Category Archives: Desserts

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Spiced chocolate crêpe gateau

Posted on Friday May 4th, 2012 by Monica

8 people

Number of Diners

Advanced

Difficulty Level

1h 30m

Preparation Time

Cooking Time

My first crêpe-cake was a huge experience, specially because it came out without thinking it so much. I started with the plums, and ended up making plum-crême pâtissière, and filled the cake with it, and some almonds :) This time, again, against all odds I decided to make it again. This time 100% chocolate, and spices.

The ocassion couldn’t have been better: my close friend Evita invited me to Becerril de la Sierra, a beautiful place outside Madrid, for lunch with her husband and her two beautiful daughters. And if you want to win the children and conquer the adults, I think no-one does that job better than chocolate. On the bus ride, everyone looking at me, or well, the dessert, because to be honest (you can judge by the picture!) it turned out perfectly beautiful and delicious!!

The recipe has a really nice spice touch, that goes so nicely with the chocolate: the crêpes have some Cointreau, clove and cinnamon and the chocolate mousse is made with a fresh ginger-infusioned milk and orange zest. Exquisit. The inspiration came from FOOD52.

It requires time and organization, but if you have an afternoon off and guests or you are a guest for next day, believe me when I say you’ll have everyone in love with you by the first bite. The crêpes with the mousse make and elegant and fun dessert.

Ok!! Let’s go to the step by step recipe.

Go to Recipe of Spiced chocolate crêpe gateau

Posted in French, Desserts | Tagged chocolate, chocolate con especias, crepes, especias, mousse de chocolate, step by step, dessert, Crêpe Tart | Leave a comment

Ver post de French

Crêpe Gâteau

Posted on Friday November 11th, 2011 by Monica

8 people

Number of Diners

Advanced

Difficulty Level

Preparation Time

Cooking Time

What to do with a basket full of plums nobody is eating?

A tart was my first thought. So, I went on and started to read Julia Child and research a bit on what I could do with the plums. And I adventured myself (I’m more of a salty cook than sweet), and went on into complicating myself more and more… because from a tart, I changed into plum compote, crème pâtissèrie and ended up with a crêpe gâteau with plum-crême pâtisserie and almonds. Flambeed on the top with sugar and orange juice. I must say, it was sooo much worth it. Amazingly french, amazingly tasty. Now it is my duty to tell you how to make it.

Go to Recipe of Crêpe Gâteau

Posted in French, Desserts | Tagged almonds, ciruelas, Crème Pâtisserie, crepe gateau, crepes, French, Julia Child, step by step, dessert, recipe, yummy, Crêpe Tart, Crêpe Gâteau | 1 Comment

Ver post de Desserts

Milk rice

Posted on Friday September 9th, 2011 by Monica

8 people

Number of Diners

Beginner

Difficulty Level

20m

Preparation Time

20m

Cooking Time

This dessert is a classic from my infance. You can find it almost everywhere. Started with the Arab world, the rice and the spices, got to Spain and finally the Spanish took it to Perú where we added our own touch so that it’s thicker and for me …yummier :) This recipe is a mix between one I took from Yanuq and the one Cristi made to my brothers and me when we were young, with three different milks: condensed, fresh and evaporated. The best thing for me is that it’s not so liquid but thick! Yummyyy

Arroz tres leches

Ingredients.

3/4 cup long-grained rice
3 cups of water
1 cup of fresh milk
1 cup of condensed milk
1 cup of evaporated milk
lemon and orange skin
1 anise star
1 clove
1 cinnamon stick and powdered cinammon

Preparation.

Wash well the rice.
Add to a small skillet, add the water and lime and orange skin, clove, anise star and cinnamon.
Bring to a boil and cook until the rice grain “explodes”. 20 minutes aproximately.
Heat in another skillet the three milks.
Add the rice with its spices to it and keep on stirring at low-medium heat until it is all well incorporated and becomes thick. 15-20 minutes.
Let it chill.
Serve in Martini cups and garnish with cinnamon on top and orange skin, lemon skin, cinnamon stick and anise star.

milk rice

Arroz con leche

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Posted in Desserts | Tagged árabe, rice, arroz con leche, arroz tres leches, cooking, español, easy, step by step, Perú, dessert, yummy | Leave a comment

Ver post de Desserts

Strawberry Tart

Posted on Wednesday August 3rd, 2011 by Monica

6 people

Number of Diners

Normal

Difficulty Level

Preparation Time

40m

Cooking Time

This delicious and classical french dessert is always a winner. Classical brisée pastry, pâtisserie cream, strawberries and some strawberry syrup… it has colour, it smells delicious and it’s perfect for special occasions such as birthday parties or any party of course :) I made it for my friend Macarena’s birthday celebration at Gloria’s and Ruben’s house in Marburg, a very lovely typical German town just 5 hours from Berlin. Not a single gram left!

Let’s go step by step, first the pastry, then the cream and finally making the strawberries and ending the dessert. It is important that it stays in the fridge until before serving and to add the syrup when it is cold.

l. Let’s start with the brisée pastry.

Ingredients.

275 gr flour
220 gr cold butter
1 cup of iced water
1 egg
1 teaspoon of salt

Preparation.

This pastry has to be worked fast, particularly if you have a warm kitchen because we have to prevent the butter from softening itself. We have to try and use our fingers as little as possible as well because we are warm. I sometimes mix it with a knife and fork.

Place the flour, salt, butter and egg in bowl.
Mix rapidly the flour and the butter between the tips of your fingers until the butter is broken into small pieces.
Start to add the water little by little and mixing fast as you start making a ball.
Press and gather all the ingredients until you have a consistent dough. Add water until necessary.
Cover with film paper and leave at 4ºC at least for 30 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC.

