Chocolate Cake

I do enjoy baking birthday cakes for my friends. I always ask them for their favourite flavours and prepare a perfect cake. And Martha's frosting - oh my, that was the most wonderful chocolate mixture I've ever eaten! Unfortunately, as it was a gift, there is no picture from the inside.

Recipe for a sponge cake comes from my favourite Polish website and the best chocolate frosting comes from my favourite cook, Martha Stewart.

Ingredients:

Cocoa Sponge Cake:

• 7 eggs
• 1 glass of sugar
• 2/3 glass of baking cocoa
• 2/3 glass of flour

Filling:

• 350g of cherry jam
• 500-700g of cherries without kernels
• optionally - 4-5 tablespoons of cherry liqueur, for example from that recipe

Whipped cream:

• 1/4 glass of water
• 2 teaspoons of gelatin
• 750ml of 36% cream
• 1/4 glass of sugar

Top:

• 1 pack of candied cherries
• 1 pack of chocolate decorations
• chocolate frosting

Chocolate frosting:

• 226g of bittersweet chocolate
• 226g of milk chocolate
• 355ml of 36% cream
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 340g of butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces

Preparation:

Sponge cake:

1. Prepare a springform (diameter 24cm) and cover the bottom with baking paper.
2. Take a bowl, sieve cocoa and flour inside.
3. Separate egg yolks from egg whites.
4. Start preheating the oven to 170C.
5. Take a mixer and its bowl, put egg whites inside and beat for 2 minutes on a low rotation, Gradually higher the speed of the mixer and start adding sugar. Beat the egg whites for a few minutes till stiff and shiny. Still, while beating, start adding egg yolks, sepatarely, adding another when the previous one is precisely mixed with egg whites.
6. Turn the mixer off.
7. Sieve cocoa/flour mix slowly to the eggs mixture and using a spatula, slowly, gently stir till all the ingredients mix.
8. Pour the dough into previously prepared sprinform, put in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, to the point of a dry toothpick.
9. After that time, take the sponge cake out from the oven and energetically throw on a kitchen surface ( :) ). Cool down,

Filling:

1. Mix all the ingredients of the filling (also alcohol, if desired). Divide into 2 equal bowls.
2. Using a knife, cut the sides of the sponge cake, open springform, put the sponge cake upside down to take out the baking paper. 
3. Using thread or a big knife, cut the sponge cake lengthwise, into 2 (or if possible 3) equal layers.

Prepare whipped cream:

1. Put 36% cream in the freezer.
2. Boil 1/4 glass of water. Put gelatin inside, stir till gelatin melts. Cool down.
3. Take a mixer and its bowl, put 36% cream inside, start beating. Add sugar and beat till stiff. Mix in the gelatin liquid.
4. Divide into 2 equal bowls.

Layers:

1. Take a cake plate, put first piece of sponge cake on it. Distribute filling from the first bowl with cherries. Cover with one bowl of whipped cream. 
2. Put another layer of cake and repeat steps with filling.
3. Cover with the last piece of sponge cake.
4. If there is any excess of the filling, sticking out on the cake's sides, take it out.

Chocolate frosting:

1. Take a mixer's bowl, chop both the bittersweet and milk chocolates and put inside it. Set aside.
2. Take a pot, put 36% cream and corn syrup inside, bring to boil. Take off the heat and pour the mixture over a bowl with chocolates. Let it stand for 2-3 minutes, so that the chocolate melts. Stir till smooth. Cool down.
3. When cooled down (room temperatured), start beating with a stand mixer and gradually add butter until smooth and silky.
4. Using an offset spatula, distribute the frosting all over the cake, leaving some for decoration.
5. Decorate the cake with a spatula, syringe, etc.
6. Serve immediately, or keep covered with a cake dome in the fridge. Let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving.

Banana Tart

A very tasty, non-baking recipe for banana lovers :) I did enjoy it a lot :) It is quick, easy and very sweet :) Looks delicious and You can write something or make a nice heart, star, etc- shape on the top :)

The recipe comes from this website, though I made some changes, I skipped lemon juice as it gives a strange taste.

