Chocolate dome

I reached that point in my life where I am OK with spending my money on kitchen supplies rather than on clothes or shoes, which is weird, because everyone who knows me knows that I am (or was…) a complete shopaholic. But ever since I laid my eyes on this dome mold a year ago I wanted it to be a part of my collection of… 3 trays and 2 cooking rings (I’m working on it, ok?!). So one day I entered The Kitchen Shop, went straight to the trays section and held it close to me while I was browsing for other stuff. By the end of the shopping spree I found myself going to the cashier and paying some hard earned money for this 6 dome silicone mold. What can I say, I got hooked up on the idea of making all kinds of chocolate or fruits entremets covered in mirror glaze, with biscuit or brownie base, decorated with caramel, ganache or fruits; the options were unlimited!

After a few tries I finally got right the chocolate dome; the first time I waited too long for the chocolate mirror glaze to cool and it was hard to spread around; taste wise, it was a sweet dream covered in chocolate and with an Oreo heart. The second time I used less whipped cream and I certainly incorporate better the chocolate ganache in it because it turned into a rich brown mousse. Also, I wasn’t left with a ton of cream to spare (it actually is the right amount yay). I didn’t use the Oreo heart anymore because the last time my dad scattered it all over the kitchen; guess it was to hard compared to the soft mousse.

I made these a couple of times and I have to admit, every time I do it better than the last. That is encouraging, because I hope that people are not bored yet by my countless trials and they still enjoy the dessert. The soft mousse is a perfect match to the brownie base, while the chocolate glaze covers everything in a silky smooth layer; to add some contrast to all this sweetness, I paired the dome with a crushed peanuts belt. At some point, I swapped this for a crushed pistachio base, and it was great too.

This is one of the desserts I will never stop making, for 3 reasons:

1. unlimited choices of ingredients
2. tastes heavenly
3. looks like a high-end dessert made by a french pastry chef

Bonus reason: I absolutely love sweet stuff. And I have a feeling that everyone who reads this has, so … make. the. dome.

Caramel and pear cake

Hello, fall! I don’t know if I’m excited about this or not, because suddenly I can feel the responsibilities coming back in my poor student life, but I will try to embrace the fabulous beginning of a fabulous new season. Too much? OK, I’ll take it down a notch. In my desperate efforts to accept that summer is over, I was willing to sacrifice myself to a cake that has been present in my mind since… well, since I’ve discovered it on Instagram (because that’s my principal source of inspiration along with Pinterest- God bless them both). This amazing company in Moscow called @tortikannuchka  makes the most stunning cakes I’ve ever seen in my life, but one of them got my attention in an unhealthy way: a wonderful cake covered in dried and colored pear slices. I was madly in love with it, so I decided to try and recreate it in my own peasant, non-extremely-talented-chef way. Fast forward to the first days of September – I was blessed with a bag of pears that would represent the first step in the making of a pear cake.

I have to admit that I thought so intense about the exterior of this cake that I had no idea what it was going to be inside it until the big day. I knew that I wanted chocolate, but what tastes would go in harmony together? Not to mention that it had to be in sync with the pear exterior, cause what’s the use of covering your cake in pears if inside it’s going to be, for example, a strawberry cream. So, to recap: chocolate layers, a pear cream (had no idea how to do it) and… caramel, of course. But I never did anything with caramel before (the bought caramel sauce doesn’t count)! There were many unknown factors in this baking operation.

PS: I am proud to say that the black cardboard that served as a background will be retired; I finally managed to paint two wood boards! In my excitement I tried to play a little with the light and some pears. AND with one of the backgrounds.

First things first, I cut some pear slices with a professional slicer machine; it works just as well if you cut them carefully by hand in thin slices. Then I bathe them in sugar syrup colored with blackberries, blueberries and strawberries, and another round with food dye. I have to say that the natural dye from the forest fruits worked waaay better than the bottled one, so if you can, choose the first option of coloring. Place the slices in the oven and wait for them to dry, about an hour, then store them in the pantry, not in the fridge.

