Simple White Cake

adapted slightly from Allrecipes

It was late Sunday night, and not a drop of candy in the house. After dinner Ben turned to me and asked... should we make a cake?

We rushed to the kitchen and this delectable baby was born. A simple white cake, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Satisfies the sweet tooth every time.

serves 6-8

2 3/4 cup flour

4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

4 egg whites

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup butter (about 170 grams)

1 1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla flavoring

1 tsp almond flavoring

Cream butter until soft and gradually add sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt until will integrated. Add sifted ingredients alternately with milk into the butter/sugar mixture a small amount at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in flavorings.

In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites (not the yolks!) together until foamy. Add 1/2 cup sugar gradually and continue beating until the mixture begins to form soft peaks. Fold the meringue (whipped egg whites) into the batter until thoroughly combined.

Spread batter in a 15x10x1 inch pan (or two 9 inch rounds, or three 8 inch rounds) that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 30-35 minutes. Cool cake in the pan for 10 minutes before removing it and transferring it to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Creamed Cabbage Soup

from Allrecipes

It's been cold! I know spring is just around the corner, but it still feels very far away. And the best way to warm up on a cold night is a nice bowl of soup. This recipe employs the hardy cabbage (a very underrated vegetable in my opinion) and a dash of creaminess to make it feel decadent.

Serves 6

2 cups chicken broth

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 medium head of cabbage, shredded

3 carrots, diced

1/4 cup butter

3 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 cup whole milk

2 cups fully cooked ham, diced

1/2 tsp thyme

1 tsp parsley

salt and pepper to taste

In a large kettle, combine broth and vegetables, bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and let simmer until the vegetables are just starting to soften, about 15 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, get a saucepan on medium heat and melt the butter. Then mix in the flour, until completely blended and gradually add milk creating a light roux. Cook and stir until thickened, and stir into soup. Add spices and ham and heat through. Garnish with parsley (fresh if you have it!) and serve warm.

Prosciutto Tart

Last week I bought a puff pastry to make an apple strudel, but then Ben ate all of the apples and I was left wondering what to do with the dough. So for dinner I made this savory tart with what I had in the fridge and it was delicious. A gone-within-the-hour kind of delicious. (And it was so easy to make, it's hard to resist!)

enough puff pastry sheets to line the bottom of a baking sheet

2 Tbsp pesto

prosciutto

1 zucchini, cut into thin slices

2 tomatoes, cut into thin slices

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Roll out the puff pastry onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Spread pesto in a thin layer on the pastry. Then add a layer of prosciutto, a layer of zucchini and a layer of tomato. Then top with cheese, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes (or as directed for the puff pastry) or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm.

Carrot Soufflé

adapted from Simply Recipes

This is a very tasty side dish, easy to make and very interesting way to use carrots. I didn't read very carefully and accidentally made enough for a small army, but it was no bother. The leftovers were just as good.

serves 8

2 lbs carrots

1 cup whole milk

2 cups cracker crumbs

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

1/3 cup minced onion

1 Tbsp (13 grams) butter

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp black pepper

salt to taste

3 eggs

Turn on the oven to 350 F (175 C). Butter a 2 quart baking dish and set aside.

In a large pot, bring water to a boil and let the carrots boil 10 min, or until soft. Then puree carrots until smooth with a blender.

In a bowl, slowly mix the carrots with the milk, stirring slowly between pours until smooth and even. Then stir in one cup of crackers, cheese, onion, butter and spices.

In a separate bowl, whip eggs to a froth, then whisk them into the carrot mixture. Spoon entire bowl into prepared baking dish, sprinkle one cup of cracker crumbs on top

Bake 40-45 minutes when the soufflé is puffed up and golden.

Tomato Artichoke Soup

adapted from A Couple Cooks

I once had a roommate that would bring home huge batches of her mom's homemade tomato soup. We were often threatened that if we swiped the soup from the freezer that we would have hell to pay.

Since then I have wondered: what in the world was in that soup? I have eaten many tomato soups with varying measures of enjoyment, but nothing to ever get possessive over. In my search to replicate this amazing tomato soup recipe, I have tried lots of recipes, and this one comes pretty close in my book. The artichokes provide a nice flavor and it is perfect for a cold night with some fresh bread. Enjoy!

1 Tbsp butter

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 bay leaves

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp parsley

2 cups fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 cup canned artichokes

1 cup water

1 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

Croutons

Parmesan

Chop the onion and garlic and saute with butter and bay leaves in a large pot until the onions are translucent. Chop the artichokes into smallish pieces. Add the artichokes, tomatoes, 1 cup water and spices. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat, allowing the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the soup to a smooth consistency. (You may have to do it in batches so you don't get splashed with hot liquid!) Add one cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cream and mix in until blended.

Top with croutons and parmesan and serve immediately.

Salmon Cream Cheese Crackers

I made these at Christmastime as an appetizer and they were great! I really came to love gravlax in Finland and I try to use it as often as I can. Be sure to use gourmet mustard, the plain old yellow kind will not suffice.

crackers

cream cheese

fresh dill (I had to use dried... boo.)

cured salmon gravlax

Mustard (must be artisan!)

Spread the crackers with a layer of cream cheese, add a dollop of mustard and put a slice of gravlax on top. Garnish with dill (fresh if you have it) and refrigerate until serving.

