Apple tart with a caramel touch

If you don't have too much time to bake but you fancy something sweet this tart is perfect for you!! Veeeery tasty and the most important extremely easy and quick to make. 
The shortcrust pastry and the sweet apple with a caramelized touch makes a perfect couple :) You will really enjoy it!!!!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 150g of cold butter
• 250g flour
• 1 egg
• 100 g sugar
• 1 small teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 package of vanilla sugar

For the filling: 

• 1 large apple
• 50g butter
• 3 spoons of light brown sugar

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 180ºC. Prepare a pie dish around 28cm in diameter. 

You can make your pastry by hand, or simply pulse all the ingredients in a food processor. If making by hand, sieve the flour with the baking powder, sugars into a large mixing bowl. Add chopped butter and mix with your hands until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and gently work it together until you have a ball of pastry dough.

Flour a clean surface and roll dough into a circle and put your pastry into the dish and push it into the sides. Take a fork and make some small holes in the pastry, then put the dish into the oven and prebake for about 15min. Take it out and cool down. 

Peel the apple and cut in thin slices, put on the pastry. Put the butter into a pan and on a low heat wait until it melts, add sugar and keep steering until you get a smooth toffee. Pour it onto the sliced apple and bake for another 20-25 minutes. Cool down and enjoy :)

Caramel filled toffee cookies

Every time it is rainy and cold outside I fancy something sweet, something special which would give some flavor to this sad day! What else could cheer me up if not my fav caramel cookies!!! They are simply delicious!!! I am a big caramel lover and I love to enjoy them with a hot cup of coffee...although hot chocolate would be even better!

Recipe inspired by: Anna

Ingredients:
For approx. large 18 cookies

• 120g all-purpose flour
• 2 packages of toffee instant pudding (40g each) if you don't have toffee pudding you can replace it with a vanilla pudding or with the same about of flour 
• 2 spoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 100g white sugar
• 100g light brown sugar
• 100g butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 6 large caramel candies (the amount of candies depend how big they are, mine were quote large so I have divided each candies in 3 peaces)
• 2 spoons white sugar (for rolling)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200ºC and line a cookie pan with baking paper and set aside. 

Place butter in large mixing bowl and beat with a mixer for a few seconds. Add both sugars, egg and vanilla and mix all the ingredients until combined. Add all the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa and baking soda, baking powder and combine everything together.  

In your hands roll balls of dough. Place your caramel candy in the center of the dough and cover with more dough and roll again into a ball. Before placing your cookies on an baking tin dip them in white sugar. Place the cookies on the prepared baking tin, I was placing only 6 balls of dough because they will at least double their size :)

Bake for 9-10minutes, cool down for a few minutes and transfer onto a cooling rack.

Coconut bundt cake

I know Christmas is just over and you had a looot of nice desserts but I just can't live without cakes! And I just can't get enough of coconut so here it is my moist and flavorful coconut bundt. A perfect treat for an afternoon tea or just perfect with a hot coffee in the morning when cold winter is outside! 

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 200g sugar 
• 1 package of vanilla sugar (16g)
• 150 g of butter
• 2 teaspoons of coconut essence (you can skip it, if you don't have one)
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 5 spoons of milk
• 300 g flour
• 100g coconut flakes

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 175ºC and prepare a bundt cake pan. Beat eggs together with the sugars either in the food processor or in a bowl with a whisk, until pale. Add the butter, milk, flour, and baking powder and whisk until combined, now add coconut flakes and combine all together.

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.

Apple cinnamon muffins with a streusel topping and marzipan filling

I don't know if it is the Christmas feeling or maybe the long cold days but lately I fancy everything with cinnamon!! So here is another version of apple cinnamon muffins but this time with a streusel topping! YUM!!!

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

• 60g butter, melted
• 1 grated apple
• 250g flour 
• 1 egg, light beaten 
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder 
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 
• 1 spoon lemon juice
• 120 g soft light brown sugar 
• 150ml buttermilk
• 100g marzipan

For the streusel:

• 70g flour
• 50g light brown sugar
• 50g soft butter
• 1teaspoon cinnamon - optional

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners. In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon and grated apple. Add buttermilk, 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. Cut the marzipan in small squares and place each piece in each of the muffins, then cover with a bit of your apple mixture. Remember to fill the muffin cases only 3/4 cavity otherwise they might overflow. 

