Delicate chocolate tartlets with a delicious raspberry cream

Oh I know, I know… I should feel ashamed…I haven't been posting for some months now but hopefully I can make it up with this delicious little babies :-) 

We all know summer is over but we still can find some last signs of it… I've found mine ;-) My favorite raspberries!! And yes! they are just devoured! Imagine a shortcrust chocolate tartlets that are so extremely delicate they just melt in your mouth, they are not too sweet and just have the perfect amount of chocolate, topped with a soft and delicate raspberry cream which makes them to die for!!! Not bad eh?! 

I have to confess I ate 3 of them in one go ;-)

Ingredients:
For the tartlets:
makes approx 12 tartlets: 

• 2 cups of flour (take away 3 tablespoons of flour and replace with dark cocoa powder) 
• 200g cold butter
• 1/3 cup of powder sugar
• 2 yolks 

For the raspberry cream:

• 250g fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1,5 teaspoons of gelatin (melted in 1/6 cup hot water, or just follow the instruction on the package)
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 2 teaspoon potato flour or cornflour disolved in one tablespoon of water
• 250g mascarpone 

Preparation:

For the chocolate tartlets: Cut the cold butter in pieces, add all ingredients and quickly mix everything together. Place into the fridge for 30min. 

Take a muffin pan and grease it with butter or oil. Place the dough directly into the pan, no need to use the paper cases as the surface will be greasy so the dough will not stick to the pan. Bake for apporx 13-15 min in 200C. 

Leave them to cool down completely before frosting.

For the raspberry cream: Place the raspberries together with sugar in a small pot, on a low heat warm them up until the sugar melts completely. Add lemon juice, water with flour, mix it all, bring everything to cook and take away from the burner. Take a half of the raspberries and rub them through a strainer, throw the seeds away. Mix the retained sauce with the other half. Very gently add the melted gelatin trying to avoid crumbles. Cool down until the sauce gets thicker. You can place it into the fridge to speed up the process. 

In a bowl of an electric mixer combine together mascarpone and the cool raspberry sauce until it all gets smooth. Frost the cooled tartlets as desired. I piped mine with a piping bag using Wilton's 1M tip and decorated them with a fresh raspberry on top!! 

And now…. just sit down, relax and enjoy!!!!!!!!! 

Coconut Cupcakes with Vanilla Mascarpone Frosting

This colorful cupcakes went to a two years old baby girl for her birthday party :) And they had to match a great theme of the party which was The Masha and the Bear :) It was really great fun to bake for this occasion! 

The cupcakes were not only very funny but also veeeery tasty! The moist, flavorful and aromatic muffin made a perfect match with the delicate, vanilla mascarpone frosting :) Just delicious!!

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

makes approx 12-15 muffins

• 1 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 120g butter, very soft
• 100g desiccated coconut

For the frosting:

• 250g cream cheese (I used mascarpone)
• 1/2 cup powder sugar
• 16 gr vanilla sugar
• 150g butter, soft
• Food coloring. I've used red mixed with a bit of blue, and green but you can use whatever color you like :)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180°C and place 12-14 paper cases into muffin tins. 

For the muffins: Beat butter with sugar and a pinch of salt, add eggs, milk and whisk all together. Add flour, baking powder and coconut and whist until combined. Remember that the mixture doesn’t have to be perfectly pale :) Evenly divide the mixture between the paper cases. Remember to fill the cases only 2/3 of their height because they like to grow :) Bake approximately 25 minutes and leave to cool down. 

For the frosting: With a mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter when it combines add sugars and beat until combined and smooth. Divide the frosting in 2 parts adding to each of them a different color, mix until combined. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. I piped them with a piping bag using Wilton's 1M tip. 

Ready to be delivered :-)

 And that is how they matched the great Masha and the Bear party that was designed by Perfect Packages

Smarties Party!! Carrot Cake Cupcakes in their fun outfits!

This funny request came from a young boy celebrating his 3rd Birthday! He is totally crazy for Smarties so there was no other option but to prepare his birthday cakes decorated with Smarties!

