There is always an interesting financier recipe to try with good flavor combos, like orange and chocolate, which I find fantastic together.

Chocolate orange financiers
adapted from two great sources: A Passion for Baking and Simply Bill

120g icing sugar
65g all purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
85g almond meal
5 egg whites
80g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
35g dark chocolate, melted and cooled – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 orange
icing sugar, for dusting

In a large bowl, sift together the icing sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, then whisk in the almond meal. Stir in the eggs whites, then the butter, chocolate, vanilla and zest. Cover and refrigerate the batter for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour ten 100ml capacity mini cake or muffin pans.
Pour the batter in the pans, then bake for about 15 minutes or until risen and firm to touch and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for 2 minutes, then carefully unmold onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Financiers are best served the day they’re made, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Makes 10

Olive oil brownies and feeling nostalgic

You’ve probably noticed by now that I’ve been using olive oil in my baking quite regularly and with great results – it makes the cakes flavorsome and oh, so moist. That is why I couldn’t wait to try using olive oil in brownies – I was curious to find out if the ingredient paired beautifully with chocolate as it does with apples, coconut and citrus.

I found this simple, yet wonderful recipe online and it comes from one of the first food blogs I ever read, the beautiful The Traveler’s Lunchbox – it made me feel very nostalgic, but in a very good way. It reminded me of my discovery of food blogs, how eager I was to read them and how amazing it was to see so many people passionate about cooking and baking as I was. It was a first for me to see people actually enjoying making dinner or baking a cake, for up until that day I had never met anyone who felt what I did towards food – I knew tons of people who loved eating, but I knew no one who took pleasure at the act of making it as I did.

All of a sudden all those strangers felt a lot closer to my heart than many people I knew in “real life” – I guess that is what happens when you finally find people with something in common, for my friends did not like the kind of movies I watched back then and for sure did not feel that making dinner for a family of five was fun at all (we became six when my sister was born). They were so lazy that if their moms didn’t make any food on a given day they would feed on bread and butter, and some of them wouldn’t even eat on a plate to avoid washing up. I got older, my love for the kitchen became bigger, and my friends continued to believe that cooking was a stupid thing to learn.

Now you can imagine how I felt when I bumped into the first food blog. :)

It’s been a while since Melissa last updated the blog, but I recommend reading the archive – there are plenty of great recipes there, such as the one for these brownies; she calls for dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids, but since I did not have any I used the one I had and added one tablespoon of cocoa to boost the chocolate flavor.

Olive oil brownies
slightly adapted from the beautiful The Traveller’s Lunchbox

115g dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids*
1/3 cup (80ml) fruity extra virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (70g) all-purpose
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Brush a 20cm (8in) square baking pan lightly with canola oil, line it with a piece of foil leaving an overhang in two opposite sides, and lightly oil the foil as well.
Place the chocolate in a small bowl and melt it over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Whisk in the oil, then cool.
Using an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Fold in the vanilla and the cooled chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour, cocoa and salt. Stir to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and distribute evenly.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is dry and crackly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out a little wet. Cool completely, then cut into squares.

*the original recipe called for 70% cocoa solids, I didn’t have any, so I used the one I had (53% cocoa solids) and added cocoa for a deeper chocolate flavor

Makes 16

Sour cream-chocolate cake with caramelized white chocolate frosting and being predictable

I am so predictable. I am, really.

As I told you last week, I put the mobsters and gangs aside for a while and started watching Downton Abbey – I thought a break from bad guys would be a nice change. Apparently, I was wrong: after spending some time in 1912 I went back to Tony’s arms and I did it in a hurry. :)

At first I thought the rhythm was the problem for me with Downton Abbey, but then I remembered that Rectify, for instance, has a very singular rhythm, and that never bothered me – much to the opposite, it’s part of what makes that show so sensational. So I’m still trying to figure out the reason why DA is not my cup of tea – and while I do that, I have some serious Hannibal catching up to do. :D