I baked the chocolate cake, it was cool. Then I got to the cream filling part. How does one melt sugar and transforms it into caramel syrup?? Luckily my mom was there to the rescue and she showed me how to get that amber colored sweet caramel. OK, I figured that part out. But how about the pears? There was no pear cream online so I can get some inspiration, but I already started to chop them in small dices. And poach them. In my mind it would turn into a thick cream like composition, but it wasn’t; it looked like a runny jam stuff. So I added some gelatin, but not enough to make it a stiff gelatin sheet, just the right amount to thicken it a little bit. Yay! I was finally on the assembly part of the cake.

One cake, syrup, caramel cream, one cake, syrup, caramel cream on the sides so the pears won’t drip out, pears on the inside, one cake, syrup, caramel cream, more caramel cream. I measured the diameter of the cake and start arranging the pear slices on the counter top in a pattern so I won’t freak out if I have a weird combination of colors left. Then I simply started to add them to the cake, slice by slice, until it was all covered (or that’s what I hoped I did). My cake was finished!!! I still don’t know how the master bakers keep their pear slices from curling, but I won’t give up and still try to ace this technique!

Strawberry fraisier

My goal for this summer was to try out new recipes that I was afraid of, so I’m not going to lie, this was a challenge for me- especially since I’ve had bad experiences with folding creams and pouring them into cooking rings. If you don’t know by now, this stunning dessert is called Fraisier, a classic French cake that is traditionally composed of a sponge cake cut in half, filled with creme patisserie and topped with almond paste which I swiped for a strawberry gelée. My expectations have been exceeded ever since I took the first bite out of this amazing dessert; I mean, how can something be so fluffy and delicate and still taste like strawberry heaven?!

Start off by making a sponge cake sheet; I didn’t include a photo of that because I think it’s a pretty easy step. Be careful though not to make it any thicker than 1 cm or half of inch because you’ll use two sponges anyway. Cut that cake sheet in twice as much circles as the number of cakes you’ll want cause one of them goes on the bottom, one on top. Make a sugar syrup to moist the sponges and add a little lemon extract in it for a nice twist. After that, cut the strawberries in 4 slices and arrange the bigger ones along the cooking ring. Set the other ones away.

Half of the job is done! You need to prepare the creme patisserie now; don’t rush into it, because if you don’t wait for it to cool down before you add the butter or mix it in with the whipped cream you’ll get NADA. And by nada I mean a soggy heterogeneous combination of ingredients. You don’t want that. So search deep inside of you for some patience, because after all you wanted to bake this French dessert to prove yourself something. (#peptalk)

While the desserts are cooling in the fridge, make a thin layer of strawberry gelee (thinner than mine, if you can) and let it set, then cut it in circles and add it on top. Finish the fraisiers with fresh strawberries and serve it as soon as possible, so you won’t drool all over when you open the fridge occasionally (this is the best tip ever!).

If you love strawberries as much as I do and you are looking for a fancy way to incorporate them into a dessert, I assure you that this is the one and only way to do that. There’s nothing that compares to that feeling of accomplishment when you take off the cooking rings and you see the beauty inside, the almost-perfect arrangement of fresh strawberries contrasting with the whiteness of the cream. I can gush about this a whole week if you let me, but I’ll stop for now; if you want to make this yourself, check the recipe below!

 

Pistachio loaf cake

Hello! It is nice to be able to post a recipe that was planned for the last days of winter. I made this yesterday. Although it is a pistachio loaf cake, the color of it is not green, as one would imagine. Actually, it looks like your average cake with small bits in it- and exactly that was the point.

Let’s talk more about what you can find inside this loaf cake: pistachios, lemon zest, and love. Before this, I couldn’t imagine the power of the salty, crunchy pistachio combined with the citrus hint of the lemon; together they make perfect sense, like Yin and Yang or Gordon Ramsay and an idiot sandwich. I was overwhelmed by the avalanche of tastes and I couldn’t stop tasting this when it was only a batter, so if you get a bigger cake with this recipe, you will know why.

