CARDAMOM BROWNIES

Brownies! Chocolate Brownies with a plus. Cardamom! You are going to love these brownies.

Ingredients:

5 ounces chocolate, sweet or bittersweet, finely chopped

7 ounces unsalted butter

4 eggs

4 ounces sugar

The seeds of 12 cardamom pods, ground in a mortar

3 ½ ounces flour

1 cup of almonds, roasted and chopped

First we will melt the chocolate. It will be easier if you have it in little pieces. You can melt it in the microwave oven or using the bain-marie method. Anyway, you have to be careful so that the chocolate does not get burned. I prefer to use a good chocolate without milk, but, of course, you can use chocolate with milk. Use the one you prefer. Once it is melted, reserve.

Then we will put the butter in a big bowl. If we melt it a bit previously, the better. Then, add the eggs, little by little, mixing them with the butter. The next thing is adding the sugar and mixing well. Then, add the cardamom, well ground in a mortar. Mix well and add the melted chocolate. We only will have to add the flour and the almonds. Mix again so that everything is ready for the oven.

Now we can put it in an oven tray that must be lightly greased with a little butter. Put the tray in the oven, preheated to 350ºF. Bake for about 25 minutes, then turn the oven off but let the tray in the oven for five more minutes before taking it out. Let I cool a bit and cut in squares to get your delicious brownies. Now you will have your brownies. Not for long! Enjoy!

**more pics**

‘SAMOSAS' DULCES DE COCO Y GUAVA

Samosas dessert. Something different. Coconut and Guava inside a samosa. Let’s cook.

Ingredients:

Some spring roll pastry

One coconut or some frozen coconut

4 tablespoons sweet guava paste

4 tablespoons sweetened cocoa powder

A teaspoon of vanilla

One egg or some milk

Some confectioner’s sugar

First we will thaw the spring roll pastry that we will need. Leave it thawing on a kitchen cloth. Prepare the coconut. If it is fresh, cut it in little pieces, almost ground. Put the coconut in a container and add the guava paste, the cocoa powder and the vanilla. Mix well.

Now you will have to prepare the pastry. And fill it. First, put a pastry sheet on a wet cloth. Then fold it in half. Now fold the left bottom corner to the top. Next, fold the left top corner to the right bottom corner. With this, you will have a cone which can be hold while you fill it with the filling using your other hand. Then wet the ends of the pastry a bit and close the samosa. Repeat this with the rest of them. Keep them on a wet cloth.

When you have all the samosas ready, put them on an oven tray, slightly greased. Paint them with a beaten egg or with some milk.

Then the only then we have to do is taking the samosas to the oven. Have it preheated to 300ºF. Have them there for about half and hour. When they are ready, you will only have to serve them. Do this adding some confectioner’s sugar. A different dessert. Enjoy!

**more pics**

BAKLAVA

A dessert from the Mediterranaean. This is really good. I love these Baklava and one day I decided to try to make them myself. Not bad indeed. I will show you how. It is some work but in the end the resultas are really good.

Ingredients:

A packet of filo dough

Some butter, unsalted and melted

2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

2 tablespoons almonds, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts

2 tablespoons chopped raisins

½ ground cinnamon

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 tablespoon rose water or orange blossom water

1 tablespoon honey

To start with our Baklava we will prepare our filo dough. I buy it frozen. Making it at home is quite hard. And the one you can buy frozen is really good. Filo dough is very thin dough. You use it in many layers. It is very fragile so you have to be very careful while handling it. You can buy frozen filo dough in almost any grocery now. You will have to let the filo dough thaw by itself. Follow the instructions in the package. Once it is ready, reserve it.

While the filo is thawing, we will make the syrup. To do this, take a small pan and put in it the brown sugar, ⅓ of the volume of sugar in water, that is to say, ⅓ of half a cup water, the rose water or orange blossom water and the lemon and orange juice. Heat it, and when it boils, let it simmer for about five minutes, stirring with a spoon. Once it is done, let it cool and when it is cool enough, put it in the fridge. The syrop must not be too thick.

Now we will prepare the filo and its filling. For the filling, take a bowl and put all the nuts there. Add the cinnamon too. Mix well with some drops of honey so that the filling is a bit moist. You have to make enough so that there is plenty of it for the filling.

We will come back to the filo dough now. Prepare a shallow oven container. Spread some melted butter on it. Take a sheet of filo dough and put it in the container. Brush it gently with melted butter. Do this layer by layer. A layer of filo, a layer of butter, a layer of filo… Do not overuse butter, though. You just have to put a thin layer of butter to wet the filo. It is hard work, but in the end, the the results will be amazing. When you have used half the filo, it will time to spread the nut filling. I normally make only one layer of filling, but if you want, you can divide the filling in several layers. Once you have spread the filling, go on with the layers of filo and butter, as we have done previously. And with this, we will finish preparing the baklava.

Turn on the oven to 350ºF. Put the tray with the baklava inside the oven. Bake it for 45 minutes. When the baklava gets a golden color, take it out of the oven and then it is the time of pour the cold syrup over it. Let it cool at room temperature and when it is cold enough, put it in the fridge. Now the syrup will have to wet the filo and the filling.

