First Weekend Specials 2018 and Happy New Year!

On January 7, 2018 By felisrecipesIn Breakfast, Brunch, Cakes, Pork, Uncategorized13 Comments

Happy New Year everyone! I had so many plans to cook and to post many delicious meals and recipes for the first weekend of 2018, but unexpected bronchitis got my plans ruined. 😦

Anyway, I tried to satisfy some of our preferences for the first day of the year and to indulge a bit from breakfast through dinner 😉

Me and my daughter, we started the day with a chocolate chia pudding that I prepared the day before and let it in the fridge overnight. For that, I mixed three tablespoons of chia seeds with one tablespoon of each cocoa and brown sugar and 2 cups of unsweetened cashew milk. Give it a good stir or shake to mix all the ingredients in a jar and let it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Now, you can imagine I had to let mine warm up for a while as eating right from the refrigerator was not an option at this point 😉

While the two of us continued with some delicious Ricotta Chocolate Overloaded Pancakes:

my hubby decided to move to the savoury side and enjoyed an Italian Sausages Omelette with Sauer kraut and homemade pickled beets. While the Sauer kraut was store bought I like to make the pickled beets at home. I just boil the beet with skin on. Let them cool down, peel them and cut them into cubes or chunks depending on your desire. I just drizzle the beet pieces with lemon juice ( I use the juice from a small lemon ) and half teaspoon balsamic and a pinch of salt.

With such an indulgence for breakfast, you can imagine that our lunch was quite late, or we could call it an early supper. But this gave me a chance to take care of the cake. I made the same cake for my daughter’s birthday, early December 2017. The cake was quite a hit after a try like ” mom, really I am not little anymore. You don’t have to make a cake every year …yadda, yadda, yadda. ” And because we all loved it I decided to make it again as the first dessert of 2018.

While the lunch was cooking, I prepared the ingredients for the cake. As a Romanian tradition, we would serve cabbage rolls for New Year. However, I did not go for the original recipe, but I made something to remind us of cabbage rolls. I had left two Italian sausages, and I made some pan-fried turkey meatballs from extra lean ground turkey. I cooked the sausages in a large pot. After they turned quite brownish, I added the sliced cabbage. I seasoned all with salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, dried dill and oregano. I give it a stir and let it cooked until the cabbage softened a bit. I added some more hot water and the turkey meatballs on top and let them simmer on low heat for another hour or so. If you are wondering why did I add boiling water instead of just water, is because the sausages and cabbage were already cooking and by adding the hot water you won’t stop the cooking process. I had to admit the combination of pork, turkey and cabbage was just delicious.

And we end our first day if 2018 with a decadent Chocolate Tiramisu:

You could check the original recipe, my inspiration for this delicious cake here.

Here is what I used. I changed a few ingredients, but the final result is very close.

500 g ladyfingers
500 ml coffee, sweetened with 1 tbsp of brown sugar ( I made it again, and I skipped the sugar and was just okay as well )
1/4 cup of brown sugar
500 gr smooth ricotta
300 gr semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon instant coffee ( optional)
1 teaspoon rum extract
a few amaretto biscotti for decor, optional.

Here is the result. I think that the pictures talk a thousand words :

You could add a beautiful festive ribbon around. I just couldn’t find mine, and I had no energy to look for it. Like my daughter says ” mom, don’t put it away too well, you know that you never remember after that” LOL

I have only one more comment to make about the cake: with every day that passes it becomes more delicious, the ladyfingers will be so moist and soaked with the coffee, and the cream cheese just melts into your mouth. Now it depends on how long you can resist it but in my opinion, the third day was the best, so maybe if you have guests, it’s better to prepare this one day ahead. 🙂

Pumpkin cream cheese swirl – Giving Thanks

On October 9, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Cakes9 Comments

We enjoyed the warm and beautiful weather here in Toronto for the 2017 Thanksgiving weekend. Like the weather channel announced a June-like weekend in October, the temperatures reached 24 Celsius in the afternoon, and it felt like Spring was around the corner, instead of the cold and rainy Fall that will soon be upon us. But the Auburn colours outside and the stores full of all kinds of pumpkin helped me come back to reality, so to speak.

When I asked my peeps what dessert they’d prefer, I was given two choices: Creamcheese cake was my daughter’s preference and Pumpkin pie my husband’s. At first, I decided to give both of them their options, but I ran out of time, as it’s often the case during long weekends. You know how it is, we think we can do so much each day, and we fill up our schedules to the brink. Sounds familiar, right?

