Citrus Snowballs

Here is another sweet recipe for cold, winter evenings at home. These snowballs are surprisingly tasty, sweet, orange, crunchy cookies which will be a good match for hot tea/cocoa, blanket aaand book or dreams ;)
Also, if you're running out of time, they're very easy and quick to make which gives them another big +. 
Sprinkled with powdered sugar or glucose, look like a snowball on a table :) And children will love them! Just make sure they're not using them as snowballs ;)

There original recipe is here, though I've made quite a lot of changes, such as replacing butter with margarine which I tend to do very often recently.

Ingredients:

• 250g of margarine
• 100g of powdered sugar (+ more to sprinkle the cookies)
• 1 teaspoon of orange extract
• 100g of chopped walnuts
• 100g of candied orange skin
• 375g of flour

Preparation:

1. Prepare a baking tray and put baking paper all over it.
2. Start preheating the oven to 180C.
3. Take a mixer and its bowl. Put margarine and powdered sugar inside and beat till bright and fluffy (around 10 minutes).
4. Add orange extract, walnuts, candied orange skin and mix till well combined.
5. Add flour and mix (or knead) again till well combined.
6. Start making balls (around 2 teaspoons of dough for 1 ball) and place on previously prepared baking tray (they might be placed close to each other as they won't grow).
7. If the oven is ready, bake for 10-15 minutes till golden brown.
8. Cool down on a wire rack.
9. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
10. Bon Appetit!

Winter Snowballs

Winter is coming, snow is slowly falling down from the sky and what's more important Christmas is coming as well, so here is another sweet recipe for cold winter evenings at home. These are surprisingly tasty, sweet, cinnamon crunchy cookies which will be a good match for hot tea, cocoa and blanket ;) Another huge advantage - if you're running out of time, these are very easy cookies and quick to make. Sprinkled with powdered sugar or glucose, look like a snowball on a table :)

There original recipe is here, though I've made quite a lot of changes, such as replacing butter with margarine which I tend to do very often recently.

Ingredients:

• 250g of margarine
• 100g of powdered sugar (+ more to sprinkle the cookies)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1,5 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 100g of chopped walnuts
• 100g of candied orange skin
• 375g of flour

Preparation:

1. Prepare a baking tray and put baking paper all over it.
2. Start preheating the oven to 180C.
3. Take a mixer and its bowl. Put margarine and powdered sugar inside and beat till bright and fluffy (around 10 minutes).
4. Add vanilla extract, walnuts, cinnamon, candied orange skin and mix till well combined.
5. Add flour and mix (or knead) again till well combined.
6. Start making balls (around 2 teaspoons of dough for 1 ball) and place on previously prepared baking tray (they might be placed close to each other as they won't grow).
7. If the oven is ready, bake for 10-15 minutes till golden brown.
8. Cool down on a wire rack.
9. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
10. Bon Appetit!

Tropical Apple Pie

The second I saw this recipe I knew - this is going to be the best apple pie in the Universe. So I made it, twice bigger than the original recipe says ;) And I was perfectly right :) I had quite a lot of it, all the guests were smitten with it, I gave some 'takeaway' portions and I was receiving calls and txt messages with compliments and asks for the recipe for the entire afternoon ;)

So, here, again, bravo for KS for another wonderful recipe!

I changed the original recipe, I've added more margarine, thanks to this change it has absolutely different taste and is way better, believe me!

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 6 glasses of flour
• 12 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 2 pinches of salt
• 345g of butter
• 235g of margarine
• optionally - if the dough isn't sticky enough - add a little water

Filling:

• 1800g of apples (cut into a little bit thicker slices)
• 900g of pineapple (fresh or tinned, cut into small pieces) 
• 1/2 glass of brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 1 vanilla sugar
• 2 packagings (40g each) of vanilla powdered budyń (or 1/2 glass of potato starch)
• a handful of almond flakes or shredded coconut

Optionally:

• filling: a handful of raisins (of course if You like raisins, add as much as You like, though not more than 1 glass)
• top: 1 beaten egg to spread on the top, before baking
• top: powdered sugar, to sprinkle the top of the cake, after baking

Preparation:

Dough:

1. Take a big bowl, sieve flour and powdered sugar inside, add salt as well as butter and margarine cut into small pieces. Knead or mix till everything links (especially butter and margarine). If the dough isn't sticky enough and You can't form a ball, add a little water.
2. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, cover with foil and put in the fridge for an hour.
3. During that time, prepare a suitable baking pan (around 30x40 cm) - grease it and cover with baking paper. Also, during that time, prepare the filling.