Spinach Prosciutto

adapted from Prociutto Recipes

Well, the holiday season is almost over. And while I love eating all of the traditional dishes and special foods, I'm always ready to get back to my lighter regular fare. This is a great side dish with lots of flavor and fairly healthy too.

2 Tbsp olive oil

10 ounces spinach (one big bunch)

4 ounces prosciutto (about 125 grams) *You could substitute cooked bacon

1/2 cup roasted red peppers

1 cup artichoke hearts, roughly sliced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced into rings

parmesan cheese as a garnish

Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic and onions and saute until softened. Then add artichoke hearts, spinach, red peppers and prosciutto. Cook 10 minutes or so, until heated through. Serve warm topped with parmesan cheese.

Lime Chicken Soup

Adapted from Sea Salt with Food

This soup was so light and fresh tasting. An amazing soup if you are on a diet but want something special and filling. This will be a soup I'm going to make again and again!

Serves 6

For the Broth

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

8 cups chicken broth

2 limes, juiced

salt

1/2 cup rice

For the Garnish

2-3 tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 small cucumber, diced

2 jalepeno chilies, minced

4 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 limes, cut into wedges

Bring the chicken broth to a boil, add rice, chicken, salt and lime juice and reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, chop up your garnish ingredients and mix together in a bowl.

Once the broth is done, ladle it into serving bowls and spoon a generous 1/2 cup of garnish on top. Season with lime wedges and top with cilantro.

Honey Gingerbread

adapted from Allrecipes

Well I looked and looked. Four different stores, many different people and no one could help me find molasses for gingerbread. The funny thing is, I see gingerbread everywhere here so I KNOW it's got to be around here somewhere in some form. This is the frustrating part of living in a foreign country, not being able to communicate what you want.

Anyway, after a long search I finally gave up and substituted the molasses with honey and it was a surprisingly nice little cookie. A little lighter perhaps, a slightly different flavor, but tasty nonetheless.

Makes approximately 24 cookies

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1 egg yolk

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in honey and egg yolk. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder and all spices. Stir in the flour mixture with the wet butter mixture, cover and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C) and roll the dough out onto a flat floured surface. Cut out desired shapes and place the cookies about 2 inches (about 5 cm) on the cookie sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes if you want soft cookies, and around 10 if you want harder cookies. Let cool completely before frosting.

I used the Royal Icing recipe for a pretty sweet finish.

Royal Icing

From Joy of Baking

Royal icing is wonderful. It dries quickly. It is smooth and matte and very hard. It can be used to decorate cookies or to stick walls of a gingerbread house together.

In the olden days, royal icing was made simply with raw egg whites and powdered sugar, with a little flavoring mixed in. But now, due to the risks of salmonella meringue powder is often substituted with very similar results.

Both recipes make about 3 cups of icing

Royal Icing using Egg Whites:

2 large egg whites (60 grams)

2 tsp lemon juice

3 cups (330 grams) confectioners sugar

This is perfect for items you will not be eating, like gingerbread houses. In a bowl, beat the egg whites for several minutes with the lemon juice mixed in. Then add the powdered sugar slowly, mixing until the icing is completely combined and smooth. Use immediately.

Royal Icing using Meringue powder:

4 cups confectioners sugar

3 Tbsp meringue powder

1/2 tsp flavor extract (lemon, vanilla, almond, etc...)

1/2 to 3/4 cup of warm water

Mix the confectioners sugar and meringue powder well. Add the water and beat until the mixture is very glossy and stiff peaks begin to form (about 5-7 minutes). You will know that your icing is the right consistency when you lift the beater, the ribbon of icing that falls back into the bowl remains on the surface of the icing for several seconds before disappearing.

It is important to keep this icing covered as much as possible, because it dries out very quickly. Feel free to add flavors and food coloring to your liking.

Ricotta Pancakes

From Sparkling Ink

Whenever Ben goes out of town, I have breakfast for dinner. He hates breakfast food and it happens to be my favorite meal of the day. So I indulge myself whenever he isn't around. This time I tried out a recipe I spotted on one of my most favorite food blogs: Sparkling Ink. Her pictures there are always inspiring me to cook more!

Anyway, it was a nice twist to the classic pancake and one I hope to make again soon.

9 oz (250 g) ricotta cheese

2/3 cup milk

2 eggs, separated

3 1/2 ounces (100 g) flour

1 tsp baking powder

oil or butter for the pan

Separate egg yolks and whites. Mix together ricotta, milk and egg yolks. Whisk flour and baking powder together and combine with wet cheese mixture. Then gently fold in the egg whites until just combine. Spoon a dollop of batter onto a large skillet and cook both sides of the pancake until golden.

Serve warm with syrup, jam, fruit or whipped cream. For breakfast or dinner :)

Pesto Omelette

Adding pesto to your omelette adds a huge boost of flavor and a little variety to an easy breakfast (or dinner).

Serves 2

1 tsp butter or oil

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 Tbsp pesto

1 handful spinach leaves

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup gouda or other cheese, grated

1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Heat a small (about 7 inches or 18 cm) frying pan on the stove on medium, melt butter. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Mix in milk, pesto and salt and pepper. Once the frying pan is hot, pour the egg mixture, sprinkle on the spinach leaves and cheese and let it cook. Once the center of the omelette is starting to set, lift the corner of the omelette and gently fold it in half. Let it rest for about 30 seconds or so and then slip it off the pan and onto a plate. Serve immediately.