dessert Archives - Use Your Noodles

Spooky Chocolate & Meringue Ghost Cupcakes

October 24, 2022

A spooky Halloween recipe – chocolate & meringue ghost cupcakes! Learn how to make these easy and fun decorated cupcakes with a meringue topping and make the spookiest treat of the season.

Super excited to be sharing this recipe with you, guys. I got a ton of requests last year when I posted them on Instagram in collaboration with Kenwood Slovenija. Back then, the recipe was posted in Slovene.

And now I get to share it in English, and I can’t wait to see you make it!

I’m always fascinated by beautiful Halloween designs, so I thought I’d try making meringue ghost cupcakes. We’re big fans of meringue in my family. Yeah, I know it’s too sweet, but to be honest, we don’t have it all that often!

We get to splurge every now and then, right?

You know I’m all about simple recipes, and this one is no exception. The sponge is made in one bowl, so you have minimal cleaning. You’re only left with a bowl where you beat the meringue and a few extras, and that’s it. I’ve been very lazy with my cleaning lately, so I’m trying to make recipes that require less cleaning.

The recipe makes 12 middle-sized ghost cupcakes, but I assure you they will be gone fast. So if you’re making it for a party, I suggest doubling or tripling the recipe.

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Spooky Chocolate & Meringue Ghost Cupcakes

Course Dessert

Keyword cake, chocolate cake, halloween, muffins

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Rest Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 43 minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Chocolate Sponge

150 g all-purpose flour
50 g ground hazelnuts
50 g unsweetened cocoa
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
150 g sugar
1/2 cup + 5 TBSP milk
⅕ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
60 g chocolate chips

Meringue Ghost Topping

3 egg whites
140 g white sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar

Decoration

chocolate chips

Instructions

Chocolate Sponge

Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F)
Mix flour, hazelnuts, cocoa, cinnamon, and baking powder in a bowl.
Beat the eggs and sugar with a stand mixer for 1-2 minutes to get a fluffy batter.
Add milk and oil and mix again to get a uniform mixture.
Add the dry flour mixture and fold it with a spatula, just enough for the ingredients to combine.
Add chocolate chips and gently fold in.
Pour the batter into 12 muffin molds ¾ high and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Leave to cool entirely before decorating.

Meringue Ghost Topping

Pour egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar into a heatproof bowl and place it over a pot with simmering water (a double boiler).
Whisk for 5 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy, and all sugar is dissolved.
Add the egg whites mixture to a clean and dry bowl of a stand mixer and whisk for 5-7 minutes to get stiff peaks, the mixture is silky, and all the sugar has dissolved.
Use a round piping nozzle to decorate cooled-down cupcakes in ghost shapes.
Use chocolate chips to create eyes.

Looking for other delicious chocolate recipes?

Take a look at these:

The best no-bake lemon cheesecake

February 1, 2022

This no-bake lemon cheesecake has the softest fluffiest cream cheese filling and the most delicious lemon curd on top.

Less than two weeks from Valentine’s day!!! Whoa! I feel like I’m saying this in every single post, but man does the time fly these days! Am I right?

Are you already planning your Valentine’s day dinner? We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s day, but a dessert is always welcome. There’s nothing like a sweet but delicate dessert to share with someone you love. OR just eat on your own. That’s perfectly fine too 🙂

I can’t think of any better dessert but this fluffy cheesecake with lemon curd. I guarantee it’s gonna be a hit!

So how does the lemon pie look like?

The filling for this cheesecake was modified from Sally of Sally’s Baking Addiction blog. She’s a goddess when it comes to dessert and this filling is truly one of the best – if not the best – cheesecake filling I’ve ever tasted. IT’s the softest and creamies, I can’t stress this enough 🙂

I’ve topped the filling with some homemade lemon curd, which is just a fantastic way to brighten up the filling. Actually, I love it so much, I can easily eat it on it’s own 😉

You might think it’s hard to make lemon curd. I feel like people are scared of it. But it’s super simple. I promise! Just make sure you cook it long enough, to make sure the yolk is done. I prefer to err on the side of overcooking here.

As for the crust, I like to use butter cookies, but you can easily swap this for any kind of cookies you like or graham crackers. It’s really a very forgiving crust. You can even add some spices to it! The sky is the limit.

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The best no-bake lemon cheesecake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Cookie Crust

150 g plain cookies
1/3 stick unsalted butter (40 g)

Cream Cheese Filling

12 oz cream cheese (350 g)
1/4 cup sugar (50 g)
2 TBSP creme fraiche (30 g)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup whipping cream (115 ml)

Lemon Curd

2 TBSP sugar (25 g)
2 TBSP lemőn juice (25 ml)
1 egg yolk
zest of half of a lemon
1/4 stick unsalted butter (25 g)

Instructions

Cookie Crust

Add cookies to a food processor and pulse a few times until you get a chunky sand texture. Move to a small bowl.
Melt butter in a saucepan and add it to the bowl with cookies. Mix with a spoon.
Line a cake tin with baking paper and add the cookie mixture.
Use a spoon to distribute it around the bottom evenly and firmly press.
Place into the fridge while you are preparing the fillings.

Cream Cheese Filling

Using a stand mixer with a pedal attachment mix together the cream cheese and sugar until well combined.
Add creme fraiche and lemon juice and beat for a few minutes, until the cream becomes smooth.
Using a hand mixer whip the whipping cream separately until you get stiff peaks.
Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold it in gently with a rubber spatula.
Spread evenly over the firmed crust and place in the fridge while you make the lemon curd.

