September 21st 2013

Fall is here! Don’t you feel it? The leaves here in Uppsala have turned and when you look out the window you spot an orange-red explosion – so cozy. It is during these days I really miss Northern Sweden, because there we have all the mountains, the forest and so many trees compared to Uppsala (well, I might add that I live in the City, so I do not see that many trees) and in the mix of leaf-trees we have the pine trees that never turn.

Yesterday we were supposed to watch a new set of Hamlet at the theater, but we never made it due to Junior, don’t get me wrong, having a puppy that loves you is so awesome, but it is not  practical. Especially if you are a teenager that would like to go out once in a while. Hopefully we can find someone who can watch him until Swanlake. Are you the one? Call me!

Anyway I would like to share a breakfast recipe with you all. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, and since I am not in favor of pre-fabricated crap – I prefer my own, vegan oatmeal. Although I am not vegan anymore I feel like I would like to start my morning as clean as possible, oftentimes I just eat “plain” bananas topped with cinnamon – it is filling, sweet and totally good for you. I also have a cup of tea, of course.  What do you usually eat?  > Back to the oatmeal! This is my favorite oatmeal recipe, Chai oats!  I prefer making my oatmeal on a base of water but, as always, feel free to use your favorite milk substitute.  This recipe is really quick because I do not want to cook away all the beneficial nutrition of the oats and flax seeds.

QUICK CHAI SPICED OATMEAL 1 portion
2/4 cup of steel cut oats
3/4 cup of water or your favorite milk substitute
2 T of flax seeds
1 T of chai spice*

METHOD
Bring your water to a boil and add your steel cut oats. Let it simmer for 30 seconds and then add flax seeds and yout chai spice*. While constantly stirring, let simmer for about 1-1,5 minute. Pour it into a bowl and let cool slightly, top with bananas, chia seeds, almond butter and cinnamon or whatever you feel like!

* Chai spice:  I prefer making my own chai spice consisting of (bulk mix)      or you can use a pre-made mix like David Rio power Chai.
2 T cinnamon
1 T ground cloves,
1 T ground cardamom,
1/2 T ground nutmeg
1/8 T black pepper
(optional) 1 T sugar

Enjoy your breakfast and have a lovely day! Today Henrik and I will go to IKEA to buy a wardrobe (and some meatballs of course!).
Love,
Cecilia

Baileys cupcakes

I would like to share an awesome recipe with you guys that I made for my annual  halloween party. (there of the yellow foodcoloring, skip it if you’d like more ‘normal’ cupcakes!)
These are Baileys cupcakes, vanilla cupcake filled with Baileys cream and topped with Baileys buttercream. YUM, a real grownup treat! Even my mum loved these cupcakes ;-)

BAILEYS CUPCAKES
the cupcake
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup cold milk

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture; stir in milk.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a stick comes out clean! meanwhile they are in the oven, make the
bailey’s cream!

BEILEYS CREAM
100g  white chocolate
2 tbsp Baileys Irish cream
2 tbsp hot cream

METHOD
Heat the cream and Baileys together, break the white chocolate down in chunks and melt it into the mixture.
Let  cool and thicken up – this will take about 3hours.

When the cupcakes has cooled and the cream has thickened, insert a pipe into the cupcake and fill it with the cream.

Then top it of with the Baileys buttercream.

BAILEYS BUTTERCREAM
2 sticks of butter (150g), at room temperature
3 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp baileys ,  or more if you like ;-)

Cream the butter until soft, add the icing sugar a little at the time and then add the baileys to thin it out a bit.

ENJOY!

Peppermint red velvet

Hello everyone, I hope you all have not died during christmastime due to the food overload. I bearley survived, before the holidays
I stopped eating sugars and fats and other carbs (ironic since I have a food blog, isn’t it?) -and then: the holidays hit me.
Anyway I made an awesome cake for christmas! Peppermint red velvet, inspired by Southern Living‘s magazine.
I started out with a classic red velvet sponge and added peppermints to the frosting on one layer.

CLASSIC RED VELVET SPONGE 8″ pan, Serves 6-8.

the sponge
2 1/2 cup (250 grams) sifted flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cup buttermilk *see note*
2-4 ounces liquid red food coloring (depending on desired amount of brightness)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat oven to 350 F/ 175C

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, the sugar and stir it together. Add the canola oil, buttermilk, food coloring and slowly add the eggs – one at a time. Whisk, preferably with an electric hand mixer.Pour into an 8″ pan, and cook for 25-30 minutes or until a stick comes out clean.

Let cool, preferably over night.

