Rhubarb Berry Crumble & Blog Anniversary

Tags

crumble, desserts, Fruit crumble, raspberry, Rhubarb, Rhubarb crumble, strawberry, sweets

Enjoy the spring with this fresh and sweet rhubarb berry crumble.

If you think you can do something …
you can do it! and
If you think you can not …
you’re right … you can not.

It’s only the WILL! And God mercy at the beginning.

We’re as powerful as we want to be!
How close we are to success is how confident we are.

Yes, It’s my blog anniversary. My blog is turning two this april, I can’t believe the days just went by so quickly, and here I am… still enjoying the love of making, photographing, and sharing food with you friends.

Yes, I remember the last time I was out for a couple of months and was going to quit blogging, but thought to give myself another chance, and with some friends courage, I returned, and promise to keep up as long as I can.

This semester I didn’t take classes toward my biology master degree, but the coming months will be so hard that I need to manage the time between studying, posting recipes, and my house duty. So please be patient with me.

Todays recipe is pretty sweet, delicious and makes a good dessert in any season and occasion. The best part that it’s so easy to make and so so yummy…
To celebrate the spring I used rhubarb with fresh strawberry and raspberry, the blends are gorgeous sweet and sour, flavored with some sprinkles of rosewater, makes the berry heavenly aromatic and adds a lot to delicious berry taste. All topped with a crunchy nutty layer of oats that screams buttery flavor.

Rhubarb Berry Crumble

1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup sliced fresh berry(I used strawberry & raspberry)
1 cup sliced rhubarb
About 1 teaspoon rosewater
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, soft
Roasted pistachio for serving
Ice cream any flavor of your wish, to enjoy with.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a large bowl, mix white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, strawberries, raspberries, and rhubarb. Add the rosewater and mix. Place the mixture in a small ramekins.
Mix 3/4 cup flour, oats, brown sugar, and Butter until crumbly. You may want to use a pastry blender for this. Crumble on top of the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.

Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp and lightly browned.
Enjoy with your favorite ice cream, and sprinkle some crushed pistachio on top.

The Daring Bakers July 2011 Challenge: FRESH FRAISIERS!

Tags

blueberry, Cake, Cupcake, & Muffins, chocolate cake, daring baker, fruit cake, le fraisier, pastry cream, strawberry

It was the July 19th, my youngest son’s 4th birthday, and the Le Frasier daring bakers challenge was on time. Started two days before to arrange what I need to do first, he choose the chocolate chiffon, I brought some fresh strawberries and blueberries and started to make the cake.
Skipped the almond paste, added some decorations with the whipping cream, sprinkled with some of chocolate cake crumbs that was remaining from trimming the cake, I used some fresh blueberries and strawberries with a little sugar and corn starch let it cook on medium heat for 15 min then grind it to make fruit jelly (the four dots on the top), each one is bigger than the other to express for his sweet four years.

The cake was perfect, the pastry cream, and every thing went very well, all of us loved it, since I always wanted to try it before but there was no chance until this month’s challenge.

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Fraisier inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

Thank you so much Jana for this wonderful cake, the taste was exquisite. definitely will try it again.

Chocolate Frasier

All the recipes you can find it here.

Chocolate Chiffon Cake:

1 cup cake flour
14 cup coco powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
23 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (3.17 fl oz/95 ml) water
1 teaspoonpure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon zest, grated
5 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to moderate 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3).
Line the bottom of an 9 12-inch (24 cm) spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and coco powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.
In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly.
Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.
Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.
Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Removed the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper. Refrigerate for up to four days.

Pastry Cream Filling:

1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt, preferably kosher
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon (4 gm) gelatin
1/2 tablespoon (7½ ml) water
1 cup heavy cream

Pour the milk, vanilla, and salt into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, in a stand mixer add the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to combine
Add the eggs to the sugar and cornstarch and whisk until smooth.
When the milk is ready, gently and slowly while the stand mixer is whisking, pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture.
Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and continue to cook over a medium heat until the custard is thick, just about to boil and coats the back of a spoon.
Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally.
Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream a piece at a time until smooth.
Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for up to five days.
In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.
Put two inches (55 mm) of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.
Measure 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 ml) of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the sauce pan with the simmering water, without touching the water.
Heat the cream until it is 120 F (48.8 C). Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream in to incorporate in two batches.
In a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula.

Simple Syrup:

You may choose to flavor the syrup. One way is to use flavored sugar (for example: apple cider sugar, orange sugar, or vanilla sugar) or to stir in 1-2 teaspoons of flavored extract. You may also infuse with herbs or spices, if desired or add four tablespoons (60 ml) of fruit juice or liqueur while the syrup is cooling.