The secret is the difference in temperature. If the filo with the filling are hot, the syrup has to be cold. It can also be done the other way around: the filo and the filling cold, and the syrup hot. I have not tried it this way, though.
To serve it, cut the Baklava in little pieces with a very sharp knife. Now you only have to do once thing. Enjoy your Baklava!

**more pics**

DULCE DE LECHE

A delicious danger for dessert today. Dulce de Leche. A danger because it is delicious but very caloric. One has to be responsible when eating Dulce de Leche. If you want to take the risk, here you have the recipe. In fact this is like a fake Dulce de Leche recipe. The original one implies more work. I am giving you a recipe which simplifies the way of making it. But it is really good. Very tasty. Let’s cook.

Ingredients:

A 14oz can sweetened condensed milk (in fact, if you want, you can use 2 or 3 cans if you want)

Some water for the pressure cooker

Not many ingredients, right? That is because this is a very easy recipe. I normally do it with one can, but if you want, you can put two or three cans in the pressure cooker. Again, think about your weight.

First thing is preparing the can or cans of condensed milk. Remove the label from the can or cans. Then put the can or cans in the pressure cooker. Put them horizontally, not vertically. Cover the cans with water. Close the pressure cooker and, starting to count when the cooker starts steaming, have it cooking for 50-55 minutes. When the time is over, wait for some minutes and then open the cooker. The water will be very hot, so the best thing is to let it cool by itself. It you want, you can remove the water. But be careful when you are doing it. Anyway, you will have to wait for several hours. It will take time. When it is completely cold, store it in a cold place or open it.

And from that moment, it is up to you. Be responsible. Do not eat too much at a time. Use it as an ingredient to make different desserts. And from time to time, indulge!

Enjoy!

**more pics**

PEACH COBBLER

A delicious dessert I saw in the USA for the first time. When I tasted it, it was something great. Let’s make it today.

Ingredients:

4 or 5 fresh peaches, depending on their size

4 oz butter

4 oz flour

8 oz sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or imitation vanilla

½ teaspoon cinnamon

First we will prepare the peaches. Wash them and then peel them. Cut them in little pieces. We also have to melt the butter. Do it the way you usually do it. But be careful. Melt the butter always at very low temperature. Otherwise it could get burned. And that is not good.

Once we have the butter melted, we will put it on an oven tray. Then, in a bowl, mix the flour, the baking powder, the salt and all the sugar except a couple of tablespoons that we will reserve. Then we will add the vanilla and the milk. Mix well and put the contents of the bowl in the tray with the butter. Put the pieces of peach on top of it. Add the cinnamon and the rest of the sugar. But now do not mix, do not stir. Take it to a preheated oven to 400ºF and bake it for about 25 minutes.

Once it is done, let it cool for a while but serve it when it is still a bit warm. You can serve it with some cream. But make sure the cream is not too cold. Enjoy!

**more pics**

MELOCOTÓN CON VINO

We will go to my land again. Peaches and wine. A delicious dessert. Easy and delicious. I probably tasted wine for the first time enjoying some Melocotón con Vino. Let’s get started.

Ingredients:

8 peaches
8 teaspoons sugar
A pinch of cinnamon or a stick.
A good red wine, if it is from Spain good, if it is from Aragón, the better.

Very easy to make. First, wash and peel the peaches. Then cut them in little pieces. Put them in a bowl and add the sugar and the cinnamon (if you use a cinnamon stick, remove it before serving). Add some wine, enough to cover all the pieces of peach. Mix well. Let it cool in the fridge for some hours before serving.
A fresh and delicious dessert. Enjoy!

**more pics**

STRAWBERRIES WITH LEMON

Today dessert. A pretty simple preparation. But really delicious. And healthy. Strawberries with Lemon. Let’s make it.

Ingredients:

Some fresh strawberries
Some lemon juice
Some sugar

First we will wash and clean the strawberries very carefully. Once they are clean, cut them in pieces. Then we will prepare the lemon. We will squeeze it and get its juice.
We only have to mix the pieces of strawberries with some sugar and the lemon juice. Use the sugar that you want. But I would not suggest using too much. Let it cool for some minutes in the fridge.
You can use orange juice instead of lemon juice. Use the one you prefer. The juice gives the strawberries a touch of acidity that is really good.
Serve and enjoy.

**more pics**

TANGERINE AND BANANA DESSERT

We will make a dessert today. Something refreshing and without many calories. Tangerines and bananas. But you can also use oranges if you want. The almonds and the mint will give us a special touch.

Ingredients:

2 tangerines
2 bananas
10 almonds, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon chopped mint leaves

This dessert is very easy to make. First we just have to prepare the fruit. We will peel the bananas and cut them in slices. Then we will peel the tangerines and we will split them into segments. We can cut these segments in pieces, but do not cut them too small. Do this preparation over a bowl where you will put the fruit and you will get the juice from the tangerines.
Now, with all the fruit in the bowl, we will add the almonds, the honey and the mint leaves. We will mix well but carefully so as not to break the fruit. We will taste it, and if we feel like it, we can add some sugar. If that is the case, mix again and serve. And enjoy!

