Lulu's Sweet Secrets

A Perfect Cake

2012-02-22T16:35:00.002-07:00

Today I made a perfect cake: layersof butter spongecake filled with homemade strawberry jam and homemade dulcede leche cream, covered with fresh Chantilly, and decorated with, of course, one sugar rose.

As you may note, I have a passion forflowers. From the heirloom species to the simplest one, all of them are capableto incite the most beautiful felling on me. When I was working on this post Irealized how marvelous is to photograph and also make these sugar flowers.

I had some leftover dulce deleche from the bonbons of the last week and then I decide to incorporate it onthis cake. I used it to prepare a velvet cream by adding egg yolks and cream. If you don’thave dulce de leche you can use sweetened condensed milk and the taste will besimilar. To add freshness I made a homemade strawberry jam. I have to say thatthe combination of the flavors between the dulce de leche cream and theChantilly was wonderfully pleasant.

The butter spongecake is from the book Mastering The Artof French Cooking. This cake is delicate and fine, proper to pair with theother luscious flavors. The first bite of this cake envelops you in a luxury sweet embrace. It’s that delightful second when a little piece of heavencan be yours.

Butter spongecake filled with homemade strawberry jam and homemade dulce de leche cream covered with fresh Chantilly

Butter Spongecake

(from the book Mastering The Art Of French Cooking)

4 Tb butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg whites

pinch of salt

2 Tb granulated sugar

3/4 cup cake flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter ad flour the cake pan.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks, add the vanilla, and continue beating for several minutes until mixture is thick and pale yellow.

Beat the egg whites and salt together in a separated bowl until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Scoop one fourth of the egg whites over the top of the egg yolks and sugar mixture. Sift on one fourth of the flour, and delicately fold in until partially blended. Then add one third of the remaining egg whites, sift on one third of the remaining flour . fold until partially blended, and repeat with half of each, then the last of each and half of the tepid, melted butter. When partially blended, fold in the rest of the butter but omit the milky residue at the bottom of the pan. Do not overmix; the egg whites must retain as much volume as possible.

Turn into prepared cake pan, tiling pan to run batter to the rim all around. Set in middle level of preheated oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Cake is done when it has puffed, is lightly brown, and has just begun to show a faint line of shrinkage from the edges of the pan.

Dulce de leche cream

1 cup of homemade dulce de leche or 1 cansweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks

¾ cup heavy cream

Pour dulce de leche or condensed milk into amedium saucepan and place over medium heat

Add the egg yolks and keep stirring themixture until it starts to show the bottom of the pan when you scrape it with aspoon. The mixture should be thick enough to show the bottom the pan for acouple of seconds before the mixture back again.

Pour the mixture in a greased bowl and leaveaside to cool. When the mixture is at room temperature, add heavy cream and mixuntil combine. Place it in the fridge until decoration.

Strawberry Jam

1 cup strawberries

½ cup sugar

1 cup water

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a saucepanover moderate heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered,stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes (jam willcontinue to thicken as it cools).

Chantilly Cream

1 cup heavy cream, cold

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chill a mixing bowl andwire whisk in the freezer for 10 minutes before beginning. Beat heavycream in the chilled bowl until it begins to foam and thicken up. Addthe powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until the cream barely mounds. Do notoverwhip.

Dulce de Leche and Almond Bon Bons

2012-02-13T23:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine’sDay dear readers! Continuing with my chocolate confections, today I will sharewith you these wonderful dulce de leche and almond bon bons. I had the most specialfeeling making these treats. First, they are made with homemade dulce de leche,a traditional candy from my state in Brazil. Second, it was one of the sweetsserved on my wedding. I tried to reproduce them and I got exactly the same lusciousflavor. What could possible go wrong when you have dulce de leche, almonds,cream and butter, covered with dark chocolate? Nothing!

As opposedto my first bon bons I didn’t have problems making these one. The homemadedulce de leche is quite easy to prepare. Although the cooking time reaches abouttwo hours, you just have to stir it occasionally. When the dulce deleche is done, almonds, butter and cream are incorporated and cooked until aconsistent cream is formed. To make the bon bons and the base of the lace heart I used the shell molding technique. To prepare the chocolate lace heartshell I used a parchment paper cone and a heart mold. When you will use just alittle amount of chocolate to decorate, a paper cone is better than a pipingbag. You can see how to fold a paper cone here. The lace effect you will get bymaking doodle lines following the heart shape in a chocolate mold.

I hope you have a lovely day with your sweetheart!

Dulce de Leche

1 quart whole milk

1 cup sugar

Combine the milk and sugar in a large,4-quartsaucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirringoccasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar hasdissolved, reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered at a bare simmer.Stir occasionally, but do not re-incorporate the foam that appears onthe top of the mixture. Continue to cook for 1 hour. If you want adarkcaramel color continue to cook until the mixture has reduced to about1 cup, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Strain the mixture through a finemesh strainer if you want. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed containerfor up to a month.

Dulce de leche andalmond filling

½ cup dulce de leche

2 oz/100g ground almonds

1 tablespoon butter

¼ heavy cream

½ teaspoon almond extract

Combine ground almonds, butter, dulce de leche,cream and almond extract in a mediun saucepan. Stir the mixture until it startsto show the bottom of the pan while you scrape it with a spoon. The mixtureshould be thick enough to show the bottom of the pan for a few seconds beforethe mixture back again.

Rose Heart Cake

2012-02-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

My second recipefor Valentine’s Day was inspired by February 2012 cover of MarthaStewart Living magazine. There was a beautifulpink flower arrangement in a heart shape on the picture. So I decided to make a heart shapedcake decorated with a lot of sugar pink roses. More and more I love making these sugarflowers. It's like a therapy for me.

I prepared an almond chocolate sponge cake from thisbook. Because I love almonds, I loved this cake. It is so reach, so good. Once again, I couldn’t not resist in using brigadeiro. This time I made a raspberrywhite chocolate brigadeiro filling. To balance the sweetness of the brigadeiro I opted to make a mascarpone frosting.

I have to confess that this cake was one of my favorites. The combination of flavors is magnificent.Besides I liked very much the different shades of pink that I used on the sugar roses.

Almond Chocolate Sponge Cake

(from the book Professional Baking)

4.33 oz /130 g Marzipan

2.67 oz /80 g (4 yolks) Egg yolks

4 oz /120 g (4 whites) Eggwhites

1.67 oz (4 tbsp)/ 50 g Sugar

1.33 oz /40 g Cake flour

1.33 oz/ 40g Cocoa powder

1.33 oz /40 g Butter, melted

1. Beat the marzipan and eggyolks

together until smooth and light.

2. Whip the egg whites and sugarto a

stiff meringue.

3. Sift the flour and cocoatogether. Fold

the meringue and dry ingredients

alternately into the egg yolkmixture,

starting and ending with themeringue.

4. Fold in the butter.

Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 10–12minutes.

Raspberry white chocolate brigadeiro

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

100g white chocolate (I used Callebaut BelgianChocolate)

6oz/170g raspberries

1 teaspoon rose water

Pour the condensed milk into a medium saucepanand place over low heat.

Add the chocolate, butter, raspberries androse water. Stir the mixture until it starts to show the bottom of the panwhile you scrape it with a spoon. The mixture should be thick enough to showthe bottom of the pan for a few seconds before the mixture back again.

VanillaMascarpone Frosting

1 cup(8oz) mascarpone at room temperature

1/2 cupunsalted butter at room temperature

1tablespoon vanilla paste

4 cupspowdered sugar (1 lbs)

1. Beatthe mascarpone cheese, vanilla and butter in a large bowl of electric mixer

2.Add the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.

