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matcha white chocolate cookies

matcha white chocolate cookies

200 g butter, room temperature
250 g sugar
1 egg
320 g flour (I used gluten-free mix which worked perfectly)
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp matcha powder
pinch of salt
200 g white chocolate, chopper (or white chocolate chips)

cream the butter, then add sugar and beat until well combined
add the egg, beat until the mixture turns pale
add the bakaing powder, flour, matcha and salt, mix in thoroughly
add white chocolate, fold through the batter
make balls about 2.5 cm/1” diameter, place at least 5 cm/2” apart as the cookies will spread
bake in an oven pre-heated to 200C for 10-12 minutes, in one of the top rack of your oven, until the edges turn light brown but the centre still looks soft and green
leave to cool before transferring or do it carefully as cookies will break easily until they cool down completely
store in air-tight container for up to two weeks

chocolate & coffee birthday cake

chocolate & coffee birthday cake

chocolate sponge cake

5 eggs

150 g sugar

150 g flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

150 g butter

melt the butter and set aside

separate the eggs carefully

whisk the egg whites until they start to get foamy, then keep whisking adding sugar 2-3 tbsp at a time until the meringue is stiff and glossy

in a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks until they are pale and fluffy, add to the meringue and mix with a spatula

sift the flour and baking poweder, add to the eggs and mix together delicately

add the butter and mix in until well incorporated (do not worry when the mixture loses volume)

pour into a parchment-lined 22cm/9” cake pan

bake for about 40 min in 180C, allow to cool before removing from the pan and slicing into 3 layers

soaking syrup

100 ml strong coffee

100 g sugar

bring to boil, mix until sugar dissolves and then for about 5 minutes, until the mixture has a slightly thick syrupy texture, set aside

coffee Italian meringue buttercream 

250 ml strong coffee

250 g sugar

5 egg whites

250 g butter

reduce the coffee to roughly a quarter of its volume

cook the sugar and coffee reduction on medium heat until it turns into syrup and reaches 118C and the instantly remove from heat, the best way to check is with candy thermometer, you can also do it via cold water test (explained here https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html) – while the syrup bubbles, starts whisking the egg whites into soft foam

pour hot syrup slowly into the egg whites while they are mixing on high speed – the syrup ‘cooks’ the eggs so the meringue should turn firmer and thicker

after all the syrup has been added, whisk the meringue for another 5-10 minutes until it’s really thick and completely stable (no foamy liquid structure)

allow to cool down, in the meantime beat the butter until fluffy

add the meringue into the butter, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix very well each time – the buttercream must be smooth and thick at the end, it will have a brownish colour (in Poland we call this colour “coffee with milk”)

note: if you don’t trust your sugar skills, you can make Swiss meringue buttercream (like here) and simply add granulated coffee dissolved in minimal amount of water or milk – to taste, I never use such coffee so I cannot say how much would be needed

caramel

200 g sugar 

50 ml heavy cream

caramelize the sugar cooking it on medium-low heat in a heavy bottom pan, making sure the sugar covers the bottom of the pan only minimally and doesn’t create a heap – use quite a big pan and one of the larger burners of your stove

when the sugar turns its colour to brown and smells a little bit burnt add the cream – careful not to burn yourself – and mix well with a spatula

allow to cool down a little 

decoration

chocolate swirls/laces

strawberries 

flaked almonds

assembly

take a layer of the cake, soak with 1/3 of the syrup, spread a thin layer of 1/5 of the buttercream, and repeat twice

when the cake is put together, ice the top and the sides roughly, it doesn’t need to be perfect, simply try to cover the dark brown cake with a thin layer of buttercream, and use the leftover to do some decorative piping at the top

pour the caramel (barely warm) along the buttercream decoration, allowing it to run down the sides of the cake nicely

decorate the top with chocolate, halved strawberries, and chocolate bits

keep refrigerated but leave in room temperature for half an hour before serving

rose madeleines

It’s been too long since I made madeleines. This is the first time after reading À la recherche du temps perdu – yet since I am missing all the key ingredients of the scene, I shall enjoy my almost-blasphemous rose flavour without literary connotations. I am home now, it’s a story if its own.

rose madeleines

(makes 18)

100 g butter

2 eggs

120 g sugar

140 g flour

½ tsp baking powder

zest of a lemon

juice of half a lemon

1 tbsp rose water

rose petal + icing sugar + pink colouring to decorate

melt the butter, set aside to cool down

beat the eggs with sugar until fluffy and creamy-coloured

sift the flour with baking powder

add butter and flour alternately to the eggs, in 3 portions, mixing well after each addition

add the lemon juice and rose water, mix well

fill madeleine pan pouring the batter to 2/3 of the pan’s height

bake for 10 min in 220C

cool for 15 minutes before getting them out of the pan

icing is simply rose water, pink colouring and icing sugar mixed to the right thickness, so that it slides down a dipped madeleine slowly and lazily like honey; make sure to drop some rose petals onto the icing quickly as it dries up swiftly

dipped mini meringues & tea party

It seems to have become a tradition that I host a tea party in the last days before Lent. This year it was a late Sunday afternoon tea with well over a dozen of my friends. As my time was limited - I had only a hay and a half to do all the preparing - I aimed for making simple things. No fancy entremets this time, sadly, but a few nice cakes and little bites instead. It was also a challenge to have that many people around in a household of two! (luckily I have a think for pretty tableware.) We had a lovely time and everyone was eager to take leftovers home so I wouldn't have to eat cake for a week as it did happen last time. 

The menu was:

milk chocolate & hazelnut-dipped mini meringues

matcha & rice krispies donuts

miso-glazed donut holes

mini blueberry jelly pots

matcha & rose cake

raspberry cake with goats cheese buttercream

chocolate cake with blackcurrant & dulce de leche

herb & lime ice cream

white chocolate orange fudge

cheese & crackers board

guava sparkling soda, chilled mint infusion, a selection of teas (15 kinds to choose from)

Love doing the set-up without anything ready, a lovely exercise for imagination!

dipped mini meringues

makes about 40

4 egg whites

200g caster sugar

200g milk chocolate

chopped nuts of choice (I used hazelnuts)

put the egg whites and sugar in a mixer, put on medium speed and mix it for 20 minutes, until stiff, smooth and thick

pipe into small meringues with a star-shaped tip

bake in 110C for 3 hours, leave to try inside the oven overnight

line baking trays with parchment 

melt the chocolate in bain marie

dip the meringues in chocolate and then nuts, place on baking trays and leave for two hours for the chocolate to set (ideally in a cool place but do not put in the fridge)