Vanilla and rosewater madeleines

Thank you for so many great ideas and suggestions on the lavender marshmallows – I knew you would help me out. I’ll keep you posted about my lavender experiments. :D

Once again, flowers – this time, roses paired with a flavor that comes from an orchid... It almost feels like spring.

Vanilla and rosewater madeleines
from Donna Hay magazine

2 eggs
75g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
75g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
80g butter, melted

Rosewater icing:
160g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
40ml boiling water
¼ teaspoon rosewater

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl and whisk to combine. Sift over the flour and baking powder and whisk to combine. Add the butter and whisk until combined. Spoon the mixture into a 12-hole greased madeleine pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack – they were easily removed from the pan once cold.

To make the icing, place the confectioners’ sugar, water and rosewater in a bowl and mix to combine – or add the water gradually and check for icing consistency.
Place the rack of cooled madeleines over a baking tray and spoon over the icing and allow to set – I found it easier to quickly dunk the madeleines in the icing; I let them dry and then repeated the process so the icing would be thicker.

Makes 12 – I got 9 like the ones on the photos and 15 smaller ones

Lavender marshmallows

It seemed like a good idea – something delicate, almost ethereal. But it did not turn out as I expected...

Have you tried lavender marshmallows? I remember seeing a photo on a magazine, months ago, but there was no recipe – it was an ad from a bakery or something. I decided to use a vanilla marshmallow recipe from DH mag #36 adding the dried lavender instead of vanilla extract.

The marshmallow was actually quite good – delicious and fluffy. But the problem was biting into the lavender buds – they tasted sort of bitter. Maybe grinding them with the sugar before making the syrup would solve this problem – I would love to hear your opinion about it.

Lavender marshmallows
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

4 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup (240ml) warm water
660g caster sugar
1 1/3 cups glucose syrup
2/3 cup water, extra
3 tablespoons dried edible lavender*
200g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
35g (about 3 tablespoons) corn starch

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115ºC/240ºF) on a sugar thermometer.
With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the lavender and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into a lightly greased 25x35cm (10x14in) baking dish lined with non-stick baking paper, cover with lightly greased non-stick baking paper and refrigerate overnight (I used regular baking paper and oiled it very well).
Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the paper. Cut into 5cm (2in) squares – to make cutting easier, dip the knife in boiling water and wipe dry between each incision.
Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container

Makes 25 - I halved the recipe above, used a 20cm (8in) square pan and got 36 smaller marshmallows

Vanilla ice cream with pear wafers

Don’t go away, please – there’s nothing vanilla about this recipe. :D

I have to be honest and tell you that in the past I would have laughed at someone if they told me they loved anything vanilla. Because to me, back then, there was nothing to love. But that was in my pre-blogging days - after tasting the real thing everything changed. I got so hooked on vanilla that after I finish preparing a recipe with the pod I keep smelling my fingertips – that’s a funny thing to see, believe me. :D

To go with this wonderful ice cream (David Lebovitz, who else?), I made some pear wafers, a recipe from my favorite magazine, issue 39.

Vanilla ice cream
from The Perfect Scoop

1 cup (240ml) whole milk
pinch of salt
¾ cup (150g) sugar
1 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
2 cups (480ml) heavy cream
a few drops of vanilla extract

Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a paring knife. Add the bean pod to the milk.

Stir together the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream, add the vanilla extract and stir well. Rinse the vanilla bean and put it back into the custard and cream to continue steeping. Chill thoroughly, then remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 1 quart (950ml)

Pear wafers
from Donna Hay magazine

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 sensation pears, thinly sliced*

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF. Place the sugar on a plate and press the pear slices into it, both sides. Place the slices on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes. Turn and cook for a further 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks until crisp.
Pear wafers can be served with sorbet, ice cream or panna cotta, or on a cheese plate with a strong blue cheese or as a petit four with coffee.

