Equipment: party

Showing posts with label party. Show all posts

Showing posts with label party. Show all posts

February 2 the day of crepes in France!

In France, February 2 (yesterday) is the day of crepes.
They call this day "Chandeleur" (Candlemas in english) and it is linked to religion (commemorate the purification of Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus)
but practically, people are making and consuming lots of crepes.
You won't believe the amount of Nutella, and rest of ingerdients that are consumed those days.
As this is the weekend the closest to the Chandeleur, here's a recipe reminder to succeed your crepes and here is one for pancakes if you are too lazy for crepes :)

Happy Chandeleur!!!

Feta cheese balls

Remember the recipe of feta cheese pies (tyropitakia)?
It's one of our favorite salty starters and if you have never tried it before this is the moment to do it!

I am giving you an alternative that is pretty simple, much simpler than the original recipe.

You just mix all the ingredients together using the kneader tool of your mixer and you just make small balls and bake exactly as in the original recipe.
HUmmm, delicious!

Gravity cake

Happy birthday!

My son just turned 10 and here's the best birthday cake that I decided to make that makes the buzz on the web and makes heads turn on it's sight... The GRAVITY cake!!!
My kids loved it, hubby thinks I'm a genius, friends were amazed and there were even people that took photos of it :))))
Special thanks to both of my children that helped me doing it, and my apologies to my daughter that I underestimated her capabilities as she has proved that often she is much better than me ! Kiss to hubby for the support, as always, to my crazy ideas.
So, let's get back to the cake. Procedure goes like this...

To start, you can use as a base, your favorite recipe for a cake. In my case, this was my chocolate cake recipe that I just love for birthday cakes.
You can cover it with melted chocolate that you have added some fresh cream in it.
Glue using chocolate, biscuits like the Cadbury fingers, almost all around it but leaving a small part uncovered. The most interesting part follows...
The magic is based on a hidden flexible straw that has m&m's on it, using melted chocolate as a glue. This is actually the most delicate part of the whole procedure. Start by covering one part of the straw, put it in the fridge (not the freezer!!! m&m's lose their color otherwise) and then repeat on the other side.
Glue the rest of the m&m's simulating the falling part and finish by adapting the straw in a wooden skewer that you have put before in the center of the cake.
Cover the straw ending with the empty bag of the m&m's and let all overnight to harden.

The next day, just admire the result and feel proud under the envy look of the children and even adults around you :) Isn't it great?

Xmas Swiss roll (buche de Noel) with mascarpone

Merry Xmas with a swiss roll!

Not a classic one, with mascarpone cheese that is my favorite.
Actually, tiramisu is the most popular recipe in this blog thanks to this cheese, so why not to try one?
I would like to thank Raphael who inspired me with his traditional swiss roll that was a smash!
Thanks also to my daughter that made the final touch with her decoration *kiss*

Time is not money but rest in this festive period, so I will cut short and give you the details :)

All the best to you and your dear ones! May this period is restful and calm...

Ingredients (for a BIG roll! split in half otherwise)

Base (30x40cm):
4 eggs
100gr sugar
30gr flour
60gr corn flour
50gr cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
a grain of salt

Syrup:
Some syrup of canned fruits or make a light syrup to moisten the base cake

Cream:
500gr mascarpone cheese
4 spoonfuls of icy sugar
vanilla flavor
100ml of cream for chantilly
2-3 spoonfuls of milk

Decoration:
100gr of dark chocolate (grated)

Procedure

Base: Separate egg whites and yolks. Beat yolks with sugar to whiten. Beat whites until thicken. Mix all with the rest of the ingredients for the base smoothly. Pour eveny in a swallow oven dish of 30x40cm that you have cover with parchment paper. Bake at 220 degrees of Celsius and fan for 6 minutes. Take it out of the oven, bush it slightly with the syrup, cover it with a wet cloth and let it cool down.

Cream filling: Mix well the ingredients for the cream and when done, spread 2/3 of it, on the base cake. Sprinkle with the grated dark chocolate and roll slowly.

Final touch: Cover the roll with the rest of the cream by spreading it on top and sprinkle again the chocolate on top. Let it stay overnight in the fridge and serve it cut in slices.
Enjoy!

