Nutella Filo Pie with Pistachios

We prepare a lot of filo pies in Bulgaria. Filo pie with cheese, eggs and yogurt is one of the traditional Bulgarian dishes served on the New Year's Eve, but also all throughout the year. Filo pie with spinach, filo pie with leek, filo pie with shredded pumpkin (obligatory dish for the Christmas eve), zucchini filo pie - we are a nation of filo pie lovers. But recently I found another recipe in one of my favorite blogs - Dulces Bocados , which is absolutely tasty and can be prepared in less than an hour (with baking time included). 

Does it have a lot of calories? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes, yes, yes.

Zucchini phyllo pie

My mother-in-law is the best cook I know. She is not a professional chef, but she knows such increadible recipes and she respects food so much, that she can turn every single ingredient into something absolutely delicious. This is one of her masterpieces. Zucchini phyllo pie - it is a sweet phyllo dough pie, which holds the fresh taste of yound early-summer zucchinis. Two weeks ago when I spent a spent a week with her in her country house she prepared for me her soft zucchini phyllo pie and I took some pictures of her during work. Here is the recipe she is famous for.

Chocolate mascarpone almond cake

Peter has a birthday today. 
He is turning nine, yes, he is already a big boy. I am really so proud of him. 
Of course, I wanted to please him preparing a birthday cake he would like. In fact, this is the favorite birthday cake of our whole family - the chocolate mascarpone almond cake. 
One evening some months ago we were dreaming about the most perfect cake according to our tastes. So everyone of us suggested the kind of ingredients the cake should have. 

Mascarpone, said Violet. 
Chocolate, added I (predictably). 
Biscuits and heavy cream, wanted Peter. 
Almonds, proposed D. 
I put all these words into Google and, surprisingly, there really was a recipe including all of them (this is the source in Bulgarian). The same day we prepared the cake and this was it. This IS it. The cake which holds the taste of roasted almonds, chocolate and mascarpone.

Happy birthday, Peter! I hope, all your wishes will come true! Life is so sweet!

Chocolate mousse cake

Chocolate. Mascarpone. More chocolate. Heavy cream. Sugar. Nine eggs. Nearly no flour. 
Do you think it will be a good cake? 
It is not enough to say it is good, it is the best chocolate cake with two fudgy layers and smooth chocolate mousse between them. And, of course, the mascarpone which fills the mouth with heaven. 
I have always wondered what is the meaning of the word "decadent" concerning cake, but this chocolate cake is decadent, I am sure. It includes so many costly and tasty ingredients, that the occasion you prepare it for should be worth the money and all the efforts. 
Or you should love a lot the people you prepare it for. 
I love my sister Eve. A lot. 
She has a warm heart and is cheerful and always in good faith. She is a psychologist - a really good one and I am very proud of her. 
Some months ago I needed advice. I was so involved into the situation, that I really didn't know what to do. She was the one who showed me the right way to get out of the situation and it was a really, really important decision with lots of important consequences. 
Thank you, Eve, I will never forget your advice! 
So I wish to express my gratitude and love to her and I know how - I will prepare her favourite cake. 

It is not enough to say Eve loves chocolate, because she is one of the most devoted chocoholics I know. This one will be for her, but here is the recipe if you want to please somebody you love.  

Pumpkin cake with sliced fresh pumpkin and rice

A pumpkin cake prepared with slices of pumpkin instead of pumpkin puree. You can feel not only the taste of the pumpkin, you can enjoy its texture with your tongue, its crust above the velvety inside. What is also good about this pumpkin cake? The grains of rice which have absorbed as much sweet vanilla milk as possible. The smell of cinnamon. This pumpkin cake reminds me on my childhood and on my beloved Granny, who prepared it many times every autumn and winter. Here is her recipe for you.

Linzer Cookies - one of the Christmas Classics

Linz is the third-largest city in Austria. Its population is about 191 000 people. Its cookies are known and prepared worldwide and million of people enjoy them all year long, but especially during Christmas time. They are tasty, with dough including lots of ground nuts - hazelnuts or almonds. But they are also beautiful - they are assembled from two pieces, one of which has a cutout center and you  can see the raspberry jam through the hole. This recipe is from here  and it makes about 20-25 double cookies.

The best chocolate cookies - rich and chewy

This recipe is for devoted chocolate lovers - you feel the taste of chocolate in your mouth minutes after you have swallowed the last bite. It is not for people who prefer sweet desserts and the mild taste of milk chocolate - cookies get slightly bitter. The main reason I do them again and again is because the chocolate inside them is soft and remains melted even the day after they are prepared. Recipe is from here and it is for 8 cookies. The original has chocolate chips as an ingredient, but I prefer to make these cookies with chopped chocolate because chocolate chips tend to keep their shape while baking and I want to obtain a more homogenous velvety texture. These cookies are perfect for making ice cream sandwiches.

