Back from heaven

I am back from my little heaven called the Danube Delta. This little corner of the world, the newest land of Europe is my “place”.  I just love the peacefulness that surrounds it, the endless blue sky, the lonely birds flying high and the permanent taste of vast amounts of water and green plants that get you dizzy with their freshness.

The Danube Delta is the reason why I abandoned my blog lately. For the past weeks I went back home, to Romania for a short holiday. Luckily enough I went on a small trip to the Danube Delta, very close to Murighiol on a charming and welcoming floating hotel (http://www.sageata-apei.ro/) , in the middle of the running waters of the Danube. I will not start telling you about the amazing food I had during this trip, it consisted of various fish dishes, all married with home-grown veggies in a perfect harmony that matched the gorgeousness of this place.

And because I abandoned my blog for so long, I decided to make a little coming back cake that reminds me of the summer and of fresh sunny days.

vanilla sponge with blackberry and lime curd mousse

 

Vanilla sponge

3 eggs, separated

125 gr sugar

80 gr flour

50 ml milk

vanilla

Separate the eggs and set the whites aside. Mix the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla until thick, creamy and it doubles in volume. Add the flour and mix it gently with a spatula until the flour is totally incorporated.

Beat the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks. Gently incorporate the egg whites into the batter.

Bake the sponge into a baking pan lined with parchment paper in the oven at 170C for about 15-20 minutes. The sponge is ready when the testing stick comes out clean or the cake returns to its shape when softy pressed. Set the sponge aside and let it cool down.

Lime curd mousse

4 egg yolks

1/4 cups lime juice

120 gr sugar

150 gr butter

200 ml whipped cream

Mix the egg yolks with sugar and lime juice in a bowl. Place the bowl over simmering water and boil the mixture whisking continuously until it starts thickening and coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). Do not overcook the curd, otherwise it would become scrambled eggs and it will start smelling of bad omelet. Set aside and start incorporating gradually the cold butter. Transfer in a clean bowl, cover it with cling film and let it cool down in a freezer.

To make the mousse – mix 2/3 or the entire quantity of curd with 200 ml of whipped cream.

Blackberry mousse

200 grams blackberry

5 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons of water

350 ml whipped cream

3 sheets of gelatine

Place the gelatine for 10 minutes in cold water. Meanwhile mix the blackberries with water and sugar and boil them over slow fire until the mixture reaches a syrupy consistency. Set aside and let it cool down for few minutes and then incorporate the gelatine into the mixture. When it cools down mix it throughly with the whipped cream.

To assemble the cake just use your imagination, I cut my sponges in two equal disks, placed the blackberry mouse in between the two halves and covered everything with the lime curd and decorated it with tempered chocolate, strawberries and blueberries.

 

 

Easter reloaded

OK, OK… I know I am a bit late for Easter and unless I come up with an alternative religion that celebrates Easter now, this post is a bit outdated.

But  I made this recipe for Easter and I didn’t manage to post it, meanwhile I had to travel again – Pittsburgh (my new favourite city in US, more about  it in a future post). 

Getting back to Easter – I totally love this holiday, it is finally warm outside, so you have great weather, good food, family, friends and Easter bunny – my favourite combo.

Talking about Easter bunny – this is him through the eyes of my six years old niece (quite talented says the proud auntie :-)).

I made this cake, mainly because it is very light and you don’t feel like you just swallowed an entire cow that needs to be digested for few days in a row.
easter cake

sponge

2 eggs

4 tbsp sugar

 66 ml oil

 66 ml milk

 6 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix the egg yolks with sugar, oil, milk, and flour mixed with baking powder. Meanwhile whip egg whites into stiff peaks. gently incorporate the whites into the rest of the batter. Bake the sponge on pan lined with baking paper at 175 C, for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

raspberry mousse

300 grams raspberries

 4 tablespoons sugar

300 ml whipped cream

3 sheets gelatine

Put the gelatine to soak in cold water. Mix 200 grams raspberries with sugar, 200 ml water and some vanilla and boil it on low fire until it reaches a syrupy consistency. Strain the mixture and set it aside to cool down. Dissolve the gelatine into the raspberry syrup. When the mixture cooled down completely, fold it into the whipped cream.

chocolate mousse

To assemble, just place a sponge layer at the bottom, cover with raspberry mousse, followed by fresh raspberries or frozen ones, place another sponge layer on top, followed by a thick layer of chocolate mousse and top it all up with either a thin layer of whipped cream or another sponge layer.

Memories

Marble cake is one of those little wonders that remind me of childhood. My mum used to make this cake quite often and I loved it. At that point I didn’t like chocolate too much, especially the dark one. At the time this was the perfect cake for me with rich vanilla flavour and with chocolate swirls in it. This time I didn’t make my mum’s marble cake, but Pierre Herme’s one, which is a bit denser but equally delicious.

marble cake

  3 eggs

175 g unsalted butter

175 gr sugar

one teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, vanilla

175 g flour

50 g cocoa powder

Preheat the oven at 175C. Separate the egg whites and whisk with a pinch of salt  until they reach soft peaks. Mix the egg yolks with the softened butter and sugar for 10 minutes or until tehy get mixed well. Add the flour and the baking powder. Fold in gentely the egg whites (general rule of thumb, do not over mix and only fold in from bottom to the top). Divide the dough in two equal parts. Mix one of the halfs with cacao. Pour the white batter in a baking tray lined with baking paper and then pour the cacao batter on top. Gently create some swirls into the cake with a spoon or a fork.

Bake for 40-50 minutes.