Get Some Cookies for Easter

Happy Easter!!! I know everybody is ready to celebrate the holiday... And there is not better way to sghare this season like sharing with our friend some cookies ...

I love cookies, but when I see a decorated cookie I get crazy. I just love all that work and patient  behind that art work. Here I pick up some of the nicer cookies for the Easter season.



From http://www.madbaker.net/

 
These tulips are actually from a Valentine's day arrangement from http://www.madbaker.net/, but I found that there were so beautiful and remind me spring, I found them perfect for this season.



These beautiful flowers are from the decoratedcookeiblog, I really like the idea of make small round cookie decorated with colorful flowers. The cookies are bite size ideal to put them inside of the Easter egg. See this Website

                    

These are my favorite decorated cookies, they are from Costume Cookie Co, It is not just the cookie is the presentation. The have a good variety of cookies for all occasion.  See this Site




 In cookiesbydesign you can find a great variety of Easter cookies. Very inspiring. And you can take ideas from this website to make your own Easter gifts.





If your intention is learning how to make the cookies yourself, the best website for this is bakeat350, you can check their Easter Post,   with sweet ideas as you see on top. Bridget the blogger from this blog has another spectacular website call University of Cookie, you want to learn how to decorate cookies, check this site the best so far I have ever seen, it has videos, tutorial and Bridget explain every single thing.

This beautiful bunny cookie is from http://www.cancuncookies.blogspot.com/

In cookie crazy I found very lovely cookies, and beautiful ideas about how to present your gift to your friends. You can find ideas everywhere. This blog also have tutorials, super cool.

I hope you enjoy my selection of Easter cookies... Happy Easter, and do not forget, Easter is not just the celebration of the beginning of Spring, but the christian celebration on Jesus Christ who is alive!!

Tiramisu: The Italian Cake

Tiramisu is one of the the most popular Italian cakes. It's made of biscuits dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and cram cheese or mascarpone, and flavoured with liquor and cocoa. In the picture above you can see perfectly the biscuits and the cream, on top cocoa powder, delicious, simple and easy to make, perfect.  The only disadvantage is that you have to wait a minimum of 12 hours until the cake  get firm in the refrigerator, but it's worthy.

There are many versions of this recipe, my favorite is found in Venezuela Dulce, Los Mejores Postres Nacionales e Internacionales, is written in Spanish. But for those who love Venezuelan desserts this book has a good selection .

Ingredients

2 eggs separate the yolks from the rest

3 spoonfuls of sugar

1/2 lb (250 gr.) of mascarpone or cream cheese 

250 ml of cream milk , whipped  

1 cup of black coffee, strong and cold

3 spoonfuls of brandy or liquor of coffee

 16 ladyfingers biscuits

Black cocoa powder (sweet)

Directions:

1. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar in a big bowl until thick, creamy and light yellow. Add the mascarpone (in another bowl and give it a quick stir to loosen it up) or cream cheese and mix until well blended Add the whipped cream milk and mix it with a spoon. Put aside. Picture 1.
2. In another bowl whisk egg whites until form firm peaks. Continue to fold the egg whites into the Mascarpone and mix until there are no lumps. Do not let the mix lose its volume. Picture 2
3. Mix the the strong black coffee that you have prepared before with the brandy of coffee liquor in a bowl, dip the biscuits in the coffee mixture. At this time dip only half of the biscuits. Line a large and fairly deep dish with the  ladyfingers that you just wet in the coffee mixture. Pour some of the coffee mixture for extra moist  effect. Add a thin layer of the cream prepared (Item 1-2), extend it evenly.
4. Dip in the  rest of the ladyfinger in the coffee mixture, make sure that it's very wet. Add another layer of the ladyfinger biscuits  already wet in the coffee mixture. Pour the rest of the cream prepared (item 1-2), spread evenly, make sure to get a thick layer of cream. Even the surface and  sprinkler cocoa powder on top, as much as you wish.
5. Place the Tiramisu in the refrigerator for 12 hours or until it get firm.

 This dessert is perfect when you have guests at home for dinner.

Venezuelan Black Cake or Christmas Cake - Torta Negra

The Venezuelan black cake is a variation of the fruit cake, because it is an Latin American recipes is a Latin variation of the English version, as I mentioned in a post before, this black cake is a bit more spongy that the Trinidadian version and the among of spices is also minor. The black cake or Torta Negra cannot miss in a typical Christmas dinner, that we take on the Christmas Eve, usually closer to midnight, in my family, we usually take dinner at 10 pm an leave midnight to open the presents, the children are so excited that they do not go to sleep until they open their presents, and play with them, well we always go to sleep around 2 or 3 pm on Christmas day, it is a day that the family get together to enjoy the company.

You will find a black cake in almost any Christmas dinner in any Venezuelan family, closer to my family home in El Tigre- Venezuela there is a lady who has a cake shop... and around Christmas time her shop is very busy making only black cake, which is decorated with almonds and cherries and syrup,with very nice designs, no icing, You will find our black cake in weddings, we called "bolo", it is the same recipe, but the cake is decorated with the formality of the occasion.