Lemon Curd

Place sugar, egg yolk, lemon juice and lemon zest in a heat-proof bowl and place over a pot with simmering water to create a double boiler.
Cook while whisking for about 10 minutes or until the mixture gets thick resembling a homemade mayonnaise consistency (not extremely thick).
Remove from the heat and add butter. Whisk until the butter completely melts and incorporates.
Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap is touching the surface of the curd. Keep at room temperature to cool down.
Once cooled, pour over the cheesecake and decorate with toppings of your liking (I used candied lemons here).

Loving the no-bake pies? I have a few other options:

Healthier Almond Chocolate Truffles

January 19, 2022

Chocolate truffles are some of the best desserts out there and these ones are insanely good and a healthier replacement for many desserts.

I have to tell you a story about these truffles and the way I created this recipe.

I was supposed to go on a visit one day in December and that day I woke up at 5 am in the morning (crazy, I know! It wasn’t intentional). Anyhoo, I woke up while it was still dark and I didn’t want to wake the whole family up, so I used my phone torch to light up the kitchen counters and create a dessert or bring to that visit.

At that time, I still had no sense of smell after Covid. Basic tastes were okay but definitely not the smell. So I basically eyeballed ingredients and besides the sweetness, I had no idea how it tastes.

Apparently, people really liked them (I did as well, just couldn’t really enjoy all the goodness that’s inside). So I made them sooo sooo many times since then and I figured, this recipe is a must-share.

So here I am sharing it with you in hopes that you also get to enjoy its deliciousness.

The almond chocolate truffles recipe is pretty straightforward. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (water below, chocolate above) and then mix in all the rest of the ingredients. Simple as that!

It might look like things are a bit too runny at the beginning, but once you start mixing, the chocolate will start to cool down and the mixture will get thick super quickly and you won’t even need to let it rest. You can start forming the truffles immediately.

Okay, let’s get to this amazing recipe as soon as possible!

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Healthier Almond Chocolate Truffles

Course Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

1 cup dark chocolate chips (120 g)
½ cup crunchy almond butter (can be substituted with smooth almond butter)
3 TBSP maple syrup
½ tsp ground cinnamon
zest of one clementine
pinch of salt
unsweetened cocoa powder for coating

Instructions

Fill a saucepan with a little water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Place a heat-proof bowl on top of the saucepan, but make sure it's not touching the water. Place chocolate in the top bowl and mix frequently until the chocolate melts.
Once the chocolate is melted remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the salt. Mix well.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The mixture will be very liquid in the begining, but once you start mixing it will become very thick and pliable.
Once it is mixed you can start forming truffles. I like smaller ones (1 tsp of mixture) but you can make larger ones too! If the mixture is not thick enough to make truffles, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Once the truffles are shaped, place unsweetened cocoa powder in a bowl and coat the truffles from all sides.

Vegan Speculaas Cake with Candied Oranges and Caramel Sauce

December 18, 2021

Make your home smell like Christmas with this flavorful vegan speculaas cake with candied oranges and caramel sauce.

I’m so excited to share this recipe today. I made it together with my dear friend Vita from Little Kitchen Vibes !!!

Vita and I have met at one of my workshops and we’ve been friends since then, sharing our love of food and photography. She’s been helping me with some of my projects and so I figured why not make a personal project together. And we came up with this delicious vegan speculaas cake that literally smells like Christmas.

If I had my smell completely back from Covid, it would be even more Christmasy, but even with that, it’s just incredible. So I invite you to try the recipe, even if you’re not vegan. The cake is absolutely soft and moist and most of all have that nice crumb a good cake should have.

If you’ve been here reading my posts before, you know how much I love simple recipes. Even though it seems like a lot of ingredients the process is in fact super simple and straightforward. Like with every other butter cake, you whip butter and sugar together, then mix apples, oat milk and coconut milk in a blender and mix it in the butter together with the rest of the ingredients.

Caramel is just as simple. Simply combine everything in a bowl and you’re good to go. This caramel, though!!! Best vegan caramel I’ve ever tried. It’s super sweet just like caramel should be (right?) and had a very deep rich flavor. So good!

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Vegan Speculaas Cake with Candied Oranges and Caramel Sauce

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Vegan Speculaas Cake

100 g vegan butter
120 g brown sugar
450 g all-purpose flour
1 pack baking powder (4g)
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground corriander
½ tsp ground allspice
⅓ tsp ground cloves
⅓ tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
250 g candied orange peel
250 g apples
200 ml oat milk
200 ml full-fat coconut milk (from a can, cream and water combined)

Vegan Caramel

2 TBSP whole almond butter
1 tsp gingerbread spice mix (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/6 tsp ginger, pinch coriander, pinch allspice, pinch cardamom, pinch cloves, pinch nutmeg)
4 TBSP agave syrup
½ TBSP coconut milk (or more if the caramel is too thick)

Topping

200 ml vegan whipping cream (coconut is the best)

Instructions

Vegan Speculaas Cake

Add vegan butter and sugar to a large bowl and whip it with an electric mixer until you get a fluffy and even cream.
To another large bowl, add all the dry ingredients – flour, salt, and spices. Mix well with a whisk.
Cut apples into pieces and blend them along with oat milk and coconut milk.
Now combine all the ingredients into an even batter. Fold in candied oranges.
Bake in a buttered long rectangular baking pan (usually used for bread loaves) and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 45 minutes.
Once your cake is baked well, let it cool down completely.

