Today I’m going to show you how to make an easy and funny vegetarian appetizer which I hope will bring a smile to your face 
.
Time: 15 min, Prep: 15 min.
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
- 4 tomatoes [Read more...]
5licious: Funny Tomato (Frog) Stuffed With Eggplant Salad
April 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
First Communion Open Book Cake (Chocolate Ganache & Mascarpone Filling)
April 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
My cake baking challenge for this weekend was to make a first communion cake for our friends’ sweet little girl. I decided to bake an open book cake with two layers of filling – first layer with chocolate ganache & sour pitted cherries and the second one with a mascarpone cheese filling. It was a great experience decorating this cake and for a first attempt at making a book cake, I think it turned out nice. It took me some time to make it but the smile on Alessia’s face when she saw the cake was worth all the effort . Congratulations on your First Communion Alessia!
Time: I lost track of time but baking the cake & making the fillings would take around 1.5 hrs + chilling time… decorating the cake, a few more hours
Servings: 26-30 [Read more...]
Romanian Easter Cake with Cheese (Pasca cu Branza)
April 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Pasca cu Branza is a traditional Easter dessert that is specific to the north-eastern part of the country (in Moldavia). It can be simple, with jagged margins, or it can have dough braided edges. Sometimes a cross-shaped braid is placed in the middle, representing the crucifixion of Jesus. People usually take some Pasca, dyed eggs and cooked lamb to the church, where the food is sanctified by the priests. On the Easter day everyone eats some sanctified food before serving any of the other dishes.
I must say that I’m a bit newbie at this since it’s my first time baking Pasca. I used to live in the southern part of the country where Pasca is not as famous but, where there is no Easter without the Sweet Bread ‘Cozonac’ :) . My braided edge on the baked Pasca doesn’t look perfect but you can find more details below on why this happened and how you can fix it 
. Here’s a better looking Pasca. [Read more...]
Roasted Lamb with Rosemary and Lots of Garlic
April 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This is a dish for lamb and garlic lovers! The only time of the year when we eat lamb is at Easter. It’s the second year I cooked lamb since we moved to Canada but the first time it actually tasted delicious. This is mainly because we found a very good place to buy fresh Ontario lamb (thanks Alina & Viorel for the suggestion ). I wish you could smell the aroma of garlic and rosemary in the house, it was incredible!
Time: 105 min, Prep: 15 min. Cook: 90 min.
Servings: 12 [Read more...]
Easter Cake with Bunnies and Eggs
April 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This is the funniest cake I’ve ever made for Easter so far. It’s an easy-to-make cake with a delicious and refreshing yogurt filling and decorated with a basket weave pattern made of vanilla buttercream icing. I filled the Easter basked with green coconut grass, added some Smarties mini eggs and 2 chocolate bunnies. You don’t have to be a master chef to make this beautiful cake … just follow the step-by-step instructions below, have some fun and impress your guests this Easter !
Time: 120 min, Prep: 80 min. Cook: 40 min + chilling time
Servings: 12-16 [Read more...]
How to Make Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
April 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I got this recipe from Baking with the Cake Boss book. It’s a pretty basic vanilla frosting recipe, easy to make and great for icing your cakes.
Makes about 4 cups, enough to fill and ice one 9-inch cake
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups (5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 3 Tbsp lukewarm water
Preparation:
Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until butter is smooth with no lumps. With the motor running, add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, adding the next cup only after the first addition has been integrated into the mixture.
Stop the machine and add the vanilla and salt. Paddle on low-medium speed until completely smooth, approximately 2 minutes. Add the water and continue to mix until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
The frosting can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. You must refrigerate this frosting, as well as any cakes filled or iced with it.
I usually don’t use this kind of frosting to fill cakes… it has just too much sugar. On the other hand, you can work with it very easily to decorate cakes, hence why I posted the recipe on my blog and I recommend it.
Check out my Easter Cake Decorated with Bunnies & Eggs to see the nice basket weave I made around the sides using this frosting.
How to Dye Easter Eggs with Leaf Imprints
April 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment
If it’s Easter, it’s time to decorate some eggs! Dyeing eggs with plants is fun and easy and the nice part about this is that every egg will be wildly different .
You will need:
- white eggs
- Egg dye
- Cups for dyes
- Old pantyhose
- thread
- Leaves [Read more...]
Grilled Chicken Wings with Garlic (Saramura de Aripioare)
April 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Saramura de Aripioare served with polenta is a traditional Romanian recipe that is famous especially in the southern part of the country. So simple and so tasty!
The other version of the recipe that is even more famous is the grilled fish ‘saramura’. It is well known in Dobrogea, a region located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea. This includes the beautiful Danube Delta as well which is the second largest river delta in Europe… I have yet to visit this natural paradise (planning on doing this in the Fall ).
Time: 50 min, Prep: 10 min. Cook: 40min.
Servings: 3 [Read more...]
