Flourless chocolate peanut cake

This morning I joked on Instagram that this week feels like it lasted 45 days already – I am completely exhausted and very happy it is Friday. \0/ To celebrate it, I bring you a recipe that is perfect for the weekend: a moist, delicious and almost creamy chocolate cake, to be served with whipped cream or ice cream.

This cake is similar to this one, which is also gluten free, however it is more flavorsome and moist. The recipe is easy to make and calls for peanuts, a very Brazilian and cheap ingredient that goes really well with chocolate.

Flourless chocolate peanut cake
own recipe

200g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, finely chopped
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, chopped
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup (65g) peanut meal – very finely ground peanuts
pinch of salt
whipped cream or ice cream, to serve

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

In a large bowl, put chocolate and butter and melt them over a saucepan of barely simmering water (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water). Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
Add the sugar and whisk well. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in the vanilla.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the peanut meal and salt. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes or until the top of the cake is opaque que a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out still moist. Cool completely over a wire rack. Carefully remove from the pan and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Serves 8-10

Peanut cinnamon amaretti and no time for blogging

My days have been pretty busy lately, and I guess that some of you already know that given my disappearing from the blog. :)

However, I wanted to stop by quickly today and give you a recipe that I simply adore - and that is also quick to put together: the amaretti I make by replacing the almonds with a very Brazilian ingredient, peanuts, and adding a touch of cinnamon. Let’s call this an Italian-Brazilian cookie (I do like to mix and match countries in my kitchen). :) They go wonderfully with coffee and tea, and are also delicious broken into smaller pieces and sprinkled on top of ice cream.

Peanut amaretti
own recipe

2 ½ cups (250g) peanut meal (finely ground peanuts)
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 large egg whites (56g)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut meal, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the egg whites and the vanilla and mix until a dough forms.

Roll 2 teaspoons of dough per cookie into balls and place onto prepared sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart. Press down slightly with your fingers. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool in the sheets over a wire rack.

Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 35

Chocolate hazelnut kisses and "Foxcatcher"

Last week I was finally able to watch the movie I’d been talking about for almost a year and I’ve come to the conclusion that it was directed by the wrong person: Bennett Miller played it too safe, directing in a very bureaucratic way, almost automatic, while such a dark and surprising story with fantastic acting deserved someone much more dedicated to the project.

As I watched the movie I kept thinking of how wonderful it would have been in the hands of Scorsese or Fincher, or even Cuarón.

Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum are quite something in this movie and I was especially stunned by the latter: he portrays this character with such urge, with such passion and dedication that it turned out completely different from everything he’d done before, and even though I find Mark Ruffalo a terrific actor all the supporting actor nominations should have gone to Tatum.

Carell is equally wonderful, a whole new person thanks not only to the meticulous make up work but also for making the viewer forget completely who he is – I adore him in just about anything and he really shines when given a dramatic role (it is impossible to forget how sublime he was in Little Miss Sunshine). I’ll be rooting for him on February, 22, even though I know that Eddie Redmayne has taken the world by storm.

Foxcatcher is a good movie but not a great one, and I consider that a waste of a good story and great acting. I don’t like waste, not in movies and especially not in my kitchen, that is why I made these adorable mini cakes to use up the hazelnut meal that was about to go rancid in my freezer – they turned out super cute and oh, so delicious.

Chocolate hazelnut kisses
slightly adapted from here

Cakes:
120g dark chocolate, finely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
100g granulated sugar
95g unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs, separated
100g hazelnut meal
1 teaspoon strong coffee
1 teaspoon rum
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Ganache:
100g dark chocolate
50g unsalted butter
24 hazelnuts, roasted and shelled, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 24-hole mini muffin pan.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, then leave to cool. Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, then add the egg yolks, beating well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate and mix well, then fold in the hazelnut meal, coffee, rum and vanilla.

Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold a third into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then fold in the rest. Spoon the mixture into the muffin pan and bake for 10-15 minutes or until risen and a skewer inserted in the center of one mini cake comes out a little moist. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then carefully unmold onto a cooling rack. Cool completely.

For the ganache, melt the chocolate and butter over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour a little ganache over each cake and decorate with a roasted hazelnut.

The cakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature.

