mini vanilla cupcakes with raspberry buttercream

i made an army of little cupcakes.
i have been searching for a mini muffin pan for months, and when i finally found one i made a batch of these cute cupcakes straightaway. chocolate coating is so much easier when working with smaller pieces, and much more fun, and then you can devour the cupcake in two bites. the chocolate shell breaks with a crunch, revealing soft raspberry buttercream, i really advise to leave chunks of the fruit instead of pureeing it, and sweet soft cake.
mini cakes are perfect for parties and guest visits, and somehow they impress much more than actual cupcakes, maybe because there is simple so many of them, and it’s easy to prepare a variety to choose from. anyone can try a few, not only those with extreme sweet tooth. every time some event is coming i make the little kind of cakes, or one bite portions for sweet buffet.

it is just a beginning, but a very nice beginning of making this story real:
‘these are vanilla and cherry cheesecake squares. lemon bars here, blissfully sour and sun-coloured. a selection of cupcakes: double chocolate, strawberry and caramel, yellow cake with whipped cream, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and the last one cinnamon and plums.’ she nudged him to move a bit and be obeyed. ‘here we have cookie section: homemade oreos, sponge biscuits, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, green tea diamonds, and alafjores. furthermore, we offer three kinds of layer cake, sliced neatly: pineapple cake with coconut frosting, genoise with lemon buttercream and a chocolate and caramel delicacy. and last but not least, there is a desert selections, each of them prepared nicely in a cup, in perfectly sizes portions: frozen yogurt with fruits, chilled vanilla pudding, sour cherry panna cotta, peach trifle and splendid, also all homemade, grape jelly.’

mini vanilla cupcakes with raspberry buttercream

cupcakes
i used smitten kitchen recipe for these:

buttercream
raspberries
swiss meringue buttercream

fold in a handful of raspberries (chopped into smaller pieces, without the excess juice) into the buttercream

assemble
200 g milk chocolate
wafers (i used a dutch caramel style)

pipe soft buttercream onto cooled cupcakes – i used piping bag with no tip since raspberry seeds get stuck and the icing pipes badly, the exact shape is not very important
let the cupcakes sit in a fridge for at least an hour, until the icing is hardened
melt the chocolate in water bath and when it’s cooled down a bit – to a temperature a bit higher than lukewarm – dip the cupcakes quickly, to prevent the chocolate from hardening
decorate with small bits of wafers on top
keep in a cool place, serve when the chocolate shell is no longer runny

simple mushroom burgers

i miss england and i wish i never had to come back. 

mushroom burgers
(makes 2)

2 large portobello mushrooms
2 burger buns
pesto
tomato, sliced
mozzarella
mint sauce (optional)
olive oil, salt, pepper

wash the mushrooms and dry them with paper towel, then drizzle with olive oil and season
grill for about 10 minutes, until soft, in 180C, put some mozzarella slices for last two minutes to melt
grill the burger buns if you want
assemble the burger (i did: bun – pesto – mushroom – tomato – mint sauce – bun), serve immediately

strawberry jelly. trains.

i am leaving home in an hour and travel across the sea and lands to england, to meet with my most beautiful friend there. i really have hope that our time will turn out to be incredible. so this little post is a goodbye, although i might update while away, but it is a small goodbye more for myself than anyone else. there are some thing i would rather leave behind.

i do not like store-bought jell-o or any of the packaged foods, even as simple as this dessert. all it takes is a good fruit juice or compote and gelatin, and a few hours of patience or foresight. my grandmother used to make jelly all the time, because there weren’t many sweets available and they were quite expensive, when i was a really small kid. i remember how grandmother always would always leave the jelly to settle on stone staircase in tiny hallway, because the stone was always cold to touch. it took longer than fridge, of course, but there was a certain kind of magic to that. with every minute you had to wait, you were more impatient and happy, but also the respect for food grew and it was all very lovely.

strawberry jelly

strawberry compote, sweetened to taste
gelatin, quantity according to the package 

bring the compote to boil and turn off the stove, mix in gelatin, cool down, pour into nice glasses or cups
chill for a few hours (4-5 usually) until it’s all completely settled
serve with fresh fruit (and whipped cream if you enjoy)