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.

Chocolate and caramel tarts

I can’t really wrap my mind around the fact that college started… again. With all the changes happening in my life -like waking up early in the morning, making my own food and staying way to much at school- I really wanted to lift my spirit up; and what better way to do that than baking something with lots of chocolate in it? These tarts are the perfect excuse to indulge something sweet and savory at the same time, without compromising your happiness.

For the first time ever I betrayed my tart crust recipe and I went for the store bought one. Although it saved me some time, I am not that impressed by it; it tastes ok, I can’t complain, but for tartlets it’s not that efficient. You can’t reuse the leftovers that remain after cutting your small shapes, and I learned that the hard way. After rolling the dough again, it puffs up in the oven like crazy (time to switch to pizza bites haha). I still managed to ace 9 little cute tartlets shells tho!

The secret key to these lovely tarts is the layering factor. First you have the pie crust, which brings it all together, then you have the caramel sauce, the crunchy peanuts layer, the chocolate ganache and the caramel drizzle. And again some decorative peanuts. Boy that was a lot. Disclaimer: I don’t really care about calories (although I should), so I don’t mind the… boost in my daily intake, but if you are all about that stuff, you probably… should bake the tarts and change your mind. Tee-hee.

On another note… I really hope that I’m improving the food photography and editing technique, especially since I watched bromabakery’s tips for succeeding in this domain. In my opinion, the hardest thing to do is to find yourself and to find that something that makes you unique and different from all the other accounts that have the same theme. I am still working on that aspect… and most likely I will struggle with it for another period of time; but trying your best is what you should do, right?

The motto for today: sweet and savory, all in a shell- what else do you need?

Chocolate cupcakes

I really really really wanted to bake something with chocolate. Chocolate batter, chocolate chips, chocolate frosting, chocolate on top of chocolate! I might have a little addiction to this ingredient… When it comes to chocolate, more is more and less is a bore, so let’s apply that in the kitchen and start baking some choco-licious cupcakes!

Funny story about these little ones: I blind baked them!! I know, it sounds like one of those click-bait titles on Youtube, but it’s more accurate than you’d think. It was a huge storm outside the night I was making cupcakes, and soon after placing them in the oven, the lights went off. And the oven timer. Aaand the oven light. I didn’t even know how much time has passed already! I quickly turned on the timer on my phone, estimating  a baking time, hoping not to burn everything (including the house). Everything was baked then with the help of my brother who held his phone flashlight while I was checking on the cupcakes, making another batch and washing dishes. Needless to say, the lights went on when I finished with everything… and the cupcakes were out, cooling on a rack! I guess I got lucky, cause they turned out just fine, so I need to stop complaining.

The first one I ate was “a failed one”, how I like to call it. I was just struggling a little bit more with it while trying to get it out of the pan and it came out with a missing piece. That’s a good enough reason to eat it right away, even though it was still hot and it burned my mouth. What can I say, I am a greedy person when it comes to sweets. Not to mention that I love to eat the leftover batter on the spatulas every time…

Twix brownies

I cannot express how glad I am that I finally can post this recipe. It’s been in my food folder since January, when I first made it, but sadly I lost the photos – and I kept hoping I will find them somewhere hidden, cause what is a *food blog* without the *food photography *part? I don’t know if the new pics are better than the lost ones, but the brownies definitely were; practice is the key of success, right?

Let me introduce you to my party people (Pitbull and JLo reference, anyone?) these Twix brownies made out of  4 layers of sweet heaven: brownie base, cookie cream, caramel syrup, chocolate glaze.

First you got to make that basic brownie, wait for it to cool and start smashing some biscuits; you have to mix them really well with the cream cheese, otherwise it won’t stick to the previous layer. If it’s too stiff, try to soften it with a tbsp of milk. Add the caramel filling, keep in the fridge for half an hour, then prepare the chocolate glaze and pour it all over the cake (and wait for it to cool down- again).

Next step is… enjoy. Cut it in pieces and share it or eat the whole thing by yourself, if that’s how you roll. I won’t judge.

Chocolate and peanut butter tart

I will just say this from the beginning: I failed at this, I won’t lie. I was so excited because I had’t made something sweet for such a long time and I went all in. The chocolate and peanut butter pie was on my to do list for a long time, but because I was also lazy and  didn’t want to bake a base, I decided to make the biscuit-and-butter one. Aaaand it crumbled away… but still looks good, wright? (Pls say yes)

I want this to be a way to give tips and share my experience, either good or bad, and be real. So I will lay it out to you: with this recipe you should definitely bake a base or moisten the biscuits first, in order to obtain something… more appealing and eatable.

I served this tart just like this, crumbly, and it still tastes good. Really good. The only problem is the texture of the base. I almost thought about melting it again and make another base for it, but… I had work to do for college, so it was a no-go. Guess I will just stick with the “I shall revenge!” thing.

If you want to try it out (but God help you if you make the same mistake as I did) check the recipe below:

Bounty muffins

There is nothing I love more than the smell of freshly baked chocolate muffins. While I’m washing the remaining dishes from my latest cooking adventure, I’m thinking to myself “how long until I can stuff my face with these??” If you know me you’ll be sure that it won’t take too much time for me to “just try out” what I have just made.