* make sure to use a kind of pear that is dry and won’t release much water – believe me, I tried it with the soft type and a flood of syrup took over my oven. :S

Makes about 12

Toffee butter crunch

I did something wrong with this recipe. Two mistakes, actually.
After finishing the candy making, I realized that I’d forgotten to chop the slivered almonds for the topping. Not to mention I did not toast the nuts at all. :S

But, in my defense, my mind was somewhere else for a good reason - I’d just discovered this absolutely gorgeous blog and lost track of time going through it. :D

Toffee butter crunch
from here

½ cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted – I used flaked almonds
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light-colored corn syrup
¾ cup (130g) semisweet chocolate pieces
½ cup finely chopped almonds, toasted

Line a 32.5x22.5x5cm (13x9x2-inch)* baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Sprinkle the ½ cup coarsely chopped nuts in pan. Set pan aside.

Butter sides of a heavy 2-quart (2 liter) saucepan. In saucepan melt butter. Add sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently, till thermometer registers 143ºC/290ºF, soft-crack stage (about 15 minutes). Watch carefully after 137ºC/280ºF to prevent scorching. Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour candy into the prepared pan.

Let candy stand about 5 minutes or till firm; sprinkle with chocolate. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. When chocolate has softened, spread over candy. Sprinkle with the ½ cup finely chopped nuts. Chill until firm.
When candy is firm, use foil to lift it out of pan; break into pieces. Store tightly covered – I kept it in the fridge to keep the chocolate layer hard.

* I used a 30x20x5cm pan.

Makes about 680g (1 ½ pounds)

Cherry chocolate chip cookies

Last month I decided to spend one of my days off watching movies. Joao was at work, so I could rent all the wacky films I love so much without him giving me the “I-married-an-alien” look. :)

After staring at the store shelves for quite a while I came to the conclusion that none of those new movies appealed to me. I ended up renting older movies and what a great thing that was – Ryan Gosling saved my afternoon.

That trip to the video store inspired my following baking session – after going through recently saved/bookmarked recipes, I chose one I’d printed over a year prior to that day: Nemmie’s great cookies.

Cherry chocolate chip cookies

3 cups (420g) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (132g) packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (350g) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (130g) tart dried cherries, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla extract. Blend until incorporated.

Add the sifted dry ingredients, the chocolate chunks, and cherries and mix in slow speed just until incorporated. Make balls with 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and place on prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Slightly flatten the balls and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden in the bottoms. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

I halved the recipe and got 24 cookies

Stracciatella ice cream

After seeing photos of David Fincher’s new movie, I was stunned – couldn’t wait for it to premiere here in Brazil. Now that the day has come I don’t feel like running to the theater anymore... I anticipated it too much, I believe. I do that sometimes.

But not all anticipations are bad. There is one that has been pure joy – after months of dreaming of an ice cream maker I finally gave in and bought it. These fabulous girls were a huge influence, I have to say. Now I’ll be able to make their delicious ice cream and sorbet recipes, too.

Another great inspiration for ice cream lovers like me is David Lebovitz, and I started out with one of his recipes, found here. I’ve made this ice cream twice already – my husband and my brother finished up the first batch so quickly I could not get one single photo. :D

Stracciatella ice cream

1 cup (240ml) whole milk
¾ cup (150g) sugar
2 cups (480ml) heavy cream, divided
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
140g (5 oz) fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), chopped

Combine milk, sugar, and 1 cup (240ml) cream in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan. With tip of a knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into mixture, then add pod. Bring mixture just to a boil, whisking until sugar has dissolved, then remove from heat. Cover and let stand 30 minutes.

Reheat cream mixture over medium heat, stirring, until hot. Whisk yolks in a medium bowl, then add half of hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly, then pour yolk mixture into remaining cream mixture in saucepan, whisking. Cook custard over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 76 to 79ºC/170 to 175ºF on an instant-read thermometer (do not let boil).

Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. Stir in vanilla and remaining cup cream, then return vanilla pod to mixture. Chill, uncovered, until cool, then chill, covered, at least 6 hours. Remove vanilla pod and freeze custard in ice cream maker.

