chocolate chunk chewy cookies

Things I miss from home:

~ going to church at 6:15 in complete darkness, through a silent snow-covered city

~ the silence of my bedroom

~ my photo spots & The Marble Counter ;)

~ family Sunday breakfasts

And I miss summer. But I miss it all year around, until it comes and then disappears too soon. There are still green leaves on trees here and it's unbelievable. When I look at these pictures with rose bush from my backyard it felt like a fairytale.

chewy chocolate chunk cookies

300 g plain flour

300 g sugar (I used half caster half light muscovado)

200 g softened butter

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

salt

150-200 g chocolate chunks / chip

mix the butter with sugar(s) until pale and fluffy, add the egg, mix again until smooth

sift the flour with baking powder and a pinch of salt, dump into the butter/sugar/egg and mix on lowest speed or with a spatula (though that will take a long time) until it comes together nicely

put the chocolate into the dough and mix in

form cookies with a tablespoon, a domes of about 4 cm (1 ½”) diameter, allow at least 4 cm between them as the cookies will spread

bake in an oven preheated to 200C for 8-10 minutes, until the edges look slightly golden and crisp but the middle is still pretty soft 

let cool down for 5-10 min before taking them off the tray and putting on a wire rack to cool them completely

store in an airtight box for up to a week

matcha swirly rings

This is not a sweet thing.

This is a pastry that has a sweet touch to it, despite the sugar, and melts in your mouth, but most of the flavor is brought by matcha and it’s tart and bitter and long-lasting. 

Most of the things I’ve made with matcha so far were cakes and mousses where it was incorporated into the cake batter or whipped cream or butter and while the flavor was still there, it was mild and subtle, spread evenly across the whole dish. Here, between the crunchy puff pastry and the gritty sugar, matcha is raw. It tastes like a herb, in a way, and it’s a strong flavor. It tastes bitter like a green tea you left brewing for too long and it leaves sandy feeling on your tongue and it’s amazing. It’s more sophisticated than delicate but it’s really worth trying so please do, if you feel up to an adventure. You won’t be disappointed.

makes about 15

1 sheet puff pastry (~250 grams)

2 tsp matcha powder

5 tbsp sugar + some more for sprinkling

2 tbsp butter

melt the butter with a tiny bit of water, add the sugar and mix until dissolved

add matcha powder, mix in

smear the puff pastry with the mixture, preferably using a brush, or pour it over the pastry and spread with a knife

cut 30 stripes (1 cut along the longer side of the cake and 15 along the shorter side)

take two stripes, push the dough together at the end so that it sticks and simply wrap one of the stripes around each other

stick the endings together and put on a baking tray

springle with sugar

bake for about 7 minutes in an oven preheated to 200C

carrot fest

Colors of autumn on a plate - on a harsh grey paper - are one of my favorite things this month. Until this year we never had such a variety of carrots, only the regular orange ones were available, so this sudden rainbow colors of the root veggies stand was fascinating. 

The white one is sharp and bitter, a bit like turnip or horseradish or maybe kohlrabi. The yellow one is in-between, with an earthy undertone. The purple is surprisingly sweet, almost as if it were a fruit and not a vegetable. 

My favorite pairing was the purple one with cilantro cream cheese spread - one of the best snacks this whole year. But all of the combinations are good, you can't go wrong with the classics, right? Carrot and hummus, carrot and cream cheese, it's classic that everyone knows - and yet there is refreshing and fascinating newness to the wide selection and the visually appealing food that just begs to be eaten.

So please grab a healthy and amazing bite!

carrot fest ingredients:

carrots of four kinds: regular, white, yellow, purple

baguette (or any other kind of nice bread)

hummus (I had regular and tomato)

cream cheese (I mixed it with salt and chopper cilantro)

cheddar cheese sticks (I used Polish bursztyn)

layer cake with coffee buttercream

vanilla cake

3 eggs
flour, softened butter, sugar – each of the same weight as the eggs (around 160-180g)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp vanilla extract

separate egg yolks from egg whites
cream the butter in an electric mixer, add ¾ of the sugar, mix until pale and fluffy
add egg yolks, one at time, beating well after each addition, then pour in the vanilla extract and mix well
sift the flour with baking powder, add to the egg-butter-sugar mix in 4-5 portions, mixing just until incorporated after each addition
beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar to soft peaks
fold in the whites into the batter carefully, delicately, so that the cake doesn’t lose volume
pour into a buttered and floured pan (22 cm/9”)
bake in 180C for about forty minutes – check the readiness with a wooden toothpick

