Cupcakes in Ice Cream Cones

makes 24 cupcakes

350 F pre-heated oven



Flat bottom ice cream cones

2 cups plain flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs


1. Measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl

2. Mix on low speed just until incorporated.

3. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.

4. Add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.

5. Transfer batter into a container with a pour spout (like a pyrex measuring cup).

6. Pour batter into ice cream cones, leave a good half inch between the batter and the top of the cone or it will leak and softens the cones.

7. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Mascorpone Frosting

1 pack (8 oz) cold Mascorpone Cheese

1 cup double cream

1/2 cup confectionery sugar



In a standing mixer blend the Mascorpone and confectionery sugar, when it is getting soft and fluffy add the double cream. Beat till it becomes nice and thick frosting.



Do not over beat, it might become like a butter.



I add freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon and fresh ginger to my taste. But plain one is delicious as well.



Once the cupcakes are completely cooled you can either spread or pipe the frosting on.

Limoncello Tiramisu

Part 1:
1 cup water
1 cup limoncello liqueur
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar, boil over high heat, then simmer on lower heat till alcohol vaporized. Let it cool in a shallow dish.

Part 2:

6 egg yolks

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup Limoncello liqueur,

mix it all in a bowl and place over a double boiler,after the water is boiled, turn off the heat and whisk the mixture continuously till it is thick like a custard. And let it cool at the side.

Part 3:

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar,

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites til it is frothy then add the cream of tartar, when it becomes to soft peak add sugar, continue until it is a firm peak.

Part 4 :

500 gr Mascarpone cheese, @ room temperature

2 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest,

Mix it together with wooden spoon til it combines well.

Fold Part 4 with Part 2, in 3 steps, then fold part 3 into this mixture.

Tiramisu could be assemble either in a large square glass container, or individual glasses.

You need 40 lady fingers, (less if you are using individual glasses), dip the lady fingers in the syrup, let it soak well but don't let it get too soggy, place them on the bottom of the dish in a single layer, then scoop half of the mascarpone cream onto the ladyfingers, smooth the surface. Dip and arrange the second layer, then cover it completely with the remaining of the cream.

Cover with cling film and refrigerate at least 3 to 5 hour. Serve and sprinkle bit of lemon zest over.

Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Box of Barilla Tagliatelle Pasta

400 gr. Chicken breast strips

2 Tbsp butter

200 gr. White mushrooms, washed, peeled and thinly sliced

2 large white onions, peeled and sliced

1 1/4 cups double cream

salt & pepper to your taste

Fresh chopped parsley

Water and salt to boil the pasta.

Place the water and salt in a large sauce pan over a high heat. Fallow the instruction from the box for cooking the pasta.

Dice chicken breast strips, and in a large skillet melt the butter, add the diced chicken and sliced onions. Sote them about 10 min. then add sliced mushrooms, salt and pepper.

Cook until it becomes brown, add the double cream. When the cream is bubbling and reduced a bit, add your drained pasta on top, turn off the heat and mix & serve the pasta on the plates. Sprinkle fresh parsley over the pasta.

Note. I do add 2 Tbsp "Puck Cream Cheese" in the cream. My kids love that.

Banana & Nutella French Toast

12 slices( each to be 1'' thick) brioche

3 bananas

Nutella

3 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 cup double cream

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp butter + 2 Tbsp sunflower oil to be used for cooking.

Make the batter. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla in a large bowl.

In a frying pan, melt the butter and brown sugar, stir until sugar becomes caramelized, add peeled and sliced bananas, cook till bananas are soft.

In a large oven tray, place 6 slices of brioche, on each slice put 1 Tbsp caramelized banana and 1 Tbsp Nutella, place the top slice on each. Pour the batter allover the slices and let them soak about 3 min. ( I do flip each slice to get better soak but be careful you don't want them too soggy)
Heat griddle or pan on medium heat, melt butter in and add sunflower oil to the pan.
Place each sandwich on the pan and cook until golden brown on each side. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

Serves 6.