Ingredients:

Bottom:

• 350g of chocolate/cocoa cookies/biscuits
• optionally - (if the cookies are cocoa flavoured) - 2 tablespoons of of baking cocoa
• 100g of butter(melted)

Home-made custard:

• 60g of potato starch
• 60g of sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 500ml of milk

Filling&Top:

• 3-4 bananas, cut into slices
• 400g of cold 36% cream
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1,5 tablespoon of gelatin + 1/4 glass of water
• optionally: sauces - caramel, chocolate; baking cocoa - to sprinkle the top, shredded chocolate

Preparation:

Bottom:

1. Prepare a baking pan for a tart, (around 24 cm diameter) - preferably silicone one, as it is much easier to take out the cake from it (unless You own a tart springform).
2. Crush the cookies in a food processor or blender's cube cutter or any other method - crush them very precisely (sand-like). Add melted butter, mix precisely. Check with your hand if the bottom is sticky enough, if not, add a little bit more butter.
3. If necessary - add baking cocoa.
4. Distribute crushed cookies evenly all over the tart pan (bottom + sides) and press a little.
5. Put in the fridge.

Custard:

1. Take a pot, put potato starch, sugar and egg yolks inside and mix. Gradually add milk, mixing all the time. Start heating on a low heat till all the ingredients mix/dissolve precisely and you get a smooth mixture. 
2. Keep heating (bring to boil) and stiring till it thickens (be careful not to burn it, it tends to stick to the bottom of the pot and burn). If there are any lumps - mix with a mixer or blender. Set aside.

Filling&Top:

1. Put the 36%cream in the freezer.
2. Wash and peel bananas, cut into slices.
3. Take the bottom from the fridge and pour the custard evenly all over the bottom. 
4. Distribute bananas evenly on the custard (one or two layers if necessary). Put it back in the fridge.
5. Take a pot, put gelatin and water inside, mix. Heat and stir till it melts and set aside. 
6. Take a mixer and its bowl, start beating the cream with sugar (around 10 minutes). After that time add gelatin and mix precisely.
7. Take the cake from the fridge, distribute whipped cream evenly on the entire top.
8. Decorate in a desired way.
9. Bon Appetit :)

Rafaello vol.2

I had some packs of crackers left and I needed a cake, extremely quickly with short preparation time. So I decided to upgrade the basic recipe and here it comes! It is definitely better than the previous one :)

Ingredients: (for a small rectangular pan, otherwise there's not enough cream, but You can double the ingredients and make double cream, then You'll also need more crackers)

• 1 litre of 3,2% milk
• 2 vanilla powdered custards, 40g each (or double the recipe for this budyń, recipe here ;) )
• 2 tablespoons of potato starch
• 3/4 glass of sugar
• 2-3 vanilla sugars (16g each)
• 1-3 tablespoon of Amaretto Syrup
• 1 egg yolk
• 250g of margarine
• 100g of shredded coconut 
• 2-3(3-5 if bigger pan) packs of crackers (rectangular shape)
• 330 ml of 36% cream  (or artificial, powdered one)
• 1/3 glass of powdered sugar

Optional ingredients:

• almond flakes, for sprinkling the top

Preparation of budyn/custard:

For those of You, who has powdered custard, follow the steps below, if You can't buy powdered budyn/custard then follow all the steps in that recipe, just remember to double all the ingredients.

1. Take a glass, fill 3/4 of it with milk. Add powdered custard and potato starch. Stir till smooth (no clumps please!)
2. Take a pot, put all the remaining milk in there, add sugar, start boiling. Stir from time to time to help the sugar dissolve. Bring to boil and add the mixture from the glass. Lower the heat, stir energetically till it turns thick. Cool down.

