Martha's Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

 They're... outrageous! Plenty of compliments I could tell about those cookies :) Really, really chocolate and worth trying! 

Recipe, changed, comes from Marta Stewart.

Ingredients:

• 113 g of dark chocolate, chopped (the smaller pieces, the better - easier to melt)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 50 g of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 big egg
• 110 g of brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 200 g of chocolate chips or more or less chopped chocolate (milk or dark, might be mixed)

Preparation:

1. Take a baking tray, put baking paper on it. Put aside.
2. Take a pot, put dark chocolate and butter inside and melt it on a very low heat, stiring all the time. Turn off the heat, put aside so that it cools down.
3. Take a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt inside.
4. Take a mixer and its bowl and mix eggs, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Add cooled down, melted chocolate, mix. Then add flour and mix again.
5. Add chocolate chips and stir (don't mix with a mixer, use a spoon).
6. Put one spoon (= this is one cookie) on a baking tray, leaving some space between cookies because they will grow a little. Using a spoon, form every cookie in a round, neat shape.
7. Bake for 8-12 minutes in 175C. Cookies should be shiny and soft inside.
8. Keep in a closed box up to 3 days.
9. Bon Appetit! :)

Chocolate Truffles

Exceptional! Mouth-watering, melting on the tongue! Perfect for chocolate-lovers ;) 

Recipe comes from Kwestia Smaku

Ingredients:

• 100g of soft(not cold) butter
• 100 g of dark chocolate, at least with 70% of cocoa
• 50 g of milk chocolate
• 100 g of powdered sugar
• baking cocoa for sprinkling 

Preparation:

1. Take a mixer and its bowl. 
2. Cut the butter into small cubes, put inside the bowl. 
3. Add powdered sugar. Put aside.
4. Take a clean pot, put dark and milk chocolate inside, melt on a very low heat, stiring all the time, so that it doesn't burn. Put aside, so that it cools down a little.
5. Mix the soft butter and powdered sugar, for around 7 minutes, to get fluffy, bright substance.
6. Step by step, one tablespoon after another, keep adding melted chocolate to the mixer's bowl, still mixing.
7. Cover the bowl with foil and put in the fridge for 1-2 hours (it needs to thicken and become more hard).
8. After that time it is possible either to take silicone moulds or to make balls out of that chocolate.* In both cases - 1 full teaspoon should be much enough to form a ball or more or less enough to fill the mould.  
9. When done, put filled in silicone moulds or a plate with balls back in the fridge for another 1-2 hours. Then take them out and sprinkle all over with baking cocoa.
10. Don't keep them for too long in the room temperature, they will start melting.
11. Bon Appetit! :)

* I do recommend silicone moulds - it is easier to make the truffles and it is easier to make them look really professional, neat&tidy, classy, beautiful....

While making balls the chocolate melts in hands and it's hard to make those balls, so the appearance isn't really satisfactory.

Hot chocoa

A perfect liquid when the weather starts getting colder and colder... :) More natural then ready-made products you can buy in a shop and stir with milk... and for sure it contains more cocoa than any artificial product :) One important caution - if you won't add any sugar it will be really bitter.

Recipe comes from my mum and my mind :)

Ingredients (for one cup/mug):

• 200-300 ml of milk
• 3-4 teaspoons of baking cocoa (bitter one, for baking purposes)

Optional ingredients:

• 3-5 teaspoons of sugar
• a pinch of (for example): cinammon, cardamom, nutmeg or even ground chilli pepper
• decoration: whipped cream, chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Take a pot. Put the milk inside, start boiling it, stiring from time to time so that it doesn't burn. 
2. When it reaches 100C, add cocoa, and stir to avoid the lumps.
3. Here is the time to add sugar.
4. Boil for a while, turn off the heat.
5. Put in a mug/cup, add spice(s) and decorate.
6. Bon Appetit! :)

Burning Bananas

I've always dreamt of preparing them. I have no idea why did it take me so long to do it. I think it is because of that 'burning part' that I was afraid of. But - in this case, there is no need to be afraid of fire :) Of course remember about all the necessary precautions against fire but it is not that scary :) 

And the effect - ahhh, wonderful :) And it is so easy to prepare it ! Unbelievable! :) Must try!

The inspiration for the recipe comes - surprisingly - from the packaging of cinnamon :) Changed, as always, works perfectly :)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 bananas (preferably hard ones)
• 40-50 g of butter
• 1/4 glass of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinammon
• 1 orange - squeezed, to get 1/4-1/2 glass of the orange juice
• 1/4-1/2 glass of Golden Rum or Whisky

Decoration:

• Ice cream - for example vanilla ones
• Whipped cream
• Any favourite sauce

Preparation:

1. Take bananas, wash, peel, cut - the length and breadth of them.*
2. Take a frying pan, put butter on it and start heating on the lowest heat, so that the butter melts. Add sugar** and cinammon. Stir.
3. Add bananas, boil, to get caramel. Stir from time to time.
4. When the caramel is ready, add orange juice and cover everything with a lid, to let the liquid thicken.
5. Add Golden Rum or Whisky. Stir.
6. Using a lighter or a matchstick, set bananas on fire.
7. Burn for a while. Damp down the fire by using a lid (but it will probably stop burning on its own).
8. Gently take them out from the frying pan and put on a plate.
9. Decorate.
10. Bon Appetit!! :)

*Even if you consider your bananas small and you are unwilling to cut them - I do recommend it, at least into halves, because after preparation, they get very soft and it is hard to take them out from the frying pan.