Makes 24

Carrot pancakes (with chickpea flour)

I find fritters a wonderful way to add more veggies and grains to our meals: they’re delicious served on their own as an appetizer, or with a salad as a light lunch. To me, carrots are a sort of a universal vegetable: I feel that even those people who aren’t into veggies will eat carrots, for they are so sweet. Therefore, carrot fritters (or pancakes) make all the sense in the world. :)

This is a recipe I got from Bon Appétit magazine and I loved the fact that it called for chickpea flour, for it makes the fritters very healthy: nothing better than food that tastes great and is good for you, right?

I served the pancakes with arugula salad drizzled with a simple vinaigrette: I intended to make the salted yogurt from the original recipe, but when I opened the fridge I didn’t have any yogurt around. Next time, then. :)

Carrot pancakes (with chickpea flour)
from the always delicious Bon Appétit magazine

2 large eggs, beaten to blend
250g carrots, peeled, coarsely grated
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup chickpea flour*
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

Mix eggs, carrots, cilantro, and chickpea flour in a large bowl (mixture will be loose); season with salt and pepper.

Heat ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Scoop two tablespoons of mixture per pancakes and place onto the pan, pressing each to 1cm (½ in) thickness. Cook for 3 minutes each side or until golden.

* even though I halved the recipe, I used the whole amount of chickpea flour for the batter was much too liquid

Makes 6

Lemon and polenta cake (gluten free) + movies, movies, movies

Being away for two weeks left me out of the loop of new releases and movies to long for, not to mention I had no idea what was on theaters here – time to catch up.

On the weekend, I went to the movies with my sister – we hadn’t done that since Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, too long! – and we watched Lucy: I liked the movie a lot, and it is always wonderful to see movies with leading ladies kick ass in the box office, shutting up idiots who think that women don’t make money when it comes to movies (let’s all remember Cate Blanchett’s Oscar speech months ago, shall we?). :)

Some more good news: I was glad to find out that Gone Girl will be hitting Brazilian theaters one day before the American release, which was a relief since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo premiered here in Brazil a month after its American release. Yay! \0/

As for what to long for, I saw the trailer for Low Down and can’t wait to know when the movie will be released, not only because it is a great trailer but also because of the amazing cast: I fell in love with John Hawkes after he blew me away three times in a row, being outstanding in Winter’s Bone, Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Sessions (and being robbed of an Oscar nomination for the latter). Anyone who watched Super 8 knows how talented Elle Fanning is, and what to say about Glenn Close? <3 <3 <3

After getting up to speed with movies, I did the same with my kitchen: I hadn’t baked in quite a while and was desperate for freshly baked cake. I made a honey cake that turned out delicious, but since I haven’t been able to work on the photos yet I bring you an equally tasty cake, something I baked before my trip; I bumped into this recipe while searching for yet another lemon cake recipe and I wasn’t disappointed: moist, tangy and delicious, I am sure it will please those of you who like lemon cakes as much as I do.


Lemon and polenta cake (gluten free)
slightly adapted from the delicious Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery

150g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
165g unsalted butter, softened
juice of ½ lemon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
185g almond meal (finely ground almonds)
75g instant polenta
35g corn starch
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
icing sugar, for dusting

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.
Place sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer and rub them together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Add butter and beat until very light and creamy. Add the lemon juice and the vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition – batter might look curdled.
Mix together the ground almonds, polenta, corn flour, baking powder and salt and fold into the mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Carefully unmold and remove the paper. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 6-8

Almond, lemon and buckwheat tea cake and weekend plans

I think you guys should know that I managed to keep the plans I’d made for the weekend: I watched more than just one movie (one of them probably for the tenth time) and I also baked and cooked a bit – the cold days are a great excuse to keep the oven on. :)

I find it almost impossible to switch channels when some of my favorite movies are on, and yesterday one of the channels had a Godfather marathon: all the three movies were being aired in a row. I don’t care for the third movie, but I love The Godfather and The Godfather II and ended up watching the first movie once again (a couple of glasses of wine kept me from watching the second one). :)

Another thing I find almost impossible to do is to resist the urge to bake lemon cakes: as much as I try to vary – and sometimes I succeed, you know that – I always bookmark the lemon cakes in the cookbooks I buy, and this beauty was no exception: there are tons of wonderful recipes there and the first recipe I tried from it was a recipe for cookies, but after those I could not wait to take the lemony route, and here it is.

I used buckwheat flour instead of all purpose flour and loved the result – it’s not a very tall cake (mine turned out just as the one on the photo of the book) but it’s packed with flavor (and gluten free).