Now, when the custard is ready: 

1. Using a stand mixer, mix butter with egg yolk, adding cooled down custard, one tablespoon after another.
2. Add Amaretto syrup, gradually, mixing and tasting after every tablespoon to check how strong the Amaretto taste is for You.
3. Add shredded coconut, mix till it links.
4. Take a rectangular pan - preferably a rectangular springform pan (no baking paper inside is necessary, in both cases).
5. Put one layer of crackers and start adding some part of the cream, to cover the entire crackers layer.
6. Put another layer of crackers and cream - repeat till all the ingredients are used, the last layer are crackers.

Now prepare the whipped cream:

1. Before preparing the whipped cream make sure your cream is really, really cool (I always put it in the freezer before beating, for around 10-15 minutes). 
2. Take a mixer and its bowl, put cream inside, start mixing. After a while add powdered sugar and something to stiffen it (powdered whipped cream/smietan-fix). 
3. Beat for around 10 minutes (depending on the power of a mixer it might take more or less time, keep paying attention not to make butter).
4. Distribute whipped cream all over the top.
5. Cover the cake with foil, put in the frigde for at least 3 hours.
6. Bon Appetit! ;)

Raspberry Charlotte Cake

This perfect cake has only perfect advantages :) perfectly literally! :) It is perfect for a gift, it looks gorgeous, tastes wonderfully, it is extremely easy to make and doesn't require using an oven :)

The recipe, slightly changed, comes from this website.

Notes:

• Prepare this cake at least an evening earlier as it needs to stiffen in the fridge for a good few hours.
• Please note that You need to use 16cm springform cake pan, unless the cake will be destroyed.
• Make sure your springform pan is perfectly clean and do not use baking paper, as it will stick to the raspberry foam, get moist and after all, you'd end up with another cake layer, made of baking paper.

Ingredients:

• 200 g of Savoiardi/ladyfingers (around the cake)
• red, forest fruit (top)

Raspberry mousse (bottom):

• 350g of raspberries (fresh or frozen - if so, defrost)
• lemon juice from 1/2 of lemon
• 1/3 glass of sugar
• 2,5 teaspoon of powdered gelatin
• 200ml of 36% cream, cool

Raspberry cream:

• 250g of mascarpone cheese, cool 
• 150ml of 36% cream, cool
• 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• 1,5 teaspoon of powdered gelatin + 30ml of hot milk
• 150g of raspberries (fresh or frozen - if so, defrost)

Preparation:

Raspberry mousse:

• Take a pot, put raspberries, lemon juice and sugar inside. Bring to boil, stiring from time to time.
• Sieve, to get a mousse without small seeds. 
• Dissolve gelatin in a small amount (a tiny little bit, just to cover the gelatin) of boiling water, stir so that it melts completely. 
• Bring the mousse to boil again and add previously prepared gelatin. Stir precisely. Set aside, it needs to cool down completely.

When cooled down:

1. Prepare a clean springform cake pan and keep it handy.
2. Beat 36% cream for around 5-7 minutes with a mixer (till the whipped cream is stiff). Stop mixing and slowly, spoon after spoon, add cooled down mousse. Stir gently, till it all links.
3. Pour the mousse to the springform. Cover for with foil and put in the fridge to let it stiffen for few hours.

When ready, prepare raspberry cream::

1. Take a small bowl/pot, put 30ml of milk inside, heat till hot. Add 1,5 teaspoon of powdered gelatin and stir till it melts completely. Set aside so that it cools down.
2. Take another bowl suitable for mixing and put mascarpone, 36% cream and powdered sugar inside. Beat till stiff. Add raspberries and cooled down gelatin(melted in milk). Mix till everything links.
3. Put on the top of the cake, distribute equally all over. 
4. Cool down in the fridge for another few hours.

Finishing:

1. When stiff, take out from the fridge. Using a knife, cut the cake around, very close to the sides of the springform, to make taking it out from the springform easier. 
2. Take ladyfingers, stick them around the cake (the mousse is sticky, ladyfingers will stick easily).
3. Take a ribbon, decorate the cake with it, tying it around the cake.
4. Decorate the top of the cake with (preferably) forest fruit.
5. Store in the fridge.
6. Bon Appetit! :)

Cherry Éclairs

Uhh, at first they seem so quick and easy, but the filling and final preparing them was more of a challenge :) However, the final outcome is really wonderful :) I gave a good plate for my brother, but before he reached his house, the plate was already empty ;) 

It would be a sin, not to recommend them ;)
This recipe is a mix of recipes from those two pages.

