RecipeMuncher

I’ve been trying, for a while now, to cook and bake using seasonal ingredients – influenced by my good friend Ana Elisa – and for that reason this recipe was kept on my messy files for almost a year. Finally the peaches are in season and I could make it – this jam is so delicious it was worth waiting that long for it.

The pandoro itself is not very sweet, therefore perfect to be eaten with the

Every time I get a new cookbook it takes me forever to choose which recipe to try from it first – the exception was Rose’s Heavenly Cakes: I had to start with the weirdest recipe (in my opinion, of course).
I have made quite a few financier/friand recipes so far and these have gone straight to the #1 spot around here (sorry, pear friands).
Peanut butter financiers

75g whole almonds
10

Let me introduce to you the most delicious dessert I have made in a long time – and that, my friends, is a HUGE thing for a blog as sugary as this one.
As much as I would love each and every one of you to try this recipe – yes, it is that good – I must be honest and tell you that if you’re not in clafoutis mood the plums, with that out-of-this-world syrup, would turn any vanilla ice cream

A bowl of beautiful, ripe peaches was the beginning of this recipe, but my first idea was making the peach ice cream from the same book this frozen yogurt came from; I changed my mind after considering that using yogurt instead of cream would allow me to eat more dessert – talk about fat thoughts.
Peach frozen yogurt

675g (1 ½ oz) ripe peaches (about 5 large peaches)
½ cup (120ml) water
¾

There was a rumor on Twitter last month saying that delicious would end – I was in complete panic because I find the tool extremely useful; luckily, it appears to be just that: a rumor.

How else would I have “remembered” this delicious cake – I mean, extremely delicious – bookmarked on Oct, 7, 2008?

Plum tray bake with a cheesecake ripple
adapted from here

Cheesecake ripple:
200g cream

When it comes to Eddie Murphy’s movies there are only two I like, but the first bite into one of these muffins and “The Heat is On” popped in my head.
The ginger adds a fresh, delicious kick to these muffins and I was amazed by how well the flavor goes with peaches.

Ginger peach muffins
from here

Topping:
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2-3 small peaches, ripe but firm
1

I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas series!

I thought that this delicious tart would be perfect as my last post before Christmas: it’s pretty much a clafoutis with a crust – I am a crust kind of girl – and the recipe comes from one of my all time favorite cooks.

Happy Holidays!

Bill’s cherry tart
from here

Pastry:
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup +

Happy New Year everyone!

After a month it’s time to (reluctantly) get back to work – I could definitely use a couple more weeks of vacation… *sigh*

If you, like me, need a boost to get back to work I highly recommend this dessert.
Cherry crumble
adapted from here

320g fresh cherries, pitted and quartered
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons demerara sugar

Topping

I’m a sucker for spices – you’ve probably noticed that – and the word “gingerbread” gets me drooling already; can you guess what I felt when I found Martha’s gingerbread recipe collection?
The only problem was choosing ONE recipe to make - luckily for me the bag of white chocolate chips in my pantry helped me out a little.
White chocolate gingerbread blondies
from here

2 ¾ cups + 1

My friend Ana Elisa’s adventure in making torrone reminded me of how much work these caramels were: it took forever for the mixture to achieve the desired temperature, and I was melting in my kitchen while stirring it; after that, another century went by before I finished cutting them, oiled knife and all. Not to mention they were super soft and hard to wrap, too.

You’ll probably ask me why

I’d been meaning to make mincemeat pies forever, because I think they look absolutely adorable! But I always gave up at the idea of using suet, or anything similar to it.

That is why this recipe is perfect: besides being suet-free, both the pastry and the filling are delicious, with a not-very-Christmas-but-yummy hint of chocolate.

Cinnamon-chocolate fruit mince tarts
slightly adapted from

These muffins are delicious and I think they are a great idea for breakfast on Christmas morning; on top of that I thought you deserved a simple recipe – one that doesn’t require making custard, soaking and processing dates or waiting for hours for cookies.
Christmas muffins
slightly adapted from here

2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

This blog could not have a Christmas series without cookies, right?
These were absolutely delicious and made me feel bad for not liking hazelnuts – the nuts were wonderful combined with the chocolate, the candied orange peel and the spices.

