Category: Tartas

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Apple pie

My mother recently found this recipe that a friend had written for me a few years ago. So nice to see her recipe again! at the time I thought it would be a good Christmas recipe, here goes just as she taught  me:

Ingredients:

For the dough:

250 gr of flour

150 gr of butter

125 gr of sugar

1 beaten egg

lemon zest

pinch of salt

For the filling:

500 gr of reinetas apples

50 gr of sugar

1 envelope of custard

ground cinnamon

raisins

Instructions:

In a bowl put the flour, the butter, sugar, salt, grated lemon and half of the egg together. With two knives cut the butter into small pieces, then knead with your fingers until you get a good dough.

Grease the mold (20 cm) and line it with 2/3 of the dough, put it in the fridge for 30 minutes, like the rest of the dough.

Peel and cut the apples into thin slices, sprinkle with the sugar, cinnamon, the envelope of custard and mix everything well, also add the raisins.

Pour the filling into the mold and distribute well until it covers the entire surface, with the rest of the dough make the decoration. You can make strips in the form of grid, like the classic apple pie, in this case, to give a more festive touch I have chosen to shape the dough with cookie cutters and place it beautifully on top.

To finish, paint with the leftover egg. Take to the oven at 180ºC for about 45 minutes. Served with vanilla ice cream takes it to another level.

Bon Appetite!

Happy Holidays!

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My aunt´s cake

There are cakes, and special cakes, and for me this is one of the lattest. Since I was little I was always hoping to get a big piece. My aunt would always prepare it for the day of the big celebrations in the village and I didn´t mind the amounts of nice food that passed before my eyes, my only goal was to get to dessert time and have a big piece, then I would be satisfied.

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A couple of months ago I asked her the recipe and finally, last week while I was visiting my homeland, I could make this recipe. Just a bite brings me back directly to my childhood hhhmmm.

Here I show you my aunt´s recipe. It´s easy and no oven needed. Just a piece is enough like a snack. Is soft and spongy since the cookies absorb all the cream after leaving it in the fridge for a couple of hours or during the whole night. Are you in?

Ingredients:

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6 eggs

half a kilo of sugar

250 gr of soft butter (at room temperature)

1 box of round biscuits

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First we prepare the filling: separate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites until they form peaks. Mix the butter and the sugar until they get creamy, add the egg yolks one at a time and keep stirring. Slowly add the egg whites and mix carefully until a soft cream.

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Now place the biscuits on a platter or in a mold, one layer after another soaking them in the cream. If you use too many biscuits you will get a dry cake, so be generous when you add the filling.

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Now put the cake in the fridge and let it rest for a couple of hours or during the whole night; also you can put a weight on top of the mold so the biscuits absorb the filling better.

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Next day it´s time to decorate, I made meringue and used some strawberries to put on top.

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This is a delight…enjoy!

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Chocolate cake for New Year´s Eve

Hi everyone!

I would like to continue with the ‘Christmas time dessert´s series’. A good chocolate cake, simple, elegant and perfect to finish the New Year´s Eve dinner and start de New Year´s celebration.

Hmmm…hmmm… hmmm! careful! you will want more than one piece!! 😉

Let´s start!
Ingredients for the cake:

175 g of butter (room temp.)
175 g of sugar
175 g of flour
3 tablespoons of liquid caramel
40 g of ground almonds
2 teaspoons and half of baking powder
40 g of cocoa
1 pinch of salt



Ingredients for the filling:

225 g pure chocolate
225 g of butter
55 g of brown sugar
5 tablespoons of condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
 
1º) First we mix all the ingredients for the filling in a pan; low heat until everything is well melted.

Then, pour the mixture into another bowl and let cool down, cover and place in the refrigerator during 1 hour.

2º) Preheat the oven at 180 ºC and cover the mold with baking paper.
3º) For the cake mixture, first we mix the butter and sugar, once they are well integrated, gradually add the beaten eggs, then the liquid caramel and the ground almonds.
4º) In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa and pinch of salt and add to the previous mixture.
5º) Put the mixture into the mold and leave in the oven at 180º C for about 35 minutes. Then, take the cake out from the oven and let cool down for 5 minutes. Then, remove the mold and let cool down completely.

In this case I´ve made two cakes, you can divide the dough in two or make another separate cake with same ingredients and measures, so the cake will be taller (that is what I wanted).

6º) Finally we fill the cake with the chocolate (which you will cut thorugh the middle if you have made just one cake. If you have made two cakes, put one on top of the other after filled).
We also use the filling to cover the rest of the cake.

For the decoration, I used almond cubes, I think it looks pretty elegant, just ready to enjoy during New Years´s Eve.
We need something to drink with the cake!! I made mulled wine or Gluhwein, a traditional drink from Germany and northern countries of Europe, especially around Christmas.

Mulled wine it´s a nice option to drink while enjoying the cake
That´s it! I think it is a simple recipe and you can also use your imagination when you are decorating it.
I hope you try it at home; and really really hope you have a veeery nice week ahead and enjoy every day 🙂
Cheers!
Bea.











