Shortbread lavender cookies

Christmas is coming, I hear. I'm not saying another word, but I truly hope you've been good this year.

I felt like baking something festive and since I have an impressive amount of dried lavender (I have nice neighbors, what can I say?) just waiting to be used, I thought what the heck, let's live dangerously! After countless hours (more like 10 minutes or so) of online research my mind was made: shortbread lavender it is.

Ingredients:

350 grams (1 1/2 cup) room temperature butter

130 grams (2/3 cups) fine sugar

25 grams (1/4 cup) powder sugar

20 (2 tbsp) grams dried lavender

5 grams (1 tsp) lemon zest

400 grams (3 1/4 cups) flour

pinch of salt

Directions:

Chop the lavender or use a coffee grinder to get it to a fine consistency. Sift the flour, set aside.

Cream the butter, caster sugar and salt in a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the lavender and mix to incorporate.

Slowly add the flour and mix well. Mixing is complete when there are no visible lumps of butter in the dough.

Form the dough into a disk (or two, if you want it to cool faster), wrap it in plastic, and chill it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Preheat you oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and place rack in center.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 3/4 cm (1/4-inch) thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough into the desired shape and (using a spatula or a wide blade knife) transfer the cookies to a baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Roll the excess dough into a ball and repeat the process until you have used it all.

Bake for about 15 minutes until pale and barely golden, then remove from oven and cool completely before serving.

Lemon poppy seed bundt cake

I bought a bag of poppy seeds. That's it. Then I had to bake something, right? Luckily, I also had two lemons on the kitchen counter so there weren't so many options without going to the grocery store. Again. On foot. Because it's ridiculously close to use the car but still far enough to be annoyed by the mere thought of walking all the way there. It's a five minute walk, darn it!

So, if you have a bag of poppy seeds and one or two lemons, you're all set. I'm sure it works just fine with oranges, too.

Ingredients:

110 grams butter (1/2 cup), room temperature

300 grams (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar

4 eggs

260 grams (2 cups) flour

5 grams (1 teaspoon) baking powder

80 ml (1/3 cup) sour cream

50 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

20 grams (approx. 3 tablespoons) poppy seeds

zest from 2 lemons

(optional) 1/2 teaspoon aniseed (not star anise, the other one) and the seeds from two cardamom pods, crushed together in a mortar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and grease well a 25 cm (10 inch) bunt pan. Take my advice and grease it well, you'll thank me later, when it's time to invert the cake on a plate.

Using your mixer, cream the butter, add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy, two minutes or so. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, poppy seed, aniseed, cardamom (if using) and beat until incorporated. I hope you have already sifted together the flour and baking powder, have you now? Fold the flour mixture into the batter using a rubber spatula.

Spoon the batter into the pan and bake it for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

I always let the cake cool completely before inverting it on a plate, if you try inverting it while it's still hot, well, you may regret it. I have. Many times. So do as I say.

Notes:
This recipe works just fine with oranges, too. If you find your oranges to be particularly sweet, reduce the amount of sugar to 270 grams or less. Remember to replace the lemon juice with freshly squeezed orange juice .

Beetroot chocolate cake

When my neighbor asked me if I wanted a beetroot from her vegetable garden, my first thought was „yay, natural food coloring!”. But then, as she handed me the beetroot, I realized it was way too big to use it only just to make juice and then color the frosting with it, since I wasn't planning to bake cupcakes for the entire neighborhood. So I decided to look around for a dessert recipe that uses beetroot. I found Nigella's recipe and I must say I was intrigued by this odd combination: cocoa and beetroot. Odd to say the least, but why not give it a try? If you feel adventurous enough (and I think you do, because you are reading this, and that's the first step) give it a try and I promise you won't be sorry.

Ingredients:

For the cake

175 grams plain flour

5 grams baking powder

75 grams cocoa powder

225 grams caster sugar

3 eggs

225 grams raw beetroot (roasted, peeled and chopped)

200 ml sunflower oil

pinch of salt

For the frosting

200 grams mascarpone cheese

start with 75 grams confectioner's sugar and work your way up, until you get the desired consistency and sweetness

beetroot juice for the color (optional)

Directions:

Wash the beetroot first, peel and cut into quarters. Place it in a pot and cover it with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook it until soft when poked with a fork (depending on the size, this may take up to 30 minutes). Remove from the pot and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and place rack in center of the oven. Grease a 20 centimeters (8 inch) bundt pan.

