English High Tea Desserts

Last Sunday we had one young couple over for a wedding cake and dessert tasting. We made samples for our cakes but also some of our favorite desserts, French Macarons, chocolate truffles, chocolate bombones, cannoli, puffed pastry with vanilla and lemon custard, meringue kisses and chocolate covered strawberries. This is how it looked! 

Frozen Queen Elsa Birthday Cake

This was my first try to make frozen Elsa out of fondant. It didn't came out perfect but I still think that I did a good job. Next time I will try to make her better. This was the cake topper for the Frozen themed birthday cake for one beautiful girl,Mey. 

French Macarons

I really think that these are one of the best and most delicious desserts ever. French Macarons are definitely one of the favorites with our customers too. They are delicate, beautiful to look at, and most importantly, these little bites of deliciousness are sometimes hard to make. However,with practice you can soon be an expert when it comes to making these delicious cookies. I found the recipe online a few years ago and I have been using it ever since. This recipe is from" Laduree-The Sweet Recipes" book that you can purchase on Amazon if you want.However, I would recommend to you to go on You Tube if you want some video instructions on how to make these delicate cookies. You can make any filling you want, buttercream, chocolate ganache, caramel, strawberry, raspberry, etc. So give it a try!

Mersiha  


Laduree's Macarons 

From Ladurée's Sucre: The Recipes 
Macaron shells 

• 275g (2 3/4 cups + 1 tbsp) ground almonds (almond flour)
• 250g (2 cups + 1 tbsp) confectioners (icing) sugar
• 210g (6 1/2) egg whites (I used fresh egg whites)
• 210g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) granulated sugar
• a few drops of food coloring gel if you want them in color

PREPARATION 
Macarons

1. First sift the powdered sugar and almond flour.

2. Then whip the egg whites with the granulated sugar to hard peak. Add the food coloring if you want.

3. Then fold the almond flour into the whites and continue to fold the mixture until combined and they are shiny and lava like.

4. Pipe your cookies onto parchment or silicone baking mats (I used parchment and a Ateco round #11 tip) and then allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before baking or until you can lightly touch them without being sticky(skin can form).

5. Bake them in the preheated oven at 300F  for 15 minutes or until you can cleanly peel the macaron away from the paper.

6. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before you fill them.

 Strawberry Buttercream( adapted from allrecipes) 

• 1  cup diced strawberries
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Place the strawberries in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Use a sieve to strain out the seeds and place the strawberry puree in a small pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and stirring frequently, cook until it reduces by half. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
2. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add in 1 cup of the powdered sugar and the vanilla and beat on low until combined. Add in ⅓ of the strawberry puree and beat to combine, followed by 1 more cup of powdered sugar. Repeat with another ⅓ of the puree and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Add in the remaining ⅓ of the strawberry puree, beating until combined, and then the remaining ½ cup of powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add a few drops of red food coloring if desired to enhance the color.

To assemble the macarons:

1. Take 2 similar sized macarons and pipe or spread some of the buttercream onto the flat side of one of the cookies. Place the flat side of the second cookie down on the buttercream. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
2. Macarons are best once they have aged at least a day. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Let them come to room temperature, about 20-30 minutes, before eating. They also freeze very well.

Chocolate Ganache Filling:

• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate,finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan add your cream.  Place on a stove and gently bring to a boil. 
2. Meanwhile place chocolate in a bowl.  Place bowl over a pot of simmer water (making sure that no water is touching the bowl and gently stir until the chocolate is melted). Add the heavy cream and stir until well combined.
3. Place your ganache mixture into your fridge until it is at the right pipping consistency.  This should take about 20 minutes.

• Enjoy! 

Tres Leches Cake or Three Milk Cake

One of our favorite cakes ever since we start making it. It's very dense,light, and moist cake, that's sweet but not so sweet and  topped with whipped cream.  It's soaked in a evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk,and whole milk or heavy cream.Sometimes it is also topped with cajeta, a sweet caramel made from goat’s milk, or with coconut milk—making it cuatro or cinco leches.It's very delicious cake. This cake is very popular in Latin America,especially Mexico and Nicaragua but also Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Very easy to made so you wont be disappointed. I find the recipe on the internet a few years ago and it's really good. Enjoy! 

