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Kiwi Yogurt with Mini Simit Grissini

January 12, 2017

This honey sweetened kiwi yogurt served with homemade mini simit grissini is probably the most delicious breakfast of this winter and it is inspired by some of the most popular foods in Turkey and some homegrown seasonal fruit!

It’s official, you guys!

My favorite flavor combo of this winter is kiwi, yoghurt and honey. As simple as that.

Seems like these three foods have been on my breakfast menu almost every day for weeks now. We’ve still got some lovely homegrown kiwi, because they keep so well during winter and they get better with time, sweeter and richer in flavor. I don’t wanna loose words on yogurt and honey, ‘cuz we all know they’re awesome!

I like my breakfasts simple and fresh. Okay, I don’t always make the effort to prepare a super healthy breakfast, but I try 🙂 This recipe for sweet kiwi yogurt is definitely one of them.

What makes it so great are the little cute simit grissini that I’m serving with the sweet kiwi yogurt. They were inspired by my all time favorite Turkish street food – the simit bagels. You can get them on literally every corner of Turkey. I ate tons of them during my stay in Turkey and I never got bored of them.

They look very similar to bagels, but are prepared like regular bread, with lots of sesame on top. And who doesn’t like sesame?!

So why not make a tiny version of them that can keep for weeks, so we can have it on hand whenever we feel like a snack 😀

Turkish people just like me are crazy about yogurt. The style of yogurt they eat is very similar to Greek style yogurt with a nice crust on top. Yep, that’s how I’d describe it. It sort of looks like mold, but it’s actually the most delicious part of yogurt. I had four other girls living in the appartment, so we had to carefully divide the crust in five. That’s how important it was to get the crust.

Oh yeah, you’re probably wondering why five girls shared one yogurt. It’s because they are so crazy about it, that the normal packaging is way bigger than I’ve ever seen in any other place 🙂 Like, waaaay bigger!

The recipe calls for Greek style yogurt, but if you can get hold of turkish style yogurt, even better! I can’t get it in Slovenia, therefore I’m using Greek style, which is also delicious 🙂

You know what, the best part of this breakfast/dessert is licking the decorated rim of the glass. I decorated it with honey and sesame, but then realised that it’s such a nice finish to lick that at the end. Not when you’re in company, obviously 😀

Finally, if you wanna check another recipe inspired by my stay in Turkey, check the Turkish Chicken Feast.

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KIWI YOGURT WITH MINI SIMIT GRISSINI

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Snack

Keyword grissini, kiwi, simit, yogurt cake

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Resting time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 42 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

MINI SIMIT GRISSINI

1 cup all-purpose flour (130 g)
1 tsp dry active yeast
1/3 cup warm water
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground carraway seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg + 1 TBSP water for eggwash
sesame for sprinkling

KIWI YOGURT

8 small or 6 big kiwis
3 cups Greek style yogurt
4 TBSP honey

Instructions

Mini Simit Grissini:

Sift flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add warm water and yeast to the well and mix together with a spoon along with a small amount of flour taken from the sides. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes, then add olive oil, ground coriander seeds, ground carraway seeds and salt.
Using a spoon start mixing everthing together from the center, adding flour little by little. Once it gets hard to use a spoon, start incorporating the rest of the flour with your hands, then knead for a few more minutes to get a smooth, soft, but non-sticky dough.
Lightly oil an airtight container (or a regular bowl, that you are going to cover with plastic foil), place the dough in and make sure all the sides of the dough are lightly oiled as well. Cover and leave in a warm place to rest for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
After the dough has rested, gently knead it a couple of times, then roll it out to about 7mm thick. Cut 7mm wide and 8 cm long strips then fold the ends together to form a ring, pinching hard so it doesn’t open while baking.
In a small cup whisk together an egg and 1 TBSP of water and use the mixture to lightly cover the tops of the rings.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for about 12 minutes or until they get golden at the top and the crust is hard.
Place on a wire rack to cool.

Kiwi Yogurt

Purée the kiwis in a blender. In another bowl whisk together Greek style yogurt and honey for a minute, until the honey is evenly spread and the mixture is light and fluffy.
For decorating the rim of the glass you are going to need a little extra honey and some sesame seeds. First dip the rim into honey then into sesame so it sticks to honey.
Place kiwi purée on bottom of the serving glasses, add the yogurt mixture on top and serve with cooled mini simit grissini.
For decorating the rim of the glass you are going to need a little extra honey and some sesame seeds. First dip the rim into honey then into sesame.

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Orange & Pecorino Ravioli with Rosemary Brown Butter

December 29, 2016

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level!

It’s so exciting making your own pasta. And it’s not even that difficult. Actually I’d say it’s one of the easiest doughs for a beginner. Some may not agree, but I’ve tried many different types of dough and pasta is the only one that was successful every time. Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was managable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a whole science behind a perfect pasta dough, which I should probably cover in another post, but if you follow some basic rules, there shouldn’t be many problems.

Basic rules:

1 egg per 100 g flour. Works every time.
The dough should rest at least 30 minutes. This makes the gluten form and the dough becomes elastic and easier to handle. You will notice a huuuge difference in dough before and after resting just by touch.
Lightly flour the dough before rolling it out, especially if you are using a pasta machine, otherwise it will start sticking and tearing when you get to a thinner setting.

Oh, and one more thing! When you start bringing the dough together it might look a little dry but after a couple of kneads it will hold together much nicely and after 10 minutes of kneading it will start forming tiny bubbles under the surface, which means it’s done. Wrap it up and wait. You’ve got the best pasta dough in th world ready and waiting!

So, we’re making ravioli. It’s a type of filled pasta that comes in many shapes and sizes. The filling can be whatever you like it to be. But since it’s almost New Year’s Eve I’m all about fancy shmancy 😀 So I used pecorino as the main focus of the dish, mixing it with some fresh ricotta cheese and freshly grated orange zest. The zest will give it a kind of richness and freshness. And to make it even more psh we’re adding brown butter with rosemary on top.

The pecorino ravioli are perfectly savory and flavorful on their own, so they shouldn’t be drowned in a strong flavored sauce. Brown butter is just delicate enugh to enhance the flavores but not overpower them.

I’ve never made brown butter before, but once I tried it on these pecorino ravioli, I’m sure it’ll become a regular at our house. The nutty taste of the brown butter is so delicious and very different from plain old melted butter. Plus, you can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge for when the opportunity comes.

Great, so we’ve got everything covered. Let’s get preparing for the New Year’s Eve party and making some delicious orange pecorino ravioli. Have a great party, folks!