Lemon bites

Celine was in a baking mood, I was almost crawling on the floor with lower back pain. But she made "the sad puppy face",and my hubby said he would help, so how could I say no!
I told them to use the ready pack, Victorian sponge cake mix from the cupboard. And I would be supervising the rest...
Part 1:
So all you need two boxes of sponge cake mix, and fallow the direction from the box.
I had 29p Asda Victorian Sponge Cake, and it did the job well.


While they were fallowing the instruction from the box, I've asked them to make limoncello syrup:
Part 2:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup limoncello
Mix the water & sugar in a sauce pan and let it boil over a medium heat, remove from the heat and let it cool while you are baking the cake, once the syrup is cool add limoncello.






Part 3:
Lemon Swiss meringue buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
250 gr unsalted butter, @ room temperature
1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
You will need double boiler ( bain marie), combine egg whites and sugar over double boiler, place a candy thermometer and whisk constantly till temperature reaches to 150F.
Remove from the heat , whisk it till its cool to your touch and stiff (like marshmallow melt). Change the whisk to paddle and add butter small amount at a time, ( I really like to use standing mixer), once you add all the butter and it becomes to the consistency you desire add the lemon juice and vanilla.

Part 4 :

Lemon curd

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup double cream

1 cup fresh lemon juiced, strained

1/4 tsp salt


6 eggs whisked to loosen up the yolks & whites.


1 Tbsp lemon zest, finely grated

In a medium size sauce pan, mix first 5 ingredients all together and cook it over low heat, once sugar is dissolved and it started to boil, temper hot lemon mixture into eggs. Add mixture back into sauce pan and continue to cook while stirring constantly until it becomes like a thick custard.

Strain, add zest and cool over an ice bath. Then refrigerate until you need to use.
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Part 5 :
Pour Fondant icing
3 cups confectionery sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 drop of yellow food coloring


Place them all ( except food coloring) over double boiler. Heat til sugar is dissolved and the mixture is lukewarm, stir in the coloring one drop at the time, till you get the color you like. You have to ladle over the cake bites while it is still warm. So make sure you assemble the cake before this step.



Assembling the cake:
After cake is completely cooled, horizontally slice in half with serrated knife.

Use a pastry brush to brush limoncello syrup over the cake first, then spread Swiss meringue with a spatula , fallowed by chilled lemon curd, place the second layer of the cake, and apply the limoncello syrup with brush again.

Slice the cake with a sharp knife 2,5 cm X 2,5 cm mini squares, carefully lift them up and place them on a cookie sheet or parchment paper, you can ladle small amount of pour fondant (icing) over, and decorate them with candied lemon slice or fresh lemon peels.

Coconut Cupcakes

Ingredients:

7 oz plain flour

1/2 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup caster sugar

3 oz or 100 gr plain yogurt or buttermilk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, @ room temperature

2 large eggs, @ room temperature

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes or fresh coconut

2 Tbsp Bacardi rum or Malibu

1 tsp vanilla

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Per heat the oven 180*C/ 160 *C fan forced. Line your muffin pan with paper cases.

Sift all the dry ingredients first, set at the side, then in a standing mixer's bowl , cream the butter , sugar and eggs one at a time. Add in the yogurt, rum and vanilla. Once it is all fluffed and creamy add your dry ingredients, and beat another 4 min. on medium speed.

You have to fold the coconuts by spoon. Make sure it is well combined.

Dived between the cases and bake about 25 min. depends on the size of your pan. Top should be golden brown and tooth pick comes out clean.

Coconut frosting

Ingredients:

8 oz full fat cream cheese

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup powder sugar

3/4 sweetened cream of coconut

1 tsp vanilla

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Place the cream cheese in a bowl, add powder sugar and mix it well with wooden spoon. Add the coconut cream vanilla and the butter, with hand blender whisk it it is creamy and fluffy.

It works great with coconut cupcakes, you can use roasted coconut flakes to decorate as well.

