Brownies

After being absent for half a year, which I apologise for, now the dark time of the year comes and cooking and baking is coming back to me. Let me start with fabulous brownies with a decadent chocolate frosting on top.

So here are the ingredients:

• 175 g of brown sugar
• 100 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 75 g of plain flour
• 50 g of cocoa powder
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 100 g of chocolate chips (I use a mixture of dark and white)
• for the frosting you'll need 120 g of milk or dark chocolate and 100 g of full-fat cream cheese

And how to prepare them:

• line a brownie tin with grease-proof paper
• cream the butter with the brown sugar and stir in one egg after the other
• sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix
• mix in the chocolate chips with a spatula and spread the mixture evenly in the baking tin
• use your hands (slightly wet) to push the sticky dough into the corners
• bake for 30 mins at 175 degC
• when finished let cool completely
• for the frosting melt the chocolate and let cool to luke warm before mixing with the cream cheese
• spread the mixture evenly over the cake and cut into 16 squares
• refrigerate for at least 1 h before serving

Enjoy! 

Flourless Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

Yes, you read correctly, chocolate cookies again :-) You can't have enough of chocolate cookie recipes in my opinion! These fabulous little chocolate bombs are flour- and butterless, but they involve lots of sugar and chocolate.

I found the recipe over at Divine Baking. I can assure you, that you don't need a Kitchen Aid for this recipe, but I'd still like to have one... :-)



Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, cut into rough chunks
• 3 large eggwhites at room temperature
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 3/4 cup of dark cocoa powder (not the sweetened one here!)
• 1 tbs corn starch
• pinch of salt

How to make it:

• mix 3/4 of a cup icing sugar with the cocoa and the corn starch, set aside
• melt 1 cup of the dark chocolate in a bowl and let cool to hand warm afterwards
• beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks appear, then, spoon by spoon add 1 cup of icing sugar until you have a proper meringue texture
• now slowly beat in the dry ingredients
• once the dark chocolate is cooled, fold it carefully under the egg mixture, followed by the rest of the chopped chocolate
• this is where I had problems following the original recipe: it says, that the dough stiffens upon addition of the chocolate
• this didn't happen in my case, however, I put the bowl into the fridge for 10 mins and voila, here we are, a proper dough you can roll into balls
• that is exactly what you do, take a tbs of dough and roll it into a ball shape
• now roll it in the remaining icing sugar and cover it thickly 
• place on a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper and bake until the surface is cracked (12-15 mins) at 175 °C
• now make sure the cookies cool completely before transfering them, they will remain soft and are easy to break
• Mine didn't last very long (I took them to work), so I have no idea, how long you can store them.. But that might not be an issue for you as well!

Enjoy :-)

Chicken and Aubergine Curry

Curry Night :-)

One of my favourite curries is this one here. If you want, you can substitute the vegetables with others or change the chicken for lamb.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast, cut into small chunks
• 1 green pepper, cut into dice
• 1 medium size aubergine, also cut into dice
• 400 ml canned tomato or passata
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 walnut-size piece of ginger, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
• pepper, salt and chili to taste

And how to make it:

• heat some oil in a pan
• add garlic, ginger and onions, fry until softened, add the cumin 
• add the chicken and brown 
• add the other dry spices and the green pepper
• fry 5 mins, then add the tomato 
• add the aubergine and the bay leaf and cover
• cook for 25-30 mins
• when cooked, season with salt, pepper and chili to taste
• serve with rice and/or naan
• sprinkle with fresh coriander

That's it, quick and easy curry for saturday night!

Late morning breakfast frittata

Hello and yes, I know, it's been awhile...


I started work this month and was busy doing a lot of other stuff, too, so this is the first entry in a month. I promise to get better again :-)

I was out last night and had a fantastic experience in a karaoke bar with two fantastic singer friends. Naturally, I woke up a bit later than the usual this morning and was craving for a hearty but not too heavy breakfast. What could have been better than a frittata!