See, I told you I was predictable – I’m back in my criminal TV mood. But at least something has to be sweet, right? So there’s cake, and it’s just not any cake: it is a delicious chocolate cake – tender beyond words – with ganache made of something I’d never tried before: caramelized white chocolate. That scores big points with me not only for being scrumptious but also for being made in a very curious way: the chocolate gets caramelized in the oven – when I read the recipe I wasn’t very sure it would work, but decided to give it a go because I’d read about it in another cookbook. It does work – luckily – and I guarantee that you’ll be more than happy to lick the bowl after you assemble the cake. :D

Sour cream-chocolate cake with caramelized white chocolate frosting
cake adapted from the amazing Sky High, filling/frosting from the most beautiful cookbook I own

Cake:
185g all-purpose flour
300g granulated sugar
45g unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup (160ml) canola oil
2/3 cup sour cream*
1 cup (240ml) water
1 ½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 small eggs

Filling/frosting:
450g white chocolate, finely chopped
¾ cup (180ml) heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter the bottoms and sides of two 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Cake: sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the prepared cake pans.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool completely in the pans over a wire rack.

Frosting: preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spread the chocolate over it. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden. In the meantime, heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until very hot (but not boiling). Add the caramelized chocolate and stir until melted (reheat the mixture over low heat for a few seconds if necessary). Strain through a fine sieve, pushing down on solids, then discard solids. Let the ganache cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until spreadable.

Assembling the cake: I followed Deb’s precious tip and froze the cake layers for 30 minutes before assembling it (they are indeed very soft, so this step makes it easier to put the layers together).
Place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or large serving plate. Spread about half the ganache, then top with the other cake layer. Spread the remaining ganache over the top of the cake – just the top, not the sides.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 8-10

Peanut butter and chocolate cake - much better than clay

Last week I tried to convince my sister to watch X-Men: Days of Future Past with me, but it was impossible: she wanted to go to the movies, yes, but to watch The Fault in Our Stars. Because I’m a softie when it comes to my sister, I said yes and then grabbed some extra paper napkins where we ate lunch, just in case. :D

The movie is lovely, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort are adorable and good actors and the story is moving without being sentimentally poor – Shailene just needs to learn what feminism really is, the poor girl is completely mistaken about (apparently eating clay doesn’t do people’s brains any good). :)

I had several teary-eye moments, but did not cry my heart out as I did with The Tree of Life or The English Patient – I wonder if it was really because of the film or because I ate a couple of brigadeiros at the theater. Chocolate can really make you feel better, right? So if you plan on watching The Fault in Our Stars I suggest you pack some Kleenex and something chocolatey as well – a slice of this cake, which is made with cocoa and peanut butter and frosted with silky, delicious ganache can come in handy when the tears start rolling down your face, I promise you. :)

Peanut butter and chocolate cake
slightly adapted from the most beautiful cookbook I own (I bought mine here)

Cake:
½ cup (45g) Dutch-processed cocoa
½ cup (120ml) boiling water
300g all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
185g unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
¼ cup smooth peanut butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk*

Ganache:
¼ cup (60m) heavy cream
180g dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 23cm (9in) round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper was well.
Stir cocoa and water in a small bowl until dissolved, then cool for 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the peanut butter. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla and the cocoa mixture. On low speed, beat n the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk (start and end with the dry ingredients). Transfer to pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 30 minutes, then carefully unmold, peel off the paper and transfer to the rack to cool completely.

Ganache: Heat cream over medium heat until almost boiling. Remove from the heat, add chocolate and peanut butter and set aside for 3 minutes. Stir until smooth, then refrigerate for 15 minutes or until slightly thicker. Spread over cooled cake.

* 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

Chocolate stout cake and a disappointing trailer

Interstellar got announced last November, exactly one year before its release, and it being a Christopher Nolan movie I got immediately interested – there wasn’t much to read about the movie and the teaser did not reveal much, either, so my curiosity went through the roof.

Cut to months later – six, to be more precise – when the official trailer is finally out and for the first time, ever since I watched the amazing Memento, I don’t feel like running to the theaters to watch a Christopher Nolan movie – the trailer just didn’t do it for me. I don’t know if it was Mr. McConaughey, the cheesy family scenes, or that after what Alfonso Cuarón did with Gravity it will be pretty hard for someone else to get to that level when it comes to outer space movies, I just wasn’t thrilled after the trailer, Michael Caine and all.

