Posts tagged ‘sweet’

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September 29, 2011

Recipe: Raspberry and coconut cupcakes…again!

Hey there! I know it`s been a while, and I have no other excuse apart from working working and working. I know, we all do, but reading some fellow bloggers updates and recipes, made want to come back and write some more (again). I didn`t even check wordpress for a while .. I was trying to turn my head, and try to forget I became a bit lazy with the writing, as well as taking pictures. So to be honest i have no new recipes yet..there`s plenty on my mind, but it looks like I`m about to have a bit of a time and get back o clicking that camera again. 🙂 And! I have tons and tons of comments I need to reply to, so if you were wondering why im ignoring you… I`m sorry, it`s really just me and not you!

I`m also a bit excited, just been asked to make some bites and finger food for an up coming hip gin and cocktail tasting night, and I`m sooooo happy! But! What does one cook for a gin night? Well I came up with 6 ideas, will post the pictures, recipes and the feedback as soon as I got them! Also! Halloween is, well almost here. Me needs Halloween recipes, ideas etc..so if you have a favorite and if you wanna share them with me..you are very welcome!

But, don`t think I`m going to leave you without a recipe! Even thou I do admit it`s going to be one of those “copy and paste” ones. At least it`s mine thou:) The reason for the copy and paste is as I mentioned, I don`t really have pictures of my new recipes, but I have a new picture of an old favorite.. The Raspberry and coconut cupcake. Turns out from the statistics it`s one of the most popular posts on my blog, and I have to admit I HATE the old photo. It`s from the time I started experimenting with backgrounds and came and all that jazz, and it`s just soooooooo bad! I`m not saying the picture is great now, but it does look better ( I hope). Also, the cupcake is great, and if you bake it, you will know I`m right! So enjoy, I hope you like the photos, I hope you will still come back for more recipes. Love you all! Me The Wonderingchef!

Raspberry and Coconut cupcakes

I found the perfect cupcake base on taste.com.au, but soon I realised it is exactly the same as the ones in my Australian Women`s weekly magazines. The recipe is PERFECT! If you follow the steps, you going to end up with an amazing moist cake. I use this for the basics, and flavour the dough after. With whatever I got really:) I can`t describe how much I love this recipe!

The basic cupcake recipe as on taste.com.au

  • 200g butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 cups (370g) caster sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 3/4 cups (405g) self-raising flour
  • 1 cup (250ml) milk
  • I added 5 spoons of home made raspberry jam and beetroot powder for colouring.

  • Butter frosting

  • 200g butter, softened
  • 6 cups (900g) icing sugar mixture
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
  • Instead of milk i used cocnut milk, and dry coconut sprinkles!  The taste was just amazing!

 

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 24 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin pans with patty cases.
  2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the beetroot powder, stir until combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Stir in the raspberry jam.
  3. Spoon mixture evenly among the patty cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Add the  coconut milk and beat until well combined. Stir in the dry coconut flakes.
  5. Divide frosting into small bowls and colour. Use a small palette knife or round-bladed knife to spread the icing.
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August 18, 2011

Recipe: Chili and orange cookies

 

Who doesnt like cookies? As they can come in many sizes, packages,  not to even mention the taste. Wel just like a cupcake or a muffin, the flavour can be changed just the way we want. There are plenty of good quality cookies available in stores, especially nice gourmet ones are getting popular too.

But making them is so damn easy. Although I think everyone should find a basic recipe, that works for them. After all sort of ingredients can be added, pretty much anything from chocolate chips, to caramel, to chili and coconut..you name it! 🙂 There`s plenty of dough recipes on the internet, some are a bit complicated some are easy as ABC, the outcome will always be planty of delicious cookies.

So here is the basic cookie recipe I use, with the baking it will b ready in about 20-25 minutes, makes about 20 pieces.

Ingredients

250g butter, softened

140g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

300g plain white flour

2 thai chilies, seeds removed, chopped finely (you can use more or less chilies, depending on how strong are the ones you have)

100g candied orange zest, ready or home made.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the butter in a bowl with a whisk, until soft and white. Beat in sugar.

Add egg yolk, beat in well, add vanilla extract.

Add chili and orange zest. Mix in well with a wooden spatula.

Fold in flour, don`t add to much at a time.

Lay down baking sheets on a trey.

Spoon in dough mixure, one should be a bit smaller then a golf ball. Make sure you leave some space between the cookies, as they will spread while baking.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes. Don`t worry when you take them out, the dough still going to be soft! Leave them to cool for a couple of minutes. Transfer later to a wire rack, to cool completely!

Enjoy!