Filling:

1. Wash, peel, cut the apples (cut out the kernels and throw away) and put in a big pot or bowl. 
2. Do the same with the pineapple and mix with apples.
3. Optionally, add raisins to the same pot/bowl and mix.
4. Add sugar, cinnamon, vanilla sugar and budyń/potato starch and mix precisely.

Baking:

1. Start preheating the oven to 190C.
2. Take the first part of the dough, distribute all over the bottom of the baking pan and its sides.
3. Add mixed filling.
4. Sprinkle with almond flakes or shredded coconut.
5. Take the second part of the dough from the fridge and - either make a crumble or roll out the pastry thinly and cover the cake or roll out the dough thinly, cut into stripes and make a chequered pattern.
6. Optionally - beat 1 egg and distribute all over the top.
7. If the oven is ready, put the cake inside and bake for 70 minutes till golden brown.
8. If the top or bottom is getting too dark and isn't ready - cover the top with a piece of foil and the bottom, for example with baking tray.
9. Take out from the oven and serve for instance with powdered sugar on the top or with some vanilla ice cream.
10. Bon Appetit! :)

Strawberry Yoghurt Cake

I was looking for a nice strawberry cake recipe. But not the strawberry cake I’ve already made, ahh, I craved for something new, as I’m addicted to trying new recipes. And I found this strawberry yoghurt cake. One word: Wow! That’s the quickest and the one of the cheapest cake I’ve ever made! And I needed to bake 2 pans, one after another, day after day, cause it disappeared so quickly! I’m utterly shocked! And how many variations this one particular cake has, that’s unbelievable! Delicate, spongy, sweet, perfect for a morning coffee and for a nice lunch at work ;-) What’s more, that’s one of the ‘light’ cakes, so we can feel excused for eating half of the baking pan ;) (giggle) 

I do recommend!

The only thing that I found particularly difficult to explain to You is a polish dessert - powdered, quick, jelly-like, fruit-flavoured 'kisiel'. I can't find an equivalent for it in English. I do encourage You to look up for it. Wikipedia defines it as 'kissel' and explains a little bit what it is. If You are unable to buy it, You can easily use jam ;)
I made quite a lot of changes, though still - big thanks for KwestiaSmaku for the recipe!

Ingredients:

1 glass = 250ml

• 2 big eggs
• 1 glass of greek yoghurt
• 2 glasses of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 500g of strawberries
• ¾ -1 glass of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar
• 25g of melted butter (or 25g of oil)
• 1 powdered strawberry kissel
• 2-3 tablespoons of strawberry jam

Optional ingredients:

• Powdered sugar
• X g of any other berries ;) (I had one bowl of currants from my garden, so I used them J)
• Icing sugar

Preparation:

1. Bring eggs and yoghurt to room temperature.
2. Prepare 3 bowls. Mix flour with baking powder very precisely and sieve to the 1^st bowl. Put aside.
3. Wash your fruit. Take 500g of strawberries, cut out the leaves, divide into halves (250g each), put in remaining 2 bowls. Cut the strawberries into halves (if the strawberry is really big – 3 pieces)
4. Take a mixer’s bowl. Put sugar and vanilla sugar inside.
5. Melt the butter in a small pot.
6. Take a rectangular baking pan (preferably 20x30 cm, might be a little bit bigger), grease it precisely with soft butter. Put aside.
7. Start preheating the oven to 165C.
8. Prepare the kissel as the recipe on the packaging says. Mix with jam. Mix 1/3 of this kissel-jam mixture with one strawberry bowl. Put aside.
9. Add eggs to the mixer’s bowl with sugars.
10. Using a mixer, start beating for 7 minutes. After that time, put the mixer aside, add yoghurt, melted butter, sieved flour with baking powder and slowly, precisely, for a short time, stir, using a big spoon or spatula, only till all the ingredients link, not longer.
11. Put the dough in previously prepared greased baking pan, distribute the dough all over the pan.
12. Take a bowl with kissel strawberries. Here – preferably – don’t use much of the kissel as it may destroy the cake, it is perfectly enough if there is some kissel on the strawberry. Put the strawberries all over the cake, leaving some space between them (chequered pattern works and looks perfectly).
13. When done, put it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Observe your cake, it might take less or more time for Your cake to be ready, as every oven works differently – You are probably the person who knows it best.
14. After those 20 minutes, if the top is gold, use a toothpick to check, if it is ready inside. If not – cover the top with foil and bake for another 10 minutes or so.*
15. Cool down, take out from the pan. Take the second bowl with strawberries and kissel, fill the holes in the cake - firstly with some kissel, then with a strawberry.
16. Sprinkle the cake with (for instance) remaining fruit (or any other additional fruit if You have prepared them), powdered sugar, icing sugar or add remaining kissel all over the cake.
17. Bon Appetit! ;)

