Easter eggs

Happy Easter weekend!
Nice looking chocolate eggs and bunnies are everywhere this time of the year. However, unfortunately I don't eat chocolate, so I won't get those cute sweets for myself... humm, shame;(
But, never mind because this year I made coconuts cake eggs! When I found this egg shape cake mould in a supermarket, I was like.." Yest! this is what I was looking for!"
The recipe was quite an experimental one, but it did go well with Andy's help:) Thanks, buddy!

The cake is semolina sponge cake, which is coated with jam and coconuts icing. They aren't the traditional chocolate eggs but I'm really happy that I'm going to have my own Easter eggs this year ;D

Torta de hojas

"Cake of leaves"...., Torta de hojas is a Chilean treat that has a stack of cookie-like layers and a rich caramel filling between the layers.

I've always interested in making this cake, but I've sort of avoided trying it until now, knowing it's a very time-consuming recipe. However, today I finally made my mind up and went in the kitchen to start a long prep session. Fun fun fun...:D

First of all, because my oven isn't big enough to fit all the layers at once, I had to run 4 sessions to bake all 8 layers..., which took me... about an hour.
Then, while I was baking the layers, I made the caramel filling, dulce de leche. Since I've made it before, I was thinking... "it shouldn't be too hard, but it just takes time...". Ok..., I was wrong. It was pretty tough to watch out the caramel and the stuff in the oven at the same time, but I was doing well....yes..., until the dulce de leche made a little explosion... Luckily, it wasn't major and there were only few drops of caramel on the hob... phew...
All in all, I finished the prep in 3 hours or so, which was what I consider as a success!
The only part left was to stack the layers! Yes, this is the bit I've waited for! The authentic torta de hojas uses brandy between the layers, but I avoided it this time as I didn't want the cake to be alcoholic. I also mixed whipped cream in the filling so that it's more spreadable and lighter to eat;)

Here we go... it's looking pretty, no?

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Chile.

あずき練乳アイス (Azuki Ice cream)

Sunny Sunday! I can really see the summer is really coming!
And in my math (I'm terrible at math, by the way...) Summer = Ice cream!
One of my all time favourite is "Azuki Milk Ice cream", we call it あずぎ練乳アイス (Azuki rennyu ice). And last night, I found a stock of condensed milk and azuki in the cupboard, and there was some cream left in the fridge. Yep, perfect. I could already tell it was going to work!

After 2 minutes prep, my ice cream went in the freezer...

The following morning..., I rushed to see it nicely set. One, two, three scoops... I had a taste with a big spoonful. "......Oh.. home.... Japan..." That was just the taste I expected, nostalgia.. Childhood, a humid lazy summer's day. It tasted really like the Azuki Ice cream from "551 Horai" if you know them... (It's a very popular Buta-man shop in Osaka.)

It's very easy! When you want to feel a taste of Japan, try it!

Ingredients:

Ready cooked sweetened azuki 500g (see my post -Sweet Azuki Beans)

Condensed milk 150g

Single cream 150ml

1. Mix all the ingredients.

2. Put it in the freezer until it set.

Record Store Day

Today is Record Store Day, which was started from 2007 and since then celebrated on the third Saturday in April every year.
So...as usual, I made something to show my interest in the art of music.... on this special day... Edible record cookies!   I can't listen to them, but at least, I'll nibble them while I enjoy nice music from CDs...

Happy Record Store Day! I'm going to head to a record shop and find some nice tunes...:D

The famous WOS Cheesecake

Hooooo Laaaa Laaaaaaa, do you remember the New York style cheesecake I made a little while ago (see my post). These cheesecakes are so good that their taste is beyond words!!! Any words I could use to describe it would pale in comparison to what it was really like! I'm usually modest (yes..., I am...) but when it comes to these indescribably tasty cheesecakes, I just want to the whole world to taste it. I might start selling them, and I'm not even joking...

This time, I made two different ones. One with berries. The berries add a fresh juiciness to the rich cheesecake, which make you easily finish the whole cake with one go!

The other one is hazelnut liquor. A couple of drops of the liquor is enough to give a hint of nutty flavour, which make the already-rich cake even richer:) This one tastes a little more grown-up.

On top of their amazing taste, they are a perfect size for two (or one hungry monkey) since they are 10 cm in diameter.

Aaah, my cheesecake shop might come to your town in the near future...

Basboosa

I don't know why, but I've always thought Middle Eastern sweets are quite complicated to make. That might be the reason why I haven't tried many recipes from those places. However, today I'm happily admit that I was WRONG!

This semolina cake from Egypt, Basboosa, is so simple to make. It's also a great recipe for those who are looking for something different from normal flour cakes. Semolina's slightly gritty texture seems to work nicely for absorbing the lemon syrup as well as making a good combination with coconut flakes.

One bite, you'll feel the juiciness expands in your mouth followed by exotic flavour of semolina and coconut:)

Potica

Since I haven't done a yeast baking for a little whole, I thought I should give it a go with this Slovene nut roll, Potica.

Making potica is a great fun, but also a little time consuming, so be prepared:)
Normally, when I make bread, I love the time I wait for the dough to rise. I sometimes even sit there and just watch them to get bigger and bigger... However, with potica I didn't have time for that. I've got to prepare the nut filling! Crush, crush crush the walnuts.. and mix and mix... By the time I finished with the filling, the dough was looking..., good...:)... a quick finger test... yes, perfect!
Spread the lovely walnut filling, roll it up and bosch in the oven...

Out of the oven, Potica was smelling really good... humm, nice texture too. Oh and, I can see the nut roll inside! And most importantly, the taste was... gorgeous... sweet nut filling and rich buttery pastry filled my mouth with a pure pleasure after a long preparation.

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Slovenia.