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July 5, 2011

A bit of Hungarian: Cold fruit soup recipe!

 

The reason I`m saying it`s Hungarian is, I never saw cold fruit soup in other countries, but I might be wrong. Well summer is here and it`s always nice to have something refreshing and new, so I thought I give this one a go and see how people like the idea. In my country its very popular, easy to make even thou the recipe changes pretty much in every household. I don`t think I ever made one with the exact same ingredients, so here I`ll just give you a general guide and ideas to how to prepare the soup. Yes we are talking about a sweet dish, but it’s not a dessert, well it can be, it’s up to you really, ones with the sweet tooth going to fall in love with  that`s for sure.

To start cooking: For the base I always use the juices of canned fruits, the general base is the juice and brine of sour cherries, the fruits I’ll keep aside for the finish. Basically you can make a pretty good mix out of whatever you got at home: pineapple juice, apple, peaches..don`t use orange juice thou. My favourite mixes are from berries anyway, frozen or fresh it’s up to you. But note the fruits only go into the soup, when its ready, those you don`t need to cook. Sometimes when I use lemons, oranges etc for cooking I keep the skin and free it for later, those can be added to the sop base as well. Here is a basic recipe for approx. 4 people… but this one you’ll always need to taste while cooking, as of course quality of the juices or the wine can differ, sometimes you need more sugar or etc. Basically you need to taste a sweet, aromatic flavour, and of course the taste of the wine as well. Trust me it`s worth experimenting! Once you find the right ingredients you will see its very very easy to make!

Ingredients

0,5kg of fresh or frozen fruits, sour cherries, berries..

4 spoons of sugar

pinch of salt

2-3 cinnamon sticks

5 cloves

1 liter of fruit juice from canned fruits – especially from sour cherries

2-2 lemons and oranges cut in half

0,5 liter of dry red wine

0,5 liter of water

For thickening: 3 spoons of white flour, 2 dl of sour creme, of creme fraiche

Put the water, the juices, wine cinnamon, cloves, lemons, oranges, sugar, salt into a pot and bring it to boil. Taste, if you find it a bit tasteless or not sweet enough add some more sugar, or wine or juices. Mix the flour with the sour creme in a separate bowl, mix in a couple of spoons of the hot soup base, and whisk it in the boiling soup to thicken it. Bring it to boil again. Transfer trough a colander into a serving bowl, getting rod of the cinnamon, etc, add the fruits, and let it cool. Keep in fridge until serving!

Enjoy!

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March 27, 2011

Recipe: Hungarian “Csoroge” doughnut recipe

 

Well, when I started this blog, I wanted to include plenty of Hungarian or Eastern European recipes. Sadly it`s not happening much, first of all, I dont get around to cook them much, and seconds these recipes are so well known for me, I always forget they would be more interesting for people reading this blog from outside Hungary. So now I`m putting my foot down, and yes more Hungarian recipes are coming! Yes `Im not going to be lazy about them! Hungarian cooking is delicious, and very different from what I experienced in my travels. Most of the time, the recipes are very easy, also cheap, and most of the time not vegetarian friendly. We love our lard, or just fat, fat and fat, even with bread if you wish!


And baking, we love baking, frying, not caring too much about our health and cholesterols.

So “Csoroge” “Doughnut”, I guess you are asking yourself WTF?? is “Csoroge”. Well in case you are in Hungary once, you are blinking at the menu and feeling confused, lost, and about to start to panic, just relax. Plenty of time the name of the dish represents where, from which region of Hungary its originated to. So “Csoroge”, is most likely from the historical region of “Csorog” or lets say “Hortobagyi pankaces” or “Bugaci salad” or “Vecsesi pickles”

This dish cheap, fast and easy dish, we call as a doughnut, but it`s more like a crisp to be honest. It`s perfect with all kinds of jam, my favourite at the moment is blueberry , but as soon the summer arrives, I`m getting my hands on some raspberry jam..yumm yummy!

Ingredients

  • 6 Egg yolks
  • 1 pinch of  Salt
  • 2 spoons of sugar Sugar
  • 1 spoon of brandy
  • 1 spoon of  white Vinegar
  • 1 cup  flour
  • half a cup of  Sour cream

1. In a big bowl, mix the flour with the sour cream and the egg yolks. Create a nice and soft dough. Add the sugar, vinegar, and brandy. Mix well, and kneed until smooth. I would say for a good 10-15 minutes.

Roll the dough out, for a clean, bit floury surface, a bit thin, not thicker then your finger.
Cut diamond shapes. Make a whole in the middle, and pull a loop through the middle.
Deep fry, in plenty of oil. Serve with cinamon sugar and jam.
Enjoy!
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March 23, 2011

Recipe: deep fried Mars bars!