Halloween shortbread biscuits ("sablés" in french :)

Halloween is approaching and I just found some really spooky biscuit stamps that I knew that would drive crazy my kids, especially my son, who is fond of Frankestein :)

I found it as a good excuse to test a recipe on shortbread biscuits that in french they call them "sablés".

I cannot describe enough the excitement at home when they discovered the stamps!

I can only tell you that we ended baking late at night, on top of a really busy day....
I was not in my best of mood, knowing that they will be tired for school the next day, but my... they had so much fun that eventually I thought, what the hell! I could make an exception :))))
Here it goes... and hope that you will have as fun as we had making them!

Ingredients
250gr flour
125gr sugar
125gr butter
1 egg
a grain of salt
some cocoa powder (optionally, if you want them darker; it's the case here)

Procedure

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees of Celsius and fan.
Mix well the flour and the cocoa powder if it's your case.
Whisk well the sugar with the egg and the vanilla, add the flour and the soften butter and make a nice moisture dough with smooth gestures.
Wrap it in a film and leave in the fridge, for an hour or so or even better overnight.
Flatten the dough and using your favorite cookie stamps form the biscuits.
Put them in an oven tray on a parchment paper quite close as they won't grow much.
Bake for 10 min.
Once cooled down, store them in a metallic box for biscuits/cookies or just share with your dear ones around you :)
Of course, if you have more time, you can always decorate them using your imagination...

Brownies

Here's a classic recipe that was missing from my blog, so here it is the recipe for ...
... BROWNIES! or at least something similar to it :)
In France, that I live, they call it "pave au chocolat", btw.
Anyway, it is delicious and kids love it, so get ready for baking and let's start!

Ingredients
For the cake:
250gr sugar
3 eggs
some vanilla
3dl of milk
300g flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
200g of melted butter that has coolen down
2 spoons of cocoa powder

For the frosting:
50g melted butter
200g icy sugar (or less, even better)
2 spoons of cocoa powder
4-5 spoons of strong black coffee (or milk instead, that is my case)

Procedure

Mix all the ingredients for about 5 minutes to end up with a nice soft dough.
Empty it in a rectangular dish (20x30cm would do) that you have previously buttered and bake in air at 180 degrees of Celsius for 25min.
Let it cool and them prepare the frosting by mixing once again all the ingredients well to end up with a nice thick paste.
Spread it on the top of the cake and let it harden once again.
You can decorate either with some coconut or whatever else.

Let me know what you think, once you have tried it or share your own version!

Zucchini muffins

Remember the delicious zucchini balls that I have presented a long time ago?
Discover today my personal touch to turn them to muffin-like starters in a xmas dinner that I have organized recently. They looked gorgeous and they tasted even better! Just try them...
Procedure

Use the same recipe for the filling and simply pastry dough (cut in disks) and assemble them in a muffins tray.
Sprinkle on top with some yellow cheese.
Bake for about 30min at 180 degrees of Celsius and fan.

Aperitif (or cocktail hour) flower!

Living in France, I became keen with the idea of an "aperitif" that is a cocktail hour in between meals that might include a simple drink or a small buffet with some finger food.
Have a glimpse of the latest trend that I did in a hurry with whatever I had in my fridge and that was still delicious despite all odds :)
I had only 1 pastry dough so I made half the flower but it's enough to get the idea still...

Ingredients
2 round ready-made puff pastry (pate feuillete in french)
2 eggs
1 cup of grated cheese (Gruyere is great)
some decoration seeds e.g, sesame

Procedure

Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees of Celsius and fan.
Beat in a small recipient the 2 eggs with a fork.
Open one pastry and with a kitchen brush you cover all the surface with half of the eggs.
You add on top the cheese trying to cover evenly all the surface. You cover with the other layer of pastry dough and you "close" the edges by pressing with a small fork.

You cover the middle part with a round mug or bowl and you cut evenly all around in 1 cm parts from the edge to the mug. Once done, you twist each part 2-3 times and finally you cover the top by brushing it with the rest of the egg. Add some decoration seed in the center to make it look as a flower. Bake for about 10min or until it has a nice golden color.
The result is really delicious that I managed to eat only one tiny part that was left from my family's excitement :))) And my, it was divine! and beautiful too btw...