cut in 3 layers when cooled down


coffee buttercream frosting

250 g softened butter
500 g powdered sugar
5 tbsp milk
5 tsp instant espresso powder

beat the butter until pale and fluffy (or cream it with a wooden pounder in a big porcelain bowl)
add sugar in 5-6 portions, mixing in well after each addition
add the milk and mix until it’s incorporated
dissolve the espresso powder in 1-2 tbsp boiling water, cool down a bit, pour into the frosting and mix until the buttercream is smooth and evenly coffee-flavored

assembly

elderberry jam (or other berry, apricot would work, too)

almond flakes

chocolate decorations of your choice

place the first layer on a cake stand/tray & put 1/3 of the frosting, spread

place the second layer, spread a few tablespoons of jam 

place the third layer, spread another 1/3 of the frosting, use the rest to decorate the sides 

pipe little rosettes around the top of the cake, place a chocolate decoration into each

sprinkle the sides of the cake with almond flakes & press them gently with your hand so that they stick to the buttercream

oat flour chocolate chip cookies

A few days ago I was making cocoa brownies, but when they were half-baked, I decided I need something more to munch on and serve anyone who comes by my house, so I decided to make some chocolate “chip” cookies, remembering that I bought some chocolate discs in M&S and needed to use them before I managed to eat them :) I creamed the margarine, added sugar and egg and opened the cupboard only to find out that there is no flour left. No wheat flour, that is – there was potato flour, corn flour, buckwheat flour… And oat flour. 

Some time ago I made cookies with some of wheat flour replaced by oat one and they turned out to be a great hit among family friends, so I decided to give 100% oat flour a try, and it was a very good decision. 

If you’re looking for crunchy cookies, it’s not what you want. These cookies are chewy and very, very soft. Not exactly as moist as undercooked wheat flour dough, but it’s still a very interesting texture, and together with the half-melted chocolate, they make a perfect mix – and the great thing is, they’re gluten-free (and dairy-free, if you use dairy-free chocolate), so most of the folks out there should be able to eat them. There is also this richer, nutty undertone to the flavor, making the cookies unusual and maybe a tad sophisticated, so it’s a perfect twist on the classic that I definitely recommend to everyone!

oat flour chocolate chip cookies

350 g oat flour (make sure there are no additives that would contain gluten!)

200 g margarine (softened butter is okay)

300 g sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

salt

chocolate chips (about 200g, use dairy-free for dairy-free cookies)

cream the margarine with sugar, add egg, mix until smooth

add the flour sifted with a pinch of salt and baking powder, mix until there are no flour lumps, with a mixer or with your hands – the dough will be stickier than “normal” cookie dough, that’s ok

scoop about 1 tbsp portions onto a baking tray – the dough will be sticky, so help yourself with slightly wet fingers or a smaller spoon

press 3-4-5 chocolate chips into the dough balls

bake in an oven preheated to 200C for 8-9 minutes, until the edges are golden brown

remove from the baking tray when they’ve cooled down for 5-10 minutes – the cookies are very soft, so remember to be careful and delicate!

cheesecake ice cream with peach & passionfruit swirl

cheesecake ice cream with peach & passionfruit swirl

250 g cream cheese
5 egg yolks
400 ml full-fat milk
250 g sugar

make custard: mix the yolks with sugar until pale and fluffy
bring milk to boil, pour over the eggs, stirring constantly, put back on the stove and cook until it starts to thicken
put the pan into a cold water to stop the cooking process and stir for a few moments
cool down
beat the cream cheese with a mixer for 1-2 minutes until nice and creamy, add the custard 2-3 tablespoons at time, making sure it’s well mixed after each addition & there are no lumps
chill in a fridge


swirl:
1 peach
2 tbsp sugar
¼ cup water
1 tsp cornstarch
passionfruit juice (I used 1 tbsp concentrated Sunquick , 1-2 fresh fruits should do)

get rid of the skin & stone, cube the peach, put it into boiling water & cook for 5-8 minutes, until completely soft, then blend
add the sugar & wait until it dissolves
add cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp of water, mix energetically (to prevent lumps) until thick
add passionfruit juice & cool down
pour with a spoon over the chilled ice cream base & make a swirl running a toothpick in through the ice cream
put in freezer for 6-8 hours

the ice cream is soft enough to scoop after freezing, just put your scoop into hot water for a moment before using it