As far as 2014 goes, Foxcatcher and Gone Girl have been keeping me pretty curious, and before the Interstellar trailer I thought that Nolan would be easily on that list, but no, not this time.

Favorites can be disappointing, even if it’s once in a thousand times, except for Nigella: this super moist, dense and delicious cake – one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever made or tried – goes to the list of great recipes only adds to the list of great recipes Ms. Lawson has brought us over the years. And if that wasn’t enough, the tangy icing is irresistible, too, and it complements the flavor of the cake perfectly.

Chocolate stout cake
slightly adapted from the delicious Feast: Food to Celebrate Life

Cake:
1 cup (240ml) stout beer
250g unsalted butter, room temperature, chopped
75g cocoa powder
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
150ml sour cream*
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
275g all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
pinch of salt

Topping:
220g cream cheese, room temperature
100g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80ml) double cream (or whipping cream)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 23cm (9in) springform pan and line the bottom with a circle of baking paper, buttering it as well (I used one with a removable bottom).
Pour the beer and butter into a large wide saucepan and heat until the butter's melted. Cool for a couple of minutes, then whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into saucepan. Whisk in the flour, baking soda and salt.
Pour into the prepared pan bake for 45-60 minutes (a skewer inserted in the center should come out clean). Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Carefully unmold the cake, remove the paper and transfer to a serving plate.

Make the icing: using an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar, add the vanilla and then beat them both together until creamy. Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the cake.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 10-12

Cocoa-marzipan pound cake and a trailer that changed my mind

This morning I found out that there will be a TV show about Commissioner Gordon's life way before Batman and I have to say that the idea did not seem very interesting to me at first; however, after I watched the trailer, I changed my mind completely (again, the joy of a perfectly put together trailer!).

I cannot wait to see how the villains will be portrayed, and I got especially impressed by Robin Taylor – I don’t think that I have watched anything with him, but that crazy look on his face, the nose and the hair look so perfect for Penguin the he won my heart over. I’ll just forget that Jada Pinkett Smith managed to suck in less than five seconds onscreen and consider this a perfect trailer. :)

And if I’m willing to forget one or two details that aren’t so great on what I’ve seen of Gotham, I won’t do the same with the almond paste I have in my freezer: there was some left from making Sarah Carey’s cookies, so I used it in David Lebovitz’ cake – as you can see, just as a TV show my kitchen is packed with celebrities. ;)

Cocoa-marzipan pound cake
slightly adapted from here

1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (45g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (200g/7 ounces) almond paste – I used homemade, recipe here
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Amaretto
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
½ cup sliced almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F. Butter two 21cm (8½in) loaf pans and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat almond paste and sugar until almond paste is broken up into very fine pieces. Add butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in Amaretto and vanilla.
Stir in half of the dry ingredients, then the milk. Then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.
Divide batter between the prepared pans and smooth tops of the cakes.
Evenly sprinkle tops with sliced almonds. Bake cakes for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool completely in the pans over a wire rack.

These cakes will keep up to 3 days at room temperature, or if double-wrapped, can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Makes 2 loaves– a piece of advice from me: don’t halve the recipe – just make the two cakes. They’re so delicious one will be gone so fast you’ll regret not making the two loaves. :D

Chocolate pavlovas and two surprises on the same TV show

I was never aware of Jon Hamm before Mad Men (and apparently I wasn’t the only one) and despite my pet peeves with the fifth and part of sixth seasons I must be honest: there could not be another Don Draper – he’s just perfect for the part.

Being used to watching a very serious – and sometimes rude – man on the show it was a surprise to see him in a comedy, and days ago I was even more surprised with him pulling off a dark comedy show, and doing it brightly. The amount of shock doubled when I saw on that same show that Harry Potter, I mean, Daniel Radcliffe is absolutely amazing portraying someone completely different from HP – I never imagined he had such great timing for comedy.