Christmas cookies
from here

½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (175g) brown sugar, packed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups (175g) all

I love it when something great leads you into something equally good: just like “500 Days of Summer” got me to this amazing song, this delicious cake got me into trying – and liking – dates.

Fluffy ginger and date cake
DH mag #48

2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
3 cups (420g) fresh pitted dates, chopped
1 cup

Is there a better way to start something than starting it with ice cream? I thought so.
My Christmas series has begun and I hope you enjoy the ideas for your holidays; David Lebovitz says that this ice cream goes wonderful with holiday desserts – and I believe him – but you must know that it goes well with just a sprinkling of freshly ground nutmeg, too.

Just make sure you read the

I’ve been on a White Rabbit vibe these days – feeling terrible late with lots of things to do before I’m officially on vacation.

I’ll leave you with these brownies while I try to deal with my chaotic day.
Cheesecake swirl chocolate brownies
DH mag #51

200g dark chocolate, chopped
250g unsalted butter, room temperature, chopped
1 ¾ cups (306g) brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons

I have to tell you two things about these cupcakes: first, they were delicious; second, the icing was a bit of a pain in the neck to make – I beat it forever using the electric mixer and it still did not firm up like the one on the magazine (I believe it happened because I used a different kind of cream).

It was not as quick as I’d expected it to be, but I wasn’t determined not to quit – I was

Yeasted challenged, fear not: these buns are absolutely easy to make and good to finish up that jar of jam that has been around your fridge for weeks (months, maybe?).
It’s not even right for me to take the credit over these – the standing ovation should go to my stand mixer.

Jam buns
from DH mag #14

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
5 tablespoons caster sugar
¾ cup (180ml) lukewarm whole

Let’s take a sweet turn on the simple recipe subject: a delicious and tender cake, that goes wonderfully with a cup of tea or coffee – making it could not be easier: you just throw all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well; no elbow grease needed – the electric mixer will take care of that for you.

The icing here is completely optional – you can go for a dust of icing sugar – but I

A miracle happened in my house last Sunday – I said I was going to make this tart for lunch and Joao said he was going to eat it, too. After lunch, he said the tart was delicious, which made me both surprised and happy – those of you with picky eaters at home know the feeling…
It’s a very simple recipe, with almost no cooking involved, but I had to share it with you.

Tomato, arugula

If you read this post the fact that I burned my tongue eating this crumble will come as no surprise.
I made the crumble before the tartlets, and my curiosity for the rhubarb flavor would not be stopped by a piping hot bowl of dessert, right?

Just so you know it, it was all worth it.
Rhubarb and vanilla crumble
from here

850g rhubarb, trimmed and chopped
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (162g)

Yes, people, chocolate chips again – the person behind this blog has serious problems trying to control herself sometimes, and that can result in the purchase of a 2.5kg (over 5oz) bag of chocolate chips. So get ready to see loads of chips around here (luckily the chocolate is excellent and I can melt it to make brownies and such).
Speaking of control – or the lack of it – buying a huge bag

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! You guys are the best! ♥

I turned 32 a couple of days ago, and this blog turns 4 today – for this double celebration I baked a lemon cake (and please let’s pretend you are surprised with the flavor choice).

Lemon-poppy seed cake with vanilla-cream cheese frosting
slightly adapted from here

Cake:
3 cups (420g) cake flour*
2 cups (400g) caster sugar

My grandmother is a very creative cook – sometimes, too creative.

A friend of mine from school once had lunch at my house and told grandma that the breaded fish was delicious, to what granny replied “oh, sweetie, thank you! But that is not fish – it’s banana skin”.
After that story I bet that tuna “meatballs” sound perfectly normal to you.
Pesto pasta and tuna “meatballs”
adapted from