Ingredients:

• 1 whole egg, 1 eggwhite
• splash of milk
• pinch of baking powder
• half a red pepper, deseeded and cut into thin stripes
• two spring onions, but into small rings
• fresh or dried chili, to taste
• handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• handful of grated parmesan cheese
• pepper and salt
• tbsp olive oil
• chopped coriander or any other herb you like

And how to do it:

• heat oven to 150 °C
• in an oven prove pan, heat the olive oil and fry the onions together with the chili and peppers until just soft
• meanwhile prepare a mixture of the eggs, milk and baking powder, season with pepper and salt and mix properly
• pour the egg mixture over the peppers, onions and chilies
• top with the tomatoes and sprinkle with grated cheese
• and now transfer the pan into the oven and bake for 20-30 mins
• when you get it out of the oven, loosen the sides with a rubber spatula and transfer onto a plate
• sprinkle with coriander and serve while still hot

 Enjoy!

Pear and Raspberry Crumble

Hello and a happy sunday!

I have bought some pears last week and they seemed to have ripened overnight. So what to do??? One of my favorite combinations is pears and raspberries, and since I always have some of those sitting in the freezer, I thought a crumble it is. It is also a good opportunity to use up some white chocolate I have had in my storing cupboard since I made these white chocolate cookies.
I can't give exact measurements on this crumble, as I kind of make it just with rough judging.

I still try my best and tell you what I used:

For the crumble mixture:

• 2 tbsp of ground almonds
• 2 tbsp of oats (I used my porridge oats)
• 2 heaped tbsp of flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• roughly 100 g cold cubed butter
• pinch of salt

For the fruits:

• 3 ripe but not over pears
• a large handful of frozen raspberries
• 20 g grated white chocolate
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• optional: 1 tbsp caster sugar

And how to make it:

• first heat the oven to 175 °C (no fan)
• then make the crumble mixture: mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl together
• then, with you hands, rub the diced cold butter in there until you get a crumbly texture
• if too dry, add more butter, if too wet, add more flour
• then onto the fruit: peel and core the pears and cut into small pieces
• in a bowl mix with the lemon juice and the flour
• if your pears are rather sour, you can add some sugar here, I prefer however not to do that
• fill your pear mixture into the bottom of an oven proof dish
• top with a layer of frozen raspberries, then sprinkle with white chocolate (any chocolate will do)
• now evenly distribute your crumble mix, make sure to cover the fruit to the rim of the dish
• put in the oven and bake for 45 mins or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling
• and now serve up straight from the oven
• add some cream, ice cream, or vanilla sauce

I have mine pure as it is and I have to hold back not to finish the whole dish at once :-)

Have a lovely week everybody!

My favorite Salsa and Garlic-Miso Chicken

This salsa is something I wanted to post a very long time ago...
It is my absolutely favorite salsa of all times and it took quite some experimenting to get it right. It goes well with chicken, fish or steak, it is a perfect side for BBQ and is also good just as a salad. Seriously, you can tell I really like it. I hope you do to :-)
For the chicken I used the roasted garlic-miso butter from Use Real Butter. It is absolutely fabulous. I made the chicken legs as described in the recipe before and they are a good treat. This time I just used it to flavour my chicken breast. I rubbed the breast with the butter and then baked it in the oven until golden brown for about 25 mins at 175 °C. I also scored the breast to allow better cooking. And make sure you really take the time to roast the garlic. It is such a good companion to the miso!

But this is all about THE salsa, so here is the list of ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado (I use hass in a medium size)
• 1/2 mango
• 15-20 cherry tomoatoes
• 2 spring onions
• 1/2 deseeded red chili to your own taste
• half a bunch of coriander leaves
• juice of half a lemon and half a lime
• good swig of fruity olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• salt, pepper

And how to do the assembly:

• cut the avocado, the mango, and the tomatoes into small dice (you really want small here)
• finely slice the onions
• chop up the chili
• in a bowl mix all the above, then add lemon+lime juice, olive oil and honey, toss carefully
• roughly chop the coriander and add to the bowl
• season with salt and pepper to taste
• and now, this is important, let marinate in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour, otherwise the flavours won't develop
• before serving let come to room temperature
• keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days

White chocolate chip cookies

Hello there!