When the beetroot has cooled completely, place it in a blender and puree it. Add the eggs (one at a time) and the oil, beat well after each addition. It is possible not to puree the beetroot and only slightly mash it with a fork in order to have larger chunks of beet in the cake, if you think you would like it better that way. In that case, beat the eggs in a separate bowl before pouring them over the beet, and fold the rest of the ingredients with a silicone spatula, careful not to smash the beetroot chunks.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa, add the sugar. Fold the flour mixture into the beet mixture with a rubber spatula.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and level with the back of a spoon. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan, once chilled invert on a wire rack.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the frosting by mixing the mascarpone with the icing sugar. The beauty of this frosting is that you decide how sweet (and how pink) you want it, so stop from time to time to lick the spoon. The one that you're using to mix the cheese and the sugar, there's no point in licking another. You may add a few drops of beetroot juice, if you like it pink. But I guess everybody likes pink, so why not?

Peanut butter cookies

When I have first tasted peanut butter I was absolutely grossed out. I still don't like it as is, but when it comes to peanut butter cookies, well, things change. I believe that if you grow up accustomed to certain flavors, you are most likely to accept and like them as a grown up, but it takes tame to accept (or even like in the end) new flavors, new ingredients, new combinations. That's me and peanut butter. Peanut butter cookies – good. Peanut butter without cookies – not so good.

Ingredients:

200 g unsalted butter

200 g superfine sugar

1 large egg

200 g peanut butter. Creamy or crunchy, as you wish.

350 g flour

5 g baking powder

pinch of salt

Directions:

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, for about 3 minutes. Add the egg and peanut butter, beat until well blended. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and in the meantime preheat you oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF).

Shape dough into 2,5 cm (1 inch) balls, place balls on a baking sheet about 5 cm apart (2 inches). Make a crisscross patter using a fork, or, even better, use the meat hammer (meat tenderizer). You may consider yourself especially lucky if the pounding surface is round and large, enabling you to get an even pattern and the job done much quicker. Who's the mother of all cookies now? You, of course.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Notes:

If you don't have superfine (caster) sugar, you can make your own. Place granulated sugar in a food processor or coffee grinder and pulse until it reaches a super-fine, but not powdery consistency.

When making the pattern on the cookies, try to use a meat hammer instead of a fork. It's quicker and the pattern will look better.

Mini cheesecake

Everybody loves cheesecake, so let's get down to business. For this recipe I use pressed cottage cheese, because, well, there's a problem with cream cheese around here. And by 'problem' I mean we can only find salted cream cheese, yuck, so we're forced to be creative. Looking for a solution to the cheesecake problem, I've had one of my friends tell me she buys excellent cottage cheese from a local farmer and I've decided to give it a try. The result was even tastier than I could have hoped for, so if you're looking for a cream cheese replacement in this recipe, pressed cottage cheese is my solution. However, I have never used the store bought kind, quark or curd cheese, but if you get to do it, please let me know how it goes.

Ingredients for six 10 centimeters (4 inch) tartlets.

If you decide to bake a dozen tartlets, please remember to double all quantities

170 grams digestive biscuits

90 grams butter

250 grams pressed cottage cheese

1 large egg

200 ml sour cream

100 ml milk

75 grams sugar

5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract

15 grams flour

pinch of salt

Directions:
Preheat you oven to 160ºC (320ºF) and place rack in center.

Process the biscuits until fine, transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of your tartlet pans and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.

Beat the cottage cheese, sugar and egg until combined. Add the sour cream, flour, salt, and vanilla extract, mix well. Gradually add the milk, scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Depending on the consistency of your cottage cheese and sour cream the amount of milk needed in this recipe may vary. My advice is to add it gradually, until your reach the desired consistency, rather creamy than runny.