Let me get to the beginning; I wanted to bake some muffins for a long time, but I wouldn’t want to settle for the basic vanilla ones- so let the research start. I had these coconut flakes in my kitchen for ever and I haven’t used them, and that sparked an idea in my mind; why not make something with them? Coconut frosting, no… coconut muffins, no…coconut AND chocolate muffins, yes. Yes, please.

Bake the muffins (mine came out perfectly, I was so happy I didn’t burn them), make the frosting -which, by the way, is the easiest ever, and mix the cream. Now you will only have to cut holes in the muffins and fill them with the sweet coconut pleasure. I experienced some trouble while frosting; I may or may not had to place a little muffin cap (dough? batter?) on top of the cream, because some of it mixed with the chocolate frosting. But heeey, that’s ok, it still tastes pretty good.

The best part of this Bounty muffin is the surprise you have while taking a bite out of it. You can’t tell from the outside that you are about to taste the sweet coconut heaven that is inside, and that is freaking awesome. Now I am hungry for muffins.

Romana:

Nu exista ceva ce sa iubesc mai mult decat mirosul de briose cu ciocolata proaspat scoase din cuptor. In timp ce spal vasele ramase dupa ultima mea aventura in bucatarie, ma gandesc- cat trebuie sa mai astept pana sa ma pot umple de briose?? Daca ma cunosti vei fi sigur ca nu va dura mult pana “doar voi incerca una”.

Ar trebui sa incep cu intentia mea vesnica de a face niste briose, dar nu obisnuitele cu vanilie si fulgi de ciocolata. Intr-un final m-am convins sa incep cautarile pe Pinterest, pentru ca este Biblia mea. Stiam ca am si niste fulgi de cocos de la inceputurile lumii (sau doar de asta-vara) si asa mi-a incoltit o idee- crema de cocos, nu… briose cu cocos, nu… briose cu ciocolata si cocos, da. Da, te rog.

Coace briosele (eu nu le-am ars de data asta- haha!), prepara frostingul si crema. Mai trebuie doar taiate dopuri si umplute golurile cu minunatul rai de cocos. Am ezitat putin daca sa pun sau nu capacele de aluat peste crema- nu le-am pus. Crema s-a amestecat putin cu frostingul. E ok, briosele tot au gust bun.

Cea mai buna parte la briosele Bounty este factorul surpriza: nu stii ce gasesti inauntru atunci cand iei prima muscatura, si asta mi se pare mi-nu-nat. Acum imi este pofta de briose.

Chocolate cake roll

The past few days I felt the need of something sweet more than anything in the world. Something with and covered in chocolate, but I couldn’t quite figure out what to bake to satisfy my need aaand … you guessed it, to be fast and easy. So I called my mother and she told me about this cake roll that she made, and I thought -why not? I would make it my own way, with lots of chocolate and pomegranate seeds.

This is so easy to make it’s actually embarrassing to fail. Except for one part: The rolling. If you don’t roll it tight enough, you will see a hole inside right in the middle, but you can solve that by adding more filling to the cake. Or leave it like that, who cares; your friends will be excited just to have something to munch on.

I absolutely love how the sweetness of the chocolate is tempered by the sourness of the pomegranate seeds; I think it’s the perfect combination. Expect more of this combo in my next recipes, as I am really excited for the pomegranate season to start. And for the cold-weather-type-of-desserts season.

In other words, I encourage every lazy person with a sweet-tooth to try out this easy cake roll that brings together chocolate, pomegranate and happiness.

Romana:

In ultimele zile am simtit o nevoie acuta de ceva dulce, ceva cu ciocolata cat cuprinde, insa nu imi gaseam inspiratia de a incropi o reteta si nici timpul necesar de a sta si gati ceva fabulos. Aveam nevoie de ceva rapid, usor si extrem de dulce. Asa ca mi-am sunat mama in speranta ca ma va scoate din impas, si ghiceste ce; asta s-a intamplat. La finalul conversatiei stiam deja ca voi face o rulada cu ciocolata si rodie.

Acest desert e atat de usor de facut, ca as fi fost rusinata sa ratez. O singura parte poate ridica probleme, rulatul. Daca nu o rulezi destul de strans, poate ramane cu o gaura fix in mijloc; si acolo unde ar fi trebuit sa fie umplutura, e un mare gol… se poate rezolva adaugand mai multa crema. Sau o poti lasa asa, prietenilor oricum nu le va pasa decat de faptul ca au ceva dulce sa manance.

Ador felul in care ciocolata este temperata de gustul acrisor al rodiei; posibil a fi combinatia perfecta. Vor urma mai multe retete cu acest combo numai pentru ca sunt atat de incantata de inceperea sezonului de rodii. Si a sezonului de deserturi-potrivite-pentru-vreme-rece.

In alte cuvinte, incurajez fiecare persoana lenesa si amatoare de dulciuri sa incerce aceasta rulada care aduce impreuna ciocolata, rodia si fericirea.

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!

Chocolate frosting

This is the chocolate frosting recipe that works really well with cakes, meringues, macarons, as it will not moist the dessert.

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!