Passion fruit jelly panna cotta

Despite my absolute LOVE for chocolate, I have to say this has a been a quite poor Easter for me. Finding chocolate Easter eggs is almost an impossible mission in Norway. And, when found, they cost more that what my love and addiction can afford. Making them is a distant dream too, once I don't have a stone that is cold enough to work with the chocolate. Anyways, I was planning to bake loads of Easter recipes and chocolaty desserts, but with the stores closed most of the time, my Easter holidays have been dedicated to a very well deserved and long rest. After all, who needs to hurry with chocolate recipes during Easter when you have absolutely the WHOLE year to enjoy one of the best flavors on Earth?

The naked truth!

Totally far from chocolate, but equally yummy, this panna cotta recipe was quite easy to make and definitely a must do on the (hopefully) warmer days to come. From Norway, Happy Easter to you all!

From here.

Serves 6

Jelly

2 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon gelatin powder

4 passion fruit

112 g of caster sugar

300 ml of extra water

Panna cotta

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons gelatin powder

480 ml of single cream

47 g of icing sugar

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

For the jelly, put the water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over. Wait for about 5 minutes (or until the gelatin is absorbed by the water). Through a fine sieve, strain the passion fruit pulp. You will need around 60 ml. In a saucepan, place the sugar, juice and extra water over medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil and then simmer for 3 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture and cook, always stirring, for about 2 minutes. Pass this mixture through a sieve and divide between six cups or mold glasses (120 ml capacity). In case you want to unmold the dessert, remember to lightly grease the molds with neutral vegetable oil. Refrigerate for about 5 hours. 

For the panna cotta, place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. After 5 minutes, the gelatin should be absorbed by the water. Over medium heat, place the cream, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds to boil. Stir here and there, but allow the cream to boil. Add the gelatin and cook for about one minute, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved. Allow this mixture to cool to room temperature before pouring over the already firm passion fruit jelly. Refrigerate for another 4-5 hours. Before serving, use some of the passion fruit seeds for decoration on the unmolded panna cotta. If you plan to keep the panna cotta in the molds, you can use a little less gelatin powder on the creamy part - that it will make it taste even more divine! 

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies

For the ones that, like me, love lemon and baking, an easy peasy recipe. Adapted from here.

Cup - 240 ml

210 g all purpose flour

3/4 cup cornstarch

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

113 g softened unsalted butter

140 g confectioner's sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

5-6 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Prepare two baking trays with baking paper. In a bowl, sift the salt, cornstarch, flour and baking powder and set the mixture aside. Using an electric mixer, combine the butter and the confectioners' sugar, beating well on low speed. Continue beating for about 2 minutes in medium speed until the mixture becomes light. One by one, beat in the eggs. Don't worry if your batter looks spoiled. It's the way it's supposed to look. Add both the lemon juice and the zest. While adding the flour mixture, remember to decrease the speed on your mixer to low. Using your spatula, give the dough a few good turns to bring it all together. Use a teaspoon and make tiny dough balls on the already prepared trays. If you place them about 5 cm apart from each other, you should be fine. With a floured fork, press a crisscross design on the top of each dough mound. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes and make your favorite tea before enjoying easy to make, fresh and yet delicious cookies. 

Enjoy!

Italian pizza dough and sauce

After some of my friends told me that some of the recipes that are on the blog look yummy, but a bit too difficult to make, I promised I would take into consideration all my friends with little time, little kids or little patience in some (just some) of the posts. This pizza is a good example of something that does look a bit complicated, but despite the time you have to set aside for the dough and sauce preparation, it is definitely worth it. For this recipe I have used, for the second time, a pizza stone. And I must say I simply adore mine. It does deliver what it promises: a thin and crispy dough. I am on a 'done by myself' phase right now too- I made the sauce from scratch and, once again, yum!!! Use your imagination on the topping and get ready for an easy and very, very, very delicious meal. 

Italian Pizza dough

For 4 pizzas (32 cm)

Recipe from here.

600 ml lukewarm water

2 teaspoons of dry active yeast

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

1 teaspoon of dried rosemary

1 teaspoon  salt

2 teaspoons sugar

200 grams semolina flour

600 grams pizza flour (tipo 00)

Pour the semolina flour in a big bowl. Add the yeast, the spices, the salt and sugar and mix everything. Stir in the water and watch out for its temperature. Add the pizza flour little by little until you get the correct consistency. Knead the dough until it gets elastic and soft and set it aside to rise for about 30 minutes or until it rises to almost double the initial size. Warm the stone in the oven while the dough rises. (270°C)

Italian homemade sauce

Fresh tomatoes

Fresh spices of your preference (I used chives and parsley)

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper

Sugar

1 fresh chili 

2 garlic cloves

The stems from the tomatoes (their function is to add a delicious flavor to the sauce, but they shouldn't be eaten)

With a sharp knife, cut a 'cross' on the tomatoes, where the stems sit. Place the tomatoes under boiling water for about 3 minutes. Rinse them with cold water and skin one by one. Cut the tomatoes according to your preference. I decide to go for a chunkier version this time. In a thick pan, fry the garlic with the chili in extra virgin olive oil and add the tomato pieces, salt, pepper and place the stem from the tomatoes on the top of the sauce. After some minutes cooking, taste the sauce and add more salt or pepper if needed and some sugar, in order to avoid the acidity that comes from tomatoes. The sauce should cook in low-medium heat until it reaches the consistency you want. The longer it cooks, the thicker the sauce will be. Stir it once in a while and don't forget to taste to make sure all the flavors are developing as they should. Remove the tomato stem when the sauce is done. 

Open the dough and fold the borders slightly. Spread the sauce, the mozzarella and use your imagination on your favorite topping . Today's toppings were the traditional Margherita and chicken with fresh mushrooms and shallots. After you prepare your pizza, bake it for 6-8 minutes. 

Margherita

Mozzarella cheese

Very good quality ripe sliced tomatoes

Oregano

Fresh basil leaves (when serving)

Chicken with mushrooms and shallots

Mozzarella cheese

Cooked shredded chicken

Corn

Thin slices of fresh mushroom

Black olives

Sliced shallots

Oregano

Prepare the ingredients a bit ahead and enjoy an amazing and easy to make meal on the company of a good glass of wine, a good movie and your better half. Life is very good indeed!

A flavor from the countryside. 

Tradition and flavor

Vanilla cupcakes with pistachio praline whipped icing

I have finally managed to get back to my abandoned blog. Even though I have been cooking, I just haven't found the time to take decent pictures and post the recipes. Actually, after last week (which I mean wasn't a good week for me to cook at all), my will to try new recipes out has faded a little bit. Well, well.. That's just life. Sometimes I get happy with my cooking projects, sometimes I don't. And these cupcakes, I must say, were the result of a little project that I intend to try again. Yummy yum! 

Cupcakes
127 g softened unsalted butter
162 g caster sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
2 eggs
185 g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
120 ml milk
Pistachio praline
75 g unsalted pistachio nuts
100 caster sugar
60 ml water
Whipped icing
145 g caster sugar
3 tablespoons water
generous pinch of cream of tartar
2 egg whites
pinch of salt