*the cake should be much bigger, its sides should stick out from the pan, the top should be gold and a toothpick clean (if there is any cake glued to a toothpick, it is not ready yet)

Puff pastry cookies with strawberries and Nutella

Are unexpected guests coming soon? Don't you have a clue what to put on the table? Are you organizing a party where sophisticated cakes aren't a suitable match? This is an easy, quick, and overtasty solution :) I do strongly recommend :) They're outrageous!

The recipe comes from this website, as usually, I changed a tiny little bit :)

Ingredients:

• 1 packing of good quality ready made puff pastry
• 1/2 jar of Nutella (or something very similar in taste to Nutella)
• 100 g of strawberries
• powdered sugar

Optional ingredients:

• chopped pistachios (to sprinkle the top)

Preparation:

1. If your puff pastry is totally frozen - defrost it. It needs to be in a room temperature (so that it won't shrink during baking).
2. Take your puff pastry and using a shape cutter (in every shape you want, it doesn't need to be a heart shape) make as many shapes as you can from your puff pastry. Roll the leftovers of the puffpastry and use it as well. If the puff pastry is too sticky - use some flour (sprinkle it on the puff pastry and rolling pin)
3. Put the cutouts on a baking sheet (remember to put the baking paper on your baking sheet)
4. Put in the middle of every cutout 1 teaspoon of Nutella
5. Take the strawberries and - optionally - cut them into halves.
6. Put the strawberries on Nutella.
7. Bake in 200 C for 15-17 minutes (may be ready faster - keep an eye on them - if the colour is gold - it is ready). Cool down.
8. Add some powdered sugar on the top.
9. Bon Appetit ! :)

Pumpkin muffins

During such cruelly cold weather there is nothing better than a comfortable chair, mug with steaming tea(or cocoa ;) ) and.... something sweet and tasty, for the pleasure... like these muffins ;) These are one of my naphew's favourites :) Not really difficult to prepare, aaand the feeling of guilt because of eating something sweet, especially in the evening is smaller, because it's made of pumpkins... and pumpkins are healthy, aren't they? ;)

Also, with no regret or sadness that the pumpkin season is over - you can easily use tinned pumpkin :)
The recipe comes from this website.

Ingredients:

• 50g of butter
• 1/3 glass of brown sugar
• 1/3 glass if white sugar
• 1,5 glass of flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon if nutmeg
• A pinch if salt
• 1/4 glass if oil
• 2 eggs
• 200g of tinned pumpkin pieces
• 1 jar of plum jam

Top(optional):

• plum jam
• powdered sugar
• whipped cream
• caramel

Preparation:

1. Take the tinned pumpkin. Drain it off and smash, using for example a blender.
2. Take a mixer's bowl. Put chopped butter, brown and white sugar inside. Put aside.
3. Take a bowl, put flour, baking powder and baking soda inside. Add cinnamonn, nutmeg and salt. Mix precisely.
4. Mix butter and sugars for around 2-3 minutes. After that time, gradually start adding oil, mixing all the time. 
5. Continue mixing, add one egg, when it links, add another. 
6. Add pumpkin puree, mix till smooth.
7. Add bowl with flour and spices, mix till everything links.
8. Put in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
9. At the end of that 1 hour's time, start preheating the oven to 180C.
10. Take a muffin tin, grease it or put paper muffin cases inside.
11. Put some of the dough inside every paper case (preferably not more than 3/4 of the paper case).
12. Put in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, till muffins grow and turn gold.
13. Cool down... or not, but be careful not to burn yourself ;)
14. Bon Appetit! :)

Orange-Chocolate Cheesecake

I was pretty unsure about this Cheesecake as I was doing it completely on my own and I was afraid of many, many things. But... I served it and all the guests were stunned! Asking where did I buy it. And they were even more shocked when I told them that I did it on my own :) And everyone, literally, everyone asked for the recipe! That's the best award I could have got for that cheesecake :) So now I'm sharing the secret for a perfect Christmas Cheesecake with You :) 
Some details: This cheesecake has a consistency of a mousse, so it melts on a palate, it's quite refreshing, because of oranges and what is its biggest advantage - it's easy and quick to prepare, because without turning on the oven ;) Enjoy! :)