I have to admit I had soooo much fun while decorating the cupcakes. Each one had a different expression and I really felt like a kid again while drawing their little faces! 

For the muffins I used my recipe for the carrot cake cupcakes and iced them with a smooth cream cheese frosting. And of course I had to pump the frosting up with some colors to match the crazy Smarties. I think they went out great and the birthday kid was also very happy!! 

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 350g flour 
• 120g caster sugar
• 150ml buttermilk or normal milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 150 g butter, melted
• 150g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice 
• 3 grated carrots
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1package vanilla sugar (16g)
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 100g hopped walnuts - optional 
• 100g raisins - optional

For the frosting

• 250g cream cheese (I used mascarpone)
• 1/2 cup powder sugar
• 16 gr vanilla sugar
• 150g butter, soft
• Food coloring. I've used red, yellow and blue but you can use whatever color you like :)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners. 

In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and soda, caster sugar, brown sugar, mixed spice, carrots, walnuts and raisins. Add milk, egg and melted butter. Mix until just combined, but doesn't have to be too precise. With a spoon scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners. Remember to fill the muffin cases only 3/4 cavity otherwise they might overflow. You might have some mixture for the 13th and 15th cupcake, depending on the measures of your cupcake tin. Bake for about 20min and leave to cool down. 

For the frosting: With a mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter when it combines add sugars and beat until combined and smooth. Divide the frosting in 3 parts adding to each of them a different color, mix until combined. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. I piped them with a piping bag using Wilton's 1M tip. 

Aren't they just adorable??? I think they are colorful and fun just perfect for a Birthday Party!! 

Of course a Birthday Cake couldn't be missing!! So here we go! A Smarties Cake to match the cupcakes :) 

Halloween Spiced Pumpkin Muffins with a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Trick or treat???? I'm definitely the treat one ;) Halloween is a perfect excuse for those who love sweets! You can have as many candies as you want!!!! On this day your motto should be: " Eat, drink and be scary!" 

You will love the spiced pumpkin muffins! The pumpkin puree makes the muffins super moist and soft and the cinnamon frosting gives them a perfect touch! 

Ingredients:

makes approx. 24 muffins*

• 325g light brown sugar
• 100g unsalted butter, softened 
• 4 medium eggs
• 240g plain flour
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¾ tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 115g buttermilk
• 280g pumpkin puree

*Recipe adapted from Peggy Porschen

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 250g mascarpone
• 100g softened butter
• 200g icing sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Preparation: 

For the muffins:

Pre-heat the oven to 175°C and line the muffin tins with cupcake cases.

Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Place the pumpkin puree, salt buttermilk and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir together by hand with a balloon whisk until all well mixed.

Add the eggs one at a time to the mixture, whisking well in between each addition.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, backing soda and spices and add this to the liquid mixture in two batches, lightly stirring through with the whisk. Lastly, add the melted butter and gently incorporate this with the whisk again until just mixed in.

With a spoon scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners. Remember to fill the muffin cases only 3/4 cavity otherwise they might overflow. The mixture will be quite liquid but don't worry it is just like it should be!

Bake for approx. 18 minutes. You can check tif the muffins are ready by sticking a cocktail stick into the centre of each muffin. It should come out clean. Cool down before frosting.

For the frosting: In a mixing bowl beat the butter, add mascarpone and beat all together, add sugar and cinnamon. Don't get scared if you see that the ingredients start separating from each other forming crumbles, just keep whisking. It might take a while but everything will combine don't worry!  

Vanilla cupcakes filled with home made strawberry jam

So you know already that I love baking but you didn't know before I also love jams! The entire summer  when all the fruits you like the most are available I was making jams! For me it is like closing a bit of summer into this small jar which later in the cold winter you will take out of your cupboard you will open it and immediately the fragrance you will smell will remind you of summer! I like to combine my favorite cupcakes with my favorite jams! Hmmmm this is the best combination and I am sure you will enjoy it as well!!!