If you prefer crunchy cookies with emphasis on the butter as a taste, I can recommend you the Crunchy buttery cookies. 

Crunchy buttery cookies with chocolate chunks

These cookies are crunchy. And buttery. And salty. And all this makes the chocolate even more obvious and tasty. The recipe yields 8 cookies and this is the place I saw it.

Peach tart with fresh peaches and apricot jam

The recipe for this tart is from Marco Canora's book Salt to taste. This is one of the best cookbooks I have. The Italian-style recipes represent home cooking at its best, but the thing I like most about this book is that it sounds like a bunch of advices how to do everything in the best possible way. 
This tart is light, fruity and very fresh.

My favorite sour cherry cake

The last sour cherries of the season. I picked them from our sour cherry tree, trying not to eat too many. I needed two cups for the sour cherry cake. My favourite sour cherry cake, the one my mother-in-low prepares. She knows I love it and so does everybody else in our family. Half of the tray is for me, the others share the other half. 

Sour cherry cake with buttermilk

Sour cherries are one of my favourite fruits. Probably that is one of the reasons I spent the other day around the stove trying two different recipes for sour cherry cake. This is the first one I would like to tell you about. It is based on the recipe for buttermilk blueberry cake I saw in one of my absolute favorite blogs. It does not look very attempting, but it is. You can feel the butter and the crust is crunchy. 

Tarte Tatin

'I burnt the apples!', she exclaimed. And that is how a long story began. Because this happened more than 100 years ago. And she was one of the two sisters Tatin. Probably nobody would know her name except of the few hunters and travelers who stayed at the hotel, owned by her and her sister, about 100 km south of Paris. But there were some clients in the restaurant at the hotel who were waiting for the apple tarts they had ordered. And she, who was responsible for the kitchen things, had to do something. What exactly was her mistake - probably nobody will ever know. Was she tired, distracted by something or just absent-minded? We will never know. But she lacked of time and she had to do something with the caramelized apples she had in the pan. So she put the tart pastry onto the apples, baked the cake and turned it upside down. Little bit frustrated, little bit nervous she served the upside-down apple tart to the clients. What was their reaction? They were fascinated and wanted more. Because the caramelized apples tasted far better than the ones used in the classical apple tart. 
How did the story continue? A man from French restaurant Maxim's heard about this little treasure and wanted to know the key to it. He found a way to take the recipe and that is how Tarte Tatin, named after the above mentioned lady, became part of Maxim's menu and made its official entrance to the golden culinary pages of the world. 
That is how a mistake turned into something appreciated all over the world. I like this idea very much. Not so exaggerating like turning lemons into lemonade but I suppose, sometimes there is opportunity even in the worst situations. In fact, being involved into the situation makes you some kind of blind to all the possibilities around. But they still exist.
I rarely admit I have made a mistake. But now I 'burned my apples'. Literally and figuratively. And I have to decide what to do with the 'pastry', with the 'clients' and how the story should continue. In other words, I should decide what my future steps should be. 
The things which are obvious in the pictures are that I am a little bit angry. And anxious. And that is why I was thinking I should not publish this post. But this is my place. And the tart is still tasty. So here is the recipe, taken from a book about the French cooking.

Chocolate mousse

Chocolate mousse should be perfect. It is one of those sweet treats which are supposed to make you say "Mmmmm!" when savouring it. Chocolate mousse lovers know - this is not something you eat when you lack of time, it needs proper attitude. It could bring a sexy end to an intimate dinner or be the perfect beginning of the weekend day served with a cup of coffee. So the recipe for chocolate mousse has to be perfect, the mousse should fill the mouth with creaminess and the mind with airy dreams.

I've wanted to make chocolate mousse since months, but just in principle. I had no idea which ingredients would make the best recipe. And one day I saw a recipe here and decision was taken.  A lot of heavy cream? OK, I agree.  Mascarpone instead of eggs? Well, this is my dessert. Luscious and fluffy, it is so good, that I think it should be served straight, no need of additional cream or fruit above. 

Chocolate biscuit cake and the joy to have a grown-up daughter

Do you know how Violet made my weekend sweet and nice? With a sweet surprise - she prepared chocolate biscuit cakes we both enjoyed both weekend-mornings with our coffees. It is soo good to have a grown-up daughter - she is like a good friend to me, she understands my feelings, my monthly mood swings, she is a good shopping adviser. And also a great kitchen girl. 
This is the source she used for preparing the cake (called in Bulgarian sweet salami because of its shape).
So I had my first piece of chocolate biscuit cake as a surprise on Saturday morning and there is no sweet salami home yet. And I should admit, men at home don't like such treats. But we both shared two cakes with lots of coffee cups, without blaming ourselfs. This sweet salami is rich, very rich, but it is so tasty. And who cares about calories if they give you such satisfaction.
Violet has a birthday today - she is getting sixteen. 

