I`m keeping it the way it is since some of my favorite recipes are here. So, this blog will stay as it is, and hopefully it will be useful to people who stop by.

So, that`s it. Goodbye :)

Since it`s passover, and I was asked to bring a flourless dessert to some Seder, I thought that brownies would be the perfect dessert. I was trying to find a recipe that did not include matzo meal or other flour substitute.  I found this recipe, by the lovely Nigella Lawson, that included ground nuts – just what I was looking for.

This recipe is an perfect replacement for the ordinary brownies, and also have a great nutty flavor. Also, it is a one bowl recipe, a thing that makes it just perfect. With these few ingredients, you get a very, very rich result.

To make the brownies look perfect after cutting them, I suggest, as I do with all brownies recipes, to put them in the fridge for at least two hours, and only when chilled, cut then into squares. Though it is not suggested in the recipe, I stored the brownies in the fridge, and served them just out from the fridge.

Flourless Brownies/ Nigella Lawson (makes 16)

225 gr. bittersweet chocolate, 70% cocoa solids

225 gr. butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

200g caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

150g ground almonds

100g chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Melt the chocolate and butter gently over a low heat in a heavy-based saucepan.

Take the pan off the heat, mix in the vanilla and sugar, and let it cool a little.

Beat the eggs into the pan along with the ground almonds and chopped walnuts. Turn into a 24cm square baking tin or, most sensibly, use a foil one.

Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, by which time the top will have set but the mixture will still be gooey. Once cooler, cut carefully, four down, four across, into 16 squidgybellied squares.

This recipe was in my “to do” list for at least two years. It is the kind of recipe, that you know that you want to make right when you open your brand new cookbook. There was something about this recipe, although it is not sophisticated, that attracted me. I`m happy to say that this was a great success, and I would defiantly make these again.

These are lovely cookies. I can`t think of any other description for them. They have the most delicious lemony taste, and the crispy almond coating, really gives it this extra something.

You`ll be surprised of the quantity of the cookies that this recipe makes (don`t worry about that, they`ll disappear before you even notice). Just  make kind of tiny rolls, even if it may look a bit small, trust me on that one. Also, make sure to bake the cookies until golden, you want the almond coating to be very crispy.

Almond Cookies\ Orna and Ella- The  Cookbook, by Orna Agmon, Ella Shine & Einav Berman (makes 40 cookies)

125 gr. butter, cut into small pieces

zest from 1 lemon

1\2 cup (100 gr.) sugar

1\2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup minus 1 tablespoon (125 gr.)  flour

1\3 cup (50 gr.) finely ground almonds

Almond coating:

2 egg whites, slightly whipped

1 1\2 cups (150 gr.) sliced almonds

In a bowl, Mix the butter, lemon zest, sugar and vanilla extract until combined. Add the flour and the almonds and mix just until getting a dough. Cover, and chill in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Form a 4 cm long and 1 cm diameter rolls from the chilled dough. Dip each roll in the egg whites, and then in the sliced almonds. Gently press the almonds to the cookie rolls. Place cookies on the baking tray, and chill for at least 20 minutes. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cookies are golden. Keep in an airtight container.

I`ve made this delicious dessert while my brother was here, and we looked for some kind of cake to make. After much thinking, we laid our eye on this dessert, and we decided to make it. We did not, in any we regret it.

This recipe, unlike may other tiramisu recipes that I saw, does not include soft white cheese, white chocolate, or any other ingredients that have nothing to do with a good tiramisu.

Tiramisu, as you may know is a traditional Italian dessert, which is made of mascarpone cheese and zabaglione. As any dessert with very high percentage of fat, this was delicious, and fairly easy to make. The only catch about this one, at least in israel, is the price of the mascaropne cheese: it is quite expensive here, so making proper tiramisu may cost you a bit.

Tiramisu\  Anna Maria Volpi (Via Room For Dessert)

For a 20X25 cm pan, or a 20X30 cm pan, for a shorter Tiramisu

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Marsala wine (or brandy)
450 gr Mascarpone cheese
250 ml heavy cream
25-30 lady finger cookies
1 1/2 cups strong coffee
2 tsp sugar

Dutch processed cocoa powder, for sprinkling on top

Prepare the coffee in a small bowl, stir in the sugar and let cool.

Place the egg yolks in the bowl of a double boiler. Beat them well by hand, until fluffy and their color becomes lighter (about 5 minutes). Add in the sugar and Marsala wine and beat until incorporated. Place the bowl on top of a double boiler and whisk until the zabaglione mixture thickens (this happens just before boiling point – when small bubbles appear).

In a separate bowl whip the cream until soft peaks.  In a separate bowl mash the mascarpone until creamy.
Pour the zabaglione mixture upon the mascarpone and mix until incorporated. Add in the whipped cream, and fold it into the zabaglione-mascarpone mixture.

Assemble the Tiramisu: Lightly soak the ladyfingers in the coffee, one at a time and each one from both sides, arrange them as the bottom layer in the pan. Spread half of the cream over the lady fingers, then soak and arrange another layer of lady fingers, and spread the remaining cream mixture upon them. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

Just before serving, sprinkle with cocoa powder. Serve within 48 hours from the preparation time, after that the lady fingers will become too mooshy.