1/3 cup of sugar, flavored or white
1/3 cup of water

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup.
Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly.
Transfer syrup to a lidded container or jar that can be stored in the refrigerator. Simple syrup can be stored for up to one month.

Fraisier Assembly:

1 baked 8 inch (20 cm) chiffon cake
1 recipe pastry cream filling
⅓ cup (80 ml) simple syrup or flavored syrup
2 lbs (900 g) strawberries
1 lbs blueberries
1 cup heavy whipping cream
14 cup confectioner sugar
chocolate cake crumps

Line the sides of a 9-inch (23 cm) spring form pan with plastic wrap. Do not line the bottom of the pan.
Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers.
Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan. Moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough.
Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan, point side up forming a ring, arrange the blueberries between each strawberry.
Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake.
Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake, add some blueberries. Cover the strawberries and blueberries entirely with the all but 1 tbsp. (15 ml) of the pastry cream.
Place the second cake layer on top and moisten with the simple syrup.
Whip the cream with the sugar, add some on the top of the cake, spread it even, arrange some blueberries on the sides, using head number 22, decorate the whipping cream over the blueberries. Sprinkle with chocolate cake crumps.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Very important note : when you assemble the cake use a spring form pan that is smaller than the you bake the cake with, I used 9 12 -inch (24 cm) pan when baked the cake, and after trimming I used 9 – inch (23 cm) pan to assemble the cake.

To serve release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the plastic wrap.
Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Orange flavored Chocolate Marquise for May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge

Tags

almond, caramel, chocolate, coco powder, cocolate marquise, daring baker, Dessert, fancy dessert, mango, may 2011 challenge, Meringue, orange chocolate, peanuts, popcorn, strawberry

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

This is my first daring challenge, and wow… what a challenge. I never tasted the chocolate marquise before or even know it. Thank you Emma and jenny for sharing the recipe.

The Chocolate Marquise to me looks like frozen chocolate mousse or soft ice-cream when it melt. very delicious rich chocolate flavor smooth and sweet. can be served a long with different flavors, just make sure it complement with the chocolate.

In my version of chocolate marquise tried to substitute the tequila with the orange juice and add zest of orange to enhance more orange flavor hmm yummy… and omit the cayenne, the meringue looks really like marshmallow cream.

I did the quarter recipe and it was considered huge for my little family, so I served half of it and kept the rest in the freezer for another serving (it can be frozen up to six months).

The first time served it with fresh mango and strawberry salad, it adds more freshness to the chocolate. The second with roasted peanuts – caramel popcorn and it was wonderful, the popcorn adds crunching and saltines to harmony with the caramel (every ones favourit)and completed with the creamy chocolate and the meringue.

Here is my presentations:

Chocolate Marquise with Fresh Mango and Strawberry Salad 

The Chocolate Marquise with the meringue topped with the fruit salad, roasted almond, caramel sauce.

Prepare the pan and line it with parchment papers.

For the Chocolate Marquise (the quarter recipe) :

3 large egg yolks at room temperature
1 large egg
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon  water
Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
½ cup  heavy cream
½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling)

For the Chocolate Base:

3 oz  bittersweet chocolate (I used cherardelli 60% coco)
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons  heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon orange juice
zest of an orange
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon/(less than 1/4 ounce) cocoa powder (we used extra brut, like Hershey’s Special Dark, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)
dash freshly ground black pepper
1/4 oz unsalted butter (1/2 tablespoon), softened

Begin with the chocolate base to let it cool down a little to use it in the marquise recipe.

Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.

In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.

Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe

Continue with the Chocolate Marquise recipe, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high-speed until very thick and pale, about 10 – 15 minutes.

When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil  (235F/115C).

With the mixer running on low-speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.

When all the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all the air you’ve whipped into the eggs. We used the stand mixer for this, and it took about 1 minute.

Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.

Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn’t allow in any air).

Freeze until very firm, at least 2 – 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).
When you’re ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it’s still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment ‘handles’  or by flipping it over into another piece of parchment.

Plate with the torched meringue and drizzled caramel sauce, and toss spiced almonds and cocoa nibs around for garnish. You want to handle the cubes as little as possible because they get messy quickly and are difficult to move. However, you want to wait to serve them until they’ve softened completely. The soft pillows of chocolate are what make this dessert so unusual and when combined with the other elements, you’ll get creamy and crunchy textures with cool, spicy, salty, bitter, and sweet sensations on your palate

For the torched meringue:

3 large egg whites
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon  sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using your (clean, washed) hand, reach in the bowl and stir the three together, making sure the sugar is moistened evenly by the egg whites and they make a homogeneous liquid.