Gianduja Cupcakes

2012-01-31T15:54:00.001-07:00

Lastyear I had so many realizations in discover how to work with fondant, makesugar flowers, cakes and register all those experiences by the art of thephotography that I’m really excited to learn more and more new techniques. Whenthe New Year begins, we usually enumerate a lot of goals and resolutions. Minewas to learn to work with chocolate. I bought a professional book, a marble slaband all the confectionary equipment needed. Over the past three weeksI’ve been learning how to temper properly chocolate and how to makeconfections, ganache and nut pastes. As Valentine’s Day is just around thecorner, I think this is the appropriate occasion to talk about what Ihave been experienced. Besides, is there a better time to explorethis most marvelous ingredient present in the world? So for the firstpost I will share with you luscious gianduja cupcakes with vanillabuttercream topped with glittered gianduja chocolate hearts.

Canyou imagine how those Valentines cupcakes are wonderful? If you are a Nutellalover as I am, you will love to make your own Gianduja. This nutpaste is prepared using dark, milk, or white chocolate, sugar andhazelnuts. Freshly made gianduja retains such more aroma and flavor of thefreshly roasted nuts than the one commercially available. To make amedium-consistency gianduja using dark chocolate, my suggestion is to use a1:1:1 ratio – that is, one part dark chocolate, one part roasted hazelnuts, andone part confectioners’ sugar. If you opted for milk or white chocolate, youhave to increase the amount of chocolate to approximately 1.25 parts to ensurea similar texture. When a softer gianduja is desired, add more nuts to themixture or if you want it less sweet, the sugar may be decrease or eliminated.

Theprocedure to make gianduja is quite simple. First toast the nuts to the desiredegree. Roasting nut before baking is an important practice for bringing outthe flavors. It’s wonderful how hazelnuts smell good after some minutesroasting. It’s a delight! Second, grind the nut while still hot in a foodprocessor with about 25 percent of the sugar to as fine a consistency aspossible. Process them while hot will facilitate to release the oils. Toachieve a smooth cream and to avoid a grainy texture on the final product, thenuts should be reduced to a liquid state. Once the nuts have beensatisfactorily ground, the remaining sugar and the melted chocolate can beadded. I chose dark chocolate this time. Be careful todon't overprocessing the mixture or the heat can cause damage on thechocolate producing an overly viscous paste. Finally, put the entire quantityonto a marble slab and agitate it generously until it is cooled to 27°C/80°F orbelow. This practice calls temper and it is needed to assure that the giandujawill have a smooth mouthfeel free of large fat crystals on the finishedproduct. In a future post I will try to write more about the theoryof temper chocolates!

I’vegot the inspiration to create these glittered bonbons from this photo on Martha Stewart website. To conquer the desired result on these gianduja bonbons I took a lotof time between failures and success attempts. My first attempt was to sprinkle edible glitter (disco dust) into the mold before filling with the melted chocolate. The result wasbeautiful but not vibrant as I wish. So I decided to make the opposite and theresult was wonderful. I made a solid gianduja heart followed by chocolatedipping finalized with disco dust.

Forthe gianduja cupcakes, I adapted the recipe from the lovely Meg Ray's book byadding ground hazelnuts and gianduja. For the frosting, I made a vanillabuttercream recipe from the same book. I have to say that these indulgenttreats are beautiful and equally delicious. I was really happy that I wascapable to make these cupcakes and I hope you enjoy them as much as Idid.

Hazelnut Gianduja

(from the book Chocolate and Confections: formula, theory, and technique for the artisan confectioner)

yield: 600g

Ingredients:

200 g/3.6 oz hazelnuts, toasted

200 g/3.6 oz confectioners' sugar

200 g/3.6 oz 70 percent cocoa chocolate, melted

Equipment:

Food processor

marble slab

double boiler for melt the chocolate

thermometer

In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts with asmall amount of the confectioners'sugar until liquefied.

Add the chocolate and the remainingconfectioners' sugar. Mix in the food processor until homogeneous.

Temper the gianduja for immediate use, or storefor future use.

Hazelnut Gianduja Cupcakes

yield: 15 cupcakes

1 cup cake flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

120g/3.9 oz hazelnut gianduja

62 g/2 oz 70 percent cacao chocolate,melted

62 g/ 2 oz ground toasted hazelnut

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, bakingpowder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, that's about 5 minutes.

Add eggs and beat until wellincorporated.

Add gianduja paste, ground toasted hazelnuts andchocolate melted to the mixture and beat until well incorporated.

Add the flour and buttermilkin 3 additions always start and finish with the flour.

line two standard muffin tins with paper lines. Fill each cup two-thirds full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees F until the tops spring back and a taster inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool completely in the pan.

Vanilla Buttercream

(from the book Miette)

yield: 6 cups

2 cups (14 ounces) sugar

1/3 cup water

5 large egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

3 cups (1 1/2 pounds) unsalted butter, at roomtemperature.

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combinethe sugar and water. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Cook themixture until it reaches 248 degrees F, 5 to 10 minutes, keeping a constant eyeon it.

Meanwhile, combine the egg whites and cream oftartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment.

As soon as the sugar syrup reaches 248 degreesF, immediately pour it into a heat-proof measurer. Pour a few tablespoons intothe whites, away from the whisk, so the hot syrup doesn't splash, and whisk onmedium speed for a few seconds. Be careful as the syrup is very hot. Pour in alittle more syrup and whisk for a few seconds, until incorporated. Repeat untilall the syrup has been added. Raise the speed to high and continue to whiskuntil the mixture cools to room temperature, 70 to 75 degrees F, 5 to 10minutes.

Only when the meringue is cool enough shouldyou begin adding the butter. Reduce the speed to medium. With the mixerrunning, drop in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each isincorporated before adding another. The mixture may deflate and begin to lookcurdle. Raise the speed to high and continue to add to add tablespoon-sizepieces of butter, making sure each is completely combined before adding more.When all of the butter has been added, the frosting should be smooth and thick.Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

Use the buttercream immediately, or coverand refrigerate until needed. Store in a zippered plastic bag for up to 1 weekin the refrigerator and up to 2 months in the freezer. (To thaw, leave inthe refrigerator over-night, not on the countertop). Touse the buttercream that has been chilled, remove from the refrigeratorand bring to room temperature, about 1 hour, or microwave in 15-secondintervals, mixing in between each, until soft. If frosting has been frozen,this can take up to 2 minutes total. You can also soften the buttercream over abain-marie or a double boiler. The frosting will soften from theouter edges of the bowl so mix from outside, folding the frosting inside.Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until softand spreadable, 2 to 3 minutes.

GiandujaBonbons

Ingredients:

gianduja paste

70 percent cocoa chocolate melted for dipping, as needed

pink and gold disco dust to coat the bonbons

Equipment:

heart chocolate mold

double boiler

dipping fork

parchment paper

small brush to sprinkle the disco dust

Fill the chocolate heart moldswith gianduja paste and then let they rest on the refrigerator until theyrelease from the mold.

Dip with a dipping fork each gianduja heart in the chocolate melted. Place them on parchment paper. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle disco dust by tappingbrush gently over-top of each heart. Let they dry before top the cupcakes.

Snowflake Cookies

2011-12-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Born and raised in a tropicalcountry means that snow is a magical event that happens only in films, cartoonsand fairy tales. Years ago my husband and I had a pleasure to spend ourChristmas in the charm city of Munich. We were walking in the middle ofMarienplatz, just few hours before midnight in December 24th, when it startedto snow. There was a huge Christmas tree all lined with beautiful lights, and the square was also totally decorated. And then everything became beautifullywhite. Could you image a better scenario to see snow for the first time? Thatwas certainly one of the most beautiful and magical Christmas of my life.

