Peaches are in season!

I went to a grocery store after my morning walk and as soon as I walked in I smell the fresh peach & nectarine's aroma. A perfect summertime smell!

White nectarines

So I bought some of these beautiful fruits and while we love to eat them fresh we still would like to treat ourselves with healthier dessert from time to time. I tried that cheesecake stuffed peaches recipe last year, it was so good that I think it might be a hit for this Fathers Day.

Cheesecake stuffed peach

The recipe was originally published in the August 2011 edition of Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

To make this you will need:

6 peaches, halved

1⁄4 cup butter, melted

3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar, purchased or combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 15 x 10 x 1" baking pan with parchment paper; set aside.

Trim a very thin slice from the round side of each peach half so the halves will stand flat on the baking pan. Dip peach halves in melted butter to coat. Arrange peach halves, cut sides up, in prepared pan. Sprinkle cut sides of peaches with cinnamon-sugar; set aside. 

 In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk & vanilla. Beat until combined. Spoon cream cheese mixture into peach centers.

Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until lightly browned & softened. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I sprinkled mine with powdered sugar:

Try it, I think you will like it!

Irresistible brownies for Valentines

I love brownies. This is probably, the only desert I can not ignore if I am near them.

I try to stay away from sweets so I don't allow myself to bake these often, but when I do, it is always happily welcomed by family and friends.

 

The recipe is easy and quick to make. Here is what you need to make these:

Hazelnut pecan chocolate chips brownies

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (approx. 170 gr.)

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup hazelnut, chopped

1/2 cup pecan, chopped

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided (1/2 cup for dough +1/2 for topping)

Preheat oven to 350'F. Melt butter in microwave and mix with sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, eggs and vanilla. Stir with spoon until butter is well blended and smooth. Stir in nuts and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.

Spray a rectangular baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray (mine is about 13"by 9" and about 2" tall). Spread the butter in the dish and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.

Let it cool and cut into rectangular pieces as desired. Dust it with powdered sugar.

Enjoy and happy Valentines Day!

Lemon Meyer curd recipe

Our lemon Meyer tree is full of fruits this year and it is time to harvest them. They are not storing very well, even in a refrigerator so I am trying to find the ways to preserve and enjoy them year-round. I made some delicious marmalade yesterday (will share the recipe later) but today I'd like to share the lemon curd recipe.

Lemon curd is delicious and is great on toast, scones or cake. It can not be stored for very long since it has the eggs in it so plan to use it within a week. It does not have any preservatives so it should be kept refrigerated all the time. My friends love it, so I don't have any problems with homemade gifts from my kitchen :)

This recipe was published originally in Good Housekeeping so I tried it once and have been making it ever since. I tried to use stevia instead of sugar for a healthier treat but I do not like the result so I am going to stick with sugar in this one. You will get approximately 2 cups of lemon curd from this recipe.

Here is how to make this:

The ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

6 table spoon butter

1 table spoon lemon Meyer peel, grated

2/3 cup lemon Meyer juice.

pinch of salt

You will also need a stainless steel 4-qt. saucepan, blender, whisk and 2 pretty jars.

Combine all ingredients but butter in a blender and blend just until smooth. Cook it on medium low setting for approximately 15 minutes. Do not boil. Add butter after about first 5 minutes of cooking.

Stir with your whisk all the time while cooking.

Transfer to a prepared clean jars. Let it cool, cover and refrigerate to chill. Enjoy!

Candied lemon Meyer's peel

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had lots of lemons this winter and was looking for an easy way to store them for future use. So I froze the juice and used the peel to make a candied lemon peel. All you need is sugar, water and of course, a lemon peel ( I am using a lemon Meyer one and just love how thin and fragrant the skin is).

 Here is how I made it:

 

1. Clean your lemons with warm water and wipe them dry. Cut in half horizontally and juice them, using citrus juicer. Strain the juice through fine mesh colander and pour into prepared ice cube trays. Save the peel.

 

2. Cut the half lemon peel into quarters. With a flexible knife, remove the inner white lining and discard it. Cut the lemon peel into long skinny strips. Pack it in the prepared measuring cup (I am using 2-cup measuring cup as a measure) .