Everything about A Young Doctor's Notebook is superb: the supporting cast, the writing, the production. It was some good two hours I spent in front of TV and I now eagerly wait for another season – while that doesn’t happen, let’s keep Mother Russia in mind with this delicious dessert created in honor of Anna Pavlova.

Chocolate pavlovas
adapted from the wonderful Bon Appetit Desserts, inspired by the beautiful Annie Bell's Baking Bible

Meringues:
4 large egg whites (112g)
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon white vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

To assemble:
1 cup (240ml) chilled heavy cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted
200g fresh raspberries

Meringues: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt in large bowl until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until whites are thick and resemble marshmallow creme, about 5 minutes. Beat in cornstarch, vinegar, vanilla and cocoa. Drop meringue onto prepared sheet in 6 mounds, spaced 5cm (2in) apart. Using back of spoon, make slight depression in center of each.
Place meringues in oven. Immediately reduce temperature to 120°C/250°F. Bake until meringues are dry outside (but centers remain soft) and pale straw color and lift easily from parchment, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool on sheet on rack. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Before assembling the pavlovas, beat cream and sugar in medium bowl until medium peaks form.
Place meringues on plates. Spoon whipped cream into the center depression. Arrange raspberries top of the cream.

Serves 6

Dark chocolate waffles and Super Mario

It took me a good while, but I finally gave in and bought a waffle maker. :)

For years I avoided buying a waffle iron because I would be the only one eating the waffles, and I really did not need more baked goods going straight to my waistline. :S It also seemed like a waste of money. But then, many months ago, I found out that my partner in crime for all things movie and sweet – my sister – loved waffles, too, and then it hit me: I would have someone to share them with from time to time, someone who appreciates them like I do, and the gadget no longer seemed so unnecessary. :D

So last Saturday we had an afternoon of Super Mario – it’s a modern version of the game, so she kicked my ass big time – followed by freshly made chocolate waffles drizzled with honey. We had loads of fun together – we almost drove my husband nuts with all the laughing – and she loved the waffles (I did, too). :)

Next time I’ll challenge her to play the old Super Mario version (so I can kick her ass) – I’ll just have to choose another waffle recipe to try. :D

Dark chocolate waffles
slightly adapted from Bon Appétit

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup (44g) brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
3 large eggs, separated
2 cups (480ml) buttermilk*
½ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
170g (6oz) dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids

Preheat oven to 120°C/250°F. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add egg yolks, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Blend with a fork, then gradually incorporate dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat egg whites in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Working in 2 batches, fold egg whites into batter just until combined. Fold in chocolate.
Heat a waffle iron until very hot; lightly coat with nonstick spray. Working in batches, cook waffles until cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack set inside a baking sheet, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm in oven until ready to serve.
Serve waffles with honey.

* 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

Makes 6 – I got 5

Cookies and cream fudge brownies, easy and difficult decisions

Ladies, let’s talk about hair, shall we? ;)

For months now I’ve been thinking of getting a pixie cut, while at the same time I keep in mind the idea of growing my hair long (currently it’s chin length). I haven’t had long hair in several years because a) I like short hair a lot and b) I’m not patient enough to grow it long. And that’s how it goes: one day I decide I’ll go at least past the shoulders with my hair, only to remember Elisabeth Moss’ beautiful hair in the Emmys last year and fall in love with short hair all over again.

I am a nutcase, I know. :D

If only things were easy to decide in life as they are in the kitchen – when my sister called me to ask for thoughts on what to do with a bag of Oreos I immediately said: “brownies!” – it took me no time at all to decide. :) These are Lorraine Pascale’s and they’re really delicious: I ended up underbaking them slightly and the texture got similar to the Guinness brownies I made a while ago – not a bad thing if you’ll ask me. :)

Cookies and cream fudge brownies
from Baking Made Easy

165g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
165g soft light brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
pinch of salt
180g Oreos, cut into quarters

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square baking pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Set aside for 2 minutes, then stir until melted.
Using an electric mixer, whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt over the mixture, add a third of the cookies and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Scatter the remaining cookies over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey. Cool completely in the pan. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