The first snow of thiswinter in Beachwood was last Saturday. I could stay hours and hours watchingthe light snowflakes falling and slowly touching the branches of the treesand the last leaves of the autumn. That moment made me hypnotized because Ialways remembered my Christmas Eve in Munich and also my visit to theBavarian Alps and The Schloss Neuschwanstein.

So I made these snowflakescookies to celebrate this moment. Sugary cookies decorate with peppermint royalicing are perfect Christmas treats.

I wish you and yours a very wonderful Christmas!

Snowflakes Cookies Decorated with Peppermint Royal Icing

Sugar cookies

(from Martha Stewart Website)

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus morefor rolling

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter,room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Assorted candies, sprinkles, orcolored sugars, for decorating (optional)

In large bowl, whisk flour, bakingpowder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until lightand fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flourmixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrapeach in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in aresealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigeratorovernight).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Linebaking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes.Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting doughwith flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transferto prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Rerollscraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake, rotating halfway through,until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completelyon wire racks.

Peppermint Royal Icing

2 pounds confectioners' sugar,sifted

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons meringuepowder

Scant 1 cup water, plus more ifneeded

1/2 tablespoon peppermint oil

With an electric mixer on low speed,beat ingredients until fluffy, 7 to 8 minutes. Use immediately, or transfer toan airtight container (royal icing hardens quickly when exposed to air) andrefrigerate up to 1 week. Stir well with a flexible spatula before using.

Thin icing as needed by stirring inadditional water, one teaspoon at a time. For piping designs, add just enoughwater that icing is no longer stiff; for floodwork, add water until icing isthe consistency of honey.

Almond Cake with Date Mascarpone Filling and a Gum Paste Poinsettia

2011-12-21T20:12:00.001-07:00

Ithas been a while that I don’t model a gum paste flower. While I was planning myholiday cake, I started to think first which flower I should use to decorateit. Well, the answer for this question was very simple! There is a flower thatrepresents one of the most popular symbols of the Christmas: Poinsettia.

Thisbeautiful flower is native to Mexico. Around the 17th century, the Franciscanmissionaries, settled in an area of Southern Mexico, started to use them inChristian ceremony. But just in 1825, the poinsettia was introduced intothe United States by Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.

Thereis a very interesting Mexican tale that explains how poinsettia became aChristmas symbol. A young girl named Pepita would like to offer a present to ChristChild in the Christmas Eve celebration. But she was very poor and didn’t have moneyto buy him a present. So an angel appeared and advised her to gather abouquet of ragged-looking flowering weeds. As Pepita walked toward the altar, hertears fall upon the weeds and they miraculously turn into glorious red bloomsof poinsettia.

Backingto the cake, I made a delicious almond cake. It has almonds, rice flourand some healthy ingredients like coconut oil. It is also a gluten free cake.For the filling I made a simple cream with medjool dates and mascarpone cheese.The combination between the sweetness of dates with the light flavor of themascarpone creates a delicate cream.

Almond Cake with Date Mascarpone Filling

Almond Cake

(makes 1 round 7 in cake)

21/2 cups whole almonds

1cup rice flour

1/2tsp salt

1/2tsp baking soda

11/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3eggs

1/4cup coconut oil

1/2cup agave nectar

Preheatoven to 350F

Placethe almonds and rice flour in a food processor. Process until the almonds arefinely ground. Combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon in a bowl.In another bowl combine eggs, coconut oil and agave. Combine wet and dry ingredients.Bake the cake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.

Date Mascarpone Cream

10 medjool dates

12 oz mascarpone cream

Place the medjool dates and mascarpone in a foodprocessor. Process until form a smooth cream.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

The gingerbread (Lebkuchenin German) was created by medieval monks in the 13th century. But the tradition ofbaking gingerbread house (Lebkuchenhaus) started only in the 19th century. In this time, theBrothers Grimm published a collection of fairytale, including “Hansel and Gretel”.

Do you remember this part ofthe story?

“In the middle of theclearing was a little house made entirely of gingerbread! The roof was tarredwith icing, the window frames were licorice, and the trees and bushes in theyard were made of gumdrops and lollipops! Hansel and Gretel were so hungry theyran to the house and began to lick and nibble it!”

I think many children wish to find a house like that and eat it allwithout guilt. At least, that’s how I felt every time my beloved grandma told methis story. By the way, this was my first gingerbread house and I had such a great time making it. I took the recipefrom Martha Stewart’s website. I loved! You can find everything there, as the gingerbreadand royal icing recipes, templates and how to assemble the house.

Grapefruit Macarons

2011-12-10T22:12:00.001-07:00

With my eyes onthe oven, I watched carefully tiny cookies becoming my first successful macaronsshells: fine crust and their distinctive “foot” or pied on the bottom. Make macarons was a sweet dream since I startthis blog. I’m fascinated for those charming almond shells and their delightfulpossibilities of flavors. But only last week I had a reliable result.

After several frustratingattempts, it seems to me a Christmas miracle. Or not! Maybe this time I made correctlythe macaronnage and the drying time. Some bakers attribute those steps ascrucial to obtain the perfect macaron. For those of you not familiar with theterms, macaronnage is the term for mixing the almond flour and meringue untilthe batter becomes nicely firm. This video helped me a lot to understand how exactlyto do that. After pipe the batter on thebaking sheet, the dry time is very important.

Allow the cookiesto rest are what cause the fine macaron crust and the foot. I made some testswith different length of drying times and the best result was with the cookies driedfor 2 hours as the book Miette advises. I tried to bake some cookies without drying, but the shells cracked and thefoot didn’t form. I also tried drying them for just one hour. Although theydeveloped the foot, the crust cracked.

About theflavor, I love grapefruit and its sweet and tart taste. You can also substitutethe grapefruit for another season citrus that like most, as Clementine andorange.

The art ofbaking these delectable confections is intriguing. Conquering the perfect balanceof chewiness and crispness is pleasurable. I have to confess you that myfelling when a saw my first macarons was wonderful: smiles on my face, happiness,and the desire to make more and more of those French morsels of beauty andsavor.

Grapefruit Macarons

Ingredients for the shells

(from the book Miette)

(makes eighteen 1-inch sandwich cookies)

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) whole almonds - I used blanched almonds

2 1/4 cups (10 ounces) powdered sugar

3 large egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest

Preparation

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 1 1/2-inch bottle cap as a template, draw 1-inch circles in rows on the paper, about 1 inch apart. You should have room for eighteen circles on each sheet.

Place half of the almonds and half of the powdered sugar in a food processor. Process for 30 seconds, until the almonds are finely ground. Pour the mixture into a separate bowl, and repeat the process with the remaining almonds and powdered sugar. Sift or strain through a sieve to remove any lumps. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar and whisk on high speed until very stiff peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold about one-third of the almond mixture into the egg whites. Fold in the remaining mixture in two more additions, just until the ingredients are completely combined.

Fit a pastry bag with a medium (1/2- or 5/8-inch) round tip and fill the bag with the meringue. Pull up the cuff and twist it to seal and tighten the meringue down into the cone. Purge the bag of air bubbles by squeezing the bag. Keep the bag tightly twisted so that meringue doesn't come back up on your hands. Using the template as a guide, pipe 1-inch circles, 1/2 to 3/4 inch high, onto the baking sheets. Set the room temperature for 2 hours. this allows the macarons to develop their distinctive crust and a "foot"or base on the bottom.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake the macarons until set but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the macarons cool completely on the pans. When they are cool, use your fingers to carefully lift half of the cookies from the parchment and turn them upside down. Using a pastry bag fitted a medium (1/2- or 5/8-inch) round tip and filled with either the grapefruit buttercream, squeeze a nickle-size dollop of filling onto each of the upside-down cookies, and then top with the remaining macarons to complete the sandwich cookies.

