Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Budino

Budino- never heard the word before. Looked it up ( even though it said what it was  in Baked Explorations) and it is basically the Italian word for pudding or custard.

Surprisingly easy to make, the rich, velvety texture bears no resemblance whatsoever to store bought stuff. 

It really is a few moments in heaven as the rich, but not too sweet custard slides down your throat, and you get the slight hint of the bourbon /vanilla from the white pudding ( love seeing those specks of vanilla!) and the creamy softness of the milk chocolate.

You can eat it with or without the whipped cream- just looks pretty I think.

Grab the recipe here and enjoy!

Speculaas (better known as Biscoff cookies)

Today, I am the rogue baker. According to the recipe schedule for Baked Sunday Mornings, I should be making these. Alas, no one home to eat them, besides the fact that I am missing so many of the ingredients and was nowhere near the mood to go out and get them (like when else will I use a bottle of whiskey?!)

Since I joined this group of bakers after they had completed many of the recipes in the book Baked Explorations, I decided to go back and make one of recipes I've had my eye on for a while (one they'd already done). 

This cookie, called speculaas or speculoos depending on where you look, has it's origins in Holland or Belgium and is a type of shortbread flavored with warm, delicious spices. I first encountered  them years ago when flying and remember them being served as a snack after take off. They are made by the Biscoff Company, come individually wrapped, ( although now you can get them in a bulk type package- easier to eat the whole pack!!!) and as far as I'm concerned , one of the best tasting cookies I've ever had. The newest rage is this spread they've come out with- undoubtedly the most incredible, addicting, amazing thing in this world. The possibilities for using it are endless ( I'll have a few recipes coming up in future posts), but frankly, I'm happy licking it off the spoon while hiding in my closet so no one can see me devouring half a jar.

OK, back to the cookies. These are the "Baked" version of speculaas. They say it was the closest they could come to the original and I agree. Mine turned out a bit crispier than the original, but crispy is fine with me. There was a bit stronger presence of ginger, whereas the original seemed to have more of a stronger cinnamon taste. Doesn't really matter, because they are scrumptious. Great with a cup of coffee, tea or a nice cold glass of milk. Yum! Dipping them in the milk and having the milk taste like the cookies in the end! Trust me, try it.

One thing I loved about this cookie is how easy it is to make. No mixer required!  You can find the recipe here.

Chocolate Ginger Molasses Cookie

Ginger snap cookies have always been one of my favorites. Here, the combination of chocolate and ginger is a pleasant variation. They have that spicy nip of the ginger with the not overwhelming influence of the chocolate. The cookies actually come out looking more chocolatey than they really are. The consistency of the cookie is just right, not too soft and not too crunchy.

They are a great base for decorated cookies , which I so love to do. I used the opportunity to do some Valentine shapes and a few simple designs with the icing. While I enjoy the process of the decorating, I prefer to eat them plain.

 These are easy to make and you can cut them in  any shape to suit your purpose.
Here's the link for the recipe.

Jerusalem Culinary Tour #3 Old City

Directly outside Jaffa Gate- what a welcome in to the Old City! A "must" to begin the journey inside the walled city!

The main street inside Jaffa Gate, this is the "tourist" market, where you can find typical souvenirs and religious items for Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

In Hebrew "Termos" , in English, lupini beans ( don't worry if you've never heard of them before, I certainly hadn't!) Mainly found in Mediterranean countries, they a legume with a thick skin. They are sold here, cooked, salted and served in little bags for an "eating as you walk" type of thing. From my research I found they are native to Italy and their consumption most likely started with the Romans and eventually became a staple of the Mediterranean diet.

warm fava beans, also eaten by the bag while touring through the Old City

The temptations are endless!

One of the many sweets you can find in numerous shops

"Burma"- a roll of kadayif filled with pistachios and soaked in sugar/rose water syrup

"atayef"- a pancake type of dough, rolled over a filling of walnuts and cinnamon, then fried

"basbousa"-semolina cake drenched in a syrup of sugar and rose water

a variety of cookies

This was, unfortunately, the last in the series of culinary tours. I enjoyed every minute and learned so much. Now, it's time for me to branch out on my own and visit other marketplaces in Israel, each with it's own flavors, scents and interesting stories!

Jerusalem Culinary Tour # 2 - Mahane Yehuda

One of the many crowded streets in the market

Some of the most fascinating places to visit in Israel are the marketplaces, the "shuk". Every town and city has its own shuk, some are open every day , some just on certain days of the week. You can usually find a myriad of items for sale, from foods and spices, to kitchenware and gadgets, automobile paraphernalia, toys- really almost anything you are looking for.
Of all the markets I've been to, I think Mahane Yehuda, the main market in Jerusalem, is at the top of my favorites list. Although I had visited there many times before, this tour pointed out the rich history and almost storybook- like tales of the past.  It is truly a feeling of walking through live history. Although the market has been updated in many ways, such as a roof covering to protect from the weather, the essence of the streets and alleyways has remained the same. I could imagine the same scenes; different times, different dress, but still the enchanting atmosphere filled with the enticing smells of exotic spices, rich colored fruits and vegetables so fresh, they still have the soil of the earth on them, hot baked pitot and breads, trays of mouthwatering pastries and candies of all shapes and sorts imaginable- in short, a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds!

freshly baked challot for Shabbat

pita dough waiting to be formed into balls

a tabune for making pita and the balls of dough ready to be baked

rolling the dough and flattening it out

almost ready to bake

placing the dough onto the hot tabune walls

an endless array of spices

laundry day

amazing wall art on Agrippas Street- I purposely photographed it with the real street on the side so you could see the contrast

more wall art- so alive!