** If there is still too little butter and what you get is dry sugar - add a little more butter to get a liquid-like substance.

Apple Pancakes

Old recipe, delicious meal. It is a little bit different way to prepare pancakes, especially, if you have too many apples in your basket :) It might be prepared in 2 ways: the dough + apple slices or the dough + grated apples :) both fantastic! and the second version is much better for children :) It might be served with many, many different additionals, which is its another big advantage :)
Recipe comes straight from '(Grand)Mum's kitchen' :) 

Ingredients:

• around 5-8 apples (grated apples/apples slices)
• 500 ml of milk
• around 300 g of flour
• 1-3 tablespoons of sugar
• 16 g of vanilla sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (optional, but with it, they will grow, become more fluffy)

Additional ingredients: (top of the pancakes):

• Whipped cream
• Cinnamon
• Chocolate/caramel/fruit syrup
• Maple syrup
• Powdered sugar
• Golden syrup
• Marmalade
• Honey
• ..... :)

Preparation:

1. Take a big bowl. Put grated apples inside (or its slices). Put aside.
2. Take another big bowl. Put milk, flour, sugars, egg and baking powder inside, stir till smooth.
3. Mix with apples.
4. Take a frying pan, put some oil on it, start heating, on a very low heat.
5. Put some dough with apples on the frying pan (if slices - one slice per one pancake), distribute the dough on the frying pan, as with a classic pancake, fry for few minutes on each side (check the colour from time to time - when gold - overturn).
6. Dry on a paper towel (if you wish to filter the oil), put on a plate, sprinkle/decorate with your favourite additionals.
7. Bon Appetit! :)

Egyptian Cake

I would never suppose that this cake will be THAT delicious! What's more, it's perfect for every occassion :) It's not complicated and I'm sure everybody will manage to do it :) 

The recipe comes from www.mojewypieki.com, though I changed it a little bit. :)

Ingredients:

Cake: (everything from this part, connected with preparing the cake dough is required to be done 3 times, but one after another, not at once. In brackets I put the amount of all the ingredients altogether)

• 2(6) egg whites
• 2(6) tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 (1,5) tablespoon of flour
• 40 g (120g) of grounded hazelnuts (I skipped it)

Custard-butter like filling:

• 10 egg yolks
• 10 tablespoons of sugar
• 5,5 tablespoons of flour
• 32 g (2 packagings) of vanilla sugar
• 340 ml of milk
• 170 g of butter

Whipped cream:

• 340 g of 36% cream
• 200 g + 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons of water
• 120 g of nutmegs, chopped and toasted (I skipped that part)

Optional ingredients:

• almond flakes - to sprinkle the sides of the cake

Preparation:

Cake:

1. Take a springform cake tin, grease it and put baking paper all over its surface.
2. Take a big bowl and a mixer.
3. Put egg whites inside. Start beating them(it will take around 8 minutes). While doing it add sugar. 
4. When the egg whites are stiff enough, add flour and (optionally) hazelnuts and gently stir everything with a spoon.
5. Pour the cake gently to the springform cake tin.
6. Put the cake in the oven and bake for around 10-15 minutes in 170C. (Check using a toothpick if it is ready, the colour needs to be gold but bright)
7. Cool down in the springform cake tin (the cake tier may seem to be too flat, but don't worry, it will be fine at the end).

Now prepare the second and third piece of cake from the recipe above, cool them all down.

Custard-butter filling:

1. Take a clean pot.
2. Put egg yolks, sugar, flour and milk inside, mix till smooth.
3. Boil it on a low heat, stiring till it thickens.
4. Cool down.
5. Take a clean bowl, put butter inside, mix till it becomes fluffy and bright. Slowly add it to previously prepared in a pot custard.

Whipped cream and caramel:

1. Take quite a lot of baking paper and put it on a clean, free space in the kitchen's surface.
2. Take a big, clean bowl and mixer. Beat the cream, to get whipped cream and at the end of beating, add 2 tablespoons of sugar.
3. Take a pot, put 200 g of sugar inside + 2-3 tablespoons of water, start boiling it on a low heat, stiring from time to time, so that it melts. It will start boiling, even burning a little bit(it is good). 
4. When the edges of the sugar get golden brown, quickly take it out from the stove and pour it on a baking paper, distribute, using a spoon, all over the baking paper.
5. When the sugar will get hard, crumble it on a really small pieces (but be careful not to make a powder)
6. Mix whipped cream with caramel and nutmegs.

Entire cake:

1. Take a big cake plate, put the first piece of the cake on it. 
2. Distribute some part of the custard filling on it and then a part of the whipped cream. 
3. Cover it with another piece of cake, distribute custard filling, whipped cream, etc. 
4. The last layer is whipped cream (only the top). 
5. Leave some custard for the sides of the cake. 
6. Sprinkle the sides with almond flakes.
7. Bon Appetit! :)

Béchamel sauce

Sounds sophisticated but well - tasty - yes, difficult - no ;)

Perfectly matches casseroles :)

Recipe, slightly changed by me, comes from the packaging of a good pasta.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine
• 3-4 tablespoons of flour
• 3/4 glass of milk
• salt(or sea salt), pepper

Optional ingredients:

• a pinch or two of grounded nutmeg (worth adding!)

Preparation:

1. Take a small pot. Put butter inside, melt on a low heat. 
2. Add flour and stir till smooth.
3. Slowly start pouring milk, stiring and boiling all the time till the sauce gets thicker.
4. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir.
5. Bon Appetit :)