Birthday Cake - Turning twenty one

birthday

I'm again on the blog with another "recipe".
In april I turned twenty-one but I, unfortunately, didn't had time nor to write, nor to post the recipe of my birthday cake.

 Now that I, finally, have plenty of time, I decided I should post the recipe.

 On another birthday I discovered Red Velvet Cupcakes. They basically are "red" cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. They were SO good that I decided to make a "big" Red Velvet Cake for my birthday.


I took major inspiration here.

 For one delightful Red Velvet Birthday Cake you will need:
Two and half a cup flour
Two cups of sugar
One tsp of salt
One tsp of baking powder
Two eggs
One and half a cup of oil (canola, sunflower oil)
One cup of milk
One tsp of vanilla extract

Eight oz. of cream-cheese (philadelphia cheese)
One cup of butter at room temperature
One tsp of vanilla extract
Six cups confectioners' sugar
Some food coloration

 Raspberry jam

 So first off you should preheat your oven to 170°.
Mix the eggs with the milk, oil and vanilla extract.
In another bowl mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder (=the dry ingredients).
Add the "liquid" mixture to the "dry mixture".
Butter and flour two eight inch pans.
Bake for about thirty minutes in the oven.
Once they are baked, let them cool down.

 In the meantime make your frosting.
Beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add your vanilla extract. Add the sugar slowly, in batches, to this mixture.
Your frosting is ready!If you want an ombré effect you should divide your mixture by three now. In the first one you add the most coloration, in the second one a bit and in the last one none.

 Take your two cakes and put some jam between them. Then you can start frosting. Start with the most yellow frosting. Make some roses. Then frost away with the middle yellow frosting and make also some roses. And last (but not least) frost with the white frosting.


And there you have your spectacular, delicious but easy to make Birthday Cake. 

XO
Ornella

Ps: Pictures were taken by my sister!

"Healthy" Ice Cream Sandwiches

chocolate sauce

And after a long absence I'm back with a dessert. A "healthy" dessert. 

 It's basically an ice cream sandwich, but homemade and "healthy".



 I took major inspiration here.
For this you will need:

 4 tbsp vegetable oil (or coconut oil or butter)
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp buckwheat flour
2 tbsp milk (I used almond milk, but you can use regular milk or hazelnut milk ...)
70 gr oats
2 tsp freshly chopped ginger
a pinch of salt
a splash of vanilla extract

First you should pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
Then stir together all the ingredients.
Make then (about) 12 balls and place them on parchment paper.
Make sure to leave enough space between them, cause you'll have to flatten them out before putting them into the oven.
Once your oven is heated, place your cookies in the oven and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes. 
When they get darker at the edges it's time to take them out.
If you want to make ice cream sandwiches, let the cookies cool down a bit.
Once cooled, fill them with your favourite ice cream (mine is milk ice cream, also known as fior di latte gelato). 
And for more indulgence, serve with some melted dark chocolate.
Still "healthy" but super tasty dessert. 
Make it as soon as you can, because once you've made them you're addicted to them.




XO

Ornella


"French" Cheesecake

birthday

Hello there!

 I know it's been a while I have blogged on her, but I was busy, again.
So for my return I decided to post a new recipe that is tasty, but easy.
The only condition is that you like desserts with CHEESE. 
Oh before I forget I took major inspiration here.


So without further do, here is the (short) ingredient list:
  • 500 grams of "fromage blanc" (if you don't know what it is google it)
  • Four eggs
  • 90 grams of sugar
  • 90 grams of flour
  • Optional: one lemon
First preheat your oven to 190°.
Whisk together the fromage blanc, the egg yolks, the sugar and the flour (optional the zest of one lemon).
Whip egg whites, in a separate bowl, to firm peaks.
Add it to the first mixture. Mix it all together. And put it in a buttered and floured baking tin.
Bake in the oven for about twenty-five to thirty minutes.
Let it cool (if you can) and serve it to your hosts!


Please make this cake and leave a comment bellow telling me you loved it ;-)


XO


Ornella

Kidney Bean Brownies

almond

Today I am here with a "special" recipe that has done the tour of a lot of blogs.

 I am talking about the famous brownies filled with beans, instead of flour.
These brownies are completely gluten free and delish.

 I took major inspiration here.

 You will need:
  • 1 cup and 3/4 cooked red kidney beans
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup sugar powder
  • 90 g dark chocolate (bain-marie)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Handful of flaked almonds (optional)
  • chopped dark chocolate
  • a pinch of salt
  • food processor or blender 
Preheat your oven at 175 °C.

Melt the dark chocolate in a sauce pan on a low heat.
In the meantime rinse en drain the beans, then put them in your food processor and mix until your beans get a texture like a puree (I added some water).