Inspiration soon knocked on my door, and I decided to combine the two deserts, instead; and this, dear reader, is what came out. A delicious dessert to be enjoyed by all.

Here are the ingredients for the crust:

3 cups cracker crumbs ( I used Maria’s cookies )
2 sticks of butter

Ingredients for the pumpkin cream cheese filling

2 packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sugar ( pumpkin pie filling has also sugar added )
3 small range free eggs
small can of pumpkin pie filling
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for the cream cheese filling

2 packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sugar
3 small range free eggs
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Prepare the pan: spray it with some oil ( optional) Wrap the bottom pan with aluminium foil and place it in a rectangle pan.

In a food processor crumb the cookies. Melt the butter. Mix together the cookies crumbs and the butter. Place the mixture into the pan and even it using the bottom of a glass or your hand. I always like to raise a bit the crust sides with my fingers just to avoid the filling from seeping through the bottom of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Some of the recipes ask to bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes. I usually skip this step because of my old oven, as in the end, my crust would always look burn on the outside.

In two large mixing bowls, using an electric mixer beat together the filling ingredients. Add the pumpkin filling to the pan. Pouring in the middle of the pan add the cream cheese filling. Using a knife make circular moves from the centre to the edges of the pan.

Bake the cake for an hour. When the sides are firm, and the middle slightly jiggle the pie should be ready. Let the cake cool down to room temperature for a few hours.

I baked the cake around 09:00 in the morning so we were able to indulge around 5:00 pm. I put the cake in the fridge for the last hour.

Banana Peanut Butter & Oats Muffins

On May 6, 2017 By felisrecipesIn Brunch, Cakes16 Comments

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I woke up with an undeniable urge to bake. As you might know from reading my previous posts, sometimes I make pancakes or crepes when the mood strikes me. And there’s also that odd batch of sweet and/or savory muffins that makes the cut as well.

Today, while the rest of the family slept I scoured the fridge to see what I could make for breakfast. There wasn’t a lot to pick from (we had yet to go grocery shopping, heh) but that didn’t stop me. I see an (almost) empty fridge as a challenge, not a defeat.

And so, here we are: Banana Peanut Butter & Oats Muffins. Not bad, if I do say so myself 😉

Ingredients:

1 cup old fashion oats
6 teaspoons of chocolate peanut butter powder
1 tsp baking soda
lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup grape seeds oil
2 cups cashew milk
1 1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk together: flour, oats, sugar and peanut butter powder. Make a hole and add the two eggs, milk, vanilla extract and grape seeds oil. sprinkle the baking powder and add over the lemon juice. Stir until the flour mixture is moistened – do not overmix.

Using a medium size ice-cream scoop, pour the batter into the muffin cups. Each cup will get 2 ice-cream scoops.

Bake until muffin top springs back when lightly pressed, it should take no longer than 20 minutes. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the pan then move the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

And, if you’d prefer a bit more sweetness you can top the muffins with a teaspoon of Nutella. Yum! 😊

Bon Appetit! ❤

Makes: 12 muffins; preparation: 10 – 15 minutes; baking 15 – 20 minutes.

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Butternut Squash Coffee Cake

On December 18, 2016 By felisrecipesIn CakesLeave a comment

In the previous post ” Homemade Almond Milk” I found inspiration on “pastryaffair.com” website. I decided to give it one more try after making the successful Almond milk ;). This time my inspiration was for a dessert: “Pumpkin Espresso Bundt Cake”.

I guess it was another success if I consider that my daughter who does not eat pumpkin or butternut squash ate several slices and even she said ” really is this a pumpkin cake ?” She just loved it 🙂

Ingredients

For the Cake

puree from 1/2 of a large butternut squash
4 eggs
3/4 cup grape seed oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For Coffee Filling

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon hazelnut instant coffee NESCAFE
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup semisweet chocolate bites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lined a backing sheet with backing paper.

Wash and cut the butternut squash in pieces. Place the pieces on a backing sheet and bake them for about 30 minutes. I like to cut the squash in pieces as I always like to enjoy a few pieces. Yummy 😉 Of course you don’t have to do this, you can cut the butternut squash in in half or quarters if it’s too large and bake it. Let the squash coll it down before using it in the cake.

For the cake, in a large bowl beat together the squash, eggs, oil, brown sugar, and bourbon. In another bowl mix together the two flours, baking powder and cinnamon . Add the flour mixture to the squash mixture and mix well until all ingredients are combined. Set aside.

For the espresso filling, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and instant coffee. Set aside.

