Two years and Citrus mascarpone cake with poppy seeds

Trossets de cuina is already two years old. I thought it was today, but it was on Monday, so today, Trossets de cuina is a little more than two years old. Anyway, it has been two years, 734 days, 34.000 visits and 117 followers, lots of met people (some of them almost friends) uncountable cooking moments and lots, lots of satisfaction. Because Trossets de cuina is not only a food blog, no, it’s something more than this…

Trossets de cuina is a white piece of paper which was started to balance the lack of challenges caused by my professional situation. It was the remedy that helped me to focus; to meet me again with lost aims and aspirations buried in some place among the last nine years; to remember what I want and mostly, what I don’t; to comprehend that I am 70% from my origin and 30% from circumstances I am living; to notice that I cannot live without feeling passion for whatever fills my day and to push me to make it real.

And also some more touchable things: to buy my first DSLR camera, a too cheap tripod and some light reflecting paper; to occupy a closet only with plates, cloths and other; to reuse old dishes and cooking gadgets; to buy unnecessarily new ones; to collect cooking books and the last one; to enroll impulsively,  in a food writing course.

This is all this blog has made for me, but also and mainly, it’s been done by all of you who are in front of it right now, because my biggest fulfillment would be to make you feel like cooking the cookies I’m talking about, to make some buttercream or just to prepare borages leaves with honey. My most sincere gratitude.

Today’s cake is a well balanced sense cake: poppy seeds adding texture and crunch to the soft cake; fresh lime and lemon juice bringing aromatic tip to the spoonful. The mascarpone and cream filling and frosting mixing the silkiness with the contrast of grapefruit and lemon zest; and to top it, candied lime and lemon, to give a bit more of sweetness. 

Cake:

- 175g de self-rising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 150g butter
- 150g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- lemon and orange juice
- 50g poppy seeds.

Preheat the oven at 180º. Beat the butter with the sugar; add the eggs, each at a time, trying to combine them properly before adding the other. Mix gently until well combined and incorporate lemon and orange juice. In another bowl, add the flour, baking powder and poppy seeds and mix it. Combine both gradually while beating until perfectly combined. Take a cake pan and grease it with butter before pouring the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let it cool while preparing the frosting.

Filling and frosting

- 250g mascarpone

- 250ml chilled whipping cream

- 50g caster sugar

- Lemon and orange juice

- Lemon, lime or grapefruit zest

Whip the cream with sugar until well formed peaks. Beat mascarpone and add it to whipped cream. Incorporate juices and zest and combine until soft batter. It’s not a very sweet frosting, so, you can add more sugar if desired.

Candied lime and lemon

- 100ml water

- 72g caster sugar

- Thin slices of lemon and lime

Bring water and sugar to boil in a skillet until sugar is dissolved. Add lime and lemon slices arranging them in one layer and simmer until translucent. I cooked them during twenty minutes. 

Natillas with caramelized pineapple

It’s 28th yet, the last day to submit our proposal for “Memòries d’una cuinera”, and as usual, I am late. This month proposal is natillas, and it could not be more accurate, they are perfect for these cold and rainy winter months and even better if they are just made.

I have never understood the reason for not to eat desserts or other when they are just made, before being chilled: bread for example, I remember when I was a child and I could not eat warm bread because, as it was said, it could be difficult to digest; or when my mother made natillas or custard and I had to wait for them to be cooled. Honestly, there are many desserts which taste better while they are warm…These natillas are the best example. 

To join this soft natillas, I caramelized some canned pineapple slices from a Christmas present I still had. It adds an interesting contrast to the sweet natillas. 

It is an easy recipe, just as all I bring here. 

Ingredients:

- 0,5l milk

- 75g granulated sugar.

- 3 egg yolks

- 1 tablespoon cornflour 

- Pineeapple

- 1 lemon juice

- 50g sugar

Beat the yolks, sugar and milk and put it in a saucepan. Add the vainilla and slowly heat it while constantly stirring whith a woodspoon. Add the cornflour and let it thick, but not to much. Set aside and put in small bowls. 

To caramelize pinneapple, put the water and sugar in a saucepan and let it heat until turnes golden brown colour. Add the pinneapple slices and stir until combined. Spread over natillas carefully. 

Scottish scones

The first time I ate what I think were Scones, was in a small east coast town of Scotland, called Fort William. It was a fisher, small town in the halfway between Glasgow and Skype Island, our following destination.  And I say I think they were because in that moment, I didn’t know what scones were, but I suppose they were one of the two alternatives we could choose for breakfast, bread or scones. As we had never tasted them, we decided to take one of each. I did not happen again, Scones would be our choice for the rest of our holiday breakfasts, without any doubt.  They were so tasty, so buttery flavour, they reach to compensate the (excuse me) horrible english style coffee. 

