White modeling chocolate

As promised here comes the white modeling chocolate recipe that I use.

melt 200 gr of white chocolate and add only 2 table spoons of honey. White chocolate requires less honey than the dark one. 

Stir until it thickens and separates from the recipient's walls. Cover it in plastic foil and refrigerate for 2 hours.

You need to leave it at room temperature for many hours to be able to knead it. The heat of your hands will soften it. I use it in small portions to give elasticity to my sugar paste. 

I absolutely love it!

Home made modeling chocolate

Curiosity killed the cat today:)))

I have finally decided to give this modeling chocolate a try. I have heard and seen Buddy Valastro, i.e. the cake boss, talking about and using this modeling chocolate soo much that I had to try it. 

Sufficient to say that I fell in LOOOOVE with it and that I'll use it for ever.

Ingredients:

300 gr dark chocolate

90 gr corn syrup (I replaced it with honey)

 Melt your chocolate in the microwave. Careful not to burn it:)

 Add 90 gr of corn syrup / honey

Stir the ingredients together until the chocolate separates from the recipient and looks like in the photo. It doesn't take long. 2 min tops!

 Cover it in plastic film and refrigerate it. 

After a few hours take it out. It will be hard as a rock at first, but start kneading it and you'll see that it will start to soften.

It is the most pliable thing I have seen. I absolutely love it! I am definitely trying the white chocolate version as well.

Mix it with your sugar paste and you'll get the elasticity you've ever wanted in your homemade sugar paste.

Halloween monster bites!!!!

I've been away for two days and we returned today, just in time for Halloween:).

Rebeca is having a Halloween play date and I made a couple of things for her and her friends. 

The first snack I am going to show you is called monster bites.

This is how you can make them

 

 Necessary ingredients: red apples, peanut butter and white mini marshmallows.

 slice the apples and spread some peanut butter on them.

 put mini white marshmallows on one slice, so they look like teeth.

and ... these are the monster bites! easy and simple.

If you want to see what I did last year for Halloween click here.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

FABIOLA & a guest featuring

This is a desert we had in Spain and I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you all.

I asked my best friend's mum to make it for me and I took photos of its making, so that I can do this post. So one afternoon we all met at my friend's house and made desserts. She showed me how to make this delicious Spanish dessert and I showed her how to make my yogurt & cherry mousse cake.

the dessert is called FABIOLA. It is a very sweet egg dessert and a very cheap one if I may add.

ingredients: 6 eggs, sugar, cornstarch and milk, talk about cheap:)

first you need to separate your eggs.

beat the egg whites to a snow peak point.

then caramelize 6 spoons of sugar

add the caramel to the egg whites while beating them.

butter your oven mold.

put the egg whites in the mold

and put it in the oven

until it looks like this. It shouldn't take long. not more than 10 min. It also depends on the oven, I think.

DO NOT open the oven's door when ready! You should leave it inside to cool off.

In the mean time start making the egg yolks cream. Put 2 glasses of milk add 6 spoons of sugar, 2 of cornstarch, mix them all together and bring them to a light simmer until the cream is ready.

You should stir it all the time.

Caramelize 6 more spoons of sugar

put the egg yolks cream over the egg whites

and add the caramel on top.

And this is the finished product!

And this is beautiful Carmen, the lady that taught us all how to make this easy and delicious Valencian dessert.

Muchas gracias Guapissimaaaa!!!!!!

Me encanto tu postre. Tengo ganas de hacerlo de nuevo. A ver si este fin de semana lo hago. 

Un beso y un abrazo muy fuerte!!!!

pineapple @ Jamie Oliver

This is a dessert we enjoyed quite often while in Spain. It's a recipe I saw on TV a long time ago, courtesy of the famous and talented Jamie Oliver.  It is a definite must try!!!!!

It's very, very simple. All you need is fresh pineapple, fresh mint and a little bit of sugar.

You need to slice your pineapple into thin slices and put them on a plate. I went for a different presentation, as I was having guests over and I was trying to impress:)

Then chop some mint leaves and mix them with sugar and sprinkle the mixture all over your pineapple slices. 

You should let it rest for a couple of hours for optimum flavoring. I also recommend serving it cold.

It is absolutely amazing!!!!!! you have to try it. It is one of my favorites.

cookie decorating how to + recipes

I am going to share a cookie decorating tutorial with you. hope it helps you, but please remember I am a novice at this and have not attended any classes or anything. There is probably a much better way out there to be making these.

First you want to make the cookie dough. you can use your own recipe, whichever you like best. I used a basic, simple sugar cookie recipe, no flavors added.
___________________________

Cut the dough with the cookie cutter of your choice. I chose ducks and circles.



Bake them in the oven as per your recipe or until you see they are done. you do not want to over do them.