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ORANGE & PECORINO RAVIOLI WITH ROSEMARY BROWN BUTTER

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword brown butter

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes

Resting time 30 minutes

Total Time 37 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

PASTA DOUGH

4 eggs
400 g all-purpose flour

FILLING

250 g pecorino grated
250 g ricotta
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
zest of 1 orange

BROWN BUTTER SAUCE

120 g butter cubed
3 stems of rosemary

GARNISH

grated pecorino
orange zest
rosemary

Instructions

Pasta

Sift flour into a bowl or onto the countertop, make a well in the middle and add in the eggs. start mixing the eggs adding in flour little by little, until the dough comes together. For this first step you can alternatively use a food processor. Knead the dough by hands for about 10 minutes, until you see tiny bubbles form under the surface. Wrap the dough in plastic foil and let it rest for at least half an hour. The dough will become much softer and strechier with resting, so don’t skip it!

Filling

Mix pecorino, ricotta, nutmeg, black pepper and orange zest in a bowl.

Brown butter sauce

Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and add butter and rosemary. As the butter melts it will start bubbling and changing color from light yellow to golden and lastly brown. The mik solids will start to separate from the fat and will form a dark brown sediment. When this happens and the butter is brown with a nutty smell, pour the butter to a cold bowl. If you prefer to remove the sediment pour the butter in the bowl slowly, leaving the sediment in the sauce pan. Remove the rosemary.
You can prepare the brown butter sauce while waiting for pasta dough to rest and reheat it over low to medium heat before serving.

Rolling pasta

Cut pasta into 8 pieces and roll each one out as thinly as possible using a little flour to prevent sticking. You can use a rollin pin (the more labor intense method) or use a pasta machine (the easier method) and roll the dough starting at the thickest setting, continuing to the thinnest setting that the dough can still handle. If it starts tearing you should stop one setting thicker. I suggest running a test with a tiny portion of the dough before going full scale.
When the dough is rolled out spread it over a flat lightly flouered surface and cover with a tea towel.

Filling pasta

There are many shapes of raviol. The easiest is a simple square or rectangle. Spread a heap teaspoon of filling 4 cm apprart over the lenght of a rolled out pasta. Using a brush or a finger lightly wet one long edge of the dough and the part between the filling. Fold over one half of the dough lenghtwise and press around the filling to get all the air out. Using a pasta cutter or a sharp knife cut rigth in the middle between the filled parts and use a fork to press around each ravioli, so the dough really sticks together and doesn't open during cooking.

Cooking pasta

Boil water and add salt like for any other pasta, then add the ravioli and cook for about two minutes.
Meanwhile heat up the butter.
Drain and serve onto plates adding brown butter on top and garnishing with some more pecorino, orange zest and rosemary.
Serve immediately.

These humble but exciting pecorino ravioli with orange zest and brown butter flavored with rosemary will bring any dinner to a new level! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Beet Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

December 22, 2016

Even if you hate beets you’re gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top!

Ah, yes. The beet chocolate cupcakes… I love using fruit and veggies for a the liquid substite in muffins and cupcakes. Remember the Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting? I used pumpkin there, but here I’m using beets 😀

Fruit and veggie purées make cupcakes so soft and moist and in my experience they last longer before going dry. So perfect for baking them in advance 🙂

I know they don’t look very Christmasy, but hey… chocolate… who doesn’t love anything with chocolate on Christmas 🙂 or at any other time for that matter 😛

This Christmas I’m off cooking duty. We’re invited to my mum and dad’s on Christmas Eve and to my husband’s relatives on Christmas Day. Although I obviously love cooking it feels nice not having to prepare tons of food. We’ll only be making the traditional nut roll, everything else is done already. And then I can rest and enjoy the holidays!

I’ve been feeling very well these last couple of months, but pregnancy does a take some toll on my energy. Working hard these days before Christmas I think me and the little one deserve a little time off 😀 Thank god for mums!

Okay, back to the cupcakes!

You can actually make any other frosting if you prefer something else, but I’m a big fan of cream cheese frosting and honey. So I joined those two and I love how great the this sweet and sour frosting pairs with the earthy chocolaty taste of the beet chocolate cupcakes.

Yup, good life!

Let’s do some baking!

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BEET CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Course Dessert

Keyword chocolate cake, frosting cupcakes, muffins

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

BEET CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
3 TBSP cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP sunflower oil
2 cups beetroot purée
2 TBSP lemon juice

HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

200 g cream cheese room temperature
150 g soft butter
2 tsp vanilla
5 TBSP icing sugar
3 TBSP honey

Instructions

Beet Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 170 °C.
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, vanilla and cocoa powder.
In the bowl of the electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, blend toogether the eggyolks, brown sugar and sunflower oil on a medium speed until well combined.
Add beetroot purée and lemon juice and blend again.
Keep your mixer on medium speed and slowly add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture.
In a separate bowl (using a clean whisk attachment or a handmixer) whip eggwhites and a pinch of salt until stiff.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the eggwhites into the batter until well combined.
Divide the batter among 20 paper lined muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in the baking pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

To make the frosting, take crwam cheese, soft butter and vanilla and beat until the mixuture becomes fluffy and has a much lighter color.
Gradually add icing sugar and honey and mix until well combined.
If the frosting looks too runny, rerigirate it until it has the right consistency.

Assembly

When the cupcakes have cooled completely, spread the frosting over them and sift over some cocoa powder.

Notes

To make homemade beetroot purée you can either purée cooked or roasted beetroot. For roasting, I’m wrapping the whole beetroot in foil and remove the skin afterward.

Even if you hate beets you're gonna love these soft beet chocolate cupcakes with some honey cream cheese frosting on top! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Decorated Honey Gingerbread Cookies

December 8, 2016

What would Christmas be without some decorated honey gingerbread cookies shaped like Christmas trees? These are super easy and can be done in a food processor.

Hey, hey, we’re baking again!

The way we like it, is to include our family. I can’t wait for my little one to come out and grow enough to help me with Christmas baking. I remember baking with my mum when I was little (actually we still bake together sometimes). We’d turn on the radio, sing and make some delicious cookies. I was probably slowing the whole process and annoy my mum with that. She’s a cook and is used to do everything very quickly, but she let me work at my own pace and we had a blast together.

I mostly use my husband to help me with Christmas baking these days. Aren’t I lucky to have found a man who likes to cook and bake with me?! Oh yes!

Anyway these year we’re trying new recipes and probaby some old ones that we’ve done a thousand times. One of the new ones are these lovely honey gingerbread cookies decorated with homemade royal icing. I’m not supposed to have raw royal icing, since I’m pregnant, but apparently the eggs were good and survived. We alwalys buy eggs at the same farm and store them in the fridge, so we’re reducing the risk of anything bad happening.

Okay, so I said it’s the first time I’ve made honey gingerbread cookies. Yup, I know, stupid!