Vegan Caramel

While your cake is baking, make caramel sauce. Add all the ingredients for caramel sauce to a blender and blend well or add them to a bowl and mix with an electric mixer.

Finishing the cake

Whip your whipping cream in a tall bowl until it's firm and holds its shape.
Before you serve it, spread whipped cream on top and pour some caramel sauce over it. You can decorate it with fresh oranges, too.

If you feel like baking something else for Christmas, I have a few other delicious recipes, such as Almond Butter Cookies and Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake.

Persimmon Panna Cotta

November 24, 2021

Feeling all cozy with a persimmon panna cotta – spiced panna cotta with a delicious a surprising persimmon jelly.

Time for a cozy and comforting dessert.

I find panna cotta to be such an easy dessert for whenever you have guests coming over and you don’t have much time to do some proper baking. Plus I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like panna cotta.

This one today is inspired by the cool autumn weather we are having these days. I added a bit of cinnamon and vanilla into panna cotta. And then topped the panna cotta with homemade persimmon jelly, which basically requires only two ingredients.

Did you know that persimmons contain very high amounts of pectin? This means that they can be used as a hardening agent for homemade jams and you can use this knowledge to create a persimmon jam. And you don’t need any gelatine or agar. The persimmon pulp will harden on its own. I have used this in one of my very old recipes for persimmon coffee pudding.

So I just added a bit of sugar to make the process of solidifying even more pronounced. And that’s it, a very simple homemade persimmon jelly.

One word of caution though. Make sure that the persimmons you are using are ripe otherwise the tannins in the fruit will make your mouth dry. And that’s not a pleasant thing to feel.

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Persimmon Panna Cotta

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Resting time 3 hours

Servings 6 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Panna Cotta

2½ cups heavy cream (600 ml)
2 TBSP caster suagr (30 g)
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
3 gelatine leaves (5 g)

Persimmon Jelly

2 hachiya persimmons
2 TBSP caster sugar (30 g)

Instructions

Panna Cotta

Place gelatine leaves into a bowl with cold water to soften.
Place heavy cream, caster sugar, ground cinnamon and vanilla beans (or vanilla extract) into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. The mixture should not boil.
Remove from heat immediately and stir in the softened gelatine leaves and whisk to combine.
Pour the mixture into serving cups and keep refrigerated until it sets. This should take an hour or two.

Persimmon Jelly

Scoop out the flesh of the persimmon and discard the skin. Remove seeds, if any.
Place it in a food processor and add caster sugar.
Mix until smooth.
Pour over the chilled panna cotta.
Place into the fridge for an hour, which will let the pectin do its magic and create a jelly.

Fudge Brownie Cake with Chocolate Ganache

September 24, 2021

I love it when you can make the most chocolaty fudge brownie cake with the simplest of ingredients. And to top it all, make a simple and most delicious chocolate ganache.

Anyone else here dreaming about chocolate desserts now that it’s become moodier and cooler?

I’m not normally the one dreaming about anything chocolate (many desserts come before chocolate!) but this year I can’t help myself 🙂

So the other day I made a chocolate fudge brownie cake and it was utterly drool-worthy. It would be a shame not to share the recipe with you guys. And I actually added a simple chocolate ganache recipe to use on the cake. Because more chocolate is just better (again, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I guess times are changing!).

Here I used a bunch of fruits from the garden (I shot these a while ago when we still had some blueberries and raspberries in the garden). You can add any fruit you like such as banana, figs, pears and similar or just keep it a simple chocolate cake. Be creative!

Like I’ve said here probably a million times, the best recipes are simple ones that don’t require a bunch of ingredients and equipment. This is a recipe just like that. And that’s why I’m such a huge fan of brownies. So simple and everyone always likes them. Win-win!

If you’re not into fudgy brownies and prefer a cakier one, I have another amazing recipe here.

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Fudge Brownie Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Cooling time 2 hours

Total Time 3 hours

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Fudge Brownie Cake

200 g bitter-sweet chocolate finely chopped
1/2 cup butter cubed
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Chocolate ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream (110 ml)
150 g bitter-sweet chocolate very finely chopped

Instructions

Fudge Brownie Cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and butter the sides and bottom of a 6-inch cake pan.
Place chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water. Stir often until chocolate and butter have melted completely.
Remove from the stove and add sugar and salt. Mix well.
Once the mixture is not anymore, add eggs one at a time and use a whisk to mix them in well. The mixture should not be too slimy.
Finally, add flour and mix it in to get a uniform batter.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. You can do a toothpick test, however you will see it be brown and sticky even when the cake is done. Just make sure the toothpick shows the sticky inside and not a runny inside.
Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
Cool it to room temperature or keep in the fridge before decorating with chocolate ganache.

Chocolate ganache

While the cake is cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache.
Pour heavy cream into a pot and heat until steaming but DO NOT LET IT BOIL!
Pour the steaming hot heavy cream over the finely chopped chocolate and let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until the chocolate has completely melted. Stir with a spatula to create a smooth cream.
The cream will be pretty runny and it's okay to use it like this if you prefer.
To create a cream like in the photos, wait until the cream cools down to room temperature to become thicker and spreadable. If it still feels too runny, place it in the fridge until it gets the right consistency.
You can prepare the cream in advance and store it in the fridge, then take it out an hour before using it.