chocolate pizza

This post was brought here by my curious readers who were interested in learning what exactly that chocolate pizza I mentioned was :) It is indeed one of the best remedies for all problems and bad mood, eating a chocolate pizza makes you feel as if you were in one of those tales you used to read when you were a kid, innocent and peaceful and filled with sweets. While most adults eat "normal" things for dinner and don't feel like their life depends on comfort food, I never stop myself from such a simple indulgence. If it makes me happy, and it does. The crust isn't very sweet so it balances the chocolate's flavor perfectly, and adding fruit instead of more candy helps, too, if you're not feeling too much like a kid :)

chocolate pizza

250 g flour

2 tbsp sugar

25 g fresh yeast / ½ packet dry yeast

1 tbsp oil 150 ml lukewarm water

mix the yeast with sugar and 2 tbsp of water, wait until yeast is dissolved

add the rest of the water and flour, mix until it forms a loose ball, dump onto a floured surface

knead for 5 minutes (add flour if needed, during summer & in warmer and more humid climate you might need a bit more flour)

let the dough rise for about an hour

dump onto a floured surface again, punch it and then form a ball and roll to ½ cm/1/4” thickness, if you want a perfect round shape you might consider cutting out the dough with a big (27 cm/11”) round baking pan 

bake in an oven preheated to 190C for 15 minutes

chocolate icing

100 g chocolate

50 g butter

50 g sugar

1 tbsp water

melt the butter in a small pan, add water and sugar and boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved

take off the stove and add roughly chopped chocolate, mix until the glaze is smooth

use while hot/warm

you can either decorate while the crust is warm or cooled down

top with some kind of a chocolate spread (just chocolate, nutella, I used chocolate icing) and your favorite sweet toppings (chocolate chips, m&m's, crushed oreos, fruit slices - babanas & strawberries would be perfect - etc.)

for toasted marshmallows, put them onto the pizza and put it into an oven, top shelf, preferably with top heat/grill, and set the highest temperature, while the oven heats up, the marshmallows will get toasted in 1-2 minutes – be careful not to burn them!

chocolate baked donuts

If you haven't had a chocolate donut yet, this is the time. And let's forget about chocolate glazed and chocolate filed ones, these have lots of cocoa in the dough and they taste exceptional. They appear less sweet than normal donuts, more elegant and unusual, and they will certainly surprise the unsuspecting. There is a variety of ways to serve them, of which I show you three this time and leave a few more ideas for another time :)  The donuts were a big success with everyone who tried them and I can only encourage you to see for yourself!

chocolate baked donuts

3/4 cup full-fat milk
2 tbsp butter
7 g dry yeast / 50 g fresh yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
salt

heat the milk with butter and mix until the butter is dissolved
put the sugar and yeast in a small bowl, add 2 tbsp of lukewarm milk/butter mixture and let the yeast start working for 5 min
beat the egg
mix flour with cocoa and salt in a bowl, then add the yeast mixture, rest of the milk and the egg
mix the dough until it comes together , put it on a flour-dusted counter and knead for 5 minutes
let the dough rise in a warm place for an hour
knead it again and roll into about 1,5 cm/1/2” thick, cut out the donuts
let he dough rise for half an hour
bake about 10 minutes into 180C

cool down

rich chocolate glaze

100 g chocolate

50 g butter

50 g sugar

1 tbsp water

melt the butter in a small pan, add water and sugar and boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved

take off the stove and add roughly chopped chocolate, mix until the glaze is smooth

use immediately - dip the top of the donuts it in (watch out not to burn yourself!)

chai glaze

3 tbsp strong chai tea (I brewed 1 teabag of the tea in just 1/5 cup water)

powderes sugar

add enough powdered sugar to the chai tea so that the glaze is rather thick (about 3/4 cup), the way it covers the donut you dip in it and doesn't all drip, adjust the amonut of sugar/tea it it's too or not enough thick

pastry cream

300 ml full-fat milk

3 egg yolks

80 g sugar

1 tbsp flour/cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla extract (or to taste, depends on its strength)'

50 g butter

bring the milk to boil

mix the eggs, sugar and flour in a pan, pour the boiling milk over it and mix constantly

put it back on the stove and cook until the pastry cream has thick pudding-like consistency (if you're using cornstarch it might be more runny than using flour but it will settle as it cools)

mix in vanilla extract

add cubed butter and mix thoroughly 

cool down placing the pan in cold water, sprinkle powdered sugar on the top to prevent skin from appearing

my variations: 

donut holes with chocolate glaze & chocolate puffed rice

donut (ring) in chai glaze

donut filled with vanilla pastry cream & glazed with chocolate glaze

pag, croatia

{the next 7 photos are form one time me & sis woke up at 6 and went into the town to capture the soft light and dusty sunrise pinks & beiges}

cloudy sky birthday cake

Sometimes I make order cakes for family/friends/friends' friends and this was one of them - the girls surname is Chmura which means 'cloud' in Polish, so the order was to make a blue cake with fluffy clouds, plain flavored, with some fruit. They liked the cake and it was easy and pleasant to make, so everyone was satisfied. It's a very simple decoration but it looks really love in real, so it should work for any kids' parties you might have upcoming in the future :)

cloudy sky birthday cake

sponge cake

(for 1 round 22cm / 9” cake, to be cut in 3 layers)