I preferred chunky bits of pistachio instead of finely ground ones in order to give the cake some texture and to create a whole with the top part of it. This is balanced by the discreet and aromatic taste of lemon, a surprise in the composition. If you think you added enough, you’re wrong. Keep the lemon zest coming!

Now, about the glaze; to keep things on the fruity side, but not on the my-teeth-are-falling-sweet one, I opted for a pomegranate glaze. You can achieve this the easy way by mixing three (or four) teaspoons of pomegranate juice with caster sugar until it has a lava like consistency, then pour it over your cake. I won’t lie, the pink tint of it is one of the reasons why I chose the pomegranate over any other fruit. And it works so good with the green hue of the pistachio, since they are complementary colors!

What is left to say? In case you’re not already making a grocery list with these ingredients on, please do. You will be amazed by the unique tangle of pistachios and lemon, and the contrast between the crunchiness and the softness of the different elements in this cake.

Romana:

Buna! E placut sa pot posta o reteta planuita pentru ultimele zile de iarna. Am copt asta ieri (acum imi dau seama ca The lazy bakes este un nume extrem de potrivit pentru blog). Cu toate ca este un chec cu fistic, culoarea sa nu este verde, asa cum oricine s-ar astepta, ci arata ca o simpla prajitura cu mici bucati in ea- exact asta e ideea.

Sa vorbim despre ce se regaseste in chec: fistic, coaja de lamaie si dragoste. Inainte de reteta aceasta nu imi puteam imagina puterea fisticului, usor sarat si crocant, combinata cu aroma citrica a lamaii; impreuna sunt ca Yin si Yang sau ca Gordon Ramsay si “an idiot sandwich”. Am fost coplesita de avalansa de gusturi si nu m-am putut opri din gustat aluatul cat inca era necopt, asa ca daca iti va iesi un chec mai mare din reteta, vei stii de ce.

Am preferat bucatele mai mari de fistic in loc de a-l macina fin pentru a oferi prajiturii textura si pentru a crea un tot unitar cu decoratia de sus. Acestea sunt balansate de aroma discreta a lamaii, o surpriza in compozitie. Daca ai impresia ca ai adaugat destula coaja de lamaie, te inseli cumplit.

Acum, cateva cuvinte despre glazura: pentru a conferi un iz fructat, dar nu dulce-de-sa-iti-cada-dintii,  am optat pentru o glazura de rodie. Se poate face amestecand 3-4 lingurite de suc de rodie cu zahar pudra pana capata o consistenta ca de lava, apoi se toarna peste chec. Nu voi minti, nuanta de roz a acesteia este unul din motivele pentru care am ales rodia dintre toate fructele. In plus, se armonizeaza perfect cu verdele fisticului, din moment ce sunt culori complementare.

Ce mai e de zis? In caz ca nu faci deja o lista de cumparaturi cu aceste ingrediente, te rog, acum e momentul sa te apuci. Vei fi uimit de amestecul unic de gusturi si de contrastul dintre bucatelele crocante de fistic si delicatetea diferitelor elemente din chec.

 

Pink ombre drip cake

Valentine’s day just passed, so I was inspired to do something… really pink- aaand full of calories, because that’s just the way I roll these days. And since is the month of love, I will confess my deepest, darkest feeling: I just love butter so much!

Joke aside, this was my first attempt of a semi-naked ombre cake, and more important, of chocolate decorations, so please don’t judge me. Making it wasn’t that hard, but it took a while since I wanted every step to be perfect. Now, as usual, I will share some secrets (or hints) that can help you get a better cake than mine.  (the yellow light make my sponges look a little… orange-y; they’re pink, I swear!)

After you baked and cooled the sponges, you might want to cut the burnt/uneven edges. To do that, place on top of each one a slightly smaller round tray/plate and work your way around it with a knife. Easy!

In the buttercream, add a lot more pomegranate seeds than you see that I did. Trust me, the fruity-er, the better! If you want, you can switch the pomegranate seeds with some forest fruits or even make a lemon buttercream; it’s all about that taste!