Bottom of the cake:

• 200g of chocolate shortbread-like biscuits
• 80-100g of melted butter

Cheesecake: (all the ingredients must be in a room temperature except for water)

• 500g of cheesecake cheese (might be vanilla flavoured)
• 250g of mascarpone cheese
• 250ml of 36% cream
• 100-140g of powdered sugar* 
• 1/2-1 teaspoon of orange extract
• 100g of orange skin
• 40g of powdered gelatin
• 140 ml of boiling water

Decoration:

• Orange slices
• Icing sugar
• Star anise

*About the powdered sugar: here are two nice propositions. First one, is to add a lot of powdered sugar to the cheesecake - around this 140g. If so, the cheesecake mousse is really sweet. But, it is also a good idea, to add only around 90-100g of powdered sugar and after the cake is done, to distribute Royal Icing(recipe is here) on the top of the cake.

Preparation:

Bottom:

1. Take a springform cake tin. 
2. Put baking paper on the bottom of the tin.
3. Take the cookies and crumble them on a very small, sand-like pieces.
4. Mix precisely with butter. It needs to have a consistency of a wet sand.
5. Put in a tin, align, make smooth, knead.
6. Put in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Cheesecake:

1. In a glass, mix gelatin with hot water and stir till gelatin melts completely. Put aside so that it cools down.
2. Take a mixer and its bowl. Put cheesecake cheese inside, add mascarpone, cream and mix till completely smooth.
3. Add powdered sugar and orange extract and mix till smooth again (it is advisable to taste the cheesecake to check if it is sweet enough).
4. Take a spoon. Take around 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture and mix with gelatin. Stir precisely, it needs to link.
5. Put the gelatin-cheesecake mixture back in a mixer's bowl. Mix precisely.
6. Add orange skin and mix again.
7. Pour on the bottom. Put in the fridge till it stiffens.
8. If desired - add icing and decorate for example with oranges, anise.
9. Keep in the fridge.
10. Bon Appetit! :)

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! :)

Italian Torta Margherita

Very easy and tasty cake. Last minute idea, when you have a craving for a cake ;)The only thing I needed to buy to prepare it was a greek yoghurt ;) So the cost of preparing it is automatically low too :) Recipe comes from all over the Internet, containing some Italian websites (for example: ricette.giallozafferano.it , emikodavies.com) :)

Ingredients:

• 300 g of greek yoghurt
• 300 g of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150 g of oil
• 600 g of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 16 g of vanilla sugar
• 200-500 g of fruit - plums, apples, nectarine, pear (preffered harder ones, not very juicy)
• some butter
• powdered sugar or icing sugar

Optional ingredients:

• 2-3 teaspoons zest of a lemon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Wash, peel and chop the fruit into wedges.
2. Start heating the oven to 200C.
3. Take a big bowl.
4. Put yoghurt and sugar inside, add eggs and stir. Add oil and stir again.
5. Add flour, baking powder and optional ingredients (if desired). Stir everything.
6. Add fruit and stir again.
7. Take a springform cake tin (though I used fluted cake ring) grease it thoroughly.
8. Put the dough in a tin and bake for 30-40 minutes in 200C.*
9. Check, by using a toothpick if the cake is ready (put the toothpick as deep as possible, to get sure).
10. Take it out from the oven, cool down, then overturn the cake and by tapping, take it out from the form.
11. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or icing sugar.
12. Bon Appetit! :)

* The top of the cake may start getting burnt very fast because the oven is already preheated. To prevent your cake, when you notice it starts burning, put a piece of foil on the entire top of the cake. 

Plum cake with crème pâtissière

 Ouuutstanding. The best plum cake I've ever made, plus - I am not a plum-fan. But this one is absolutely gorgeous. Pictures - not the best I've ever taken, because we couldn't have resisted and started eating the cake right after having taken it out from the oven :) I guess you'll do the same :)

Slightly changed, the recipe comes from http://www.kwestiasmaku.com/zielony_srodek/sliwki/ciasto_kruche_ze_sliwkami_kremem/przepis.html

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of plums
• powdered sugar (to sprinkle the top of the cake)

Bottom of the cake:

• 150 g flour
• 150 g potato starch
• 50 g of sugar
• 150 g of cold butter
• 1 egg

Crème pâtissière from that recipe:

• 500 ml of milk
• 4 tablespoons of vanilla sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 100 g sugar or powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons of potato starch

Crumble for the top

• 100 g of flour
• 50 g of potato starch
• 100 g of shredded coconut
• 50 g of sugar
• 125 g of cold butter

Preparation:
Bottom:

1. Take a big bowl. Put both flours inside, add sugar and chopped butter. Make a dough, add egg and link (everything might be done by using hands). Form a ball. Put in the freezer for 1 hour.

