This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro toSummer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it’s a winner!
Yay! It’s officially Summer and that’s my favorite season for salads (and cocktails).
Eating fresh veggies and fruits topped with a bunch of goodies and a delicious dressing is my Summer jam. If it’s your too, keep reading!
The other day I had some cucumbers left from a photoshoot and then my husband brought some very ripe nectarines and I got the idea of putting those together since I love fruits in salads. So I tried this salad and it was so good. Okay, I called it a peach salad and that’s because I actually love peaches just a tad more than nectarines, but the fruits in the photos are nectarines. You can use both, of course 🙂
Peaches, cucumbers, prosciutto, feta cheese, fresh basil, and spicy basil dressing. I call this a perfect Summer salad. Fresh crunchy cucumbers go so well with soft and sweet peach and I loved it so much I even made a recipe video for the very first time! I’ll be sharing it soon…
I was hoping June would be a little better this in terms of weather, but I was so wrong. Yesterday was the first day of June when we could actually be in shorts the entire day. But otherwise, we had so much rain and wind it almost felt like Autumn. Not very Summery at all. So weird!
Anyway, I’m pretty sure this cucumber and peach salad will scare the bad weather away. And I also can’t wait for fresh tomatoes to grow in our garden, so I can make my spicy goat cheese pesto pizza.
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Soft and fluffy pistachio pound cake with a sweet cherry glaze. Just what you need for the afternoon tea!
Hello sweet cherries!
While I still mourn our cherry tree that we had to cut last year, I got some very delicious ones from the farmers market and even though we ate almost the entire bunch in a day, I managed to save some to make a delicious pistachio pound cake with a cherry glaze and some fresh cherries on top.
Since most pound cakes I’ve made so far were buttery and a bit denser, I decided to try a fluffier and more delicate one. I switched a part of the butter for oil which creates a different texture since the oil doesn’t firm as it cools, while the butter provides a nice milky taste.
I don’t have pistachios on hand, can I use something else?
In this recipe, I’ve used ground pistachios, since I’m a huge fan of pistachios in sweets. You can replace them with some other nuts like almonds or hazelnuts with no problem.
I prefer grinding nuts myself, since the only storebought I can find, usually contain some larger particles and are not really very fine. These work great too, but I prefer no particles for this cake in particular. But if you can’t find a well ground nuts or you don’t have a grinder at home, that’s fine too 🙂
How to make cherry glaze?
The cherry glaze is very simple to make. Like any icing glaze, you need icing sugar and a tiny amount of liquid. With glaze, you really need just a teeny-tiny amount, less than you’d think.
For this recipe you need 2/3 cup icing sugar and only about 2 TBSP cherry juice.
You can make the juice two ways:
with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.
I have to sneak in the third option: You can use a store bought juice as well, but I prefer the taste of freshly squeezed juice 🙂
I hope you enjoy this cherry pistachio pound cake just as much as I (and my neighbours) did 🙂
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2TBSPcherry juice(instructions for making homemade cherry juice in notes)
Instructions
Pistachio Pound Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 4-cup loaf pan with baking paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together softened butter and sugar for one minute then add oil and mix for a few minutes until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time and mix until combined before adding the next.
In a separate bowl mix together the rest of the flour, ground pistachios, baking powder and vanilla seeds.
Add flour and milk to the egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
Pour the batter into a prepared baking tin and bake for 45-55 minutes. Check after 30-35 minutes and if you see the top browning too quickly, cover with alluminum foil or the rest of the bake.
The cake is ready when the toothepick comes out clean.
Let cool completely befor adding the glaze.
Cherry Glaze
Mix icing sugar and half of the cherry juice and mix well. Add more juice ½ TBSP at a time to reach a desired consistency.
For instructions on making homemade cherry juice check notes.
Notes
How to make cherry juice:
with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.
Perfect savory breakfast – soft and creamy asparagus omelet with parmesan cheese and some fresh chives. What could be better?
When it comes to Spring we can’t go past asparagus. So fresh and sweet! OMG, yum! Do you agree?
Lately, I’ve also made eggs a lot. Since my son overcame his egg allergy we’ve been preparing them in any shape and form. Although I must admit, he’s not too keen on eggs. He’ll eat them, but not very enthusiastically 🙂
One of the reasons why I love a good omelet is that it’s very easy to prepare, but most of all because the eggs are so creamy that they just melt in your mouth. And since it’s asparagus season, I added some together with parmesan cheese and chives to create a perfect breakfast.