Don’t be afraid of the syrup- moist that sponge really well so it can catch on the flavor! Also, you can try to make a forest fruit syrup- I think it can taste pretty awesome.

For the chocolate strips, simply melt some white chocolate, add food dye, spread it with a palette knife on a baking sheet and place it in the fridge for 15 min or so.

I absolutely love how this turned out, even though I’m a little disappointed that the pink gradient didn’t showed up so much on the exterior of the cake. But hey, at least all the slices will have a nice ombre of pink shades on them! If you want to know my way of making this beautiful semi-naked drip cake, the recipe is below:

Romana:

Ziua Indragostitilor tocmai a trecut, asa ca am fost inspirata sa fac ceva… foarte roz (si plin de calorii, caci asta prefer zilele astea). Din moment ce e luna iubirii, voi spune doar asta: iubesc untul!

Lasand gluma la o parte, aceasta a fost prima mea incercare de tort semi-dezbracat? (nu am idee daca asta e traducerea buna hehe), si mai important, prima incercare de ornamente din ciocolata, asa ca nu ma judeca. A face tortul nu a fost atat de greu, dar a durat ceva, deoarece am vrut ca fiecare pas sa fie finalizat perfect. Acum, ca de obicei, voi impartasi cateva trucuri ce te pot ajuta sa faci un tort in degrade mult mai bun.

Dupa ce ai copt si lasat la racit blaturile, poate vei dori sa tai marginile arse/inegale. Pentru a face asta, pune deasupra fiecarui blat o farfurie/tava rotunda cu diametrul putin mai mic si taie urmarind conturul.

Adauga in crema multe seminte de rodie. MULTE. Cu cat mai multe, cu atat mai bine! Daca vrei, poti schimba rodia cu fructe de padure sau chiar poti face o crema de lamaie (asta voi alege eu urmatoarea data).

Nu trebuie sa iti fie frica de sirop- insiropeaza blaturile foarte bine pentru a le da ocazia sa preia din aroma de vanilie sau lamaie! Poti incerca sa faci un sirop de fructe de padure; cred ca ar fi savuros.

Pentru ornamentele roz e de ajuns sa topesti ciocolata alba, sa adaugi colorant alimentar rosu si sa intinzi amestecul pe o hartie de copt cu spatula. Trebuie lasat la intarit in frigider pentru aproximativ 15 minute si poate fi pus pe tort.

 

Nu voi minti, sunt destul de incantata de rezultat, chiar daca initial am fost putin dezamagita ca degradeul roz nu se distinge si din exteriorul tortului, insa fiecare felie va avea un ombre roz minunat! Daca vrei sa afli modul meu de a face acest desert, reteta este mai jos:

Chocolate and orange tea cheesecake

Feeling like you want to make the transition from the summertime sadness to the Christmas mood with just one bite? Then try this lovely dessert that does not require the use of the good ol’ oven.

This madness called tea cheesecake started when I first filled my lungs with the scent of the “The bandit”, a chocolate and orange black tea; the smell reminded me of Christmas, of the things I used to crave in that time of the year when I was a kid. The excitement made me want to skip the usual way of having tea and to add it into a recipe that will make my happiness last longer.

In my mind, tea-based jelly was not enough, so I also infused the butter with some of it. It turned out pretty good, although it looked kinda weird in the making. I mixed the final product with crumbly chocolate cookies and pressed it into a pan to make the base of the cheesecake. The cream is really easy to make, so I will not insist on it.

The jelly is a mixture of tea and orange juice (with some gelatin, of course); honestly, when I first tasted it I wasn’t really impressed because I thought it wasn’t sweet enough, but when I added it to the rest of the cake it made perfect sense. If you want to top the cheesecake with a tasty treat, simmer some orange slices in a little syrup and they become sweet, shiny and tender.

I absolutely love this recipe as the tangy citrus pairs perfectly with the creamy cheese and the discreet chocolate taste. The best thing is that the crunchy base compliments perfectly the texture of the cheesecake! Top everything with the sweet slices and with some mint and you will reach heaven, trust me.