Ingredients:

Éclairs dough:

• 250 ml of water
• 125g of butter or margarine
• 1 glass of flour
• 4 eggs
• a pinch of salt

Filling:

• 200 ml of milk
• 300g of cherries (fresh or frozen)
• 3 egg yolks
• 20g of flour
• 20g of potato starch
• 90g of sugar
• 1 packaging of vanilla sugar
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Icing:

• 1 glass of powdered sugar
• 4-5 tablespoons of water

Optional icing ingredients:

• flavoured extract - vanilla, almond, lemon, etc.
• food colouring
• or - instead of icing - ganache, chocolate frosting

Optional ingredients - decoration:

• cherry (or any other flavour - different fruit, caramel, chocolate, coffee, nut...) mousse
• whipped cream
• fruit
• nuts
• mincemeat

Preparation - dough:

1. Take a baking tray, grease and put baking paper on it. Put aside.
2. Take a pot, put water, butter and salt inside, boil.
3. When brought to boil, add flour and stir energetically (to prevent the bottom from burning). The dough should be smooth and should not stick to the pot.
4. Put aside, to let it cool down completely.
5. When cooled down, mix the dough with eggs, for a quite long time, till smooth.* 
6. Put the dough inside a syringe or a piping pastry bag with a steel piping nozzle (preferably quite big star shape).
7. Distribute long pieces of cake, leaving some space between them, as they will grow quite much.
8. Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, on 200C. Make sure they're ready inside.
9. When baked, cool down and cut lengthways.

* Longer mixing helps it grow up in the oven later on, as there is no baking powder.

Preparation - filling:

1. If your cherries are frozen - defrost, make sure there are no kernels, pour away the water.
2. If fresh - throw away the kernels.
3. Put the cherries in a bowl. Mix, with a mixer, till smooth, to get a mousse. If there's cherry juice, pour it away, for a different use.
4. Take a pot, pour milk and add cherry mousse inside. Start boiling. When brought to boil, turn off the heat and put aside to let it cool down.
5. Take a mixer and its bowl, beat the eggs with sugar and vanilla sugar. Add flour and potato starch. Using a spatula, mix precisely.
6. Gradually add cherry milk mixture to the mixer's bowl, stiring precisely.
7. Put the mixture back in the pot and start boiling. Stir all the time, as it will thicken, like a custard, quite fast. Be careful not to burn the bottom.
8. When thick and ready, add butter and stir, to let the butter melt. Cover with foil and put aside, to let it cool down. Later on, when cool, keep in the fridge (it will thicken more), till you need it.

Preparation - icing sugar:

1. Put all the ingredients together and stir to get a desired consistency of the icing (needs to be thick). 

Finishing:

1. Prepare a baking grill or another baking tray, cover with baking paper, put aside.
2. Take the top pieces of your Éclairs and dip in previously prepared icing. 
3. Transfer them into steel baking grill or baking tray and leave for a while in the fridge.
4. Put the cherry filling inside a syringe or a piping pastry bag with a steel piping nozzle (preferably quite big star shape) and distribute it on the bottom piece of your Éclair in any way desired. You can add fruit, whipped cream or use only the cherry filling.
5. Cover with the suitable top piece covered with icing.
6. Store in the fridge.
7. Bon Appetit! :)

Tropical Pavlova

I have no idea why I was hesitating for such long time... this is absolutely gorgeous... It exceeded all my expectations :) not only its appearance on the table is wonderful but the taste is just overdelicious! sweet meringue with tropical fruits! this is a real feast for senses ;) I do recommend! :) 

For those afraid of baking a meringue - here is a tip - you can buy a ready-made one in a good bakery ;) And they are probably available in a few sizes - you can make a couple of small pavlovas or one, very big :) all of them will be same delicious :)