White chocolate & matcha chia pudding with figs

September 1, 2021

This deliciously rich white chocolate and matcha chia pudding with a homemade fig jam is such a wonderful dessert for late Summer.

Even though it has been around for a while, I’ve just recently discovered chia pudding. For whatever reason, I steered away from it for so long, even though I live chia seeds.

So during the lockdowns, we were making puddings in all shapes and sizes so I said why not try one with chia seeds. And it was amazing. The first one I made was with dark chocolate and peanut butter, which is also a recipe I need to share one day.

However this Summer I felt like making something just slightly brighter so I made a white chocolate and matcha chia pudding and some freshly made fig jam for that extra punch in flavor.

What I loved about pairing figs with chia pudding is the fact that they both have a crunch to them.

For me anything with small seeds paired with something very smooth is annoying (maybe that’s just me). But here both the pudding and the jam have actual seed in so it’s just a perfect combo texture-wise as well.

So we’re just enjoying the last days of Summer. It’s getting pretty cold here these days in the morning so I’m bringing my warm clothes out and dreaming about pumpkins and apple pies. Is this too soon?

Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe. Let me know in the comments if you try it.

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White chocolate & matcha chia pudding with figs

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Resting Time 5 hours

Total Time 5 hours 20 minutes

Servings 2 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

½ cup chia seeds
2 cups plant-based milk (animal milk works okay too if you're not vegan)
100 g vegan white chocolate (regular white chocolate works too, if you're not vegan)
1 TBSP matcha powder
chopped nuts

Fig jam

200 g fresh ripe figs
3 TBSP white sugar
1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
2 TBSP water
1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

Chia Pudding

Place a small pot over medium heat.
Chop white chocolate in small chunks and place them in a heat-proof bowl.
Place the bowl over the pot and stir the chocolate constantly and remove from heat as soon as it completely melts.
In a medium-size bowl mix milk, matcha powder and chia seeds using a whisk.
Pour in white chocolate slowly whisking quickly to incorporate it into the pudding mixture.
Place in the fridge for at least 5 hours, but preferably overnight, to set.

Fig jam

Remove hard parts of the fig stem and cut figs into small pieces.
Place them in a small pot and add all other jam ingredients.
Cook for five to ten minutes or until figs become really soft.
Move to a food processor and mix until you get a smooth jam.
Jam will become thicker when it sets.

Assembly

Once the jam and the pudding have set place the pudding into two glasses halfway up. Then add the jam and finish with the rest of the pudding. If you wish, you can add some fresh figs into the glass and on top and top everything with chopped nuts.

If you’re into pudding recipes you might also like:

Honey Poached Apricots

June 17, 2021

A light Summer dessert with ton of flavor – honey poached apricots. This soft and tender desserts melts in your mouth.

Summer is perfect for light refreshing desserts, don’ you agree?

This year Summer came extremely late, we were already anxiously waiting for it. And it came with a ton of beautiful local apricots. It would be a shame not to make something sweet with them.

So for today I have a very simple recipe. It doesn’t require many ingredients, but when the flavors combine, the most delicious treat comes to life.

If you never tried poaching anything, then you are in luck because these are seriously amazing!

In order to poach these apricots, you need to find a quality dry wine. I like to cook the wine for 15 minutes to remove some of the alcohol before poaching the apricots. And after the apricots are done, I cook the sauce a little more to make it a bit more syrupy and sweet.

Once everything is nice and cooled down, you can serve it with some Greek-style yogurt or I sometimes add crème fraîche instead. And you can top everything with some chopped nuts, like pistachios.

And that’s it! Super easy, right? Not to mention how beautiful these poached apricots look!

If you are a fan of paoched fruits I have another delicious recipes – hibiscus poached pears.

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Honey Poached Apricots

Course Dessert

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Cooling Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings 5 people

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

10 apricots halved and depitted
2½ cup dry white wine (600ml)
¼ cup honey (4 TBSP)
6 thyme springs
5 TBSP Greek-style yogurt
chopped pistachios

Instructions

Combine wine, honey and thyme in a large pot and bring to simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes (longer if you want more alcohol to evaporate).
Add halved and depitted apricots and cook for about 5 minutes or until just tender. The apricots shouldn't be too soft, so remove them when they are still holding their shape. Once they get tender remove them from the pot immediately onto a cool plate and let cool.
Cook the sauce for another 10-15 minutes until it slightly thickens.
Let cool to room temperature.
Serve the cooled apricots with some cooled sauce, a dollop of Greek-style yogurt and some chopped pistachios.

Vegan Peanut Butter And Strawberry Ice Pops

March 19, 2021

Brining Spring vibes with these delicious creamy peanut butter and strawberry ice pops. Super easy and super flavourful!

Are you just as excited about warmer weather as I am? Although I’m a big Winter person, I’m already dreaming about green meadows and walks across blooming fields. Being able to walk barefoot and eat a ton of strawberries!

With my mind already heading towards these warm days, I’m bringing this very simple strawberry ice pops recipe. I can’t wait for fresh homegrown strawberries. And I start craving them every March.

This ice pops are completely vegan and extremely easy to make. Plus, who doesn’t love ice pops. My son thinks they are the most fun form of ice cream there is.