Store the macarons, refrigerated, in airtight containers for up to 2 weeks. Serve at room temperature.

Grapefruit Buttercream

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoon freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

2 teaspoon grated grapefruit zest

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the butter, sugar and milk until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla, grapefruit juice and zest. Stir until well combined and smooth.

Candy Cane Brigadeiro

2011-12-06T16:54:00.001-07:00

Who would say thata simple sugar candy originated around 1600’s in Europe to decorate Christmas treeswould become one of the most traditional Christmas symbol. These peppermintflavored sticks has sweetened the holidays in many ways: cake, cupcake, cookie,brownie, bark, macaron and why not say brigadeiro.

Brigadeiro is a classicBrazilian treat presented in almost our celebrations. It is basically made withsweetened condensed milk, chocolate and butter. To my version of candy canebrigadeiro, I added peppermint oil and coated with crushed candy cane. I preparedtwo flavors, one with bittersweet chocolate and another with white chocolate. I really enjoyed those combinations and I hopethey sweeten your Christmas too.

Candy Cane Brigadeiro

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

100g bittersweet chocolate (I used Callebaut Belgian Chocolate) - or 100g white chocolate to make the white chocolate version

1 teaspoon peppermint oil

Pour the condensed milk into a medium saucepan and place over low heat.

Add the chocolate, butter and peppermint oil. Stir the mixture until it starts to show the bottom of the pan while you scrape it with a spoon. The mixture should be thick enough to show the bottom of the pan for a few seconds before the mixture back again. Transfer to a greased bowl. Let it cool, make little balls and then coated with crushed candy cane.

Guava Marmalade Panettone

2011-12-03T12:22:00.001-07:00

Ithink everyone has a traditional treat on their memory that idealizes the festiveexpressions for these holidays. Sometimes it’s hard enough to wait twelvemonths to savor their wonderfully delicious flavor. For me, having panettone for the holidays is a truly delight. It is oneof the baking treats that give the real sense of Christmas time.

Thisyear my version of panettone has a rich ingredient in flavor and aroma: guavamarmalade. My first attempt to make something with guava turned it into a successfulcheesecake. With the panettone wasn’t different. It was so moist and flavor,exactly the taste that brings all the comforting and good feelings.

Guava Marmalade Panettone

(adapted from the book The Modern Baker, Nick Malgieri)

Makes 1 tall 9-inch(23-cm) cake, about 16 servings or 8 mini and 1 medium cake.

SPONGE

4 teaspoons (about 1 ½envelopes) active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water,about 110°F (45°C)

3/4 cup unbleachedall-purpose flour

(spoon flour into adry-measure cup and level off)

DOUGH

10 tablespoons (1 1/4sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons finelygrated orange zest

2 teaspoons vanillaextract

1 teaspoon almondextraxt

3 large eggs

3 1/4 cups unbleachedall-purpose flour

3 large egg yolks

1lb guava marmalade, cut into small cubes

3 tablespoonsunsalted butter, melted, for brushing the

panettone

sugarfor sprinkling

One 9-inch (23-cm)springform pan, buttered and lined

with a disk ofparchment or buttered wax paper cut to fit/ or decorative panettone baking papers.

To make the sponge,whisk the yeast into the water in a small bowl. Thoroughly stir

in the flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrapand set aside while you prepare the

other ingredients,about 20 minutes.

2. Combine thebutter, sugar, salt, orange zest, almond, and vanilla in the bowl of anelectric mixer. Place the bowl on the mixer with the paddle and beat on low tomedium speed until well mixed, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at atime, beating smooth after each addition.

3. Remove the bowlfrom the mixer (leave the paddle in the bowl) and scrape in the sponge. Placethe bowl back on the mixer and beat on low speed until the sponge isincorporated. On lowest speed, beat in 2 cups of the flour. Beat in the eggyolks, beating smooth afterward. Beat in the remaining cups flour and continuebeating until the dough is smooth, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and let thedough rest for 15 minutes.

4. Add the guava tothe bowl and beat the dough again until they are evenly distributed—the doughwill be very soft. Scrape the dough into a buttered bowl and cover with plasticwrap. Let the dough rise until doubled, 1 to 2 hours, depending on thetemperature of the room.

5. Use a large rubberspatula inserted between the bowl and the dough to fold the dough over onitself, from the outside in, all around it. Invert the dough to a flouredsurface and round it slightly. Slide your hands under the dough and drop itinto the prepared pan. Gently press the top of the dough to make it flat andeven. Cover the pan with buttered plastic wrap and let the dough rise until itfills the pan, about 11/2 hours.

6. About 20 minutesbefore the dough is fully risen, set a rack in the middle of the oven andpreheat to 350°F (180°C).

7. Brush the

panettones with melted butter and sprinkle sugar. Bake the panettoneuntil it is well risen, deep golden, and a toothpick or the point of a smallknife inserted into the center of the cake emerges clean, about 40 minutes.Cool

the panettone in thepan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold it onto the rack, turn it right sideup again, and brush it all over with melted butter. Cool the panettonecompletely.

Storage: After thepanettone has cooled, double wrap

it in plastic wrapand keep it at room temperature

for a few days.Freeze for longer storage. Defrost

and bring to room temperaturebefore serving.

Gingerbread Tree Cookies

2011-11-30T12:18:00.001-07:00

"It’s the mostwonderful time of the year!" With this song in my headI trimmed my Christmas tree today. As the song says the holidayseason is the most exciting and emotional time of the year for me and trim theChristmas tree is a warm welcome to this magical month. It's so good therecollections of my childhood when my mother, my sister and I used to made thisaction a great event. I have clear memories of my satisfaction to place eachornament one by one until the final decoration. The expectation for presents,shopping, candies, panettones, Christmas dinner and the family reunion werefabulous and I'm trying to keep this delightful sense of wonderalive.

After my wedding, setting up a tree at my new home became evenmore special. Over the years, I’ve been collecting some ornaments from theplaces I've visited. One that I really like is the crystal angel from theMunich Christmas Market.

So to celebrate this special event of the day I made somedelicious gingerbread tree cookies decorated with marshmallow fondant. They areso cutie that you can use them as ornaments as well as a gift. With thesegingerbread tree cookies I start my Christmas series and I hope you enjoy theideas for your holidays!

Gingerbread Tree Cookies

(fron the book Willians-Sonoma Cooking at Home)

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. salt

¾ cups (6 oz/185g) unsalted butter, at roomtemperature

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

¼ cup unsulfured molasses

2 egg yolks

Decorating sugars and pastes as desired

Directions:

Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice andsalt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butteron medium-high speed until fluffy and pale yellow, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the brownsugar and beat for 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the molasses,beating until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolks one at a time.

Sift the flour mixture mixture directly onto the butter mixture. Beat justuntil combined, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of thebowl.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Using floured hands, form the doughinto a smooth mound and divide into 3 equal portions. Shape each into a diskand wrap separately with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or upto 2 days.

Preheat an oven to 400ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the refrigerator and let stand for 10minutes. Place the dough between 2 sheets of parchment or waxed paper and rollout to a thickness of 1/4 to 3/8 inch. This thickness is important to ensurethe baked cookies will fit together.

Dip the cutters into flour just before using and cut out the shapes. Using anoffset spatula, carefully transfer the cutouts to the prepared baking sheets. Repeatwith the remaining dough. Gather up the scraps, reroll them and cut outadditional cookies. For best results, do not reroll scraps more than once.Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 20 minutes.

Bake the cookies until golden browned on the edges, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool for 5minutes. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets, then decorate asdesired.