It has been a while since that, and I hadn’t tasted them again, let alone make them, so, when I saw they were the Whole Kitchen january proposal, I was excited to be able to remember their flavours.  For those who have not been fortunate to visit Scotland, Scones are our “bread and butter” for breakfast, small cakes which match perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee, usually served with cream and jam. If you serve them when still warm, they create a warm and cozy break, perfect for this cold and grey january.  

This is a really easy recipe, the only secret is that it doesn't have to be overknead . It is perfect, isn't it? It only takes half an hour!

Ingredients:

- 250g flour

- 50g cold butter

- 50g granulated sugar

- 10g baking powder

- punch of salt

- 1 egg

- vainilla extract
- 100ml milk

Preheat the oven to 180º before starting it all. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, stir it all. Blend the butter, in small pieces, into the flour with your fingertips until it is crumble look. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and vanilla extract and we add it to the flow mixture. Stir until well combined but remember, not over kneading. 

Transfer to a surface and knead softly to make sure no flour is still in the mixture. Roll the dough until it is a two centimeter thick rectangle and cut into rounds with a cookie cutter. Place the scones on the baking sheet and bake them for about twenty minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool slightly before serving, but not too much, they are delicious if served warm. 

"Cabell d'àngel" rolls

This was a recipe/excuse to practice the french kneading method, which I talked about in this bread recipe (in catalan) and of which you can find many videos and information on the net which will help you learning about it. I am still learning, waiting for the moment in which I will be able to knead fastly and with some grace, but I start feeling devotion for this man and I already have their books in my wish list.

I have adapted this recipe from here, which is the cinnamon rolls recipe so famous in some countries, especially in the United States. I changed ingredients to be able to use olive oil instead of butter and “cabell d’àngel” instead of cinnamon and butter (I have tried to find the translation for “cabell d’àngel” and it seems like it does not exist in English, so I would thank if someone knows how it is, or whether it exists). Cabell d’àngel, which literally means angel’s hair, is a type of sweet jam made from pumpkin pulp and sugar which is used as filling in some cakes.

This recipe is the last one of my “pendent to publish” recipes list made during my Christmas holidays at home. Days go by, and Christmas holidays are already far from here, but I still can remember the taste and smell of all recipes I made during that days and I still can remember the smell of the rosemary I picked up during the walks with my mother, which I miss so much.

For the dough:

-          500g flour

-          45g olive oil

-          15g fresh yeast

-          75g sugar

-          Salt

-          225ml warm milk

-          2 eggs

For the filling:

-          Cabell d’àngel

-          Cinnamon

Mix flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl and whisk it together. Add the eggs and milk and mix it up until well incorporated. Pour on the board and start kneading the dough using French method until it is perfectly done and soft. Let it rest for two hours.

Flour the board, pour the dough and roll it out into a rectangle in which we will spread cabell d’angel all over the dough. You can also sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over the dough and roll it up. Cut into slices with the dental floss (not minty!) and let it rest for forty more minutes before baking them during twenty or thirty minutes

Cava mousse cake with berries

(English version below)

This cake was the dessert of New Year’s Eve dinner at home; I had been thinking about what to do during all day and suddenly, I thought about making a cava cake. In addition, I had some mixed berries in the freezer so I felt like making it as I imagined the combination of flavors. It turned out to be a very easy and beautiful cake. Some of you already saw the photos in Facebook as I was making it, but I had so many recipes to share that I decided to set aside this for some days. It emerges this week when there are festivities in my town, so maybe someone will be encouraged to prove it as the dessert of one of the heavy lunches that are expecting us.

I know It can seem strange for a town to has its festivities immediately after Christmas, when neither the stomach nor your pocket have already recovered, but there is a reason, this was the time of the year in which people, almost all of whom were farmers, had more money as a result of selling their harvests. It has changed nowadays, the amount of farmers has totally decreased, but we keep doing it as a tradition.

Now, it is time for the cake. Let me advance you that I forgot taking photos of the unmold cake, so you will have to make it to see it…

Crust:

-   Sponge cake, muffins or digestive cookies with melted butter.

Filling:

-    400ml heavy cream

-    500ml cava

-    200g sugar

-    5 gelatine leaves

Take a springform cake and put the pieces of muffin, the sponge cake or the grounded digestive cookies in the bottom of the pan, take care to cover the entire surface while gently pressing down the crust.

Topping

-  Mixed berries

-  250ml cava

-  200ml water

-  100g sugar

-   3 gelatine leaves

In a pot, bring the cava and sugar and cook for ten minutes or until it has reduced by half. Remove and let cool slightly before adding the gelatin leaves.  Meanwhile, whip the cream and, carefully, combine it with the cava and sugar. Pour in the springform cake and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours.

After this time, place the cava, water and sugar in a pot and bring it to boil for ten minuts or until reduced by half, let it cool and add the gelatin leaves. Sprinkle the mixed berries over the top and cover wiht the cava gelatin. Chill in the fridge for two or three hours before unmolding.