Crème from that recipe:

1. Take a mixer and its bowl. Put egg yolks inside with sugar and beat to obtain a bright fluffy foam (it will take around 5-8 minutes of beating). Add flour and starch and mix only till all the ingredients link.
2. Take a pot, put milk and vanilla sugar inside, heat till it reaches 100C, stiring from time to time. Turn the heat off.
3. Slowly, step by step, add the mixture from the pot to the mixer's bowl, mixing it at the same time. Mix till smooth.
4. Put the mixture in the pot and heat again - stiring all the time, cause it will start getting thicker and thicker, like a custard.
5. When the creme is ready (thick), turn the heat off. Put the creme in a clean bowl. Sprinkle the top with confectioners' sugar or with grounded cold butter(the butter needs to be frozen)

1. Take the dough out of the freezer.
2. Take a rectangular pan and put the dough inside, roll it out, so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan. 
3. Using a fork, make holes in the dough all over the pan. Put the pan in a fridge for 30 minutes.

1. Start preheating the oven to 160C.

Crumble:

1. Take a big bowl, put both flours inside, add shredded coconut, sugar and chopped butter. Using hands, make a crumble. Put it in the fridge.

1. If the oven is already heated to 160C put the pan with the bottom of the cake inside the oven and bake for 25 minutes till the cake's colour is gold.
2. Take it out from the oven and cool down.
3. Wash plums, cut into wedges, throw away the kernels.
4. If the bottom of the cake is already cold, put the crème all over the bottom, then put plums all over the cake and sprinkle the entire cake with the crumble.
5. Put the cake in the oven, increase the temperature to 180C and bake for 35 minutes till the cake's colour is gold.
6. Cool down, sprinkle the cake all over with powdered sugar.
7. Bon Appetit! :)

'Everyberry' crumble cake with custard foam

Why everyberry? Because it is possible to add many different fruit - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries... or event currants :) It is possible to make it from one kind of fruits or to mix some of them. It is absolutely a wonderful cake. During this year's summer holidays I made it a couple of times! I do recommend preparing it with double foam (I will write below how to bake it, because it differs from the basic version).
A must-do!

Recipe from: http://www.mojewypieki.com/przepis/kruche-ciasto-z-malinami-i-lekka-budyniowa-pianka

Ingredients for the dough:

• 2,5 glasses of flour
• 250 g of cold butter or margarine 
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 5 egg yolks (do not throw away the whites, they are necessary to make the foam! Put them aside.)

Ingredients for the foam:*

• 5 egg whites
• 1 glass of sugar
• 1 packaging of vanilla sugar (16g)
• 2 packagings (40 g each) of powdered vanilla/cream custard (budyń, budyń again!) 
• 1/2 glass of oil

* I do recommend making double foam - if so, just double every ingredient - 10 egg whites (but the bottom of the cake, the dough, takes only 5 yolks, it doesn't change!) 2 glasses of sugar, etc. Then, we bake the bottom as the basic recipe says, but the second baking will take around 30-40 minutes in 170-180C.

Additional ingredients - the top:

• 500-600 g of fruit (for example 200 g of raspberries, 200 g of blueberries, 200 g of currants)
• powdered sugar, to sprinkle the top

Preparation:

1. Take a big bowl. Put the flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and egg yolks inside. Chop the butter and add it to that bowl as well. Knead it quickly. Divide the dough into 2 spheres - one 60% of the dough and another 40%. Twist every piece around a cling film and put inside the freezer for an hour or 2. (It is possible to prepare the dough one day earlier).
2. Take a rectangular pan. Grease it and put baking paper all over the pan. 
3. Take the bigger sphere from the freezer and grate it on the entire bottom of the pan(the smaller one remains in the freezer). Bake it in 190C for around 20minutes (till it gets a light-gold colour). Cool down.
4. While the cake is cooling down, wash all the fruit and put them on paper towels, to let them dry.
5. When the bottom of the cake is cooled down, start preparing the foam.
6. Take a big bowl, put egg whites inside. Beat till stiff (around 7-9 minutes). One tablespoon after another, add sugar and vanilla sugar, still mixing. Without stopping the mixer, add powdered custard and slowly, the oil.
7. Put the foam on a cooled down bottom of the cake. 
8. Put all the fruit on the foam.
9. Take the second sphere and grate it on the top of the cake.
10. Bake in 190C for 30-40 minutes.
11. Cool down, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
12. Bon, bon Appetit! :)

Carrot Cake

The best carrot cake I've ever eaten. Even my family was surprised when they tried it. A definite must-do!

