Beet hummus

There are certain ingredients which tend to be forgotten. Certain foods which not only we never cook, but also we hardly know what to do with them. Parsnip, radish, red cabbage and beets, among others, are on my list. I never buy them, but sometimes they appear in my fridge (as part of the organic food basket) and then I have to look for the best manner to cook them. This week has been radish and beets turn. The firsts are still there; the beets have been converted to an original and delicious recipe, which  enlarges my official list of recipes from now on, not because of the recipe, but also because it has turned to be a very healthy food. 

These situations are great chances to discover and taste new flavours and recipes. And, sometimes these recipes, which come unintentionally, arrive to stay. This is one of these.

I am not sure if I have ever told you I am absolutely obsessed with hummus. I love it. I eat hummus every week and more than once. Thousands of different recipes and combinations, and a unique way of eating legumes. The colour of beets makes it really beautiful and appetizing, and it gives an extra point of creaminess. A perfect recipe as an appetizer with toast or pita bread.


Beet hummus
- 2 beets
- 1/2 onion, chopped.
- 7oz chickpeas cooked.
- 1 tbsp tahini
- olive oil
- lemon juice
- salt

Clean the beets perfectly, cover with water in a saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes or until they are tender. Let them cool. Meanwhile, sauté the onion until soft and lightly golden. Place the beet, the onion and the chickpeas in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pulse again. Check and season if necessary. 

Serve with toast or pita bread. My recommendation: serve on a toast with melted camembert. Delicious.

Rose cake

Last Friday was my birthday, I turned 27. Despite some stomach problems I decided to make my birthday cake although it wasn't a red velvet cake, as I initially had been thinking, but a basic vanilla cake with rose decoration.

I don't really feel like telling what supposes for me to have turned 27, nor think about what I'll do or won't do, what I want or don't want... I don't want to, but I don’t lye if I say that during the last few weeks, even months, these questions have been occupying my whole time and energy. What I want here, now, is just to be positive and keep going on, trusting in myself and in people around me and to celebrate these 27 years, accepting them as best as possible. And this cake really helps me... of course it does!

Today's cake is a vanilla rose cake filled with cream cheese and strawberry jam. I used an old recipe for the basic cake which I don't know from it came from. The truth is that after making some different recipes for these kinds of cakes, I have decided I'll always use my "genoise" recipe, which is butter free. I haven't found any other better than that.

For the rose decoration you can find lots of tutorials on the net, but I have to say it's a really easy technique. I recommend you to practice with some roses before starting with the cake.

Rose cake

For the cake:

- 2 cup (250g) flour

- 1 cup (225g) sugar

- 2/3 cup butter at room temperature. 

- 4 eggs

- 2/4 cup milk

- 1tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180º. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, the salt and the baking powder. In another bowl, separate the egg yolks and the whites and whip these egg whites on high speed until peaks form. Reserve. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter for two minutes, add sugar and keep beating until the mixture becomes creamy and pale yellow. Add the egg yolks, one by one, until it is perfectly combined. It is the time to add vanilla extract. 

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until combined; alternate the flour with the milk until all ingredients are added. 

Finally, add the whipped egg whites and fold carefully until the mixture is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 180º for about 45 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes before unmolding. 

For the filling: 

- 1 cup (250g) cream cheese.

- 1 tbsp strawberry puree

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese with the strawberry puree until smooth.

For the buttercream frosting:

- 1 cup (250g) butter. 

- 1 cup and 1/3 caster sugar.

- 1 tbsp strawberry puree

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the butter until creamy and yellow pale; add the caster sugar, slowly, while beating. Add the vanilla extract and strawberry puree. 

Wishing for spring: Mixed berry coulis

Berries season is going to be here soon and,  actually, you can already find them in some markets although they are not too sweet nor too cheap. When I opened the freezer last weekend I realized I still had some frozen mixed berries so I decided to use them before enjoying the fresh ones, as well as to complete the spring feeling this sunny and warm weekend brought to us. Moreover, I found some forgotten crepes from the crepes cake I made some weeks ago, so it was the perfect match for a Sunday dessert: crêpes with berry coulis.  I'm not sure about calling it coulis, as I decided not to strain it and enjoy it in a more rustic way. 

It is a very easy and famous recipe that can be used with ice cream, fruits and other desserts as well as with meat. When I tasted it I automatically thought of vanilla ice cream with berry coulis, so this will be one of the recipes for next summer. 

You can make it sweeter by increasing the amount of sugar in the recipe, but I prefer to preserve the berry sour taste instead. You can find the crêpes recipe in the crêpes cake recipe. 

Berry coulis

- 250g mixed berries.

- 50g brown sugar

- 2 tbs lemon juice

Place the mixed berries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium pan and bring to simmer during five minutes or until the sugar is dissolved and berries are warm and soft. You can blend and strain it if you prefer a thin sauce. 

Cauliflower and leek soup

The other day I heard a woman who said she knew if she had been eating well by the state of the fridge at the end of the week: if empty, it had been a healthy week; if it was full, it meant too precooked food or eating out. I totally identify with that. I feel comfortable when I open the fridge and find nothing there; in fact, it is almost obsessing, I don't want to throw away food. 

But sometimes, especially if it has been a busy week with not enough time to cook, I have to deal with some ingredients and try to find the better recipe to use them. And sometimes, I find it. This recipe is the perfect example. This soup has a smooth texture and delicate flavour, very wintery, a warm solution for these rainy days. 

Cauliflower and leek soup

- Cauliflower cut into florets

- Leeks cut into round slices.