Almond, lemon and buckwheat tea cake
slightly adapted from the oh, so beautiful The Baking Collection (The Australian Women's Weekly)

½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
125g unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (35g) buckwheat flour
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
120g ground almonds
2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
2 tablespoons flaked almonds
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 180°/350°F. Lightly butter a 5-cup loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a large bowl, rub sugar and zest together until fragrant. Add butter and using an electric mixer beat the ingredients together light and creamy. Add the three eggs and the vanilla, then beat until incorporated – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Sift the buckwheat flour, salt and baking powder over the mixture, add the almond meal and milk and stir to combine. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smooth the top and sprinkle with the almonds and pine nuts.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely, then peel off the paper.

Serves 6-8

Grapefruit bars (gluten free) and the Emmy nominations

During the time I was out of the loop of TV series I did not care much about the Emmys and while watching the Golden Globes I would focus only on the movie part of the ceremony – since I wasn’t watching anything from TV regularly I did not know if the nominations had been fair or who should win. Now, I stay tuned when the nominees are announced and I get happy or sad depending on who takes the awards home (or pleased when each and every one of them deserve the award). :)

As I read this year’s Emmy nominations, I thought part of them were fair, but to me some people were missing from the list: I would replace Jon Hamm and Jeff Daniels for Michael Sheen and Liev Schreiber (heartbroken for having to leave James Spader out), and would cross Christina Hendricks off the list (I really don’t know what she’s doing there). I loved seeing Lizzy Caplan nominated, she really deserves it, and I’m glad Breaking Bad is all over the place, as well as House of Cards (go, Robin!).

(note to self: watch The Normal Heart)

I haven’t watched comedies in ages, but since I like both William H. Macy and Ricky Gervais a lot I’ll be pleased if either wins – I don’t need to watch what they’re doing to know they’re really good at it. :)

As I told you the other day, I am not gluten intolerant therefore I don’t plan on going gluten free, but what is the problem with experimenting every now and then, right? These bars turned out delicious with almond meal replacing the wheat flour, the nut flavor paired beautifully with the citrus tang of the feeling and the texture became pudding-like – if you want to make them as the original recipe, just trade the almond meal for all purpose flour in both the crust and the filling, using the same amounts.

Grapefruit bars
slightly adapted from the delicious Wintersweet: Seasonal Desserts to Warm the Home

Crust:
6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
30g confectioners’ sugar
140g almond meal
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt

Filling:
finely grated zest of 2 grapefruits
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
¾ cup (180ml) freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons almond meal
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square pan, line it with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.
Crust: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the almond meal, cornstarch, and salt. Mix on low for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture starts to clump - stop when the dough holds together when you press on it.
Transfer to the prepared pan and press it evenly onto the base. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges

Filling: rub the grapefruit zest into the sugar in a medium bowl until moist and fragrant. Whisk in the eggs until dissolved, then the grapefruit juice, vanilla and almond meal. Pour the mixture onto the hot crust and bake for 15-20 minutes , or until the center is just set.
Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, then cut into squares to serve – the bars are quite soft, so remove them gently from the pan (I used a pan with a removable bottom, so it was easier to unmold the bars).
The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, and they also taste delicious after being refrigerated.

Makes 16

Little passion fruit and coconut cakes (with amaranth flour) and time to change

A very dear friend of mine adores Downton Abbey and every time we see each other she asks me if I have started watching the show, to which I always reply “no, not yet”. She ended up lending me the DVDs, but I’ve been so caught up with SoA that I never bring myself to watch them.

To make things worse, I’ve started watching The Sopranos (because of another dear friend) and got hooked right from the start – it is impossible not to love Tony Soprano, I can tell you.

Breaking Bad, The Fall, SoA and now The Sopranos – I wonder if I’m on a criminal roll. :S Maybe it’s time to change to something less bloody, more delicate. Maybe it’s time for Downton Abbey, after all. :)

If my TV series choices seem to fall into a certain category, my cooking and baking habits seem to have widen, a little at least: these small cakes fit perfectly into my desire to try new things and to make old favorites differently – made with icing sugar, egg whites and almond meal they’re like financiers, but here the all purpose flour is replaced by amaranth flour, making these a tiny bit more nutritional then traditional financiers and also gluten free (I have gone as far as calling sweets “nutritional”, you’re not reading it wrong). :D

Little passion fruit and coconut cakes (with amaranth flour)
slightly adapted from the beautiful Supergrains: Cook Your Way to Great Health