Honey gingerbread cookies are actually quite traditional in Slovenia, but they are made a bit differently. They are called ‘medenjaki’, which means honey cookies in Slovene. They are spiced with similar spices, but are usually thicker and softer with a lemon and sugar glaze. I love those, they are amazing, but I’m kind of more into hard crunchy cookies right now.

I wanted to keep the honey theme though, so there’s honey in and I replaced white sugar with unrefined cane sugar, which is my absoulte favourite sweetener right after honey.

Why I love this recipe? Because it’s so easy and can be done in a food processor and if you’re not a fan of royal icing you can just skip it. They are totally delicious without is too. You can put some food coloring in and let the kids make their own colorful cookies, or make the most delicious vanilla sauce form my Hot Baked Apples with Vanilla Sauce recipe and dip them in. So many possibilities 🙂

Let’s get bakin’.

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DECORATED HONEY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Course Dessert

Keyword christmas baking, Christmas cookies, gingerbread cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Total Time 3 hours

Servings 60 cookies

Ingredients

HONEY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unrefined cane sugar
1/3 cup + 2 TBSP honey
1 egg
3/4 tsp baking soda
120 g melted butter
1 TBSP ground ginger
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
big pinch of black pepper

ROYAL ICING

1 fresh egg white
1 cup icing sugar
pinch of salt

Instructions

Honey Gingerbread Cookies

Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix well with a spoon. Use your hands to knead at the end. Alternatively, you can use a food processor to make the dough come together. In that case, kneading won’t be necessary.
Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
Leave the dough at room temperature for 10 minutes before making cookies.
On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to about 3-4mm thick and cut out the cookies.
Move them to a lined baking tray and bake for about 8 minutes (for smaller cookies. Mine were about 7,5 cm long). Adjust the time for bigger cookies.
Move them to a wire rack to cool.
Royal Icing: Beat egg white with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Add icing sugar one tablespoon at a time and beat until it forms stiff peaks and you can’t feel sugar grains when rubbing it between your fingers.
It can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Decorating

When the cookies have cooled down completely put royal icing into a piping bag with a thin tip or a very small hole and decorate the way you like it. It might take a little to get the grip of it, if you've never done that, but you can do it!
Leave the icing to dry completely.

Notes

Try to use eggs that are fresh and kept in the refrigerator to minimize the risk of bacterial infection.
Keep in mind that royal icing contains uncooked eggs, so be careful not to serve them to pregnant ladies, babies, small children, or other high-risk people.

Simple Birthday Chocolate Hazelnut Pavlova

November 15, 2016

Beautiful layers of crispy and chewy meringue, decadent chocolate ganache and fluffy whipped hazelnut cream are what make this delicious chocolate hazelnut pavlova cake worth celebrating this blog’s first birthday.

Beautiful layers of crispy and chewy meringue, decadent chocolate ganache and fluffy hazelnut whipped cream are what make this delicious chocolate hazelnut pavlova cake worth celebrating this blog's first birthday.

I can’t believe it’s been a year already 😀

You heard me… this blog is still a baby, but deserves a special cake with something sparkling on top! Nothing healthy at all in this recipe, only pure indulgence. Okay, I might be exagerating, this cake is actually not nearly as sweet as cakes can be, it’s just fluffly and crunchy and chocolatty and nutty all at the same time. What can be better?

Before showing you the recipe, there are some words I need to say about my first year of blogging. It’s been fantastic. It started as my own personal cookbook, but it soon turned out, I love doing it, bringing you new delicious recipes every week. Well, almost every week, I’ve had some ups and downs 🙂 Meeting lots of new friends who share the passion for food and photography was absolute fun and hopefully more are coming my way 🙂

Thanks to everyone supporting me, trying my recipes, sharing love and being the most incredible community. I love y’all 🙂

The second aspect of this blog in my oppinion is the photography. It’s my way of relaxing and connecting with the food I prepare. Can be stressful from time to time, but the results are what makes it all worth it.

If you check my earlier recipes the photos are not that great. But as soon as I started blogging I realised good photos are a must, not just for all of you, but also for my own good feeling. So I made sure to improve and I still am. I’ve always been a very visual person and tried my work to look the best it can at agiven time. I believe practicing and taking some lessons and sometimes being hard on myself have really helped my food photography.

Well, I know you’re waiting for me to tell you something about this charming chocolate hazelnut pavlova and stop babbling about the sentimental crap 😛

I think the first birthday celebration needs a special cake, something I don’t make on a regular basis. In fact I’ve never made pavlova before, but always wanted to try. So there it was, the perfect opportunity. I’ve had some extra eggwhites in the fridge from making a traditional Slovenian dish called ‘mlinci’ and a full pantry of hazelnuts and crispy chocolade balls.

First attempt in making the meringue was a total disaster. It looked great when I turned off the oven, but I forgot to carefully read the recipe, which happens to me way too often. You’re supposed to leave the meringue in the oven to cool down, not take it out like a sponge cake. Ups, what a failure, the meringue totally collased and despite being delicious it wasn’t very flattering. So I did it again and succeded 🙂

Don’t be affraid of making meringue, like I was for a long time. It is very easy to make. However, if you’re awful at following direction I suggest you keep it together this one time, because every little small detail matters. There are some recomendations and warning in the notes below the recipe. Please, read it before baking, you don’t want a collapsed soggy pavlova 😉

I’m stopping the babble now. Over and out!

Beautiful layers of crispy and chewy meringue, decadent chocolate ganache and fluffy whipped hazelnut cream are what make this delicious chocolate hazelnut pavlova cake worth celebrating this blog's first birthday.

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LAYERED CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT PAVLOVA

Course Dessert

Keyword chocolate cake, chocolate pavlova, pavlova

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Cooling time 5 hours

Total Time 6 hours 55 minutes

Servings 8 pieces of 18 cm cake

Ingredients

CHOCOLATE MERNIGUE

6 eggwhites room temperature
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
2 tsp cornstarch
2 TBSP cocoa powder

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

100 g semi-sweet or dark chocolate
200 ml whipping cream
pinch of salt

WHIPPED HAZELNUT CREAM

1/2 l whipping cream chilled
3 TBSP hazelnut paste can easily be made at home by mixing hazelnuts in a food processor until you get a smooth paste

TOPPINGS

50 g hazelnuts chopped
crispy chocolate balls or any other decoration
whole hazelnuts

Instructions

Chocolate meringue

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Draw two 18cm circles on a baking paper and place it on a baking tray.
Beat egg whites and a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Then add the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time. At the end add the lemon juice or vinegar and cornstarch. Beat gently until thick and glossy.
Add cocoa powder and fold it in gently, keeping some streaks of dark brown.
Spread the meringue evenly into the two circles.
Move into the oven and reduce the temperature to 120°C. Bake for about 90 minutes. It should look crisp on top and feel dry, but when you press it you should feel soft in the center.
Turn the oven off, open the door slightly, and leave in the oven to cool overnight.