I hope you will get to try out this tea-inspired dessert and share the same excitement over it as I did! The recipe is below:

Romana:

Te simti ca si cum ai vrea sa faci tranzitia intre tristetea lasata de vara si incantarea ce vine odata cu Craciunul cu doar o muscatura? Atunci incearca acest desert care nu necesita folosirea cuptorului tau.

Nebunia numita cheesecake cu ceai a inceput cand mi-am umplut plamanii cu parfumul “The bandit”, un ceai negru cu ciocolata si portocale; mirosul imi aducea aminte de Craciun, de lucrurile la care pofteam in acea perioada a anului cand eram copil. Incantarea m-a facut sa sar peste modul obisnuit de a bea ceai si sa ma gandesc la un mod de a face fericirea mea sa dureze mai mult.

In mintea mea, jeleul din ceai nu este destul, asa ca am adaugat ceai si in unt (prin infuzarea acestuia). Rezultatul a fost incantator, chiar daca pe parcurs arata destul de… neapetisant. L-am amestecat cu biscuitii faramitati si am presat totul intr-o tava de tort. Crema este usor de facut, asa ca nu voi insista asupra acestui aspect din preparare.

Jeleul este un amestec din ceai si suc de portocale (la care se adauga gelatina); sincer, cand l-am gustat initial nu am fost prea incantata, caci mi se parea ca nu e destul de dulce, dar se potriveste perfect cu restul de straturi din cheesecake. Daca vrei sa adaugi ceva dulce si neasteptat deasupra, incearca niste feliute de portocala caramelizate.

Pot spune ca ador reteta aceasta? Da. Gustul acrisor al portocalei se combina perfect cu aroma discreta de ciocolata. Cel mai bun lucru este armonia dintre baza crocanta de biscuiti si textura fina a cremei de branza! Adauga deasupra feliile dulci de portocala si niste menta si vei gusta din rai. Serios.

Sper ca vei incerca si tu aceasta reteta infuzata cu ceai si vei ajunge la aceasi incantare ca mine! Reteta este mai jos:

Triple chocolate mousse cake

After a long pause from staying in the kitchen and pretending to be a master chef, I built some courage and got back in. I was feeling like doing something major, something that wasn’t a muffin or a cookie. So I went from nada to a big cake in just seconds of browsing.

I got the idea for this cake from a local blogger, jamilacuisine, who made it look very appealing. I have to admit that this was a pretty expensive bake for my poor student wallet, but I couldn’t help but buying all that fancy chocolate and cream. I just hoped that this time I won’t screw up the recipe and need to buy more things (lol sadness).

So, the first layer is the baked one. I am not so sure I enjoy the recipe I tried out, but I will post it anyway and let you know when I find a better one; the reason why is because it grew weird and bumpy in places. My secret ingredient is some rum for the flavor, because I didn’t want it to be too blend.

The mousse layers are all the same, just the type of chocolate is different. Don’t forget to moist the gelatin before you start melting the chocolate, cause it needs to be added when the mixture is still hot. The time consuming part is the cooling things one; make sure the whipped cream is cold and the chocolate mix is room temperature before folding them together. Other than that, everything is pretty explanatory. (Oh, and just add some oreo on top!)

 

I served this cake to some friends to be sure I’m not the only one that thinks is amazing. The taste of three chocolate layers and the moussy texture led them to ask for another slice; yey! It was a success!

Romana:
Dupa o lunga pauza de la statul in bucatarie si prefacutul ca sunt un masterchef, mi-am facut curaj si m-am aventurat din nou. Simteam ca trebuie sa fac ceva maret, ceva ce nu era o briosa sau un fursec, asa ca am trecut rapid de la nada la un tort imens.

Pentru aceasta reteta m-am inspirat de la bloggerul jamilacuisine, care a facut-o sa para foarte apetisanta. Trebuie sa admit ca a fost destul de scumpa pentru buzunarul meu de student, dar pur si simplu nu m-am putut abtine sa nu cumpar cea mai buna ciocolata Nestle si Milka, caci stiu ca aceasta se va topi si omogeniza placut in prajitura. Am sperat doar sa nu gresesc ceva si sa fie nevoie sa ma reintorc la supermarket dupa mai multe lucruri.