In a prepared baking pan, add half of the cake batter. Sprinkle half of the coffee filling and add the chocolate bite. Press lightly just to be sure the bite are sticking to the batter. Spoon in the other half of the squash batter and even it with a spatula. Sprinkle the coffee filling left.

Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes depending on the oven. check the center of the cake with a toothpick; if it’s coming pit clean the cake is ready. Let it cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cut it in small pieces and enjoy it.

I know I have 😉

Cinnamon Apple Cake

On November 27, 2016 By felisrecipesIn Cakes8 Comments

My hubby is a huge fan of classic Pumpkin Pie. He can have pumpkin pie actually all year around. And this is not all. He can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. LOL

For me and my daughter the favorite is Apple pie.We like the classic American apple pie or Romanian that my mom use to make. I usually look and try all kinds of variation of apple pie or apple cakes.

Recently I found my inspiration on a blog I recently followed: Z.Y. DOYLE with Cinnamon Apple Cake that just stuck in my mind from the moment I read it.

I have to admit it was the right choice. We finished this cake in about 24 hours. When we had the last piece in the box my daughter started to count who had the more pieces so she can see if she can have the last one LOL And I was asked to make it again.

However, due to some dietary restrictions I have ( I cannot eat butter along with a long list of other things ) I changed the original a little bit but even so it was a huge success.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp t baking powder
1/4 t salt
lemon juice form half of lemon
5 small granny smith apples
1 1/4 c granulated sugar, divided
1/4 cup of Sultana raisins (soaked in 1 tbsp of rum extract and 2 tbsp water)
2 t cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream 5%
1/4 cup of grape seed oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 medium eggs, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lined a baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl mix together the two types of flour, baking powder and salt. In a second bowl mix together the 1/4 cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Save 2 tbsp for later. Please do not forget as I did. I just sprinkle some cinnamon and brown sugar on top 😦

Peel and core the apples and cut them in thin pieces. Drizzle the lemon juice over the apple pieces along with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Set aside.

In a large bowl mix together the eggs and 1 cup sugar until creamy. Add the sour cream, grape oil, vanilla extract and mix well.

Fold the flour in the egg mixture. Drain the raisins of the liquid and add them to the mixture along with the apple pieces. Pour the mixture in the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes depending on oven. Let it cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and remove the cake together with the parchment paper on a cooling rack. Cool completely and just indulge. 🙂

Apple slices covered in cinnamon and sugar mixture

Ready for the oven

Ready to indulge

Chocolate cake with cheese balls

On November 6, 2016 By felisrecipesIn Cakes, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I made this cake last year for Victoria Day. I decided not to post it as I wasn’t completely happy with the pictures I took. However, this recipe is too delicious not to share!

One day I will be making it again and hopefully we can see a section as well 😉

Ingredients for the almond cheese balls

250 g ricotta cheese
50 g almond ground
2 tbsp sugar
2 egg yolk
1 tsp pure almond extract

Ingredients for the cake:

5 eggs
6 tbsp brown sugar
50 g semisweet dark chocolate
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond ground
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure almond extract

Ingredients for the chocolate glaze:

100 gr semisweet dark chocolate
2 tbsp butter
100 ml milk
1-2 tbsp sugar

Decoration:

100 gr almond slices

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Melt the dark chocolate using bain marie technique. Set aside and let it cool.

Using an electric mixer, mix together the ingredients for the cheese balls. Form the cheese balls, about a chestnut size. Place them in a prepared cake form lined with baking paper.

Mix together the eggs and sugar until creamy and double in volume. Add the chocolate, almond extract, flour,baking powder and almond ground . Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not over mix.

Pour the cake mixture over the cheese balls. Bake for about 30 minutes.

In a non stick skillet brown a little bit the almond slices.

In a pan add the milk, butter and sugar. Brake the chocolate into pieces and add it to the pan. Mix well until smooth. Pour over the cake and decorate with almonds slices.

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Enjoy 🙂

Pumpkin Cake for a Pumpkin lover

On September 22, 2016 By felisrecipesIn Cakes, Muffins and other sweets5 Comments

Three layers pumpkin cake with cream-cheese pumpkin filling covered in chocolate ganache. I found the inspiration on Life’s Ambrosia’s page and I was so happy.

My daughter is not fond of pumpkin or squash of any kind and yet this was the first dessert with pumpkin she tried and enjoyed. For me that says it all 🙂

Ingredients for the cake:

1 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 medium eggs
1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond ground
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree

Ingredients for the filling:

2 x 250 cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
2 tbsp butter, softened

Ingredients for the ganache ( 3 ingredients chocolate gahache without heavy whipping cream )

225 g ( 8 oz ) semi-sweet dark chocolate
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lined with baking paper a removable bottom round cake pan.