Weekend is approaching and I was again in need of chocolate (Don't ask me why...). Cookies are a yummy treat and I usually don't make them as they will just dissappear into thin air shortly after backing...

These ones are definitely among my favorites. For the cups I use a 200 mL coffee mug.



Ingredients:

• 125 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1 large egg or two small ones
• 1/3 cup unsweatened cocoa
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• as much roughly chopped white chocolate as you like, I use 1 bar of 150 g

And how it works:

• heat the oven to 175 °C (no fan)
• beat the butter until soft, add both sugars and the vanilla and beat until fluffy
• next add the egg and stir well
• add the cocoa and mix, then sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, mix well
• now carefully fold in the chopped chocolate
• spoon out roughly one tbsp of dough onto a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper
• make sure to leave some space between the heaps
• now, with damp hands, pat the dough slightly down
• bake for 15-18 mins, not more, the cookies will first look slightly underdone, but they are good, believe me
• let cool on the tray for a bit and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
• as a tip, the cookies are really good when still a bit warm!

Enjoy with a cup of tea or a cup of coffee!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanutbutter Frosting

Yay, it's Oscar night. And since I still have free time, I can watch it without feeling guilty and be completely overtired the next day. I am not sure I manage the whole show, but I will try my very best. Also, it is time to celebrate one of my favourite flavour combinations, so I will have something to snack on tonight :-)
It is chocolate and peanut butter and it is about time I came along with a new cupcake recipe.




Ingredients for the cupcakes:

• 125 g butter
• 125 g sugar
• 125 g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 medium free range eggs
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar/vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp milk

And how to make them:

• beat the butter until creamy
• add sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla, and cocoa and mix
• add the eggs, for extra fluffyness you can also separate the eggs and whip the eggwhites before carefully folding them in with the rest
• add the milk
• spoon into muffin tin (with muffin papers)
• bake in a preheated oven at 190 °C for 20-25 mins.

Now on to the frosting:

• I only give rough directions as I never measure it out...
• take 2 large tbsp of creamy peanut butter and equal amounts of butter and whip until soft and creamy
• add a pinch of salt
• now slowly add icing sugar while constant whipping until you have the consistency you are looking for
• then add a bit more icing sugar, so that it looks a bit too dry
• now add a little bit of milk and bring it back to a smooth paste
• that's it

Once the cupcakes are cooled, add the frosting in any style you like and top with some crushed peanuts. I use the roastes salted one to have a bit of contrast to the very sweet buttercream frosting. It's a bit like salted caramel. But you might as well use unsalted ones or leave them out completely.

And now, the winner is....

Honey, Lime & Ginger Prawns

I had nearly forgotten the bag of prawns in my freezer. But I remembered them in time and I came up with this recipe for them, partially inspired by the internet... You can leave out the ginger and/or the garlic but it's way better with both in :-)





Ingredients:

• juice and zest of one large lime (or two small ones)
• walnut-sized piece of ginger, grated
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp of honey
• pepper and salt, chili flakes if you like
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 20-25 king prawns, shelled, raw

And how to make them:

• mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a freezer bag
• make sure all the honey is dissolved
• then add the prawns - if you use frozen ones like me, let them sit in the marinade until they are thawed and came to room temperature, if not, put bag in the fridge and let marinate for 1 h, then remove and let come to room temperature
• once ready, take out of marinade and put on skewers and fry in the hot griddle pan
• alternatively put in an oven-proof dish and bake for 20 mins at 180 °C
• the honey will caramelise and therefore the prawns will become partially dark, but that doesn't matter at all
• serve with some salad or just with some bread
• if you want, you can boil the rest of the marinade for about 5 mins and use it as a sauce to drizzle over your prawns (don't forget to dunk the bread :-)

Enjoy as a starter or as a light lunch. I had mine for dinner, followed by a bowl of carrot&coriander soup :-)

Finnish Oat Cookies

Me again, it seems to become a habit :-)
I was out of cookies! Seriously, this is an issue, it's almost as bad as being out od chocolate. Fortunately, I had all the ingredients at home to make some myself. Usually in this kind of occasions I either make yummy shortbread or american style cookies. This time I opted for something very different scandinavian style oat cookies. I have eaten them before and they were always good. So after some internet research I found a recipe easy enough to follow. But as usual (I don't know, what this is with me..) I just couldn't stick to the recipe... However, for those of you interested, this is the original post, note it is in German:

Finnische Haferkekse

Here is how I changed the ingredients list:

• 50 g butter
• 60 g oats ( I used the coarse ones I usually have in the morning for my porridge)
• 80 g brown sugar
• 30 g honey (or golden syrup)
• 1 heaped tbsp flour ( I "made" oat flour here, just blend 1 heaped tbsp of oats in the blender real fine, but regular wheat flour works well)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg

And how I made them:

• mix the oats with the brown sugar, the flour and the baking powder
• melt the butter with the honey on a low heat, let then cool to hand warm
• stir the butter mix in the oats mix and combine thoroughly
• when cooled, add the egg and mix until smooth
• here is now another change I made: let the dough sit for 20 mins to allow the oats to dwell, the result is a slightly thicker dough as before
• pre-heat the oven to 225 °C
• line a baking tray with greaseproof paper 
• and now another change to the original recipe: I poured the whole mixture out on the sheet and distributed it equally, the original post says set small amounts with a tsp on the sheet. The first one will give you one giant cookie that I have then cut into squares, the last one gives you round cookies
• now bake for 5-7 mins, don't leave the oven, they brown very quickly!
• then take out, let cool a bit
• if you have poured the whole lot out, then now cut the shapes you want before the cookies are cold and therefore crack easily OR wait until completely cool and break random bits of, so you get a random shaped selection of cookies
• if you made the round version, just let the cool on the sheet before stacking them

That's it. Very simple. Can be done in 15 mins total time. No electric mixer needed. I have mine with a cup of tea (how could it be any different...) or a coffee. Also, they keep quite long in a tin, if you manage to keep away from them long enough!

Steak marinades

Hello everyone,

since I am suffering from a Norovirus infection the past few days (a nasty one that is...) I am constanstly craving for a steak. Honestly, I don't know why. I am not that much of a meat eater at all, but sometimes I like a proper steak. Usually, I add it to a asian glasnoodle salad, a recipe I will have to put up at some point as well. Sometimes I just have it as such with roast potatoes and some green beans. When I just put it on the grill, I like to add a marinade. And that is exactly the reason for this post - steak marinades.


here are two of my favorite ones:

1) Lime and ginger marinade

• zest and juice of one lime
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 3 tbsp vegetable or sesame oil

2) Rosemary and garlic marinade

• 1 sprig fresh rosmary, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp lemon juice
•  3 tbsp olive oil
• black pepper to taste

For both marinades let the meat sit in the marinade for at least 1 hour, better over night but most certainly in the fridge. I usually marinate my meat (both work for chicken as well btw) in a freezer bag over night. Then remove most of the marinade, otherwise it will burn in the pan. I then heat a griddle pan fairly hot and fry my meat to medium rare, but this is to your own liking. Very important is to let the meat rest after the frying is done, otherwise you will loose all these wonderful juices and your steak will dry out. I then cut it into strips and serve it up. 

Cakes, Cakes, Cakes - Marmorkuchen/Marble Cake

After finishing my teaching job, I wanted to say thank you to my teaching colleagues. What could be better than a home-baked cake. For this occasion I wanted to get back to a standard cake here in Germany as I haven't baked one of those in ages: Marble cake!

I loved it as a child and it is so easy to do...

Ingredients:

• 3 medium eggs
• 150 g caster sugar
• 150 mL oil (rape seed is good here)
• 250 g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150g full fat yoghurt
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

And how to do it:

• beat the egg and slowly add sugar
• after you have obtained a light texture, slowly add the oil while stirring
• next combine the flour, backing powder and yoghurt and add to the egg mixture
• now line the baking tin with grease-proof paper or grease the tin thoroughly
• add half of the batter, then add the cocoa to the rest and mix
• layer the dark batter on top of the light one and marble both carefully with a knife
• now bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 °C for 40-45 mins.
• once cooled, either dust with icing sugar or cover with a chocolate coat

I hope you enjoy this, simple and so good :-)