Banana walnut cake (with quinoa flour)

As I previously told you, I’ve been having fun baking with different kinds of flour – and there’s a lot to come, I guarantee. :D

As for this cake, it is really good – my sister loved it – but hasn’t dethroned my favorite banana cake. I found the walnuts a bit bitter after being toasted twice – I’m using sliced almonds next time I make this recipe.

Banana walnut cake
from Good to the Grain

2 cups (210g) walnut pieces
½ cup (60g) quinoa flour
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) cold unsalted butter, chopped into 1.25cm (½in) pieces
½ cup (88g) dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
3 ripe bananas, whole
2 eggs
1/3 cup (87g) sour cream – I used plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 23cm (9in) round cake pan.
Measure the walnuts onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven until light golden-brown and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any bits of grain or other ingredient that may remain in the sifter. Set aside. Grind 1 cup of the toasted walnuts in a food processor, about 15 seconds. With a sharp knife, finely chop the remaining cup of walnuts and reserve – the chopped nuts will be added later as a topping.
Add the butter and sugars to the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the bananas and mix on medium for 30 seconds or until the bananas are broken down. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined. Again, scrape the sides of the bowl.
Add the ground walnuts and the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined; remove the bowl from the mixer and finish mixing using a spatula, until smooth.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the reserved walnuts and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan.
Wrapped in plastic, the cake can be kept for up to 3 days.

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

Walnut and orange snowballs

This is my last holiday recipe and also the last post of the year – now it’s time to finish up wrapping the presents and start preparing the food for Christmas Eve.

I wish you all wonderful holidays – thank you for keeping me company in 2009. I hope to see you all here in January!

xx

Walnut and orange snowballs
from Donna Hay magazine

250g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
1 cup (105g) walnuts, finely chopped
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
2 ½ cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (375g) all purpose flour, sifted
icing sugar, sifted, extra, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 10-15 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the walnuts, orange zest and flour and beat in slow speed until combined.
Roll two teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls, place onto prepared baking sheets 5cm (2in) apart and flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes then dust well with the extra icing sugar.

Makes 55 – I got 42

Baklava muffins

When I began reading food blogs (many months before starting my own) I noticed that many people had a love/hate relationship with two ladies: Nigella and Martha Stewart. I did not know much about them but soon became a huge fan of both. That is why I chose a recipe by Nigella as the first recipe ever posted on my blog in Portuguese.

That was a long time ago and I felt like baking these muffins again – they are really good. I did not have this blog in English back then, that’s why I post these here right now.

Baklava muffins
from here

Filling:
scant ½ cup (50g) chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted

Muffins:
1 cup + 7 tablespoons (210g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup (50g) sugar
1 large egg
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Topping:
about ½ cup honey

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper baking cups.

Mix all the filling ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add sugar.
In a wide-mouthed measuring cup, whisk the egg, melted butter and buttermilk. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid. Mix lightly and gently, remembering to keep it bumpy – I used a fork to mix it.
Fill the cups 1/3 full, add a scant tablespoon of filling, then cover with more muffin batter until 2/3 full.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the muffins from the pan and place them on a rack. Drizzle with honey.

Makes 12 – each well in my muffin pan holds 1/3 cup batter and I got 11 muffins

I'm back! With really nice brownies

I’m back from my trip and all I can say is that I’ve had the time of my life. Something that I had wanted to do forever, a dream come true.

I want to thank you all for your best wishes and your words - it's fantastic to know I have so many great friends!

Now I’m back home and back at work too, but haven’t cooked anything different. I haven’t baked either. Luckily, I made these brownies a few days before my trip, as a gift for my dentist and his assistants (the same people I baked these cookies for) and by the look on their face when they received the boxes (especially the girls, I have a feeling that maybe my dentist thinks I'm trying to ruin their teeth with all those sweets) I am almost sure they liked it. :)

These brownies are really, really good. Simple, quick to put together, but the result will surprise you in a wonderful way. I used a recipe from this book (hey, Bri!!) and adapted a little the types of chocolate used.

It’s good to be back and I can’t wait to see what you all have been cooking and baking – looking forward to visiting your blogs and catching up!

Classic Brownies
from Baking: From My Home to Yours

5 tablespoons (70g) unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces
112g (4 ounces) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
56g (2 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
¾ cup (150g) sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional, I used it)
¼ - ½ teaspoon salt (according to taste, I used ¼)
1/3 cup (47g) all purpose flour
1 cup (115g) chopped walnuts

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF. Line a 20cm (8-inch)* square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with the chocolates and stir occasionally until the ingredients are just melted - you don’t want them to get to shot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
With a whisk, stir in the sugar. Don’t be concerned when your smooth mixture turns grainy. One by one, whisk in the eggs. Add the vanilla and give the ingredients a vigorous whisking before gently stirring tin the espresso, if you’re using it, salt and flour; stir only until incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the chopped walnuts.
Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula.
Bake the brownies for 30 to 33 minutes or until the top is dull and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the brownies for room temperature.
When the brownies are completely cool, turn out onto a rack, peel away the foil and invert onto a cutting board – if you do this, the cracked top might be ruined. I preferred to use longer foil pieces, forming “handles” in the baking pan – then I just lifted the whole thing, placed onto a cutting board and cut the brownies, removing them carefully from the foil.
Cut into 16 squares.