200g pure icing sugar
65g amaranth flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup (100g) almond meal
½ cup (50g) desiccated coconut
6 egg whites, lightly whisked
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
70g passion fruit pulp, seeds and all
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
icing sugar, extra, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 12-hole 80ml muffin pan or line it with paper cases.
Sift the icing sugar, amaranth flour, baking powder and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Stir through the almond meal and coconut.
Add the egg whites, butter, zest, passion fruit pulp and vanilla and stir to combine. Divide the mixture among the lined muffin holes. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through (a skewer inserted into the center of a cake should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it). Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Makes 12

Flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake + "Bronson"

Not only do I love watching movies but I also love reading about them (I am a very curious person, I’ll admit it), and when a guy I’d never heard of before won the best director prize in Cannes in 2011 I knew I would watch that movie as soon as possible (Ryan Gosling being the leading actor wouldn’t hurt either). ;) I did, and it became one of my all-time favorites, and up to this day I still listen to the soundtrack almost on daily basis.

Days ago I watched another movie directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and it made me think that we were all paying attention to Sean Penn playing Harvey Milk back in 2009, while we should have paid attention – and given all the awards – to Tom Hardy for Bronson: at first I was shocked by the physical transformation (and by how much he looked like the real Charlie Bronson), but his performance is so much more than that – it’s a tiring, intense and perfect acting exercise that goes beyond the pushups he had to make to get those muscles. It’s not an easy movie to watch – the amount of violence is disturbing – but I found it was worth every second (and if you like acting in its essence I am sure you’ll like it, too). It’s such a shame that a great performance like that didn’t get the buzz it deserved, and it is rarely mentioned among the great performances of all time – what Hardy did shouldn’t be forgotten.

And since good things shouldn’t be forgotten, I’ve been having a lot of fun rediscovering Bill Granger’s Holiday – I hadn’t used the book for ages (for no reason at all) and after making those great chocolate and caramel bars I’ve been reaching for it quite regularly. This chocolate cake is an easy and delicious idea for dessert – you can make it in advance and when the meal is over all you need to do is whip up the cinnamon cream (I skipped the electric mixer and did it manually in order to burn some of the calories I was about to ingest). ;)

Flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake
slightly adapted from the always delicious Holiday

Cake:
200g dark chocolate, chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g light brown sugar
100g hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts)
5 eggs, separated
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Cinnamon cream:
1 cup (240ml) whipping cream
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm springform cake pan (I used a pan with a removable bottom), line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water). Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter have melted. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Add the sugar and hazelnut meal to the melted chocolate and stir until there are no lumps. Add the egg yolks one at a time, stirring well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with the salt until firm peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until firm but still gooey in the center. Leave to cool completely in the pan. Sift the cocoa over the top of the cake.

Cinnamon cream: place the cream, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar in a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Serve with the cake.

Serves 8

Marzipan cookies and less is more

As I drove to work the other day listening to one of my favorite songs I started thinking about the two or three episodes of The X Factor I’ve watched recently and how everyone seems to sing in the absolute same tone – I don’t think that one has to have Christina Aguilera’s voice to make good music (and let’s just say that the girl shouldn’t feel very proud about her repertoire), and my humble ears would choose Nina Persson’s soft voice over all that screaming any day now. :)

As for baking, in a similar “less is more” moment, I baked these delicious and incredibly addictive cookies: only a handful of ingredients resulted in chewy and moist treats, and I found it hard to stop at one. Or four. :D

Marzipan cookies
from the always beautiful and delicious Gourmet Traveller

250g almond meal
200g granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g pure icing sugar

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Combine almond meal, granulated sugar, salt, egg whites, zest and vanilla in a large bowl and mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a work surface and roll into a cylinder about 2cm thick. Sieve icing sugar onto work surface, roll dough in icing sugar and cut into 32 pieces. Roll each piece into a thin log, then form into an "S" shape (I never managed to do so, so I shaped my cookies as small cylinders). Dust cookies lightly with icing sugar and place cookies 2.5cm (1in) apart onto prepared sheet and bake until golden (10-15 minutes). Cool on a wire rack.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes 32

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

Torta caprese al limone

That I can’t resist lemon desserts you already know, so it’s no surprise this lemon cake caught my attention the minute I saw it: not only because I wanted to use the white chocolate in my pantry, but also because cakes made with the addition of almond meal always turn out really moist and tender, and this is no exception – and since the almond meal replaces the all purpose flour in this recipe the cake is, besides delicious, gluten free, too.