Over a saucepan of simmering water, warm the egg white mixture. Use one hand to stir the mixture continuously, feeling for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don’t feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.

Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and return it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly.

When you’re ready to plate the dessert, spoon the meringue into a plate (or use a piping bag) and use a blowtorch to broil.

For the Caramel sauce:

1 cup sugar
1\2 cup water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1\4 teaspoon lemon juice fresh
1 cup heavy cream

In a pan put the sugar then the water, let the sugar soak and try to wipe any sugar on the sides of the pan (because if sugar didn’t desolve completely it will crystallize),bring it to boil on medium – high heat until almost all the water evaporates and the sugar Carmelites to a dark mahogany color.

Add the corn syrup and the lemon juice, working quickly, add the cream to the darkened caramel. It will bubble and pop vigorously, so add only as much cream as you can without overflowing the pot.

Return the pot to the stove on low heat and whisk gently to break up any hardened sugar. Add any remaining cream and continue stirring. Gradually, the hard sugar will dissolve and the caramel sauce will continue to darken.  When the caramel has darkened to the point you want it, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.

For the Spiced almonds:

Makes about 1 cup of spiced almonds

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
1 cup blanched whole almonds

reheat the oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon,and salt.

In a larger mixing bowl whisk the egg white until it’s frothy and thick.

Add the spice mix to the egg white and whisk to combine completely.

Add the nuts to the egg white mixture and toss with a spoon.

Spoon the coated nuts onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Bake the nuts for 30 minutes, or until they turn light brown. Allow the nuts to cool completely and they will get very crunchy. Set aside until ready to serve.

For the fresh mango strawberry salad:

mango diced
strawberries diced
fresh mint leaves
fresh orange juice
sugar
drops of lemon squeeze

Combine all ingredient, let it in the fridge to cool, use it fresh.

Chococlate Marquise with Roasted Peanuts Caramel Popcorn

The same recipe of the chocolate marquise as above, and the same meringue.

for the peanut caramel popcorn

Roast the peanuts either in the oven or on the pan on the top of the stove,  let it cool down a little, heat he caramel on the microwave add the popcorn and the peanuts (the caramel will harden a little).

Fruits and Cream Layer Cake

Tags

Berry, blueberry, Cake, Cupcake, & Muffins, cream cheese, Dessert, jello, raspberry, strawberry

 Who don’t like Berry fruits?

                                                                     jello ? 

                                                                                                 or cake?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Can you resist feeling starving for something sweet?

How about something cool like a jello or creamy like a cream cheese frosting or delicious like strawberries?

 

 I always make sure my freezer stocked with frozen berries even if we are in the season of fresh ones. Do you?

You know, Sometimes you feel lazy to go  get some from the store or even you don’t have the time to go if you want something quick and easy.

 They are very handy, I like to put some purée of these berries with the homemade lemonade it makes a very delicious combination. 

In this recipe I used a frozen berry mix with the jello to top the layers of cake and cream cheese frosting, its cool dessert, refreshing, sweet and delicious.

Fruits and Cream Layer Cake

for the cake layer :

1 3\4 cups cake flour

1 1\2 teaspoon baking powder

1\4  teaspoon salt

1\2 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick of butter (1\2 cup) softened

2 eggs at room temperature

3\4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1\4 cup yogurt

1\4 cup milk

apricot jam (to brush the finished cake)

for the cream cheese frosting:

4 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1 bag dream whip (the powder)

1\2 can nestle table cream

2 tablespoon milk

2 tablespoon powdered suger

for the top layer:

jello berry flavor

frozen berry fruits

Heat the oven 350° f. Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed with stand mixer until light and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla,  beating just until blended after each addition.

Sift together the flour salt baking powder baking soda, add to the egg batter alternately with the milk and yogurt, fold it gently after each addition, beat at low-speed for seconds.

Line  13 x 9 pan with parchment paper,brush with oil and dust with flour, You need two thin layers of cake so pour half the batter into the pan, bake it until a tooth pick comes clean (around 15 minutes), continue the same with second half.

Let the cake cool down while you prepare the cream filling, beat the dream whip and table cream with the milk and powdered sugar, add the cream cheese beat until fluffy and smooth.

Prepare the jello as directed, since I used a frozen fruits so let it thaw at room temperature.

Spread 1 tablespoon of the jam on each layer of cake, set the first layer in the pan spread the filling of cream over it then the second layer of cake, then the fruits and pour the jello over the top.

Let the cake cool in the fridge for a couple of hours untill the jello set and harden.