These last weeks we’ve been able to live a little bit more normal since everything is opening and we can actually meet friends. Looks like for now the situation is under control here (and I hope it stays this way!). Just having a conversation with friends that I haven’t seen for months makes my life so much better. I hope it’s getting better where you live and I hope you enjoy this cheesy asparagus omelet and these beautiful Spring days. Hopefully with people you love!
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50gasparaguscleaned, woody parts removed and dried
1TBSPchiveschopped
Instructions
Heat 1 tsp of butter in a frying pan and add asparagus. Fry for 10 minutes, turning every few minutes.
Set aside while you prepare the omelet.
Crack two eggs in a bowl and add water. Whisk with a fork until egg white and yolk are well combined.
Heat 1 tsp of butter in a frying pan over medium heat and add the egg mixture. After 10-15 seconds start bringing outside edges toward the center with a heat resistant spatula. This will make the runny parts come in contact with the pan and cook. After you went around the entire pan leave the omelet to cook until the top is no longer raw (but can still be a little soft – like a soft boiled egg). This adds to the creaminess.
Sprinkle half of the grated parmesan, chives, and three fried asparagus over the top of the omelet and use a spatula to fold half of the omelet over the other half.
Transfer the omelet to a plate and sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan cheese and chives. If you have any extra asparagus, serve them with the omelet.
The best refreshing drink, featuring blackberries, lime, and rosewater, is called virgin blackberry rosewater smash.
I know Spring is in its full blow but I’m already dreaming about refreshing Summer drink.
So I’m getting ready for Summer with one of the best Summer staple fruits – blackberries.
When they are in season, I freeze them, so I can use them for baking or for drinks throughout the year. If you have access to some delicious frozen blackberries or they happen to be in season, you need to make this mocktail. It’s made with smashed blackberries, some sugar, rosewater, and lime juice and topped with either water or sparkling water – whatever you prefer.
Of course, if you’re making a party and you wanna add some booze, that’s totally fine. A splash of gin or vodka would also make a great drink.
But these days, mocktails are my jam! Especially drinks with flowers. Luckily I still have some elderflower cordial from last year, although elderflowers are starting to bloom again so soon I’ll be making a fresh one 🙂
So this blackberry rosewater smash is a really easy drink to make.
After making some simple rose water syrup, just mix it with some smashed blackberries, lime juice, and water or sparkling water and you’ve got yourself the most delicious refreshing treat!
How to make simple syrup?
It’s actually very easy. All you need to do is combine the same amounts of water and sugar and cook until the sugar just dissolves. You don’t need to cook past that, it’s done. After the syrup has cooled down, add the rose water. I like to add it after the syrup has cooled so all the essential oils (and flavors!!) stay intact.
What if you don’t have rose water?
So you have no rose water, I get it it’s not something everyone has in their kitchen. That’s not a problem at all. I like rosewater because it adds such a nice flowery flavor.
So if you happen to have some elderflower or lilac syrup, you can use those too!
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This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color, it’s going to freshen up these early Spring days!
It’s that time of the year again. Yeah, it’s wild garlic time!
Despite what’s happening in the world right now, I can still go to the nearby forest and pick some wild garlic and for that, I’m so so grateful. If you’ve seen my wild garlic sandwiches or wild garlic risotto recipes, you know I’m obsessed with wild garlic. I can’t get enough.
So this year I’ve tried making wild garlic pasta. Although I love pasta that actually has herb particles inside, I wanted to make pasta that has a very uniform color, while still having that delicious wild garlic flavor.
And it turned out amazing. Mildly herbal and so incredibly tender.
Since the wild garlic flavor is very mild and delicate I suggest a very mild sauce. We made rosemary butter and added some parmesan cheese and some chopped fresh wild garlic and that’s it. It makes a perfect light Spring lunch.
What if I can’t find wild garlic?
I hope you have access to forest and wild garlic these days. If not, this recipe would also work with spinach or some other baby greens.
The most important thing is to keep the flour to water ratio and you’ll be fine 😀
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Keyword
homemade pasta, pasta, wild garlic, wild garlic pasta
Prep Time30minutes
Resting time30minutes
Total Time1hour
Servings4people
AuthorAnja Burgar
Ingredients
250gall-purpose flour
150gwild garlic
pinch of salt
Instructions
Cook wild garlic in boiling water for around 30 seconds until it gets soft. Drain the wild garlic, but keep some of the liquid.
Use a food processor to mix wild garlic finely. If necessary add some leftover water from cooking one tablespoon at a time.
