Chocolate Mousse Hearts

This will be my first Valentine’s Day married and it sure deserves a special dessert. While browsing Donna Hay’s site (which I’m a completely fan), I was inspired by this little chocolate mousse hearts. Oh my, they are so delicate and indulgent! If you like dark chocolate, this is the perfect recipe!

The preparation of the mousse is quite similar with the one that I already made before. This mousse doesn’t use whipped cream. Another good thing about this recipe is the portion size. It only makes 4 mini cakes, which is perfect for a couple.  

Chocolate Mousse Hearts

(from here)

125g butter

¾ cup (165g) white sugar

1½ tablespoons brown sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cups (100g) plain (all-purpose) flour

1/3 cup (35g) cocoa

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

cocoa, extra, for dusting

chocolate mousse filling

100g dark chocolate, melted+

2 eggs, separated

50g butter, softened

1½ teaspoons brandy

1 teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar

To make the chocolate filling, combine the chocolate and

egg yolks, one at a time, in a large bowl and mix well. Add

butter and brandy and mix until smooth. Beat the

eggwhites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add

the sugar and beat until glossy. Fold quickly through

chocolate mixture. Refrigerate until set.

Preheat oven to 170°C (340ºF). Beat the butter, white

sugar and brown sugar in an electric mixer until light and

fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour, cocoa

and baking powder and fold through. Grease 4 x ½ cupcapacity

heart-shaped cake tins++. Pour in the mixture

and bake for 25 minutes or until set. Cool in the tins.

To serve, trim edges from cake hearts and halve

horizontally. Sandwich together with the chocolate

mousse and dust with extra cocoa. Serves 4.

+ To melt the chocolate, place chopped chocolate pieces

in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering

water. Stir until melted and smooth. Use immediately.

++ Non-stick heart-shaped cake tins are available from

department and kitchenware stores.

Gluten Free Cornmeal Cake - Bolo de Fubá sem Glúten

Have you ever had a recipe notebook? Before starting my culinary adventure through the world of internet and blogs, I used to write my recipes on a notebook. When I was in college, a dear friend gave me one, handmade by his mother. I love it, especially the soft cover and the embroidered. Since that moment, I started to write all kinds of recipes there, as the traditional ones that are in my family for generations or yet a simple recipe invented by myself. Today, I would like to share with you a delightful recipe: cornmeal cake.

Actually, this recipe was part of the gift. He inaugurated the notebook writing it on the first page. I’ve never asked him why he chose cornmeal cake to be the first recipe, but this is probably one of the fluffiest cornmeal cake I’ve ever tasted. The original recipe uses all propose flour, but I opted to make it a gluten free cake using rice flour. The result was fantastic!

Cornmeal Cake

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup rice flour or all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

Cinnamon and fine sugar to dust

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).

Mix together the rice flour, cornmeal and baking powder.

Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until it is boiling. Keep it hot over very low heat.

Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and beat until glossy. Add the yolks one at a time. Then alternate the cornmeal, flour, and baking powder with the hot milk, stirring until combined.

Bake in the center of the oven until the cake is deep golden on the edges and a lighter golden in the center for 30- 40 minutes. It may seem wibbly but, if the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out cleanish and, most significantly, the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the pan and dust with cinnamon and sugar.

Marsala Braised Quinoa With Crimini Mushroons In Roasted Tomato

Quinoa is an excellent protein and vitamins source. I’ve been tried to incorporate it on my diet, eating white quinoa flakes with fruits or mixed in a soup. But I have to confess that I didn’t like the taste.

This weekend, I decided to give another shot. I bought a box whole grain red quinoa. And the reason was a recipe of marsala braised quinoa with crimini mushroom that was on the box. It seemed very attractive to me, and for my surprise, it also tasted very good. It’s very easy to prepare and the combination of crimini mushroom and marsala wine was perfect!

So if you didn’t appreciate quinoa, let me suggest you this recipe! Maybe you can change your mind as I did.

Marsala Braised Quinoa with Crimini Mushroons In Roasted Tomato

( from here)

1 cup red quinoa

2 cups water

pinch sea salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

2 shallots, minced

1 tsp. dried basil

1/4 cup Marsala Wine

2 tbsp Tamari

1/s lb. crimini mushroom caps, minced

1/2 tsp. whole fennel seed, crushed

1/4 fresh cilantro or basil for garnish

4 roasted tomatoes

Cook red quinoa in 2 cups Water for about 15 minutes until water is absorbed. Warm a heavy bottomed skillet. Add olive oil and minced shallots together, in that order. Cook slowly until shallots are clear, soft, and beginning to brown. Add mushrooms, toss well, and then spread out over the pan stirring occasionally always returning them to cover the metal surface of the pan. Cook until mushrooms are deep brown. Add cooked quinoa, mix well. When grain is thoroughly heated and may be sticking slightly to the pan, add Marsala, stir, add tamari, stir. Cover for a few minutes. Toss a generous amount of minced fresh herbs into the grain. Then use to fill roasted tomatoes.

