Marble cake

Definitely, last week was the “cake week” at home. Yesterday I baked the third one! I guess we will not eat any more cakes for a while, to forget the binge.

The new thing was the marble cake I made using the recipe for yogurt cake (for me, a basic recipe in baking). Normally, I always do the lemon-flavored yogurt cake, but this time I changed the lemon zest for vanilla extract, and I added two tablespoons of cocoa in the mix. The result is great and very colorful.

I would have liked to put a picture of the whole cake but there was always someone who couldn’t wait to get his teeth into it!

MARBLE CAKE

1 natural yogurt (I'm using Greek yogurt lately)

1 measure of oil

2 measures of sugar

3 measures of flour

3 eggs

1 sachet of baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

In a bowl put the yogurt and using the yogurt pot as a measure add the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix all very well using a whisk. Next, add the flour mixed with the baking powder. I like to pass it through a strainer to remove any lumps. Again, mix everything thoroughly.

Pour 2/3 of this mix into a greased mold. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining mixture. Mix well and pour into the mold over the non-cocoa mixture. Using a knife and making up and down circular movements slightly mix the two mixtures.

Bake at 180 degrees C until ready (when inserting a toothpick, it comes out clean).

Coconut caramel cream (flan)

Another recipe I had not made for some time. Sometimes I just keep cooking the same things and forget about others ...

I made this flan to use the rest of condensed milk left after I made the coconut balls (using also coconut in this recipe is a coincidence, haha). It was a success, especially because my elder son tried it and liked it very much. He does not like commercial flans, but this is more consistent.

The preparation couldn’t be simpler...

COCONUT CARAMEL CREAM (FLAN)

1 small can of condensed milk (397 g)

1 can of milk (measured with the can of condensed milk)

4 eggs

60 g of grated coconut

Sugar (for caramel)

In a bowl, mix the condensed milk, milk, eggs and coconut.

Caramelize the mold where you will make the flan. To do this heat the sugar with a bit of water until it gets the desired color. Pour immediately over the bottom of the mold.

Pour the mixture into the mold and cover with tin foil to prevent excessive drying of the top. Cook in the oven to 180 degrees C by putting the mold in a container with some water (bain marie). To check if the flan is ready insert a toothpick into the flan and see if it comes out clean.

You will note that the coconut is not distributed throughout the flan; instead it goes all to the surface and forms a nice layer of coconut.

Artichokes in almond sauce

I haven’t cooked artichokes in this way for a very long time and I don’t know why because I love it. The almonds and cumin give an Arabic touch to this recipe so I thought I'd accompany them with couscous. The result was delicious!

ARTICHOKES IN ALMOND SAUCE

6 artichokes

10 raw almonds

1 slice of bread (preferably from the day before)

1 large clove of garlic

Olive oil

Parsley

Salt

Ground black pepper

Turmeric

Cumin

Peel the artichokes and cut them into quarters. As you cut them, immerse them in a bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice to prevent browning.

When you have cut them all, put them to boil in lightly salted water.

Meanwhile prepare the almond sauce. In a pan with a good splash of olive oil, fry the almonds (without the skin), the bread and garlic (peeled and whole). Fry until golden brown but not burnt. Take them out of the oil and put them into the blender receptacle with a sprig of parsley. Add some water and blend.

Note: If you like to see the bits of parsley in the sauce, put it into the blender at the last minute, otherwise it will almost disappear during the blending.

Now return to the artichokes, which were left boiling in water ... It's time to drain the water and lightly sauté them in the pan (where we fried the almonds, bread and garlic). Add the almond sauce and spices. I put black pepper, cumin and a little turmeric. Let it simmer for 5 or 10 minutes and they are ready!

Cold lemon cheese cake

I have made this cake for many years. I used to make it with flavourless gelatin, but one day I was served a similar one on a plane (yes of course, I was traveling in business class) with lemon flavor and I thought it was much better. Since then, I always make it with lemon flavor gelatin.

The preparation is very simple, and if you think you can not consume it all in a few days you can freeze it in portions. It is even better half thawed...

COLD LEMON CHEESE CAKE

200 g of biscuits

75 g unsalted butter

400 ml of cream

300 g of cream cheese (Philadelphia type)

100 g of sugar

1 packet of lemon gelatin

1 cup of water

Blueberry jam

Pulverize the cookies using a food processor or manually by putting them in a bag and smashing them with a rolling pin. Mix with the melted butter and extend this mix over the base of a baking mold (better if you use one with a detachable base). Firmly press the biscuit mix to form a firm layer at the base of the mold. Put in the fridge to harden.

In a bowl, mix the soft cheese with the sugar and the cream. Separately, dissolve the gelatin in a cup of boiling water. Add the gelatin to the bowl. Mix all thoroughly to remove any lump. You can use a blender if it is hard by hand.

Pour the mixture over the biscuit base. To avoid crumbling the biscuit base, pour it gently over a spoon to distribute the drop of the mixture.

Put the cake in the fridge until the next day. Then take out of the mold and cover with blueberry jam or any other jam that you like.