Use a strainer to squeeze out the liquid from the wild garlic paste. You should be left with 120g of strained liquid. If you don't have enough you can add some leftover water from cooking wild garlic.
Mix flour, salt and strained green liquid and mix with a fork. When it starts coming together start kneading. At first, the dough will feel very dry, but after about 10 minutes of kneading it will become softer.
When the dough is soft wrap it in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.
After resting it is ready to shape. You can use it for any kind of pasta.
If you're making noodles…
Cut the dough in half or quarters.
Use your hands or a rolling pin to just slightly flatten the dough, then use a pasta machine on the widest setting (usually marked as '1') to roll it out.
Fold the dough into thirds lengthwise and run it through the machine two more times, doing the folding each time. Then continue rolling the pasta gradually through narrower settings, until you've come to the desired thickness. I like my pasta to be rolled to thickness number '5'.
Use the same machine to cut the pasta into noodles. Alternatively, you can lightly flour the pasta, roll it and cut into strips with a knife.
Once you have your pasta cut, lightly flour it and make noodle nests. Leave them to dry for 30 minutes or longer if you want to dry them completely.
https://www.useyournoodles.eu/wp-content/uploads/wild-garlic-pasta-dough-52.jpg15001000Anja Burgarhttps://www.useyournoodles.eu/wp-content/uploads/logo_NEWW.pngAnja Burgar2020-03-26 14:11:452020-03-26 14:16:25Homemade Wild Garlic Pasta Dough
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
Here we go with another burger recipe!
I love my beef burgers but today I have a special plant-based recipe for you.
When Nataša from The Amaze burgers wrote to me and asked if I wanna try their pea-protein burger patties I felt really excited to try them out. And I was excited to make an entirely plant-based burger.
My first thought was it needs to have a smoky taste and something that resembles bacon. So after a bit of testing, I decided on making my own mushroom bacon. And it tastes delicious. Why haven’t I tried this before? I’m pretty sure this is going to be my favorite topping form now on.
And to add some tang, I made quick-pickled radishes. Super easy and so so delicious. It adds some nice freshness and crunch to the burger.
As far as the patty goes I used the Amaze patty but you can use any patty you like such as bean or chickpea patty.
So what’s in this delicious plant-based cheeseburger?
Nothing but the best 😀 And it’s all about color, smoky flavor and freshness. Just like I love my burgers. So here’s what’s in these burgers:
a delicious soft burger bun,
some baby spinach or arugula,
plant-based burger patty,
vegan cheese,
vegan mushroom bacon,
homemade pickled radishes,
and smoky BBQ sauce.
Okay, I know you’re probably hungry by now, so let’s just head to the recipe.
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Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
To prepare the marinade, place all mushroom bacon ingredients except mushrooms in a small bowl and mix until well combined.
Clean mushrooms with a brush and remove stems. Cut mushroom tops into thin slices, about 3-4 mm.
Place mushroom slices in the marinade and gently toss to cover all mushrooms from both sides.
Transfer mushroom slices to the lined baking sheet making sure there's not too much excess marinade on the mushrooms.
Roast in the preheated oven for ten minutes then flip the mushrooms and bake for another 10-15 minutes. The mushrooms should be a bit crunchy on the edges and they will firm more after they cool. If you see mushrooms burning, lower the heat and bake for a longer time.
Quick home-pickled radishes
Wash radishes and remove the greens.
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan, stir well and bring to a boil. Cook for 2-3 more minutes over medium heat, then let cool to room temperature.
Making the burgers
Cook your vegan burger patty as per instructions, adding two slices of vegan cheese two minutes before finishing, covering the skillet to help melt the cheese if necessary.
To assemble the burgers, cut burger buns in half. Spread a tablespoon of BBQ sauce on each half of the buns.
Place some spinach leaves on the bottom bun. Place burger patty with melted cheese on top. Add mushroom bacon, pickled radishes, and some more spinach. Top with the other half of the bun and serve immediately.
This Mediterranean style mussels recipe is the easiest and super delicious! With just a few simple ingredients you get maximum flavors. Wine, garlic, and parsley make the most delicious sauce.
I’ve been scared of cooking mussels for a very very long time. In fact, I’ve just recently discovered how easy they are to make.
So how did I even get started?
We took our son out to eat some seafood and we ordered mussels after years of not eating them. He loved them so so much and we did as well. After that, I felt inspired and wanted to try them out. There’s one recipe that excites me the most and it’s this recipe. I’ve tested a few over a few months and wrote my own, like I make it.