(Roasting a tomato: Use a small sharp knife to cut into the center and scoop out some of the inside of the tomato. Put some olive oil in the palm of your hand; lightly coat the tomato with oil. Coat with a small amount of sea salt. Bake at 450° F. until the skin is slightly soft.)

French Bread

Sometimes the simplest habits could bring the real happiness. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it is true. I’m talking about waking up in the morning, prepare the table for the breakfast, put beautiful flowers at the center, sit with all your family together, and then… enjoy a fresh French bread recently baked and prepared by yourself. This is the perfect way to start a happy day!

Today, I got this happiness. I made the best French breads ever. Crunchy crust, golden brown, and the most important: they taste like French Bread! I’ve been tried a lot of recipes e finally I found the perfect one!

As the author of the recipe, Peter Reinhart, said “making a great loaf of French bread is both an art and a science”. Many factors can affect the chemical changes that occur during the fermentation process, but the secret is called slow rise. If the bread rises too fast, as Julie Child said, “the yeast has not had an opportunity to produce the slow aging and maturing that develops flavor”. That’s why it is very important to put the bread in the fridge overnight before you baked it.

For me, shape the dough proved to be the most difficult step and required a lot of practice. Despite this problem, the bread was perfect!

French Bread

(From Crust and Crumb, Peter Reinhart)

Makes 3 baguetes

3 1/2 unbleached all-purpose flour

31/2 cups unbleached bread flour

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon malt powder or brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 2/3 cups cool water (65 to 70 F)

Vegetable oil cooking spray

Combine the flours, salt, malt, and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add the water, and stir with a large wooden or metal spoon till the flour is gathered and the dough forms a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead vigorously for about 10 minutes, until the dough is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. Knead in extra flour or water (just a few drops at a time) if necessary to achieve this consistency. The dough is fully kneaded when it passes the windowpane test and is between 77°F and 80°F.

Place the dough in a large, clean bowl that will hold it when it has doubled in bulk. Mist the dough lightly with cooking spray. Cover the bowl (not the dough) with plastic wrap or enclose it in a plastic bag, and let it rise for about 30 minutes. It should just begin swelling. Knead the dough for 30 seconds, form it into a ball, and re-cover the bowl with plastic. Allow it to rise for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Scale, bench, and shape the dough into loaves or rolls. Place them on pans or in baskets. If using pans, line them with parchment paper and dust with cornmeal or semolina for texture; if using baskets, mist them with cooking spray and dust them with rice flour or bread flour to prevent sticking.

Lightly mist the top of the shaped dough with cooking spray to prevent sticking, and place the pans or baskets inside a large plastic bag. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Place the shaped dough in the refrigerator overnight, making sure the bag is loose but closed to prevent drying.

The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator but leave it in the bag. The dough should be 50 percent to 75 percent larger than when in. If so, let the dough sit out for 1 hour to take off the chill. if not fully risen, let it sit at room temperature for 3 or 3 hours, until it completes its rise.

Prepare the oven for hearth baking, making sure to place the empty steam pan on a lower rack. Preheat the oven to 475°F (allow about 35 minutes for it to heat fully). Make sure your spritzer bottle is filed with water. Remove the pan of dough from the plastic 15 minutes before baking, to allow the surface of the  dough to dry slightly. Just before baking, score the bread. Put the loaves or rolls in the oven, either on sheet pans or by peel directly on the stone. Then pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the empty steam pan, quickly spritz the oven walls and the bread with water, and close the door.

After 2 minutes, quickly spray the oven walls and the bread again. Repeat in 1 minute. Then, lower the oven temperature to 450°F. Wait 10 minutes and check the bread. (Check rolls after 5 minutes.) Rotate the bread, front to back, if it seems to be baking unevenly. (If baking on more than one oven rack, rotate the bread top to bottom as well.)

When the bread has developed a rich, golden brown color -  this will take about 25 minutes for loaves and 15 minutes for rolls - turn off the oven (or lower it to 350° if you plan to bake again). Leave the bread in the oven an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until it seems on the verge of over browning.

Remove the bread to a cooling rack and allow it to cool throughly before eating, 60 to 90 minutes for loaves, 20 minutes for rolls.

Vegetable soup

In these cold days, there is nothing better than a warm and healthy soup plate. Vegetable soup is quite simple to prepare and have a lot of nutrients.

I’ve made this soup for years. This recipe was a suggestion from my nutritionist to help me lose weight. The main ingredients are pumpkins, zucchinis, tomatoes, onions and carrots. But if you want, you can add others vegetables to increase the taste, as celery, chayote and green beans. I like to top it with collard green, green onions and parsley, for example.