Spread the filling into the pans; bake the cheesecake for about 30 minutes or until just set. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecakes cool inside with the door ajar (this prevents them from cracking).

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Serve with fresh fruit or berry reduction (recipe coming soon).

Panna cotta

I know it's already autumn (well, in the Northern hemisphere it is. The rest of you are lucky, spring is coming, yay!) and you would rather eat apple and pumpkin pies, but why don't we change that for a couple of days? All I'm saying is let's have something else sweet today and tomorrow we'll go back to stuffing ourselves with pumpkin, apples and tons of cinnamon. If you already miss the hot summer days, I'm thinking Panna Cotta.





Panna Cotta, as you already know, is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk, sugar, gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It is a very quick and easy dessert, you can't go wrong even if all your cooking skills are limited to boiling eggs and brewing tea. It is especially quick and if it takes too long, you're doing it wrong. Above all, it is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:
500 ml whipping cream
50 ml cold milk
60 g caster sugar
7 grams gelatin powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Flavorless oil for greasing the cups


Directions:
Lightly oil six cups (or ramekins) with oil.
Heat the whipping cream and sugar in a saucepan, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from heat and add the vanilla extract.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold milk in a small bowl and let stand 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture over the gelatin and stir well until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Divide the mixture into the prepared cups or ramekins, chill until set, at least three hours.
Serve straight from the cup or unmold the panna cotta by running a sharp knife around the edges.
Serve with fresh berries or berry reduction (recipe coming soon).











Notes:
If you decide not to grease the ramekins, you will still be able to unmold the panna cotta by placing the cups briefly into a bowl of hot water before inverting them onto their serving plates.

Coffee pudding

Who doesn't like coffee? Well, I don't. There's something about its taste that makes it sour and yucky. At least that's what I think and I never drink it. The closest thing to coffee that I can drink (when I wake up very early and I have to work) is a latte macchiato with a ton of sugar. And it's still sour, but at least it works. That being said, I find it surprising how much I like this coffee pudding. What's not surprising at all is what it does to me.

Oh, boy, you wouldn't wanna be around me after I eat it, restless is my middle name!

Ingredients:
For the pudding

125 grams unsalted butter

1 egg

100 grams (½ cup) sugar

1/3 cup strong brewed coffee + milk to ½ cup

130 grams (1 cup) flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

For the syrup:

½ cup strong coffee

½ cup milk or cream (unwhipped)

3 tbsp sugar

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 180ºC and grease 6 ramekins (or 6 ovenproof mugs, cups, whatever you like). My ramekins are 10 cm in diameter and 150 ml capacity and I only fill them halfway with the batter, I hope this helps and you can estimate know how many containers you need. If you prefer larger amounts, 4 or 5 containers will do just fine.

Brew your coffee first. I have baked this with both 3-in-1 sachets and strong coffee, but I find it has much flavor when you use coffee instead of those tasteless sachets. If you decide to use 3-in-1, you will need 5 sachets: 3 for the batter (use ½ cup of warm milk) and 2 for the syrup (use ½ cup warm milk and ½ cup cream).

Remember, you want your coffee strong and you will use 1/3 cup for the batter and 1/2 cup for the syrup. If you end up with more on your hands, either drink what's left or use it for the syrup. It's not like we're making macarons here, so a little more coffee won't ruin your whole batch. You'll be all shaky and jittery by the time the cake's out of the oven, but that won't kill you, either.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside in a bowl.

Whisk the egg and sugar until frothy, set aside. Melt the butter (let it cool for a minute or so if you think it's too hot to mix with the eggs) and add it to the egg and sugar mixture. Combine the milk and coffee and add it too. Whisk until combined and then add the dry ingredients, mix until incorporated.

Divide the batter between your containers and bake for about 20 minutes with rack positioned in center of the oven.

Meanwhile you can prepare the syrup, but there's nothing easier. Combine your ingredients and bring them to a boil. You're all done! This pudding is as tasty cold as it is hot, but if you're not planning to eat it while it's hot I suggest to pour the syrup over it just before eating. Also, feel free to adjust the amount of sugar in the syrup according to your taste.