The recipe is really a very popular way of cooking mussels in this part of the Mediterranean, where I’m from. This is just a variation and there’s also one with tomatoes, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried that one. Note to myself: make the tomato version!
Okay, so this Mediterranean style mussels recipe is literally the simplest dish you’ll ever make. And also one of the most delicious ones. Just imagine the flavors of the sea mixing with some good wine, garlic, and parsley. Doesn’t it already sound so delicious?
It only takes you a few minutes to prep and a few minutes to cook. The only thing that requires a bit more work is cleaning them, but it’s actually really easy.
So how do you clean the mussels?
First, make sure you buy fresh mussels. They should smell like the sea. I tried googling how long the mussels really last but the answers are so different. Since I don’t live next to the sea, I can’t get them straight from the water. This would be amazing and if you have that chance, I recommend buying them the same day they were harvested.
For the unfortunate ones: I tend to buy them if they are a day old and no more. Then I prepare them the same day or in the worst-case scenario the next day.
When it comes to cleaning the mussels, first you need to throw away dead or damaged mussels. Toss the mussels with a broken shell. If the shell is open tap it lightly against the counter and if the mussel starts to close after a few seconds, then it’s alive and you can keep it, if not, toss it. If the mussel is closed and the shell is not damaged it’s good to go.
After you’ve tossed away the bad ones, pour some water in a bowl and add a bit of salt. Place mussels in the salted water and wait for 30 minutes so they can release all the dirt which has accumulated inside the shells.
And that’s it. It’s very easy and so worth the extra few minutes of cleaning them.
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Before cleaning the mussels be sure to only keep the ones that are alive. If the mussel is closed and the shell is intact, keep it. If the shell is open tap the mussel lightly against the counter and wait a few seconds. If it starts closing, this means the mussel is alive. If nothing happens toss it.
Scrub the mussels to remove any debris or mud. Remove the "beard" of a mussel, which is the thick cluster of hair on one side of the mussel.
Place mussels in cold lightly salted water for thirty minutes. In this time they will release the grit and dirt from inside the shell.
After thirty minutes remove the mussels from the water and give them a quick rinse.
Cooking the mussels
In a large pot, fry chopped garlic in olive oil for about a minute stirring constantly.
Add wine, chopped parsley and breadcrumbs to the pot and wait until it boils. Add cleaned mussels. Cover and lower the heat. Let steam for 10 minutes. Only eat the mussels that have opened. Toss the closed ones.
Serve warm with some bread or pasta.
https://www.useyournoodles.eu/wp-content/uploads/mediterranian_style_mussels_wine-sauce-24.jpg15001000Anja Burgarhttps://www.useyournoodles.eu/wp-content/uploads/logo_NEWW.pngAnja Burgar2020-02-26 15:16:262020-02-26 15:16:28Mediterranean Style Mussels In Wine Sauce
A simple and easy Valentine’s day dessert – a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn’t require any baking.
Hello February!
In a blink of an eye, we’ve arrived in the second month of the year. Omg, time flies!
This month we have a bunch of celebrations in Slovenia. First, we have a national holiday, when we celebrate the life and work of our biggest poet. It’s this Saturday, so we’ll be heading to the city for the celebration.
Then there’s Valentine’s day. It’s not really a traditional Slovenian holiday, but it’s quite popular anyway 😀 We have our own ‘Valentine’s day’ in March.
And at the end of the month, there’s the carnival. I can’t wait for it and I also can’t wait to try making sourdough doughnuts. Oh yeah, I’ve made my first (non-failed) sourdough starter last week and baked one bread already. It didn’t turn out perfect but it was delicious anyway.
So yeah, my mission is to bake more things with sourdough. And hopefully also share some recipes here as well.
Enough of me blabbing about holidays 😀
Let’s talk about this amazing recipe for this lovely pomegranate coconut pie. I made it with Valentine’s day in mind. You know the reds, whites, and pink. They remind me of Valentine’s day. And it’s a dessert. Can there really be Valentine’s day without a dessert?
Uhm, no!
Let’s talk about failure first. I had this idea about taking some beautiful photos of a white pie on a blue backdrop. Then suddenly my recipe changes and the pie no longer was only white. It also had red aka pomegranate. So when I took the photos of this pie I was unhappy with the results. It was so blah. I can’t even explain.
So I took it on another backdrop – this beige one. And I loved those so much.