Chocolate Ganache

Heat the whipping cream over medium heat until it starts forming small bubbles on the side, but doesn't boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate and a pinch of salt. Whisk until you get a smooth cream. Let cool at room temperature, then keep in the fridge before assembling the cake.

Whipped Hazelnut Cream

Whip the cream until it's almost stiff, but not buttery, then add the hazelnut paste and gently whip just a little more.

Assembly

Place one meringue on a cake stand, gently add half of the ganache on top, add half of the whipped hazelnut cream, and half of the chopped hazelnuts.
Continue with another layer of meringue, ganache (save a couple of tablespoons for decoration), whipped cream, and chopped hazelnuts.
Place whole hazelnuts, crispy chocolate balls and drizzle with the rest of the ganache.
Refrigerate before serving.

Notes

Some instructions for the perfect meringue:
Make sure your equipment is dry before making the meringue. Moisture stops eggwhite from aerating.
Make pavlova on a dry day. Moisture makes pavlova sticky.
Adding lemon juice and cornstarch will help pavlova keep its form.
Add sugar gradually to the eggwhites and be sure to beat the egg whites to the stiff point, but don’t overbeat them, just until the sugar has dissolved. Test if the sugar has dissolved by rubbing a little of the mixture between your fingers. You shouldn’t feel any grains. When you transfer it to the baking paper the mixture should hold its shape.
After baking keep in in the oven with dors ajar until it completely cools down to room temperature.
It’s better to overdry than under dry your meringue. If you are not sure if it is done, better dry it a little more. Soggy meringue is unusable, but a little bit too dry is not such a problem. Assemble the cake and after a day in the fridge, it will become crunchy.

Autumn Harvest Pulled Chicken Sandwich with Homemade Apple BBQ sauce

October 13, 2016

This apple BBQ sauce flavored pulled chicken sandwich topped with crazy delicious apple slaw and hazelnut yoghurt dressing is da deal!

Anyone else stuck with a whole bunch of apples in the basement and doesn’t know how to use them all?

I’m not much of a fresh apple eater, I’m simply too picky about how I like them. So stacks of sweet semi-rotten apples in the basement donated by our relatives are amost sadly waiting to be eaten.

And oh my god, what to do with all of them?!

Like I mentioned several times, I hate throwing food out, so I created a delicious autumn BBQ sauce made with fresh apples. Perfect recipe for using those not-so-good-looking apples.

And hint hint… you can make more and preserve it for later 😉 This recipe yields about 2 cups and is simple to mulitply!

I’m practically obessed with pulled pork burger, but it takes time. After seeng how awesomely Jessica from How Sweet It Is used chicken and made pulled chicken sandwich, I was inspired and made my own version with my apple BBQ sauce.

And it is delicious, I’m telling you! Soooooo simple and soooooo good 🙂 The sauce takes some time, but no effort at all.

This is like the longest named recipe I’ve probably ever made, it could actually be even longer. But I’ve made myself stop. There’s so much going on here.

The juicy shreded chicken, topped with homemade apple BBQ sauce, freshly cut slaw with apples, carrots and cabbage dressed with hazelnut yoghurt dressing.

And guess what… the sandwich is topped with some more of the delicious BBQ sauce and chillies. Heaven!

Okay, I’ll stop torturing you. Go ahead and start cooking! 🙂

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AUTUMN HARVEST PULLED CHICKEN SANDWICH WITH HOMEMADE APPLE BBQ SAUCE

Course Main Course

Keyword beef burger, sandwich

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

PULLED CHICKEN

1 kg boneless chicken thighs
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground mustard seeds
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper

APPLE BBQ SAUCE

1 TBSP butter
1 small onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic chopped
4 middle-sized apples chopped into 1-2 cm chunks
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
2 TBSP honey
1 TBSP Worchestershire sauce
1 TBSP smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground mustard seeds
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon

APPLE SLAW

1 big apple
1 big carrot
1/4 big cabbage head

SLAW DRESSING

150 g Greek-style yogurt about 3/4 cup
3 TBSP ground hazelnuts
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS

6 soft burger buns
chopped parsley
sliced chilies

Instructions

Apple BBQ Sauce

Place a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add onions and wait for a few minutes to get golden, then add garlic and stir for about a minute. Then add apples, water, and apple cider vinegar, cover, and reduce to medium heat. Cook covered for about 10 minutes or until apples start getting softer.
Uncover and add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and let gently simmer for about 30 minutes or until most of the apples have fallen apart.
Mix in a blender to get the silky smooth texture.

Pulled chicken

In a big bowl mix all spices together and add chicken thighs. Make sure to coat all the meat with the spice blend.
Place a large pan over high heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side (cook time will depend on the thickness of the thighs). Make sure the chicken is cooked through before taking it off the pan.
Transfer it to a clean plate and shred it using forks.
Return the shredded chicken to the same pan you used before and add 1/2 cup of apple BBQ sauce (or more if it seems dry) and cook for a minute.

Apple Slaw

Cut the veggies into thin slices. Mix all ingredients for the dressing together.
Toss the veggies with the dressing.

Assembly

Cut burger buns into half and fill them with pulled chicken and apple slaw. Add more apple BBQ sauce on top and top with chopped parsley and chilly slices.

Notes

This recipe was inspired by Saucy Chicken Sandwiches by How Sweet It Is.

Roasted Tomato Galette with Olive Tapende

August 25, 2016

The sweetest most delicious tomato galette honoring the season of homegrown tomatoes.

This is one of my favorite dishes in the entire world and I’m not exaggerating.

I’ve been making it for a couple of years now and I’ve perfected the recipe in the meantime.

I’ve talked about my love of tomatoes a lot and roasting them like in the Simple Fish Slider with Roasted Garlic Sauce. The basic technique of roasting tomatoes is the same as in the slider recipe.

But for this beautiful galette we’re gonna roast them TWICE. Yep, that’s right. First roasting helps the tomatoes loose excess moiture and the second one brings all the components together and adds extra sweetness to the tomato galette.

Isn’t this awesome?

You could easily use big tomatoes as well, but make sure, they loose most of their moisture after the first roasting, otherwise you’ll get a soggy crust.

And we don’t want that!

The crust should be flacy and crunchy, hence the pre-roasting. Important step – don’t leave it out!

This tomato galette is filled with so many other ingredients that complement the tomato.

Like olives, anchovies, fresh herbs like basil and olive oil.