While ice cream is freezing, melt chocolate in clean metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring frequently, then transfer to a 1-cup glass measure. When ice cream has finished churning, carefully pour chocolate in a slow stream directly onto ice cream as it churns and continue to churn 30 seconds (chocolate will harden in streaks). Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Makes about 1 quart (950ml)

Banana and hazelnut coffee cake

Still on a fruit vibe – a lot less healthy, I know, but I can’t go too long without baking a cake. Can’t help it. And I bet you understand. :)

Bananas go ripe and freckled pretty fast in the hot days we’ve been enjoying here and that calls for a quick solution, like the one I found at the Waitrose website – btw, there are wonderful recipes there, I think you should take a look.

The yogurt in the batter helps create a moist cake with a nice tang and you can use sour cream instead, as in the original recipe.

Get ready to drive your neighbors insane with the smell coming out of your oven. :D

Banana and hazelnut coffee cake

Topping:
90g plain flour
80g hazelnuts, finely chopped
120g light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 large ripe bananas
juice of 1 lemon
80g unsalted butter, melted

Cake:
280g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
90g unsalted butter, melted
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Grease a 25cm square cake pan and line with baking parchment.
To make the topping, place the flour in a large bowl with the hazelnuts, sugar and salt. Pour over the melted butter, then mix with a round-bladed knife until it resembles rough crumbs. Chill until needed.
To make the cake, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat together until the mixture is smooth and thoroughly combined. Spoon into the pan and smooth with the back of a spoon.
Peel and slice the bananas, then toss with lemon juice in a bowl. Scatter the bananas evenly over the surface of the cake mixture, then sprinkle over the hazelnut topping.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then lift out. Serve warm or cold.
You can store it in an airtight container for 1-2 days.

Makes 16 squares

Plum and coconut crumble

I love fruit, always have. And that is my mom’s fault – she had trouble feeding me when I was little, since I did not like savory food. So she would set a few “traps” for me around the house: small plates with chopped fruit. Apples, pears, grapes, watermelon – you name it. Then I would eat the fruit portions as I played near them. Mom was a smart woman - and patient as hell, I’ll say. :D

If you, like me, love fruit too, this is a great dessert to try. And even if you don’t like it as much, the sweet and crunchy coconut topping serves as a pretty good disguise.

Plum and coconut crumble
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

35g all purpose flour
75g desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons caster sugar
40g unsalted butter, softened
4 small plums, stoned and chopped
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Place the flour, coconut and caster sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and use your fingertips to rub it into the flour mixture. Set aside.
Place the plums, apple and brown sugar in a bowl and toss to combine. Spoon into 2 x 1-cup capacity ovenproof dishes. Top with the crumble mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Serves 2

Mozzarella in carrozza

Saturday is my favorite day of the week and one thing I love doing is watching some of Nigella’s shows. They are basically reruns and I have already seen many episodes, but that’s fine – it’s a joy to see her cook, even though I’m not always crazy about the dishes she prepares. :)

One can certainly turn to Nigella when looking for delicious food that can be made in almost no time. And that’s what I did, right after watching one episode of her Christmas series – I was hungry but the couch kept calling out my name. :D

If that doesn’t inspire lazy people to cook, I don’t know what will.

Mozzarella in carrozza
from Nigella Bites

6 slices white bread, crusts removed
1 fist-sized ball mozzarella, cut into approximately ¼-inch (0.6cm) slices, then strips – I used buffalo mozzarella with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (120ml) whole milk
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg
salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup (120ml) olive oil (not extra-virgin), for frying – I used much less

Make sandwiches out of the bread and mozzarella, leaving a little margin around the edges unfilled with cheese, and press the edges together with your fingers to help seal. (One of the advantages of soft white bread is that it easily smushed together.)
Pour the milk in to 1 soup bowl*, the flour into another, and beat the egg with salt and pepper in another.
Warm the oil in the frying pan over medium heat. Dunk the sandwiches briefly, 1 by 1, in the milk, then dredge in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg. Fry in hot oil on each side until crisp and golden and remove to a paper towel. Cut in half and serve.