Maple Apple Pie

2011-11-04T13:33:00.000-06:00

Some weeksago, in a pleasant Monday morning, my husband and I went to the Patterson Fruit Farm to pick up some apples. Honey crisp, Macintosh, Golden Delicious and Gala.These are some of the varieties that we found there. There were more kinds ofapple there too, but most of them were new to me and I could just rememberthose. Among all those options we gathered beautiful apples avid to make ourfirst apple pie. In myimagination when I think of this iconic American dessert, I always see a warmpie even with a fragrant swirling steam cooling on the kitchen counter like in the old cartoons I watched when I was achild.

Making my own apple piewas very exciting! First I prepared the dough. To obtain a perfect pie crust I left it resting overnight on the fridge,and then I make the apple filling with maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.During the baking, when the top crust starts to became golden I brushed the entire crust with milkand sprinkled some sugar and cinnamon. The flavors of the juicy compote fillingcovered by the sugary crust were sensational. How wonderful was enjoy thistraditional dessert on a typical autumn evening!

Maple Apple Pie

(adapted from here)

For the pastry:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. sugar

10 Tbs. (11/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter,
cut into pieces

10 Tbs.cold vegetable shortening, cut into
pieces

7 Tbs. ice water

1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

For the filling:

2 1/2 lb.baking apples, peeled, cored,
quartered and cut lengthwise into slices 1/2
inch thick

1/2 cupsugar, plus more as needed

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

½ cup maple syrup

2 Tbs.unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 Tbs. milk

Sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Directions:

To make thepastry, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and sugar. Make a wellin the center, add the butter and shortening and, using your fingertips, rubthem into the flour mixture until small, flat pieces form. In a cup or smallbowl, combine the water and vinegar. Using a fork, gently mix just enough ofthe liquid into the flour mixture so it comes together in a rough ball; do notoverwork. Discard the remaining liquid. Divide the dough in half and wrap eachhalf in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

To make the filling, in a bowl, toss together the apples, the 1/2 cup sugar(adding more to taste if the apples are tart), cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup.

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half of the dough (leave the otherhalf refrigerated) into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the dough inhalf and then into quarters and transfer it to a 9-inch pie dish. Unfold andgently press into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the edges even withthe rim. Roll out the remaining dough into a 10-inch round about 1/8 inchthick.

Turn the apples into the pastry-lined pan, mounding them slightly in thecenter. Dot evenly with the butter. Brush the edges of the dough with water. Foldthe dough round into quarters and unfold over the apples. Press together thetop and bottom crusts to seal, then trim the edges flush with the rim of thedish and crimp to form an attractive edge. Make a few slits near the center toallow steam to escape.

Bake for 25 minutes. Brush with milk and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar. Reducethe oven temperature to 350°Fand continue to bake until the apples are tender (insert a knife blade througha slit) and the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer the dishto a wire rack and let the pie cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Makes one9-inch pie; serves 8.

Autumn Leaves

2011-10-28T13:14:00.000-06:00

On a visit to The Cleveland Museum of Art I was astonished by the painting Viewof Schroon Mountain, Essex County, New York, After a Storm - Thomas Cole(American, 1801-1848). The intense colors of fall represented in adramatic way are beautiful and impressive. Cole declared about the autumn themeon his painting: "oneseason where the American forest surpasses all the world in gorgeousness”. Inmy tropical country there is no colored autumn like in the north hemisphere. I think maybe that is why Iam passionate about everything related to this season. I really like to feel the spice flavors, thecinnamon smell, and to observe the change of the colors.

This is my second autumn in US and I feelpretty lucky to live here. As I already mentioned on the last post, fall it’sreally special for me. Visit the Cleveland Metroparks to see the beauty of thefoliage and pick up apples and pumpkins at Patterson Fruit Farm are already essentialsand delightful habits acquired for me and my husband.

Some days ago I resolved to take a stroll onthe condominium were I live to photograph some trees. I was fascinated with somany different leaves shape and colors. After an hour I came back to myapartment with my pockets full of leaves, happy with my photos and an idea: tomake painted leaves fondant. So I bought some cutters, made the marshmallowfondant again and with some food coloring I tried to recreate the essence ofthis time of the year. Then I used these edible cute leaves to decorate somedelicious chocolate cupcakes with cinnamon frosting. I also usethem to cover some cookies.

Chocolate Cupcakes

(adapted from My Baking Addiction)

Yield: 12 cupcakes

1 cup cake flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheatoven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cupcake wells with paper liners or spray pan withspray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Sifttogether cake flour, cocoa powder and salt.

3. In thebowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine oil and sugaruntil well-blended. Add egg and mix until combined.

4. Turn yourmixer down to the lowest speed add vanilla then slowly add in the foodcoloring. Note:If you are using liquid food coloring, it will take about 2tablespoons of coloring to get a dark red shade. I used about 1 tablespoon ofgel dye to achieve the shade in the photographs. Add the dye slowly and coloraccording to your preference.

5. Add flourmixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches; scrape down the side of thebowl. Continue mixing until just combined, taking care not to over mix.

6. Add thebaking soda and beat for about 10 seconds.

7. Using amedium scoop (about 3 tablespoons), divide batter among between the 12 wells,filling each well about 2/3 full of batter. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until atoothpick inserted comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake.

Cinnamon Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Once thecupcakes have cooled, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, use an electricmixer to beat together the butter, sugar, cinnamon and milk until smooth andcreamy. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.

Sugar Cookies

(from Sweetapolita)

Yield: Approximately 30 medium/small mixed shape cookies

*Note: recipe reflects a recent decrease in baking powder, which creates a more compact cookie that won’t lose shape when baked.

6 cups (750 grams/1 lb + 10 ounces) sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt

1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder

2 cups unsalted butter, (1 lb, 454 grams, 16 ounces) softened for about 2 hours at room temperature

2 cups (400 grams/14 ounces) sugar

2 large eggs (straight from refrigerator)

2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) pure lemon extract

1. In large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

2. Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs.

3. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla and lemon extract.

Steps to the perfect rolled dough (again, modest, I know):

4. Remove 1/2 of dough from bowl, make a ball, and place on a large piece of plastic wrap on counter.

5. Wrap the sides of wrap over the ball, then press down with the palm of your hand and make a disc about 2″ thick. Finish wrapping the disc with the plastic wrap. Repeat with 2nd half of dough.

6. Chill both discs of dough for about 45 minutes.

7. Remove one disc and remove plastic wrap. Place on top of a large piece of parchment paper (I use a silicone rolling mat underneath to ensure it doesn’t slip while rolling, but you can even dampen counter so the parchment sticks a bit.), then place 2 wooden dowels on either side of your dough, then another sheet of parchment paper.

8. Roll dough (this will require a bit of elbow grease for the first few minutes until it softens up a bit) so it’s flush with dowels–they will ensure that your dough is even thickness.

9. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Slide your parchment paper and dough onto a board, then place in refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

10. Remove from fridge, and cut your shapes using the cutters of your choice, placing them on a baker’s half sheet lined with a Silpat Mat, with 2″ clearance around each one and the edge of sheet.

11. Place sheet with cookies into freezer for 15 minutes before baking. Then bake 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

12. Cool sheets on wire racks for 10 minutes, then gently remove cookies and place on wire racks to finish cooling.

May be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. They also freeze well.

MarshmallowFondant

10 oz mini marshmallows

1/4 cup water

2 lbs of powderedsugar

2/3 cup shortening

Drizzle the water over the marshmallows and microwave 1 minute and 25seconds. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and add 1 bag (2 lbs) of powdered sugar and2 tbs shortening. With the paddle attachment, mix about 2 minutes. Finish onthe table, use more powdered sugar if necessary. Wrap in plastic wrap or bag,and store at least 2 hours or overnight before using. Always knead fondantbefore using.