For the streusel: mis all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and with your finger taps combine everything until you get small crumbles. Sprinkles the streusel over your muffins. Bake your muffins approx. 25 minutes. 

Apple cinnamon muffins with a toffee topping

After trying those muffins one of my friends said that apple and cinnamon is one of his favorite flavors... I totally agree. I loved this small little bites, they are soft, fluffy and so aromatic, my kitchen was smelling wonderful and hours after the muffins were already gone ;)

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

• 60g butter, melted
• 1 apple
• 1 grated apple
• 250g flour 
• 1 egg, light beaten 
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder 
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 
• 1 spoon lemon juice
• 70 g soft light brown sugar 
• 150ml buttermilk

For the sticky toffee:

• 50ml heavy cream
• 50g soft light brown sugar
• 20g butter

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners. In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon and grated apple. Add buttermilk, 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. The remained apple cut in thin slices approx. 3-5 millimeters, place on a plate, sprinkle with lemon juice and a spoon of sugar and put all in the microwave for 20seconds. The slices are now crispy so wouldn't allow you to form nice roses but if you put them into the microwave then they will become soft and easy to roll. Take each slice and roll together and place in the middle of your muffin. If you are not good with manuals then just put some slices of apple on the top of your muffin. The result will be exactly as delicious. Bake your muffins approx. 20 minutes. 

For the toffee topping: In a pan whisk together sugar, butter an the heavy cream, wait until it starts boiling then on a low heat and constantly mixing keep boiling it for another 3-5min. Then sprinkle your toffee topping over your cooled muffins and ...... bite in!!!! 

Carrot cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting

If you are also crazy for carrot cakes like me, you must try these easy cupcakes for yourself! They are very easy to make just few whisks and you are done!! You will see you will love the soft, moist and tender texture finished with a perfect touch of a vanilla cream cheese frosting!! Yummy!!

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
• 50g butter, soft
• optional - you can add some food coloring to get a colorful frosting, like i did to make the roses :)

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. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. I piped them with a piping bag but you can do it with a spoon it will be equally tasteful! 

Yeast croissants with a plum marmalade filling

This are definitely flavors from my childhood... I loved to spend time with my mum in the kitchen and we used to bake those little bites very often. We always used a homemade plum marmalade that was previously prepared by my mum, and of course I couldn't do diffrently in this recipe ;-) 

Ingredients: 
(approx. 50 croissants)

• 500g flour
• 100g sugar
• 150g margaryny 
• 1 egg + 1egg to lubricate
• 42g yeast
• 60 ml milk
• pinch of salt

For the filling: 

I used 1 small jar of a plum marmalade and 1 box of ricotta (200g ricotta mix with 3 tablespoons of powder sugar and 1 package of vanilla sugar or vanilla essence)

But you can fill your croissants with any filling you like!! You can use Nutella, or simply a peace of chocolate, any kind of marmalade or pudding...up to your imagination!!! 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Melt butter and leave to cool down. Heat the milk a bit up, add sugar and mix it with the yeast. Leave for 15min to rest and to let the yeast work. 

To a mixing bowl pour flover, salt, egg, melted butter and milk and stir untill all ingredients combine, you will probably need to work with your hand to get a smooth dough. Cover the bowl with a tea-towel and leave in a warm place for approx 30min to let it grow. 

Take your dough out of the bowl and divide in 2 peaces (or more if it is more handy). Each peace roll in a circle and then divide in triangles. On the border of each triangle put some marmalade and roll the triangles forming croissants. Remember to put the peak of the triangle underneath each croissant so that they don't open while baking. Place them on a baking tin. Beat the remaining egg and now lubricate each croissant with it, this will make your croissants shiny :)  

Bake approx 15min, when you notice them getting a nice golden color this will mean they are ready! YUM!!!