Recipe for the meringue comes from this website, the rest is my idea, as Pavlova might be prepared in plenty different ways and will always taste good :)

Note: meringue and lemon curd might be prepared earlier. But - lemon curd must be stored in a closed box, in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Meringue:

• 4 egg whites from 4 big eggs 
• 250g of sugar 
• 1 teaspoon of potato starch 
• 1 teaspoon of white or rice vinegar 

Lemon curd:

• 3 eggs 
• lemon zest and lemon juice from 3 lemons 
• 100g of powdered sugar 
• 100g of cool butter 

Whipped cream:

• 500 ml of 36% cream 
• 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar 
• 1-2 packages of powdered whipped cream (to stiffen the whipped cream, or polish smietan-fix*) 

* remember to stick to the proportions while using powdered products. If powder package says it is enough for 200 ml of cream/milk (no difference), and you're using 500ml of cream - add 2 packages.

Top:

• Tropical fruit (any, tinned or fresh) 
• peach 
• mango 
• passionfruit 
• lychee 
• pineapple 
• guava 
• ... :) 
• a handful of shredded coconut, to sprinkle the top 

Preparation:

Meringue:

1. Preheat the oven to 120C (without convection, just this time) 
2. Prepare a baking sheet, cover with baking paper. Draw a circle (diameter: for M size eggs - 18 cm, for L size eggs - 20 cm). Put aside. 
3. Take a mixer and its bowl, put egg whites inside, start beating. After a while, start adding sugar, one tablespoon after another, stiring precisely all the time. The beating should take 10-15 minutes, not less. The meringue after the beating should be stiff and shiny. 
4. When done, add potato starch and vinegar and beat for another few minutes so that it links. 
5. Using a spoon or spatula, distribute the meringue on the baking sheet, on the drawn circle. Pull up the sides. (please don't play with it much, just few good moves, because the meringue might be destroyed). 
6. Put in the oven and bake for 30 min in 120C. After that time, lower the temperature to 100C and bake for another 3 hours. 

Lemon curd:

Lemon curd requires a 'bath' so it is necessary to have a suitable pot and a bowl, that can be put one on another.

1. Chop the butter into smaller pieces. 
2. Take a pot, put some water inside, start boiling it. 
3. Take a bowl that matches the pot, put eggs inside, beat. 
4. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar and stir till everything links and there are no lumps. 
5. Now put the bowl on the top of your pot (make sure the bowl stands out from the pot so that you don't get burn) and slowly keep heating up the mixture (don't boil it). 
6. Keep adding the butter, one piece after another, stiring after adding. 
7. When all the butter is melted in the mixture, turn off the heat and put the bowl with lemon curd somewhere aside, to let it cool down. 
8. Then put your lemon curd in the fridge so that it stiffens more. 

Finishing:

1. Prepare fruit. If fresh - wash, peel (if necessaroy) and chop. Dry them on a paper towel. Put aside for a while. If tinned - half of the job is already done - just chop and dry. 
2. When the meringue is baked and cooled down, distribute cooled down lemon curd all over the top. 
3. Now, prepare whipped cream going through the steps below:
   
   Whipped cream: 
   1. Before preparing the whipped cream make sure your cream is really, really cool (I always put it in the freezer before beating, for around 10-15 minutes). 
   2. Take a mixer and its bowl, put cream inside, start mixing. After a while add powdered sugar and something to stiffen it (powdered whipped cream/smietan-fix). 
   3. Beat for around 10 minutes (depending on the power of a mixer it might take more or less time, keep paying attention not to make butter).
   
