My lovely child has just turned 4, so a cake has been baked according to her very brief brief- the cake is to be green, end of.  I bought some matcha and was going to make a matcha sponge with some kind of strawberry topping. And then Dorotka published her latest entry in the blog and that was that. Matcha stayed in the jar, I purchased fresh baby spinach and got to work. From the whole portion in Dorota’s recipe I baked 2 separate sponges, used them both, but one was a bit too high, so I took 1cm off the top, cut 4 small bases with rings and I’m glad I did, cause my photos of the birthday cake were rubbish, while the mini ones I’m happy to show off.

So, for the 4 layer cake( 2 sponges and 2 mousses) I used 5 whole eggs, separated, whipped the whites with 6 tbsps of sugar, yolks in., one by one.  A puree of 120 g of baby spinach and 150 ml of sunflower oil was made, I pushed it though the sieve too, as it was not fine enough. Added into the airy egg mixture. 260 g of plain flour, 1 tsp of baking powder. Into the oven, 35 minutes in 160 degrees.

When baked and sliced, some lime juice was used to moisten the cakes.

650 g of fresh strawberries quickly cooked with 2 tbsps of sugar, blitzed into puree. A strawberry jelly in. All cooled till it begun to set and then 450 ml of cream got whipped and the strawberry mixture added.

Fun to bake, fun to assemble. Finished off with chopped pistachios and crumbs from the green cake.  The Child enjoyed the mousse the most, left the green base behind, unaware of the spinach content.  Not a piece was wasted by our guests. 🙂

Just the look of it on mojewypieki.com made me want to eat it right away. My kind of cake, light, moist and delicious. All I had to do was to obtain some marzipan paste, which in Winchcombe is not easy. Co Op had some, but not the most astonishing quality one could ask for, it had to do today though, as I wanted cake!

For a small cake in my square tin I melted 100 g of butter, which sat waiting alongside 100 ml of milk. 2 small eggs beaten with 4 tbsps of sugar and some vanilla sugar until pale, light and fluffy. A zest and juice of 1 lemon added ( this is the only amount I kept unchanged, all other ingredients cut by half for a small cake, lemon must be quite strong for me). 60 g of grated marzipan in. 150 g of plain flour and 1 tsp of baking powder. All combined and into the tin, oven ready at 160 degrees for about 30 minutes. Finished off with a simple lemon icing – lemon juice added to icing sugar till a runny glaze appears.

I love it. There is a risk it might be all  gone this evening. 🙂

Excellent. One of the best so far. I’ve just had one and might have another, but maybe after dinner. 🙂

I’ve searched mojewypieki.com for something nice, midweek and not too expensive, as I happened to have some decent pears in the fruit bowl, that’s what I picked. I’ve managed to make the batter and put them in the oven while chatting with Mum- about cakes, of all things! Izzie got a birthday party invitation, which made her think of her own birthday in 2 months and a possible GREEN cake that I will be required to make for her. ( Spinach??????) 🙂

The batter for muffins took 250 g of plain flour, 2 tsps of baking powder, 100 g of caster sugar ( original recipe called for 150), 50 g of brown sugar( 75 in Dorota’s). 1 tsp of ground ginger, I added a tsp of ground fresh ginger too, that paid off with a nice zing of ginger instead of some traces of it. Then 140 ml of soured cream, 125 ml of oil, 1 tbp of honey and 2 whole eggs. When all the ingredients combined nicely in kitchen aid, I added 2 peeled and chopped pears, filled the muffin cases and sprinkled them with brown sugar. they baked in 190 degrees for about 25 minutes. Excellent!

Something for the coffee this weekend. Easy, quick, delicious, even more so the next day.  Copied all the way from mojewypieki.com.

3 eggs, separated, whites whipped with a touch of salt and 50 g of sugar. Yolks added. 3,5 tbsps of plain flour, 2 tbsps of potato starch, 1/4 tsp of baking powder. 1 tsps of instant coffee.  All this poured onto a  very flat baking tray, 190 degrees, 8 minutes. Rolled when hot with the help of a cloth.

The cream could not be easier to make. 250g of mascarpone, 120 ml of double cream, 3 tbsps of Baileys, 1 tsps of instatnt coffee again, 2 tbsps of icing sugar all kitchen aided together till nice and thick. My personal touch were the raspberries left from breakfast right onto the middle,they cut through the sweetness really nicely.  And after a couple of hours in the fridge it was ready to eat. 🙂

Every now and then I manage to produce something that makes me really chuffed and puts a smile on my face for a long time. I attempted this lovely calorific bomb yesterday and initially decided it’s as good as the one at Maslanka’s. Shortly followed by a conclusion that it’s actually better. Florian agreed, which is always nice.

For the base and the” roof” I used the ready made French puff pastry brought from Polish Biedronka. Baked it in 180 degrees, initially under another tray to keep it nice and flat, removed the tray after 12 minutes and continued without for another 13 minutes.