The recipe that I will post below, is from MI COCINA, A la Manera de Caracas by Armando Scannone, Page. 558.  There is something that I love from Scannone, you follow the recipe and the result is accurate, and he give a lot of detail but bring the recipes across in a very easy way. It is a pity that his boo is only in Spanish. But if you are interested you can check http://www.elplacerdecomer.com/

TORTA NEGRA VENEZOLANA: Venezuelan Black Cake
(12 to 14 portions)

Ingredients for 1 lb (1/2 kg) of fruit mix, sufficient for one cake:
1/4 cup peeled almond
1/4 cup hazelnut (peeled) 
1/2 cup nuts
1/4 cup orange (crystallized with sugar)
1/2 dried prunes - seedless
Chop all ingredients above very small
1/3 cup of rum
2/3 cup of black beer
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, grated
1/4 teaspoon of fresh ginger, grated.

Method:
One or two weeks before at least prepare the fruits for the cake, mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. The among is sufficient for one cake. Cover the bowl (airtight) and put it in the refrigerator until the day that you will prepare the cake.

Ingredients for the cake
500 gr, 2 cups of the fruit mix prepared before
175 gr of salted butter, 12 scoops
butter to grease the cake pan
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1-2/3  cup of sugar
5 eggs
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Everything at room temperature

Method

  
1. Take out from the refrigerator the bowl with the fruit, around three (03) hours before of the cake preparation. keep it cover until it get room temperature.

Step 1
2. Turn on the oven at 374 F.
3. In a round baking pan (25 cm diameter / 9.8 -in) and 8 cm deep (3 -in) . Grease the baking pan and sprinkler with flour. Set aside.

Step 4
4. Place butter and salt in a large bowl of electrical mixer and beat  until light in color and creamy consistency. Continue mixing  and add sugar and continue beating for 5 more minutes. Add eggs, one by one,  and beat it for 5 minutes again.

Step 5

Step 6
5. Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
6. Finlay add the mix of flour and baking powder, one part of the flour and one part of the fruits, use a wooded spoon. One part of flour and one part of fruit. The process should end with flour. Mix all together very good.
7. Pour the cake mix in the greased and floured baking pan.

Step 7
8. Bake the cake for 50 minutes  or until you introduce a knife in the center of the cake and this come out clean. You may have to cover the cake at the end with wax paper to avoid to cook to much the top of the cake.

 Step 9
9.  Remove the baking pan from the oven. Let it get cool for some minutes and while the cake still hot turn the cake on the cake plate or where you plan to display it. Decorate as you wish.

As you see is very easy, try to make this cake and tell me your impressions... see you later

Trinidadian Black Cake

Picture from misrecetasfavoritas2.blogspot.com

As I promised, here I brought a easy to make, dark, heavy and delicious Christmas Cake from my second home, Trinidad & Tobago for those who does not, Trinidad &  Tobago is a twin island situated in the Caribbean very close to Venezuela, my home country... well I did not move to far from my family. But it is incredible how history and events have been different in both countries, and this has affected the way how people cook and the flavours.

Trinidad & Tobago was an English colony many years ago, so Trinidadians adopted this English tradition, where a fruit cake is served during the Christmas season, in general, this fruit cake contain dried fruits and spices. Our very own Trini Christmas Cake.

The Trinidadian black cake, is very rich and heavy, an explosion of flavours, it is sticky-wet and  delicious, but you have to eat it in small portions because can be overwhelming. So I always serve small portions, but people always ask for more.

Here is my favorite recipe for a black cake, you will enjoy this recipe. Try to make this cake, if you have never make a black cake this is a very easy recipe to follow and the results are very good.

TRINIDAD BLACK CAKE  (Christmas Cake)

Recipe taken from "The Multicultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago & The Caribbean", by Naparima Girl's High School Cookbook

Serve 36

1 lb. prunes, seeded and chopped

1 lb. raisins

1 lb. currants

1 lb. sultanas

1/4 lb. mixed peel

1/2 lb.cherries, chopped in half

1/4 lb chopped almonds

1- 1/2 cups cherry brandy

2 cups rum

2 cups or 1 lb. butter

2 cups  or 1 lb. sugar (brown or granulated)

10 eggs (large)

2 tsp. grated lime peel

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 lb.  or 4 cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup browning or more

1 cup mixture of rum, cherry brandy and sherry

METHOD

1. On the day before or a few days before baking cake combine prunes, raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, cherries, almonds, cherry brandy and rum.
2. Line three 8" round cake pans with double layers of wax paper.
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs one at a time: add lime peel and vanilla.
5. Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon, fold into creamed mixture gradually.
6. Add fruit and enough browning to give desired colour: stir well.
7. Put in lined baking pans 3/4 full and bake in a preheated oven at 250 F for first hour: reduce heat to 200 F - 225 F for remaining 1-1/2 hours or until tester comes out clear.
8. Pick hot cake and soak with the mixture of rum, cherry brandy and sherry. Cover and set aside. As alcohol soaks in pour more and continue to do so for 12 hours.

N.B. Fruit could also be soaked many month before use.

Nutricion Fact
Serving Size (132 g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 369
Calories from fat 122


Tips:

• Decorate you cake free style with poinsetias flower natural or artificial, peeled almonds, cherries red and green.
• Place the cake on a white cake base.
• Make the cakes in a squere or rectangular pan, cut the cake like mini cakes, decorate the cake as it was mentioned before,rap them in plastic and place the decorated cakes in decorated boxes or tin. It is a beautiful gift for the holiday.
• Other idea is to put the mix in individual pans

                                                                        Do not miss our next issue... Venezuelan Chritsmas Cake!!!



Photo from http://www.jigjamandlimecordial.com/