Simple Fruit Cake

Only 5 minutes to make, and 45 to bake
Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Source: My mom

Ingredients:
- 100 g sugar
- 125 g margarine (+ a pinch of salt if using unsalted margarine or unsalted butter)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (160 g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 granny smith apple, peeled and sliced
Serves 8

Directions:
1. Beat margarine with sugar with a whisk or in a mixer.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
3. Grease a 9 inch pie pan, and spread the dough.
4. Add the fruit on top and gently press them in, just a little. In my case I added Granny Smith apples, but you can use plums, peaches apricots or other fruit.
5. Sprinkle the top with 1 tbsp of sugar. You can also add cinnamon or use vanilla sugar.
6. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 40-50 minutes. Check readiness with a toothpick.

Afterthoughts:
The top should be light golden, don't wait for golden brown - the cake might get too dry.

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Buttermilk Pie Bars

Custardy, light and super easy to make
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Source: adapted from here and there

Ingredients:
For the crust
- 150 g animal crackers
- 1/3 cup (70 g) butter, melted
For the filling
- 4 Tbsp flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange extract (or lemon extract, or omit)

Instructions:
1. Grease a 5'x7' pyrex pan and preheat the oven to 350F
2. Place the crackers in a food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs
3. Pour melted butter into cracker crumbs, mix well, and spread to cover the bottom of the pyrex pan
4. Mix all the filling ingredients and pour over the crumb base
5. Bake for 55 minutes or until the top is light golden and the pie is still soft but no longer liquid.

Afterthoughts:
- This was a really easy recipe and worked very well the first time around. But I used 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the aftertaste in the mouth was a bit too sweet. So I will cut the sugar to 1 cup next time.
- Might be wise to check the pie after 40 minutes or so depending on the oven.

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Cranberry Crunch Cookies

Gooey and crunchy cookies. Perfect with milk, coffee, or as an ice cream sandwich.
Source: slightly modified from Better Homes and Gardens
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)
Taste: 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients: 
- 1/2 cup of margerine
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- 200 g of Post Cranberry Cornflakes (or similar cereal)
Total: about 30 cookies

Directions:
1. Beat the margarine in a mixer on high speed for about 1 minute to soften. Add the sugar and the vanilla extract and beat for 2 more minutes. Add the egg and beat until incorporated.
2. Mix in the flour and the baking powder just until incorporated (no more than 30 seconds, you don't want to overmix the flour).
3. Crush the cereal either with the fingers or in a food processor (5-10 pulses). It should not be powder, just smaller chunks. Add the flakes to the batter and mix.
4. Line a large baking sheet (or 2 baking sheets, if not so large) with parchment paper. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the dough onto the baking sheet. The cookies will significantly spread (to about double the area), so space them generously. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 10-15 minutes until the cookies start getting firm. They will remain rather pale, so no need to wait for the golden color.
5. Let the cookies cool on the sheet before eating. They can be stored in an airtight container for about a week (but you will probably finish them sooner).

Afterthoughts:
The batter is a bit gooey and the cereal is crunchy, so overall you get a little bit of every texture. And the yummy taste of Cranberry Crunch. 

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Cake Louise

Crumbly base, raspberry jam and coconut meringue
Source: Adapted from Chelsea Sugar

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5) - very long process

Ingredients:
For the base:
- 125g butter, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
For the topping:
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup long thread coconut
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam
Total: 12 servings, 2760 calories, 230 cal / serving

Directions:
1. Grease a 9x13 inches baking pan, and preheat oven to 340F.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in one egg yolk at a time.
4. Add the flour and the baking powder.
5. Mix until the batter has a texture of breadcrumbs. Pour into the baking pan, distribute evenly and press slightly. and bake for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from the over and the let the base cool at room temperature for 5 minutes.
7. Increase the over temperature to 350F.
8. While the base cools down, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Gradually add the sugar, add vanilla at the end. The mixture should be glossy.
9. Gently fold in the coconut.
10. Spread the raspberry jam over the base, then spread the egg whites on top.
11. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the meringue starts turning golden.
12. Cool to room temperature before cutting.

Afterthoughts:
- This is a wonderful cake, good for breakfast and dessert. I've made it lots and lots of times. As dessert can be even better if served with ice cream.
- The original recipe was way to sweet for me and had too much coconut which made the meringue too heavy and soggy.
- If you store this cake in the fridge, the base becomes soggy. If you store it outside in an air tight container the base will remain crumbly. For me storage is not the problem, restricting the consumption is.