TIP: For a clean cut layering and easier frosting, put the whole cake in the freezer for about 30-60 minutes before frosting

*NOTE* If you’re in Sweden and don’t have buttermilk, you can use a high-fat milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the milk and let set for 15 minutes. Otherwise, use “filmjölk” or Soured Cream.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
4 sticks (300g) unsalted butter, at room temprature
3 cup icing sugar
16 ounces cream cheese !! refrigerated !!
2 handfuls of peppermint candies, ground into a powder
peppermint extract

Cream the butter until it’s soft, and slowly add icing sugar. Then add the cold cream cheese, little at the time. The Cream cheese frosting will stiffen up in the fridge later on.
Add 2 drops of peppermint extract and taste. It is VERY important that you taste, because peppermint extract is STRONG, and not in a good way.
When you’ve done that, take out  3/4 cup  of the icing and add the smashed peppermint candies. Put this icing of the bottomlayer as you frost the cake.

by the way, ther are GREAT as cupcakes too! ;-)

November coldness.

 

Thanksgiving is approaching us in stormy steps, it’s frosty outside and it’s nearly a month left until christmas and I’ve almost finished one term of school! School is going great by the way, thanks to much focus on homework (this is what I study) and not blogging or too much exercising. Time goes fast when you have fun, don’t you think?  As you might know, me and my boyfriend started a new lifestyle two weeks ago. A healthy lifestyle. We’ve been eating very low calorie and low carb and I’m thinking about sharing it with you sugars!  I needed to loose weight ever since I stopped eating vegan and if I didn’t start now, I’d never start and I’d never loose weight! So it was certainly time to do something by eating lower calorie, exercise much more and smaller portions. Who doesn’t love to eat much of something that’s tasty? I have a feeling that I am not alone eating way too much. So I had to learn what a normal portion looks like. Anyway – I am on my way to weightloss and a healthy lifestyle, too bad thanksgiving is coming up though, that gravy- yum!

…Anywayyy, I’d like to share a delicious alcoholic beverage with you sugars, that you can make virgin! It’s a pumpkin martini, de-li-cious!

PUMPKIN MARTINI á la Cecilia
depending on how big your glass is, mine’s quite big, but a general rule:
1 part of vodka
1 part of Bailey’s Irish cream
1 part of half ‘n half
2 parts of pumpkin purée
1-2 teaspoons pumpkin spice *see note*
whipped cream and cinnamon to top

METHOD
In a shaker, fill up with ice and add vodka, Bailey’s, half ‘n half, spices and pumpkin purée. Shake until frosty and stream into a martiniglass rimmed with cinnamonsugar. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkle.

VIRGIN PUMPKIN MARTINI
1 part of simple syrup *see note*
2 parts of milk
2-3 parts of pumpkin purée
1-2 teaspoons pumpkin spice *see note*
whipped cream and cinnamon to top

METHOD
In a shaker, fill up with ice and add milk, syrup, pumpkin pirée and spices. Shake until frosty and fill up in a small glass rimmed with cinnamon sugar. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkle

note: to make your own pumpkin spice mix, mix 2 teaspoons of nutmeg, ground ginger and 4 teaspoons of cinnamon.
simple syrup, pour equal parts of water and sugar into a saucepan, bring to a boil and let cool, seal in an airtight container.

a Thanksgiving traditional

 

               a cup of tea at the station in Sundsvall, Sweden. Snow in the background!

What is the most traditional Thanksgiving feast except for the turkey? It has to be the Pumpkin pie. It’s not only a thanksgiving traditional – but also a Halloween traditional.
Two weeks ago I arrived to my mothers house back in Northern Sweden to celebrate Halloween up there. It was pretty nice and a lot of snow up there, it’s insane! When I arrived at the train station I had to change from my high heels to flat shoes not slip and break all my bones.  I also baked a traditional pumpkin pie that I’d love to share with you all! I served it with maple-cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon! Dare to make pumpkin pie from SCRATCH. Make this pie in the evening the day before it’s planned to feast on.

PUMPKIN PIE serves 8-12
for the crust
2 cups of AP flour
2 sticks of butter
2 tablespoons of cold water
——————————————————
for the filling
1 cup of pumkpin purée  = 1/2 medium pumpkin
1 cup of sugar
1 can (375g) of evaporated milk /OR  1 cup of full fat heavy cream
1 tablespoon of Maizena
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 nutmeg
2 eggs

METHOD
Set  the oven to 480f/250c.
Split a pumpkin in half, take out the guts and place it with skin side up on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, make sure the butter is room-temperatured and add flour. Work it quickly and add ice cold water, form it quickly into a dough and wrap it with cling film and placing the dough in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes. At this point: Take a cup of coffee/ tea and relax.

