A feel good cake, or brownies at work.

Brownies, or chocolate cake is the very first cake I remember baking myself. I still remember the piece of paper on which I wrote the recipe, slightly yellow and with grease stains from the ingredients. I got it from a friend of mine who mastered the cooking skills way before me. She could instantaneously or using her magical powers make a big plate of crepes, hot cocoa, or chocolate cake. In my house I never even dared starting the oven - mom and dad were responsible for feeding us and I always knew that I'll learn when the right time comes.

The right time didn't come for a while until one day I met this very special someone that loves homemade meals... No other choice - and that's how I fell in love with mixing, tasting, and the idea of offering every single day something made with love....

I don't have anymore the little faded piece of paper with the chocolate cake recipe. I remember it's taste and many times try to recreate it. No success so far.

This attempt was a 'happy bday' cake for someone at work. I'm very lucky to work in a big office with 20-something people and many many birthdays to bake for. Who knows maybe one day I manage to recreate that cake I remember, meantime discovering many others....?

Brownies - a feel good cake.
prep time 10min, baking time 35min

120g flour
1/2 tea spoon baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa
150 g butter
250g sugar
80g nuts (hazelnuts or walnuts) chopped
4 eggs (beaten)
200 g dark chocolate (150g melted + 50 g chopped into small pieces)


1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and flour an 35x 30cm baking pan.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder and cocoa.
3. Melt butter and sugar on low heat constantly stirring. When well combined set aside to cool.
4. In a separate pan, also on very low heat, melt 150g of chocolate then set aside to cool.
5. In a mixer, beat eggs (about 3min) then add butter/sugar/baking powder, constantly mixing. When all well combined add melted chocolate and then slowly flour mix, hazelnuts and chopped chocolate.
6.Spread batter into prepared pan and put to bake for 35min. 

This recipe comes from my very first cooking book Pascal Brodnicki ' just cook' vol 2. It reminds me a bit the American brownies and they definitely make everyone feel good!

Mini crossaints for the perfect weekend.

In the dictionary, under 'perfect weekend', there should be a home-made dessert included. Sun, for example, is an optional factor, since the weekend can still be good without it, but home-made dessert is a must!
Baked goods come always with their smell that first fills the kitchen, then wafts slowly into the dining and living rooms. Even just sitting far away from the oven with a book and smelling it is a feast.

I've been planning to have a perfect weekend since Monday morning, had a few dessert ideas and was changing my mind every time I opened another blog or cooking magazine. So what kind of weekend would that be...?

There was this one dessert that was on my mind for a while, or at least ever since I discover a few jars of jam in the cupboards and saw 'perfect for baked good, tarts and mini-croissants' written on one of the labels. Mini croissants...? That sounded very tempting..... So now it was a mini-croissants kind of weekend - covered in a crazy amount of flour, I was mastering my sculpting talents.

The rewards came with a cup of coffee a few hours later....

Mini croissants with fruit jam filling.
prep time: 20min, baking time 25min

3 cups flour
200g butter (room temperature)
60g yeast
200g sour cream (here 36%)
1 spoon of brown sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
thick fruit jam (about one jar)
powder sugar for decoration

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the sour cream, and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Combine flour, butter, egg, and salt, then add the yeast and knead for 5 mins until smooth.
3. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into large circles (about 25cm across and 4mm thick,) using a rolling pin, then, using a knife, cut into 6-8 triangles. Put a spoonful of your favorite jam on the base of each triangle, then roll up forming a mini croissant (photo guide below).
4.  Heat oven to 180C, then bake for 25min. Sprinkle with powder sugar and serve.

The recipe comes from my little cousin Asia who served it a while back and I still remember the taste of it. The secret to the sculpting / giving it a perfect shape is using a thick jam that stays in place once placed on the dough. I used a few different kinds for variety. The dough should be rolled thin, so that there is a nice ratio of jam to dough in each bite. The croissants are best warm and straight out of the oven - at least that's my excuse for eating so many of them :)

First days of spring - Primavera!

Spring is finally here! Maybe the weather still finds it hard to decide, whether it's time to add more sun, less rain and cut down on the gray tones but at least every day it's a bit more green. The colors of the grass are a little more vivid, trees and flowers slowly start to bloom. All that's missing is a nice shade of blue in the sky....

In the kitchen it's very spring-like, too. I came back home with a big bag of fresh asparagus that each day became a different dish. And today it ended up in a risotto....

Risotto Primavera
serves 4, prep time 40 min, cooking time 35 min

350g asparagus
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch of spring onions, ends trimmed, and sliced
300g green peas (frozen)
2 tbsp shredded basil
2 tbsp snipped chives
1 tbsp chopped mint
Finely grated zest of one lemon
1.7 l of vegetable bouillion
4 shallots
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g carnaroli or  arborio rice
25g Parmesan cheese
150ml dry white wine
25g rocket leaves


Prep works:
1. Cut the wooden ends of asparagus, then slice the stems into 5cm diagonal lengths. Heat half of the oil  in a non-stick frying pan, over a medium heat for 4 min. Add spring onions and cook for another 1-2min. Remove, season with pepper, and set aside
2. Cook the peas in boiling water for 3min, then drain and set aside.
3. Mix the basil, chives, mint, and lemon zest together in a small bowl, season with pepper and set aside.

Risotto:
1. Pour the stock into a saucepan and keep it on a very low heat. Pour the other half of olive oil (1tbsp) into a large pan. Tip the shallots and garlic, fry for 3-4 min or until soft. Stir in the rice, then continue to stir for 1-2 min over medium heat.
2. As it starts to sizzle, pour in the wine and stir again until the wine has been absorbed.
3. Start to stir in the stock - 1.5 ladlefuls at the time so it simmers and is absorbed after each addition. Keep stirring the whole time, to keep the risotto creamy. Continue adding the stock as above - after 20min the rice should be soft with a bit of chew in the middle - you should have a ladleful of stock left at this point.
4. Take the pan off the heat. Season with pepper (shouldn't need any salt). Pour over the remaining ladleful of the remaining stock to keep the mixture fluid, then scatter over all the vegetables (1+2 from preparations), half the herb mix (3) and half of the cheese. Stir together, then cover with the pan lid and let the risotto sit for 3-4min to rest.
5. Serve topped with a small pile of rocket and the rest of herbs and cheese scattered over.

This recipe comes from the April issue of 'Good Food' magazine - from the 'make it healthier' section. I must admit I preferred it over the heavy-on-butter-and-cheese alternative. In general, all risottos take a while and lots of stirring, but the result is a very richly flavored dish, that tastes just like the first days of spring. The lemon zest should, ideally, give just a discreet hint of fresh lemons, adding richness to the flavor texture without dominating the dish.