Happy Halloween!!!

Just popping by to say Happy Halloween to all my food lovers! Boo!

Inside this Witch’s cauldron is a chocolate hazelnut cake with chocolate filling. I am not a big fan of food colors, so I used just a bit for the fire effect, and a tint of green for the whipped cream stew. Gummy eyes were a perfect addition.

It’s been at least 6 months since I have baked something, and since I had a time to, and the kids wanted something spooky for the occasion. Haven’t tried it yet, but cake baked excellent, and just as soon as I can, I will share the recipe.
Thank you again for visiting, and all your wonderful comments! :)

Chocolate hazelnut cake

For the batter:
5 eggs
100g (3.5 oz) baking chocolate, melted
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
100g (3.5 oz) butter, unsalted
100g (3.5 oz) sugar
100g (3.5 oz) finely ground hazelnuts
2 tbsp vanilla sugar

Separate yolks from whites. Mix yolks with sugar, and vanilla sugar un till nice and creamy. Add hazelnuts, melted chocolate, and flour mixed with baking powder. Mix butter until creamy, and add it to the batter.
Mix egg whites until nice and stiff, and fold those in, and incorporate well, but don’t over mix.
Separate batter into 3 portions, and bake 3 separate layers in a 8 inch spring form pan. I haven’t separated it at all, but baked one cake, and then cut it into three layers.

I have used a recipe for cake layers from Podravka, and their very popular cooking site (in Croatian), Coolinarika. I didn’t make the filling from the recipe because it asks for some things not available to me. You can use pretty much any filling you like.

I have used this one:
2 packages of Chocolate pudding mix
(Like Dr.Oetker, or if not available use 6 Tbsp of corn starch , 1 tsp vanilla extract)
0.7l (about 23 oz) of milk
6 Tbsp of sugar
2 ticks, 16 tbsp of unsalted butter or margarine
100g (3.5 oz) baking chocolate, melted (or half of that if you have chocolate pudding)

Take some milk from the 0.7 l, a bit less than half a cup, and mix in pudding mixes with sugar (or corn starch, and vanilla extract). Put the remainder of milk to boil over medium heat, and then add pudding mix, reduce heat a bit, and mix well and fast, so not to get lumps.
Cool down completely, I usually put it in a fridge a bit, and then freezer, to speed up the process. Do cover the bowl, so you don’t get the “skin” on your pudding. When cold it will be very firm, don’t get alarmed, it should be.
Now cream the butter sticks and mix it with the pudding, mixing on high speed. Add melted chocolate, and mix in well. Spread evenly over cake layers, and a little bit all over the outside of the cake. Now you can top it with some nice chocolate glaze, or decorate any way you like.

Tiramisu - Light as Air

October 05, 2009:
Thank you so much for visiting, and your continued support, even in my absence!
I have taken on a career that requires a lot of work, and a lot of time, so I am still unable to return to the scene, and mix something up... I do, from time to time, check in to see what you all are doing, and I miss being part of your world actively.
Hope to return soon, at least on a monthly basis, till then, please enjoy Cafe Chocolada!
-Melita-

I have recently made this awesome light as air Tiramisu, based on a recipe from Masatera of “Recepti iz moje biljeznice” (Recipes from my notebook), and just slightly edited to what I had available here. It is not based on a traditionally used mascarpone cheese, but rather I have used Philadelphia whipped cream cheese, and got this luscious cream, which make you feel like you are eating sweet delicious air!

Tiramisu

2 packages of lady fingers, the soft kind
Strong coffee to soak them, but not over soak
1 pint of heavy whipping cream
1 packet whip it, whipped cream stabilizer
200g of Philadelphia whipped cream cheese
150g, or as much as you like, powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
About 3 tbsp cocoa powder

Mix whipped cream, with powdered sugar, and whipped cream stabilizer until whipped, then add cream cheese, vanilla extract, and mix well. You may also add like 1 or 2 drops of yellow food color, but that is completely optional.