Primul strat este blatul. Nu sunt sigura ca mi-a placut reteta pe care am incercat-o, dar tot o voi posta si va voi anunta cand gasesc una mai buna; motivul este cresterea inegala a acestuia in cuptor. Pentru aroma am adaugat rom – un capac- in apararea mea, nu aveam esenta in dulap.

Straturile de mousse sunt la fel, exceptie facand tipul de ciocolata folosita. Nu uita sa inmoi gelatina inainte de a topi ciocolata, caci trebuie sa fie calda cand este incorporata. Important este ca si frisca sa fie rece cand este batuta, iar amestecul de ciocolata sa ajunga la temperatura camerei pentru a nu se taia compozitia. Inafara de asta, mai pot da doar un sfat: pune oreo deasupra!

Am servit din tort unor prieteni pentru a ma asigura ca nu sunt egocentrica cand spun cat de minunat este. Gustul a trei ciocolate si textura usoara de spuma a condus la dublarea portiilor; yey!! A fost un succes!

Zebra cake

I started out believing that this is a simple recipe that will take no more than half an hour, but boy I was wrong. Somehow I managed to screw up even the easiest thing to bake on my first attempt. But after I was a bit disappointed by the outcome of my Zebra cake, I made the best out of it: I baked another one, prepared some chocolate frosting (I will post my recipe of it here) and voila! c’est un gâteau.

This is pretty easy to bake, if you don’t make the rookie mistakes I did (and I’m ashamed of). Mix the ingredients, then add cocoa in half of the composition. Be sure to blend it really well, otherwise it will remain lumpy after cooking (mistake n°1).

Add one spoon of white batter, then one spoon of black batter, back again with the white batter… until it will look like a zebra in a washing machine. Be sure to place them in the center of the pan or else the last spoon of the mix won’t be right in the middle where you want it to be (mistake n°2).

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT hit the tray on the counter top hoping that the batter will arrange properly (mistake n°3). That is just nuts. Just go on in life with the choices you made (to have a decentered cake). 

After you ignored all my tips and you got a flat Zebra cake, go bake another one the right way. Then make some chocolate frosting and unite everything in a big lovely cake that goes amazing with a cup of coffee!

 

Românã:

Am crezut initial ca aceasta e o reteta simpla ce nu imi va lua mai mult de jumatate de ora, dar uhu! cat am putut sa ma insel. Cumva am reusit sa esuez din prima incercare; probabil eu pot invata doar din greseli. Dar dupa ce am lasat dezamagirea la o parte, am decis sa profit de situatie: am mai pus in cuptor un blat de prajitura zebra, am preparat crema de ciocolata (link aici) si voila! c’est un gâteau.

Tortul este destul de usor de pregatit daca nu faci aceleasi greseli de incepator ca mine (de care sunt destul de rusinata). Combina ingredientele, adauga cacao in jumatate de compozitie; ai grija ca aceasta sa fie amestecata foarte bine, altfel se formeaza cocoloase care raman si dupa coacere (greseala n°1).

Pune in tava o lingura de aluat alb, apoi o lingura de aluat negru, apoi alta de aluat alb… pana va arata ca o zebra in masina de spalat. Asigura-te ca le plasezi fix in centrul tavii, altfel ultima lingura de aluat nu va fi in mijloc unde ar trebui (greseala n°2).

NU bate tava de blat crezand ca lucrurile se vor aranja cum trebuie (greseala n°3). Asta e o nebunie. Continua-ti viata acceptand alegerea pe care ai facut-o (aceea de a avea o prajitura descentrata).

Dupa ce mi-ai ignorat toate sfaturile si ai ramas cu o zebra necrescuta, du-te in bucatarie si mai fa una cum trebuie. Apoi prepara crema de ciocolata si uneste totul intr-un tort mare si adorabil ce merge servit perfect cu o cana de cafea!