For the Cake

•  Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp cake flour (or use 1 cup all purpose flour/maida)
• 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 5 whole Egg, separated
• 1 cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• ⅓ cups Milk
• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
• ¼ cups Heavy Cream

• FOR THE ICING:
• 1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated. I used an 8 inch pan which was 2" deep. Sift and  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow.
3. Stir in milk and vanilla.Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.
4. Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.
5. Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined.
6. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.Allow to cool.
7. Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a bowl.
8. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times.
9. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can. 
10. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 10 minutes. A trick if you find that its very soggy inspite of not pouring in all the milk mixture - let it sit in the fridge for some time.
11. Decorate with whipped cream and some fruit of your choice. 

Bon Appétit

Bosnian Pot

This traditional dish was made in our household for years. It's one of those dishes that bring the memories, the warmth,...Comfort food that makes me a little bit nostalgic but happy. This is the recipe we used for years in our family and it's very easy to make but very delicious and perfect for these cold days. I hope you will like it!

Mersiha 




Ingredients:

• 1 smaller cabbage
• 1/2 lb  lamb or beef
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 potatoes
• 1-2 carrots
• 2-3 tomatoes
• 1 sweet pepper
• 3 tbsp of tomato sauce
• some parsley
• salt,pepper
• olive oil/vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Cut all the vegetables and meat first.
2. Layer meat and vegetables in a large soup pot. (one layer of vegetables, one layer of meat, and so on). If you use the same pot as me then cover the top of pot with some brown paper and tide with   kitchen twine.
3. Cook until meat and vegetables are cooked. (Mine took about 2 1/2 hours on low to medium heat).
   NOTES: I did not stir this stew. I just let the vegetables and meat simmer together and they took care of themselves.
4. Don't forget to add spices.
5. Serve hot.

Bon Appétit 

Adriatic Sea

Beautiful places we've visited

      We visited many beautiful places but somehow going back home is like falling in love with the same person all over again.There are always places we want to see and visit. I will try to share some of our traveling journeys with photos I took and hope you will like it. 

Mersiha  


Sunset Over the Adriatic Sea,Makarska Riviera, Croatia

Creamy Tomato Soup with Tarhana(soup pasta)

Another cold and snowy day so what else to make then my favorite creamy tomato soup. This soup is made by my hubby and it's so easy to make but very delicious. I hope you will like it too.

• 2 medium sized onions, diced
• 4 tbs olive oil
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 4 tomatoes,diced
• 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup soup pasta,(your choice)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp of fresh basel 
• 2 tbsp minced garlic 
•  salt
• ground pepper
• spice of your choice 

Directions:

1. In your soup pot, saute your diced onions in the olive oil until they are soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes.
2. Next,pour in diced tomatoes,can crushed tomatoes,chicken or vegetable stock, and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.
3. Then, stir in the heavy cream, and let the soup simmer for another 10 minutes. 
4. Use your hand held blender or regular blender to puree your soup. Let it still be slightly chunky.
5. Get back on the stove and add the soup pasta of your choice,basil,salt,pepper and spices of your choice and let it cook few minutes until pasta is done and serve it.
6. You can serve it with toast bread or grilled cheese.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Bulletin Board

This is our beautiful bulletin board for Valentine's at ALC. We love it!

Baptism Dessert Table

This dessert table we made for one beautiful little girl,Brooklyn. We made the cake, French Macarons, cake pops and meringue kisses. We really enjoyed making this dessert table.

Nutella Star Bread

First of all,  we wish you all a happy, prosperous, joyful, and healthy New 2015 Year!
And now back to something we really enjoy making and that's this bread,nutella strat bread. It's so delicious and very easy to make.For the recipe please visit our Facebook page where you can find many recipes for desserts and other food. All the recipes are in English and Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian. Thank you! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yummilicious-Cakes-Desserts/190419667718906