All of those incredible ingredients in one dish 🙂 Perfection…

Let’s roast some tomatoes!!!

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ROASTED TOMATO GALETTE WITH OLIVE TAPENADE

Yields one 28-30 cm (11-12 inch) galette.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Keyword blackberry pie, blood orange tart, tomato pie, tomato tart

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

CRUST

1 1/4 cup wholegrain spelt or wheat flour
60 ml ice-cold water refrigerated for a while
1/2 tsp salt
110 g ice-cold butter cubed

TAPENADE

1 cup green olives pits removed
5 dried tomatoes
5 anchovies
1 TBSP pine nuts
a handful parsley
a handful chives
a handful basil
olive oil

FILLING

3 cups cherry tomatoes 600-800g
parmesan
3 TBSP olive oil
salt
pepper
1 egg
1 TBSP cold water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190 °C

Crust

Combine butter and flour in a food processor to get a dry mixture. Add salt and water and pulse until the dough starts to form a ball, but not any longer to not overheat the dough. Wrap it in plastic foil and store it in the fridge for an hour.

Roasted cherry tomatoes

Halve the tomatoes, cover with olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss to spread the seasoning. Place cut-side up on a baking tray covered with baking paper and bake for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes get a nice golden color and have lost a lot of their moisture.

Tapenade

Chop parsley, chives, and basil into smaller chunks and place them in a food processor. Add olives, dried tomatoes, anchovies, pine nuts, and 4-5 TBSP olive oil. Pulse to get an almost smooth texture. Add more olive oil if necessary.
Turn the oven up to 220 °C.

Galette

Roll the dough to about 3mm thick circle. Spread the tapenade over the dough, but leave a clean 2-3cm edge. Cover with roasted tomatoes and fold the edges in over the tomatoes.
In a small bowl beat an egg with a TBSP of cold water and spread thinly over the crust edges.
Sprinkle the galette with some grated parmesan and a little pepper.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is golden and crunchy.

Notes

Dough recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

No-Churn Melon Sorbet with Basil

August 11, 2016

No icecream machine, no problem! This super easy two ingredient melon sorbet needs no icecream machine, but is creamy and delicious anyway.

Super creamy and rich melon sorbet spiced with just a hint of basil.

I can’t believe something so good can come out of freezing a simple fruit like melon. Yup, that’s right, I just described the entire recipe.

But, really it is that simple.

I was never a big fruit person. I mean, I loved the taste, but somehow I wasn’t very fond of biting into them.

Still am a little picky when it comes to that. Much less, but still…

Blending fruit into awesome new foods was a great alternative. One of the first memories of blended fruit dessert is a strawberry and cream blended drink. Which was super delicious and creamy. You should totally try that sometimes, if you haven’t already 🙂

Freezing a blended fruit is the next stage of deliciousness 🙂

And most of all, you don’t really need all that much. Mostly just fruit, some water, if the fruit doesn’t have high water content, maybe some sweetener and that’s it.

Why I love this melon sorbet?

Because it’s made only with melon and basil. Melon is made mostly of water and you don’t need to add extra. If the melon is ripe enough it is so sweet, that it doesn’t require any extra sweetening.

And since I’m greatly obsessed with herbs, I just had to add some. Basil is the right way to go. Works so well and adds more summery flavors! 🙂

Oh, how cool does it look when you serve it in a melon shell. Awesome for a garden party 🙂 You can freeze it in a shell directly if you are serving it immediately or transfer in to the shell right before showing it to your guests.

I’m getting hungry! Are you?

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NO-CHURN MELON SORBET WITH BASIL

Course Dessert

Keyword ice cream

Prep Time 10 minutes

Freezing time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 ripe melon of any kind, spooned out into chunks, frozen for 1-2 hours
20-30 fresh basil leaves

Instructions

Place the frozen melon chunks and fresh basil into a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Keep beating until you get a smooth and creamy consistency.
Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, for about 3-4 hours.

Notes

If you have an ice cream maker, prepare the mixture without pre-freezing the melon. Cool it in the fridge for an hour and make it as per instructions.

Simple Fish Sliders With Roasted Garlic Sauce

May 12, 2016

Humble fish sliders with a little twist are the best way to treat your family!

Oh, who am I kidding. They are actually a treat for you. Others can watch and be jealous 😉 And if they behave, they get a bite!

I’m declaring my love to fish.

I’d choose fish over meat in almost any given situation. They are so tender and delicious. One thing I hate, though, is dry overcooked rubbery fish. Yuck, bring me a glass of water, please!

The beautiful thing about these fish sliders is that you can use any fish you like. This one in the photos is perch, but any white fish or other type would work perfectly.

Ask for a filet and make sure all the bones are out, before cooking it. You don’t want to bite into one. I don’t own a fish bone tweezers, so I use regular tweezers and they work just fine.

Use Your Noodles - Simple Fish Sliders with Roasted Garlic

This is a dish, that takes some time, but basically no effort or special cooking skills… read a book or dance around the house, and in the meantime it’s all cooking. At the end quickly blend the sauce and cook the fish and you’re done. Suuuuper easy! I promise 🙂

I used to be so scared about preparing fish, what if they get stuck on the pan or are undercooked or even soggy. So I avoided making them. But after a few tries, I realised, that they are so easy to work with. Also so much faster to check if they are done or not, than meat. The flaky flesh allows that.

If you want it to be crispy on the outside, sprinkle with some flour or starch. It will pull out a little moisture from fish and form a really thin layer of batter, which will fry crisp in the pan.

Have you ever tried roasted garlic? Before trying these fish sliders, I added separate unpeeled garlic cloves to my roaseted veggies and they turned out o be the most delicios part of the meal.

So I decided to use garlic in a different way. Roast it and make it in a yummy sauce!

I noticed how people are roating whole garlic heads. So, I tried that. Just cut of the top of the garlic head, sprinkle a little oil over, wrap entirely into aluminium foil and roast until it’s soft and fragrant. One of the garlic heads fell apart while I was removing the top, but it roasted as well as the others.

So, that’s it. The final fun part is squeezing the soft garlic out of the peel.

You can use roasted garlic in many ways. I promise, I’ll do more recipes with it, because it’s awesome!

I topped the fish sliders with roasted tomatoes. Again – a little oil, salt and pepper. Throw in the oven and forget about it for half an hour. They add sweetness to the sliders. Top with some mint – I used peppermint, but any would do.

I’m usually the one to complain about lack of crunchiness in burgers, but I’m so into this delicate fish, that I actually prefer not biting into anything hard and spoil the enjoyment 🙂 You can add some chopped nuts or seeds, of course.

Let’s go eat!