Put your pureed beans in a bowl and add all the ingredients except for the flaked almonds, the chopped dark chocolate and the melted chocolate. Once everything is well mixed, add the melted chocolate and the chopped chocolate. 

Pour the mixture in your lined baking dish.

Sprinkle some flaked almonds on top.

Put in your oven and bake between 25 and 30 minutes.

Allow your brownie to cool before to cut it. 



PS. They are even better after chilling a whole night in the fridge.

Until next time (actually until next recipe)!

XO

Ndundari con salsa di pomodoro e basilico di Contaldo

basil

Today I present you a recipe from Gennaro Contaldo.
I discovered the existence of this dumplings in 'The greedy Italians'. 
I'am talking (actually writing) about Ndundari. Ndundari are Italian ricotta dumplings that Gennaro's mother used to make for him. 


For this recipe you will need:

 -200 gr of flour (tipo '00')
-220 gr of ricotta
-3 egg yolks
-20 gr parmesan
-Salt and pepper 
-Vegetable oil
-Homemade tomato sauce
-Fresh basil
Optional: nutmeg, parmesan to sprinkle over the dumplings

 Proceeding:

 Start off by making your usually tomato sauce*.
While your tomato sauce is cooking, make your ricotta dumplings.

 In a big bowl mix the flour with the ricotta, egg yolks, parmesan and salt and pepper (if using: nutmeg). 
Knead three to five minutes.
Roll the dough out to 'sausage' and cut it into little squares. 

 In the meantime bring some salted water to boil. When it boils add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the water and add immediately the dumplings. Cook them two to five minutes.

 Drain the Ndundari.

 Assemble the Ndundari with the sauce. Finish off by adding a leaf of basil.


Serve immediately!
XO

*If you want a recipe for the tomato sauce: go to the original recipe of the Ndundari.





Outrageous Cheese and Vegetable Burger

aubergine

Lately I have been making dinner every day. 
Suddenly I wanted to have a nice juicy burger full of vegetables, but WITHOUT meat. 
So some kind of an healthy burger.


For 3 people you will need:

 -one courgette or zucchini
-one aubergine or eggplant
-one pepper
-some goats cheese
-balsamic vinegar
-vegetable or olive oil
-salt and pepper
-3 little buns (in french we call them 'pistolets').

 The first thinh you want to do is to cut your aubergine in slices. On every slice you should put some salt and then superimpose the slides on each other as if you were reconstructing the aubergine. Let them sit in a plate for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime slice your courgette and bake it in the pan. 
You can also start now with your pepper. Take off the green part of your pepper, make a vertical incision in your pepper, take out the seeds. Add some salt in the pepper through his incision. 
Take out a casserole and heat up some oil.
Once it's hot add your pepper and lower the heat.
Keep on eye on the pepper and make sure to turn your pepper so that it won't burn.

 Once you're done with baking your courgette, it's the turn of the aubergine. Wash your aubergines well and wring them. Bake them as well in the pan.

 Once your vegetables are all cooked, let them rest a while.
Slice your pepper, put it in a bowl. Mix the pepper with some balsamic vinegar. 

 Now it's time to MAKE the burger! 

 Take your bun, slice it. 
Add your vegetables, making sure to add some goats cheese in the middle of all the vegetables.
Close all that goodness with the upperside of the bun.



Serve and be surprised by how good this is. 


See all the juice popping out of it! 
PS: it's better then an HAMburger ;-)

One-pan pasta from Martha Stewart

basil

Today a fast and quick recipe to celebrate my come-back on the blog.

 I know I have been absent of the blog, but that was because of  my exams. Now I am BACK to make some great stuff. As I didn't had a sea of time, because I was studying a lot, I made this recipe many times! It's simple, healthy and tasty... what can you ask for more?

 I found this recipe on Martha Stewart (link here).

 For 4 you will need:

 12 ounces or 340 gr of linguine (in my case spaghetti) 
12 ounces or 340 gr  of sliced tomatoes (in my case cherry tomatoes)
1 sliced onion
1 clove of garlic
A piece of peperoncino
Some fresh basil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt (1 teaspoon) and pepper 
4 1/2 cups (560 ml) of water
Optional: freshly grated parmesan, pecorino, ricotta salata

 Now just put all the ingredients in your pan, even the water. And let the water come to a boil.
Once it boils, lower the heat and let it cook accordingly to time on the package of your pasta (in my case 20 minutes).



Time passed, the pasta should be cooked and the water dissolved.

 Serve immediately with some freshly grated parmesan, pecorino, ricotta salata or with nothing, like I did.



Buon appetito e a la prossima! 



Popular Posts

Like us on Facebook

Flickr Images