What do you need for these peanut butter and strawberry ice pops?

All you need is some fresh strawberries, although frozen ones work too. I just prefer to use fresh ones if I can get them to be sweet and flavorful enough. Right now, they’re not in season so not all of them will be good. If you can’t get good fresh ones, then frozen are a better option. Frozen strawberries are frozen in their ripe state so they have plenty of flavor!

Next you need some quality peanut butter. I always make sure I get a 100% peanut butter and avoid using peanut butters with added palm oil, sugar or atrificial ingredients.

You will also need some form of a plant-based milk. I like my creamy oat milk, but you can use any that you like. Just keep in mind that if you use any milk that has very strong flavor, such as coconut milk, you will probably end up tasting it in the final ice pops.

You also need some Medjool dates to sweeten the ice pops and make them nice and creamy. I like to soak them in hot water before I blend them together with milk and peanut butter, because I find it a bit easier for a blender (especially a not-so-powerful one) to make a smooth purée.

If you feel like decorating your ice pops, you can add some melted vegan chocolate and a sprinkle of freeze-dried strawberries once they firm up in the freezer.

Let’s make them!

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Vegan Peanut Butter And Strawberry Ice Pops

Course Dessert

Keyword ice cream

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Cooling Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 40 minutes

Servings 10 1/3 cup ice pop mold

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

400 g fresh or frozen strawberries
3 TBSP sugar
10 medjool dates de-pitted
1 cup plant-based milk of choice
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
hot water for soaking
vegan chocolate for decoration
freeze-dried strawberries for sprinkling

Instructions

Clean the strawberries and remove the greens. Cut into small chunks and place in a saucepan. add sugar and cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the stove and leave to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, soak de-pitted Medjool dates in hot water for 10-15 minutes, then drain and place in a blender. Add plant-based milk of choice and peanut butter and blend into a fine paste. Leave in the blender until the strawberries are cooled.
Add cooled strawberries to the blender and blend until smooth.
Divide into ice pop molds and pop a stick into each.
Place in the freezer until solid.
Once they are firm, take them out of the molds and sprinkle with melted chocolate and freeze-dried strawberries.

Dried Fruits And Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

December 10, 2020

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It’s the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!

I tried not to bake too much this year, since we’re in a lockdown and we have no one to share the sweets with. But I couldn’t resist baking another Christmas bundt cake. Do you remember the chocolate hazelnut bundt cake from last year?

I had the idea of making a bundt cake and then my son insisted on us baking a cake. He’s not very friendly with bundt cakes, since they don’t usually include any cream filling. So I tried to find a way to make him love it. And found the perfect solution.

Adding lots of chocolate and dried fruits did the job. He’s a big fan of both! And I love how they made the cake a bit juicier and creamier. We also added some orange zest, because it’s almost Christmas and you can’t have Christmas without some orange zest, right? For me, it’s one of the most distinct flavors of Christmas.

It’s super easy to make this dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake!

One of the reasons I love bundt cakes is how easy they are to make and how well they usually last in terms of freshness. Definitely not in terms of not-eating them, because we finished it in a day!

All you need to do to make a perfect bundt cake is beat sugar and butter together. There’s not so much butter in this recipe, so don’t get scared if the mixture is not as fluffy as for example a buttercream. It still needs to get airy and brighter, though. You add the eggs one at a time and finish with flour and milk. At the very end, you add chocolate chips and dried fruits and pour it all in a bundt pan.

It’s a very simple cake and you can eat it as is or make a simple glaze with icing sugar and milk.

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Dried Fruits And Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

1¼ cup all-purpose flour (180 g)
¾ cup sugar (150 g)
1 stick unsalted butter (110 g)
2 large eggs
¼ cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla seeds (or vanilla extract)
zest of half an orange
pinch of salt
¼ tsp ground cinnammon
½ cup chocolate chips (80 g)
¼ cup raisins (35 g)
¼ cup dried cranberries (35 g)

Simple glaze

1 cup icing sugar
1-2 TBSP milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and grease a 6-cup bundt cake pan with butter.
In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes, until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, and make sure to incorporate the first fully, before adding the second.
Add vanilla and orange zest and mix quickly.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Then add 1/2 of the milk and mix on low speed. Continue with 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the milk, and finishing with the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture.
Add chocolate chips and dried fruits and use a spatula to gently incorporate them in the batter.
Pour the batter into a greased bundt cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. If you're doubling the recipe add 10-15 minutes to the bake.
The bundt cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean.
Wait for 10-15 minutes before removing the bundt cake from the pan.

Simple glaze

For the glaze mix together icing sugar and milk to get a smooth paste. First, start with 1 TBSP of milk and add more, little by little, until you get the consistency you like.

You can find the recipe in Slovene here.

Gingerbread Spiced Tiramisu

December 4, 2020

If you’re craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.

We’ve got our first snowfall of the season. And it’s already more than the previous season all-together. So I’m feeling happy.

Me and snow are big buddies, I turn into a kid when I see it. What about you?

My dream is to have a big closed terrace in my home one day and observe snow falling outside while I sip on a warm drink under a blankie. All calm and peaceful.

If I had a piece of this gingerbread spiced tiramisu, I definitely wouldn’t mind. Or the whole tray, while I’m at it 🙂

So I thought since Christmas is approaching I’d try and make tiramisu and add some spices to make it more seasonal. And it turned out to be such a good idea. We ate it a snap and I had to make another one again immediately the next day.