Recipe slightly adapted from Marta.

Quince upside down cake

Since it's quince season I'm thinking quince cake. Upside down cake. Quince is too sour to eat raw, but you will be amazed what this fruit can do with a cake.

Ingredients:

400 grams (2 cups) sugar

3 cloves (whole)

zest from an average size lemon (1 tablespoon)

3 large quince

200 g (1 cup) sugar

150 grams (2/3 cup) butter

190 grams flour (1 1/2 cups)

2 large eggs

60 grams (1/4 cup) sour cream

5 ml vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)

50 grams (1/2 cup) almond meal

5 grams (1 teaspoon) baking powder

1 gram (1/4 teaspoon) ground nutmeg

3 grams (1/2 teaspoon) ground cardamom

pinch of salt

Directions:
Peel the quinces, trim the ends, and cut them in quarters from stem to base, leaving the cores intact. In a saucepan, add 400 g sugar, 1 l (4 cups) water, lemon zest, cloves and quince quarters. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then simmer for about 20 minutes, until tender and pink. Transfer the quince to a plate, allow to cool. Continue simmering the syrup for another 30 minutes, until it thickens. Set aside.

Now it's time to preheat your oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF).

Remove cores from quince and slice each quarter into wedges. Line the bottom of a 23 cm (9 inch) round cake pan with parchment paper. Arrange quince slices on the bottom of the cake pan, or not, as shown in the picture. Pour over 1 cup of syrup.

Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and cardamom into medium bowl. Whisk in the almond meal and set aside.

Beat together the butter, remaining sugar (200 g = 1 cup), and vanilla for about 3 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the sour cream and then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Don't forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Spoon the batter over quince, spreading it evenly to the sides of the pan and smooth with spatula.

Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. While the cake is still warm, run a knife around its sides and invert it onto the rack to cool completely.

Pear delight

Well, it seems autumn is already here and I'm not sure if I'm sad because summer's over or happy for all the baking days ahead. Either way, I have decided to bake this pear delight and celebrate.

Start by preparing the pears:

6 pears

750 ml water

300 g sugar. If you have tasted the pears and find them particularly sweet, feel free to reduce the amount of sugar to 250 or even 200 grams.

lemon zest to taste

5 g cinnamon - if you are a fan. If you aren't, well, who am I to judge?

seeds from 1 cardamom pod. Lightly crush the cardamom pod under the knife blade until the outer husk cracks. Use the mortar and pestle to crush the seeds, but don't put too much effort into it, you don't need the seeds to be perfectly grounded, just a bit crushed.

Peel the pears, but leave the stems attached. Cut off the bottoms of the pears allowing them to stand upright, core them and make sure to remove all the seeds. Combine water, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and cardamom and bring to a boil in a sauce pan. Reduce the heat and simmer until the pears are slightly tender, for about 10 minutes or so. Remove from the pan.

Ingredients for the batter:

180 g butter, room temperature

180 g sugar

3 eggs

10 g vanilla extract

190 g flour

5 g baking powder

40 ml milk

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Butter 6 ramekins. Sift the flour and the baking powder, set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, add the vanilla extract. Reduce the speed of your mixer and add the flour mixture and the milk in three additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients (flour, milk, flour). Mix well to incorporate.

Pour the batter into the ramekins and push in the pears until they touch the bottom. Bake for about 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe adapted from Happy Meal Time.

Peach galette

What do you think about galettes? I always find them better looking than tasting, but it's worth the fuss of making one just to see how good it looks in the end. And, once it's done, you'll like the taste of it, too. You might like it a lot, actually, because I'm the weird one, I know.

So, take a deep breath, clear you schedule for the next two hours and let's go!

Pie crust

First you have to decide which crust you prefer: pate brisée or pate sucrée. As the name suggests, pate sucrée is sweeter than pate brisée (which is fragile and bland, if you ask me), I am a fan of pate sucrée, but here are both recipes, please choose one.

