Cake pops!

I was resisting in falling into cake pops mania until ... one day I opened my door and dear John and his girlfriend came holding a bunch of cake pops in their hands ! And you can imagine the rest :)
Kids were crazy, and they kept asking me when I will do them again. So, we went and bought a silicone mold and sticks and here we are making them again and again. I continue to think that it's too much hassle but what the hell :) Let's share this mania with you, dear readers...

Ingredients (check also my cupcake recipes)
113gr of butter
113gr of sugar
113gr of self-raising flour
3 eggs
some cocoa powder (optionally, if you want a chocolate flavor)
Topping: 100gr of chocolate, some colorful decoration


Procedure

Start by mixing well the ingredients.
Pour in the silicone mold like in the photos and cover with the second part.
Bake at 180 degrees of Celsius and fan for about 20min.

Take the mold out and leave it to cool down. Uncover and take out the small cakes carefully.

Melt in a "bain-marie" the chocolate. Small tip: add a bit of olive oil and it will make it shiny! 
Once the chocolate is done, take a stick, dip the edge in the chocolate and stick it to a cake to turn it to a cake pop.
Do the same for all the cakes. Leave them to dry for a while.

Then, take one by one the cake pops and dip them in the chocolate. Decorate as you wish or check for ideas over the web and especially the youTube. Use a steady carton box that you have done holes before to hold the cake pops while they dry. If you are in a hurry, just put them in the fridge. If you are desperate, put them in the freezer :)))) We have done all of this !

One thing is sure, you will enjoy the result...
And if there is some left over chocolate, just dip in some cookies and indulge yourself and your dear ones :)

 

 

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"Tigania" or fried pork

"Tigania" is a fast and tasty way to prepare a starter for a nice dinner. Actually these starters in Greece we call them "mezes" and we can eat several starters like this instead of following the classic procedure of a dinner.
Once again, a Greek recipe that in old times, people were cooking in villages with meat coming from their own pigs and instead of olive oil, they were using the pork fat. Not so healthy, but soooo delicious! Even the modern version is very tasty, so do not hesitate to try it :)

Ingredients
700-1000 gr of pork tenderloin or whatever part you like most, cut in cubes
some lemon juice (my case) or white wine (depends on your style of cooking :) 
salt, pepper, oregano, lemon juice, olive oil
1-2 green peppers (my case) or leeks washed and cut in pieces (depends on what you have available :)

Procedure
Start by washing and cutting the meat and the vegetables.




Continue by boiling the meat with enough water that covers it in a low covered casserole. Leave it until almost all the water will be evaporated (about 30min).

 Continue by adding the vegetables and enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the casserole (about 1/2 of a cup).

Add salt, pepper and oregano and start frying the meat by stirring regularly.
Just a bit before the end, pour on top the lemon juice or the wine and cover for 1-2 min.
Take out of the fire the casserole and your dish is ready to be served!
Warm is the best :)

 

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"Karydopita" or moist walnut cake

Classic Greek cake, "karydopita", is a moist walnut cake that smells cinnamon and clove and is rich in walnuts. It's quite sweet, so adapt the recipe to your style but I will give here the one that is the typical that you will be served in a Greek house.


Ingredients
For the cake:
6 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of semolina
1 cup of grated walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of clove powder
For the syrup:
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of water
1 spoon of lemon juice
lemon zest
1 spoon of brandy


Procedure

Prepare the cake by beating for several minutes the eggs with the sugar until it gets quite thick.
Mix in a bowl the rest of the ingredients using a spoon and add them little by little to the egg-sugar mixture.

Mix slowly and pour in a well buttered rectangular deep oven dish (approx. 20x30cm).
Bake in fan at 180 degrees of Celsius for about 30min.

Prepare the syrup by boiling in a small casserole all the ingredients, apart from the brandy, for about 5min.
When done, take it out of the fire and let it cool a bit and then add the brandy and mix. 

When the cake is done, take it out and pour on it the syrop little by little.
Let it absorb well all the syrop and cool down.

You can decorate with a chocolate topping and grated walnuts like I did this time or serve with vanilla ice-cream.

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"Papoutsakia" or stuffed eggplants for the novice :)

Popular Greek recipe, perfect for the summer menu and very similar to moussaka : "papoutsakia"! The word literally translated means "little shoes" and opposite to shoes, it tastes and smells great :)

If you like moussaka, then you will love it also as it a bit easier and as it serves individually, it is great looking for a nice summer dinner among friends.


Ingredients
For the base:
5 nice round eggplants
For the filling:
500gr ground veal meat
1 minced onion
5 red tomatoes
some minced parsley
olive oil, salt, pepper 
For the topping cream:
1/2 lt of milk
5-6 spoonfuls of flour
salt, white pepper
2 spoonfuls of butter
2 beaten eggs
some grated yellow cheese (e.g., gruyere)

Procedure
You need to prepare 3 things:

1. the base that is actually fried halves of the eggplants,
2. a red meat sauce that looks like bolognese sauce
3. a thick white cream, sort of a "bechamel" sauce

Start by cutting the eggplants in half. With a knife, create a "hole" by cutting some of the inner part of each eggplant. Mince the parts that you will cut from each eggplant and keep them to add them to the meat sauce later on.
Fry the eggplants little by little in a saucepan with enough frying oil. Take them out to a dish with some kitchen paper to absorb the oil. When done, put them aside and prepare the meat sauce.

In a small casserole, fry the meat, the onion and the eggplant parts that you have cut from inside the eggplants with some olive oil. When done, add the minced tomatoes, salt, pepper, the parsley and 1 cup of water. Cover and leave the sauce to cook in medium fire for about 30 min. Put aside and prepare the white sauce.

In a small casserole, add the milk and the flour and stir well to dilute the flour with a hand mixer. Add salt and pepper. Continue to stir until it starts to thicken enough. Take out of the fire and add the butter and then the beaten eggs. Stir well all the time. Your sauce is ready!

Start now to construct the "papoutsakia". Put in a big deep oven dish tray the eggplants, fill them with the meat sauce using a spoon and cover them with the white sauce. Add on top some grated yellow cheese like "gruyere". Add also some water in the tray like 2-3cm high.
Bake in fan and 180 degrees of Celsius for about 30min or until they get a nice golden color on top.
Enjoy!

 

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