But this wasn’t the only failure with this pie. At first, I wanted to make the coconut layer with coconut milk and cashews and I hated the texture and the taste. Too much cashew taste and not enough coconut. So I decided to add some white chocolate and use coconut paste instead of milk, just to make it even thicker than the creamy white stuff that forms when you’ve placed a can of coconut milk in the fridge.
And OMG this cream turned out better than I imagined!
I need to try making a cake with this cream. I’m pretty sure it would be just as amazing as this pomegranate coconut pie.
So how do you make this pomegranate coconut pie?
It’s fairly easy and straightforward.
First, you make the pie base with rolled oats, coconut flakes and ground almonds (or almond meal), coconut oil and dates. I just love the coconut and almond combination!
Then you make a pomegranate jelly using only pomegranate juice (bought or freshly squeezed) and agar-agar. You can use gelatine if you’re not vegan.
In the end, you make a coconut paste using creamed coconut and mix it with melted chocolate. Done! As simple as that.
The only thing you need to be aware of is that you’ll need to wait between each layer for it to set. So first you make the base and let it harden in the fridge. Then you make the jelly and wait again for it to set. In the end, make the coconut filling and wait again.
So not a lot of work, but a bit more waiting! You can watch your favorite series in the meantime or read a book 😀
Okay, let’s just make the pie!
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When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.
The temperatures are finally getting more wintery over here, but there’s no sight of snow whatsoever!
Either way, a hearty winter salad with some fruits, cheese, and nuts is making me feel like Winter is as it should be.
It’s the beginning of a new year and it’s the time when a lot of us (including me) look more closely at what we eat. The thing is, in my personal experience if we give ourselves a tough challenge of eating lots of veggies we tend to fail soon if we’re not used to it.
I think it’s because we go to boring veggie foods. And I don’t mean veggies are boring, but they may seem this way if we don’t lift them up with some delicious add-ons.
And that’s what I love this salad!
It has some amazing leafy greens, but what it gives it heart and soul (and a chance that we’re not going to fail the healthy eating habit!) is the fruitiness of apples and pomegranate, creaminess of avocado and almond mustard dressing, flavor kick from feta cheese and some crunch from hazelnuts and also pomegranate.
It’s really such a simple Winter dish (or side dish), but I honestly couldn’t stop eating it when I first made this.
I used kale and arugula as the leafy green part, but if you grow or have excess to any other leafy greens I’m sure they will work just as well. As for the apple part, you could also use pears or some red oranges. Or all of them.
I’ll be a little shorter today. My poor sick son is asleep so I’m just trying to write this post and recipe as quickly as I can before he wakes.
Anyway, have a lovely weekend friends!
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This easy ramen soup only takes 15 minutes to make and is super healthy with a beautiful deep miso flavor. With some added fresh vegetables this is a delicious and healthy meal.
Hello and Happy New Year!
I’m very late wishing you this, but I’m here now and I’ve got an amazing recipe for a very simple ramen soup bowl that you can make in 15 minutes flat. It’s been the dish that we’ve cooked a lot the past month. We’re all fans of Japanese food here and a big bowl of soup with Japanese feel is our jam these days!
Before I get to the recipe, I’ll bore you a bit more with a big decision that we’ve made for the new year, but actually we want to stick with it for the long run. During the holidays I’ve had a long talk with my hubby about what’s making us nervous about being in the house. We felt like being indoors creates so much stress and it’s not only because being outside is just so much more fun. We’ve realized that it’s actually because of STUFF. To be more exact – too much stuff. So we made our mission to seriously declutter our house during the next few months and then keep the habits of decluttering regularly.
Ugh, it’s going to be a hard job, because we’ve accumulated so much stuff (and we’re not hoarders!). go through all my storage at least two times a year, but after watching some youtube decluttering videos I see that I just wasn’t strict enough.
Even though it’s a stressful and long procedure, I’m looking forward to having less clutter in my life.
Okay, I’ve talked about my New Year’s decisions long enough. Let’s talk about this DELICIOUS ramen recipe.
Traditionally ramen has different variations and it takes a long time, but I’ve shortened this for the occasions when you either don’t have all the ingredients or just simply don’t have the extra few hours to make it.
I used premade broth or broth cube for this recipe. Clearly, if you’ve got time you can make your own and that’s awesome, but if you’re short on time the other two options are still completely fine.
So what does a ramen soup consist of?
Ramen is a noodle soup that was brought to Japan from China.
There are a few different variations, but they all have a few components:
BROTH: Traditionally they are usually made with chicken or pork, but these days we can find lots of other variations.