The day was too short to take in all that the market has to offer, so I know I will be back with a more educated view, an appreciation of the people and traditions and a very large bag to carry all the goodies I intend to buy!

For more detailed information on the shuk, click here http://www.machne.co.il/en/

Baked Sunday Mornings- Sunday Night Cake

Okay, so we post on Sunday mornings and this is called a Sunday Night Cake. It was actually made on Saturday morning so I'll call it a Saturday Morning Cake! It is so easy, peasy and so delicious that you can really make it 1-2-3 in the morning and have it for breakfast if you want.

This is the kind of recipe I love- easy to put together and very adaptable to a few little changes here and there to make it your "own". It calls for sour cream- didn't happen to have any, but did have a container of buttermilk that needed to be used. I substituted the same amount and I'm sure you could use yogurt as well.

I played around with the pan too, using these adorable little mini loaf pans I found. I have a problem going into stores that sell paper goods- I can't walk out empty-handed! Better have them on hand than have to look for something at the last minute. These are great for gift giving or if you just want a little cake and not have leftovers.
The original recipe calls for a chocolate frosting. I'm sure it would be great, but I preferred without and just a dusting of powdered sugar. The frosting sounds delicious and for another occasion, I would give it a try.

This cake has delicious cinnamon undertones- not overwhelming at all. Next time I will play around with the spices and see what interesting tastes I can come up with.

Even if you don't consider yourself a baker, I highly recommend trying this recipe. It's great to freeze and pull out at a moment's notice, and most important, easy and really yummy. I had a hard time stopping at just one piece!

You can find the recipe here.

Bridal Shower Cookies

 

I haven't done any cookie decorating in quite a long time. I love to do it, but just don't have the opportunities to make them. No one to give them to, no special occasions, and I hate to see them go to waste. Now, after making this last batch for a friend of my daughter's, I realize that I need to do more- and for one good reason- it makes me feel good. It's really the only creative thing I can do (and it's not really creative since  my designs are just copies of the amazing things I see other people do- I have no imagination whatsoever!). Anyways, I am going to try and do more in the near future- just because.

Lemon Pistachio Cornmeal Muffins

 I wasn't sure about the combination here, but I've learned in baking, as in life, that one needs to take chances sometimes and go with what isn't so familiar. It can only lead to a sincere learning process and discovery of things that we may never have known, whether for the positive or the not so positive. When we learn something new, even if to realize that it is something we don't want to incorporate in our lives, then the learning was a success. My, my, how philosophical we are today. And all because of some muffins!

So what did I learn here? That I love pistachios (although I knew that already) and I don't use them enough in my baking. The combination of lemon and pistachio is so right.. who would have thought?! I am definitely a "texture" eater- besides taste of course, I am always looking for the texture of food. Texture can make or break it for me. The texture of these cornmeal muffins "makes" it for sure. Best eaten warm right out of the oven with a little slab of butter melting over the top, but also good warmed up later in the microwave (just a few seconds is all you need) or oven. These are great breakfast muffins or for that matter, great anytime muffins.

You can find the very simple recipe here. Enjoy!

Baked Sunday Mornings- Banana Foster Fritters

 

I am not a fan of frying. I AM (unfortunately) a fan of  eating the fried foods. But for the sake of eating, I will overcome my aversion to the actual "means" to "justify the end"! However, I pick and choose my frying missions very carefully. For instance , you will never find me frying chicken or french fries at home. Just too much mess and work. Rather eat it out!

Now doughnuts are another story altogether.They are sooooo much better homemade, and you get them hot and fresh out of the pan. Nothing like it, believe me!

I was doubtful of this weeks task for "Baked Sunday Mornings". I've never  had banana fritters (or any other kind of fritters for that matter) and  the idea of filling my house up with frying smell was not at the top of my list. As it happens, my husband came home one day last week with a very large bunch of bananas- I swear they had just been cut off the tree. A gift from a friend who lives on a moshav not far from us. Okay, now you can see from the picture that they were no where near ripened- I had to find a way to ripen them quickly in time to write this post. I found all kinds of advice, from paper bags with an apple inside, to putting them in the freezer. I didn't want to freeze them, so I tried the apple deal, without the paper bag ( didn't have one).

 

Fast forward... it is now Sunday morning here in Israel, so I still have time until this afternoon to post. I just finished making the rum dipping sauce... OMG! That in itself is enough. It absolutely goes on the list for things to have in the fridge for pancakes, over ice cream, mixed in with plain yogurt.... spread on toast???!! Whatever, it's just GOOD!

Now I will attempt to find the ripest 3 bananas in the group and see if I can mash them enough to make the batter. BRB....

Found two ripe bananas, mashed them up  and mixed them with the dry ingredients. The batter was a bit dry with only the two bananas , so I searched my cupboards for ideas and found a snack size container of no sugar added applesauce. Perfect! Did the trick. I scooped the fritters with a 2 tsp. cookie scoop and got 20 little fritters from the recipe.

Done! Not as bad as I anticipated. At all! As a matter of fact, the whole process was quite easy. I think you could make everything ahead of time, refrigerate the batter and just toss them in the oil when you are ready to serve. Only takes a few minutes and its a wonderful change for a dessert.

As I said, the dipping sauce is delicious and the fritters came out yummy in my opinion. I think it's a treat that both kids and adults alike would enjoy!