This Post was featured on The Kitchn.com

A Cake to Celebrate Fall - Cinnamon Layers with Sweet Potato Cream

2011-10-09T22:13:00.001-06:00

Fall brings me fond remembrances of the beginning of mymarriage. One year ago Istarted to live in US. I was newlywed and I embraced all the changes to hone the life with my beloved husband. The excitement to enjoy the pristine homeand to learn a new culture was grand and comforting, although the longing formy family and friends still remained. Fortunately, the breathtakingly beauty of thecolorful fall enhanced even more the happiness of this great moment of mylife.

So, a cake that unites some of the best ingredients of thisseason is certainly a befitting way to celebrate its beginning and the goodthoughts that it has brought me: cinnamon layer cake with sweet potatocream. I saw this cakerecipe with cinnamon and sour cream from baker Matt Lewis of Brooklyn's Baked bakery and I thought it would be agood pair with sweet potato cream. I was inspired by the purple sweet potatoescandies that my mom used to prepare. This cream basically consists of onemedium sweet potato, sweetened condensed milk, nutmeg and milk. It was a perfectcombination with the cinnamon flavor from the cake.

I’m developing quite aliking for making flowers and decorating cake with fondant. It has beendelightful and such a surprise. I created these flowers without using a blossomcutter. I just used a knife to cut small pieces of gum paste to model in triangleshapes. My goal now is to learn how to make a rose using wired petals.

I wouldlike to thank all you for your adorable comments on the last post. I’m gladthat my first cake decorated had pleased you.

Cinnamon Cake with Sweet Potato Filling

(adapted from here)

Makes one 8-inch round layer cake

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into1/2-inch pieces, room temperature, plus more for pans

All-purpose flour, for pans

1 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cakepans; line with parchment-paper rounds. Butter parchment paper and lightly dustpans with all-purpose flour, shaking out excess.

In a large bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder,salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddleattachment, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy,about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until just incorporated,scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Reduce speed to low; add flourmixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream and beginning andending with flour mixture, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a toothpickinserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Set pan on a wirerack to cool for at least 20 minutes before loosening sides of cake from panand inverting onto a wire rack. Remove parchment paper and reinvert; let coolcompletely.

Sweet Potato Cream

1 medium sweet potato

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

fresh ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon corn starch

Cook the sweet potato in water and puree until smooth. Pour thecondensed milk into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat.

Add the sweet potato puree, nutmeg, evaporated milk and corn starch. Stir the mixture untilit starts to show the bottom of the pan when you scrape it with a spoon. As youscrape the bottom of pan with the spoon, the mixture should be thick enough toshow you the bottom the pan for a couple of seconds before the mixture levelsout again.

Pour the mixture in a bowl and leave aside to cool. Place it inthe fridge until decoration.

Vanilla Cake with White Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Filling Covered with Dark Chocolate Ganache

2011-09-26T16:22:00.000-06:00

Lastweek I showed you my first sugar flowers that I made with homemade fondant.Today, as I promised, I prepared a cake decorated with fondant and moreflowers. This cake consists of vanilla base from the adorable blog Sweetapolita, with white chocolate raspberry ganache filling and covered with dark chocolateganache. Luscious! I’m proud to say that is the first time I made a goodfinishing in a cake. Here it is, ready to be covered with fondant.

Icovered the cake with the same homemade fondant as before, but this time I usedgum paste to make the flowers. This paste is proper to make them. It is moreelastic allowing shape thin petals like real ones. When I finished coveringwith fondant, I instantly got an idea to make some ruffles around the cake. I followedthis great tutorial made by the talented Linda, of the blog Call me Cupcake. She wasinspired by the amazing frilly cakes designed by Maggie Austin.

Thiscake is a way to wish a Happy Birthday to my lovely friends Clara, Alessandra and Biankita.

Vanilla Cake with White Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Filling Covered with Dark Chocolate Ganache

ClassicVanilla Butter Cake

(from Sweetapolita)

Yield: three 8-inch round cakelayers

4 large eggs (separated)

3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 g) unsaltedbutter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar, divided

2teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1cup milk (room temperature)

1/4teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheatoven to 350°F (180° C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter andflour three – 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans withparchment paper and grease and flour parchment paper.

Whileeggs are still cold, separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and thewhites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic warp and allow theeggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).

Ina mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Inthe bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes).Add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down thesides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.

Withthe mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in threeadditions, beginning and ending with the flour.

Ina clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the eggwhites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating untilsoft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beatuntil stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of thewhites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whitesuntil combined. Do not over-mix the batter or it will deflate.

Dividethe batter evenly between the three prepared pans and smooth the tops with anoffset spatula or back of a spoon. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes outclean.

Coolthe cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on topof the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan gently. Once the cakes ofcompletely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer forat least an hour (to make filling and frosting the cakes easier).

Whitechocolate and raspberry ganache

(from Australian Gourmet Traveller)

1 cup heavycream

5 ounces white chocolate, chopped

45g raspberries, coarsely chopped

Bring cream just to the boil in a small saucepan.Remove from heat, add chocolate, stand until melted (5 minutes), stir untilsmooth and glossy. Refrigerate until firm yet still pliable (45 minutes-1 hour)then stir until smooth. Add raspberries, stir to form a ripple effect.

Note: If fresh raspberries are unavailable,substitute defrosted frozen raspberries

Dark Chocolate Ganache

18ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cupsheavy cream

Bring cream just to the boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, add chocolate, stand until melted (5 minutes), stir until smooth and glossy. Refrigerate until firm yet still pliable (45 minutes-1 hour) then stir until smooth.

Chagrin Falls Farmer's Market and some Eggplant Recipes

2011-09-20T14:29:00.000-06:00

Two weekends agomy husband and I went to Chagrin Falls, a very charm village 20 minutes from myhome. This village grew around a pretty waterfall on the Chagrin River.

Besides thisnatural beauty, Chagrin Falls has an amazing Popcorn Shop, which sells candies and icecream, and also a little wood gazebo on the main street. It does remind me thetowns of my state in Brazil. Every small town there has a church and a gazeboin the main square. The vintage shops arealso a good option to visit too. I loved some of their vintage teacups and silverspoons.

I really enjoyedspending the morning there. But the main reason that took me to this lovely villagewas the farmer’s market. I’ve been thinking about to take outdoors pictures ofa cozy place for a while, and that market was perfect! There were so many cutethings to photograph, like flowers, apple and onion baskets, fresh corn stand andeggplants in blue baskets. I don’t know why, but there is something on these bluebaskets that attract me.

So guess whatI got? Eggplants in the bluebaskets… I bought three kings of eggplants: mini, white and a purple long slender.I used the white eggplant to prepare lasagna. I combined pasta with layers ofeggplant, Bolognese sauce, ricotta cheese and pecorino cheese. With the mini eggplants and the slender I made a preserve with olive oil, vinegar, garlic, olives, bay leaves and oregano. Itis perfect with salads and bread.

Eggplant Lasagna

(adapted from the book Willians-Sonoma Cooking at Home)

Bolognese Sauce

(makes enough sauce for 1 lb (500g) pasta, 4-6 servings)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 oz (60g) pancetta, diced

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 large or 2 small celery stalks, diced

3/4 lb (375 gr) ground minced beef

1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125ml) dry white wine

1 1/2 cups (12 fl oz/360 ml) milk

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 can (15 oz/470 g) plum Roma tomatoes, finely chopped, with juice

salt

In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm the oil, butter, and pancetta, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta renders some of its fat, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, and some celery and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beef, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, breaking up the meat with the back of the wooden spoon, just until the meat is no longer pink, 3-5 minutes; do not allow to brown or harden.