This recipe does not require any explanations – It is very very simple to make, and the final result is very delicate, and very tasty (and may I add- very addictive!).

A few words about poppy seed- this recipe requires using ground poppy seed. I didn`t have any, but if you an get it, please make sure to use poppy seed that was grounded in the same day, or that was grounded and then frozen, at the same day. Be very careful with store bought poppy seed, since they tend to be bitter, and may ruin whatever you cook.

Also, if you would like to add a bit more lemon to these cookies, you could roll the unbaked cookie log with granulated sugar with a lot of lemon zest. Then, simply slice into rounds and bake as written in the recipe.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies/ adapted from Yael from Vieanna, Ynet food forums.

250 gr. flour

200 gr. butter

100 gr. ground poppy seed (I used whole poppy seeds)

70 gr. confectioners sugar

1 egg yolk

zest from one lemon

Combine all of the ingredients until a soft dough is formed.

Roll the dough in wax paper to make a cylinder about 3 cm in diameter Chill dough until firm, at least 1 hour (or less in the freezer).

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

Slice dough into rounds about 1/4 cm thick. Arrange on a baking sheets. Bake 12 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few seconds, then remove to a wire rack and let cool completely.

It`s so weird to call these “Hamantashen” since I`m used to their Hebrew name, Ozney Haman (which literally means- the ears of haman). These crisp and filled cookies are made especially for Purim, the happiest holiday (to my humble opinion…). I won`t bother you with the full history background of these cookies, but if this interest you, you could find nice explanations in many sites.

These cookies are basically circles short pastry filled with all sorts of fillings (usually poppy seed filling, chocolate, or dates), which are folded to triangle shape and baked until crisp. You really don`t need Purim as an excuse to make these.

One of the most complicated things about these cookies is getting the cookies to remain at their original shape while baking. I found that if you chill the filled and shaped cookies before you bake them, they generally  tend to lose their shape, the solution is to chill the shaped and filled cookies before baking (preferably overnight).

Happy Purim!

Hamantashen (Tamar Ha`aheret, Ynet food forum, via this article) makes about 32 medium sized hamantashen.

2 1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

200 gr. cold butter, cut into small cubes

zest from one orange (or lemon)

2 egg yolks

2-4 tablespoons fresh orange juice (or milk)

fillings: Nutella, poppy seed, nuts, jam

In a food processor combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. Add butter and orange zest, and pulse until the the butter incorporates with the flour, add the yolks and pulse until the mixture looks crumbly. Add 2 tablespoon of the juice, and combine until combined (if needed, add the rest of the juice) .

Form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 160-170 degrees C.

To form the hamantashen, roll out the dough on a well-floured surface until it is about 3-4 mm thick. Using a round cookie cutter (about 6 cm diameter), cut the dough into circles, brush the edges of the circles with a little bit of water. Spoon a teaspoon of the filling in the center. Fold the dough in from three sides and firmly crimp the corners and give them a little twist to ensure they stay closed. Leave the filling mostly open in the center. Put on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Cool on racck, powder with powdered sugar.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE’s blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

 When I first saw this recipe, I was really looking forward to make it. This turned out to be a bit ironic – The recipe’s name is “Chocolate Valentino” and it is supposed to be a great recipe for valentines day, but I decided to make it in one of the most depressing days, the elections day.  Now, without getting into politics, let me just say that that day was not only rainy and gray, the result were also very much depressing. Certainly not a day to make a nice cake like this one. That day could also explain the poor photos this time, it was so gray outside, that I just couldn`t get any nice pictures, sorry!

Making the cake was quite easy. I halved the recipe, and baked it in a buttered muffins tin. The texture of the cake was a bit sandy, but the flavor was very nice. Since we are not patient people, we ate the cake while it was still a bit warm, and it later turned out that this cake is best when completely chilled.

Because I don’t own an ice cream machine, I decided to make vanilla semifreddo instead. I choose a recipe by Jamie Oliver, and it turned to be delicious, and it had quite a nice texture.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Dharm’s Ice Cream Recipe
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
Preparation Time: 30 minutesRecipe comes from the Ice Cream Book by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis (tested modifications and notes in parentheses by Dharm)

Ingredients
1 Vanilla Pod (or substitute with vanilla extract)
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Semi Skimmed Milk – in the U.S. this is 2% fat (or use fresh full fat milk that is pasteurised and homogenised {as opposed to canned or powdered}). Dharm used whole milk.
4 large egg yolks
75g / 3oz / 6 tbsp caster sugar {superfine sugar can be achieved in a food processor or use regular granulated sugar}
5ml / 1 tsp corn flour {cornstarch}
300ml / ½ pint / 1 ¼ cups Double Cream (48% butter fat) {in the U.S. heavy cream is 37% fat)
{you can easily increase your cream’s fat content by heating 1/4 cup of heavy cream with 3 Tbs of butter until melted – cool to room temperature and add to the heavy cream as soon as whisk marks appear in the cream, in a slow steady stream, with the mixer on low speed.  Raise speed and continue whipping the cream) or use heavy cream the difference will be in the creaminess of the ice cream.