In a large bowl mix together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the edges after adding each egg.

In a second bowl stir together flour, almond ground, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly add the the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Add the pumpkin puree and fold into the bather.

Pour the bather in the prepared pan. Level well with a knife or a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for several minutes. Gently remove the ring from the cake pan cake and place it on a cooling rack after removing the bottom.

To make ream cheese filling, mix together the butter and cream cheese. Add the sugar and mix until stiff but spreadable mixture forms.

For the genache:

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl on bain – marie. Do not allow the water to boil. After chocolate melts add the butter and stir to incorporate. Add the milk and give it another stir. The ganache should have a glossy look and it will thickened in about half and hour at room temperature and much faster placed in the fridge. I would advise you to make the ganache when you assembly the cake and let it settle to room temperature.

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With a long knife or a cake cutter ( I used a knife ) cut the cake in three equal layers. Fill them with cream cheese filling. After finishing with the filling and the last layer is added it pour the ganache from the center and cover the full cake.

Before let it set in the fridge:

Because I finished my cake at midnight I had to refrigerated for the next day:

And a slice for you to enjoy:

Thank you Des from Life’s Ambrosia for your inspiration!

Four layers pumpkin and cream-cheese cake

On October 27, 2011October 27, 2011 By felisrecipesIn CakesLeave a comment

Thanksgiving’s cake for 2010 : Pumpkin cream-cheese cake ! It’s a four layers cake filled with pumpkin cream-cheese filling and pumpkin cream cheese and chocolate filling and frosted with chocolate icing and sprinkled with harvest colored sprinkles. It was a present for a birthday as well 🙂

Ingredients for the cake :

8 eggs
8 tbsp oil
8 tbsp flour
8 tbsp sugar ( I used brown sugar so I add 2 extra tbsp )
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 of a large can ( 790 ml ) pumpkin puree ( the other half you are going to use it for the filling )
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spices ( or 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg )
1 of cup milk ( you can substitute with condensed milk or yogurt )

Ingredients for the filling

2 pkg (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 of a large can pumpkin puree
2 cups sugar, better to be powdered sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spices ( or cinnamon and nutmeg )
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Ingredients for the syrup

4 tbsp brown sugar sugar
1 cup of water
few drops of almond extract

Ingredients for icing

1 pkg. (226 g ) Dark Chocolate chips
1/2 tub sweet cream
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, 1 cup pumpkin puree , yogurt, vanilla extract. Whisk together in a large bowl flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Add the flour to the egg mixture and mix until well combined. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9-inch round pan. Bake it for about 30 min, or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool it in pan for about 10 min then remove it from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. In a bowl, using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add sugar, pumpkin puree and spices and mix well. Gently stir in whipped cream. Take apart 1/3 of the filling. In a pan melt 1 cup of dark chocolate and add the third part of the filling. Cool the fillings in the fridge until using. From water, sugar and almond extract make a syrup on a medium heat and let it cooling down at room temperature. Cut the cake in 3 layers with a serrated knife and pour with a tablespoon the syrup on each layer. Start spreading cream cheese filling between layers. Do not frost the top layer. Cover the cake with an icing made from melted chocolate chips, sugar and sweet cream. Drizzle with colorful sprinkles.

Bon Appetite !!!

Pumpkin and Cream-cheese Cake

On October 10, 2011October 11, 2011 By felisrecipesIn CakesLeave a comment

I made a special cake for Thanksgiving. Why is it special ?

It is special because of different reasons : it’s gonna be the first post on my new blog, it’s a first try and because I substitute oil with sour cream and I was a bit nervous waiting to see how it will turn out. So far looks amazing, not to say about the fragrance in the kitchen: so yummy.

I am waiting now for the cake to cool down so I can fill it with pumpkin cream-cheese filling…

Ingredients for the cake:

All the ingredients must be at room temperature. Makes 1 layer ( I made this twice because I don’t have 2 pieces of 9 inch pan )

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sour cream
1 cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

a pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon
Whisk sugar and sour cream for about 1 minute than add eggs ( one at a time ) and whisk for 2 more minutes.
Add pumpkin puree and whisk until well combined.
Add the flour mixture and lightly whisk with a spatula until well combined.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs on it.
Let it cool down for about 30 – 60 minutes and than transfer it on a cooling rack.

Until the cake was in the oven I prepared the filling.

For the filling: