Pages

Sunday 31 December 2017

Trip to Montagnana, Italy

Really small center. One of the beautiful fortified medieval towns called "Citta Murate" in the Veneto region (see more info on their official website: www.cittamurateveneto.it):







Thursday 28 December 2017

Two cookies - French Revolution, Bucharest Romania

The eclair shop is located next to Ateneul Roman.

We had three flavours, but we liked only two of them. It depends on your taste, though.

They were rather decent, but don't expect extraordinary.


Tuesday 26 December 2017

Monday 25 December 2017

Sunday 24 December 2017

Eating out - Gostilnitza Chuchura, Varna, Bulgaria

The restaurant is not far from city center.

The interior is nicely decorated in the traditional style.

We chose some meat from the grill and it was good (we usually recommend grilled meat as a safe bet in Eastern Europe).

The wine was also very good.








Saturday 23 December 2017

Pear muffins - recipe with step-by-step photos

Ingredients for 12 muffins:
  • 4 pears 
  • 200 grams of wheat flour
  • 100 milliliters of milk
  • 70 grams of fresh cream
  • 50 grams of honey
  • 50 milliliters of sunflower oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • a few walnuts
  • a bit of nutmeg
  • a bit of cinnamon powder
  • a bit of vanilla sugar
  • a bit of salt




Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius.

With a fork, beat the eggs for a few seconds.

Add the sunflower oil, the milk, the honey, the fresh cream, the chopped walnuts, 3 grated pears and 1 chopped pear and mix until well incorporated.


In another bowl, mix the flour with the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the salt, the vanilla sugar and the baking powder.

Add the flour composition over the egg/milk composition. Mix everything until well combined.
 

Pour the composition in the muffin cups and bake it for 15 - 20 minutes or until done.

If you like more walnuts, before baking you can spread some finely crushed muffins on top of the muffins.


Enjoy!


The original recipe can be found here


Friday 22 December 2017

Hotel review - Van der Valk Nuland, The Netherlands

The room wasn´t in the main building, but in another one behind.

We booked a superior room which, unfortunately, was old and with a heavy smell. Actually we refused the first 2 rooms they gave us, which smelled even worse. On the internet the rooms looks nice, but in reality .....well, it looked more like a cheap motel rather than a 4 star hotel.

The employees of the hotel were really nice, though.

Breakfast was decent if you don´t count the flies who were everywhere.

Free WIFI and free parking places.

It wasn´t a experience that we would repeat!










Thursday 21 December 2017

Trip to Edam, The Netherlands

That´s the place where the Edam cheese is born.

The place is not so picturesque, though. 






Wednesday 20 December 2017

Caramelized apples and pear mousse entremet (light cake) - recipe with step-by-step photos

Ingredients for the dough layers:
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 spoons with sugar
  • 3 spoons with flour
  • a bit of salt

Ingredients for the caramelized apple jelly:
  • 4 apples
  • 100 grams of sugar
  • 2 spoons with water
  • 2.5 grams of gelatin

Ingredients for the pear mousse:
  • 3 pears
  • 300 grams of yogurt
  • 200 grams of fresh cream
  • 40 grams of sugar
  • 6 grams of gelatin
  • 2 spoons with cold water

For the cover:
  • 200 grams of fresh cream
  • 2 spoons with sugar
  • half of an apple
  • half of a pear




Prepare the dough layers:

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.

Beat the egg whites with a bit of salt and, separately, the egg yolks with the sugar.


Incorporate the flour in the beaten egg yolks.


Add the egg whites over the flour/egg yolk composition and mix slowly until well incorporated.
 

Put the mixture in a baking pan (18x18 cm) and bake it for 18-20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Let it cool. When cooled, dived it in 2 equal layers.

Prepare the caramelized apple jelly:

Mix the sugar with the water and let it caramelize at slow fire.

Meanwhile clean and chop the apples.


When the sugar is caramelized add the chopped apples and mix. Let everything simmer at slow fire for 10 minutes.



Divide the composition in two parts.

One part with chopped apples it´s to be kept for later.


Mash the other half of the apples and, while still warm, incorporate the hydrated gelatin and mix until dissolved.



Now mix the two apple parts: the mashed one and the chopped apples and let it rest in the fridge dor 2 hours in a round shape, such as a round baking tray.


Prepare the pear mousse:

In a pot add the cleaned/chopped pears with half of the sugar and the water.

Let them simmer until soft. Mash the pears and while still warm incorporate the hydrated gelatin and mix until dissolved.


Beat the fresh cream with the remaining sugar. Strain the cold pear mousse over the cream, add the yogurt and mix.


Assembling the cake:

On a plate, add one dough layer in a detachable circle. Above add half of the pear mousse and let it rest in the fridge for 90 minutes.

Take out from the firdge and add the apple jelly and on top the other half of the pear mousse.

Then cover with the second dough layer and let it in the fridge overnight.

The next day in the afternoon you will have a beautiful, stable entremet :) .


Cover the cake:

First of all, cut the pear and the apple in tiny slices and put them in a tray on a baking paper. Let them dry in the oven at 160 Celsius degrees for 1 hour (or less if they are very thin). Let them cool before using them.

Beat the fresh cream with the sugar.

Cover the cake with the cream. Add the dried sliced fruits and a vanilla stick and your cake is ready.


Enjoy!





LinkWithin