Pâte brisée

350 grams (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

220 grams (1 cup) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

60 - 120 ml ice water (1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Directions

Place the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor, and pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 10 to 15 seconds. Add 60 ml (1/4 cup) of water and process until the dough begins to clump, but does not yet form a ball. If the pastry does not hold together when you squeeze it between your fingers, just add a little more water, one tablespoon at a time. Check the consistency after each tablespoon you add. Try not to process for more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide it and form two discs. Wrap each disc in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Pâte sucrée

350 grams (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) sugar

2 large egg yolks

220 grams (1 cup) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

60 ml ice water (1/4 cup)

Directions

Place the flour and sugar in the bowl of your food processor, and pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 10 to 20 seconds.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks and add ice water. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and pulse until the pastry starts to come together. If the pastry does not hold together when you squeeze it between your fingers, just add a little more water, one tablespoon at a time. Try not to over process.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide it and form two discs. Wrap each disc in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Both pie crusts are enough for two 22 cm (9 inch) galettes or a larger galette which I have forgotten to measure before eating it. Sorry.

Now that you have chosen your favorite pie crust, it's time to prepare the filling.

Ingredients

4 large ripe peaches (ripe, but not mushy) cut into wedges. Don't bother peeling the peaches, just wash and pat dry them using a kitchen towel.

4 tablespoons granulated sugar (more or less, depending on the sweetness of your fruit)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

ground seeds of 1 cardamom pod (optional)

Combine peaches, sugar, cinnamon and ground cardamom in a bowl, spread the mixture evenly over the dough to within 5 cm (2 inches) of the edge. Arrange all the peach wedges if you have OCD. Fold the edge of the dough up over the peaches to create a border.

Bake at 180 ºC (350 ºF) until juices are bubbling and the crust is golden, 35 to 40 minutes if you have two small galettes or 50 to 60 minutes for the larger version.

Pavlova

Repeat after me: I'm not afraid of the Mighty Meringue, I'm not afraid of the Mighty Meringue, I'm not afraid of the Mighty Meringue! Now you're cured!

The truth is you really shouldn't be afraid to make the Pavlova, it's actually easy and I'll prove it.

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites

1 cup (250 grams) superfine sugar (caster sugar)

1 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

350-400 g fresh fruits (berries, kiwi, pineapple, mango, peaches, apricots)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 150 ºC (300 ºF) and place rack in center of oven. Draw a 22 cm (approximately 8 inch) circle on a piece of parchment paper. Turn the paper over so the meringue won't touch the line you drew, but you will still be able to see it. Unless you consider yourself an old hand in geometry and you're confident to spread the meringue in a close to perfection circle.

First beat the egg whites. When soft peaks form, add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition to dissolve the sugar. If you rub a bit of meringue between your thumb and index finger, you will know when the sugar is dissolved. Continue to beat until the meringue forms stiff and shiny peaks. Now fold in the cornstarch and vinegar, careful not to over mix or deflate the batter. You only need a few strokes with a rubber spatula, so don't get too zealous.

Spread the meringue inside the circle you drew on that parchment paper, but make a slight well in the center. In case you did not draw that circle, now's the time to regret it. Hope you've got skills, though, and manage to spread that meringue as close to a circle as it should be.

Bake the Pavlova for about an hour or so, until the outside is dry and has a pale cream color. Turn the oven off and allow the meringue to completely cool inside it, with the door slightly ajar.

The Pavlova can be stored in a cool dry place, in an airtight container (but not in the fridge) for up to five days.

Just before serving, place the Pavlova onto a serving dish. Don't worry if it cracks, it's not the end of the world.

You can top it with whipped cream (adjust the sugar amount in it keeping in mind that the meringue is also sweet) and fresh fruit. Serve immediately.

For the topping you need 250 ml (1 cup) whipped cream (sugar to taste, don't forget the meringue is also sweet) and about 350-400 g fresh fruits (berries, kiwi, pineapple, mango, peaches, apricots, whatever you like best)

Notes:

The egg whites should be at room temperature, so allow them to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes before starting.

If you don't have caster sugar, you can make your own. Place granulated sugar in a food processor or coffee grinder and pulse until it reaches a super-fine, but not powdery consistency.