And that’s why I’m sharing it with you today.

What do you need to make this gingerbread spiced tiramisu?

Cookies

You need some ladyfinger cookies. I know some people make sponges for tiramisu, but I’ve never eaten one without the ladyfingers. Ladyfingers are the original cookies used in tiramisu and for a good reason. They turn into such delicious almost sponge-like goodness when you soak them. I used store-bought cookies since I’ve never tried making them at home (my mission for next time I make tiramisu!).

But I found a good recipe for ladyfingers from Kayley from The Kitchen McKabe in case you want to make your own or don’t have access to any in your store.

Coffee

You also need some coffee. Typically you’d use espresso. I used Turkish-style coffee and strained the coffee afterward. I also tried cold brewing, but I felt like the taste was a bit too mild and sour for my liking. If you like that, then that’s also an option.

I can’t have caffeine and if you have the same issues, decaf is perfectly fine.

Spices

You also need gingerbread spices. I have a recipe for the mix down below, but if you have your own, go for it.

Cream

Italians traditionally make the cream with raw eggs and mascarpone.

I’ve made this cream many many times and it’s amazing. However, since we have a kid and in the midst of a pandemic I certainly don’t want anyone, let alone a kid, to get food poisoning, I decided to do a pasteurized version.

For my cream, you need egg yolks, mascarpone, and whipping cream. The cream is going to substitute the egg whites from the traditional recipe. I included the recipe for pasteurizing the egg yolks in the recipe below.

Dusting

Traditionally that’s cocoa. But I mixed it with some gingerbread spices to add more of the Christmasy feel.

Jump to Recipe

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Gingerbread Spiced Tiramisu

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 3 hours

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Gingerbread Spice Mix

2 TBSP ground cinnamon
2 TBSP ground ginger
1½ TBSP ground allspice
½ TBSP ground cloves
½ TBSP ground nutmeg
TBSP a pinch of ground black pepper

Cream

3 large egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1 cup mascarpone cheese (about 250 g or 8 oz)
¾ cup whipping cream

Other

20 ladyfinger cookies
3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cup coffee room temperature
1 TBSP rum

Instructions

Gingerbread Spice Mix

Mix all spice mix ingredients together. Set aside.

Cream

Place eggyolks in a heat-proof (non-metal) bowl and place it over a sausepan with simmering water.
Use a whisk to constantly stir the eggs. They should heat very slowly, so they don't get cooked. They are done when they reach 60°C (138°F). If you don't have a termometer, you can either use raw eggs and skip this step or see how you can troubleshoot in the notes.
Place the pasteurized eggs into a mixing bowl, add sugar and whip for 5 minutes, until slightly lighter (the pasteurized eggs don't get as fluffy as the raw eggs).
Add mascarpone and mix on medium speed.
In a separate bowl whip the whipping cream and fold it gently into the egg mixture.

Assembly

Pour room temperature coffee onto a soup plate. Add rum and 3/4 of the spice mix.
Soak ladyfinger cookies on both sides in the coffee and rum mix. Less if you want less soaked tiramisu and more if you want a more soaked tiramisu.
Place ladyfinger cookies in a serving dish in one layer, covering the entire dish.
Spread half of the cream over.
Add a second layer of ladyfinger cookies on top and then spread the remaining cream over the cookies.
In a small bowl mix the remaining 1/4 of the spice mix with cocoa and sprinkle it on top of the tiramisu.
Place in the fridge to set for a few hours.

Notes

No termometer?

You can substitute the egg yolks with a chocolate spread like Nutella. You can add 2-3 TBSP, but omit the sugar.

This is also a nice kid-friendly version.

Spiced Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

October 27, 2020

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It’s super simple to make!

I just love the season of mandarins! They take me back to my childhood when we spent afternoons with my family eating them and having a good time. They come at the perfect time when the autumn is getting moodier and cooler. So we get to hang out together, talking and playing games over healthy snacks, and also add have some extra vitamins.

I feel like this is even more important this year than any other. An extra dose of vitamins is super important. I hope you’re doing well! Please take care of yourself and the people around you. One way to do that is also by baking this delicious mandarin upside-down cake.

This mandarin upside-down cake is super simple!

I know I say this with most of my recipes, but this is probably the simplest cake ever. You can make it in only one mixing bowl. This means less cleaning, and this is a big win for me already 🙂

It’s a little denser and moister than a regular sponge cake, which I find perfect for colder days. Together with some warm tea or mulled mandarin juice, it makes for a perfect afternoon dessert.

I used some yogurt, which I use a lot when I want to make a sponge a bit juicier and when I want to add that milky flavor. Because yogurt already makes it a bit denser and heavier, I used oil instead of butter. And the end result was amazing.

Imagine baked caramelized mandarins on top of a delightful cake. I can’t imagine anything better to have right now. I hope you try the recipe and enjoy it just as much as we did.