3. Heat 4 cups of water until it boils. Add 2 cups packed lemon peel, reduce the heat and cook about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the peel with a slotted spoon and set aside.

4. Add 4 cups of sugar to the water, increase the heat and cook until the sugar dissolve, constantly stirring. Add the peel, boil about 1-2 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for about 40 minutes, stirring from time to time.

5. Remove the peel out of the syrup with a slotted spoon and transfer it on to prepared cookies trays lined with a parchment paper.

6. Let it air dry for a couple of days. I am tossing mine from time to time to make sure it will dry well. If it feels dry enough, it's time to store it.

I am using a glass jar with a vacuum seal and storing my candied peel in the refrigerator. The leftover syrup can be used also so I just sealed it in jars and put it the refrigerator.

Hazelnut rugelach

We did not bake much this holiday season, just a couple of my favorite treats. One of them is hazelnut rugelach. This recipe seems to be complicated but it's really not and it's also a very delicious. 

I got this from Good Housekeeping magazine several years ago and I have baked rugelach every winter ever since.

I used some dried plums and cherries for my recipe and switch hazelnuts for pecans and it tasted as good as the original one.

 

For the complete recipe go to Good Housekeeping or follow the instructions below:

Rugelach Dough

2 cup(s) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

1 package(s) (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

Fruit and Nut Filling

1 cup(s) hazelnuts, (filberts), toasted, skinned, and chopped

1/2 cup(s) dried pitted plums, (prunes), chopped

1/2 cup(s) dried tart cherries or cranberries, chopped

1/4 cup(s) (packed) light brown sugar

Spice Sugar

3/4 cup(s) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon(s) ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon(s) ground cloves

9 tablespoon(s) apricot jam

Directions

Prepare Rugelach Dough: On waxed paper, combine flour and salt. In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and cram cheese until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces; flatten each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic warp and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until dough is firm enough to roll. (Or place dough in freezer for 1 hour if using butter, 1 1/2 hours if using margarine.)

Meanwhile, prepare Fruit and Nut Filling: In medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients.

Prepare Spice Sugar: In small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line large cookie sheet with foil; grease foil.

Sprinkle work surface with 2 tablespoons spice sugar. Place 1 piece dough on top of sugar; turn over to coat both sides. Roll dough into 12-inch round, turning round over a few times and sprinkling work surface with 2 more tablespoons spice sugar to coat both sides.

Spread top of round with 3 tablespoons jam, then sprinkle with about 3/4 cup filling, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge. With knife, cut dough into 24 equal wedges. Starting at curved edge, roll up each wedge, jelly-roll fashion. Place rugelach, 1 inch apart, on cookie sheet, point side down.

Bake rugelach 20 to 25 minutes or until bottoms are browned. Immediately remove rugelach to wire rack to cool.

Repeat with remaining dough, spice sugar, jam, and filling.

Enjoy!

Pecan Pie recipe

I was trying to stay away from a sweets for a while but it is simply not possible. I am too weak :) Our favorite this Fall became a Pecan Pie, store bought and home made. Any way it's delicious and very sweet-tooth-satisfying.

The last one I baked was gone in a day and everyone is wondering, what actually is happened to the pie since each person had just a small slice?

I guess, no one can control their portion size these days :)

Here is the recipe if you'd like to make it at home.

Ingredients:

1 9" refrigerated Pillsbury pie crust

6 table spoons unsalted butter

1 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place pie crust into 9" glass dish. Fill the pie shell with pecans.

Make the filing:

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, maple syrup and butter. Heat over medium heat until butter melts and remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Add vanilla and salt.

Gradually beat in hot syrup mixture, stirring constantly.

Pour the mixture into the pie shell.

Bake at 350'F for 1 hour. Let it chill and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Enjoy!

Napoleon cake

This delicious layered Napoleon cake is very popular in the countries of ex USSR. I am not sure where the name came from. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte himself probably never heard about this desert. But nevertheless, the cake is delicious and worth the time spent.

 There are hundreds of variations out there but I would like to share this recipe my mother used to cook.

It is a little time consuming when you are cooking it from scratch, several hours, but you don't have to make it all in one day.