Ingredients:
For the muffins:
makes approx 15 normal muffins

• 80g butter, softened
• 280g sugar
• 1 package vanilla sugar (16g)
• 240g flour
• 1 sp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 240 ml milk

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 250g mascarpone
• 100g softened butter
• 200g icing sugar
• red food collaring - optional

For the strawberry jam:

• 500g strawberries
• 250g high pectin sugar (jam sugar)

Preparation: 

For the muffins: Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line your mini muffin tin with paper liners.

In a mixing bowl beat together butter, sugars, salt until smooth and creamy. Keep steering and start adding eggs one by one, add milk and mix until all combines. Add flour and baking powder and whisk until all the ingredients combine. With a spoon scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners. Remember to fill the muffin cases only 3/4 cavity otherwise they might overflow. Bake for about 20min. You can check if the muffins are ready by sticking a cocktail stick into the centre of each muffin. It should come out clean and not sticky, if it is still sticky just leave it in the oven for 3-5 minutes more.

For the jam: Before you start, sterilize the jars and their lids to get rid of any bacteria. I usually put them in the sink and cover with boiling water.

Wash and clean the strawberries and cut into small pieces. Put the strawberries in the pan and cook on a very low fire. When the strawberries start to loose liquid add sugar and bring them to the boil then simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Take it of from the fire and carefully divide between the jars. Close the jars and put them away up side down (this will help to close better) after 15 minutes bring the jars to their normal positing. Leave to cool down. 

For the frosting: In a mixing bowl beat the butter, add mascarpone and beat all together, add sugar and beat again. Don't get scared if you see that the ingredients start separating from each other forming crumbles, just keep whisking. It might take a while but everything will combine don't worry! 

Cut a small hole in the cupcake and fill them with your strawberry jam. 

To decorate the cupcakes I have divided the frosting in two parts. One I have colored with the red food coloring. To pipe the cupcakes I have used the piping bag which half of the bag I filled with my pink frosting and the other half with my white frosting. This will give you an rose effect while you will spread the frosting over your cupcake, but if you don't want to make it too difficult just use a knife spreading the frosting over the cupcakes. You can also decorate with small caramel candies or spread a bit of sea salt! Enjoy!!!

Forget Me Not Vanilla Mini Cupcakes

This was a special evening for me! My lovely auntie was celebrating her Bday and I was in charge to prepare the seating cards so I thought I will prepare mini cupcakes which will hold the names of the guests. As it was an unforgettable evening the cupcakes had to be decorated with small forget me not flowers :) I think they turned out very sweet and the guests were happy as well!! 

Ingredients:
For the muffins:
makes approx 30mini muffins or approx 15 normal muffins

• 80g butter, softened
• 280g sugar
• 1 package vanilla sugar (16g)
• 240g flour
• 1 sp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 240 ml milk

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 250g mascarpone
• 100g softened butter
• 200g icing sugar

Preparation:
For the muffins: Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line your mini muffin tin with paper liners.

In a mixing bowl beat together butter, sugars, salt until smooth and creamy. Keep steering and start adding eggs one by one, add milk and mix until all combines. Add flour and baking powder and whisk until all the ingredients combine. With a spoon scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners. Remember to fill the muffin cases only 3/4 cavity otherwise they might overflow. Bake for about 20min. You can check if the muffins are ready by sticking a cocktail stick into the centre of each muffin. It should come out clean and not sticky, if it is still sticky just leave it in the oven for 3-5 minutes more.

For the frosting: In a mixing bowl beat the butter, add mascarpone and beat all together, add sugar and beat again. Don't get scared if you see that the ingredients start separating from each other forming crumbles, just keep whisking. It might take a while but everything will combine don't worry! 

To decorate the cupcakes I have prepared the forget me not flowers from a rolled blue fondant then left over night to firm before I placed them on the cupcakes. For the frosting I used a piping bag, but if you don't have one you can use a knife spreading the frosting over the cupcakes. You can also decorate with small caramel candies or spread a bit of sea salt! Enjoy!!!