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SIMPLE FISH SLIDERS WITH ROASTED GARLIC SAUCE

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Keyword burger, burgers, fish burgers

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 8 sliders

Ingredients

ROASTED GARLIC SAUCE

2 heads of garlic
1/2 cup crème fraîche or Greek-style yogurt
1 1/2 TBSP lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
salt by taste
black pepper by taste

ROASTED TOMATOES

120 g cherry tomatoes ~2 cherry tomatoes per slider
2 tsp olive oil
salt by taste
black pepper by taste

FISH

400 g white fish filet cut into 8 square pieces
3 TBSP any flour
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste

FISH SLIDERS

8 slider buns
fried fish
roasted garlic sauce
roasted tomatoes
handful mint

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 °C.

Roasted garlic sauce

Peel away the outer skin of the heads of garlic. Trim away about 0.5 cm of the top, so all cloves are exposed. Place the two heads on separate aluminum foils, sprinkle the exposed parts with olive oil, and wrap in the foil entirely. Roast for 30 – 40 minutes until they are golden and soft.

Roasted tomatoes

Cut cherry tomatoes in half, place them on a baking tray. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss around, to coat them entirely with seasoning. Reduce the oven temperature to 190 °C and roast for about 30 minutes, until they are fragrant and have shrunk a little.

Roasted garlic sauce

Squeeze out the soft parts of garlic into a food processor. Add crème fraîche or Greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Blend until the sauce is smooth.

Fish

On a big plate sprinkle the fish with flour, salt, and pepper. Move them around the plate, so they get coated on all sides evenly.
Over medium-high heat fry the fish on a tablespoon of oil, 3-4 minutes each side, depending on the thickness.

Assembly

Cut the buns in half, spread on the sauce, add one fish piece per bun, top with mint leaves, and roasted tomatoes. Serve immediately.

More delicious lunch ideas:

Pizza Stuffed Sweet potatoes

Sardine Pate + Wild Garlic Sandwiches

Turmeric Falafel Wraps

Teriyaki Eggplant With Plum Wine

Peach and Celery Ice Lollies

May 5, 2016

Refreshing fruity peach and celery ice lollies on sticks are always welcome at our house!

Use Your Noodles - Peach and Celery Ice Lollies

I bring you summer… on a stick. It’s not a joke!

I hope, wherever you’re from, you’re having a hot summer weather. It was crazy here over the last ten days. We’ve had all weather imaginable. Snow, sleet, fog, rain, sun, wind… We planned to escape to Sarajevo during the holidays, but it was covered with snow, so we’re saving the trip for warmer times.

It took me about two days to get comfortable with doing nothing and switching to my off mode. But then it was actually kinda nice to lay back, watch some TV and not feel guilty, go walking in the snow and then biking to a nearby mountain the next day, watching the 1st of May bonfire, and squeeze in a little dance practice. It was all good 🙂

Refreshing fruity peach and celery ice lollies on sticks are always welcome at our house!

Now, to the recipe already!

I remember having ice lollies in a long plastic wraps, when we were little. For the first few moments it tasted delicious and sweet, but then after we sucked all the juice out, we were left with a block of flavourless ice. How dissapointing! That’s not the case with this lolly – all flavour, no tasteless icy leftovers.

These peach and celery ice lollies are so easy to make and it’s a nice way to get yourself or the kids to eats more fruit. Cuz, who doesn’t like an icy treat, am I right?

The idea for this recipe actually came from my husband. He said, why not pair a fruit with some unexpected greens, like celery. So we did, and boy was he right. It tastes amazing! I’m not exaggerating. This combo works so well.

Give it a try!

All that’s required is to blend all the ingredients and pass the mixture thorugh a sieve, to give it the silky texture. Wait a few hours until the lollies set and you got yourself a fruity refreshment 🙂

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PEACH AND CELERY ICE LOLLIES

Course Dessert

Keyword ice cream, ice pops, peach ice cream

Prep Time 5 minutes

Freezing time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 5 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

3 ripe peaches
25 g celery stalk chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water

Instructions

Add all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.
Pass the mixture through a sieve. Discard solids.
Fill the molds up to 5mm from the edge.
Freeze for at least 6 hours.

Notes

The number of lollies depends on the size of the molds, this recipe yields 1 + 1/2 cups of silky lolly mixture.

Also try these refreshing fruity recipes:

Spring Strawberry Layer Cake

Grapefruit-Lime Rosemary and Ginger Cocktail

Guinness Caramels With Salted Peanuts

March 15, 2016

St Patrick’s day is coming closer and we’re making yummy gooey Guinness caramels with salted peanuts. If you don’t know what to snack on while drinking beer – sweet or salty – you can have have both!

Use Your Noodles - Guinness Caramels With Salted Peanuts

With St Patrick’s Day just a couple of days away I thought I’d share these gooey Guinness caramels with you. Before I decided I want to do something sweet with Guiness I’ve never made caramels before. Experimenting and lots of tasting has brought me to this amazing recipe.

Beer… A few years ago Slovenia has known mostly lagers. You could get Guinness and a couple of other non-lager beers, but that was it. Now it’s like spring here with new beers blooming all over the place. Which is kind of nice, because I was getting tired of the same old same old. Now there’s so much to choose from, but for these caramels Guinness is the right choice.

With the rich caramel flavour it enhances the sweetness of the caramels and adds just a little bitterness. Peanuts and salt add another layer and the saltiness bring out even more sweetness. I know it sounds strange, but caramels without salt don’t do it for me.

Before trying for the first time I was a bit scared. I was sure I was going to fail. But making caramels is actually unbelievably easy. There’s not even any doing, there’s mostly waiting 🙂 So don’t be scared like me and go for it!

If you don’t have a clip-on candy thermometer I suggest investing in one, it’s not that expensive and candy-making will be so much easier and precise.

But if you don’t have one and still wanna make some delicious Guinness caramels you can do it without the thermometer and test if the caramels have reached the hard ball stage with the water test.

Now, let’s do this 🙂

Imaginary-glass-full-of-Guinness-caramels cheers!

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GUINNESS CARAMELS WITH SALTED PEANUTS

Course Dessert

Keyword chewy caramel, soft caramel

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Cooling time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

2 cups / 0.44 l can Guinness
80 g butter cubed
80 ml whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unrefined sugar or brown sugar
1 tsp fine salt
100 g roasted and salted peanuts

Instructions

Butter the sides and the bottom of a 25×18 cm (10×7 inch) pan and line it with baking paper.
In a saucepan (2 l or more) reduce Guinness over medium-low heat to 1/2 cup. This will take about 30 minutes.
Add butter and melt completely. Add whipping cream and sugar. Stir until well combined.
Place in a sugar thermometer. Don’t stir from this point on.
Over medium-low heat cook until the temperature reaches somewhere between 118 °C and 121 °C (245 °F – 250 °F). This will take about 25 minutes or more, but keep an eye on the caramel all the time, because at the end the temperature will rise quickly.
Remove from heat immediately.
Stir in salt and peanuts and pour into the baking tray.
Refrigerate for an hour.
With a sharp knife cut into desired size pieces.
Store at room temperature.

Notes

Keep in mind that when the sugar starts heating it will expand to two or three times the volume, so adjust the saucepan size. But don’t use a saucepan that’s too large, as your thermometer will not be submerged and won’t show accurate temperature. If you double the recipe, adjust the pan!
I cut my caramels into 3 cm squares and wrapped them into 10x12cm baking paper pieces.

Turmeric Falafel Wraps + Wholegrain Spelt Tortillas

March 10, 2016

Fresh and healthy lunch with lots of colours to fill our daily rainbow – turmeric falafel wraps! And my favourite recipe for homemade wholegrain spelt tortillas!

Use Your Noodles - Turmeric Falafel Wraps

It’s March!!! Hmmm, it’s been March for more than a week, but my brain just grasped that.

Ah, I love March. Why? Because I start growing my veggies from seeds. I first tried it three years ago and I produced some tomatoes, but the plants were looking a little sad and small. Last year, though, it’s been incredible. I’ve produced toooo many tomato plants (not enough space in the garden) and added bell peppers and chilies. The summer was unbelievably sunny and warm and we had a gazillion of homemade tomatoes and chilies. No complaints here. I’ve grown bell peppers in a container on my balcony near lice infected parsley and cilantro, so imagine the disappointment. Hopefully, this year the bell peppers will join the growing madness 🙂

Okay, now. Let’s get to the recipe!

Use Your Noodles - Turmeric Falafel Wraps + Wholegrain Spelt Tortillas

I’m going double recipe today. Wholegrain spelt tortillas that you can use like regular white flour tortillas and a beautiful bright yelllow turmeric falafel.

What I love about these wraps – besides the obvious deliciousness 🙂 – are the colours. Colourful food makes me smile. If you like them use the sides that I used in this recipe or choose whatever coloured veggies you like. But choose a variety. Reds, greens, purples, yellows… Whatever you find, toss them in!

We’re making a tahini sauce to go with falafels. If you’re a dishwashing maniac like me, stop right now! By dishwashing maniac, I mean insanely washing every dirty dish that I see while I’m cooking. I hate washing dishes after the meal, I’m not crazy 🙂 My point was, there’s no need to wash the food processor after making falafels. Just add the ingredients for the sauce and the liquid will clean it up. Yep, we saved a little time right there 🙂

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TURMERIC FALAFEL WRAPS

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

FOR THE FALAFEL BALLS

2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 handful parsley
6 cloves garlic
1 small onion
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground caraway seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 cup olive oil
salt to taste

FOR THE SAUCE

1 handful parsley
4 TBSP tahini paste
4 cloves garlic
1/4 big medium-hot chili
1/2 cup olive oil
2 TBSP lemon juice
black pepper to taste
salt to taste

TO SERVE

1/4 medium-size red cabbage
1 big carrot
big handful parsley
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 cup salted pistachios
medium-hot chili slices to taste
8 wholegrain spelt tortillas approx. 15 cm

Instructions

If you are making homemade tortilla wraps (recipe below), make the dough beforehand and leave it to rest while you make the falafels.

Falafel balls

Preheat the oven to 200 °C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until well combined. It should have an almost creamy texture with some small crumbs.
Divide the mixture into quarters. With slightly wet hands, form six balls from each quarter. Wash your hands if they get too messy, otherwise, the mixture will start sticking to them.
Place the falafel balls on the baking tray and bake them for 20-25 minutes or until just slightly golden. These falafels are very delicate, so treat them carefully.

Sauce

In a food processor or a blender combine all ingredients and pulse until the mixture is smooth.

Sides

Chop red cabbage and carrot into thin slices and drizzle them with lemon juice. Chop pistachios and parsley coarsely.

Wraps

Divide the dough into 8, roll them and cook them 30 seconds each side.
Serve falafel balls with sides and tortillas while they are hot.

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WHOLEGRAIN SPELT TORTILLAS

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Resting time 30 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 8 tortillas

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup wholegrain spelt flour
1/4 + 1/8 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, then transfer it to a flat surface and knead it for 5 minutes.
Cover with plastic foil and leave it to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Divide the dough into 8 balls, flatten them with the palm of your hand and roll them out on the lightly floured surface to 15-20 cm in diameter.
Don’t stack the rolled tortillas or they will get soggy.
Brush off excess flour. Cook on a griddle or big pan over medium-high heat for about 30-second each side. If flour starts to accumulate in the pan, wipe it off with a paper towel.

Need more ideas for colorful lunch recipes? Here they are:

Rainbow Cabbage Soup

Spicy Pea Soup

Millet And Carrot Salad with Creamy Almond Dressing

Turkish Chicken Feast

**PRINT THIS TURMERIC FALAFEL WRAP AND WHOLEGRAIN SPELT TORTILLA RECIPES AND MAKE YOUR PERSONALIZED USE YOUR NOODLES COOKBOOK**

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Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

February 3, 2016

Looking forward to spring but also looking back to autumn with these moist pumpkin cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting made of cashews.

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting

Aaaah cupcakes!

And pumpkin!

And frosting!

… And crumbs!

I’m doing a second pumpkin recipe in a row. That’s because I had a big pumpkin waiting for me in the basement. My relatives from Croatia gave it to me to try it out. It is a big pumpkin with a blue-ish skin and a deep yellow-orange sweet meat. They call it Turkinja in Croatia. I’m a sucker for pumpkins with very sweet meat, so this one is going to the top of my list, right next to hokkaido pumpkin.

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frostin

We’re having pretty depressing days here. Like, really depressing. And these pretty pumpkin cupcakes are all gone. So I’ll be testing some new dessert recipes today, to cheer myself up. If you’re feeling down I suggest you start baking immediately!

You’ll notice that I’m separating eggs, whipping eggwhites and adding them at the end. I’ve been using this technique for a long time now. The basic cupcake recipe has been handed down to me by my mother in law. An it has never failed me.

I’m a mess sometimes. I forget key ingredients so often. Unsalted bread is a constant at our house. Not to mention the cupcakes! I’ve made them without oil and even without baking soda. But since I’m whisking the eggwhites separately, this doesn’t really seem to be such a big a problem. They rise a bit more with the baking soda, but it’s not a drastic change.

If you prefer the easier version (wet ingredients together, dry ingredients together, no eggwhite whisking), do it! I haven’t done it, but I’m pretty sure it will turn out just fine. Let me know if you try that.

Use Your Noodles - Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cashew Cream Cheese Frostin

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PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CASHEW CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Course Dessert

Keyword cream cheese frosting, cupcakes, muffins

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

2 cups whole grain spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 eggs
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 TBSP lemon juice
pinch of salt

FROSTING

2 cups pre-soaked cashews at least 5 hours
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 tsp salt
6 TBSP honey
1-2 TBSP water

TOPPINGS

pumpkin seeds
lemon zest

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170 °C.
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg using a whisk.
In the bowl of the electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, blend together the egg yolks, sugar and sunflower oil on medium speed until well combined.
Add pumpkin puree and lemon juice and blend again.
Keep your mixer on medium speed and slowly add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture.
In a separate bowl (using a clean whisk attachment or a hand mixer) whip egg whites and a pinch of salt until it is stiff.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter until well combined.
Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in the baking pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting, take cashews, lemon juice, salt, and honey and blend in a blender until it has a smooth cream-like texture. If necessary add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.
When the cupcakes have cooled completely frost them with the cashew cream cheese frosting and top with pumpkin seeds and lemon zest.

Notes

The smoothness of the frosting will actually depend on the quality of the blender you have. My blender is not top quality, so it’s quite difficult getting a perfectly smooth frosting

Also try this delicious pumpkin recipe:

Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

PRINT THIS RECIPE AND MAKE YOUR PERSONALIZED USE YOUR NOODLES COOKBOOK

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Mini Pumpkin Pizzas

January 27, 2016

This are seriously delicious pizzas. Even though they don’t have any tomato sauce they are creamy and crunchy. And I’m loving the colours here. Colour means nutrients, right?

Last year I was vacationing in Italy a few times and I must say I fell in love with its people, food and beautiful sights. I was there before, duh (it’s our neighbouring country)! It’s just that my way of visiting a country has changed over the years. I used to travel in a rush, I had to see everything. I even felt a little dissapointed if I missed something out. During my travels I’ve realised that being a tourist shouldn’t mean, you’ve seen all the sights and been to all the places listed in your travel guide. It’s slowing down to have time to observe how people of other cultures interact, what they do, how they talk, what they eat, what they wear. It’s talking to locals and relaxing over a cold beer or a hot cup of coffee. It’s also seeing the nice places, but those that you really appreciate and will stick in your memory.

If I think of Italy and my travels there, I immediately think of pizza and pasta. I know, a cliche. But the fact is that although Italians have a lot of other thing to offer culinary-wise, pizza and pasta are the ones that stick out! You can’t miss those.

Here in Slovenia, the pizzas in restaurants are full of different ingredients. They are totally different than in Italy. Good, but different. If I’m honest, I prefered the ones from Italy. They can make a simple pizza with tomato sauce only feel like you are in heaven. This pizza by the way is now my favourite kind of pizza!

But enough about the Italian pizzas. I’m here to make a totally different pizza with all but the usual ingredients. This pizza does not have tomato or cheese. Think of it more like a winter comfort pizza. Instead of tomato sauce I’m using pumpkin puree flavoured with smoked paprika and oregano. The toppings are chard, chickpeas, capers, sesame, chilli pepper and lemon juice. I assure you these mini pumpkin pizzas are yummy.

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MINI PUMPKIN PIZZAS

24 pieces of 10 cm pizzas

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Keyword pizza dough, spelt pizza dough, wholegrain pizza dough

Total Time 3 hours

Servings 4

Ingredients

PIZZA DOUGH (~400 GRAMS)

3 cups wholegrain spelt flour
1 1/3 cup hot water about 40 °C
1/2 tsp honey or sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP olive oil

PUMPKIN SAUCE

2 cups pumpkin puree
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 TBSP dried or fresh oregano
salt
black pepper

TOPPINGS

12 chard leaves only greens not stalks
3/4 cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup salted capers
3 TBSP sesame seeds
1/2 big medium-hot chili sliced thinly
1 or 2 lemons cut into wedges

Instructions

PIZZA DOUGH

Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour hot water in the well, add honey and dissolve it in the water. Add yeast to the water and dissolve it.
Then start incorporating flour little by little, until the mixture has the consistency of a soft yogurt (note: not all the flour, just a few tablespoons). Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes, or until the mixture starts bubbling and rising.
Then add salt and oil and start stirring with a wooden spoon from the center and slowly incorporating the rest of the flour.
When the dough stops sticking to the spoon, start kneading in the bowl with your hands.
As soon as your dough starts coming together and you’ve used almost all the flour, you can transfer the dough to a smooth surface. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. If the dough sticks to the surface add a little remaining flour from the bowl. If it does not stick, it is not necessary to add more flour. Because all flours are a little different you might end up with a bit flour left, or you have to add a bit more (but not more than 1/4 cup).
Take another bowl and coat it with oil, then transfer the dough into this bowl and turn it around, so all the sides of the dough are oiled. Cover the bowl with a plastic seal or a plate. Leave it to rise in a warm place for about 1 – 2 hours until it has it is double the size.
When it has doubled, punch it to push the excess air out and knead quickly (only a few kneads). Cut the dough first into four, then into two, then into three. You should end up with 24 tiny dough balls.

MAKING PIZZAS

Roll every ball of dough into circles about 10 cm wide. You can use a rolling pin or the palm of your hand.
Lightly flour the surface and place the pizza circles on it. Cover with a cloth or plastic foil and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Leave the baking tray in the oven, so it also gets heated.
Meanwhile combine the pumpkin puree, smoked paprika, oregano, and salt and black pepper by taste.
In a pan boil the water, add the chard leaves and cook for 1-2 minutes. Take out of the water and cut into smaller pieces.
After 30 minutes take out the tray, cover it with baking paper, and place pizzas on the paper.
Spread the pumpkin puree over the pizza (about 1 TBSP per pizza), top with chard, chickpeas, and capers.
Return the tray to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. The dough should be soft on the inside, but crispy on the outside.
When it is baked, take out of the oven and top with slices of chilly and sesame seeds.
Serve with wedges of lemon, so everyone can add as much lemon juice to the top as they want.

Notes

If you can’t get all 24 pizzas in the oven at once, don’t worry, bake it in two or three batches. The remaining flattened dough will wait until the pizzas are done, nothing wrong with that. When the first batch is done, remove the baked pizzas from the tray and repeat it from number 6 (Instructions for the pizzas).
A simple way to make your own pumpkin puree is to cut the pumpkin in half. Season with a little oil, salt, and black pepper and bake at 180 °C until the pumpkin is tender (30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of the pumpkin). Then blend.

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