4 eggs, separated

1 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

salt

whip the egg whites with salt until foamy, then continue adding sugar in 3-4 portions and beat until stiff

beat egg yolks with mixer (in small bowl would do) until pale and fluffy

mix the two on low speed

add flour sieved with baking powder and mix delicately with rubber spatula until there are no more flour lumps

bake for 35-40 min in 180°C (i don’t preheat my oven when I bake sponge cakes, it helps the top to be more flat as the sides seem to raise more easily)

vanilla swiss meringue buttercream (i used a portion made of 6 egg whites) + blue food coloring

raspberries

assembly:

mix food coloring into 2/5 of the buttercream

place one sponge cake layer on a cake stand, top with 1/5 of the white buttercream and spread it evenly, put some raspberries onto the buttercream, repeat

make a crumb coat with the blue buttercream, let it sit in a fridge for at least half an hour, until the buttecream is firm to touch

over the cake with the rest of the blue buttercream, smooth out the top & sides

pipe clouds with the remaining white butercream (I piped half-spheres with wilton tip #2 and then created a nice cloud surface with the back of a tiny dessert spoon, you don't want the clouds to perfectly smooth though)

keep in fridge until 20-30 minutes before serving

blueberry crumb bars

This is my little gift to thank you for 100 followers on tumblr! You are all such lovely people, thank you so much for being here <3

blueberry crumb bars

3 cups flour (I used 1 cup oat flour here)
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tbsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
zest of 1 lemon
250g butter, room temperature / margarine

500g blueberries (about 3 cups)
100g sugar
3 tbsp flour

mix the dry ingredients for the cake + zest in a bowl
add cubed butter/margarine and mix in with your hands until it forms crumbs
mix the blueberries, sugar and flour for the filling
line a 25cm/10” square pan with baking parchment
put 2/3 of the crumbs into the pan, toss the blueberries over it and then sprinkle with the rest of the crumbs
bake in an oven preheated to 190C for 40 minutes
serve chilled – I used some simple powdered sugar & lemon juice on the top of the cake to add some lemony sweetness

chocolate "fake ice cream"

Those of you who have been following me & who looked though my recipes probably know this: I love meringue in all possible ways and I use it all the time in different types of desserts. The thing that I want to show you today doesn't exactly quality as frozen meringue, like this one, because of the additional ingredients. It's certainly not ice cream either. So I just call it fake ice cream and that's as close as it gets.

Easy to scoop, soft straight from freezer, no ice cream machine required, strong chocolate flavor, feel light melting inside your mouth. I served the ice cream in small scoops with a tiny bit of chocolate sprinkles for texture and edible flowers, in tall aperitif glasses and they were a perfect elegant treat before the real dessert ;) 

chocolate „fake ice cream”

5 egg whites

200 g sugar

150 g chocolate

100 ml whipping cream

whip the egg whites with sugar in bain marie (like when making swiss meringue: instructions here) until stiff and glossy

melt the chocolate in bain marie

pour the melted chocolate into the egg whites, mixing constantly on low speed

whip the cream until stiff

fold the whipped cream in the meringue/chocolate mixture with a spatula

freeze for at least 6 hours

eat immediately after serving, no need to take it out of freezer early to let the “ice cream” soften - it melts pretty quickly

praga cake

I made this lovely cake for my birthday last week. I wanted something elegant and indulgent and chocolate-y and this recipe happened to catch my eye, I've been staring at it for the most of my childhood on pages of an old cookbook. It's a classic, remotely similar to Sachertorte (the composition of chocolate cake, apricots, chocolate icing) but this is better. I mean, if you like buttercream and all kinds of creamy goodness. If you've been following my entries, you must have noticed that I love meringue in all possible ways and almost always make Swiss meringue buttercream for my cakes, but this is so much better.