With all my love… <3

White Chocolate Almond Raspberry Sweet Rolls

Can you imagine starting your morning with these fluffy, sweet raspberry rolls?? Mmmm I love them! These are one of my favorites and I promise you once you try them you just can't stop eating! In general I love all yeast pastries just can't get enough of them! Yeast scares off many of you but believe me it is not that difficult as it sounds juts give it a try and you see you will be repeating this recipe!! The only downside of this recipe is that the rolls disappear in minutes!!! 

Ingredients:
For the dough:

• 7g instant yeast
• 100ml warm milk
• 50g powder sugar
• pinch of salt
• 400g flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 yolks
• 50g soft butter

For the filling:

• 60g white chocolate, grated 
• 40g almond flakes
• 1 spoon vanilla sugar
• 100g fresh or frozen raspberries

Preparation:

Prepare 22cm round tin. 

Mix together the milk and yeast and set aside for 10 minutes. Once the yeast has foamed up pour them to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer and add flour, sugar and the pinch of salt. Whisk all together. Start whisking and start adding eggs one by one, the same with the yolks. Mix on low speed using the dough hook or if you are patient and brave enough start knitting by hand :) Keep knitting around 15min and during the last 5min add the softened butter. Gradually add more flour, if needed, until the dough is elastic and does not stay stuck to the mixing bowl. The texture will be quite soft and elastic like a gum. Cover the dough with a tea towel and leave to rest for about 1 hour. The dough should double of its size. 

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Roll out the dough into a 10x12 rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with the vanilla sugar, almonds and raspberries (if you are using frozen raspberries make sure you do not defrost them before, keep them frozen). Roll into a jelly roll shape. Slice into 2cm slices. Place in your prepared baking tin. You can use the remained egg white to brush your rolls, it will give them a delicate shine! 

Preheat the oven to 50ºC place your baking tin and leave it for 30min to rest again. You will see your rolls start growing again. Now amend the temperature to 180ºC and bake for 22min. 

I never glaze my rolls as I am to impatient to eat them so I just use powder sugar to sprinkle them a bit!!! 

that's the prepared dough and the rolls how they look before and after growing :)

...and the result is just Delicious!!! 

YUM, YUM, YUM!!

Hazelnut Nutella Muffins

This muffins are made for all Nutella lovers!! They are easy to make and are ready within minutes in just one bowl whisk!! They are extremly moist and soft and the crunchy hazelnut topping gives them the perfect finish!! The muffins are specially delicious when they are still warm so be carful because they disappear in minutes ;-) 

Ingredients: 

Makes 12-15 muffins

• 300g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 150g sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 package vanilla sugar (16g)
• 250ml milk or buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 85g butter, melted
• 150g Nutella (100g for the batter, 50g to fill the muffins)
• 50g chopped hazelnuts

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a mixing bowl beat together butter, 120g sugar, vanilla sugar, salt until smooth and creamy. Keep steering and start adding eggs one by one until all combines. Add 100g Nutella combining the ingredients. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda and whisk until all the ingredients combine. Don't overmix, the less you mix the more tender they will be! With a spoon scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners. To each muffin add a bit of Nutella (1/2 teaspoon) and cover it with your mixture. Remember to fill the muffin cases only 3/4 cavity otherwise they might overflow. Sprinkle the muffins with the chopped hazelnuts and the rest of sugar. Bake for about 25-30min. You can check if that the muffins are ready by sticking a cocktail stick into the centre of each muffin. It should come out clean and not sticky, if it is still sticky just leave it in the oven for 3-5 minutes more.

Caramel Vanilla Cupcakes

I had been thinking of making this crazy delicious cupcakes for quite some time!! I love everything with caramel, from caramel sauce, thru ice-cream, cookies, fudge, just everything! Fortunately it was my birthday so I had a perfect excuse to prepare them :) The fluffy vanilla muffin is just a start when you bite in, then you will discover the soft and sweet caramel hiding in the centre of the cupcake finished with a soft and delicate caramel frosting…hmmmm I was in heaven!!