Go to Recipe of Strawberry Tart

Posted in Desserts | Tagged cooking, Crème Pâtisserie, Birthday, French, strawberries, short-crust pastry, step by step, Brisée pastry, dessert, yummy, tart | Leave a comment

Ver post de Desserts

Banana and coconut ice-cream bonbons.

Posted on Wednesday June 22nd, 2011 by Monica

12 people

Number of Diners

Advanced

Difficulty Level

Preparation Time

Cooking Time

Finally!! The time has arrive for dessert-lovers. This time I decided to do ice-cream Bon Bons because they remind me of my childhood in Lima at the beach during summer times. Since I hade very soft bananas, vanilla (from Magadascar by the way) and coconut… well, I did banana-coconut ic-cream.

So… the method I used with a traditional ice-mold was a little complicated when taking the Bon Bons out of the mold. Some of the couverture chocolate brok :$ . However, I later saw that either with a silicone ice-mol or dipping the ice-cream into the chocolat you will get a less “rustic” result. You can try either method. My friend Sandra, for example, told me she liked them best in a less “perfect state”. You know what they say: ‘for taste, colors’ (is it the same in english? I wonder…).

Ingredients. For 12 servings or more!

4 very soft bananas (the softer, the more sugar and the less sugar you add to the recipe whiche means less complex carbohydrates).
200 ml cream
2 cups of whole milk
1/4 cup of sugar
1 can of coconut milk
3 egg yolks
the juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup of grated coconut
1 package of couverture chocolate
3 ice molds best if you have silicone, I had some trouble with the de-molding part using regular ice-molds.

Preparation.

For the Banana and coconut ice-cream:

In a small skillet mix the yolks with the sugar until they are foamy and start adding the milk.
Cook at medium heat until it thickens.
Cool in the fridge.
Place the grated coconut in a baking plate and toast a little in the oven.

Go to Recipe of Banana and coconut ice-cream bonbons.

Posted in Desserts | Tagged bombon, bombones de helado, chocolate, cooking, coconut, helado, banana and coconut ice-cream, menu, step by step, banana, summer | Leave a comment

Ver post de Desserts

Banana, nuts and chocolate cupcakes

Posted on Sunday May 15th, 2011 by Monica

12 people

Number of Diners

Newbie

Difficulty Level

20m

Preparation Time

20m

Cooking Time

It’s time for another dessert, yes. How about banana cupcakes with nuts and chocolate AND some chocolate frosting on top? Sounds good right? While I was baking them people that passed by my balcony said ‘Smells delicious!’. Emilio, my building’s doorman has always been one of the oficial tasters of my food. He gave these cupcakes 10 out of 10 stars.

banana cupcakes And on Friday, my friends took me to a surprise ‘gastronomic’ trip to Salamanca, and I took a box with cupcakes for them to eat on the road…

Ingredients. Makes 12 cupcakes.

1 cup of mashed bananas
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of caster sugar
180 gr unsalted butter
3 eggs
200 gr flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla esence
1 teaspoon cinammon
1/4 cup of nuts in small pieces (save some for decoration)
1/4 cup of pieces of dark chocolate
1 banana in fine slices to decorate

For the frosting (variation from the blog Best Cupcake Recipes):

7 oz dark chocolate
125 gr unsalted butter
1,5 tablespoon milk
2 cups of confectioners sugar

Preparation.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Beat at medium speed the butter with the sugars.
Once it is well incorporated add the eggs and continue beating.
Add the banana puree and vanilla.
Finally add the flour, baking powder and cinammon, little by little and keep beating.
Once all the ingredients are incorporated, add the pieces of nuts and chocolate.
Move with a spoon and scoop and even amount of dough to cupcake molds.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until they are brown on the top and when a wooden skewer inserted in the middle willl come out clean.

Go to Recipe of Banana, nuts and chocolate cupcakes

Posted in Desserts | Tagged chocolate, cooking, cupcakes, cupcakes de platano y chocolate, dulce, easy, frosting, frosting de chocolate, nueces, banana, dessert, recipe | 4 Comments

Ver post de Cheesecakes

Lucuma cheesecake

Posted on Tuesday April 12th, 2011 by Monica

8 people

Number of Diners

Newbie

Difficulty Level

40m

Preparation Time

Cooking Time

…y así Kon-Iraya, el hombre huaca, le extiende su semilla a la bella Cavillaca. Semilla moldeada por el crepúsculo, luz de color de un sol que se oculta, color indecible, rojizo, color de fuego lento, amarillento, con tintes de oro y matices de luna…

Lucuma Lucuma: Fruit of love and fertility and of the hidden beauty…

This recipe will bring smiles to all the fans of My Lúcuma Dessert, that I have been cooking for many for their birthdays and special occasions. All my peruvian friends who have become my “abroad-family” enjoy this taste because it transports us back to our roots, to where this amazing fruit comes from: Perú. And people who have never taste it!! I love their face of surprise and not knowing what it is but knowing they just fell in love in one minute. It is very special, and thank god the fruit is dry and when I bring it with me to Europe in a “flour state”, the taste remains much much like the same.

So! This dessert is very easy and simple. I am in debt with many friends because I stopped preparing it every birthday, so now they have the recipe and I know they’d rather have me cook it but well, this is also a present for them (and it leaves me time to make other desserts!). Happy birthday to all! And welcome Monitouille’s first dessert. The best one.

Ingredients. Makes a big one or like 10 small portions.