- Sliced potato

- Olive oil

- Salt

- Water

- Milk or cream cheese. 

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. First of all, add leeks and cook while stirring during three or four minutes until softened. Add potato and cauliflower and cook for five more minutes before adding the water (or stock) until covering all the ingredients. Season with salt and simmer for twenty minutes or until potato is tender. Let it cool slightly before beating until creamy and smoothie. You can add two tablespoons of cream cheese or milk to soft it. Season it with salt and pepper if necessary. 

Burguer Buns

I often repeat making bread at home is one of the most wonderful, rewarding things you can do. Preparing all the ingredients, kneading softly with your hands, discovering how the dough is taking consistency, keep looking how it grows impatiently and then, the wonderful smell coming from you oven. It is really a complete and therapeutic experience for any Saturday. However, the biggest pleasure comes when you taste them while being warm. And really, it is neither expensive nor exhausting, promise. 

The only thing you have to have is time and patience and they are, or should be, cheap ingredients, so there is no excuse to avoid making your own bread. These burger buns are one of the best recipes to start with, as they have no added difficulties if you follow the process and the result is amazing: you will not only have very soft and fluffy buns but also healthy ones made with olive oil instead of butter. Try it, you'll feel so proud of yourself once you've baked it…

Burger buns (6-7 units)

- 350g flour

- 1 egg

- 1 tablespoon salt

- 1 tablespoon sugar

- 30g olive oil

- 10g baker's yeast

- 225ml milk

In a medium blow, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the egg and the half of the milk. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the other half of the warm milk with the yeast and stir until it has combined. Add the olive oil and put into the flour. Stir with a fork until it’s lightly combined and then transfer the dough to your working surface, lightly floured. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Return the dough in the bowl, covered with film and let it to prove for about one hour. 

Once the dough has been proving and has doubled in size, without kneading it too much, divide it in small pieces of about 75g each. Take each piece and give it round shape, flatten them lightly and put them in a baking sheet with parchment paper, covered with a kitchen cloth. Let them rise for 45 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 180º. Before baking them, brush the top of the buns with warm milk and sprinkle some poppy seeds or sesame seeds. Bake about 15 minutes until they are golden brown. Enjoy!

Berry mascarpone cupcakes

It has been a while since I last made cupcakes, the last were the beer and lemon cupcakes from last summer, a very fresh recipe perfect for the Barcelona hot summers. These days, I find myself feeling like being spring yet, and I can't wait to have those long, sunny and warm days from april or may. I love spring, as well as winter, but I don't know why this winter feels too long to me.

I used all the time last weekend gave me to stay in the kitchen as much as I could. I woke up early in the morning, as I am used to during week days, took a peacefully coffee at the cozy corner coffee shop, and I came into the kitchen: cupcakes, burger buns and bread for all week. I had already taken photos when it was an appropriate hour to go out and enjoy fresh air, so I really exploited time.

Today's recipe is not only the result of having frozen berries and mascarpone near the expiring date in the fridge and of my aim to use everything I buy before having to throw it away, but also to try a low-butter cupcakes recipe, as the batter is made with sunflower oil (and not too much) and the frosting is made of mascarpone. They were totally delicious and I really feel I have found the perfect basic recipe for cupcakes batter as it results very soft and fluffy. They certainly help to endure these last days of winter.

Berry mascarpone cupcakes

- 2 eggs
- 140g white sugar
- 120g flour
- 40ml sunflower oil
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 50ml milk
- vanilla extract

- 200g mascarpone
- 30g de mantega
- 2 tablespoons berries puree
 - 60g caster sugar

Preheat the oven at 180º. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs with the sugar until lightly white and thickly, add the milk, the sunflower oil and the vanilla extract and combine.

In another bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and start adding it slowly to the wet ingredients bowl.  Whisk together until well combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake molds and bake them for twenty minutes or until they are golden brown. Let them cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, cream together the mascarpone with the room-temperature butter, add the powder sugar until there are no lumps. Add the berries puree and combine until it's a smooth cream. You can refrigerate until cupcakes are completely cool, or if you think it is too runny.

Grapefruit bundt cake

I don’t know the reason for not having a free time to cook or write here during this week. Maybe it’s because I am a bit exhausted mentally and I don’t find a moment for it. Maybe it’s because I don’t like the photos of this recipe, made in a hurry and without natural light. The fact is days have gone by without writing. 

I discovered this bundt cake mold in the kitchen cabinet. This may happen when you are sharing a flat... I didn’t know we had it, if I had known that I would have used it before, but when I saw it, I couldn’t resist. This was the perfect office breakfast for  a Monday morning.  

In addition, I had some ecologic grapefruit and some poppy seeds from the citrus cake, so this was an invented recipe which did not disappoint.. 

There are some tips we should know before making a bundt cake:

-   It’s totally necessary to grease the bundt pan before baking if we want to be able to unmold it properly.

-   Before unmolding, let it cool for ten minutes.

-         150g sugar

-         180g flour

-         8g baking powder

-         Grapefruit juice

-         50ml sunflower oil

-         3 eggs

-         Orange and grapefruit zest

-         Poppy seeds

-         cinnamon

In a bowl, mix the sugar, the flour, the baking powder, cinnamon and poppy seeds. Meanwhile, in another bowl, whisk together the eggs with the sugar. Add also the juice, the sunflower oil and the zest. Start combining the flour mix with the eggs, mixing properly before adding more flour. Bake the batter for 25 minutes at 180º degrees. Let it cool before unmold.