The recipe comes from my friend (greets!). She's got it that recipe from her friend who is a landlady, owning a hostel in Polish mountains(https://www.facebook.com/SchroniskoJaworzec), pampering her guests with that cake ;) 

Ingredients:

• 4 big eggs
• 1,5 glasses of sugar
• 2 glasses of flour
• 3/4 glass of oil
• 1 good teaspoon of gingerbread spice
• 1 good teaspoon of cinnamon spice
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2-3 glasses of grated carrot

Optional ingredients - decoration:

• powdered sugar
• icing sugar (for example from that recipe, but lemon here, with carrot cake, is optional)
• chocolate glaze

Preparation: 

1. Take a mixer and its bowl. Put eggs inside the bowl and mix to get a fluffy, bright foam.
2. Without stopping the mixer, add sugar, flour, oil, gingerbread spice and cinnamon as well as baking powder and soda. Mix till all the ingredients link.
3. Add carrot, stir.
4. Start preheating the oven to 130C.
5. Take (preferably) a rectangular pan, grease it and put the baking paper inside.
6. Pour the dough to the pan.
7. Put the cake inside the oven, increase the temperature to 170C and bake for 35-45 minutes to the dry toothpick.
8. When finished, leave the cake in turned off, opened oven for a while.
9. Decorate the cake.
10. Bon Appetit! :)

Smiling Strawberry Muffins

Well, that was a pretty risky move, baking these muffins. I was afraid that this would be a complete disaster. But, to my surprise, they are very tasty and soft :) Useful, cause they can be prepared with many different fruit. And, accidentally, some of them smiled to me ;) 

As usual, slightly changed, recipe comes from: http://www.mojewypieki.com/przepis/delikatne-babeczki-migdalowe-z-truskawkami

Ingredients:

All the ingredients have to be in a room temperature.

• 150 g of butter, melted and cooled down
• 6 egg whites
• 1 glass of powdered sugar
• 1 glass + 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 
• fruit

Optional ingredients:

• powdered sugar, to sprinkle the top

Preparation:

1. Put the whites in a mixer's bowl, beat for 3-5 minutes to get soft (not stiff!) foam.
2. Take powdered sugar and flour, mix it. Then, slowly, one tablespoon after another, mix it with egg whites, stiring gently. Add butter (remember that it needs to be cold), vanilla extract and mix till it links.
3. Take muffin tins (either silicone or metal ones - but if metal - paper muffin cases are necessary*) and put the dough inside every tin. Then, put some pieces of fruit inside** (3-6 pieces, depending on the size of the fruit and the size of the tin)
4. Bake in 170C for 20-25 minutes (to the dry toothpick)
5. Cool down, optionally sprinkle with powdered sugar.
6. Bon appetit! :)

* It is also possible to grease the tin with butter and sprinkle with flour.
** It is perfectly okay to put a lot of fruit in them - the dough will manage to cover them anyway.

smile ;)

Custard Pancakes

I bought a new book with plenty of recipes for pancakes :) This is one of the ideas, slightly changed.

And this is the book: 'Biblioteczka Poradnika Domowego. Naleśniki, placki, omlety' (wyd. spec. 03/2013), wyd. Prószyński i S-ka.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 glass of water
• 1 glass of milk
• pinch of salt
• 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar
• 2 glasses of flour
• 1/2-1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 packaging of powdered vanilla 'budyń' (=custard)
• oil

Accompaniments:

• whipped cream, chocolate, powdered sugar, caramel, fruit, marmalade, etc.*

* I used cranberry jam(=jelly) and pear 'sauce'(chopped pear boiled with sugar and cinnamon)

Preparation:

1. Take a pot, put eggs, water, milk, salt, powdered sugar and vanilla sugar, flour, custard, stir till all the ingredients mix and till the dough is smooth (without lumps). 
2. Take a frying pan, put oil on it, preheat.
3. Put some dough on the frying pan, distribute on the entire surface. Fry both sides for 2-4 minutes on a low(to middle) heat.
4. Add favourite accompaniments.
5. Bon Appetit! :)