Black Forest self-saucing pudding to start 2018

Happy New Year, everyone! :)

I haven’t posted anything new on the blog for quite a while, even though I have several great recipes to share with you: my workload last December tripled and I was working like crazy in order to get things done before taking a few vacation days. I had also promised myself that on those vacation days I would not seat in front of a computer and I am proud to have kept the promise – I really needed the time off. Of course I am only human and used my mobile to post and check Instagram and Twitter, but that was kept to a minimum and it was a lot less than I had expected.

I got back to work and because we still have some amazing cherries around I thought I’d share this self-saucing pudding with you: it is delicious and easy to put together. Here in Brazil cherries are easier to be found in the summer, but if you are facing winter don’t worry: this recipe is also great using frozen raspberries instead of the cherries – it will no longer be a Black Forest pudding, but it will taste great all the same.

Black Forest self-saucing pudding
own recipe

Batter:
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) all purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of table salt
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cognac – use kirsch if you have it at home; or omit alcohol all together
1 cup (150g) fresh cherries, pitted and halved
¼ cup (42g) dark chocolate chips or chunks – I used one with 53% cocoa solids

Topping:
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup (120ml) boiling water
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter four 1-cup (240ml) capacity heatproof ramekins.

Start with the batter: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, egg, vanilla and cognac. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir just until a thick batter forms. Stir in the cherries and chocolate. Divide batter evenly among the ramekins.

Topping: in a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle over the batter. Place the ramekins in a baking sheet, then pour 2 tablespoons boiling water over each ramekin, gently pouring it over the topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until mixture rises and a crust forms. Serve immediately with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 4

Cherry Eton Mess

The traditional Eton Mess, made with strawberries, is my husband’s favorite dessert (and I like it very much too). :) I took advantage of the amazing cherries we have here in Sao Paulo by the end of the year to give the dessert a new twist.

The recipe is easy, especially because I use store bought meringues – turning the oven on in December and January here in Brazil is a terrible idea. The hard part of making this dessert is refraining from eating all the cherries before even gathering the other ingredients. :D

Cherry Eton Mess
own recipe

Cherry compote:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 star anise
3 tablespoons cold water
500g fresh cherries, pitted and halved

To assemble the dessert:
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream, cold
½ tablespoon icing sugar
2 ½ cups mini meringues – if they are large ones, break them into smaller pieces
100g fresh cherries, pitted and halved

Start by making the compote: place the sugar, water and star anise in a large, heavy saucepan over médium-high heat. Cook until caramelized, without stirring – just swirl the pan occasionally. Stir in the cherries and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a heatproof bowl and discard the star anise. Cool completely.

To assemble the dessert: beat the cream with the icing sugar until soft peaks form. Set aside 4 large glasses (the ones on the photo are 400-ml capacity glasses). In each glass alternate layers of meringues, cherry compote and whipped cream, placing a few fresh cherries in between the layers as well. Serve cold.

Serves 4

Eggnog rice pudding with roasted cherries and the reason why I love Christmas so much

I think it is fair to say that the main reason why I love Christmas so much is because it reminds me of my mom: she loved it and I can’t forget all the preparation around the house while the holiday songs were playing on the record player. Because of that, I decided to finish my Christmas series this year with a recipe that I make every time I miss her more than my heart can bear: rice pudding.

Unfortunately this is not her recipe – once my father got married again his wife made sure everything related to my mother got destroyed and tossed away, and the recipe notebooks were then gone forever – but it doesn’t matter: it reminds me a lot of rainy afternoons with piping hot rice pudding and cartoons on TV.

This time I served it cold because of the delicious roasted cherries I paired with it, and I added nutmeg and brandy to evoke the flavors of eggnog – it was delicious and it filled my heart with joy.