   
4. Distribute whipped cream all over the top. 
5. Just for the sake of safety, dry all the fruit again on a paper towel, before putting them on the meringue with whipped cream (as the juice from fruit may destroy both whipped cream and meringue). Make any pattern you wish out of the fruit. 
6. Sprinkle with shredded coconut. 
7. Store in the fridge. 
8. Bon Appetit! ;) 

Monte Coffee

I really enjoy trying new tastes of coffee out! That's why, for example, I never order in a restaurant a coffee that I can prepare on my own at home ;)
So, today, here is a cute and very sweet idea from MK Cafe website :) It contains a well-known dessert/yoghurt for children, that I think everyone loves - ohh yes - Monte :) 
....The real taste and pleasure begins, obviously, when you stir all the coffee layers together... ;)
Mmmmm, I will come back to this recipe very soon, I'm sure!
Bon Appetit, everyone! ;) especially Monte Lovers ;)

Ingredients (for 1 coffee):

• 1 monte
• 50-100 ml of milk
• 100-200 ml of black coffee
• 50-150ml of milk foam 
• brown sugar (optional)

 For the top:

• whipped cream, chocolate (chips), cinnamon, cocoa, caramel, nuts... :)

Preparation:

1. Take a latte spoon. Using it, take the first, white layer of monte, put it on the left or right bottom side of a latte glass. Do the same with the dark, chocolate part of monte, putting it on the opposite bottom side.
2. Gently patter the latte glass on the surface, so that monte  won't mix that easily with the milk.
3. Prepare your favourite coffee (without adding milk).
4. Add sugar to the coffee if you wish and stir.
5. Hold the glass, tilt it a little and start adding milk, pouring it slowly down through the glass's side.
6. Using the same method as with the milk, slowly add the coffee.
7. Cover with milk foam or whipped cream and additional toppings.
8. Bon Appetit! ;)

(Easter) Peach Muffins

Very nice ones, might serve Easter occasion easily :) I like the taste - sweet, thanks to soft, delicate whipped cream, moist cake with delicious fruit and to make a nice contrast to that sweetness -sour lemon curd. Mmmm!
These might be filled with different ingredients. The original recipe is with advocaat, though for the sake of children and family members who needed to drive a car, I made them with peaches :) The dough is actually weird - it is very thick and sticky, but after baking turns out very nice - soft and moist (that's probably thanks to peaches ;)). I know you might be tempted to make a swiss buttercream for the top, but I'd recommend stiff whipped cream, as buttercream would make them very heavy.

To prepare these cute cupcakes I mixed recipes from here and here and added a little bit of my own creativity ;)

Ingredients:

Muffin dough:

• 120g of butter
• 110g of sugar
• 2 big eggs (or 3 smaller ones)
• 200g of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 3 teaspoons of advocaat (for the dough, not for the filling, but this is optional, I skipped it)

Filling - ideas:

• 1 tin of peaches cut into smaller pieces (and a little bit dried on a paper towel)
• advocaat
• vanilla custard (previously prepared, for example from this recipe)
• lemon curd 
• apricot

Lemon curd:

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• lemon zest and lemon juice from 3 lemons
• 100g of powdered sugar
• 100g of cool butter

Topping:

• 250ml of 36% cream
• 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
• something to stiffen it - either so-called 'smietan-fix' or for example 'fake-powdered-whipped cream' (a powder you mix with milk to get a whipped cream ;) it stiffens the cream as well) or 1 teaspoon of gelatin - though here be careful not to make lumps

Preparation - muffin dough:

1. All the ingredients should be in room temperature.
   During that time you can prepare your muffin tins, greasing them with butter or just simply putting paper muffin cases into every hole. If you decided to use peaches - open the tin, take everything out of it as it isn't healthy to keep food in an open tin, separate the syrup from the fruit. Using a paper towel, dry the fruit and chop into smaller pieces.
2. Sieve the flour with baking powder and put aside.
3. Take a mixer and its bowl. Chop the butter into smaller pieces, add sugar and mix till you get a bright, fluffy mixture.
4. Add eggs, one after another, mixing precisely after adding one.
5. Add flour with baking powder, mix on a low rotation till everything links. 
6. Here you can add advocaat to the dough and mix till it links or you can skip that step.
7. Using a teaspoon, put some dough (+ - 1 teaspoon) to every paper case. Then add the filling and cover with another teaspoon. Don't be afraid while adding the filling - it is really fine to put quite a lot of it (I added 4 peach pieces into every muffin and they seem to get lost in the dough anyway ;))
8. Put the muffins in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, on 180C, till they get gold and the toothpick is dry.
9. Cool down.