Let them cool down completely before starting to decorate them



I did the peak of the duck first, using decorating crayons from Dr Oetker. They are great for small details. you do not need to prepare royal icing for small things. they are also soooo very affordable.


While this hardened I prepared the royal icing, as this is how I chose to decorate my cookies.
you can make egg white royal icing, but I chose to use Wilton's meringue powder for safety issues.
meringue powder is an egg white substitute. It's egg white powder, and it is free of risk. It did not feel safe using raw egg whites and give them to so many people. You can very well use pasteurized egg whites, but since they are not available here in Romania, I went with the Meringue powder.

The recipe is very simple.

Royal icing

3 tablespoons Meringue powder
~500 gr of confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons of warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks.

Then you want to do the outline of the cookies. You should add some water to your royal icing so that it won't be so stiff. You do not want it runny though.



Use the color of your choice and do the outline.



Then you need to flood the cookies. For that, you need to add more water to your colored royal icing so that it becomes slightly runny. Too much water will make it more difficult to work with and will spoil your work.



Using a tooth pick you have to extend the icing so that you completely cover your cookie. do not leave any uncovered spots.



Let them dry out really well.I left them over night and the next day, using the crayons I mentioned above, I started adding the details. These crayons are available at supermarkets, are very cheap, come in four colors and I totally love them and recommend them to everyone.



This is how mine looked in the end. Get creative and do what ever you like.
If you want, share your creations here. I will be happy to make another guest posting.



And this is my sweet heart about to be eating her 3D cookie, which she decorated herself.

reteta tort de capsuni cu branza de vaci si iaurt

Am facut acest tort, cu unele modificari bineinteles, pentru nepotelele unei bune si talentata prietena de a mea.
Din pacate, pentru ca una din fetite s-a imbolnavit, tortul a mers la congelator pana saptamana viitoare cand il voi decora in fondant. Sanatate multa miculutelor.
Reteta am gasit-o in revista Secretele Bucatariei, am scanat-o si m-am gandit sa o pun pe blog pentru eventualele amatoare.
Este o reteta foarte buna, eu am modificat-o, in sensul ca am eliminat fisticul, sucul de lamaie si nu am facut crema pe doua straturi diferite ci doar unul plin cu fructe, dar merita incercata oricum.
Poza cu tortul decorat, saptamana viitoare!

This is a cake I made for my very good friend's twin nieces. Unfortunately, one of the girls got sick ans so the cake went to the freezer until next week, when i'll decorate it in fondant.
I hope the little ones get well soon.
This is a receipe I found in a cooking magazine and that I have scanned and thought of posting for any eventual amateurs.
It's a good recipe and I recommend it. I changed it, meaning I eliminated the pistachio, lemon juice and I only made one layer of filling full of fruits. It is a yogurt, fresh cottage cheese and strawberry cake. If any of you would like it translated, please tell me so.

Y ahora en castellano, tambien. ... para que la rubia y Cesar no puedan quejarse mas.
Esta es la receta de una tarta que hize para las sobrinas de una muy buena amiga mia. Pero una de las nenas se enfermo y la tarta esta ahora en el congelador hasta la semana que viene cuando le tocara ser decorada en fondant. La receta la encontre en una revista y pense ponerla aqui para algunos eventuales interesados. Se trata de una tarta al yogurt, queso fresco y fresas. Se alguien la quiere traducida, que me lo digan.
Tu rubia ni lo pienses. Se que no la vas a hacer nunca. Deja a tu madre que descanse un rato.

3 citrus mousse

This is the cake I did for Rebeca yesterday.
I wanted to try out something different. This a recipe I found on a blog I read constantly, called BOCADOS DULCES Y SALADOS. Please make sure you visit it. Great food in there. Spanish knowledge required, though.
I really wanted to try out something different from what I normally do. 3 citrus mousse- appealed to me a lot. It came out quite good. We enjoyed it a lot, very refreshing.
I am thinking of modifying it to 3 separate layers of lemon, lime and orange mousses. I think this way you might be able to appreciate more the taste of each citric, rather than all 3 mixed together.
The original recipe for this mousse can be found here.
I hope you enjoy it, if you try it out.

Acesta este tortul ce l-am facut ieri pentru Rebeca. Vroiam sa incerc ceva nou si diferit. Am gasit aceasta reteta pe un blog ce il citesc in mod constat, BOCADOS DULCES Y SALADOS. Va rog sa il vizitati. Retete grozave, dar e nevoie de cunostinte de spaniola.
A fost foarte bun, foarte fresh, perfect pentru vara. M-am gandit sa il modific, in sensul ca sa fie 3 straturi separate de lamaie, limette si portocala, asa cred ca se va putea aprecia mai bine gustul fiecareia decat toate 3 amestecate.
Reteta originala pentru acest mousse o gasiti aici.
Sper sa va placa daca o sa o incercati.