FLAVORS: Those are flavors that are added to the broth to add some extra feel to the soup. Those can be anything like soy sauce, miso, salt, curry…
NOODLES: Traditionally noodles for ramen are made specifically for being served in a soup so they don’t drink in the soup and get soft and mushy. In my own personal opinion, I feel like I eat the soup pretty quickly, so I haven’t noticed the soaking of noodles.
TOPPINGS: So many options here. You can add meats, veggies, mushrooms, kelp, eggs… Whatever you feel like that day or just have in the fridge.
Since it’s winter I’ve topped my ramen with veggies that I can find right now. But depending on what the season is when you’re reading this, you can use some other seasonal ingredients. There’s no right or wrong here 🙂
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How to make an ombre blackberry champagne? Super easy! It’s perfect for festive celebrations and New Year’s Eve parties!
Christmas is over (omg, so fast!). Are you getting ready for the New Year’s Eve celebration already?
With a small kid, we’re gonna keep it low key, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have any festive drinks. What about you? Let me know in the comments… What do you love to drink on New Year’s Eve?
I’ve got a new cocktail recipe for you. Ugh, it’s been such a long time!
In the mood of this year ending and anticipation of what’s new to come, I have a recipe that’s very fancy and festive and easy to make. A delicious ombré blackberry champagne. I promise you’re gonna make an impression even though it’s so easy to make.
All you have to do is make a simple blackberry syrup with some fresh or frozen blackberries, rosemary, water, and sugar. All you have to do beforehand is cook it down to a syrupy consistency and cool down. Then you’re ready to serve at the last moment with some champagne.
How to make the ombre effect?
The trick is to make the syrup really thick and syrupy. Like any syrup. The weight of the syrup will make it sink to the bottom of the glass.
The other trick is in pouring the drink. First, you pour the champagne. Then you take a tablespoon, tilt the glass 45 degrees and slowly pour in the syrup so it slides on the sides and reaches the bottom.
How to decorate this festive blackberry champagne?
I used some flavored sugar that I made as Christmas gifts to decorate the rim. You can use regular sugar or demerara sugar if you like the gold color. You can use some water or melted butter to hold the sugar on the rim.
I also used a rosemary stem to hold some blackberries which I placed in the freezer and used to serve at the last moment. I love the condensation effect that happens when you take it out of the freezer 😀
All you need to do then is to enjoy.
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Keyword
celebration, champagne, cocktail, new year’s eve
Prep Time5minutes
Cook Time20minutes
Total Time25minutes
Servings4people
Ingredients
1 ½cupblackberriesfresh or frozen
½cupsugar
¼cupwater
4rosemary springs
8blackberries for decoration
1bottle of Champagnechilled
Instructions
Prepare the decoration. Remove the leaves from the bottom half of the rosemary springs. Save the leaves for the syrup. Place two blackberries on each rosemary spring. and freeze.
Place blackberries, sugar, water, and rosemary leaves in a saucepan. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until you get a syrupy consistency.
Drain through a sieve to remove the pits and cool the syrup.
Pour chilled champagne into champagne glasses, then tilt each glass 45 degrees and pour 2 TBSP syrup on the sides of the glass, so it slides to the bottom. Decorate with blackberries on rosemary springs.
This delicious almond butter chocolate babka is made of rich sweet dough and creamy filling. It’s so cozy and homey. A perfect Christmas treat that everyone will love.
With just a few days left until Christmas, we’re still deciding who’s going to host this year’s Christmas dinner. It’s usually us or my parents, but we haven’t decided yet this year. In any case, I’m making my favorite holiday dessert.
When it comes to Christmas desserts I’m all about sweet bread. My favorites include Italian panettone, walnut chocolate star bread, our traditional walnut roll called ‘potica’ and this year I found a new one – almond butter chocolate babka. Do you see a pattern here? Sweet dough, nuts, and chocolate.
And I’m sharing the recipe with you today.
This almond butter chocolate bread is a product of another amazing collab with my friend Tereza from Tereza’s Choice. We had so much fun during our day together creating this babka and taking photos. Although I erased all of the images in the middle of the shoot, I managed to get them all back with the help of my brother. Cheers to him! I think I need to bake him a babka just to say thanks 😀
Back to the recipe!
We used the same dough recipe as in my walnut chocolate star bread recipe. I honestly think this is the best egg-free sweet dough I have ever made.
For the filling, we used Tereza’s almond butter with cinnamon and vanilla. Yes, she has her own line of products and I love them. But don’t worry, you can use regular almond butter and add spices yourself in case you don’t have access to her spiced almond butter. It’s all in the recipe.