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

Gingerbread brownies and a movie I should have seen in 2006

While there are movies I keep watching over and over again, I can’t find a way to watch others, no matter how much I want to: if it’s on TV, I’ll probably have to be somewhere else at the same time (or it will be aired at 3 in the morning), or the weekend I brought the DVD home I didn’t have the time to sit and watch it – you name it. One of those movies was Children of Men, and a couple of days ago I could finally watch it, and what a magnificent movie it is. Alfonso Cuarón had already won me over with the excellent Gravity, and in Children of Men his work is pure perfection – what he does as a director in this movie is beyond words and it’s just ridiculous that he wasn’t nominated for Best Achievement in Directing; actually, the movie had only three Oscar nominations (while The Help, for instance, had four, for crying out loud), and Clive Owen was ignored while Forest Whitaker took the award home – I can’t even.

So here I am, seven years later, hating myself for having waited so long to watch such a masterpiece. Since I don’t want that kind of thing to happen when it comes to food, I present you some delicious and super easy to make gingerbread brownies – I wasn’t sure I was going to bake these, after all my Christmas series this year is pretty chocolaty already, but why wait? Not seven years, not even seven days. :D

Gingerbread brownies
slightly adapted from the wonderful Delicious Australia

185g unsalted butter, chopped
150g dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
200g brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, sifted
100g dark chocolate, chopped or in chips, extra

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a square 20cm (8in) baking pan, line it with foil, leaving a 5cm (2in) overhang on 2 opposite sides, then butter the foil as well.
In a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water), melt butter and 150g chopped chocolate. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
Add the sugar and stir to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla, flour, baking powder, salt, spices and cocoa and stir until incorporated. Fold in the remaining 100g chocolate. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake until brownies are set around the edges and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let brownies cool in the pan over a wire rack.
Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

Grown up Oreos

My visit to Bouchon Bakery last year was one to remember and every now and then I think of the delicious treats I had there. However, I never got to taste Thomas Keller’s version of the Oreo cookie – me being me I ended up ordering lemon and raspberry sweets.

Days ago I set out to make Keller’s Oreo cookies, a recipe from "Bouchon Bakery", but wasn’t in the mood for rolling out cookie dough – I get lazy sometimes, you know. :) I thought that the slice and bake chocolate cookies I’d seen on Gourmet Traveller’s website would make great substitutes – and indeed, they did.

My Oreos don’t look as pretty as the cookies served at Bouchon Bakery, but I can guarantee that they tasted really good. :)

Grown up Oreos
from two gorgeous sources: Gourmet Traveller and Bouchon Bakery

Cookies:
260g all purpose flour
160g icing sugar, sifted
50g cocoa powder, sifted
pinch of salt
225g unsalted butter, cold and cut into 2cm pieces
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
125g white chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream

Cookies: process flour, icing sugar, cocoa and salt in a food processor to combine, then add butter and pulse until mixture is sand-textured. Add yolk and vanilla and process until mixture comes together (here I added another egg yolk because the mixture wasn’t coming together at all). Turn out onto a work surface and gently knead to come together. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Place each on a piece of parchment paper; shape dough into logs. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 3.5 cm (1.4in) log – like Martha does here. Wrap in parchment. Chill in the refrigerator until very firm, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Unwrap one log at a time (keep the other in the fridge). Cut into 5mm thick rounds; space 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheets. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies edges are firm (10-12 minutes). Cool slightly on trays, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling: in a small bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together. In the meantime, bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Pour it over the chocolate and butter mixture and whisk to combine. Cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hour or up to 1 day. Right before assembling the cookies, beat the filling with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a piping bag with a small tip.

Assembling the cookies: arrange half of the cookies on a work surface, bottom side up, and pipe the filling onto each. Sandwich with the remaining cookies, pressing to spread the filling to the edges – I used a small cookie scoop instead of a pastry bag and placed rounded mounds of filling on the center of each cookie, topping with another cookie and pressing down gently to squish the filling.

Makes about 30 sandwich cookies

Chocolate marmalade slump cake

An open jar of marmalade in the fridge – left from making brioche – had to be used and since it was such a delicious product I had to make something just as good. Lucas Hollweg’s cake was the perfect choice: moist, full of chocolate flavor and gluten free (for those of you who follow that kind of diet).