* I found it easier to work with shallow plates

Serves 2

Toasted coconut shortbread with white chocolate icing

I used to go through certain “phases” during my teen years. If I liked something, I would indulge in it over and over again. I remember that during my first year in university – I was 17 – I couldn’t get enough of a sort of tart sold in the cafeteria. I would eat the damn thing every single day, non stop, to the point of making others sick – come to think of it, I don’t think I would consider that food any good nowadays. :S

I’m no longer 17 – and there are two or three white hairs on my head to prove it – but old habits die hard, I suppose. I have been on a coconut kick since the madeleines and I don’t see it coming to an end any day soon. I have made several recipes with coconut and the fabulous shortbread Peabody posted the other day became my favorite. I made the cookies as a gift, that’s why I fancied them a bit with some icing.

Toasted coconut shortbread with white chocolate icing

Cookies:
1 cup (90g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 ½ cups (340g/3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (47g) confectioners’ sugar
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups (373g) all purpose flour

Icing:
100g sweetened shredded coconut
150g white chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 165ºC/325ºF. Spread desiccated coconut on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until coconut is light golden, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Cool completely.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugars in large bowl until well blended. Mix in salt and vanilla. Beat in flour in 2 additions. Stir in toasted coconut. Gather dough together; divide in half. Roll each half into a log and wrap well in baking paper. Set in the fridge for 2 hours to firm up.

Preheat oven to 165ºC/325ºF. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about 1/3 inch (1cm) thick. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch (2.5cm) apart.
Bake cookies until light golden, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. (Can be made ahead. Store airtight at room temperature up to 1 week.)

To make the icing: preheat oven to 165ºC/325ºF; spread shredded coconut on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until coconut is light golden, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.
Melt the chocolate using a double-boiler or the microwave oven. Dip the cooled cookies in the chocolate, covering them halfway, and immediately roll the wet part into the coconut. Place on a sheet of baking paper and set aside to firm up, about 1 hour, or speed up the process by placing the cookies in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Makes 45-50

Chocolate, pistachio and cranberry panettone

Happy New Year, everyone!

Thank you for your comments and emails – I took some time off and haven’t posted here or visited my favorite blogs. I intend to correct that as soon as possible and I start this panettone. I adapted this recipe, replacing the raisins and hazelnuts for dried cranberries and pistachios.

I wish you all a great year, full of joy, love and hope. May all our dreams come true!

Chocolate, pistachio and cranberry panettone
from Delicious magazine

125g unsalted butter, softened, divided
350g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting – I used 380g all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
7g sachet (2 ¼ teaspoons) fast-action dried yeast
50g caster sugar
50g dried cranberries
50g shelled, unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
finely grated zest of 1 orange
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons warm milk, plus extra, if needed
50g semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
icing sugar, to dust

Grease and line a fluted savarin or kugelhopf pan (or a 18cm round x 9cm deep pan)*.
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the yeast, sugar, cranberries, nuts and zest.
Make a well in the centre and add the eggs, 100g of the butter and the milk. Mix. Knead in the bowl for 5 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic (add a little extra milk, if it’s dry). Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a further 5 minutes or until smooth - – I used my Kitchen Aid with the hook attachment for the whole kneading process.
Put in a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling film. Leave in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough in the bowl to ‘knock back’, then knead for another 5 minutes on a floured surface. Gradually knead in the chocolate as quickly as possible to avoid the chunks melting. Place the dough into the pan. Cover and leave for another 30 minutes or until risen again.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Melt the remaining 25g butter and brush over the top of the loaf. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen and cooked through. Wrap in a thick tea towel and set aside to cool.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

* I used a regular 20cm ring pan.

Makes 1 large loaf