Torta caprese al limone
slightly adapted from the usual suspect Delicious - Australia

160g unsalted butter, chopped
160g white chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
170g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
280g almond meal
pinch of salt
icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°C. Butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan, line the base with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Stir until melted and smooth. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Using an electric mixer with the wire whisk, beat egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale. Add zest, juice and vanilla. Beat until combined. Stir in almond meal and chocolate mixture. Set aside.
Using a clean and dry whisk, beat the egg whites and salt in a clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Fold half of the egg white into the batter until just combined. Fold in the remaining egg white until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 160°C/320°F. Bake for a further 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Carefully unmold, remove the paper, and transfer to a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 6-8

Almond cake (Tarta de Santiago) + DDL

A long time ago I watched “Magnolia” – because lots of people had told me it was my kind of movie – and got really disappointed; despite the bunch of awards and great cast – including my beloved Julianne Moore – I did not think the movie was all that. A while later, I decided to give Paul Thomas Anderson another chance and watched “Boogie Nights”, which to me was a far superior movie (despite having been made before “Magnolia”). I liked it and added one more strong performance to the handful I have seen by Mark Wahlberg so far. Last week, I finally watched "There Will Be Blood" – because of my love for Daniel Day-Lewis – and wow, he’s fantastic beyond belief as Daniel Plainview. The movie is amazing as a whole, well directed with a beautiful cinematography, and Lewis’ performance is absolutely unforgettable (as are many of his performances), but I don’t think it was better than Viggo’s Nikolai – and that is the only thing I did not love about “There Will Be Blood”. :)

***
A month or so ago I baked the most delicious almond cake up until then – the recipe by Tamasin Day-Lewis (who happens to be DDL’s sister) became my favorite almond cake the minute I tasted the first bite. But Claudia Roden’s Tarta de Santiago, a cake from a book I want to buy as soon as possible and made with almond meal and almost nothing more, made me rush to the kitchen to try it – and now I love both cakes so much I no longer have one favorite almond cake: I have two. :D

Almond cake (Tarta de Santiago)
slightly adapted from Epicurious; the recipe comes from a book I cannot wait to buy

6 large eggs, separated
pinch of salt
1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
grated zest of 1 orange
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Amaretto
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups (225g) almond meal (finely ground almonds)
confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 28cm (11in) springform pan*, preferably nonstick.
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and the salt in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Transfer to another bowl and set aside. Wash and dry the used bowl and the whisk. Again with the electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the granulated sugar to a smooth pale cream. Beat in the zests, Amaretto and vanilla extract. Add the ground almonds and mix very well.
Fold the whites into the egg and almond mixture (the mixture is thick, so that you will need to turn it over quite a bit into the egg whites).
Pour into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake for 40 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool before turning out.
Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with confectioners' sugar. Or, if you like, cut a St. James cross out of paper. Place it in the middle of the cake, and dust the cake with confectioners' sugar, then remove the paper (I preferred to use a heart-shaped piece of paper).

* I made ¾ of the recipe above and used a 20cm (8in) round cake pan with a removable bottom (regular – not nonstick); I lined the bottom of the pan with a circle of baking paper and buttered and floured the paper as well.

Serves 10

Chewy macaroons + "J. Edgar"

The first time I saw Leonardo DiCaprio was in his – and mine – teenage years: I’d rented "This Boy's Life" expecting to watch another great performance by Robert DeNiro (back in the day when he was a wonderful actor) but what really took me by storm was this boy’s performance, this boy I’d never heard of before, whose face or name I did not recognize (that was way before the whole “Romeo and Juliet” hysteria). I started to pay attention to that talented boy and I wasn’t the only one: after "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" everyone was talking about Leonardo, and I knew for sure that he would become one of the greatest. Ever since, he’s portrayed several fantastic characters and I’ve become a huge fan – that is why I watched "J. Edgar" last night (spoilers below for the ones who haven’t watched the movie yet).