I wish you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year – thank you for keeping me company all this time! xx

Eggnog rice pudding with roasted cherries
own creation

Roasted cherries:
150g fresh cherries
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
juice of ½ large orange, freshly squeezed
1 small cinnamon stick

Rice pudding:
½ cup (110g) long grain rice
3 cups (720ml) whole milk
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Start with the cherries: preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Cut cherries in half and remove the pits. Place them in a 4-cup shallow heatproof dish, stir in the sugar, orange juice and cinnamon stick, then roast for 20 minutes or until fruit is bubbly. Let cool completely, then cover and refrigerate.

While the cherries are roasting, make the rice: place the rice in a colander and wash it under the tap with cold water, rubbing the grains with your fingers until water runs clear. Set aside to drain for 10 minutes.
Place the rice, milk, sweetened condensed milk and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over high heat, stirring, until mixture starts to boil. Turn down the heat, add the nutmeg, brandy and vanilla and cook, stirring so mixture doesn’t catch in the bottom of the saucepan, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool, then cover and refrigerate.

Serve the rice pudding with the cherries on the side.

Serves 4

Tiny cherry and almond tea cakes - another recipe with cherries

Another recipe with cherries, another cake, but this time in teeny-tiny form, and the reason why I didn’t make these adorable mini cakes years before was that I didn’t own a mini muffin pan.
I’m not really sure why it took me so long to buy a mini muffin pan – I guess that every time I saw it at the store I found something I needed more, or I wasn’t in the mood for spending money on another kitchen gadget – oh, wait, that can’t be it. :D

Months ago I finally bought the pan, but then had to wait till December for cherry season, and at the end it was worth it – the cakes turned out flavorsome, with a nice, chewy texture (think financiers), not to mention super cute. <3

Just make sure everyone eating them knows the cherries aren’t pitted, please – these delicate darlings call for delicate bites. :D


Tiny cherry and almond tea cakes
slightly adapted from Martha

110g all-purpose flour
1 cup (100g) almond meal
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
4 large egg whites
3 teaspoons Amaretto (or Kirsch)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
24 sweet (Bing) cherries

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Brush a 24-cup mini muffin pan with butter, and dust lightly with flour.
Whisk together flour, ground almonds, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add egg whites, and whisk until smooth. Stir in Amaretto and vanilla. Pour in butter and whisk to combine. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Fill each muffin cup with about 1 tablespoon batter, filling about halfway. Push a cherry into each, keeping stem end up. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and cakes are golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then unmold and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cakes can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature overnight.

Makes 24

Cherry, pistachio and marzipan cake, and things worth waiting for

Every time I see something delicious made with cherries I mentally file the recipe to make it by the end of the year, when the fruit is abundant, sweet and not as expensive as during the winter. The problem is there are always many recipes to be made and cherry season is, unfortunately, too short.

One of the recipes I’d been meaning to make for a while was this cake from Delicious Australia, which combines two passions of mine: cherries and marzipan. The cake turned out moist and flavorsome, perfumed with orange blossom water, which is something I love, but if you’re not into it just replace it with vanilla extract. I found the pistachios on the top of the cake to be a bit too much and, as much as I love these nuts I don’t think they’re an interesting addition here – I liked the cake better without them.

It certainly paid off to wait months to prepare this wonderful cake, as much as it paid off to go to sleep at 2 a.m. to see the brilliant Leonard DiCaprio receive a Golden Globe. :)

Cherry, pistachio and marzipan cake
slightly adapted from the stunning Delicious Australia

Cake:
300g cherries, pitted, finely chopped
150g marzipan, chopped into 1cm pieces – I used homemade
150g all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon, extra, for dusting the cherries
200g unsalted butter, softened
185g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
100g almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
50g unsalted pistachio kernels, lightly toasted, chopped
icing sugar, for dusting

Syrup:
juice of the orange zested for the cake
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Butter a 20cm (8in) springform cake pan (I used a pan with a removable bottom), line the bottom with a circle of baking paper, then wrap the outside with foil (this will prevent batter from leaking).
Toss cherries and marzipan in the extra 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar and orange zest with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes until thick and pale, then beat in orange blossom water and the vanilla.
Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt, then stir through half the marzipan and cherries. Spread mixture into pan, sprinkle over remaining marzipan and cherries, then gently press into the batter, making sure they’re just covered.
Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 160°C and bake for a further 50-60 minutes until light golden and cooked through.
Meanwhile, for the syrup: place all the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, then cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium and cook for a further 1-2 minutes until thick and syrupy.
Pierce cake all over with a skewer, then drizzle over warm syrup. Sprinkle with pistachios and dust with icing sugar. Cool slightly, then remove cake from the pan and cool completely before serving.

