It seems that I tend to celebrate the arrival of each season with them.
Somehow, it always works.
To welcome this year’s spring and Easter, I decided to go for a wonderful, fresh and invigorating citrus flavor.
And here it is.
In fact, the big clever books of baking would call this cake a chiffon cake.
Chiffon cakes are light and moist cakes that use vegetable oil instead of butter. That is the main reason why these cakes do not tend to harden or dry out as traditional butter cakes might.
That is positive, I think.
Frankly, this cake tastes just lovely.
Plus, there’s this delicious citrus glaze that increases the whole fresh experience immensely.
Here’s how you can make it too…
These are the ingredients that will come in handy.
1. First, preheat the oven to 325 °F (165 °C).
2. Wash one tangerine under running water thoroughly.
Pat it dry with a kitchen towel.
Then grate one tablespoon plus one teaspoon peel. We are going to need one tablespoon for the cake and the remaining teaspoon for the glaze.
These hot summer days call for rather unusual measures.
The heat is so high that recently I’ve been finding myself freezing various things just to stay cool and within my senses – there’ve been popsicles (strawberry or yogurt), there’ve been tea and coffee flavored ice cubes, there’s been delicious orange granita…and now, coffee granita.
Though I feel a little cooler now there’s one thing that makes me feel a little uneasy.
In fact, my urge to freeze things has developed into such a state that I am becoming a little afraid…of myself (so, just for the sake of your own safety, if you don’t feel like ending up in a freezer, please, don’t come too close to me these days).
There’s nothing easier than making your own homemade coffee granita.
1. Just prepare two cups of your favorite coffee – espresso or instant, both are yummy.
2. Add 10 teaspoons of sugar…and pssst, just for kicks, pour in some flavored liqueur (coffee, vanilla, cream…anything that makes your soul happy).
3. Allow to cool.
4. Pour this coffee mixture into a larger, shallow container and use plastic wrap to cover the top.
5. Place the container into the freezer for about 1 hour.
6. After one hour, remove the mixture from the freezer and, using a fork, break up the ice crystals that have formed.
Hm, now I see what making granita is all about…it’s about a vigorous and aggressive fight against the crystal structure of ice.
7. Cover and return the container back to the freezer.
8. Repeat this procedure four more times – every hour, until the mixture is thoroughly frozen. Be sure to break any big chunks and keep your granita fluffy.
9. Keep frozen until ready to serve.
Yummilicious!
I am sure you or your guests will highly appreciate this interesting twist on coffee or dessert.
To some of you – who have been raised on typical American pancakes – these might sound and look quite exotic.
Right?
Yeah, they are those delicate things that those weird, delicate Europeans eat.
… With their delicate fingers.
On the other hand, those of you who come from Europe, might perceive crepes as something very similar to oxygen you breathe. I guess they are this much common and usual all over the old continent.
And you, dear Europeans, look at the American chubby pancakes with kinda perplexed look in your eyes.
Don’t you?
Well, now that we are clear about the difference between Europe and America (which definitely lies in the preferred thickness of pancakes) we can have a look at the origin of the word ‘crêpe’.
That, in fact, comes from Latin ‘crispa’, meaning ‘curled’.
How lovely!
I guess the one who has invented this dish must have had an excellent sense for cuteness – because these beauties, with their adorable shape and their scrumptious taste, represent pure, heart-touching cuteness to me.
But hey!
What about the rest of the world?
Do you eat pancakes or crepes?
I’d really like to know…
This is what you are going to need in order to prepare you own delicious crepes.
The ingredients are very simple and easy to find in everyone’s pantry.
1. The first step is awesome, I think.
You just place the flour, eggs, milk, water, sugar and salt into a larger bowl and whisk it till it’s smooth.
You don’t even have to pay attention to what comes first.
Initially, the batter will look rather lumpy – which means some more mixing is needed.
Sooner or later there comes the point when the batter becomes perfectly smooth.