* I used a 25cm square pan so my brownies were a bit flat.

Makes 16

Walnut camafeus

For this Monthly Mingle, I wanted to make something Brazilian – brigadeiro crossed my mind. But I decided to make something a little bit fancier and prettier.



Camafeus are bite-sized sweets served in parties here, especially weddings - it is a Portuguese candy that has become part of our cooking traditions.
I tried to find more info about the origin of camafeus but didn’t – I read many, many years ago somewhere that its name comes from cameo, but I’m not sure.

I used a recipe from a Brazilian website.

Happy Birthday, Meeta! And happy blog anniversary!

Walnut camafeus

250g ground walnuts
2 cans (395g each) sweetened condensed milk
½ tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs
3 egg yolks

Decoration:
walnuts cut in 4 pieces – for this recipe I used 180g walnuts
fondant*
edible golden glitter
clear spirit – I used cachaça

Place all the ground walnuts, condensed milk, cocoa powder, butter, eggs and egg yolks in a large saucepan. Mix well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly – when the bottom of the pan starts to show and the mixture gets thick, remove from heat. Pour into a large greased plate and set aside to cool. Don’t use it unless it’s completely cool.
Grease your hands with a little butter and grab small portions of the mixture. Form into small “sausages”, about 3.5cm long and 2cm thick. Set aside.
Place the fondant in a glass bowl and set over gently simmering water and until it’s melted – keep it warm otherwise it will harden again. Very carefully, drop each “sausage” into the fondant and remove quickly, covering it completely. Place over waxed paper. Place a ¼ walnut over each candy – you need to be quick and do this while the fondant is still soft.
Place the camafeus in paper cases.
I painted each ¼ walnut before using them: place some edible golden glitter in a very small bowl and add a few drops of clear spirit to dissolve the powder. Mix until a thin paste forms. Using a small paintbrush, paint each ¼ walnut and place on waxed paper. Set aside to dry for at least 2 hours.

*too complicated to make at home. I used store-bought – it’s not expensive and will last for a long time

Makes 120 camafeus

Ricotta and walnut ravioli

My dad loves pasta – I used to cook it for him twice a week, sometimes even more.
My husband is even crazier about it – he asks for spaghetti all the time! :)

One day, at home, I was showing him some of my favorite blogs and he saw Deb’s raviolis… Needless to say he started asking for homemade raviolis and only stopped yesterday, when I finally faced my fear and decided to make them.

I don’t have a pasta machine – I used only a rolling pin and my not so strong arms. Not a problem, since Deb’s recipe is a winner and if you follow her instructions and let the pasta “rest” for 1 hour it will be soft enough to be rolled out.

I added some spinach but I only got green “dots” – next time I’ll make it right in order to have green pasta.

Joao’s raviolis were filled with ground beef and mine with ricotta and nuts – the recipe that follows, which is enough to fill all the pasta.

This is a delicious recipe and I’m definitely making it again and again – Joao even said something about us buying a pasta machine… :)

Not in the mood for homemade pasta yet? Check Béa’s and Jeff’s raviolis and I bet you’ll change your mind.

Ricotta and walnut ravioli

Pasta:
210g all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water

Filling:
200g ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
7 walnuts, halved
salt to taste

Pasta:
Mound flour on a work surface, preferably wooden, and make a well in center. Add eggs and salt. With a fork, gently beat eggs until combined. Gradually stir in enough flour to form a paste, pulling in flour closest to egg mixture and being careful not to make an opening in outer wall of well. Knead remaining flour into mixture with your hands to form a dough, adding the water (dough should be firm and not sticky). Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Place it in a dish, cover with an inverted bowl and let stand 1 hour.

For the filling: Lightly toast the walnuts on a skillet over low heat. Place them on a clean kitchen towel until they cool down. Chop them.
Place the ricotta, salt, olive oil and parsley in a food processor and mix well. Add the walnuts and mix by hand.

On a lightly floured surface, place amounts of pasta and roll out with a rolling pin, making a rectangle.
Drop mounds of filling in a row down center of one half of sheet. Brush egg wash around each mound – I used water - then fold other half of sheet over filling. Press down firmly around each mound, forcing out air. (Air pockets increase the chance that ravioli will break during cooking.)
Cut pasta (between mounds) with cutter into 3-inch rounds – I didn’t have Deb’s fancy cutter so I used this gadget I use for my rolled fondant cakes.
Line a large shallow baking pan with baking paper then arrange ravioli in 1 layer in it:

Proceed with the remaining pasta/filling the same way.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add ravioli, carefully stirring to separate, and, adjusting heat to keep water at a gentle boil, cook until pasta is just tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a colander.
Serve at once with your favorite sauce.

Serves 2 - generously.