Serves 6-8 – I made the exact recipe above, but baked the cake at 180°C/350°F the entire time (total of 60 minutes)

Cherry-cornmeal upside down cake

It’s no secret I’m a big Martha Stewart fan – her recipes are delicious and work every time; I sometimes wish I were more skillful so I could make all the other beautiful projects on her website (I would love to learn how to sew and even bought a book on the subject a while ago). Speaking of that, would you please tell me if you know any good blogs on the subject? That would be really helpful! :)

Anyway, back to Martha: one of the first cakes I saw on her blog (back in 200... – who knows?) was her cranberry upside down cake – isn’t it gorgeous? Since fresh cranberries do not exist here in Brazil I decided to mimic Martha’s cake using fresh cherries instead; I ended up with such a tasty cake – so tender! – that I regretted not doing that years ago.

Cherry-cornmeal upside down cake
adapted from the always great and delicious Cake Keeper Cakes

Topping:
600g cherries, pitted
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (70g) unsalted butter
¼ cup (44g) light brown sugar, packed

Cake:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup (77g) yellow cornmeal
¼ cup (25g) almond meal
pinch of salt
¾ stick (85g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (120ml) milk, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan and dust with flour.
Make the fruit topping: combine the butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until the butter is melted. Stir in the cherries, increase the heat to medium-high and bring just to a boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until cherries begin to become tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cherries to plate to cool. Set aside the caramel still in the saucepan.
Arrange the cherries in the bottom of the prepared pan. Bring the caramel back to a boil over medium-high heat, cook without stirring for 2 minutes then pour over the cherries (caramel will be thicker).
Make the batter: combine the flour, baking powder, cornmeal, almond meal, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. In low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. After incorporating the eggs, turn the mixer to high speed and beat until mixture is light and increased in volume, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract.
With the mixer in low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl then beat the batter in high speed for 30 seconds.
Pour the batter gently over the cherries and smooth the surface.
Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool it in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully unmold the cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Serves 8

Cherry-plum preserves + scones

I usually do not buy cookbooks without taking a look inside their pages first – I have done that in a few occasions and got really disappointed; but after reading the reviews for "Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours" and seeing a photo of one of the cookie recipes I felt I would love the book – and I did. It’s full of great recipes, beautiful photos and there are several recipes for preserves, which is something I intend to make more often – especially after tasting this cherry-plum preserves, which is one of the most delicious recipes I have ever made. I am sure the preserves would work beautifully over some panna cotta or served along a slice of simple pound cake or angel cake, but I went the traditional way and baked some scones to serve with it. Fantastic combination.

Cherry-plum preserves
from the gorgeous Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours

900g (2 pounds) cherries, pitted and halved
900g (2 pounds) ripe plums, pitted and cut into about 1cm (½in) cubes
½ cup (120ml) fresh orange juice
3 cups (600g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice

Combine the cherries, plums and orange juice in a non-reactive large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, until the fruit is tender, about 15 minutes.
Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and return to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until the fruit has fallen apart into a thick, chunky puree, about 20 minutes – the plums dissolved completely and the cherries remained in pieces.
Let cool completely, store in jars and keep in the fridge.