Rice with orzo ( Arpa sehriyeli pilav)

Ingredients :

2 cups short grain rice

1 cup orzo

3 1/4 cups cold water

2 Tbsp sea salt

1 cube of chicken bouillon

1/4 tsp sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

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Place butter and oil in a medium size saucepan, when the butter melted add orzo and stir till it is all golden to dark brown, then add the water, chicken bouillon, salt, and sugar. Meanwhile wash the rice with cold water and drain. Once the water is boiling add the rice, mix it well so orzo and rive is combined, add the lemon juice.

Once the water is reduce almost to same level with rice, turned the heat to minimum possible, place the lid and time it to 25 min. till it's cooked. Do not open the lid or mix the rice during that time.

Carrot Salad

Ingredients :

5 large carrots peeled

1 lemon

1 Tbsp salt

4 Tbsp sunflower oil

I use food processor with grating attachment to grate the carrots. After place them in a large bowl, add salt oil and the juice from the lemon. Mix well and place it in the serving place and decorate with few black olives.

Turkish Kofte

Ingredients :
1/2 kg minced lamb with 20% fat
1/2 kg minced beef, lean
3-4 onions
1 egg
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 cup bread crumbs
1 1/4 cups cold water
Peel onions and cut in 4, place it in the food processor with chopping blade attached, make sure it becomes almost like a juice, add egg, salt, pepper, cumin powder and bread crumbs, turn it on till it becomes like a paste. In a large bowl, mix minced beef & lamb, fresh chopped parsley, water and the paste you've just made. Knead by hand till mixes well all together at least 1o min. Cover with cling film and keep it in the fridge over night. Next day, take walnut size pieces and shape it as blow. It is best when it's cook on the BBQ.

How to make hibiscus flower with pineapple!

you will need :
2 small fresh pineapples
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp sugar
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Pre heat your oven to very slow, 120 C/100 C if you have fan forced.
In a small saucepan stir sugar and the water over low heat until sugar has dissolved: let it boil abut 1 -2 minute.
Cut the outer skin of the pineapples and slice it wafer thin. I used a mandoline and made it so easy.

Line a cookie tray with parchment paper, place slices in a single layer, then brush the syrup over and bake it about 45 min. then turn them over and brush the syrup on that side, place them back in the oven and bake an other 45 min. It won't bake, it will get dry. When its ready take them of immediately and shape into flowers, dry over an egg carton.
Meanwhile you can bake vanilla cupcakes, if you like pineapple replace milk with pineapple juice and you can add 1/4 cup crushed and drained can pineapples + 1 Tbsp sweeten coconut flakes.

I like cheese cream frosting for top and add a pineapple flower to finish. Afiyet Olsun...
Cheese cream frosting :

8oz full fat cream cheese, room temperature

30 gr butter, soften

3 Tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp lemon grind

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp Betty Crocker's Vanilla Frosting

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mix cream cheese and icing sugar with spoon, then add Betty Crocker's frosting and beat it in a bowl with hand blander. Add butter and when it fluff's add vanilla and lemon grind.

Pasta with fresh tomatoes

Your Favorite pasta
4 large tomatoes
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
Salt to your liking...
1 or 2 clove of garlic, sliced in half

cook the pasta as instructed on the box.
Meanwhile grate the tomatoes and place it in a saucepan, add sliced garlic , salt, butter and the oil. Stir all together and close the lid. Bring it to boil then turn the heat down and let it simmer till its cooked. ( usually 10-15 min.)

After drain the cooked pasta , place it in a serving bowl and add the tomato sauce over and mix it well.
Serve right away. You can sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and black pepper.

Basic Vanilla cupcakes

Ingredients :
1/2 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp cold milk
90 gr. unsalted butter soften
1 cup (150gr) self raising flour
1.2 tsp vanilla
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In a bowl mix butter, sugar and vanilla first. Add one egg at a time. When it becomes fluffy and pale, add milk then the flour. Beat another 5 minutes. Pour the batter into muffin cups.

Bake it in pre-heated oven at 150 c, about 15 min. till it is springy and slightly golden on the edges.

I used M&M's and chocolate ganache to decorate.

Ingredients :