The filling is actually pretty simple. Melted chocolate (mix of semi-sweet and milk), almond butter and spices. That’s all. And I can honestly say, using nut butters as a filling for sweet breads is one of the best things there is.
We made a version with chopped almonds on top and dried cranberries inside and a plain one without the almonds and cranberries and they both turned out super delicious!
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OPTIONAL: dried cranberries(soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained)
Other
chopped almonds for topping
1 TBSP milk or butteror 1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water (for egg wash)
Instructions
Sweet Dough
In a small bowl mix 2 TBSP sugar, half of the milk and yeast. Cover and wait for it to activate and start foaming.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour, vanilla seeds (or extract), ground cardamom and sugar at low speed to combine all the ingredients. Add the rest of the milk and melted butter and mix until the dough comes together. Lastly, add activated yeast. Continue mixing until a soft smooth dough forms. You can do this by hand, as well. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes or until double the size.
Almond Butter Chocolate filling
Melt both milk and semi-sweet chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Add almond butter, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix well.
Making Babka
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Roll out the dough to about 20x50cm (4x10inch) or 2-3 mm thick.
Spread over the filling. Sprinkle cranberries on top if you wish. Roll along the ling edge and cut in half to get two rolls of the same length.
Cut each roll in half lengthwise and swirl one half over the other (see photos above).
Place the two babkas into two bread tins lined with baking paper and lightly brush with milk (or butter or egg wash). Bake in the preheated oven until deeply golden and puffy, about 20 to 25 minutes.
This simple but super rich chocolate hazelnut bundt cake recipe is guaranteed to impress at your Christmas dinner.
Omg guys, I can’t believe Christmas is less than two weeks away! I’ve already made a ton of cookies. Most of them are already gone, so there’s more baking ahead. One more thing I love to do at Christmas is a bundt cake. This year I’m making this chocolate hazelnut bundt cake again for sure.
It’s a super-rich dark chocolate cake as you can see from the dark almost black color 🙂 And I also added one of my favorite nuts – hazelnuts. You can use any other nuts, but let’s face it. Chocolate and hazelnuts are a classic for a reason.
This cake is very easy to prepare. I feel like I say this for every recipe I post, but I really love sharing easy recipes, what can I say. This bundt cake is guaranteed to impress. I especially love it with a cup of tea now that it’s so cold.
Yesterday, it was snowing for the first time this season. Yay for that! It’s been a strange year and I was almost sure we wouldn’t get to see the snow for a while. So today we go sleigh-riding! I’m keeping my son at home all throughout December and while I still work a bit, I decided to take it easy and make more time for my family, enjoying the stress-free time. I feel like holidays often put us in a lot of stress even though it should be the most wonderful time of the year.
So like I promised last week, I made some edible Christmas gifts yesterday and still have more to make. I made some flavored sugars inspired by the recipe from Linda Lomelino.
And right now it’s snowing again so I’m going to put my winter gear on and go out with the kiddo. And I’ll leave you with the recipe…
Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥
Grease and dust a bundt cake pan with cocoa powder or flour.
Combine melted butter, milk and cocoa powder until smooth.
Beat eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.
Add the cocoa mixture to eggs and beat until thoroughly combined.
In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. Add them to the chocolate mixture in thirds combining well before adding more. Use a low speed or mix by hand.
Pour the batter into the bundt cake mold and bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If the bundt cake starts to get too black at the top, cover with some aluminum foil, to prevent burning the top.
Wait until the cake cools down completely before removing from the pan.
These most delicious vegan chewy almond butter cookies are made with no refined sugar and almond butter. A yummy cookie that is super soft!
Hey hey!
Have you started your Christmas baking yet?
I did some Christmas baking already and I have some more planned in the next couple of weeks. I made some classic vanilla cookies, honey gingerbread cookies, and these delicious chewy almond butter cookies in collab with Rok’s Nut Butter.
I started with a recipe that I usually use to make peanut butter cookies and I need to share that one with you too, hopefully soon 🙂 I changed a few ingredients and made them with dates, unrefined cane sugar a little bit of flour, baking soda, almond butter, and a flax egg.
It’s a recipe that you can whip up in 5 minutes. All you need to do beforehand is make a flax egg and soak dates for 15 minutes.
You mix it all up, make small balls and squash them with a fork to get a beautiful texture on top.
So are you excited about December and the upcoming holidays?