That was a good use for an excellent ingredient (not exactly like Robert Zemeckis using the crew members of “Cast Away” to film “What Lies Beneath”). :D

Chocolate marmalade slump cake
from the beautiful and delicious beyond words Good Things to Eat (I bought mine here)

150g unsalted butter
150g good dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
100g chunky orange marmalade
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
125g granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
½ cup (45g) cocoa powder
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan with a removable bottom, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and let stand for 1-2 minutes. Stir until melted and smooth. Put the marmalade and zest in a food processor and blitz to a slush. Add the sugar and whizz in. Stir into the chocolate mixture.
Beat the egg yolks vigorously into the chocolate mixture, then beat in the vanilla. Sift the cocoa powder over the top and beat that in as well. Put the egg whites in a clean bowl with the salt and using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip until they form soft peaks. Beat a third of the whisked egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen it a little, then carefully fold in the rest.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 30 minutes, or until the centre is set. Cool for 30 minutes over a wire rack, then carefully remove it from the pan. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Serves 6-8

Milk chocolate brownies and a change of plans

There has been a change of plans around here: Somerset Maugham will have to wait a while, since I decided to buy "Gone Girl" after reading that turning the book into a movie is David Fincher’s next project. :)
Two friends of mine have told me that book is great and that it will probably cost me hours of sleeping – like the Millennium trilogy, years ago – and I cannot wait to start reading it. I’ll keep you posted.

And speaking of change of plans, I usually go for brownie recipes that call for cocoa – like Alice Medrich’s out of this world brownies – and/or dark chocolate, but decided to give Kathleen King’s milk chocolate brownies a chance. They turned out delicious, like everything I have made from that book - I hope Gillian Flynn surprises me in the same way. :D

Milk chocolate brownies
from the delicious Tate's Bake Shop: Baking For Friends

½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter
250g (9oz) milk chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder, sifted
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven at 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square baking pan and line with foil, leaving an overhand in two opposite sides. Butter the foil as well.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk in the sugar, then the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in the vanilla. Stir in the flour, cocoa and salt. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle of the brownies comes out with a moist crumb, about 20 minutes.
Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

Chocolate and beer cake

Every time I discover something interesting about food I feel like sharing it with you here on the blog – to me it’s like establishing a conversation about it (though sometimes it feels like a monologue).
For instance, I have found out that Waitrose – which website is a great source of recipes like the apple marzipan rolls I made the other day – has a You Tube channel, too, full of recipe videos, and some of them are presented by Will Torrent (the boy being bossed around on James Martin’s videos). :)

I bought Torrent’s cookbook a couple of weeks ago and this amazing chocolate and beer cake, moist, tender and full of flavor, was the first recipe I tried from it; when I noticed that the recipe yielded only one loaf I decided to double it and bake two loaves at once – that proved to be a very wise decision. :) With such a great result I cannot wait to bake more from both his book and his videos, and I believe that the bakewell muffins will be next on my list.

Chocolate and beer cake
from the absolutely beautiful Patisserie at Home: Step-By-Step Recipes to Help You Master the Art of French Pastry

125g unsalted butter
½ cup (120ml) lager beer – I used Stella Artois
125g self-rising flour*
½ cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
125g granulated sugar
75ml whole milk, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g dark chocolate, in chips or chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 1kg (2 pound) loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well
Put the butter and beer in a saucepan over a low heat until it melts. Cool for 5 minutes.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a mixing bowl and add the sugar, milk, egg, vanilla, chocolate pieces and melted butter mixture. Mix to combine.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes. A skewer in the middle of the cake should come out clean and the top of the cake should bounce back slightly when prodded. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then carefully unmold. Cool completely over a wire rack, then carefully peel off the paper.
The cake can be served warm or at room temperature.

* as I usually do, I replaced the self-rising flour for a combination of all purpose flour, baking powder and salt; since I doubled the recipe I ended up using 250g all purpose flour + 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder + 2 pinches of salt

Serves 6-8