1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthways.  Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla pod and bring to the boil.  Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse
Lift the vanilla pod up.  Holding it over the pan, scrape the black seeds out of the pod with a small knife so that they fall back into the milk. SET the vanilla pod aside and bring the milk back to the boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn-flour in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy.  3. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly.  Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time
4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl.  Cool it then chill.
5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon.  Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container.  Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)
By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)

I`ve got to admit that I had doubts when I made this cake. When thinking of Ricotta, you usually imagine a flavorless cheese with a not-so-rich texture. This cake surly proved me wrong. Though this in not the creamiest cheesecake, it is certainly a very good one. This cake is quite dense, and has the most delicious combination of the citrus taste alongside with the crust and the cheese.

Another good thing in this cake is that it is fairly simple to make, compared with other cheesecakes. Here, you just have to make the crust, and then make the batter (and the only thing that is required is a stand mixer). In this one, you don’t need to whip egg whites, or to use all sort of tricks that the cake wont fall.

Oh, something about the citrus. If, like me, you are not the biggest fans of oranges, I suggest you put a zest from one orange rather than two as written in the recipe. This will give a slight taste of orange, which is perfect to my taste.

Torta di Ricotta
modified from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts (Via USEREALBUTTER.COM)

pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp dry Marsala wine
1/2 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks

filling
32 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
6 large eggs
grated peel of 2 medium oranges
grated peel of 2 lemons

In a large bowl, beat all pastry ingredients together on low speed until just mixed. Shape dough into a ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F. Press dough into a 10-inch springform pan – on the bottom and up the sides. Bake the crust 15 minutes until golden. Cool in pan on wire rack.

While crust is cooling, prepare the filling. Press ricotta through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Beat the ricotta on medium speed until smooth. Slowly beat in the sugar, scraping the bowl often. Add cream, flour, vanilla, salt, eggs, orange and lemon peels and beat until well blended.

Pour mixture into crust. Bake for 1 1/4 hours (I suggest placing a baking pan of water on a lower rack to prevent rifting of your cake surface). Turn the oven off and let cheesecake remain in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until well-chilled. When cheesecake is firm, loosen from pan and remove to a serving plate. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar or top with fresh fruit.

This dessert is so delicious because of its simplicity. There are only handful of ingredients, but the the combination of the crispy kadaif, cream and the slightly tang of the strawberries make this an ideal dessert.

In case that this is the first time that you hear the word ”kadaif “, here`s a short explanation: Kadaif is the name of a very thin shredded pastry which is used to make dessert and pastries.  It is sometimes known as shredded phyllo. After dipped into melted fat (usually melted butter) and baked, it gets a very crispy texture. I think that you could find this in Mediterranean stores, in Israel this is usually found in specialty stores.

This dessert is one of many things that you can make with Kadaif: from filling it with mousses to wrapping salmon. There are endless possibilities, and If you are able to find this product, grab it right away, and I promise that you won`t regret it.

Some tips for working with Kadaif:

• Kadaif usually comes frozen. Before using it, make sure to defrost it, either in the fridge, on in a sealed plastic bad in room temperature for about half an hour.
• Be very gentle when working with it. It tends to crumble.
• After dipping it with the butter (or any other fat), form it into the required shape, and press it to get an even layer.

Kadaif pastry filled with whipped cream and strawberries

250 gr. kadaif, defrosted

25-50 gr. butter, melted

125 ml. heavy whipping cream

Strawberries, sliced

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Dip Kadaif into the melted butter, stir gently by hand until all the kadaif is coated with the butter.

Using a muffin tin, divide kadaif into portions, and press each one into the muffin tin to get an even kadaif disk. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until kadaif is deeply golden.

Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff.

Assemble:

Put one kadaif disk on top of a plate, put a spoon of the wipped crean on top, and add sliced strawberris. top with another disk of kadaif.

This cake is the perfect chocolate cake. It has anything you would want to find in one: moist, with a great chocolatey flavor, not oily, and has a delicious ganache topping. I loved this cake so much that I`ve made it twice in the same weekend (and the fact the one bottle of Guinnes was enough to make exactly 1.5 batches was also very helpful).

I strongly suggest that you make the cake with the ganache, without it the cake is delicious, but the addition af the ganache makes it extra extra delicious. Besides of that, this cake is simple to make (though the baking time may be longer, as it was in my oven), and there is not one good reason why you would not go and buy a bottle of Guinnes right now, and run to make this cake.

Chocolate Stout Cake
Adapted from Bon Appétit, September 2002, recipe originally from the Barrington Brewery in Great Barrington, MA (via Smittenkitchen.com)

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Cake prep:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan well; make sure you get in all of the nooks and crannies. (Some people even go so far as to brush the inside of their bundt pans with melted butter–you cannot be too careful!). Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack for drizzling ganache.

Ganache:
For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.