Monthly Archives: November 2009

My Mom Is Gorgeous!

mom's-new-painting-II

This is my Mom’s new oil painting.

I have said it many times before -  my Mom is just gorgeous!

She is the kindest person in the whole wide world and she has always been my greatest inspiration.

I love you Mom!

Snickerdoodles

snickerdoodles-display-II

These cookies are traditional and time has proven that they are really, really good.

They have great buttery sweet flavor and are covered in spicy cinnamon.

When you bite into one you will find the edges are wonderfully crisp yet inside they are soft and chewy.

Mmmmm, absolutely moreish!

~~~

To prepare the lovely Snickerdoodles you need:

1 1/3 cup (180 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup (110 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Coating you need:

1/5 cup (30 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

~~~

1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

snickerdoodles-flour-mixture-and-electric-mixer-with-flour-and-butter

3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

4. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth (about 3 minutes).

5. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and beat well.

6. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

snickerdoodles-cutting-dough

7. Shape the dough into a log and cut it into equal pieces.

8. Form a small ball from each piece.

A ball of about 1-inch (2,5 cm) in diameter will make a 2-inches (5 cm) cookie after baking.

snickerdoodles-mixing-sugar-with-cinnamon

9. And now we are going to prepare the coating.

This couldn’t be easier, we just mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

snickerdoodles-rolling-in-cinnamon-sugar

10. Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar.

snickerdoodle-on-sheet-before-flattening

11. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.

snickerdoodles-flattening-II

12. Flatten each cookie gently using the bottom of a glass.

snickerdoodle-display-I

13. Bake for 8 minutes.

Replace from the oven and leave on the baking sheet for about 5 more minutes to cool!

Enjoy!

You can store these cookies in an airtight container, at room temperature, for about two weeks.

This recipe makes about 40 (2-inches/5 cm diameter) cookies.

If you’d like to see more of my posts, click THIS.

Budapest In November

budapest-boat-on-danube

Yesterday we had to go to Budapest.

It was an unplanned trip and we were quite busy.

But I managed to steal a few moments for taking pictures.

budapest-coffee

The weather was, well, like in November.

I decided  to warm myself up with a BIG cup of steaming coffee.

Accidentally, I ended up with the tiniest cup possible.

But it looked cute in the picture … .

I like to look at the bright side of things.

It helps me a lot!

budapest

And it seems that no matter what the time of the year it is, people still want to have fun.

But these guys went a bit too far I think!

They were supposed to stay on the road, weren’t they?

(Update: I checked them out and can’t stop listening to their intro song, it is gorgeous.)

budapest-gulls

Do you think it’s criminal to throw a rock in the river just to see some gulls take off?

It is?

I didn’t do that then.

Not at all!

Poor little gulls, that would scare them… .

budapest-parliament

Oh, how I love this building – the Hungarian Parliament.

It looks like if they’d let thousands of people add what they liked to the facade while they were building it.

Somebody is going to hate me for what I’ve just said… .

But I truly love the looks of that building!

budapest-suitcase

I started to feel a bit insecure when I had noticed this.

A suitcase in the park next to the Parliament?

There could be a bomb inside, that’s what I thought.

But luckily, I was wrong.

budapest-munching-guy

I love it when people create lovely funny things and have fun…

budapest-munching-couple

… I love that so much!

Picasso Teddy Bear

picasso-teddy-bear

Let me introduce my new crochet creation to you, …

… this is Picasso Teddy Bear!

I was planning to make it really small and simple at first.

It was supposed to have neither arms nor legs.

But as he was coming to life he kept asking for more.

He even seemed to be very cold, not able to survive without a warm scarf and a cap.

And now I just can’t get rid of the impression that he could be a talented painter and really deserves his own painting brush and a palette …

Brownie Tart

brownie-tart

This Brownie Tart recipe is very unique and interesting because it changes casual brownies into an elegant dessert.

The trick is done by exchanging the usual square baking pan for the more formal tart pan.

And that is not all!

There are polka dots of delicious ganache that cover the surface of the tart.

Trust me, eating this dense, moist and fudgy chocolate wonder is pure bliss!

~~~

To make the Brownie Tart you need:

1 cup (110 grams) walnuts, toasted and chopped

14 tablespoons (200 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 ounces (85 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup (45 grams) unsweetened cocoa

 

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

 

 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 ounces (85 grams) cream cheese

1/2 cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

To make the Ganache you need:

2 ounces (55 grams) semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream

~~~

1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

brownie-tart-walnuts

2. Toast nuts for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned and fragrant.

Let cool and chop into pieces.

Set aside.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 F (165 C).

4. Grease or spray you fluted tart pan with a nonstick vegetable oil and then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

brownie-tart-melting-butter

5. In a metal bowl, placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter.

brownie-tart-melted-butter-and-chocolate

6. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth.

Then remove from the heat.

brownie-tart-adding-cocoa

7. Add the cocoa, …

brownie-tart-adding-sugar

8. …  and the sugar.

brownie-tart-mixing-with-eggs-added

9. Then add the eggs (one at a time) beating well after each addition.

brownie-tart-adding-cream-cheese

10. Beat in the vanilla and then stir in the cream cheese.

brownie-tart-adding-flour-and-salt

11. Add the flour and salt and mix until incorporated.

brownie-tart-adding-nuts

12. Stir in the nuts.

brownie-tart-batter-in-tart-pan

13. Pour the batter into the tart pan and spread it evenly with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes.

brownie-tart-pouring-cream-into-chocolate

14. While the tart is baking you can make the ganache.

Place the chopped chocolate into a small bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil.

Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate.

brownie-tart-mixing-whipped-cream-and-chocolate-chunks

15. Stir until smooth.

brownie-tart-making-holes

16. Remove the tart from the oven and let cool for about 20 minutes.

Then remove the tart from the pan.

With the end of a wooden spoon that is well greased (I dipped it in vegetable oil) make holes into the top of the tart.

It is good to twist the wooden spoon while inserting it. Thus you prevent the tart from tearing.

brownie-tart-filling-with-ganache

17. Using a small spoon (or a pastry bag, or a small plastic bag) fill the holes with the ganache.

Let the tart cool completely and then cover and refrigerate.

brownie-tart-inside

18. Well, only one half happened to get refrigerated in our household.

Yummy!

This recipe was adapted from here.

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