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Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

Course Dessert

Keyword cardamom, mandarins, spiced cake, sponge cake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 1 7-inch cake

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

½ cup + 2 TBSP sugar
¼ cup sunflower oil (olive oil is great too)
½ cup Greek-style yogurt or crème fraîche
¼ cup mandarin juice (you can cut slices first and use the ends to squeeze out the juice)
2 medium-size eggs
1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup hazelnut flour (or finely gorund hazelnuts)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp powdered cardamom
pinch of salt
3-4 mandarins
2 TBSP sugar for sprinkling
butter for greasing the cake tin

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Cut mandarins into 0,5cm (1/5 inch slices). Save the ends and use them to sqeeze out the juice. Save it for later.
Butter a 7-inch cake tin and place mandarin slices on the bottom in one layer.
Mix sugar, oil, yogurt, and eggs at a high speed until well combined.
Add mandarin juice and vanilla (if using vanilla extract) and mix again.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, hazelnut flour, baking soda, cardammon, vanilla (if using vanilla seeds) and salt.
Add flour mixture in two increments and mix on a low speed.
Sprinkle the mandarins in the cake tin with sugar and add the cake batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Wait to cool completely, before removing the cake from the tin. If the cake has a big dome, cut it away, before turning the cake around.

You can find the recipe in Slovene here.

Simple Rustic Plum Pie

September 14, 2020

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.

Okay, so I’m this crazy pie lady and I know it. I just love them so much, and late Summer/Autumn is for sure my favorite pie season. All because I get to make a ton of plum pies. Probably much more than I should, if there even is such a thing.

Plum pie is my absolute favorite. It has that perfect amount of sweetness, acidity, and creaminess. So it’s surprising to me that I’ve never posted a baked plum pie here, yet. I have a no-bake recipe and an apple pie with plum jam (YUM!) but no cozy baked pie. Until now!

So here it is!

I’ve tried a new kind of pastry that includes some baking powder and I love it. It’s a bit different from the pastry I normally use. The baking powder makes it a bit softer and just a bit cake-like. It’s amazing straight from the oven (because warm pie is YUMMY) but it gets even better the second day. So if can manage to keep your hands off for a few hours, then you’re in for a treat. I know it’s hard, but trust me, you’ll thank me later.

The filling is really simple, no fancy stuff, just simple plums, and a tiny bit of sugar. But if you have very tasty and sweet plums, you don’t even need that! Just plum with nothing on is amazing. I love simple pies!

So if you are ready to ride into Autumn with this delicious plum pie, here’s the recipe.

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Rustic Plum Pie

Course Dessert

Keyword pie crust, pie pastry, plum pie

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Resting time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Servings 1 10 inch (25 cm) pie

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
½ cup fine sugar (110g) You can use any kind (white, cane, coconut…) but make sure it's fine, not too coarse
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 stick of butter (115g) cubed and chilled
1 tsp vanila extract or vanilla seeds
4-6 TBSP cold milk or water (alternatively you can add two egg yolks and reduce the liquid)
500-600 g plums
some sugar for dusting

Instructions

Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a food processor and mix shortly to combine all ingredients.
Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Add the liquid (water, milk, and/or egg yolks) one tablespoon at a time and vanilla extract (or seeds). Pulse until the pastry comes together.
Wrap the pastry in a plastic foil and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, cut plums in half (or into quarters for larger plums).
After 30 minutes divide the dough into 1/3 and 2/3. Use the bigger piece to roll out the bottom of the pie. I only cover the bottom, but you can cover the sides as well, only the crust will be a bit thinner.
Place plums on top so they cover the entire surface.
Use the remaining 1/3 of the pastry to decorate the top.
Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (355°F) for 55-60 minutes.

Summer Berry Pavlova

July 7, 2020

The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.

We’re super excited here because of all the Summer berries. We only grow strawberries, blueberries, and red currants at home, but our family, friends, and neighbors have others as well, so we go pick them up almost on a daily basis. This year is a very good year for all kinds of berries. There are so so many of them everywhere and I’m not complaining 🙂

So last week I had this huge amount of all the colorful berries so I made pavlova. Because there’s no dessert that screams summer like a pavlova. Don’t you agree?

Although I really love a chocolate pavlova, Summer screams for a more refreshing version like this berry pavlova. Just a little bit of cream, fresh summer berries, and quick homemade berry syrup. I mean, aren’t berries and cream the best flavors of Summer?

This recipe makes more syrup than is necessary, because it’ very hard to make syrup from a very small amount of berries. But you can store it in the fridge and use on ice creams, fruit salads, coctails or simly make a refreshing drink by diluting it in some cold water 🙂

So is this berry pavlova hard to make?

The good thing about Pavlova is that it’s actually pretty easy to make, once you know a few basics:

Know your oven. I was baking it in my mom’s oven (since my oven is dying and the temps are all over the place). I almost never bake in her oven so I’m not used to it and the first pavlova came out too baked on the outside (brown). Nothing wrong with that actually, it still tastes good, but I wanted a nice snow-white pavlova (we ate the brown one too, of course)
Humidity. Very humid weather can mess with your pavlova. If your pavlova fails, this could be the reason.
Timing. Timing really depends on how thick your pavlova is and also the temperature you’re baking at. Since you shouldn’t open the oven while baking, you should do some research on timing or follow the recipe 🙂
Really beat in the sugar. The sugar needs to completely dissolve otherwise the eggwhites will turn liquid and you’ll end up with a weeping pavlova.