Makes 7 pints (4 liters) – I halved the recipe above and used 500g cherries + 400g plums

Simple scones
from the always amazing Donna Hay Magazine

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, cold and chopped
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk + a little extra for brushing

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and use your fingertips to work it into the flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Use a flat-bladed knife or a fork to mix in the milk until the dough is soft and sticky. Knead the dough lightly on a floured surface and press into a round approximately 3cm (1.2in) thick.
Use a 5cm (2in) plain cutter to cut rounds and place onto the prepared sheet. Brush the tops with milk and bake for 15 minutes or until risen and lightly golden.
Serve warm with the preserves.

Makes 12

Cherry rippled vanilla frozen yogurt

Happy New Year everyone!

The cherry overload goes on in my house – not that I am complaining. ;)
I decided to make a frozen dessert to celebrate the arrival of summer and the slightly adapted cherry filling from those delicious bars was a perfect addition to the already great vanilla fro yo; since my husband doesn’t like frozen yogurt I’ll have to eat it all myself – oh, how big of a problem I have on my hands. ;)

Cherry rippled vanilla frozen yogurt
adapted from two great books: Rustic Fruit Desserts e The Perfect Scoop

Cherry ripple:
500g (18oz) cherries, pitted and halved if small or quartered if large
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/8 teaspoon salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Frozen yogurt:
2 ¼ cups (585g) plain whole-milk yogurt
2/3 cup (133g) granulated or caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the cherry ripple: combine the cherries, sugar, corn starch, salt, lemon zest and juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil for 1 minute to thicken. Set aside to cool completely, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Frozen yogurt: mix the ingredients together in a medium bowl, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate for at least for 1 hour, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As you remove it from the machine, layer it in an airtight container with spoonfuls of the chilled cherry mixture. Freeze.

Serves 8-10

Cherry almond bars

I watched “Ides of March” last week and liked it a lot; it is very difficult to pay attention to anything else when Gosling and Clooney are on the screen – and I am sure the girls will agree with me on that –
but Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Evan Rachel Wood deliver great performances, too. I usually do not like political thrillers that much but “Ides of March” surprised me in a very good way.

Cherries are abundant at this time of the year and I love eating them fresh, without anything else. My husband knows that and brought home buckets of cherry for me – the amount was so huge that I could never eat them all myself, so I baked these delicious bars – just be careful, because they are very addictive.

Cherry almond bars
from the gorgeous Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More

Filling:
500g (18oz) cherries, pitted and halved if small or quartered if large
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/8 teaspoon salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Crust and topping:
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
½ cup (88g) packed brown sugar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (114g) almond meal
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (168g/6oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; lightly butter a 23cm (9in) square baking pan, line with foil leaving an overhang in two opposite sites then butter the foil as well.
Make the filling: combine the cherries, sugar, corn starch, salt, lemon zest and juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil for 1 minute to thicken. Set aside.
Make the crust/topping: combine the flour, brown sugar, almond meal and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and process until crumbly. Add the egg and vanilla and pulse just until the mixture comes together.
Press two-thirds of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan then pour in the cherry filling. Press clumps of the remaining crumb mixture over the cherry filling.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until light golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
Bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Makes 16 – I made the exact recipe above using a 20cm (8in) square baking pan

Cherry crumble

Happy New Year everyone!

After a month it’s time to (reluctantly) get back to work – I could definitely use a couple more weeks of vacation… *sigh*

If you, like me, need a boost to get back to work I highly recommend this dessert. :)

Cherry crumble
adapted from here

320g fresh cherries, pitted and quartered
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons demerara sugar

Topping:
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 ½ tablespoons (35g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Put the flour and baking powder into a bowl and rub in the cubes of butter, using your fingers until you have a mixture like coarse sand. Stir in the sugar. Refrigerate while you get on with the fruit.
Mix the cherries with the lemon zest, juice and sugar and divide among two 1-cup (240ml) capacity ovenproof ramekins.
Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit, place the ramekins in a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling.