Let’s forget, at least for 5 minutes, the bizarre makeup – it really pisses me off that the minute the movie is mentioned everyone starts talking about the makeup and how bad it looked; yes, it looked awful, but I cannot understand how people can focus on that – and only that – while both DiCaprio and the always fantastic Judi Dench kick some serious ass onscreen – I mean, really? Give me a break.
The way DiCaprio moves around, always holding so much within – especially around his mother – made me claustrophobic; it must be so hard to hide your true essence all the time, so tiring. We all have been there somewhere in our lives, haven’t we? The herculean effort to please our parents, the fear of disappointing them. Throughout the film we see his need to hide behind a façade and the responsibility that comes with it; the power his mother had over him and how he reacts to that – the scene where she tells him that she’d rather have a dead son than a homosexual son and then insists on teaching him how to dance brought tears to my eyes: only a talented actor could portray feelings like those without being exaggerated or sappy, and that kind of subtlety is really hard to find. I haven’t watched "Moneyball" yet but to me Brad Pitt stole DiCaprio’s Oscar nomination – in my world Pitt would never, EVER, be superior to DiCaprio.

From one favorite to another: Nigella Lawson. I’m a huge, huge fan. And if you make these cookies – which are as simple and easy as they’re addictively delicious – you’ll understand why I like her so much. :)

Chewy macaroons
from the always gorgeous and delicious Feast: Food to Celebrate Life

2 cups (200g) almond meal
1 cup (200g) superfine sugar – I used granulated
¼ teaspoon finely ground cardamom
2 egg whites
1-2 tablespoons rosewater
about 28 whole blanched almonds

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F and line two baking sheets with baking parchment*.
Mix together the ground almonds, sugar, ground cardamom and egg whites and knead with your hands or use the flat beater in a freestanding mixer until you have a coherent paste – the dough is very thick, that is why I recommend using the mixer.

Sprinkle some rose water onto your hands and roll the dough into little balls, about the size of smallish walnuts. Place onto prepared sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart and squish them down slightly so they are no longer balls but fat patties – sprinkle more rose water on your palms throughout the process of rolling the dough balls. Stud the center of each disc with a blanched almond and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden at the edges. Cool completely on the baking sheets over a wire rack.
When cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

* some of the cookies stuck to the paper – I think foil would be a better alternative here

Makes about 28 – I made the exact recipe above, used 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie and got 24

Flourless peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

Flour – an ingredient always present in my pantry, essential for someone who loves baking like I do. But sometimes we can go on perfectly well without it and it’s not necessary at all – like Renée Zellweger in “Cold Mountain”. :)

My peanut butter cookie recipe hunt started with this amazing book, but I was really after a flourless version, which I found on Epicurious.
The cookies turned out delicious and tender and were a hit with my little sister, who apparently did not like peanut butter. :) Just be careful when transporting the cookies, because the lack of flour makes them a bit fragile.

Flourless peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies
from Epicurious

1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (170g/6oz) semisweet chocolate chips – I used 70% cocoa solids

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two baking sheets with baking paper.
Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Using moistened hands, form generous 1 tablespoon dough for each cookie into ball. Place onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart.

Bake cookies until puffed, golden on bottom and still soft to touch in center, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.

Makes about 24 cookies – I made the exact recipe above, used 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie and got 38

Venetian carrot cake

I’m not one of those people who think that one has to love everything about their country just because they were born there – no, definitely not my style. There are lots and lots of things about Brazil I’m not fond of, lots of things that need to change.

That said, I have to be honest with you: Nigella’s Venetian carrot cake is good, but our Brazilian carrot cake wins by a landslide. ;)

Venetian carrot cake
slightly adapted from Nigella Kitchen

Cake:
½ cup (77g) golden raisins
¼ cup (60ml) rum
¾ cup (150g) caster (superfine) sugar
½ cup (120ml) regular olive oil, not extra-virgin, plus more for oiling pan
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 ½ cups (250g) almond meal (ground almonds)
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated (about 2 cups)
finely grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
3 tablespoons sliced almonds

Cinnamon scented cream:
1 cup (240m) heavy cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line the base of a 23cm (9in) springform pan with baking paper, then grease the paper and the sides of the pan with olive oil.
Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the rum, and bring to the boil over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
Whisk the sugar and ½ cup of olive oil in a stand mixer or by hand, until creamily and airily mixed together. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs. Fold in the ground almonds, nutmeg, grated carrots, raisins (and any rum that clings to them) and finally the lemon zest and lemon juice.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very shallow in the tin. Sprinkle with the almonds and bake until the top is risen and golden and a cake tester comes out sticky but otherwise more or less clean, about 30 to 40 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the sides. Let cool until ready to serve. Transfer the cake to a serving platter.
Place the cream, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form.
Serve the cake with the cinnamon cream.

Serves 8-10 – I made 2/3 of the recipe above and used a 20cm (8in) round cake pan with a removable bottom