2. Pour one tablespoon of the vegetable oil into a medium sized frying pan (I used 7-inch – 18 cm pan).
3. Heat the pan over medium heat – we definitely don’t need too strong heat here.
4. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using approximately 1/4 cup (60 ml) for each crepe.
5. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
6. Cook the crepe for about 30 – 40 seconds, until the bottom is light brown.
7. Loosen the edges with a spatula, …
8. … turn and cook the other side.
9. Place the crepes on a separate plate and let cool a little – just until they can be handled with your hands.
10. Then spread about 2 tablespoon jam over the surface of each crepe …
11. … and roll it up.
12. Serve warm.
Sweet crepes can be garnished with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
Enjoy, dear friends.
(This recipe makes 7 crepes.)
Would you like to know what I’ve been doing for the past two hours?
Sitting in the kitchen and staring at the Mini Apple Pies I’ve just made.
I LOVE the way they look… so cute, adorable and so much fun to make.
And I haven’t even started talking about the way they taste – it’s left me speechless… up till now…
Just try making them – your family will love you and your kids will surely be awed and remember them for quite some time.
These are the ingredients:
And this is how the story goes:
1. Place the flour, sugar (2 tablespoons/30 grams) and salt in the bowl of your electric mixer.
Stir with a spoon until combined (don’t use the mixer yet… unless you want to disappear in white, dusty fog forever).
2. Add the butter (1 cup – 226 grams) and mix (now you have the permission to use the mixer) until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) water in a slow, steady stream until the dough holds together when pinched. If necessary, pour more water.
Mix for only about 30 seconds.
4. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour before using.
5. Meanwhile, we can prepare the filling…
Peel the apples (I am using Golden Delicious here), core them and cut them into teeny tiny dices.
Place the cut apples into a bowl.
6. Add the sugar (1/2 cup – 100 grams), lemon juice, salt (1/4 teaspoon), cornstarch (some of you may know this as corn flour) and the wonderful, fragrant, heavenly cinnamon.
(What would I just be without cinnamon…? Probably some purposeless creature. I am sorry for this purposeless note.)
7. Melt the butter (2 tablespoons/30 grams) in your microwave and add it to the mixture.
8. Mix, mix, mix.
I am glad to inform you that now we’ve reached the apple filling perfection.
Please, be stronger than me and try not to feast on this heavenly mixture at this stage.
9. Preheat the oven to 356 F (180 C).
10. Grease your regular sized muffin tin with vegetable oil.
As you can see I am using a silicone muffin tin – this one doesn’t need much oil… if any.
11. For our mini pies we need the bottom crust and the top crust – the bottom circle being slightly wider than the top one.
Hence, I searched my house for two glasses – the bigger one measuring about 4 1/2 inch (11 cm) and the smaller onebeing about 3 1/2 inch (8,5 cm) in diameter.
These perfectly fitted the regular muffin cup – which should be about 2 1/2 inch (6,5 cm) in diameter.
Enough with numbers.
I dipped the glass in flour.
12. I removed the dough from the fridge and placed it on a lightly floured surface.
Using a rolling pin, I rolled it out to about 0.1-inch (3 mm) thickness.
Then I went on and cut out a circle from the dough.
13. Now press the circle gently into the muffin cup.
14. Fill the dough with the apple mixture so that it comes over the top of the muffin cup.
15. This is the smaller glass being dipped in flour.
Using the smaller glass, cut out another circle and…
16. … put it on top of your pie.
With your finger, press the edges down gently.
Then, using a fork, create some nice ornament.
Let your fantasy fly free and create any ornaments that come to your mind.
Here, I grabbed my bamboo chopstick and created another decoration.
At long last, my chopsticks found some use around here… I think they are happy now…
17. Using a sharp knife (which is exactly what I am NOT using here), make two slits in the centers of your cute pies to allow the steam to escape.
Continue doing this process until you’ve run out of the dough and apple filling.
18. Place in the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
19. Once they are done take them out of the oven and let them sit for about 15 or 20 minutes so they get cool enough to handle.
Enjoy dear friends!
This recipe makes 11 pies.
(If you’d like to see more of my posts, click this.)
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