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Canele muffin

Custard muffin would be more accurate 
Source: Bruno Albouze

Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup milk
- 23 g butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 egg yolks
- 112 g white sugar
- 60 g all-purpose flour
- 15 g corn starch
- 10 ml rum
- 10 ml Grand Marnier
Total: 6 caneles / canele muffins

Directions:
1. In a small pot combine milk, vanilla and butter and bring to 180F.
2. In the meantime, in a stand mixer, beat together the egg yolks with the sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and the corn starch.
4. Pour the warm milk into the egg yolks while beating to temper the egg yolks.
5. Add the flour and continue whisking / beating, until combined.
6. Add the rum / Grand Marnier.
7. You will get about 1 1/2 cups of batter. In my case it was pretty liquid. Not sure if that was the intention. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 12 hours.
8. I used a silicon mould for 6 muffins (about 1/2 cup each). Preheat the oven to 425F (or 450F in my hypo-energetic oven).
9. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into each mould (no need to grease when suing silicon.)
10. Bake at 425F for 25 minutes and then at 380F (400F for me) for another 30 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool in the moulds. When cool, they will come out very easily.

Afterthoughts:
- I made these twice last week. They taste good, but come out custardy. Caneles should be drier and have a more cake-like texture. I am not sure if this is the fault of the recipe, my oven or the lack of an appropriate mould.
- This blog is called trial and error. I would put this in the error category, unless you want a custard muffin.

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Simple Loaf Cake

Simple base recipe. Makes a perfect loaf cake every time. Add more flavours and ingredients as you like.
Source: a friend

Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Taste: 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 200 g salted margarine
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda mixed with 1 tbsp lemon concentrate
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tbsp rum
Total: 2 loaf cakes, 560 g each, 5300 calories, 20 servings, 265 calorie / serving of 55g

Directions:
1. Beat the margarine and the sugar until uniform and light (3-5 minutes in a stand mixer on medium speed).
2. Continue beating and add remaining ingredients in the order listed.
3. Divide the batter equally among 2 loaf pans (greased or lined with parchment paper). In my case each pan with batter weights about 940g.
4. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for about 40-50 minutes until the loafs are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The ovens may vary. In my oven I bake at 375F for 45 minutes.
5. Let the cake cool to room temperature before eating. If you want to store the cake, slice it, lay out individual slices on a baking sheet and freeze (if you freeze them together, they will stick to each other and will be hard to separate). Take out the slices as needed and defrost at room temperature for 15-30 minutes or in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or overnight. Freezing only adds moisture to the cake.

Afterthoughts:
- I've been making this cake for years, it's a really fail-proof recipe, and requires very simple ingredients that are pretty much always on hand.
- If you have self rising flour, skip the baking powder and the baking soda.
- You can add cranberries or raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips or apples (about 100g of each.) Of coarse, not all at once, or the cake will not rise. If you are adding these, you might need to increase the baking times.
- You can also add vanilla essence or mango / lychee, orange, etc., about 1/2 tbsp.

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Cassava Cake

Flourless custardy cake with amazing tropical flavors
Source: adapted from AllRecipes
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 package / 1 lb / 2 cups frozen grated cassava, thawed
- 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 eggs
Total: 12 servings

Directions:
1. Reserve 2 tbsp. of condensed milk and 2 tbsp. of coconut milk and mix them together.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large blender (about 30 seconds on power 10 in a Vitamix.)
3. Preheat the oven to 350F (or 375F for my oven - it likes special attention.)
4. Grease a 6x9 inch baking dish with coconut oil (not sure this step is really needed, but just in case.) Or if using a smaller dish, you can pour some of the dough into individual serving ramekins and have more variety.
5. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Your oven might be more agile than mine, so I would check after 1 hour, if the cake looks golden brown and seems to have solidified, you are ready for the next step.
6. Remove the cake from the oven, pour the mixture of condensed and coconut milk over the cake and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
7. With the cake in the oven, turn the broiler on high for about 2 minutes until the top caramelizes.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool. Chill completely in the refrigerator.

Afterthoughts:
- Tres leches cake with cassava and coconut. Perfect with ice cream.
- I thought it would be too liquid, but it turned out moist and just right. The only thing is: it separated into 2 layers with some cream accumulated in the middle. I suspect it's because I poured the extra liquids towards the end. Probably the top was still unbaked but the bottom solidified and the milk could not penetrate it. Maybe I will skip the step of adding milk towards the end next time to see what happens.

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Pecan Pie or Bars

Delicious, crumbly, soft and gooey - all that a pecan pie should be
Source: Adapted from allrecipes

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
For the crust:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup margarine
For the filling:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 unpacked brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp margarine melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
Total: 16 squares or 1 9 inch pie

Directions:
1. Grease a 9 inch pie pan or a 10x10 baking dish, if making the bars. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix the flour, the sugar and the salt. Add cold margarine or butter and work it into the flour using Pastry Blender
3. Press the dough (with your hands or a small rolling pin) into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
4. In the meantime prepare the filling. Melt the margarine and let cool slightly (it should be tepid, but still liquid).
5. Lightly mix the eggs with corn syrup and brown sugar until the sugar dissolves.
6. Add vanilla extract and margarine and mix well again.
7. Mix in the pecans.
8. When the crust is ready, pour the filling over it and continue cooking for another 35 minutes, until the filling solidifies.
9. Leave the bars in the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. It's better to refrigerate the pie overnight before removing from the pan and slicing.