Add the wine to the pan, raise the heat to medium, and simmer until the wine evaporates, 2-3 minutes. Add 3/4 cup (6 fl oz/180 ml) of the milk and the nutmeg and simmer until the milk is absorbed.

Add the tomatoes and season with salt. Bring to a simmer, cover partially , and adjust the heat to very low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick, mellow, and tasty, about 4 hours, adding a little water if needed to keep the sauce from sticking. During the final 45 minutes, stir in the remaining 3/4 cup milk in 3 additions, allowing the sauce to absorb the milk before adding more. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

2 eggplants

1/2 lb (250g) lasagna pasta

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 cups pecorino cheese

Combine the pasta with layers of eggplant (sliced, oiled, and baked at 400F/200C until golden), Bolognese Sauce, ricotta cheese, and pecorino cheese. Baked at 375F/190C for 45-55 minutes.

Eggplant in Olive Oil

Mini Eggplants
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
Salt
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons oregano
2 bay leaves

In large bowl, slice theeggplants. Place in colander, sprinkle with salt and layer between papertowels. After 2 hours wash and dry the eggplants. Slice the bell peppers.Oiled the eggplants and bell peppers. Let the peppers on top ofeggplant. Drizzle with a little oil to avoid sticking tothe bottom, cover with foil and and bake at 400F/200Cuntil golden. After 40 minutes, remove the foil andlet it wilt a bit to dry the water thatforms. After 20 minutes, turn off the oven and setaside the eggplant. In a small saucepan, pour olive oil,oregano, bay leaf and vinegar. Let it boil for fewminutes until the vinegar smell decrease (about3 minutes). Mix crushed garlic with sat tothe eggplant already cold.

My First Sugar Flowers

2011-09-19T11:58:00.000-06:00

When I wasthinking to start this blog, my lovely friends helped me to choose the nameLulu’s Sweet Secrets. I was mainly inspired and motivate by my friends Laylaand Carol. They are cake designers passionate about their work and I wasfascinated about their beautiful art. Some of my first posts I ventured tomake recipes using marshmallow fondant. Carol suggested me this recipe from LeCordon Bleu that she used before in one of her cakes. Unfortunately, I didn’tget the result that I was expecting and, for some reason that I can’t explain,I didn’t try it again. Maybe it’s because I was so excited to prepare differentdishes and learn other techniques that I forgot to give it another chance.

But this weekI was looking at my cake board on Pinterest and I noted that I’ve been collectinga lot of cake photos over these months. Most of them are beautifully decorated.As I love decorated cakes, I realized that I should give a second chance forthe fondant. I decided to use the same recipe as before, but after reading thisamazing post by Sommer from A Spicy Perspective, I could see what my mistake was.Marshmallow fondant needs a lot of shortening to work well. I follow herinstructions and now I got a beautiful one. I was so happy! As a flower lover,I started making some modest little roses.

The fondant softtexture and its sweet smell give such a pleasure to model infinity forms. Workwith it was an amazing experience. I modeled petal by petal for hours and Ididn’t see the time passing. It made me remembered when I was a child and how I enjoy to play with dough. What a mixture of sweet memories and dreams! I thinkI'm addicted to it now. For the next week I will try to make thesesugary flowers with a delicious cake for your delight my dear readers.

Marshmallow Fondant

10 oz mini marshmallows

1/4 cup water

2 lbs ofpowdered sugar

2/3cup shortening

Drizzle the water over the marshmallows andmicrowave 1 minute and 25 seconds. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and add 1 bag (2lbs) of powdered sugar and 2 tbs shortening. With the paddle attachment, mixabout 2 minutes. Finish on the table, use more powdered sugar if necessary.Wrap in plastic wrap or bag, and store at least 2 hours or overnight beforeusing. Always knead fondant before using.

For a detailed recipe go to A Spicy Perspective post.

Champagne Grape Cake

2011-09-14T22:30:00.000-06:00

Since I made my last tart, I’ve been thinking about another recipeusing champagne grapes. I was fascinated with their flavor and I should try nowa sweet recipe. So, searching on the internet, I came across this grape cakefrom the book Patricia Wells at Home in Provence that I found on Moveable Feasts blog.

My husband and I really loved this cake. The champagne grapestasted like raisins, but more juicy. This recipe also uses half butter andhalf olive oil, which gave to the cake a pleasant and moist texture. For a prettyfinish, dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar and you will have a nice cakefor your coffee or tea time.

Champagne Grape Cake

(from here)

Butterand flour for preparing the cake pan

2large eggs, at room temperature

2/3cup (135 g) sugar

4tablespoons (2 ounces; 60 g) unsalted butter, melted

1/4cup (6 cl) extra-virgin olive oil

1/3cup (8 cl) whole milk

1/2teaspoon pure vanilla extract

11/2 cups (200 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4teaspoon baking powder

Apinch of sea salt

Gratedzest (yellow peel) of 1 lemon

Gratedzest (orange peel) of 1 orange

10ounces (300 g) small, fresh purple grapes (see above for varieties)

Confectioners’sugar, for garnish

Preheatoven to 350°F (175°C; gas mark 4/5).

Generouslybutter and flour the springform pan, tapping out any excess flour. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with awhisk, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and lemon-colored, about 3 minutes.Add the butter, oil, milk, and vanilla extract, and mix until blended.

Siftthe flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the lemon zest andorange zest, and toss to coat the zest with flour. Spoon the mixture into thebowl of batter and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly blended. Scrapedown the sides of the bowl and mix once more. Set aside for 10 minutes to allowthe flour to absorb the liquids.

Stirabout 3/4 of the grapes into the batter. Spoon the batter into the preparedcake pan and smooth out the top with a spatula. Place the pan in the center ofthe oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle the top of the cake with remaininggrapes. Bake until the top is a deep golden brown and the cake feels quite firmwhen pressed with a fingertip, about 40 minutes more, for a total baking timeof 55 minutes. Remove to rack to cool. After 10 minutes, run a knife along thesides of the pan. Release and remove the side of the springform pan, leavingthe cake on the pan base. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar just beforeserving. Serve at room temperature, cut into thin wedges.

Cherry Tomato and Champagne Grape Tart

2011-09-09T10:42:00.000-06:00

Today Iwill talk about my photographic discoveries and, of course, about a delicious recipe.Since I started this blog I have been received wonderful comments about myphotos. I would like to thank my dear readers for all the support. I’m just anenthusiast that is in love with this art and all those sweet words motivate meeven more.

Since Igot my dSLR camera I've been practicing every day a lot. I’m using most of mytime to learn about exposure and composition. I’m reading the book Plate to Pixel from Hélène Dujardin and this is helping me to improve my skills.Her award-winning blog, Tartelette, was the first food blog that I started to follow. I’m a huge fan of her work. If you just begin to photograph food, youshould take a look in her book. It’s precious. I’m still understand how mycamera works and I learned that photography it’s all about thelight. As I use natural light, taking pictures at different times of the day,and also different places of my apartment, makes me realize how these important choices influence the final result.

I used to take pictures on the dining table, which is beside my dinner room window. After I tried all the possible places I found that the best spot is closer to my bedroom window, and the best time is at the Golden Hours before sunset. At these hours, the light touches slightly the food.

Now,about the recipe, I prepared a cherry tomato and champagne grape tart from thewonderful Food52. This site has an amazing recipe collection. When I saw thistart, I thought it would be a good and beautiful recipe to photograph. And Iwas right… The colors of the ingredients are so vivid. Unfortunately, Septemberbrings raining and cloudy days to Cleveland. Yesterday, I was worried about totake pictures under this gray condition, but I’m glad that my new favorite spothelped me to get good photos.