Preparation - lemon curd:

Lemon curd requires a 'bath' so it is necessary to have a suitable pot and a bowl, that can be put one on another.

1. Chop the butter into smaller pieces.
2. Take a pot, put some water inside, start boiling it.
3. Take a bowl that matches the pot, put eggs inside, beat.
4. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar and stir till everything links and there are no lumps.
5. Now put the bowl on the top of your pot (make sure the bowl stands out from the pot so that you don't get burn) and slowly keep heating up the mixture (don't boil it). 
6. Keep adding the butter, one piece after another, stiring after adding.
7. When all the butter is melted in the mixture, turn off the heat and put the bowl with lemon curd somewhere aside, to let it cool down.
8. Then put your lemon curd in the fridge so that it stiffens more.

Preparation - topping:

1. Before preparing the whipped cream be sure your cream is really, really cool (I always put it in the freezer before beating, for around 10-15 minutes).
2. Take a mixer and its bowl, put cream inside, start mixing. After a while add powdered sugar and something to stiffen it.
3. Beat for around 10 minutes (depending on the power of a mixer it might take more or less time, keep paying attention not to make butter).

Finishing - cupcakes:

1. When everything is cooled down and ready, using a teaspoon, take some of the whipped cream and start distributing it all over the top of your muffin. In the middle top, make a small hole for lemon curd.
2. When all the whipped cream is distributed, put your muffins in the fridge, so that the cream stiffens a little before adding lemon curd.
3. Then, using a syringe or a teaspoon, put some lemon curd into previously prepared holes in whipped cream. 
4. Keep in the fridge.
5. 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! :)

Gourmet Sensation vol. 2

Here is another version of my Gourmet Sensation. Don't try to call it 'worse' or 'poor'! ;) You will have problems to stop devouring it ;) It is same easy and same tasty :) 

And - it gets better with time :)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 packs of biscuits (butter ones)
• 2 vanilla custards (here is a recipe for home-made custard called 'budyn', you'll probably need to double the ingredients to make it suitable for that cake)
• 2 tins of fudge
• 36% cream: 2 options:

*if powdered:

you will need 2 sachets which need to be combined with milk (the method of preparing it is written on the sachet, you will probably need around 200 ml of milk per sachet)
* if real, fresh, liquid one, to whip it up: 1 packaging(around 330 ml, but it is ok to use more)  + 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar + here I do recommend using some kind of powder that can stiffen the cream (in Poland: śmietan-fix, made mainly of glucose and starch)

• baking cocoa, to sprinkle the top of the cake (or grated chocolate, preferably dark chocolate, because the cake is really sweet itself)

Preparation:

Briefly, tiers:

1. biscuits
2. custard/budyń
3. biscuits
4. fudge
5. biscuits
6. whipped cream
7. chocolate/cocoa

Preparation:

* every tier will cover the entire surface of the tin.

1. Take a rectangular springform cake tin.
2. Put one tier of biscuits on the bottom of your cake tin.
3. Prepare the custard and pour it on biscuits (don't wait till it cools down).
4. Take a pot, pour some water inside, start heating.
5. Open tins with fudge, put them in the pot. Boil on a low heat (keep looking at it, but nothing bad should happen). Stir from time to time.
6. Put another tier of biscuits - no need to wait till the custard is cold.
7. Stir the fudge slowly, check if it isn't burning anyhow (though it shouldn't).
8. If the water with tins already boils, stir the fudge and turn off the heat. Using for instance a tea towel, take the first tin and a spoon, and pour the fudge on the biscuits. Distribute all over the biscuits. Take another tin and reapeat the action.
9. Put another tier of biscuits.
10. Put everything in a cold place or in a fridge, so that it cools down completely.
11. Prepare whipped cream.
12. When the cake is cooled down, distribute whipped cream all over the top.
13. Shortly before serving, sprinkle the top with chocolate/cocoa.
14. Keep in a fridge.
15. 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! :)