Happy Sweet sixteen, V. I am so happy to have you in my life. Love you so much.

Flourless chocolate cake

About 10 days ago I had a birthday and, predictably, I prepared a cake with lots of chocolate included. Every day is chocolate day for me, but, of course, there had to be a lot of it for my special occasion. It has intense chocolate flavour and smooth buttery texture. I will keep on searching for the best chocolate-including recipe, but this recipe is close to perfection. 

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 300 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 200 g unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 6 eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar

For the ganache:

• 100 g heavy cream
• 200 g bitter sweet chocolate
• 40 g butter
• 3 Tbsp sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 190°C (370°F) . Butter the bottom of a 20-cm pan. Set aside. 

Cut chocolate into small pieces to enable it to melt quickly and evenly. Put into a small metal bowl, add the butter, cut also into small pieces and melt together in a double broiler, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from heat and let the mixture cool for 5-10 minutes. 
Beat the egg yolks, adding slowly 1/2 cup of the sugar until mixture triples in volume. 
Add the melted chocolate. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl with clean beaters, adding slowly the second 1/2 cup of sugar. Beat until the egg whites get thick and white. Add slowly egg whites to the chocolate mixture and spoon into the battered pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes and let cool for 15 minutes before inverting it onto a plate. 
Prepare the ganache. Heat the heavy cream on medium heat and add the chopped chocolateq butter and sugar. Stir to incorporate well. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes and spread over the cake. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts or a colorful decoration. 
This cake tastes better one day after prepared.

Roasted pumpkin with honey and walnuts

This was the Saturday breakfast. My Daddy came to our place, we had to make a little photo session. So while discussing many things we enjoyed pieces of warm pumpkin with honey and walnuts. Coffee could not find a better partner in the cold winter morning.

Greek halvas

There is a very sweet tradition observed in many restaurants in Greece.
They serve complimentary desserts to the clients along with the bill. And if you are lucky, this dessert is not fruit, but something really sweet and tasty. And if you are very, very lucky, this is a Greek halvas.
It is a really sweet dessert, prepared from semolina and sugar syrup. So I will not try to convince you that  it is low in calories. Because it is not. But once in a while it is a permitted sin, I hope. The amount of the key ingredients is easy to remember - 1, 2, 3, 4.

Canned Apricots Cake

 This is an easy, quick and elegant dessert. My mum prepared it when I was a child and I still accept it as something very special. It tastes better on the following day, when all the juice  is absorbed.

Candied kumquats

A friend of mine was on a vacation in Corfu, Greece and brought me some candied kumquats as a souvenir. Small whole fruits, soaked in syrup. I took a bite with a cup of coffee and I was intrigued by their taste - slightly sweet, slightly bitter and slightly sour. According to the Internet, kumquats are native to China, but they are widely cultivated in Japan and also grown in Florida and California the United States and on Corfu island in Europe. 

Kumquats resemble oranges, but they are smaller and oblong, about 3-4 cm in length. Their skin is thin and sweet and their center is rather tart, so unlike oranges you eat either the whole raw kumquat or only its peel. If you want to enjoy completely their taste, you should release the essential oils included in their skin, so you should "massage" them by rolling between your fingers before eating. But the best way to taste this bittersweet fruit is to try  it candied or made into jelly or marmelade. Candied kumquats could be served with cheese, chocolate or ice cream, but they are also a marvellous spread on a hot buttered toast or a perfect topping for duck, ham or veal fillet. Of course, you can enjoy their citrusy freshness straight from the jar. Vanilla bean with its sweet and wooden aroma is a perfect match of the kumquat, so it is a key ingredient of the jam. Kumquats have seeds, which should not be eaten (like those of the oranges), so most of the recipes call for slicing the fruits and discarding the seeds. But I like the bite-size of the kumquats, So I let them whole. 

Chocolate lava cake

Same ingredients like yesterday's chocolate tart (except the salt), but different amount of them and different result. Chocolate lava cake is a popular French dessert, served worldwide. Its consistency makes it so popular, and namely the soft runny chocolate centre. 

Legend says it was a result of a chef's mistake - the cook took the individual chocolate cakes too early from the oven and the chocolate oozed out when cut in the middle. The right baking time which determines the consistency is around 10 minutes, but it depends on the oven you use and don't bother - if you overbake slightly, you will have just a moist cake.