Summer Strawberry Cake

I guess I really am in a strawberry mood!! Or maybe it is the summer mood…Strawberries will always remind me of warm and sunny days. I really can feel the summer coming soon when the days are longer and the mornings become pleasant even more when you can have a delicious strawberry cake for breakfast :) This recipe is probably the easiest I have even done and it is ready whiting few whisks and minutes! You can also use different fruits like berries or raspberries, any will make a great combination. Of course it is perfect not only for breakfast but also to accompany an afternoon tea!! 

Don't get scared as the dough comes out quite thick and this is to carry al the "heavy" strawberries so that they stay on the top of the cake. Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

• 100 g butter
• 130 g sugar
• 1 large egg
• 100ml buttermilk or milk, whatever you have in the fridge
• 180g flour
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding (40 g)
• 1,5 tsp baking powder
• 1 package vanilla sugar (16g)
• as many strawberries as you can fit into your cake ;-)

Preparation: 

Preheat your oven to 180ºC. Prepare 22cm round tin. Beat butter together with the sugars either in the food processor or in a bowl with a whisk, until pale. Add the egg and keep whisking. When the ingredients have combined start adding buttermilk and all the dry ingredients, whisk until all combines again. 

Pour the mixture into the tin and place strawberries cutter in pieces (ith the cutter part upwards) and bake for 50min. 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.

Skinny Strawberry Cheesecake

If you are constantly on a diet, like me, :) and you are worried about your hips but you can't live without sweets I have a perfect solution for you!!! This cheesecake is extremely aromatic and the strawberry smell is just crazy! The strawberry aroma will surround your kitchen from the first minutes of baking! A great spring recipe which will bring some sun to your house :)

Ingredients: 
For the bottom:

• 1 cup of oatmeal or granola
• 50g melted butter
• 50g brown sugar - optional 

For the cheesecake:

• 500 g low fat cheese (I used quark 01g fat)
• 2 eggs
• 110 g sugar
• 1 package of vanilla instant pudding
• 1 package vanilla sugar (16g)
• 300g strawberries (you can use frozen strawberries in that case remember to not defrost them before)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180ºC and prepare a 22-25cm round tin.

For the bottom: Mix the granola or oatmeal together with the melted butter and sugar and pour into the prepared tin. With a spoon or with your opened hand press the granola forming a flat surface. Put into the oven and bake for 15min. 

For the cheesecake: Take all your ingredients except the strawberries and combine  them together until you get a nice smooth texture. Note that we are adding the entire eggs to the mixture and we will not beat the egg whites separately.. Pour your cheese mixture into the tin, cut the strawberries into peaces and place them on the cheesecake gently pushing them into the mixture. Bake for approx. 60min. Before taking out of the oven leave to cool down for an hour and if you can resist put into the fridge and cool down over night. If you can't resist, like me, just bite in!!!!!

Easy Strawberry Ice-cream

I can feel the summer coming soon! This beautiful warm weather outside waked up an ice-cream monster in me :) I love ice-cream!! Every warm day is only perfect when accompanied by an ice-cream! This strawberry ice-cream is super easy because you need only 3 ingredients! No ice-cream machine, no eggs, no need to use fancy ingredients or tools only strawberries and cream!!! Yuuuummmm!!! I want to share with you two ways of prepping this ice-cream one with fresh other with frozen strawberries!!! Lets see which one you prefer :) 

PS. Thanks Angela for the beautiful cup :)

Ingredients:

• 250 g strawberries (frozen or fresh)
• 500 ml whipping cream
• 1 package vanilla sugar (16g)
• Optional you can add some sugar for taste

Preparation:

There are two ways of making this ice-cream…If you are using frozen strawberries you will be able to eat the ice-cream straight away! You just need to crush your strawberries in a blender, don't get scared as it makes quite a lot of noise ;-) In the mean time whip your cream until it is creamy and smooth forming nice white peaks. Now gently and constantly mixing combine the crushed strawberries, you will see that the cream starts freezing while you combine the strawberries. Don't mix too long as it will start melting again. And you are done!!! Enjoy!

If you have fresh strawberries blend them and set aside. Whip your cream until smooth and thick. Add carefully the strawberrie pulp to the cream and combine all together. Pour into a box and freeze for minimum 4-5hours. Take out of the freezer 5 minutes before serving. 

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.

Walnut - Honey Pound Cake

I think that walnuts and honey are the perfect couple! So why not to put them all together into a punt cake? I just loved this recipe. All that delicious honey sirup which the cake has drunk makes it incredibly moist and flavorful…. It is great to accompany with tea or coffee or already enjoying it for breakfast! Give it a try and I promise you will not regret!! 

Ingredients:

• 200g soft butter
• 200g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 200 flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 50g full natural yogurt
• 1 package vanilla sugar (16g)
• 6 spoons honey
• 60g hopped walnuts

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 175ºC and prepare a teacake mould 8cm x 27cm. 

Beat eggs and sugars together either in the food processor or in a bowl with a whisk, until pale. Add butter, yogurt, flour, salt and baking powder and whisk until combined. Now add 4 spoons of honey and again combine all together. Add walnuts and again whisk until they combine with your cake mixture. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for around 50-60 minutes. 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.

When the cake is still in the oven prepare the honey sirup: pour 50ml water into a pot add 2 spoons of honey and on a low heat cook until the water evaporates and the liquid reduces by half. Now if your cake is ready take it out of the oven and immediately sprinkle the hot cake with your honey syrup. Sprinkling it when still hot makes your cake will drink all the honey syrup, and that is the secret to keep the cake moist and juicy :)

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.. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars

OMG!!!!! They are just AMAZING!!!! Crazy how delicious these peanut butter bars are!! I really had to struggle hard not to eat all of them by myself!! They are super easy to make, all the taste you love from the peanut cookies remains the same just the method takes half of the time!! The chocolate makes a perfect combination to the saltish peanut butter, I think I will never stop to combine those two great ingredients!! You really have to try!!! 

Recipe adapted from: Averie Cooks

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, melted 
• 1 large egg
• 150 g light brown sugar
• 50g white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 200g creamy peanut butter
• 160g all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt, optional and to taste
• 150g dark or semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped 

Preparation: 

Preheat the oven to 180°C  Line an 20cm x 20cm baking pan with baking paper. 

Melt the butter and cool it down a bit. Add the egg, sugars, vanilla, and stir to combine. Stir in the peanut butter. Add the flour, baking soda, optional salt and stir until just incorporated. Stir in chocolate. Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula.(The dough comes out quite dense so don't get afraid that something went wrong, because it didn't !!) Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until center is just set and golden.

Take the bars out and leave to cool in pan for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Store extra bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.