Swiss meringue is surely better for decorating cakes, it has this very pale colour you can easily change into whichever you want and the consistency is lovely, too, but if you want to show off & indulge, this is the buttrecream you're looking for :) It's creamy and milky and not overly sweet, thanks to the cocoa. It's velvety and reach and melts inside your mouth the same way the filling of Lindt's Lindor pralines does - that's also why it's best sever chilled, the sensation of a cold bit of chocolate goodness melting on your tongue is to die for. I'm not too happy about making my own birthday cake - there's something sad to it, I guess - but this one was definitely worth it and I can't wait to make it again!

praga cake

sponge cake

4 eggs, whites & yolks separated

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tbsp baking powder

100 g melted butter

salt

line a 18 cm (7”) baking pan with parchment paper

beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are foamy, then add the sugar in 3-4 portions, beat until the eggs are stiff and glossy and the sugar has dissolved

beat the egg yolks until pale and fluffy, 2-3 minutes

fold the egg yolks into the egg whites delicately with a spoon/spatula

sift the flour with cocoa and baking powder, add to the eggs and fold in very carefully – don’t use a mixer here, do it by hand – until there are no flour lumps, then add the melted butter and fold again until the batter is smooth

pour into the pan, bake in an oven preheated to 180C for 35-40 minutes, check if it’s ready with a toothpick

cool down completely before removing from the pan and peeling off the paper

cut in 3 even layers (you may cut off the top it if it’s too uneven)

condensed milk buttercream

400 g butter (cooler than room temp, it shouldn’t be too soft)

200 ml sweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks

15 g cocoa powder

vanilla extract

mix the yolks in the condensed milk and cook on low heat, stirring constantly to prevent it from getting lumpy / burned, until it reaches a consistency of custard (it should coat the back of your spoon/spatula with a layer of custard, that means the thickness is right)

cool down in a bigger bowl of cold water until room temp

beat the butter until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes

add the condensed milk in 4 portions, mixing well after each addition

at the end, add the cocoa and a splash of vanilla extract and mix until the buttercream in even and there are no lumps

if it’s not thick enough (if the butter was too soft) let sit in fridge for half an hour before using

chocolate “icing”

50 g butter

50 g sugar

2 tbsp water

80 g dark chocolate

put the butter, sugar and water into a pan, bring to boil, make sure the butter has melted

take off the stove, add chopped chocolate, stir until it’s melted and creates a nice homogenous icing

assembly

cake

buttercream

icing

6 tbsp apricot jam

heat the apricot jam until it’s slightly runny spread it over all three layers of cake, it should sink in

divide the buttercream in 3 portions

line the sides of your pan with parchment paper, it should be 5 cm /2” higher than your sponge cake

put the first piece of cake into the pan, spread 1 portion of buttercream over it, repeat 2 times

pour slightly warm icing over the final layer

let the cake sit in fridge for at least 3 hours before taking it out of the pan and transferring onto a plate/cake stand

serve chilled

homemade pop tarts

You could call this a fan interpretation. I only had the real pop tarts twice in my life, they are incredibly expensive here and available only sometimes in one store here. It's crazy how many versions there are in America!

So I made my version. It's pink and sweet and approved by everyone who tried them :)

homemade pop tarts

(makes 12-15)

300 g flour (I used whole wheat)

150 g butter, softened

50 g powdered sugar

2 egg yolks

pinch of salt

fruit preserves (I used homemade rhubarb + strawberry + vanilla, you'd preferably want whole fruit jam made without use of any gelling agent like pectin or gelatin because such jam would melt in baking temperature and soak into the shortcake)

glaze (lemon juice + powdered sugar + food coloring, or your favorite one)

sprinkles

mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl, add the butter and mix it in with your hands until the flour gets lumpy, add one egg yolk and quickly mix the dough with your hands until it’s smooth 

(alternatively, put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the dough forms a smooth ball, I don’t have a proper blender and I prefer to do it by hand)

refrigerate for at least two hours

mix the remaining egg yolk with a teaspoon of water

roll the cold dough on a floured surface to 3 mm (1/8”) thickness and cut rectangles with a sharp knife (mine were 5x8 cm – 2x3,5”) 

place a teaspoon of the jam in the middle of a dough rectangle, brush the edges (about 1 cm – 1/2") with egg yolk and put another rectangle on the top

press the edges of the two rectangles with a fork to make sure they will keep together, prick a few times with a fork on the top

repeat until the dough is all used up (you can take the leftover dough and form a ball of it, roll it out and repeat the process until you run out)

bake in an oven preheated to 200C for 12-15 minutes

let them cool down for ten minutes before carefully removing them from the baking tray

glaze when they’re completely cool, sprinkle immediately and let the glaze dry a bit before eating