Ireally enjoyed making this tart. I’ve never prepared tart dough using a food processor. I was impressed with how easy and quick it was.Another unusual thing for me was the champagne grapes. I was fascinated withits flavor after baking. So juice and sweet, so good! I loved the combination betweentomatoes, grape, rosemary from the crust and the soft pecorino cheese.Everything worked wonderfully well.

CherryTomato and Champagne Grape Tart

(from Food52)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon olive oil (plus a bit more for brushing)

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons shredded parmesan

Ice water (3-4 tbs - it will depend)

1 ½ Cherry tomatoes (gold and red)

½ Champagne grapes

2 ounces fresh pecorino - the soft kind not the hard agedstuff

a pinch of salt or two

Cut up the butter and put it in the freezer. Measure out yourflour, parmesan, rosemary and put them in the food processor. When the butteris VERY cold, add it into the processor and pulse until the mixture looks likea coarse meal. Start adding ice water a tablespoon at a time and pulse untilthe dough just comes together. Remove it from the processor and pat it into adisk, wrap it in plastic and put it in the fridge for half an hour.

Wash your tomatos and grapes, and cut the tomatoes in half. Linea 9" tart pan with removeable bottom with parchment. Heat the oven to 375.

Get the tart dough out and roll it out on a floured surface toabout 1/4 inch thick. Lay it over the pan and let it settle into place, gentlypress it into the pan edges. You can roll your rolling pin across the pan tocut the dough. You will have extra - wrap that back up and save it, you'llthink of something to make with it! Dock the dough with a fork and blind bake itfor 10 minutes.

Remove the crust and arrange the tomatoes cut side down - youcan do it in an orderly fashion if you like - I didn't. I wanted mine to lookmore like a tomato mosh pit. Leave some space between the tomatoes - thensprinkle those cute little grapes around to fill the spaces. Lightlybrush tomatoes and crust edges with olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt,and back into the oven for 25 more minutes. Break the pecorino into small hunksand arrange them around in the tart, and into the oven again for 10 moreminutes. Let the tart cool before serving.

Strawberry and Watermelon Cake

2011-09-06T21:06:00.000-06:00

I was searching for a watermelon recipe on Australian Gourmet Traveller site when I saw thisamazing strawberry watermelon cake. It has layers of almond dacquoise,rose scented cream and watermelon, topping with strawberries, grapes andpistachios, all of them scented with rose. This recipe surprised me! A cakelayered with watermelon is completely new for me and I knew that I should tryit. Watermelon was always one of my favorite fruits. In fact, my mother told mewhen I was 2 years old, I opened the fridge, took a half watermelon and starteat sitting right on the floor in front of the fridge.

Another ingredient that caught my attention wasthe rose flavor. The first dessert that I eat with rose flavor was Pierre Hermé 's Macaron Ispahan. Since then I became passionate for its incredible aroma andsavor. I have to confess that I always was passionate for roses too. When I wasa little girl every time I saw a flower shop I wanted a rose bouquet. I used tolook at my mom eyes and she already knew my desire. For me it is a pleasure tosee my roses reign its exuberant beauty on a vase at the dinner table. It is adelight. I am able to spend hours admiring them. This brings me such a peaceand happy feeling.

So, I’m quite sure that if knew about this cakewhen I was a child, definitely it would be my favorite one. Its flavors are sodelicate. The rose scented strawberries and watermelon are also perfect withthe cream. Lovely.

Strawberryand watermelon cake

(from Australian Gourmet Traveller)

250 gm	seedless watermelon, thinly sliced
60 ml (¼ cup)	rosewater
4 tbsp	caster sugar
40 gm	almond meal
500 gm	strawberries (about 2 punnets), halved
10	seedless red grapes, halved
1 tbsp	slivered pistachios (see note)
1 tbsp	dried rose petals (see note)
Almond dacquoise
150 gm	almonds, coarsely chopped
150 gm	pure icing sugar, sieved
5	eggwhites
135 gm	caster sugar
Rose-scented cream
300 ml	thickened cream
30 gm	caster sugar
2 tbsp	rosewater

	For almond dacquoise, preheat oven to 200C. Process almonds in a food processor until finely ground, then combine in a bowl with icing sugar. Whisk eggwhites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (3-4 minutes), then gradually add caster sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form (1-2 minutes). Gently fold through almond mixture, spread on a 30cm x 40cm oven tray lined with baking paper and bake until golden (10-15 minutes). Set aside to cool on tray, then cut in half lengthways.
	Arrange watermelon slices in a single layer on a wire rack. Sprinkle with 20ml rosewater, then scatter with 2 tbsp sugar. Stand to macerate (30 minutes), then pat dry with absorbent paper.
	Meanwhile, for rose-scented cream, whisk cream and sugar in an electric mixer until soft peaks form, gradually add rosewater and whisk until stiff peaks form (do not over-whisk).
	Spread one-third of rose cream evenly over one half of dacquoise, scatter with half the almond meal, then top with watermelon, trimming to fill any gaps. Scatter over remaining almond meal, spread over half remaining cream. Top with remaining dacquoise, spread over remaining cream and refrigerate until firm (1-2 hours).

Combine strawberries, remaining rosewater and remaining sugar in a bowl,
toss to combine and set aside to macerate (15 minutes).
Carefully arrange on top of cake, gently pushing into cream.
Trim edges of cake, scatter over grapes, pistachios and petals, and serve.

Serves 8. Cooking Time Prep time 45 mins, cook 15 mins (plus cooling, macerating, chilling)

Bacon Wraps

2011-09-01T09:45:00.000-06:00

Last week I was on the grocery store when I saw a piece ofbacon. Although itwasn't in my shopping list, that bacon was so beautiful and meaty that I couldn't resistthe temptation to make bacon wraps. I prepare two delicious and easy wraps recipes: chicken with pink peppercorns and anotherone only with carrots.

For the chicken, you can also use chicken breast andthighs. I prefer the second one because they are juicier than breast whenbaked. Only the bacon is enough to give flavor to the chicken, but if you wantto improve even more the taste, try to marinate the chicken before. A simplecup of white wine, herbs and seasoning can make a big difference on the finalresult. Finally, I garnished the wraps with some pink peppercorns. I lovethem! They have a pungent flavor and also add such a beautiful color to a dish.

The carrots are even simpler toprepare than the chicken. First, cut the carrots into stick shape and then putthem in boil water for 1-2 minutes. This time is enough for not overcook thecarrots without losing their vitamins. Now take some carrots, wrap with baconand then put it in a preheated skillet with some olive oil. You can also try itwith asparagus instead of carrots. Both are perfect as an accompaniment toa grilled meat.

Chicken Wrapped in Bacon with Pink Peppercorns

2 boneless chicken thighs cut into 2 pieces
About 2 tablespoons rosemary, very finely chopped
About 2 tablespoons thyme, finely chopped
Sea salt and coarsely ground pepper
About 1/4 cup white wine
4 thin slices good quality bacon

Place chicken in a dish with the wine, rosemary and thyme. Season lightly with sea salt and more heavily with pepper then toss evenly to coat the chicken pieces with herbs and wine. Use right away or marinate up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet.

Wrap a bacon slice around each piece of chicken Arrange the chicken on the rack. Bake 45 minutes, until bacon is crisp and chicken cooked through.

Garnish with some pink peppercorns.

Carrots Wrapped in Bacon

(from here)

4 slices of bacon

4 medium carrots cut into sticks and pre-cooked

A drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Season the carrot sticks with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Separate the carrot sticks into 4 portions. Take one portion, add the sticks and, in the middle of this portion, pass a bacon slice like a tape, giving the shape of a medallion. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Heat a skillet with 1tsp of olive oil, medium heat. Put the bacon with the ending stripe facing down for about 1min.

When the bacon is golden brown, turn and brown the carrots ends.