Recipe reminder (muffins)

I am currently reading an interesting book about consuming sugar. So, I was resisting in making a sweet treat, but I admit that I am addicted and I cannot avoid it :)
Have a look in my chocolate-banana muffins to see why I could not resist...
Try NOT to do them! :P

Chocolate chip cookies

What to do in a rainy day? Make chocolate chip cookies and boost your moral and the one of your dear ones to the maximum :)
Classic recipe, that similar you can find all around the web, but I like to keep good recipes once found, so here it is the one that I prefer...

Ingredients (for about 30 big cookies)
250gr butter
100gr brown sugar
100gr white sugar
vanilla flavor
2 large eggs
350gr plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder or (bicarbonate) soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
200 gr of good dark chocolate (chips or chunks)

Procedure

Preheat the oven to air and 170 degrees of Celsius.
Whisk the butter with the sugars until whiten. Add the eggs and continue. Add the flour and the rest apart from chocolate and make a nice soft dough (adjust the flour to the feeling of the dough).
Add the chocolate chips or chunks and mix to go evenly all over your dough.
Make small or big dough balls (depending on your preference for chocolate cookies :) and flatten them. Put them in oven trays (you will need 2) that you have covered with the special baking paper.
Cook for about 10-15min depending on the size of your cookies (the bigger, the longer...).
Let them cool and then stock the remaining ones (of course, some will be already eaten in the meantime ;) in a tin box for cookies.
Let me know what o you think about this recipe, once you have tried it ...

The muffins of the day!

These are the muffins of the day according to my recipe Vanilla muffins that is so easy to make and tasty too.
The inspiration of the day was to add some sliced almonds on top and decorated with a lollipop as they are going to be sold in my kids' school to finance a field trip....
If you read this post on time, come and buy one before it is too late :)

Fresh cranberries crunchy muffins

My program is very heavy this period, so I am not cooking and baking so much and when I do, I do not have time to describe it here... But I have discovered by chance (looking for something completely different) a blog recently that I liked and that I think that has the same philosophy with my blog. I am talking for the blog "Les recettes de Virginie".
So, I could not resist and woke up very very early this morning to make one of it's recipes to surprise my family for breakfast. I will share with you the result only in photos as I am telling you, no time for more :)

Ingredients
Crumble:
40gr of flour
30gr butter
cinnamon
100gr brown sugar

Solids:
230gr self-raising flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
120gr sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
a pinch of salt

Liquids:
200ml of cream
4 spoonfuls of sunflower oil
2 eggs
200gr of fresh cranberries

Procedure

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees of Celsius and fan.
In a small recipient mix with the fork the ingredients for the crumble.
Mix with a spoon the solid ingredients in a bowl.
In a separate recipient, mix well the liquid ingredients.
Mix the 2 parts. Do not overmix.
Empty the mixture in a special muffin tray that you have added before the paper cups. They should take the space of up to 2/3 of each cup.
Add 5-6 cranberries to each one.
Cover with the special crumble mixture.
Bake for about 25 min or until they have a nice golden color. You can do the knife test also :)

Enjoy, ideally, immediately after ....

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 :)

Feta & dried tomatoes cake

I promised to give you the recipe of the mozzarella cake with feta and I always keep my promises :)
So, find today another version of this salty cake with a greek touch this time ...
Just replace the mozzarella with feta cheese and fresh tomatoes with dried tomatoes and add more flour so that in total will be about 250gr. Try it!
See some photos from the preparation below...

Vivian's pudding

At Tyrnavos, a small greek town close to my hometown, they make a moist walnut cake that is covered with a thick cream and it is delicious. My mother discovered it when I was a small kid and adopted it as the main desert on special occasions. As we are close to Easter, I decided to propose you this "pudding" as we call it.
Rich in walnuts and syrup, perfumed with cinnamon and clove, looks gorgeous, I am sure it will become also your favorite desert :) Actually, by writing this, hubby enters at home and says... "what's smelling so great?" You see what I mean?