**more pics**

BANANAS FOSTER

We will make some dessert today. A delicacy with bananas. And something very easy to make. Few ingredients but a great recipe. Delicious.

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup rum
Some vanilla ice cream

First we will have to melt the butter. We will do this in a frying pan on low heat. We will add the sugar little by little. It is very important to stir continuously. When the butter and the sugar are well mixed, we will add the cinnamon and half the rum. We will mix well and then we will add the bananas. We will cook the bananas. Do this always on low heat. Cook the bananas till they are tender.
Now we will heat the rest of the rum in another pan. Then we will pour it onto the pan with the bananas. Flame the rum very carefully.
Then serve it with vanilla ice cream. And just enjoy!

**more pics**

APFELSTRUDEL

Apples. Apfelstrudel is a kind of apple pie from Austria. You can find apple pies everywhere. Many countries have their own recipes. I tried this Apfelstrudel and I found it really good. If you like apples and if you like apple pies, believe me, you will love it.

Ingredients:

2 apples
1 puff pastry sheet
Some flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup raisins
2-3 ounces unsalted butter
Some lemon juice
Some breadcrumbs
Some milk
Some confectioner’s sugar

First we will start preparing the apples. We will peel them and then we will cut them in little slices. Then we will put the apple slices in a sieve that will be inside a big bowl. We will add the granulated sugar and mix well. Leave the apples there for an hour. This will make the apples lose some of their juice.
Once the apples have been there for an hour, remove the juice from the bowl and put the apple slices in the same bowl. Now we will add the vanilla extract, the cinnamon and the raisins. Mix well and reserve.
And now we will prepare the puff pastry. I use frozen puff pastry because it is very useful. You have to thaw it first and then extend it with a rolling pin. It is a good idea to use some flour to make this.
Once the puff pastry is ready, we will put the sheet in a greased oven tray. On top of the sheet we will put the apple mixture. Add some breadcrumbs now. We will add the butter and the lemon juice. The butter will be spread over the apples. Then we will close the puff pastry with the apples inside. Brush the pastry with some milk and take it to the preheated oven to 350ºF for 30-35 minutes. Once again, when using your oven, you have to be careful. Check it because every oven is different. Once it is done, let it cool for a while and dust it with some confectioner’s sugar and serve. And enjoy it! You will love it.

**more pics**

PINEAPPLE CAKE

Let’s make some dessert. Do you like pineapple? And Graham Crackers? This recipe is very good for the summer. It is very easy to make and I hope you will like it. You can make it with fresh or canned pineapple. Dessert time!

Ingredients:

A 20 oz pineapple can (or fresh pineapple)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavour
Some Graham Crackers

This is a cold cake. You will not have to heat anything. You will only need a blender and a container to prepare this cake.
First we will blend the pineapple, adding the sugar and the vanilla. If you use a pineapple can, you can add some of the liquid in the can, but do not add too much. Once we have the pineapple blended, we will start layering the cake.The first thing will be to start with a layer of Graham Crackers in the container. Then a layer of the pineapple mixture. And finally we will add another layer of Graham Crackers. We will cover the container and we will cool it in the fridge for a couple of hours. And then it will be ready. Good.

**more pics**

TIRAMISU

A delicious dessert. I admit I have not tasted Tiramisu in Italy. I have done it in several countries. They were different but, most of them delicious. You can find Tiramisu turned into cakes or even ice cream. Again, I will show you how to make my Tiramisu. Remember, there are many ways of cooking something. Discover yours.

Ingredients:

8 oz mascarpone cheese (or regular cream cheese)
3 oz ladyfingers
Some espresso coffee
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Tiramisu should be done with mascarpone cheese but if you cannot find it, regular cream cheese will do, although it will not be same, of course.
First, we will take the eggs and separate the white from the yolk. Then, in a bowl we will mix cheese, sugar and yolks. It has to be really creamy. In another bowl we will beat the whites till they are stiff. We will mix then these two bowls. But it is important to try to get a fluffy mixture, so do not mix too much. We will have some coffee ready. I prefer some really strong espresso coffee. Then we will start layering the Tiramisu. We will use a container in which we will put a layer of ladyfingers. Then we will wet the ladyfingers with some coffee. And now a layer of the mixture. Then more ladyfingers and more coffee. Cover with another layer of mixture and finally sprinkle with the cocoa powder. Cover the container and put it in the fridge. It is better to let it cool and it tastes better if you eat your Tiramisu the following day.
There is a “but” though. Raw eggs. You have to bear in mind that using raw eggs has a risk. You can use pasteurized eggs if you want. But I am sure of something, you will love Tiramisu. And you can also put some liquor in the coffee. Some rum or whisky, for example. That will give a different touch to your Tiramisu. I also put some chocolate chips along with the cocoa powder. Enjoy.

**more pics**