Two layered Carrot Cake

Welcome back greedies, I know you guys waited so long to find out my tiny and secret tip for our famous that british people love:  The Carrot Cake  now the design is a bit of alternation between a sweet and salty taste which is my favorite part of the cake.
So, it was my father's birthday and I thought that for so long I was trying to bake this cake but never had the right ingredients for it anyways, I picked my tools prepared them in front of me and got to work to make it the best i ever made and surely to impress my family most of all!!
For the cake:
Makes 10-12 slices
300 g brown sugar
3 eggs
300 ml oil
300 g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon (extra to decorate)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
300 g to 450 g carrots, grated (you can choose the quantity)
100 g shelled wallnuts, chopped, plus extra chopped and whole to decorate


Directions:
 1. Preheat the oven to 170 degree Gas 3.
Put the sugar, eggs and oil in a freestanding electric mixer and beat until ingredients are well incorporated. Slowly add the flour, bicarbinate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla extract and conitinue to beat untill well mixed.


Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts by hand until they are evenly dispersed.


2. Pour the mixture into tbe prepared cake tins and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cakes to cool slightly un the line before turning onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.


3. When the cakes are cold, put one on a cake stand and spread about one-quarter Cream Cheese Frosting over it with a palette knife. Place a second cake on top and spread another quarter of frosting over it. Finish with walnuts and a light sprinkling of cinnamon.


For the cream cheese frosting:
300 g icing sugar, sifted
50 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125 g cream cheese, cold
TIPS: depending on your love for frosting you can add or diminish the quantity this one is enough for two layered cake.

look how soft and the white colour makes it look even more delicious

beat the icing with an electric mixer

this is the shape you should use the make your cake now you can use another one but i prefer this one it suits more to the frosting and the cake's title

And voila a nice piece of heaven, and now you're gonna see that it tastes even better than it look, you can trust me on this point of view, Haha ;)

Chocolate and Vanilla cupcakes

And now you guys all love cupcakes with lots and lots of candies on top? Yeahh I figured who doesn't
Well, I decided why not do chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with some candies which pleases children and grownups haha:P
Okay, i have to tell you i resembled my  frosting to our famous incredible cookbook "The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook".
For the vanilla cupcakes:
Makes 12,
120 g plain flour
140 g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
40 g unsalted butter at room temperature
120 ml whole milk 
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
To make chocolate cupcakes , just add 20 g cocoa powder (or more or less if you desire) to the recipe following

Put the flour, sugar , baking powder , salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or is handheld electric whisk) and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.

Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds , then pour into flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooch. Do not overmix

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden and the sponge bounces back when touched.
A skewed inserted in the centre should come out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completly.

Vanilla frosting:
250 g icing sugar, sifted
80 g unsalted butter at room temperature
25 ml whole milk
a couple of drops of vanilla extract
For the chocolate frosting add 40 g cocoa powder, sifted (preferable to use Van Houten)

Check them out, delicious right!! now the method is very easy if you follow exactly the recipe:))

When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the Vanilla (or chocolate) Frosting on top and decorate with hundreds and thousands of candies or chocolate sprinkles

white chocolate lazy cake

Today is sunday i just enjoyed a wonderful day, it was very sunny which made my mood incredibly good:)))) anyways i wanted to bake something which reflects my mood and I thought to myself which cake is the best for a hot and sunny day and, something fresh that even people who doesn't like desserts couldn't resist? That's right lazy cake but this time with white chocolate YUMM!!!:)))))


Ingredients:
4 biscuits pack crumbled and crushed ( mmm i used those lebanese biscuits ghandourrr don't you just love them?)
1.  1 egg
2.  1 tsp vanilla extract
3.   250 ml milk (one cup)
4.   1/2 cup of white sugar
5.   200 g softened butter at room temperature
6.   125 g white chocolate (you can use more if your a chocolate addict like me:P)
P.S: You can add to it a white chocolate glaze by melting white chocolate cubs in a bain-marie on top of a sauce pan on low medium,( I would i'm so in love with the white chocolate:D)

Melt the butter and white chocolate in a sauce pan on medium heat and  then add the sugar, egg, milk and vanilla,mix well!!

Crush and crumble ghandour (or other kind) biscuits  and then add to the mixture, mix it well with a wooden spoon

Place the mixture in a pan of your choice (it's better to use an english cake pan)  that  you can wrap in a  plastic wrap, then add the mixture and close the top with more plastic wrap,then put in the fridge for about 2 to 3 hours

For a big finish, wait for it…. Wait for it…. And Voila here is my delightful white chocolate lazy cake and yours should be as tasty as mine, GET TO WORK!!