After you’ve had you break, take out the dough and roll it to 1/8″ thick, and lining a baking thin.

The pumpkin should now be ready, take it out of the oven and place the baking thin with the crust in the owen and lowering the heat to 400f/200c. Pre-bake the dough for 10 minutes.    Meanwhile the dough is baking, scoop the flesh out of the pumpkin and purée it.

After 10 minutes, take the crust out. It should now be golden and a bit crispy, but not yet cooked trough.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and beat in the pureé, spices, maizena and the evaporated milk.

Pour into the crust and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a stick comes out clean.

TIPS!
If you get too much purée, simply scoop it into a ice baking form and put it into the freezer. Great for pumpkin smoothies and milkshake (or even pumpkin martini!)

HOW TO: Perfect bacon

Smokey, salty, golden, heavenly crisp but not burned, perfect bacon how-to recipe.
Have you ever done bacon  and it ends up burned with a lot of fat still on it? You’ve ever wanted to know the secret to perfect golden bacon every time? It’s so easy and takes less than 10 minutes!

PERFECT BACON
1 packet good quality streaky bacon
1 large non-stick skillet
Some napkins

METHOD
Take out your large cold non-stick skillet and place your bacon streaks in it not overlapping, make sure they have plenty of space. Then place it on the stove on medium heat turning the bacon every other minute and cook until golden brown. You want to cook away as much fat as possible, therefore you don’t want to add any fat at all. If the bacon releases too much fat, just drain the fat off because you want to cook away fat from the bacon, not fry the bacon in it!

When ready and golden, place on napkins or dry towels to drain of excess fat.

Warming cupcakes #2

This is the second part of my warming cupcake series. The Second cupcake is a spicy pumkin spice cupcake with creamy cream cheese frosting. I just love cream cheese frosting, don’t you?! It’s tangy, sour, sweet and creamy. Even though I love to bake, I dislike thing that’s too sweet and this cupcake is guaranteed to be less sweeter than a regular cupcake. You can easy make a cake by putting the batter into a 8″ cake tin and fill it with pumpkin puré and frost with cream cheese frosting!

PUMPKIN SPICE CUPCAKES
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Pumpkin puré *see note*
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teasoon ground gloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

METHOD
put oven on 175c/350f

Cream the butter in a bowl until completely smooth and creamy then add the sugar, continuing beating the sugar and butter until light and fluffy and add eggs one at a time.  Slowly add half of the flour (1 cup), baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, ground cloves and cinnamon. Add the rest of the flour, butter milk. Add the pumpkin puré and carefully fold it into the mixture

Portion the batter evenly in cupcake liners. Make sure to use a cupcake tin!! :-)
And bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until stick comes out clean. Make sure to use your brain here, every oven is different, and baking time in not accurate. So watch your cupcakes like a hawk!

Take out and let cool.

*Note:  Use canned pumpkin puré or make your own by chopping your pumpkin into small chunks and roast in oven on 175c/350f until soft. Let cool and add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 ground cloves.   500g pumpkin makes approximately 1 1/3 cup.

PUMPKIN PURÉ FILLING
1/3 cup pumpkin puré
2 tablespoons cream cheese

METHOD
Mix the pumkin puré together with the creamcheese. Pour into pipingbag and fill the cupcakes by inserting a small tip into the centre of the cupcake and squeeze.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1/2 cup butter
8 ounces COLD cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
squeeze of lemon juice

METHOD
Cream the butter until soft, add a squeeze of lemon juice and half of the icing sugar (1 cup). Add the cream cheese, but be careful not to over-mix. Add the restoring icing sugar and mix.

Frost you cupcakes and sprinkle cinnamon on top for decoration.

VEGAN: American Pancakes

1Oh, so I enjoyed the vegan American Pancakes! This recipe is real simple and doesn’t require an hour in the kitchen. You can serve these ones with pretty much anything you like. I served mine with blueberries, pineapple, maple syrup and shredded coconut.

American Pancakes (The vegan Version) servers 2.

1 Cup of Non-dairy milk, (I use soy.)
1 Cup of Flour
3-4 tablespoons of fruit puré of choice, (I use applesauce.)
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice mix *optional*
1 teaspoon of vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar *optional*
5 tablespoons of olive oil.

Start by adding Non-dairy milk, vinegar and fruit puré into a bowl. Whisk and let “set” for 5 minutes. Add the Olive Oil, pumpkin spice mix*, sugar*. Stir.   Then add the rest of the dry ingredients.  Fry your pancakes in a skillet on medium heat. Turn them over when you see bubbles forming on top (about 2-3minutes).
Enjoy and serve with maple syrup and fruit!
Cecilia