Serves 2

Cherry and almond tartlets

I know, I know – another cherry tart in less than a week… But be honest with me: would you be able to resist such a beautiful dessert? I ran to the kitchen the moment the magazine arrived at my door. :D

Cherry and almond tartlets
slightly adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Filling:
500g crème fraîche*
100ml pouring cream
20g pure icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
fresh cherries, to serve

Cherry vanilla jam:
300g cherries, pitted and halved
1 cup (200g) caster (superfine) sugar
juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

Almond pastry:
90g natural almonds
250g unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup (100g) caster (superfine) sugar
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose plain flour

For cherry vanilla jam, combine ingredients in a saucepan and stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches setting point (6-8 minutes; see note), refrigerate until well chilled (1-2 hours).

Meanwhile, for almond pastry, process almonds in a food processor to form coarse crumbs (1 minute). Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until creamy, scrape down sides of bowl, add flour and almonds, beat to just combine. Form into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest.
Butter a 20x28cm rectangular tart pan.
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick and line the prepared pan, trim edges, prick with a fork and freeze until firm (30 minutes).
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line the pastry with a large piece of foil and fill it with baking weights or dried beans. Bake until light golden (10-12 minutes), remove paper and weights/beans, bake until golden and crisp (6-8 minutes), cool completely.
Whisk crème fraîche, cream and icing sugar in a bowl until firm peaks form (2-3 minutes), refrigerate until required.
Spread jam in base of pastry case, spoon over crème fraîche mixture, top with fresh cherries, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Note: to test for a jam’s setting point, place several saucers in the freezer before you start cooking the jam. When the mixture becomes thick, remove from heat, spoon a little onto a chilled saucer and return to freezer for 30 seconds. When you draw your finger through the mixture it should hold a trail. If it doesn’t, cook for 1-2 minutes longer and test again.

* I made a different filling, inspired by a trifle recipe by Bill Granger: I combined equal parts of heavy cream and plain yogurt (1/3 cup of each for ½ the recipe above), 1 tablespoon icing sugar and the seeds of ½ a vanilla bean, then beat the ingredients together until soft peaks formed

Serves 6 – I halved the recipe above, used 9cm tartlet pans and got 10 tartlets

Bill’s cherry tart

I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas series!

I thought that this delicious tart would be perfect as my last post before Christmas: it’s pretty much a clafoutis with a crust – I am a crust kind of girl – and the recipe comes from one of my all time favorite cooks.

Happy Holidays!

Bill’s cherry tart
from Holiday

Pastry:
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (90g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons almond meal (finely ground almonds)

Filling:
170ml heavy cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
550g fresh cherries, halved and pitted – I used only 450g

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter a 24cm (9 ½ in) round loose-bottomed tart pan*. Make the pastry: stir together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and salt and stir to make a soft dough. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press evenly into the base and sides of the pan using your fingertips. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the pastry is slightly puffy. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the almond meal over the base.
Now, make the filling: in a large bowl, whisk together the cream, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Add the flour and whisk until well mixed. Arrange the cherries, slightly overlapping, over the pastry base and pour the cream filling evenly over the cherries.
Return the tart to the oven for a further 40-50 minutes or until the filing is firm and golden. Leave to cool and serve with cream or ice cream.

*use a pan with high sides otherwise it won’t hold all the cream mixture

Serves 8-10

Christmas muffins

These muffins are delicious and I think they are a great idea for breakfast on Christmas morning; on top of that I thought you deserved a simple recipe – one that doesn’t require making custard, soaking and processing dates or waiting for hours for cookies. :D

Christmas muffins
slightly adapted from here

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 ½ cups (390g) plain yogurt
1 egg*
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup (110g) dried sweetened cranberries
1 cup (150g) fresh pitted cherries, quartered
demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F; line twelve 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans with paper liners.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl, add the sugar and mix well. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg and oil. Add to the flour mixture with the cranberries and cherries and mix with a fork until just combined – do not overmix.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, sprinkle with the demerara sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

*I would definitely use 2 eggs if making this recipe again

Makes 12

Fruit crumble cake and a big thank you

The list of the Saveur’s Food Blog Awards’ winners has been published – congratulations to all the winners!

Technicolor Kitchen did not win as best baking and desserts blog but I want to thank you all for your votes and support – I deeply appreciate it. And I’d also like to tell you that award or no award the sweet recipes will continue to flow around here – like this delicious and tender crumble cake.

Fruit crumble cake
adapted from Modern Classics 2

¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (184g) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups + ½ tablespoon (272g) caster sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon (337g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
5 plums, stoned and thinly sliced
5 apricots, stoned and thinly sliced
caster sugar, extra, for sprinkling

Crumble topping:
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (51g) all purpose flour
1 ½ tablespoons caster sugar
2 ½ tablespoons (35g) cold unsalted butter, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan and line with baking paper – butter the paper as well.
Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture, add the milk and beat in low speed until combined. Spoon the mixture onto prepared pan, arrange the fruit over the top and sprinkle with the extra sugar.
To make the crumble topping, place the flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub with your fingertips until fine crumbs form. Scatter over the fruit.
Bake for 50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Serves 10 – I made 2/3 of the recipe above, used a 20cm square pan and replaced the plums and apricots for 2 nectarines and 270g frozen cherries (thawed)

Cherry friands

I am so disappointed: I used to watch Bill Granger’s videos on You Tube but they are all gone now. :(
At least that reminded me of how little I’d been using his books – this recipe comes from Simply Bill


I thought of my blogger friend Tatiane while baking these friands: like me, she’s mad for ice cream and is always searching for new ways to use her stash of egg whites – Tati, I hope you like these!

Cherry friands
from Simply Bill

1 1/3 cups (134g) ground almonds
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon (218g) icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (85g) all purpose flour, sifted
8 egg whites
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
210g cherries

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and flour a nonstick 12-hole friand pan*.
Mix together the ground almonds, icing sugar and flour. Stir in the egg whites until just combined. Stir in the melted butter.
Pour the batter in the pans. Pit the cherries and cut in half. Arrange a few cherry halves on top of each friand.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden - the friands should spring back when touched. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
Dust with icing sugar and store in an airtight container.

* I halved the recipe, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans and got 8 friands

Makes 12

Free form cherry and blackberry pies

I got a little carried away with all the beautiful cherries available at this time of the year and ended up buying tons of them: some I ate – delicious! - and some were transformed into baked goods. :)

After some email talk with my friend Ana Elisa – she’d been deciding on whether or not to buy a food processor – I decided to buy one, too. I’ve been using it a lot and even regret not buying it earlier – making the pastry for these tarts was dead easy using my newest toy. :)

Free form cherry and blackberry pies
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, cold and chopped
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
½ tablespoons caster sugar
1-1 ½ tablespoons iced water

Filling:
1 cup cherries, pitted and halved
1 cup blackberries
1 ½ tablespoons corn starch
2 ½ tablespoons caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
2 tablespoons almond meal
1 tablespoon caster sugar, extra

To make the pastry, process butter, flour and sugar in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. While the motor is still running, add enough iced water to form a soft dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To make the filling, place the cherries and blackberries in a bowl, sift over the corn starch and add the sugar and lemon zest. Toss to combine.
Divide the pastry in half and roll each piece on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick. Place the pastry on a large baking sheet lined with baking paper and sprinkle with the almond meal. Pile the berry mixture into the middle of each pastry disc and sprinkle with the extra sugar. Fold over the pastry to form an edge, partially enclosing the berries. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until pastry is golden and crisp.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Serves 2

Cherry ice cream with white chocolate

I know some of you will roll your eyes in despair because I replaced the dark chocolate in this recipe with white chocolate, but let me at least say that it worked really well! The ice cream itself is not overly sweet, so don’t worry about going into a sugar coma.

Think of this as a nice change – unlike replacing one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time with this guy.