Streusel Oreo Muffins

Oreoo biscuits, now tell me who dosen't just adore them? they are crunchy and delicious on the oustide and soft and tender on the inside, I don't you how about you but i just love baking with those tasty  biscuits just irresistible.
It was on a sunday night and my parents were having their friends over so i decided why not try a new recipe which inspired me  from my favourite site "food gawker" and changed some ingredients as i would like.

Quantity: About 10 to 12 muffins


For the oreo muffins:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2-3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 8-12 Oreos, coarsely crushed (now you can choose as much as you want it depends on you)

On top of the muffins ,you can add (or not) a streusel which is:
A crumble-like topping for cakes and rich
breads , conisisting of flour , sugar , butter and cinnamon.


For the streusel:
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp butter, diced
4 oreos finely shopped (sure you can add more, it's just the minimum)
Preheat the oven to 170 degree C
Grease or line muffin tin with liners
1. To prepare streusel stir together flour , sugar and finely crushed Oreos in a small bowl. Cut in butter until consistency becomes like coarse meal. Refrigerate 10 minutes.
2. Whisk together flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside
3. With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs , one at a time , stirring between additions. Add vanilla extract
4. Add flower at once. Mix on low speed for a few seconds then add milk and continue mixing until incorporated. Fold in crushed oreos.
5. Divide batter between 10-12 muffins, filling each 3/4 full. Evenly sprinkle Oreo streusel a top batter 
Bake 16-18 minutes, or until done

Chocolate cake

So my mom had a brunch with a few friends she invited over,I was searching and searching in my head trying to find the perfect cake that would please everyone and CLING i just had an idea: why don't i make a chocolate cake with covered of chocolate frosting and some Cadbury milk chocolate fingers on the corner, mmmm simple but delightful cake.

Now the steps are easy, follow mine:

Preheat the oven to 170°  (325°F) Gas 3




Chocolate Cake recipe:

For 12 servings

1 1/2 cup or 170 g all purpose flour

3 tbsp dark cocoa powder (i simply adore van houten)

2 tsp baking powder

2 pinches of salt 

220 g caster sugar ( add as much as you want)

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup of milk

100 g unsalted butter 

2 eggs

For the incredible chocolate frosting:

300 g icing sugar 

100 g unsalted butter

40 g cocoa powder 

40 ml whole milk (you can add more if it's not enough just don't over add)

1. Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together in a freestanding electric mixer on medium slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed

2. Add the milk to the butter mixture a couple of spoonfuls at a time

3. Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy about 5 min. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffer and lighter it becomes. When the cake is cool spread the frosting on it.

You can add whatever sweets you love, i added milk chocolate cadburry fingers(because i love chocolate) on the corner of the cake,YUMMM

    

And voila my delightful masterpiece and now yours will look even better than mine,get to work you'r not gonna regret it!!

Fruit Tartlets

You know that time where you run around all the house and wonder what to bake or if you have enough tools?

Okay so I was home late and had a little time to bake whatever I already had in my wonderful kitchen and well my friend insisted to let me know that she ordered a lot of deserts,so I said why not make some small and incredible bites that nobody couldn’t resist so I prepared mini tarts with “crème patissière” with some fresh fruits that will just blow your mind. For the pastry, I was inspired by a book “pastry” written by Catherine Atkinson  which my father sells in his office,for the crème it’s my own combination of some ingredients I love and for the fruits I picked my own now you can alternate any kind of fruits I just picked my favourites, delicious!!

For the pastry:

1-          200 g plain flour

2-          15 ml caster(superfine) sugar

3-          150 g butter

4-          2 egg yolks

5-          15 ml chilled water(depending on your pastry 

you can add more)  


For the "Crème pâtisseriere"   
  2 egg yolks 

       100 g caster sugar

        25 g plain flour, sifted

        1/2 tsp vanilla extract

         350ml milk

1. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until light and thick, then stir in the flour.

2. Pour the milk onto the egg mixture, whisking all the time. Return the mixture to the pan and stir over a low-medium heat until it comes up to a gentle boil. (It must boil for it to thicken.) Continue to cook, stirring all the time (or use a whisk if it looks lumpy), for 2 minutes or until it has thickened.

3. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the vanilla extract and pour into a bowl. If the mixture goes a little lumpy while cooking, remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk well. If it is still lumpy when cooked, push it through a sieve.

4. Cover with cling film and allow to cool. It must be covered, or the surface must be rubbed with a a little bit of butter to prevent a skin forming.

And finally last but not least, my favorite part of this recipe fresh fruits I mean who doesn’t like some healthy fruits on top for a big finish? Haha I know I do:D:D

Now it is not necessary that you use exacltly the same one I used you can use whatever you like. As for me, I used bananas, apples, kiwis , grapes and pineapple but make sure  to mix them with some caster sugar to prevent them from changing their colour,

Now you can add as much as you want depending on the quantity of tartlets.

At the end, sprinkle them with some powder sugar and add a mint on top of each one.

BON APETIT:)