I decided to do a more relaxed Christmas this year, because I don’t want to be stressing about Christmas gifts and shopping. I prefer to spend that time with family and friends, spent more time with my son and hopefully go to a cottage with my family. Let’s just hope there’ll be some snow. It doesn’t look very promising, but hey, at least we’ll be together, right?
So for Christmas gifts, I decided to make something homemade. Something small and with love, maybe some homemade hot chocolate mix! Tell me, are you into homemade gifts?
One more thing… there’s a giveaway going on on Instagram. See the latest photo in my feed to find out how to enter 🙂
Good luck!
Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥
Keyword
almond butter, almond butter cookies, Christmas cookies
Prep Time5minutes
Cook Time6minutes
Wait time15minutes
Total Time26minutes
Servings25cookies
AuthorAnja Burgar
Ingredients
1cupalmond butter
6TBSPall-purpose or wholewheat flower
1tspbaking soda
1/4cupunrefined cane sugar
4Medjool dates(pits removed, cut in quarters and soaked for 15 minutes)
1flax egg(1 TBSP crushed flax seeds + 2 1/2 TBSP hot water, leave to soak for at least 15 minutes or until sticky)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Use a food processor to mix soaked dates and flax egg until almost smooth. It doesn't need to be silky.
In a big bowl mix flour and baking soda. Add all other ingredients and mix with a spoon until you get a uniform batter.
Use approximately 1 TBSP of batter for one cookie. Use the palms of your hands to form balls and place them on a baking tray at least 10cm (4 inches) apart.
Use a fork to smash them twice in a 90° angle, so you get a grid pattern on top.
Bake in a preheated oven for 6-7 minutes. They look unbaked and very soft when you take them out, but they harden as they cool.
https://www.useyournoodles.eu/wp-content/uploads/chewy-almond-butter-cookies-3.jpg15001000Anja Burgarhttps://www.useyournoodles.eu/wp-content/uploads/logo_NEWW.pngAnja Burgar2019-12-05 20:34:102019-12-05 20:35:47Chewy Almond Butter Cookies
This vegan roasted pumpkin curry recipe is super comforting and is a proper late autumn dish. Nothing beats mixing pumpkin with coconut milk and fragrant spices.
Guys, I’m sharing one of my favorite autumn comfort foods – a pumpkin curry. And guess who also loves pumpkin curry? My friend Tereza from Tereza’s Choice. We created this recipe together and oh fun this was. Okay, it was also a bit stressful, since I accidentally erased ALL the images from the card on my camera!! We almost finished shooting and this happened. So I almost couldn’t share this recipe with you this week or at least not with photos. Luckily my dear brother found a way to get those files back.
And drrrrumroll! Me and Tereza have another recipe for you and we’ll share it soon 🙂
Are you drowning in pumpkins? We are here, but I don’t mind that. I love pumpkins and I never get tired of eating them. They are so versatile. You can use them in savory or sweet dishes. They are super healthy and soooo easy to prepare and really quick too. Who doesn’t love that?
My preferred way to cook pumpkins is to roast them. I roast them, when I make pumpkin soup, I roast them when I make pumpkin cupcakes, I roast them when I make pumpkin risotto… You get the picture! I love how roasting brings extra sweetness and depth from the pumpkins.
Curries are such a great comfort food because they are quick and easy to make and because of all the spices and flavors. I usually make my own curry spice blend, but you can use your own or a bought one. I find using the curry blend that’s available in stores here in Slovenia is very strong and makes each dish taste the same. So I try to avoid it and usually make my own in a coffee grinder.
Okay, I’m not going to bore you with the details. The recipe is pretty easy and straightforward. Basically foolproof 😉
Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥
Peel and cube the pumpkin, transfer to a baking tray and lightly oil. Put in the oven for at least 20 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, heat a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add coconut oil, onion, and ginger. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the curry spice blend and fry for another 2 minutes.
Next up add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
Then add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, slightly reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
At this time, check on your pumpkin, if it’s soft, transfer it to a blender and blend with a bit of water until smooth. Add to your pan and coconut milk and adjust the flavor with salt and lemon juice. Don't be shy with seasonings – this curry should be very flavorful.
Leave aside and fry your cubed tofu on 3 Tbsp coconut oil until it gets a beautiful brown crust.
Serve as is or with flatbread, over rice, quinoa, or buckwheat. This dish gets elevated with the addition of some coconut yogurt, cashews, and parsley for serving.
Best when fresh, though leftovers will keep in the refrigerator up to 3-4 days. Enjoy!
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