Made the cream no. 1 by whisking 2 whole eggs with 2 tbsps of plain flour and 2,5 tbpsp of potato flour with about half a glass of milk, while the other full glass of milk with 4 tbsps of sugar, vanilla sugar and vanilla paste were being brought to a boiling point. Egg mixture added, then onwards like with custard. The recipe for that is from mojewypieki and only that. The slightly cooled cream went onto the bottom layer of the baked pastry, then whipped cream, top layer of the pastry, icing sugar, fridge for 2-3 hours.

Absolutely love it. 🙂

I loved the way they looked on mojewypieki.com, had to make them. It’s a bit unfortunate, that the strawberries are rubbish at this time of the year- they taste like they’re imported from another planet. They can’t really be replaced with any other fruit and equally can’t be made in May, so the whole thing do look better than they taste.

First the brownies. 100 g of butter, melted, 100 g of dark chocolate, chopped, in.  2 whole eggs lightly beaten, 160 g of sugar- I did half and half caster and brown. 3/4 tsp of baking powder. All ingredients combined, spooned into the silicone mould for round cookies, filled them up to 3/4 and baked for about 10 minutes in 180 degrees. I must say they were delicious when freshly baked, but after a couple of hours in the fridge with the cream and strawberries they lost the appeal substantially. Still, nice after quesadillas and empanadas we had this evening with Lisa and Andy.

Just finishing the first piece. Excellent crumbly pastry, the filling as lemony as it gets, I think a touch more sugar would not hurt it, which is unusual for one of Dorotka’s recipes. Very good dessert though and not too complicated.

I had the pastry done by the time I had to get Izzie from playgroup, part one ( Father Christmas was to make an appearance today, so at 1.30 she went back in). 195 g of plain flour, 2 tbsps of icing sugar, 115 g of butter, one egg yolk, 2 tbsps of lemon juice and a splash of water to bind it- the pastry rested for 30 minutes in the fridge, then blind baked in 190 degrees for 15 minutes, minus the beans for another 5.

Filling, perfect if one’s dieting 🙂 . 5 whole eggs, 120 g of sugar, 2 tsps of potato flour, 200 ml of double cream, lemon rind of 2 lemons and 150 ml of lemon juice- all well combined and poured into the prebaked pastry. 30 minutes in 180 degrees.  Must have paid attention to it every few minutes in order not to brown it too much, the pastry edges needed to be covered with alu foil.

Overall, 8 out of 10 I’d say, maybe a touch less lemon juice or more sugar.

Nice little tray of cake topped with lots of apple and even more cinnamon. What’s not to like on a cold December afternoon? Cup of tea, a child that reaches for the second piece and I’m happy.

Relatively simple recipe, found on mojewypieki.com.  Unusually for me I’ve made the the whole portion, planned on taking some with me while dropping Izzie off at Lila’s tomorrow, but there might not be enough to take anymore!

200 g of soft butter got creamed with half a glass of caster sugar, 4 whole eggs added one by one. 300 g of plain flour, 1 packet of vanilla budyn, dry, in, 2 tsps of baking powder. 250 ml of milk. Vanilla essence is always a nice touch.  I was careful not to overmix the whole thing, as people were talking of zakalec a lot in the comments ( zakalec is a Polish word for  a baking disaster, when the cake initally rises and then comes crashing down, leaving the cake heavy and horrible). A little over 750 g of Braeburn apples peeled and sliced, not too thinly, generously placed on top of the cake. It took almost an hour to bake in 160 degrees and while still hot, I brushed it some melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Really nice!

This time from scratch, not from a block of puff pastry.  I used a simple recipe from mojewypieki.com, half a portion, as usual, still have about 12 horns left unfilled.  Maybe with creme pat this evening, I think I might be bothered actually!

250 g of plain flour, 125 g of cold butter, 125 g of sour cream and a pinch of salt all kitchen aided, rested in the fridge for about an hour and then rolled thinly, wrapped around the horn moulds and baked in 200 degrees for less than 15 minutes, till golden. Deliciously crunchy and delicate.  Filled simply with whipped cream, a few blueberries and sprinkled with pistachios.  Can’t say they’re effortless and quick, but worth the work for sure!

Found on mojewypieki.com, when browsing for some ideas. Masterchef The Professionals started on Tuesday, something nice and sweet with a cuppa while watching it makes it a lot better.

These are really easy. 150 g of butter creamed with 120 g of sugar, 2 eggs added one by one, 150 g of flour, 1,5 tsp of baking powder. Some vanilla extract. 2 tbsps of milk.  The whole mixture divided in half, one went onto the bottom of the muffin cases, the other got mixed with 2 tbsps of coffee ( previously diluted with hot water).  I think next time I’d use maybe a double espresso or something better, this Nescafe crap simply has nothing to do with coffee.  Such a lovely idea, but for me it needs better coffee.

The brown layer went on top of the vanilla one and baked for 25 minutes in 170 degrees.  Topped with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa. Good looking and pleasant.