		

		
		

		






			

		
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Frangipane Cake
		

				

		


Hi everyone!

Less than two weeks until Christmas… I´m sure many of you have already thought about the dinner menu; but in case you are wondering about what dessert to make, here´s an idea for a simple cake, perfect to start the Christmas celebrations: frangipane cake. This cake is filled with almond cream, which is commonly used in Belgium, especially this time of year.






















Here is the recipe step by step: 



Ingredients for the base dough:

150 g flour

85 g butter (room temp.)

35 g icing sugar

2 tablespoons of milk

1 egg yolk














Ingredients for frangipane cream:

150 g sugar

180 g butter (room temp.)

200 g ground almonds

4 eggs

1 teaspoon of almond essence

150 gr strawberry jam

Sliced almonds for decoration














Preparation base dough:



1º) Sift the flour into a bowl, then, with the help of your fingers, knead the butter into the flour until you get a crumbly dough. After that you can add the icing sugar, egg yolk and the milk.

2º) Knead the dough with your hands (you can add more milk if it´s too dry) and make a ball, wrap the dough in film paper and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.






3º) Preheat the oven at 180º C. Stretch the dough on the working table and then place in the greased mold.

Before placing it in the oven make holes in the dough with a fork, then, place a baking paper on top of the mold and fill it with dry chickpeas or small balls, so the dough does not rise.

Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes.






Preparation frangipane cream:



1º) Preheat the oven at 170ºC.

2º) In a food processor we put the sugar, butter, flour, ground almonds, eggs and almond essence together; mix until you get a smooth cream.

3º) First extend a thin layer of strawberry jam on the bottom of the cake. On top of the jam extend the almond paste and cover the entire surface of the cake (smoothen the surface with a spoon).














4º) Place the cake in the oven for about 30 minutes. After that let it cool down and decorate with icing sugar and almonds. I also used some pasta from the base dough to bake some cookies with star shape and use it as decoration.














Delicious! Perfect to give the sweet touch to a good family dinner. I hope you enjoy it! 😉

Have a great weekend, 



Bea.








 

		

		
		

		






			

		
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Cheesecake
		

				

		


Hi all!


I was looking for a nice recipe, a simple cake for a birthday celebration (and that I didn´t have to turn the oven on :))


I´ve always liked the cheescakes and finally I found one nice recipe that I thought it was easy, fresh and….delicious!!










This recipe belongs to the blog ‘pasen y degusten’: Maria Jose´s blog, where you can find delicious ideas like this one and where you can almost feel the nice smell of the cakes and much more.






Here I show my version:




Ingredients:


For the base:


200 gr biscuits (Digestive or ‘Maria’)


80 gr butter




The filling:


600 gr Philadelphia cheese


300 gr cream


175 gr sugar




First we cruch the biscuits with  the food processor and then add the butter until is well combined. Spread and press the biscuit mixture firmly over the base and side of the mold. This can be done using a spoon.
















Place the biscuit mixture in the oven during 10 minutes at 180 ºC, then let it cool down, but you can also cover it with plastic and place it in the fridge during 30 minutes.




Mix the cheese, the cream and sugar with a mixer until is well mixed (3 minutes more or less).


We can now spread the filling on top of the biscuit mixture and let it cool down in the fridge (you can leave it in the fridge the whole night and decorate next day)




















I just used the seasonal fruits (red fruits) to decorate it and bit of jam, but you can use your imagination here…it´s already delicious without decoration.


Well… I can tell you that you will need more than one bite or two 😉






















 You can find the link to the original recipe here.




Have a good day and enjoy the rest of the week!











		

		
		

		






			

		
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Apple Crumble
		

				

		
Hi all!,


Although we  are already in June, the summer wants to make us wait for a while before settling down for good. That´s why I thought that this pie, originally from England, would be the perfect company for a rainy day.














 


Here I tell you my particular version for the Crumble Pie:




Ingredients:




4 apples


Brown sugar (I didn´t use so much, so you can add what you like)


60 gr butter


200 gr flour


Cinnamon


Honey (2 tbsp)


Oatmeal (optional)




1º) Start peeling the apples and cutting them in small cubes. Then, mix the apple cubes with 2 tbsp of brown sugar, 1 tbsp honey, cinnamon and 1 tbsp of oatmeal.


















2º) In a separate bowl mix the flour, 2 or 3 tbsp brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. We mix all the ingredients, and here is the funny part, we mix it with our hands so we´ll get a crumbly texture. We can let this mix cool down in the fridge for 10 minutes.














3º) After taking our crumble mix out of the fridge, we spread it on top of the apple cubes generously and add some cinnamon. Bake at 170º C during 30-40 minutes, depending on the oven until the crumble is a bit browned.














That´s it!! we have our yummy crumble pie. It can be served warm or cold and it tastes great with vanilla ice cream.




























I really like the combination of apple with cinnamon, smells great and the taste is even better!! You can also bake strawberry or red fruit crumble.




And what about your favourite version of apple crumble? How do you make it at home?




Cheers!!!