Well, I remember when I moved to Sydney and entered to one of Bondi`s infamous chip shops, and noticed this Mars bar treat on the menu, I wasn`t convinced. Back then, I wasn`t really adventurous. Also I wasn`t convinced after 1 year as well, I thought I try and try and try later later later… Never happened.  And I was finishing college and finishing with Australian living and thought I must try this once, this and gambling.

The fried Mars bar was surprisingly good, before I tried to imagine how it might taste, I was close,but my imaginary version wasn`t nearly as good. Let me start, the dessert doesn`t taste as bad as it sounds. Actually it`s kinda delicious. The chocolate melts well with the batter, which still holds the whole thing together, it`s almoust like a chocolate filled doughnut, but much better! Anyway, you must try!

Of course the Aussies say it`s their invention, but I’ve been noted by a few people, that it`s oridinated to Scotland, and it`s a popular part of the chip shops “healthy diet”. Wikipedia says the same thing. Anyway I never been, and the Aussies and the Scots can argue on this as much as they want.  Today it`s been tested on 30 sweet loving people, who were very satisfied.


Ingredients

4 Mars bars

150 g self raising flour

150g dry coconut

2 eggs

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

plenty oil for frying.

Keep Mars bars in fridge before frying.

Make batter, with flour, coconut, milk, egg and salt in a bowl. It needs to b a bit thicker then a pancake mix. Just like any other batter.

Heat oil.

Take mars bars out of the fridge,, (remove packaging of course..) roll into flour, then dip into batter, make sure it covers the whole bar.

Gently put it in the hot oil. It has to cover the whole bar. It fries in approx. 1 minute, so make sure don`t burn.

It it straight up, maybe with some vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy!

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March 10, 2011

Recipe: Raspberry and coconut cupcakes!

 

I know my cakes are a bit “red Velvet” lookalike, but that`s oly a costume! Now `m back into a one/week cupcake baking, and experimenting, so far so good. Finally I found the perfect oven for it in the kitchen. The one without ventilation, so they actually stay flat, and not dry out. So the base now is just as tasteful as the frosting. I got a giant crush on cupcake frosting. Don`t you just love to lick the top off, like it was an ice cream?

I found the perfect cupcake base on taste.com.au, but soon I realised it is exactly the same as the ones in my Australian Women`s weekly magazines. The recipe is PERFECT! If you follow the steps, you going to end up with an amazing moist cake. I use this for the basics, and flavour the dough after. With whatever I got really:) I can`t describe how much I love this recipe!

The basic cupcake recipe as on taste.com.au

  • 200g butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 cups (370g) caster sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 3/4 cups (405g) self-raising flour
  • 1 cup (250ml) milk
  • I added 5 spoons of home made raspberry jam and beetroot podwer for colouring.

  • Butter frosting

  • 200g butter, softened
  • 6 cups (900g) icing sugar mixture
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
  • Instead of milk i used cocnut milk, and dry coconut sprinkles!  The taste was just amazing!

 

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 24 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin pans with patty cases.
  2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the beetroot powder, stir until combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Stir in the raspberry jam.
  3. Spoon mixture evenly among the patty cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Add the  coconut milk and beat until well combined. Stir in the dry coconut flakes.
  5. Divide frosting into small bowls and colour. Use a small palette knife or round-bladed knife to spread the icing.

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February 13, 2011

Recipe: Caramel and Amaretto Cupcakes recipe!

 

Now I started experimenting with cupcake frosting, and finally found a good oven at my workplace which doesn`t have a strong ventilation, so my cakes turn out to be decent nowadays.

Experimenting with the frosting is nice..not as much in colour but in taste. Adding some flavoured alcoholic drink like amaretto or triple sec, can really make some wonders. For the cakes, I found the most amazing basic vanilla cake recipe on Australias taste.com.au. The recipe is perfect, and it`s higly recommended to be used. Just follow the steps one by one!

Basic vanilla cupcake recipe ingredients by taste.com.au

200g butter, softened

  • 1 3/4 cups (370g) caster sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 3/4 cups (405g) self-raising flour
  • 1 cup (250ml) milk

  • Butter frosting

  • 200g butter, softened
  • 6 cups (900g) icing sugar mixture
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) milk

Extras for taste: Ready made caramel topping, 3 shots of amaretto, and 4 tbs of cocoa powder!