Afterthoughts:
- The bars taste great, but I would still like to improve this recipe.
- The original recipe calls for more sugar and corn syrup for the filling. I find it to be too much as it is. I might reduce corn syrup to 1/4 or 1/3 cup next time.
- The eggs create a little foam in the filling. I tried to beat them as little as possible, but could not skip the beating completely because I had to dissolve the brown sugar. Maybe next time I should try mixing the sugar with the melted margarine, and once the lumps are dissolved, adding the eggs.
- There were some dryer and wetter patches on the crust. The crust dough was very flaky. Maybe next time I should use a bit more margarine for binding, and bake the crust for 25 minutes,

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Fat Free Carrot Cake

A slice of delicious moist cake for only 135 calories!
Source: Mom on Timeout

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5), if the carrots are already shredded

Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (130 cal)
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar (1160 cal)
- 3 eggs (210 cal)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (870 cal)
- 1 tsp baking soda mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice or apple vinegar to activate
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups grated carrots (135 cal)
- 1 tsp vanilla (10 cal)
- 1 cup Dole pineapple in juice, crushed, not drained (160 cal)
Total: 9x13 inch cake, 20 servings, 2675 cal, 135 cal / serving

Directions:
1. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking sheet.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix (you don't really need a mixer for this batter, a whisk is enough)
3. Pour the ingredients into a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking sheet and cook in oven preheated to 350F for about 40 minutes, until the cake is golden and a toothpick tester comes out clean. (In my oven it always takes much longer, I baked on 375F for 70 minutes.)
4. Let cool on a rack, slice and serve.

Afterthoughts:
- Only when I started mixing all the ingredients I noticed that there is no butter or oil in the recipe. I was skeptical if it would turn out ok, but it was too late to look for another recipe, so I continued, and the cake turned out really delicious. I would not be able to guess that it's completely fat free (well, of course there is fat in eggs, etc.)
- I completely skipped the frosting from the original recipe. I also skipped the nuts, added more carrots instead, skipped the cinnamon (it's not the cinnamon's fault, it's me), and reduced the sugar. The cake still turned out sweet and delicious.

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Yogurt Panna Cotta

A healthier version of a classic Italian dessert
Source: Adapted from An Italian Cooking in the Midwest

Taste: 3 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup non-fat yogurt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- 3 tbsp cold water
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp lingonberry syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Total: 4-6 servings (depending on serving size)

Directions:
1. Soak the gelatin in cold water for about 5-10 minutes until it blooms.
2. In the mean time warm the milk until it starts to boil. Add the sugar, the lingonberry extract and the vanilla and mix. Add the gelatin and mix until dissolved.
3. Remove the milk from the heat and add the yogurt. Mix well.
4. Using a strainer to leave out gelatin lumps, pour the mixture into serving bowls and refrigerate for several hours until set.
5. Decorate with your favorite fruit or sauce and serve cold.

Afterthoughts:
- I have to admit that I have deviated from the original recipe, it called for Greek yogurt, and I used a non-fat one, so my "panna cotta" lacked any creaminess and was more similar to yogurt jello. Another addition to the recipe that I made, using the lingonberry syrup, was probably another mistake, because as soon as I added it to the hot milk, it started separating. I love lingonberry syrup in milkshakes, it adds a really nice sweet and tangy flavor, but I did not account for the milk temperature in this case. So my panna cotta also did not look very pretty. Fortunately, the fruit topic hid the most of my wrong doings :-). And overall, after a heavy dinner, this panna cotta turned out to be a nice tangy dessert.
- This post was my SRC assignment. Just in case you don't know yet, SRC, or the Secret Recipe Club is a group of over a hundred food bloggers, who are assigned a "secret" blog each months. Then they choose a recipe from that blog, make it and post it on their own blog on a given reveal day. Then there is a big party, where you hop from one blog to another and check what everyone's been cooking. Lots of fun! And terrible for your diet ;-) I want to thank Amanda, Jane and April for making it all possible!
- Pola, the author of Italian in the Midwest, as the name of her blog suggests, has a lot of yummy Italian recipes on her blog, some classic and some with very original twists, for example her eggplant pesto. I will be back for that recipe.

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Crunchy Nutella Bites

Crunchy no bake Nutella treats in 15 minutes. 
Source: Adapted from Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites on Cook Lisa Cook

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (270 cal)
- 1/4 cup cocoa (50 cal)
- 1/4 cup Nutella (400 cal)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (5 cal)
- 1 cup ground walnuts (185 cal)
- 1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies (160 cal)
Total: 16 servings, 970 cal, 60 cal / serving

Directions:
1. In a food processor blend the coconut oil, cocoa, Nutella and vanilla extract until smooth. If your kitchen is hot and the coconut oil is liquid you can easily blend all these ingredients by hand in less than a minute.
2. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and stir in the ground walnuts and Rice Krispies.
3. Evenly scoop the mixture into a mini silicone muffin mold. Or in absence of one, with slightly wet hands roll small balls and place on a plate lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until set.
4. If you used a mold, press the bottom of each muffin cup to release the bites. Keep refrigerated.