My husband likes to eat some protein source during the meal. For all this years, we have tried a lot of sources, like cottage cheese or quinoa flakes. Those are very light and you just have to mix them within your soup before eat. But definitely my favorite one is chicken (boneless breast, preferably). Instead of cooking the chicken in the soup, I like to prepare the chicken separately, braised with olive oil, onion, garlic, tomatoes and paprika. I don’t recommend turkey or beef. That combination is not good for this soup!

I love to dip some bread slices in the soup. The French bread is perfect for that. I made one to eat the soup, but this bread is very delicious and deserves its own post!

                                                                                  

Vegetable soup

2 acorn squash

4 tomatoes

2 carrots

2 zucchinis

1 onion

Salt

Black pepper

Green onions

Cut the acorn squash in half through the stem end and place, cut sides down, on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until a skewer pierces the flesh, about 25 minutes. Scoop out the seeds, scrape the flesh from the skin and set aside.

In a stock pot, brown the onions in olive oil. Either simmer the vegetables, water, and salt together, partially covered, for 20 to 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Puree soup with a blender. Adjust seasonings to taste. Garnish each serving with sliced green onion tops and black pepper, if desired. 

Condensed Milk Flan

Condensed milk flan is one of the most delicious and easiest desserts to prepare. Just beat all the ingredients together and bake in water bath. Simple like that! The hardest part is to control yourself and not eat all at once.

I personally think that the condensed milk here is not too muck sweet, so I decided to add one more cup of sugar on the recipe. But this is up to you to decide it.

You can also substitute the whole milk for skin milk, if you want. The taste will change a little bit, but it will still delicious. Just be careful when you remove it from the pan, because it won’t be too much firm.

Condensed Milk Flan

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoon water

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 measures can of whole milk 

3 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepot over low heat. Let the sugar dissolve. When the sugar turns golden brown add 2 tablespoons of water and let dissolve. Remove from the heat and carefully divide the hot caramel among cake pan or ramekins. Let cool for at least 2 minutes.

In a blender, beat the condensed milk, eggs, sugar and milk about 5 minutes. Place the mixture in a pan or ramekins. Carefully pour boiling water into the baking dish until 2/3 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. (Be careful not to get any water on the mixture.) Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and very gently slide it towards the center of the rack. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the custard are almost fully set. Remove from the oven. Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes, then refrigerate until well chilled.

To serve, dip the ramekin or pan in very hot water for 15 to 20 seconds. Run a sharp knife around the sides of the ramekin. Invert the custards onto serving plates. The caramel will pool around the inverted custards. Serve immediately.

Cream Biscuit - Bolachinha de Nata

I come from a Brazilian State named Minas Gerais. It is one of the major producer of coffee in Brazil and most of my relatives plant coffee. If you go to England, you will enjoy the tradition of having a cup of tea. But if you go to Minas Gerais, you will appreciate a delicious cup of coffee, made only with freshly harvested grains. This is an especial tradition that unites people around the table not only to drink coffee (which we prefer with milk, not cream), but also to have a “Quitanda”. “Quitanda” is a collection of divine treats like tapioca biscuit, polenta cake, Brazilian cheese bread and cream biscuit, which is my favorite and I will have the pleasure to share the recipe with you.

This recipe is in family for generations. I have great memories of my beloved grandma baking many biscuits in the firewood oven in the farm. But first, she boiled the fresh milk, which she got in the farm too, and then collected the fresh clotted cream formed on the surface after cooling it. That’s right, fresh clotted cream is the secret ingredient. My mother also usually made them as snacks for the break at school. My sister and I loved to help her. As we were not able to make a braid, we rolled like little shells. Our “shells” were a success in the school!

Many years later my husband, then boyfriend, ate for the first time the biscuit in my aunt’s house and he loved it! He ate so much that every time he comes back there, he is greeted with a lot of biscuits.

I made the cream biscuits for the first time by myself. I rolled them like my mother used to make, but also like the shells that I used to make when I was a child. This is a very easy recipe to prepare. If you don’t want to use clotted cream, you can substitute for butter or vegetable shortening. There is another ingredient in this recipe that is kind of different: ammonium carbonate. It is a classic leavener that makes extra-crisp texture. It has a very strong smell when baking, but it totally dissipates by the time the biscuits are done.

Here comes a tip for you: try to moist the biscuit on the coffee with milk before eating. I love to do this and it’s simply delicious. Enjoy it…

Cream Biscuit

500g cream

4 eggs

13 teaspoons of sugar

2 tablespoons ammonium carbonate sifted

about 1Kg of all purpose flour

In a bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the cream, sugar and eggs. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the ammonium carbonate and stir. Then add all purpose flour until the point of rolling. Bake until golden on 360°F.