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 24 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin pans with patty cases.
  2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
  3. Spoon mixture evenly among the patty cases. In the middle add some caramel topping and cover with dough. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Add the milk and beat until well combined. Add cocoa powder and amaretto
  5. Divide frosting into small bowls and colour. Use a small palette knife or round-bladed knife to spread the icing

 

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February 7, 2011

Recipe: Poppy seed cupcakes with orange/triple sec frosting.

After visiting New York, I couldn`t wait to go home and start making my own cupcakes. I had so many ideas, but lack of time to make all of them. Now when I have some time at work, I try to sneak some cakes in the oven, and try experimenting. unfortunately the oven at work isn`t really cupcake friendly. The problem is with the ventilation. First of all it`s waaaaay too hot, and the ventilation is so strong the cakes become a bit well”funny shaped” The taste is good, it just looks a bit funny, but doesn’t matter as people still like them, so im happy.


From a party I had plenty of icing leftover, it was for a cake and it`s a bit runnier then the usual butter cream frosting, so it was just good to dip the cakes in it. I was a bit worried, but they turned out just fin, and the taste was still rich and enjoyable.

Ingredients (for 24 cupcakes)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites from large eggs
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup 2% milk

  • • 2 large eggs• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup ground poppy seed

Icing

250g butter

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup milk

juice of one orange

handful of orange zest

1 shot of triple sec

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line the cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar salt, shortening milk, vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed untill combined. Add egg whites and mix untill fluffy and smooth, on high speed. Mix in the poppy seed.

Using 2 spoons, or an ice cream scoop, fill the liners, but don`t over fill, your cupcakes are going to rise. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Leave it on a wire rack to cool when ready.

Icing- Beat the butter with the icing sugar until smooth, add the milk, the juice, zest, and the triple sec.

Ice your cupcakes, and decorate them as you like!

Enjoy!

 


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January 23, 2011

New York: Billys Bakery

Billy’s Bakery

184 9th Avenue
Between 21st and 22nd Streets

Website

If you are visiting New York, and if you have this thing for cupcakes, Magnolia Bakery isn`t the only place worth visiting. In fact the city is the heaven for cupcake lovers, offering fresh delights almost on every street or corner. I found “Billy’s Bakery” in Chelsea, and the fresh cakes being frosted and decorated in the huge window just attracted me in. They were so cute, colourful, and pretty, we had o try one. Red Velvet cake is of course the favourite, the only other place beside the states was London`s “Hummingbird Bakery” where I could find them, they were delicious.


The shop in Chelsea, is tiny, but plenty to choose from. I loved the rustic interior design, Everything is so colourful, like you were in a fairy tale. Here you could also have a small look on the cake making process, to be honest I have this thing for open kitchens. Chefs, bakers etc shouldnt be hidden, this way you can bring the costumers a bit closer.


The cakes were delicious, the price usually is about 3 dollars per cake. If you are either in Chelsea or Tribeca I would recommend treating yourself with a cupcake!

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September 7, 2010

Recipe- Plum exploison aka the sweet gnocchi

It`s plum season, which means they are cheap and they are everywhere. So how could we use them? Jam of course, cakes of course, maybe asian plum sauce? Well, why not. But, have you ever tried plum dumplings? Maybe yes maybe not, but even if you know them, you should always get back for more.

As it says in the title its a sweet gnocchi. Well, almost, the dough is very similar for the italian potato dumplings, also  it`s slightly bigger as soon as you stuff it with the dumplings. But for all it is very tasty, addictive and filling! My record is 4 dumplings, my father’s is 7..and we are talking about a man who can easily finish a pork hock by himself. So, it can be a dessert, or just a second after a nice soup. This hungarian dish will surely make your guests or family pleased!

Ingredients

  • 1 kg potatoes
  • 1kg flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 spoon of oil
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 kg of plums
  • cinnamon
  • sugar
  • 15gr of butter
  • breadcrumbs

Cook the potatoes with the skin on, when cooked, remove skin, and mash. leave them to cool a little bit. mixing it too early when its still hot wont do any good with your dough.  When luke warm mix in the flour, the egg, the oil, the salt and  the butter and work in well together.  Roll it out on a clean surface about 1cm thick. Wash, cut in half and deseed the plums. Mix sugar with cinnamon.

Cut equal size of cubes from the rolled out dough, place the plum in the middle with some sugar mix, and roll them together forming a small ball out of them. The dough will double it’s size while cooking.. Place the dumpling into hot boiling water untill cooked. When ready, roll them into toasted  breadcrumbs! Enjoy! ps. sprinkle some extra sugar on top when serving!

Hungarian Plum dumpling- szilvasgomboc

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