On a plate, rectangular or however you like, arrange a layer of lady fingers soaked gently in strong coffee (unsweetened), then spread half of the cream, then a layer of lady fingers again, and then rest of the cream, and spread that cream all over the sides too, if you wish. Dust with cocoa powder, and you are all set. Refrigerate for couple of hours, or put in a freezer for about half an hour, to serve sooner :)

Spicy Pizza (or not)

The pizza pictured here is not for sissies!!!! I love spicy, and this pizza packs an insult of great proportions! That’s how I like it, and I don’t need to worry about sharing! :)
However, you don’t have to make it spicy, and if you are in search of a really good pizza crust, then you are at the right place.

My family often enjoys Farida’s Tandir (Tandoori) Bread, and then we thought about using that bread dough as pizza dough (just take out few steps at the end, the egg wash, and seeds), and how successful are we? Well, everyone says I now make the best pizza in the world! I guess that summarizes it pretty well. Seriously, I don’t even give ordering pizza a thought any more. It is easy to make your own, it’s fun, and it doesn’t take long. Kids love making their own pizza!!!

From Farida’s recipe for Tandori Bread, I get 2 medium pizzas, 10” round pan. Also, you can easily make 3-4 personal sized pizzas, depending how big you make them.

Here is a recipe for one 10“ round pizza

Dough:
1 ½ cup flour, plus extra for kneading
¾ cup warm water
1 tsp dry yeast, fast rising is best
½ tsp salt

Other material:
Olive oil
Corn meal
Pizza sauce
Oregano
Cheese and toppings you like
I have used: Grated mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, extra spicy long peppers, crushed red hot pepper, cajun seasoning for crust, ham, bacon bits, onions, mushrooms, and when done I sprinkle with parmesan.

Mix yeast and water in a small bowl, until dissolved completely. Then gradually add it to flour mixed with salt. Make a dough, and then transfer on a floured work surface, and knead for about 5 minutes at least, until it’s nice and elastic. Collect the dough into a ball, and place in a glass bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and leave let it rise until in a warm place until doubled, I usually leave it in a microwave (not turned on of course).

Then you punch the air out of the dough, and shape it into a ball, and stretch to the size of the baking pan. Grease the pan with olive oil, and sprinkle all over with corn meal. Shake it to get it all nice and evenly coated.

Set the oven to 400° F, it will be ready just in time you are done with making the pizza. Place the dough in the pan, and then press with your fingers towards the edges so you get a pizza that is a bit more thin with a little bit raised edges. If you like to season your edges with anything, like I do with cajun, first brush the edges with some olive oil, and then sprinkle with whatever you like. The rest is like any other pizza: pizza sauce, cheese, seasonings, toppings. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until done; also you can turn the broiler on for a minute or two for toppings to brown. Enjoy!

I am sending this to Branka, this month’s host to Ajme koliko nas je , a food blog event created by Monsoon for food bloggers from ex YU territories. She chose this months main ingredient to be spicy peppers, and I might just go crazy on that one! :) Evo i recept na nasem!

Awards!!!

It’s been a while that I got these awards, and I actually made a post for them, but it got lost in a hungry browser incident, so I postponed, and finally I am back to it!
These awards remind us of appreciation we get from our foodie friends, and we forward them in same fashion. Thank you Navita for the lovely Lemonade Award, and thank you conunpocodizucchero for the sweet One Lovely Blog Award!!! : )

I don’t know if I am braking the rules, but I would like to forward both awards to the following food bloggers, which caught my eye with their delicious creations, and also some of my favorites, which I visit often, may not be in English but so worth the translation. My dear nominees, you can chose to accept both, or just one award which you like!
Nominees:
Amalia, My Culinary World, Recepti Iz Moje Biljeznice, Sweet Sensation, La Dalmatia Gourmande, Pan y Varios, Maya’s World, The Chef and The Photographer, Delicious For Kids, Cuina Banateana, and Via Delle Rose.

Rules for the Lemonade award:
Add the logo to your blog
Link to the person who awarded you
Nominate and link to 10 other blogs
Leave a message to your nominees

Rules for the One Lovely Blog Award:
Add the logo to your blog
Link to the person who awarded you
Nominate and link to 7 other blogs
Leave a message to your nominees

To all who may have already gotten the awards above, just take it as a nice though, and you don’t have to follow through : )