Ingredients
Cake
5-6 eggs (depending how big they are)
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of semolina
3/4 cup of grated walnuts
1 spoonful of brandy
1 baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
some clove powder

Syrup
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
vanilla

Cream
1/2 l of pastry cream
1/2 l of whipped cream ("Chantilly")

Procedure

You have to prepare 3 things: the cake, the syrup and the cream.
For the cake, beat well the eggs with sugar. Mix separately the rest of the ingredients apart from the walnuts and add them to the eggs-sugar mix. Mix and add eventually the walnuts and mix again.
Empty the batter in a cake mold like in the photo that you have previously slightly buttered with a cooking brush. Bake at 175 degrees of Celsius and fan for about 30min. Take it out and leave it to cool completely.

Start preparing the syrup by boiling the ingredients all together for about 7-8 min.
When the syrup is done, pour it little by little on the cake and let the cake rest for several hours or better overnight.

The next day, take the cake out of the mold and prepare the cream.

We have to beat well fresh cream to make whipped cream. In a separate bowl we have to prepare the pastry cream. Either you make the recipe of pastry cream that you prefer (find mine here), either you buy the ready mix and add only the milk, follow the instructions and you cream is ready.

Mix well the two types of cream and pour it on top of your cake evenly.
Decorate with grated walnuts and cinnamon.
Cover it and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow all the scents to bloom.
Enjoy!!!

Looks nice inside, no?

Happy Birthday!

It's been exactly one year since I have started to blog here, one year of "Vivian is cooking"!

Happy birthday dear blog,
you can pass from crawling to walking little by little like babies now :) That explains the publicity part that was added.

Happy birthday with a mug cake (recipe will follow soon...). Come on in and share!

Triple chocolate mousse cake!

Happy Valentine's day! I profit from the day to try a cake that I like a lot and I always buy it or order it in a good pastry shop, the "Triple chocolate mousse cake". What best to try for the lovers day than a cake full of all kinds of chocolate?
I have searched a lot to find a good recipe and for once, since long time, I tried a recipe that I found online and seemed to me quite reliable (http://douceursexquises.canalblog.com/archives/2007/03/05/4180019-p50-0.html).

Normally, I do not try a recipe unless I have tasted it myself, but this time, I decided to give it a try as it seemed too close to my moto: simple ... but delicious :) Find here, my version of this recipe that I really liked and turned out to be a revelation!

Ingredients

For the base:
2 eggs
60 gr of sugar
15gr of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
15gr cocoa powder (some more for the topping)

For each layer of chocolate mousse (x3)
100gr of chocolate (black, white, milk, in total 300gr)
20cl of cream 30% (in total 60cl and a spoonful of ice sugar)

Procedure

Start by buttering a cake mold of 20cm diameter (the best would be the ones that you can open and take out the surrounding part).
Beat well with the mixer the eggs and the sugar to increase almost 3 times in volume. Then add the flour, the cocoa powder and the baking powder and mix slowly.
Pour the mixture in the mold and bake for about 10-12min in the oven at 180 degrees of Celsius and fan. Take it out and let it cool.

Then, take the three chocolate bars and break them in small pieces separately in three bowls.

Melt each one according to instructions either in the microwave oven or in a "bain-marie".
I chose the first, and in about 1min30sec at 600W and 2 spoons of cold water, I managed to melt each chocolate.
Next step, is the whipped cream. Whip the 60cl of cream for about a minute and then add the ice sugar and continue until you get a nice firm whipped cream.

Put 2 spoons of the whipped cream in each bowl of chocolate and mix well. Then add slowly the rest cream sharing it evenly to create 3 types of chocolate mousse.
Get back to the cake and start spreading on top each mousse one after the other (you choose the order :)

Finish by covering with cocoa powder and ice sugar, using your imagination like shown in the photos below...
Put in the fridge for at least 4 hours or best overnight if you can resist to the temptation :)
Here, noone could resist which explains the bad quality of the photos as it was late in the evening, but who cares ? ;)

I let you decide whether you will try it ...
but my instinct tells me that this recipe will become very popular in my blog...