The cake you will be making is large so be ready to share :)

The ingredients:

For the dough:

1 bottle of light beer, 12 oz

400 gr cold butter (you can use either salted or unsalted. I tried to bake with both and I liked the salted one better)

4 cups all purpose flour

For the custard cream:

4 cups milk

5 large eggs

4 tablespoon flour

2 1/2 cup sugar

1 table spoon vanilla

Step 1. Make the dough.

Add the flour in a mixing bowl, add the butter by cutting it with the knife into flour until you will get an even crumbled texture.

Add the beer and mix it all together. Knead the dough well until smooth.

Divide the dough into 8 even rectangular portions and place in a clean container. Cover with film and place it in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. This part can be made and set overnight.

Step 2. Make the custard crème.

Mix the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the flour and mix all together.

Heat the milk in a pan but do not boil. Add small portions of the hot milk to the mixing bowl, stirring as you add it, until it is all added.

Put the blended mixture into a large pot and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it boils. Turn the heat off, add and stir the vanilla into the mix. At this point your custard cream should be nice and smooth but if it is not just use the blender or mixer to make it an even texture. Leave your crème to chill.

Step 3. Bake your cake layers.

Preheat your oven to 400'F. Take out one piece of the dough, and roll it on a floured surface to the rectangular shape. Apply even pressure when rolling and add flour as you go to avoid sticking to the surface. Make it as thin as about 1/8".  Poke holes all over it with the fork to avoid air bubbles while baking.

Bake 1st layer until golden. It may take 3 to 7 minutes or longer, depending on oven. While the first one is baking, roll the second portion of dough to the same size rectangular. Take the layer #1 out of oven and arrange it on the flat baking sheet. Bake #2 layer. Continue the same process until you will bake all 8 dough portions. 1 of the layers will be used for crumbled topping so you can bake it a little more to make it crumble easier. Stack 7 layers on top of each other and let them cool.

Crumble the layer you were preparing for the topping. The easiest way to do this is to break it into pieces and place it into large zip lock bag. Zip it and roll with the rolling pin to get large crumbles.

Step 4. Arrange the cake.

Prepare a cutting board large enough to accommodate the layers. Place first layer on the board and generously spread the custard on top. Cover with the second layer and repeat with crème. Continue in the same manner with all 7 layers. Spread the last portion of custard on top of 7 layer. Spread the crumbled layer on top.

To make the cake flat get a piece of foil large enough to cover the top of dessert. Place the foil on crumbled top, then place a large baking sheet on top and add some weight to apply an even pressure on the cake surface. Let it sit for about 4 hours.

When you take the weight off your cake it should be about 1 1/2" to 2" thick. Now you can cut the sides to make it a perfect rectangular. I love to eat the leftover sides, they are the sweetest :)

Slice your cake and store in covered container in refrigerator until ready to serve.

This cake is great for the family events, elegant dinning and of course, for a tea party. Enjoy and please let me know how you like it!

Christmas butter cookies

These cookies are so simple but taste so good. They remind me of shortbread cookies and perfect for the Christmas party.

How to make them:

1 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar
2 tea spoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped hazelnuts

Powdered sugar for dusting

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, flour and salt. Fold in nuts. Knead a dough to make it smooth. Place the dough ball in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 350'F. Line the baking sheet with foil. If your dough is too hard cut it with knife to form a strips and then cut it to even pieces. Roll the pieces into balls about the same size and place on ungreased foil about 1" apart.

 Bake at 350'F for about 15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Let them cool completely and dust them with the powdered sugar.

Enjoy and have fun at Christmas!

Red velvet cupcakes from beets

I love to try new and unusual recipes. This one was published in October issue of Sunset magazine and immediately attracted my attention since this dessert is cooked using vegetables.

Beets are not a diet friendly vegetable since they are full of carbs. I love however the fact that I am not using artificial food coloring and still have some fiber in my dessert.

To make these cupcakes you will have to roast your beets in an oven.

Just wrap 3 medium beets in foil and roast them  for about 1 1/2 hours at 350'F or until tender. Let your beets cool, then peel and cut them into chunks. Puree with food processor to get 1 1/4 cup of puree. Then follow the recipe to make the cupcakes - the full recipe can be printed directly from Sunset website.    

I've got 24 mini cupcakes and 6 regular ones and they are delicious. I decorated them with lemon buttercream frosting and it added a great touch to the flavor.