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Summer Berry Pavlova

Course Dessert

Keyword berry pavlova, meringues, pavlova, summer pavlova

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Resting time 5 hours

Total Time 6 hours 40 minutes

Servings 8 slices

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Meringue

3 large egg whites (100g)
3/4 cup caster sugar (150g)
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp lemon juice
pinch of salt

Berry Syrup

2 cups strawberries cubed (250g)
½ cup sugar (100g)
2 TBSP lemon juice or white vinegar

Other ingredients

1 cup whipping cream (250ml), use coconut cream for a non-dairy version
2 cups fresh Summer berries

Instructions

Meringue

Preheat the oven to 130°C. If you're using a fan oven, shut off the fan. Draw a 18cm circle on a baking paper and place it on a baking tray.
Beat eggwhites and a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Then add caster sugar a tablespoon at a time. At the end add the lemon juice or vinegar and cornstarch. Beat gently until thick and glossy. You can make a test if the meringue is done: place a bit of the meringue between two fingers and see if you can feel the sugar. If you can still feel some sugar, then you need to beat them a little longer until you can't feel the sugar no more.
Spread the meringue evenly into a circle, making the edge a little higher that the center. Alternatively, you can pipe the meringue onto the paper for a different look.
Move into the oven and reduce the temperature to 100°C. Bake for about 90 minutes. It should look crisp on top and feel dry, but when you press it you should feel soft in the centre.
Turn the oven off, open the door slightly and leave in the oven to cool overnight.

Berry Syrup

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook for 15-20 minutes until the syrup starts to thinken. Leave to cool completely, befor pouring it over pavlova. The syrup will thicken more as it cools down.

Assembling the cake

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment add the heavy whipping cream and whip until soft or stiff peaks form (depending on your taste).
Top the cooled meringue with cream right before serving. Top with berries and pour over a little berry syrup.
If you're not eating the entire pavlova at once, it's better to pour syrup on cut pieces separately, otherwise the pavlova will get soggy. If you store an assebled pavlova, take into consideration that it will get softer.
Store a non-assembled pavlove covered on the counter (not air-tight) for 1-2 days before assembilng.

Cherry Pistachio Pound Cake

June 16, 2020

Soft and fluffy pistachio pound cake with a sweet cherry glaze. Just what you need for the afternoon tea!

Hello sweet cherries!

While I still mourn our cherry tree that we had to cut last year, I got some very delicious ones from the farmers market and even though we ate almost the entire bunch in a day, I managed to save some to make a delicious pistachio pound cake with a cherry glaze and some fresh cherries on top.

Since most pound cakes I’ve made so far were buttery and a bit denser, I decided to try a fluffier and more delicate one. I switched a part of the butter for oil which creates a different texture since the oil doesn’t firm as it cools, while the butter provides a nice milky taste.

I don’t have pistachios on hand, can I use something else?

In this recipe, I’ve used ground pistachios, since I’m a huge fan of pistachios in sweets. You can replace them with some other nuts like almonds or hazelnuts with no problem.

I prefer grinding nuts myself, since the only storebought I can find, usually contain some larger particles and are not really very fine. These work great too, but I prefer no particles for this cake in particular. But if you can’t find a well ground nuts or you don’t have a grinder at home, that’s fine too 🙂

How to make cherry glaze?

The cherry glaze is very simple to make. Like any icing glaze, you need icing sugar and a tiny amount of liquid. With glaze, you really need just a teeny-tiny amount, less than you’d think.

For this recipe you need 2/3 cup icing sugar and only about 2 TBSP cherry juice.

You can make the juice two ways:

with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.

I have to sneak in the third option: You can use a store bought juice as well, but I prefer the taste of freshly squeezed juice 🙂

More cherry recipes:

Vegan Almond Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cherry Braised Beef Brisket With Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Cherry, Brie & Bacon Grilled Quesadilla

I hope you enjoy this cherry pistachio pound cake just as much as I (and my neighbours) did 🙂

5 from 1 vote

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Cherry Pistachio Pound Cake

Course Dessert

Keyword cherry glaze, pistachio cake, pistachio pound cake, pound cake

Servings 1 4-cup pound cake tin

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Pistachio Pound Cake

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup ground pistachios
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
seeds of 1 vanila pod
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk room temperature

Cherry Glaze

2/3 cup icing sugar
2 TBSP cherry juice (instructions for making homemade cherry juice in notes)

Instructions

Pistachio Pound Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 4-cup loaf pan with baking paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together softened butter and sugar for one minute then add oil and mix for a few minutes until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time and mix until combined before adding the next.
In a separate bowl mix together the rest of the flour, ground pistachios, baking powder and vanilla seeds.
Add flour and milk to the egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
Pour the batter into a prepared baking tin and bake for 45-55 minutes. Check after 30-35 minutes and if you see the top browning too quickly, cover with alluminum foil or the rest of the bake.
The cake is ready when the toothepick comes out clean.
Let cool completely befor adding the glaze.

Cherry Glaze

Mix icing sugar and half of the cherry juice and mix well. Add more juice ½ TBSP at a time to reach a desired consistency.
For instructions on making homemade cherry juice check notes.

Notes

How to make cherry juice:

with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.

Tag Archive for: dessert

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Chocolate Sponge

Meringue Ghost Topping

Decoration

Instructions

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It’s super easy to make this dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake!

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What do you need to make this gingerbread spiced tiramisu?

Cookies

Coffee

Spices

Cream

Dusting

Gingerbread Spiced Tiramisu

Ingredients

Gingerbread Spice Mix

Cream

Other

Instructions

Gingerbread Spice Mix

Cream

Assembly