Strawberries and crumble

Something to make with strawberries!
For the crumble:
200 gr brown sugar
200 gr butter
200 gr ground almond powder
200 gr flour

for the creme patisserie
1/2 lt milk
100 gr sugar
60 gr flour
2 eggs
20 gr butter
vanilla extract powder
and 200 gr whipped cream

and of course strawberries!

To make the crumble:
Mix the sugar and butter, add the almond and flour and mash them all together. Put the dough in the refrigerator for a bit so that the butter freezes. Rub the dough with your hands onto parchment paper. Bake at 170 °C for 12'-15' tops.

For the creme patisserie:
Mix the flour, sugar and eggs with a spatula until they are mush. In a pot heat the milk and before it begins to boil pour half of it into the mush. Mix again and pour the mixture into the pot with the rest of the milk. Stir quickly and once the cream begins to boil and set  take it off the stove and add the vanilla extract and butter. Put the cream in a bowl and cover with cling wrap that touches its surface. Once it cools put it in the refrigerator. Once it is chilled and cold, take it out of the fridge and beat it in the mixer well until it is smooth. In the meantime, whisk thickened cream until it is stiff. Then fold the whipped cream into the creme patisserie with a spatula and it is done.

Now you can cut the strawberries and set up your dessert! I used little glass tumblers but you can pick whatever you like. Start with a layer of crumble, add a layer of creme patisserie then a layer of strawberry pieces. Add another layer of creme patisserie, then crumble and top of with strawberries! If you have a larger glass you can and an extra layer of whipped cream :-)
Enjoy!
Aleka

Tsoureki sort of

For the dough
1 1/2 cup of warm milk
4 table spoons sugar
20 gramms dry yeast
3 eggs
orange zest
200 gramms melted butter
800 gramms flour
For the stuffing
100 gramms  melted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 table spoon of cocoa

Put in a bowl the milk, the sugar and the yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes so the yeast rises. Transfer the mix to a large bowl, add 4-5 table spoons of flour and stir with the mixer. While mixing add gradually the eggs, the the orange zest, the butter and last the flour. Mix until it becomes a dough and let it rest for one hour in a warm place. Open the dough in a rectangular shape and smear with the melted butter. Mix the sugar and cocoa and then sprinkle the dough with the mix, roll it and put it in a cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes on 180oC.

It's not exactly a tsoureki, more like a mix between a cake and a tsoureki! The cocoa and sugar mix will melt in the oven and create these chocolaty waves, since the dough is not sweet at all it makes a nice balance. Be aware that it will rise when baked so pick a large cake pan, mine was small and it spilled from the sides, not that I minded they were super tasty little bites :-)
Enjoy!
Aleka

Linked to Homework, LizMarieBlog, Whipperberry

Sunday morning

After seeing this recipe we decided to make our own version.
We used an almost double dose on the basic ingredients (approximately 500 gr oatmeal, 250 gr butter, 100 gr dark sugar, 90 gr honey,1 teaspoon baking powder) and instead of strawberries we added 1 cup of crushed walnuts, 1 cup of black raisins, 2 mashed bananas and 1 package of dark chocolate drops.

Simply melt the butter, mix it with the honey and brown sugar, add the oatmeal and all the other ingredients and stir well, since we had doubled the dose the stirring part was a bit difficult so we used our hands to mix it better.
Empty the whole thing in a baking dish and spread it evenly, bake it in a preheated oven at 180^οC for 20-25 min and it's ready, crunchy on the outside but soft and yummy on the inside! Once it has cooled cut it into smaller pieces. 
I have to say the banana, chocolate, walnuts combination is fantastic, very tasty :-)
Have a great Sunday, 
Aleka