Nov
9

Zoodles and kale pesto

by Sofia   -   in Cooking

I bought a spiralizer about a year ago and we use it for all kinds of things. From curly sweet potato oven fries to just your average spiralled carrot salad instead of a grated one. You know kids love when something looks  a little different. We even spiralize cucumber every now and then. But mostly we use it to make zoodles as in zucchini noodles. I love pasta. It´s probably my favourite food. All kinds of pasta really from pesto to pomodoro and a ragu to a simple chilli and garlic pasta. But obviously we can not eat pasta every day. So here comes zoodles. Such a great invention! My husband and kids are not really fans of zoodles but you can serve this kale pesto with your regular pasta also or use whole grain, spelt, or gluten free. Whatever you like. It´s not a “just kale ” pesto but I add some kale to a regular pesto sauce. Hiding some goodness in there like we mamas sometimes do ( my kids have also decided to dislike avocado for now but it does not mean I can´t hide it in their smoothies!). They don´t even notice these things. I have shared a regular pesto recipe on the blog before ( in Finnish) but you can do this one with either the kale or without. I used the softer variety that I find in our supermarket growing in a small pot ( just like basil) but if you buy the harder kale leaves then remove the stems first and use maybe a large handful.

Kale Pesto ( makes a pretty generous batch)

2,5 dl toasted pine nuts ( or cashew or almonds)

100g parmesan cheese

1-3 garlic cloves

2 big bunches of basil

1 bunch of kale

grated zest of one lemon

black pepper

about 1 dl olive oil

1. Toast the pine nuts on a dry pan.

2. Put all ingredients (excluding oil) in a blender and blend until a paste forms.

3. Add oil until you reach a consistency you like. Season with black pepper and extra salt if you like.

Nov
3

Pastel Vanilla Birthday Cake

by Sofia   -   in Cooking

This cake is so crazy it could only be invented by an American. It is a very tasty cake but in my opinion “a tad” too sweet. It´s a vanilla cake with a vanilla bakery frosting and bits of cookie dough in the frosting and bits of pink cupcake too. So you can imagine the sweetness of it. If you think of a cake you might be able to buy at an American mall this might be it. As I think it was not the best cake ever I´m not going to share the recipe. But I do like all the components separately. You can find the whole recipe in Rosie Alyeas  The Sweetapolita bake book ( I love this book so much) and on her blog too. Besides the over the top sweetness ( I was not the only one who thought so) it´s a pretty darn good cake with awesome texture so I´m not saying you should not make it if you love super sweet treats. A small piece with a cup of nice coffee is quite good and gets your cake cravings settled for a while. But what is truly fabulous about the cake is the bits of cookie dough! As the cookie dough is meant to be eaten raw the recipe is eggless. I´m going to try it mixed with my next batch of home made ice-cream. So instead of sharing the whole cake recipe I´m just sharing that. 

Eggles sugar cookie dough 

1 cup ( 135g) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup ( 60g) unsalted buter, room temperature

1/3 cup ( 70g) superfine sugar

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract of Princess Bakery emulsion

1 tablespoon milk

1. Whisk together salt and flour

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until it becomes a pale paste, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add milk and beat until well corporate, about 30 seconds. Reduce the mixer to the lowest setting and gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just incorporate. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

3. The dough will keep in a plastic zip-top bag in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Variation.

Eggless choco chip cookie dough: Substitute the granulated sugar with packed light brown sugar and fold in 1/4 cup ( 130 g) mini chocolate chips.

Oct
29

Booo

by Sofia   -   in Cooking  DIY projects  Party planning

Are you all set for Halloween? We are having the girls´ birthday party for family and god parents on Sunday. Even though we only invited just this group we ended up with 30 guests ( plenty of kids between us parents). What a better excuse for a theme than Halloween. So we are doing a little creepy and a little cute. We decided to serve just cake and coffee as parties are all about coffee and cake really aren´t they? But obviously I can not just do a simple cake and leave it at that. So I made these simple meringue ghosts too. They are adorable and so easy to make. Bake these if you are looking for something simple to make Halloween happen in your house. Just make a basic batch of white meringue ( 3 egg whites and 7 tbls of sugar whisked until hard peaks appear). Attach a big round tip to your piping bag and pipe ghost shaped figures ( I´m pretty sure you could just put the batter in a plastic zip log bag and cut one corner off and pipe it through there too if you don´t have the tips already). After they come out of the oven ( 70°c for 3 hours) draw eyes and mouths on them with black gel colour ( I use Wilton). So simple! And the best part is you can make these in advance as meringues stay edible for days ( or weeks really).