Cherry ice cream with white chocolate
from here

1 ½ cups pitted ripe sweet cherries (from about ¾lb/340g cherries)
¾ cup (180ml) milk
1 ¾ cups (420ml) heavy cream
½ cup (100g) sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons crème de cassis, kirsch, cherry liqueur, or rum (optional) – I used rum
112g (4 ounces) white chocolate, melted

Put cherries, milk, 1 cup (240ml) of the cream, sugar, and salt into a medium saucepan. Heat on medium heat until the mixture is steamy, then lower the heat to warm and just let sit for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into a blender, or use an immersion blender, and carefully purée (Be careful because you are dealing with a hot liquid. Make sure you hold the cap down on the top of the blender while puréeing).

Put mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the remaining ¾ cup (180ml) of cream. Chill for several hours in the refrigerator until completely cold (Can also place bowl over an ice bath, to speed up the cooling process).

Before putting the mixture into your ice cream maker, stir in the lemon juice and the crème de cassis or other liqueur (or rum) if you are using. Note that you can skip the alcohol if you want, but the addition of it will help the ice cream from getting too icy, and the flavored liqueurs such as kirsch or crème de cassis can add a nice flavor boost to the ice cream. Churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. 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).
Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours.

Makes about one quart (950ml)

Three tier chocolate cake

Wow, I haven’t been here for a while - Happy New Year, everyone!

I haven’t visited your blogs either – I had a few days off from work and took a short break from the computer; I organized many things at home and also did a sort of “summer cleaning”. And because of that – and also the 33-35ºC (92-95ºF) days were were having here in Sao Paulo – I didn’t cook much. But I did bake a birthday cake for Joao on Dec, 27.

I got the recipe from the Woman&Home Christmas Food Valentina sent me – the cake was on the cover of the magazine and it looked so beautiful… I really wanted to try it. His birthday was the perfect excuse – everyone in this family ate the cake, so I spread the calories around. :)

I decided to use a different filling and went for a refreshing passion fruit truffle filling, made with white chocolate. You can use the original filling if you want.

We were in a hurry and the photos don’t do this cake justice – it is absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend it!

Three tier chocolate cake

Cake:
6 large eggs
175g (6oz) caster sugar
185g (6.5oz) plain flour
15g (0.5oz) cocoa powder

Filling:
500g white chocolate, finely chopped
400g whipping cream
¼ cup (60ml) concentrated bottled passion fruit juice

To brush the cake:
½ tablespoon concentrated bottled passion fruit juice diluted in 4 tablespoons water

Ganache:
175g (6oz) dark chocolate, 55% solids
130ml (4.5oz) double cream - I used a thick kind of cream we have here in Brazil, so my ganache was not so spreadable

Decoration:
chocolate curls, cherries or whatever strikes you fancy

Start by making the filling: place the cream in a saucepan and heat until it is nearly boiling. Remove from heat and add the chocolate all at once. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is silky and smooth. Add the juice, mix well; refrigerate it, well covered, for 4-6 hours or until set.

Make the cake: preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Oil a 25cm (10in) springform cake pan and line the bottom with baking paper.
Put the eggs and sugar into a large heatproof bowl and, using an electric hand whisk, beat until tripled in volume, pale and thick (I used my Kitchen Aid, with the whisk attachment). The whisk should leave a trail in the mix. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and fold in with the whisk. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake on the centre shelf for around 20 minutes, until risen and springy to the touch. Let the cake cool in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack.

When the cake is cool, split into three horizontally. Separate them carefully. The top of the original cake in the tin will be the top of the finished cake. Brush the bottom cake very lightly with the juice then spread over half the filling. Add the next layer and do the same with the juice and filling. Add the top.

Finish with the ganache: put the broken-up chocolate into a saucepan with the cream and heat gently. Stir well until the chocolate has melted. Spoon on to the centre of the cake a big spoonful at a time then spread with a palette knife, letting it drip down the sides. Do this at a reasonable speed as it will set in around 15 minutes.
Decorate as you like.

Serves 12-14