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

Watermelon popsicle

The laziest of popsicles to make: remove the seeds from the watermelon and put it in the multi, give it a good spin to turn it into "soup" and then empty it into the popsicle cases. Put in the fridge, leave it for 3-4 hours and it's ready. I would add a bit of lemon juice next time, just to give it a bit of an edge :-)

Happy August :-)
Aleka

Cooking and sewing

This week I made lemon cake with white chocolate. I love lemony tastes, white chocolate not so much but together wow, they are yummy! The recipe still needs a bit testing, my measuring was a bit off but still the result is a very delicious lemon cake! When I get it perfect I'll share it :-)

The music notes and singing bird mobile is finished, definitely one of the trickiest I've done. Unfortunately I didn't get a good shot, so I'll have to try again tomorrow, hopefully I'll have some decent photos of it.

Wishing you a lovely weekend,
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

Yummy New Year!

Vassilopita times three!
The first two were given away but the third one covered with yummy chocolate is for us, we'll just have to wait and see who will get the lucky coin hidden inside it :-)
Wishing you a lovely New year celebration!
Aleka

Choco love

This is the ultimate dessert for chocolovers: walnut brownies with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. I really don't need to say anything more than it's so delicious, you'll just want more and more and more!!

For the brownie:
150 gr flour
225 gr sugar
225 gr butter
300 gr dark chocolate
150 gr crushed walnuts (or hazelnuts, almonds or your favorite nuts)
1 vanilla powder extract
4 eggs

You'll need to crush the chocolate in small pieces so it melts easily. Put the butter and the chocolate pieces in a bain marie (I use 2 IKEA pots in different sizes, placing the smaller one inside/on top of the big one). Stir with an egg whisk while the chocolate melts and pour the sugar, continue to stir until it dissolves in the chocolate. Put in the mix the eggs, one at a time, the vanilla and the crushed walnuts as well. Also put in the flour and after you've mixed all the ingredients well empty the mix in a baking dish (I use a round form with a 25 cm diameter).
Place it in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 170 °C so it remains moist in the center, if you want it to be more like a cake bake it for 40 minutes. Leave it to cool off before you cut it into pieces.

For the chocolate sauce:
200gr nutella
150 gr milk
Place the milk and nutella into a pot, over a medium temperature and stir them occasionally until they mix completely. You can keep the sauce at room temperature, if you put it in the refrigerator just warm it in a bain marie to serve it warm.

To serve it:
Cut a piece of the brownie, place scoops of vanilla ice cream on top and at it's sides and pour generous amounts of warm chocolate sauce. Enjoy!

An afternoon snack

Lately I've been working on a few projects, involving quite a bit of embroidery and honestly though I love embroidering it is the most tiresome thing ever. After a couple of hours my back hurts, my fingers feel weird, probably from holding the needle too hard and I figure that's a good time to take a small break to straighten myself and eat something.
I've been having this as an afternoon snack, love the combination of yogurt and strawberries a lot! After I cut them in small pieces I add a teaspoon of sugar and let them rest for 10 minutes. They get all sweet and juicy and then I add the yogurt, the amount of it depends, it's usually about half a cup that's around 100 gr but sometimes a bit more so that the strawberries in my plate are completely covered in it. Mix well and enjoy, it's absolutely delicious and healthy too :-)
So this is more of a creative break than space but nevertheless you can see more creative people and the exciting things they are working on here!
xoxo
Aleka

A yummy treat

Sesame seed paste and almond chocolate treats

250 gr dark chocolat
250 gr sesame seed paste (tahini)
100 gr honey
100 gr almonds (or pistachios, raisins & other nuts)
1 lemon zest

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and crush the almonds in chunks. When the chocolate is ready mix it with the sesame seed paste (tahini), the honey and the lemon zest. Add the crushed almonds and stir it a bit. Place baking paper into a baking tray and empty the mixture, use a spoon to fill the tray evenly. Once it's reached room temperature place it into the frige for two-three hours, take it out and cut it into small rectangles with a knife. Place the chocolate treats into a plastic container and store in the frige. Enjoy!

xoxo
aleka