Absolutely love the recipe.

Carrot and Zucchini bars

Summer is here and I'd like to get as much fresh fruits and vegetables as possible. The nectarine season is over in our garden but we celebrated our harvest with lots of ripe fruit right off the tree and fresh baked nectarine pies.

I renewed my subscription to the Better Homes and Gardens magazine and I received a couple of wonderful gifts, 2 recipe books. Everything looks so good but I was anxious to try this carrot and zucchini bars recipe so much. The recipe is very simple, nutritious and there is 2 1/2 cups of shredded vegetables in them!

I change a recipe slightly, I used a yellow squash instead of green but the bars turned out just wonderful. So I baked them, let them cool and spread a cream cheese citrus frosting on top.
It's very good, try it!

Here is the recipe:

Carrot and Zucchini Bars

Ingredients for the dough:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups shredded carrot

1 medium zucchini, shredded (1 cup)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup cooking oil

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

Ingredients for the citrus-cream cheese frosting:

1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon lemon or orange peel, finely shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, ginger, and baking soda. In another large bowl stir together eggs, carrot, zucchini, brown sugar, raisins, walnuts, oil, honey, and vanilla. Add carrot mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined.

Spread batter into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Make citrus-cream cheese frosting: In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Stir in lemon or orange peel.

Frost cake with citrus-cream cheese frosting and cut into bars.

Treat for your Valentine

I am making a secret little Valentine treat for my husband. I've decided on homemade chocolate truffles. He is not a big fan of chocolate but he can eat a candy or two from time to time. To me, Valentine is about chocolate, so chocolate it is.

This type of candy are very easy to make and you can play with the ingredients to make your treat special. You will need a couple of days to make them since the mix require some chilling time. I am making it with you - so I am on a day 1 :)

Here is how - day 1

 The ingredients:

12 oz small size semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup whipping cream

1 tea spoon instant coffee

1 table spoon of rum or your Valentines' favorite liquor.  

Place the chocolate chips in a bowl. Boil the whipping cream, add instant coffee and pour the liquid over the chocolate chips while boiling hot. Quickly mix with a  wooden spoon to make the mixture smooth. Add rum and mix thoroughly.  Let it cool and  chill it in refrigerator overnight.

We will continue tomorrow :)

Strawberries and cream sponge cake

This cake screams summer! Right now is the perfect time to make this cake as strawberries are at their peak season in many areas and inexpensive to buy.

I got the recipe from the new issue of Making magazine which can be found for sale right now at Barnes and Nobles. I love to use seasonal fruits and berries in my cooking so I was just happy to find another great and somewhat healthy idea for a nice desert to eat with a cup of tea.

The cake is made with whole fresh strawberries on top and cut strawberries in a center. Then you add fresh homemade whip cream and you get the perfect fluffy light cake for a summer tea party!

I followed the recipe but used fresh whip cream I bought from our local bakery. The bakery is making a fresh load every morning and I am not a proud owner of a standing mixer so why not simplify the process! I used about 1 pound of the ready made whip cream.

The cake is easy to make and taste great. Try it for a wow result at your party!

Chocolate cake vintage recipe

Cooking and just a little bit of vintage today!

I found this fabulous vintage recipe box at an estate sale last Month.It is full of little hand written cards with someones favorite dishes. I am happy I saved them and will give a new life now. It somehow feels like lifting a curtain to pick another card. I try to imagine how this people lived their lives, how they got these recipes. Maybe they exchanged with their friends or got it from their mothers. Maybe it was their favorite dishes to bring to the party. Who knows! But these recipes were written way before I was even considering cooking due to the young age.

I already tried a cole slow recipe and it turned out to be the best one I ever had!

Another day I was in a mood for chocolate and baking. So I pulled out the other card, a chocolate cake recipe.The cake is easy to make and it is very good but I would prefer adding frosting. I found the recipe for butter cream frosting later in between some cards, and will make it another time. I also found that soda smell is a little overpowering to my taste so next time I am going to make some improvements. Like my mother said: "Always add just a little bit of vinegar on top of the baking soda until it sizzles, the smell of the baking soda will dissapear, my dear!" I should have listened to her :)Anyway, I am very happy with this chocolate cake dough recipe. It will make great mini cup cakes, too!