Ingredients:
Makes approx. 15 muffins

• For the muffins:
• 200g soft butter
• 220g sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla essence or 1 package of vanilla sugar (16g)
• 4 eggs
• 225g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

For the caramel:

• 500g sweetened condensed milk
• 1 package vanilla sugar

For the Caramel frosting:

• 250g mascarpone
• 100g softened butter
• 200g powder sugar
• 150g caramel 

Preparation:
For the muffins: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.

In a mixing bowl beat together butter, sugars, salt until smooth and creamy. Keep steering and start adding eggs one by one until all combines. Add flour and baking powder and whisk until all the ingredients combine. With a spoon scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners. Remember to fill the muffin cases only 3/4 cavity otherwise they might overflow. Bake for about 15- 20min. You can check if the muffins are ready by sticking a cocktail stick into the centre of each muffin. It should come out clean and not sticky, if it is still sticky just leave it in the oven for 3-5 minutes more.

For the caramel: Pour the condensed milk in a pan, add vanilla sugar and cook on a very low heat for about 1,5h, steering from time to time. You will easily see when the caramel is ready as it will have a creamy light brown texture.
For the caramel frosting: In a mixing bowl beat the butter, add mascarpone and beat all together, add sugar and beat again. Don't get scared if you see that the ingredients start separating from each other forming crumbles, just keep whisking. It might take a while but everything will combine don't worry! Pour the cool caramel and whisk again until everything combines. 

To decorate the cupcakes, I cut out a small hole in order to fill the cupcakes with the caramel. You can do it with a spoon or a piping bag. When all your cupcakes are filled with caramel you can now frost them with the caramel frosting. Again I used a piping bag, but if you don't have one you can use a knife spreading the frosting over the cupcakes. You can also decorate with small caramel candies or spread a bit of sea salt! Enjoy!!!

 Sweet surprise hiding in the cupcake.. 

Valentine's Day sweet vanilla hearts filled with vanilla pudding

No one is never admitting to be waiting for Valentine's Day but somehow everyone is always very happy and excited while receiving a lovely card or a sweet treat! My quote for this day is "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." :)

In this case I will treat you with this moist and fluffy vanilla hearts filled with vanilla pudding!!! YUM!

Ingredients: 

For the hearts:

• 4 eggs
• 200g butter, melted
• 250g sugar
• 250 flour
• 1cup of greek yoghurt
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 package of vanilla sugar (16g)

For the pudding: 

• 500 ml of milk
• 1 spoon of butter
• 1 packages of vanilla sugar
• 2 spoons of potato flour
• 2 yolks
• 50g butter
• pink food coloring

(If you don’t have time you can go for the easy method and use an instant pudding) 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180°C . Prepare a baking tin 20cm x 20cm.  

In a mixing bowl beat the yolks and the sugars together until pale. Add the butter, yogurt, flour, baking powder and whisk until combined.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form soft white foam peaks. Now take your dough mixture and start adding the white foam, fold together carefully – without beating the bubbles out of the egg white completely. The egg whites will give the cake this nice fluffy texture. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes until there is a little gold color on the top of the cake. You can check to see that it's ready by sticking a cocktail stick into the centre of the cake. It should come out clean and not sticky, if it is still sticky just leave it in the oven for 5-10 minutes more.

For the pudding: 

If you are using the instant pudding just follow the instruction on the package, after it cools down beat it together with butter and the food coloring. 

If you are doing the pudding yourself first you need to boil 3/4 of your milk together with butter, sugar and vanilla sugar. The remained milk whisk together with the potato flour and egg yolks. Add the mixture to your boiling milk and mix it quickly. Cook it approximately one minute on a very low heat and leave to cool down. When the pudding is cool beat it together with butter and the food coloring, just like you would do using the instant pudding. 

When your cake is totally cool then you can cut with a heart cutter, herts out of your cake. After each heart cut again in half and then from one of the heart parts cut out a smaller heart, in order to make some space to fill it with your pudding. With a piping bag fill it with the vanilla cream and swirl inside the hearts. 

From your cake cut out the hearts:

Cut in half your hearts and cut out a smaller heart: 

 Now just decorate your Valentine Hearts as desired :)