Afterthoughts:
- These cute desserts are really light and crunchy, and perfect for anyone who loves Nutella. And it only takes 15 minutes to make them and then 15 more minutes to wait until they set in the fridge.
- This recipe uses Nutella instead of peanut butter and honey in the original recipe. Maybe peanut butter is a little stickier than Nutella and the peanut butter bites end up a little firmer. My Nutella balls were very delicate. Maybe next time I will try adding a little peanut butter or sunflower butter or even date paste.
- It would be nice to put these on a stick and coat them with chocolate for Chocolate coated crunchy Nuteall pops. But I wanted to try them right away and did not have enough patience to melt the chocolate :-). Oh well, next time...
- This post was my SRC assignment. Just in case you don't know yet, SRC, or the Secret Recipe Club is a group of over a hundred food bloggers, who are assigned a "secret" blog each months. Then they choose a recipe from that blog, make it and post it on their own blog on a given reveal day. Then there is a big party, where you hop from one blog to another and check what everyone's been cooking. Lots of fun! And terrible for your diet ;-) I want to thank Amanda, Jane and April for making it all possible!
- Cook Lisa Cook, from which this recipe was adopted, is a wonderful blog. Lisa cooks with her charming sous-chef, Maisie, and they have lots of yummy recipes. When I was browsing the blog to choose a recipe for SRC, I put together a list of things to try, and I will be coming back for them: Lacy cheese crackers, Walnut Roca squares and Copycat KFC coleslaw

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Raw chocolate date mousse

Probably the best chocolate mousse I've even had, perfect texture, a little nutty, super simple to make and you would never suspect it of being raw
Source: Vegan Magic blog

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 can (400 ml) creamy coconut cream (at least 75% fat, make sure the texture is very smooth) (1320 cal)
- 5 tbsp (1/3 cup) cocoa powder (60 cal)
- 1 cup (tightly packed) soft dried dates (18 in this case) (1200 cal)
- a few drops of vanilla extract
Total: 2 cups, 8 servings, 2580 cal, 320 cal/serving

Directions:
1. Refrigerate the can of coconut cream overnight to solidify and separate. Carefully turn it upside down, open and discard the transparent liquid (or reserve it to add in a smoothie or curry).
2. Peel the dates. This will be the most time-consuming part, and is best done while watching your favorite TV show.
3. Place the dates with 2 rounded tbsp of coconut cream and blend on high.
4. Add the remaining coconut milk and cocoa powder and blend together until smooth, then finally add the vanilla (or your preferred flavoring). 
5. Can be served with whipped cream or whipped coconut cream.

Afterthoughts:
- Since I saw this recipe for the first time I've made it twice, which means a lot, given how busy it's been for me. And it's because the recipe is amazingly delicious and amazingly simple.
- The first time I did not peel the dates, as suggested in the original recipes, and had 2 versions of this mousse: the non strained one with small pieces of date skin and the strained one. Both tasted great, but the silky texture of the strained one made it truly incredible and moussey. The problem was, I really hated straining. I find it extremely time consuming and probably I am doing it in the least efficient way. So the second time I decided to peel the dates upfront. It takes a lot of time but it is less strenuous than straining, and can be done while watching TV or talking about existential questions. And with the peeled dates and a powerful blender, you will have the best mousse ever in 3 minutes.

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Hazelnut Snowball Cookies

Delicious melt in your mouth cookies for the Holidays and not just
Source: Cooking and Beer

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup granulated sugar (775 cal)
- 1 cup hazelnuts (470 cal)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (1630 cal)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (795 cal)
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar + extra for dusting (230 cal)
Total: 24 cookies, 3900 cal, 160 cal/cookie

Directions:
1. In your food processor, pulse together the sugar and the hazelnuts until they reach ALMOST a fine powder. Slice the butter into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the food processor and add the vanilla extract. Pulse until the ingredients are smooth.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour and the salt. In 1/4 cup increments add the dry mixture to the food processor. Repeat this step until all of the flour is incorporated, and the mixture has formed a nice, soft ball of cookie dough.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes. In my case, I refrigerated overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 325F degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. No need to spray with a non-stick, there’s already a ton of butter in this recipe!
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and with your CLEAN hands, start pinching of baby balls of dough from the larger. Roll into 1 inch balls and spread evenly on the baking sheets. The cookies will spread a little so leave at least 1 1/2 inches between them. Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes or until the tops just begin to brown.
6. Remove from the oven, let cool for 2-3 minutes to harden just a little so that they don't break, and place on a wire rack. Wait about 10 minuets for the balls to slightly cool. Meanwhile, pour the confectioners sugar in a bowl. After the balls have slightly cooled, toss them gently in the sugar. Place immediately back on the wire rack and let cool completely for about 2 hours.
7. Dust again with confectioners sugar, using a sifter. You can also dust with a touch of cocoa powder.
8. Will keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container, stored in a cool place.

Afterthoughts:
- Delicious, simple and very buttery cookies. I was surprised that the recipe did not contain eggs. The cookies are a brittle, but that's just part of their melt in your mouth texture.
- I bet they will also taste amazing with chocolate coating. To try next time.

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Nutella Cheesecake

Love from the first sight and until the last bite

Source: Cheesecake adapted from Baker Street, crust adapted from The Heritage Cook, sauce adapted from Martha Stewart

Taste: 6 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
For the crust (1125 cal):
- 1 cup ground hazelnuts (525 cal)
- 1/4 cup sugar (195 cal)
- 1/4 cup butter, melted (405 cal)
For the cream cheese layer (2330 cal):
- 12 oz / 350 g cottage cheese (305 cal)
- 1/4 cup sugar (195 cal)
- 3 eggs (210 cal)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (10 cal)
- 1 cup Nutella (1600 cal)
- 2 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tsp boiling water
For the sauce (575 cal):
- 1/3 cup Nutella (535 cal)
- 1/3 cup milk (40 cal)
Total: 6 inch cake, 6 servings, 4030 cal, 670 cal/serving

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 6-inch springform pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.
2. For the crust: In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts with the sugar until finely ground. Add the butter; pulse until the mixture resembles moist sand. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
3. For the cheesecake layer: While the crust is baking, in a very powerful food processor beat the cottage cheese until completely smooth and fluffy. Add sugar and process until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Lastly, add the Nutella and coffee mixture into cream cheese and beat to combine.
4. Prepare a bain-marie: When the crust finished baking, take it out of the oven (leave the oven on). Wrap the bottom and sides of the sprinform pan in one large sheet of aluminum foil. Place the 6 inch pan with the aluminum foil inside a larger non-springform cake pan. Fill the larger pan with about 1 inch of hot water. This is your bain-marie. Not too complicated, right?
5. Pour the batter over the crust and bake at 350F for about 1 hour. The center of the cheesecake should still be slightly jiggly.
6. Let the cake sit in the oven for one hour after it has been turned off.
7. Remove the cake from oven and cool completely before removing from the pan. Chill for 4 hours to overnight before serving.
8. For the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup Nutella with 1/3 cup milk. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and whisk until smooth.
9. Pour the warm sauce over the cake right before eating. Serve with whipped cream and savor every bite!

Afterthoughts:
- This is one of the best cakes I've tasted. It is perfect in every way: great texture, amazing combination of flavors and it's extremely satisfying. It is so rich, that half a serving is more than enough (even for me).
- I fell in love with this cake from the moment I saw the Nutella Espresso Cheesecake recipe on Baker Street. I barely have any time to bake these days, but I simply had to make this recipe.
There was another cheesecake recipe that I was hoping to make, the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Walnut Crust from The Heritage Cook. So I decided to combine these two recipes and make a nut crust for the Nutealla cheesecake. To be consistent with the Nutella theme, I used hazelnuts and not walnuts for the crust.
Another great idea that I got from The Heritage Cook was making a sauce to serve with the cheesecake. But I was missing some of the ingredients for The Heritage Cook's sauce. So I did a quick online search and found Martha Stewart's Chocolate Hazelnut sauce. It was meant for pancakes, but it worked really well on this cake too.
- Some notes about the cheesecake batter. I was going to use cottage cheese instead of cream cheese to make the cake lighter. To compensate for the lighter texture I was going to use a little flour in the batter. But then I read Baker Street's very convincing advice against using flour in cheesecakes. I was still very hesitant, but eventually decided to skip the flour. And given that the cake was perfect, it must have been the right decision.
Another point that made me worried was adding coffee. I had tried several other coffee / chocolate recipes before where the addition of coffee ruined the final product. So I made the batter without the coffee, took out a teaspoon of the batter, added a couple of coffee drops, tasted, liked and added the coffee.
My conclusion from the points above: you can safely trust anything from Baker Street :-).

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Mascarpon

Macaron + mascarpone tiramisu-like filling

About a month ago I won Jill Colonna’s book “Mad about Macarons” along with delicious French chocolates and more goodies in a giveaway by Joshua from Just Eat. I started on my first ever batch of macarons as soon as I’ve received the book. These are my second batch.
Source
Macaron from Jill Colonna’s “Mad about Macarons”, mascarpone filling based on the homemade mascarpone cheese recipe on Passionate about Baking

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients
For macarons
see Joshua’s post (or “Mad about Macarons”)
For mascarpone
- 2 cups of heavy (whipping) cream (1640 cal)
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (10 cal)
For tiramisu flavor
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 2 tsp instant coffee
- 3 tbsp sugar (135 cal)
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (10 cal)
Total filling for 20 medium sized macarons + some extra, 1795 cal, 90 cal / macaron filling

Instructions
For macarons
See Joshua’s post or “Mad about Macarons”
For mascarpone cheese
1. In a double broiler heat the cream until it reaches 180F. Pour in the fresh lemon juice and continue stirring for several minutes.
2. When the cream starts to thicken slightly remove it from heat, cover and leave at room temperature until it cools down. Refrigerate overnight.
3. By now the cream will be significantly thicker. Pour the cream into a strainer lined with a several layers of cheesecloth to let the whey drain. Refrigerate for 24 hours. The amount in this recipe will yield a little over a cup / 250 g of mascarpone.
For tiramisu flavor
4. Add instant coffee, sugar and orange extract to the boiling water and stir until dissolved.
5. Combine mascarpone, coffee and cocoa powder. Mix well with a fork until uniform. Adjust sugar to taste, if needed.
6. Assemble the macarons and let the sit in the fridge for 24 hours before serving to allow the filling to penetrate into the hard shell.
7. Eat whatever is left of the filling with a spoon or serve with fresh fruit :-)

Afterthoughts
- First of all, thank you so much to Joshua (Just Eat), Jill (Mad about Macarons) and Deeba (Passionate about Baking)!
- Regarding macarons, I am still in the very beginning of my learning curve, that’s why I am sending you to Joshua’s post :-). What I’ve learned so far from my mistakes, from Jill’s book and from her kind replies to my questions on her blog:
1. If you over mix your batter the macaroons will be too liquid and misshapen, if you don’t mix enough the macarons will be too stiff and will have a peak on top, like little turbans.
2. You must be patient and let your macarons sit on a tray for quite some time (in my case an hour) to make sure the tops are hard. Otherwise you won’t get those pretty feet and the tops might crack.
3. You need to know your over settings. Not all ovens are made equal, so it takes a lot of experimenting no matter how good the recipe. I’m still working on this part..
- Regarding mascarpone, it’s absolutely divine! I’ve tried several recipes before and it turned out sour and dry. Deeba’s recipe gives you a wonderfully light and fresh mascarpone. Next time I’ll make more and make the full tiramisu – yum!

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Maple Mousse in Walnut Cups

The edible containers challenge from the Daring Kitchen.
Taste: 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty: 4 (out of 5)

Source: Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz

Ingredients
For nut bowls
- 1 1/2 cups crushed walnuts , or other nuts of your choice (1200 cal)
- 1 egg, beaten, at room temperature (70 cal)
- 2 tbsp sugar (90 cal)
For maple mousse
- 1 cup / 240 ml pure maple syrup (not maple-flavored syrup) (800 cal)
- 4 large egg yolks (220 cal)
- 1 package / 7g/1 tbsp unflavored gelatin
- 1 1/2 cups / 360 ml whipping cream (35% fat content) (1230 cal)
For chocolate decoration
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate pieces (300 cal)
Total: 6 cups, 3910 cal, 650 cal / cup

Instructions
For nut bowls
1. Use a food processor or a zip-lock back with a rolling pin to crush your nuts if whole, use about 1 cup of whole nuts to get 3/4 cups crushed. You want it somewhat coarse.
2. In a bowl mix the nuts with the beaten egg and the sugar.
3. Grease well 6 small 1/2 cup capacity muffin molds (I used silicon). Spread ¼ cup of the mixture in the bowl, all the way up to the sides making sure you have a thin and even clean layer all around.
4. Bake at 350F/175C. until the nuts are golden and fragrant (about 15 minutes). Let cool completely before unmolding.
For maple mousse
5. 1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
6. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
7. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.
8. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatin. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatin has completely dissolved.
9. Whisk the gelatin/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
10. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.
11. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.
12. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.
For chocolate decoration
13. Melt chocolate (either in the microwave or over a double boiler). Fill a small piping bag with a narrow tip (size 2 or 3) or even a small plastic sandwich bag. If using a plastic bag, cut the tip. Line a tray with parchment paper and pipe out maple leaf shapes. Place the sheet in the fridge for 10 minutes until chocolate hardens. Place the maple leaf on top of the maple mousse. You can also decorate the nut cups with chocolate, but this has to be done before filling them with the mousse :-).

Afterthoughts
- Lovely dessert, thanks so much, Evelyne, for hosting this month’s challenge! I really enjoyed making this recipe!
- My favorite part was the nut cup – such nice texture, a perfect container for mousse or cheesecake! And you don’t need to add butter to it :-), it’s all held together by an egg…
- The mousse itself was a lot of fun to make, but a little too much maple for my taste. But my boyfriend absolutely loved it.

Blog-checking lines: The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

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Bird's Milk Candy

Delicious, gentle, airy soufflé in dark chocolate.

This recipe is featured on RecipeNewZ

Source Improvised

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 4 (out of 5)

Ingredients
- 3 egg whites (45 cal)
- 50 g sugar (195 cal)
- 75 g butter at room temperature (540 cal)
- 100 g sweetened condensed milk (415 cal)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence (5 cal)
- 1 tsp lemon essence (5 cal)
- 10 g gelatin
- pinch of salt
- 100 g dark chocolate (605 cal)
Total 1810 cal, 18 servings, 100 cal / serving

Instructions
1. In a microwave-safe bowl sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tbsp cold water and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks. Slowly add sugar and continue whisking until firm peaks form.
3. In a separate bowl beat the butter with the condensed milk, the vanilla and the lemon essences until uniform and creamy.
4. Microwave gelatin for 15 seconds or until all the gelatin dissolves. Pour the gelatin into the butter mixture. Stir until combined.
5. Using a rubber spatula gently fold the butter mixture into the egg whites until uniform.
6. Pour the soufflé into a parchment lined 5’’ x 7’’sheet and refrigerate for several hours or overnight until sets. Flip the set soufflé onto a cutting board, cut into small rectangular shapes.
7. Temper the chocolate (see detailed instructions on tempering here), dip the soufflé rectangles in the chocolate and place on a silicon lined baking sheet to set. Refrigerate.

Afterthoughts
- Tastes really great! I had several other much less successful attempts before, but this time I think it’s a winner.
- Don’t skip the essences – if you don’t have the lemon one, add finely grated lemon zest. 
- And this recipe is going to be featured on YBR (Your Best Recipe) by Spicie Foodie, one of my favorite food blogs! Yey!

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Chocolate Scone Balls

Scone, cheesecake and dark chocolate in one wonderful cute ball for only 100 calories!
Taste: 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty: 4 (out of 5)

Source: the cake ball idea inspired by The Food Junkie, scone cake adapted from About.com, cream cheese icing improvised

Ingredients
For scone cake (2565 cal)
- 2 eggs (140 cal)
- 1 cup sugar (775 cal)
- 1 cup heavy cream (820 cal)
- 1/4 cup light sour cream (60 cal)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (10 cal)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (760 cal)
- 2 tsp baking powder
For cream cheese icing (1305 cal)
- 250 g / 1 package light cream cheese (665 cal)
- 1 cup light sour cream (240 cal)
- 1/2 cup sugar (390 cal)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or orange extract (10 cal)
- 1 tsp finely grated orange zest (optional)
For chocolate coating
- 250 g / 1 bar dark chocolate (1200 cal)
Total: 5070 cal, 50 balls, 100 cal / ball

Instructions
For the scone cake
1. Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored; gradually beat in sugar; then add all the liquid ingredients. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Beat well. You will have a gooey, thick batter.
2. Grease and flour a 7’’x11’’ baking pan and spread the batter evenly. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
3. Let the cake cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes, then remove it from the pan and let rest on a cooling rack until completely cool.
4. In a large ball, crumble the cake with your fingers.
For the cream cheese icing
5. In a blender mix all the ingredients until incorporated and uniform.
For assembly
6. Add the icing to cake crumbs and mix well.
7. Roll mixture into small balls (about 1 inch in diameter). You can use a small cookie scoop to measure if you like. This recipe gives about 50 balls.
8. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the cake balls on it. Chill the balls in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
9. Break the chocolate bar into small pieces (or use chocolate melts). Microwave the chocolate in 30 second segments, stirring after every segment, until all the chocolate is melted.
10. Using a fork, dip the chilled balls in melted chocolate, roll them around until coated, lift with the fork, let excess chocolate drip and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. When the chocolate on the ball is still warm, you can create some “artistic” effects with a fork, a toothpick or a brush.
11. Your chocolate will gradually harden from contact with the cold cake balls. You can either use small batches of chocolate, or simply re-melt the chocolate in microwave every time it stiffens.
12. When all the balls are coated and arranged on the cookie sheet, place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to chill for about 20 minutes until the chocolate sets.

Afterthoughts
- YUM…. So moist and delicious, it tastes both like scones and like cheese cake, absolutely amazing with the dark chocolate.
- Crumbling the cake, rolling the balls and dipping in the chocolate can be a bit time consuming, but it can be a very fun “group” activity :-)
- The scone cake is a very tasty way to use up whipping cream that is about to expire.

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Rose Petal Yogurt Mousse Chocolate Cups

Temper chocolate and make a light yogurt mousse for this delicious, elegant dessert – yes you can!
Source
The mousse adapted from eCurrey blog

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups non-fat yogurt (180 cal)
- 2 tbsp rose petal jam (100 cal)
- Pinch of saffron
- 6 tbsp low fat milk (50 cal)
- 1 tsp unflavored gelatin
- 1 tbsp cold water
- 50 g bitter-sweet chocolate (300 cal)
- 12 blackberries to garnish (20 cal)
Total 6 (or 12, depending on the size), 550 cal, 90 (or 45) cal / serving

Instructions
1. Drain the yogurt. Line a medium sized sieve with a paper towel, place the sieve over a small bowl, scoop the yogurt into the paper towel, wrap the towel around the yogurt and place a heavy object (a can or a jam jar) on top of the towel. Leave the yogurt to drain for about an hour at room temperature. Unwrap the paper towel, you should have about 3/4 cup of a dense (Greek style-like) yogurt.
2. Prepare the gelatin. In a small bowl, take 1 tbsp of cold water, sprinkle 1 tsp of gelatin over it, stir a little and let sit until your chocolate cups are ready and the yogurt is drained.
3. Temper chocolate. Finely chop your chocolate. In a small microwave safe bowl heat 40 g of the chocolate in short intervals of 15-30 seconds (depending on your microwave power). After each segment stir the chocolate and measure the temperature with an instant read thermometer. When the temperature reaches 113F / 45C add the remaining chocolate and stir well until all the chocolate melts and you the mixture is smooth and uniform.
4. Prepare the chocolate cups. I used the Wilton Cordial Cups Candy Mold; this recipe makes about 12 of those. You can use small muffin tins or paper muffin cups instead, but they are probably bigger, and you will likely end up with 6 servings in this case. Use about 1/2 tsp of melted chocolate per candy mold, or 1 tsp per small muffin tin. Pour the chocolate into the mold and then using a brush or a small silicon spatula spread the chocolate over the sides of the mold up to the top. Refrigerate the mold for 5 to 10 minutes until the chocolate is set and firm. At this stage if your chocolate is tempered correctly, it should be easy to unmold the cups by holding the mold about 1 inch or less above the table, flipping and slightly tapping it. If using paper cups, once the chocolate is hard, simply peel the paper off.
5. Place the drained yogurt, saffron and rose petal jam in a blender and whisk it until mixed well. A small blender such as the Magic Bullet is perfect for it. The mixture will be lighter and fluffier than the original yogurt.
6. Heat the milk in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds and pour into the gelatin, stirring well, until there are no lumps left. Add a small amount of yogurt to the gelatin mixture, stir well, and then pour the resulting mixture back into the blender and whisk again. Now you have your rose petal yogurt mousse.
7. Pour the mousse into the cups and let set in refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes. At this stage you can add fruit or candy if you want to decorate the cups with them – the mousse should still be soft but not too liquid and the fruit should not sink. Refrigerate again until the mouse is completely set.

Afterthoughts
- Chocolate and yogurt might seem like a strange combination, but I found it pretty nice – you get a little bitterness from the chocolate, a little sour flavor from the yogurt and sweetness from the rose petal jam. Plus the saffron adds that eastern touch. Of course, other jams would work as well; I bet raspberry or mango would be delicious. And an additional advantage of yogurt (compared to whipping cream) is huge calorie savings :-)
- This recipe is quite time consuming with multiple stages, but if you enjoy trying out new things in the kitchen like I do, it’s just another experiment and adventure.
- Make sure that your molds are completely clean and dry. Chocolate should not come in contact with liquids or fats. Otherwise it will be difficult to unmold. Even if your mold is dry and grease free, unmolding the chocolate can be challenging. If you are having trouble with it, it might be because the walls of your cups are too thin or because your chocolate was not tempered well. But don’t worry and DON’T THROW THE CHOCOLATE! You can always collect the pieces and temper the chocolate again. And you can do it as many times as you like as long as your chocolate does not come in contact with water or grease and is not heated to temperatures over 130F / 55C.
- You don’t have to use the brush; you can also fill the mold with the melted chocolate and gently rotate the mold until the chocolate coats the sides of the mold. If you have excess chocolate, DON’T THROW IT! Pour it onto parchment paper, let it set, peel the parchment paper and keep the chocolate for the next time.
- You don’t need to add all the rose petal jam at once. You can start with half the amount, taste the mousse right before pouring it into the cups and add the remainder based on your sweetness preferences.

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Apple Butter

Well, not really a butter, more like a baby food ;-), but absolutely yummy for the young and the young at heart :-P

Source 

The Daring Cooks September 2010 Challenge by by John of Eat4Fun with small adjustments

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1.2 kg apples makes about 1 kg after peeling and coring (480 cal)

- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed (205 cal)

- 1 tsp ground orange peel

- 1 tsp lemon concentrate

Total 685 cal, 400 g apple butter, 25 cal / tablespoon

Instructions

1. Wash apples well and remove stems. Cut apples into quarters or eighths and remove cores and peel.

2. Cook the peeled apples slowly in a large saucepan. Use enough water to cover the apples and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook until apples are very soft (falling apart).
3. Drain water from the pot, add the sugar, the orange peel and the lemon concentrate to the saucepan. and mash the apples. It is very easily done using an immersion blender. 

4. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently. This process can take about 2 hours. When cooking down the apples, you want to leave the lid ajar or use a splatter screen. This will allow for evaporation. Another trick is to support the lid by laying two wooden spoons across the top of the pot.
5. To test for doneness, spoon a small quantity onto a clean plate; when the butter mounds on the plate without liquid separating around the edge of the butter, it is ready. Another way to test for doneness is to remove a spoonful of the cooked butter on a spoon and hold it away from steam for 2 minutes. It is done if the butter remains mounded on the spoon.

6. Pour contents into desired storage container or multiple containers. 

Afterthoughts

- Loved the butter - it’s perfect as a spread, especially on my beloved apple bread. 

- When I drained the water from cooked apples I saved it, and used for chili :-). It could also be great for the dough of the apple bread.

Blog-checking lines: The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

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