Smartylicious!!

What about a trip back to childhood?

 Although I ain't religious, it could be said that smarties are created by the big man up there...

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of baking soda

2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Coco powder (optional)

SMARTIES!!!

 Procedure:

First of all preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

After laying a parchment paper sheet on the tray (for baking the yummy scrummy cookies...), mix the flour, the baking soda and the pinch of salt in a bowl.

Set aside.

 In another bowl, mix the melted butter and both types of sugar, until a creamy texture.

Add the beaten eggs, the vanilla extract and stir it all together.

Gradually, join the flour in and mix it all up. Add some cocoa powder (this optional!).

Finally, and most importantly; ADD THE SMARTIES!! Yummmmmmmyy..... I'm already flying...

After mixing all the ingredients, scoop some yummy-scrummy cookie dough and roll it into a ball. Place the cookie dough balls on the tray; you should get about four balls per tray.

Put the cookie balls in the oven for about 12-15 minutes for crispy cookies.

Ps: remember to take the cookies out of the oven when they are still soft and "wobbly". They will cook themselves when you leave them to rest over a tray.

Ps2: I added a teeny-weeny bit of cinnamon to the mixture... Every little helps!

Enjoy!

:)

My sweet trip to heaven... or shall I say hell?

Brownie: 

Ingredients: 

Chocolate cocoa 

1/2 cup of butter 

1 cup of white sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon of baking powder 

A pinch of salt 

1 and 1/2 cup of flour 

2 large eggs 

Walnuts 

Chocolate chips (As you'll see, adore putting chocolate chips in any mixture! Its a funny surprise you discover while enjoying a delightful bite of the heavnly-hell monster)

Procedure: 

First of all, after preheating the oven to 180 Cº, melt the butter (in the microwave, if possible). 

Then mix the melted butter in with the sugar. After mixing leave the creamy texture to rest. 

Add both beaten eggs to the creamy mixture. 

After that, add a spoonfull of vanilla extract (with the mary poppins song included :p Bahahahahaahhahaha.... Ok, bad joke!), the pinch of salt and the baking powder. 

Next, add the flour and the cocoa powder* to the mix.

* As I didn't have any cocoa powder I decided to do this:
I mixed some Nestlé tablet chocolate and some Nestlé dessert cream chocolate (special chocolate for chocolate dressings). I put both types of chocolate in a bowl and melted them together (adding a teeny weeny bit of whole milk).
How did I melt them? Easy peasy! You boil water in a small casserole and put the bowl with both chocolates in, so the heat won't affect the chocolate directly. We call this "Baño Maria"... Don't ask me why or who the hell Maria was and why was she having a bath in a casserole.... Bahahahahahahahaha.... Ok, another bad joke! :s

After mixing the chocolate in, chop the walnuts and add them too! 

Bake the heavenly-hell monster for 35-40 minutes in the oven. 

Finally.... Bon apétit! 

Love, Dessert Disaster XXX

My fairy godmother... the Cupcake!

Chocolate Cupcakes

There is nothing that makes me happier than a lovely, icing-topped chocolate cupcake!

When I'm sad... I eat cupcakes

When I'm bored... I eat cupcakes

When I'm in a bad mood... I eat cupcakes

When I'm in a good mood... I eat cupcakes

When I'm happy... I eat cupcakes

When I'm hungry... I eat cupcakes

Got the idea? 

The good thing about cupcakes is that they are the perfect size. 
You can eat one yourself (and not have to share with anybody!) And not feel guilty after eating it :)
And they are topped with delicious icing sugar... Did I mention when I eat cupcakes??

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 all purpose flour

1 cup of boiling hot water (Be very careful, don't burn your self!)

2 cups of chocolate powder

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of butter

1 cup of white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of almond extract

(White) chocolate chips- I decided to add this extra chocolaty surprise :)

Process:

First of all, pre-heat the oven 200 c.

In a separate bowl, mix the steamin' (suuuuper) hot water and the chocolate powder. Let the mixture cool down.

In another bowl, mix the flour, salt and the baking powder. 

Melt the butter and beat it up with the white sugar (in another bowl, of course). Add the eggs to the mixture. After mixing (preferably with an electric mixer) add the vanilla and almond essence.

After that, join the egg and butter mixture into the flour. Stir until you get a creamy texture.

Add the chocolate-water mixture into the creamy texture. The choco mixture should have cooled down by now. Mix well. Then, add the chocolate chips.

Scrape the bowl's sides into muffin cups. Remember, you should only put about three inches in each cup. (They groooow!)

Put them in the oven and let them bake for about 15 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool so you can put the icing on top! 

Hope you enjoy,
Bisous!

Ps: Please note it is 12 o'clock (IN THE FREAKIN' NIGHT!) and I'm pleasantly baking wonderdful cupcakes..... 

When It's 12 at night and I want to eat cupcakes because my tummy is saying "I want yam-yam!".... I eat cupcakes.

My American friends...

Biiiiiig sized Hershey's chocolate chip cookies. 

They are big, they are strong, they are tough, they are... Heaven! 

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon of baking soda 

1 cup of butter  

1/2 cup of white sugar 

3/4 cup of brown sugar 

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon of almond extract 

2 eggs 

HERSHEY'S chocolate chips... Yummy!!

(You could also add some macadamia nuts. It sure gives the cookie a tasty twist!)  

Procedure: 

First of all preheat your oven to 200 degrees.

After laying a parchment paper sheet on the tray (to bake the cookies afterwards), mix the flour, the baking soda and spread a pinch of salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix the butter and both types of sugar until a creamy texture is left. 

Add the beaten eggs and both vanilla and almond extracts into the mixture. Mix and stir with an electrical mixture.

Gradually add the dry ingredients into the cream mixture and continue to mix, until a smooth batter forms. 

The most important step: ADD THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!! Yummmmmmmmmmy....  

So, after mixing all the ingredients, scoop some yummy-scrummy cookie dough and roll it into a ball. Place the cookie dough balls on the tray; you should get about 4 balls per tray. 

Put the cookie dough balls in the oven and wait 12-15 minutes for crispy cookies. 

Hope you enjoy and fly up to heaven with these A-mazing cookies... 'Cause they ain't normal cookies... They are biig mammas! 

Bahahahahahhahahaha ;) 

Yours faithfully,
Dessert disaster.  

XXX

Marble cake... also known as zeebra!

Marmel kuchen or marble cake is a traditional recipe that has run through a good friend's family history.

The secret ingredient? Sorry, it's in the genes! Haha...

If this cake was an animal it would be a giraffe or a zeeeebra 'cause it's double coloured! Ain't that cool??
But why am I even writing about animals?! - you have to know that sometimes I act like a crazy woman with twelve cats... But I ain't no crazy woman with twelve cats! Bahahahahahhahahahah  :)


The mysterious delight: 


First of all...

How is the marbelling effect created??  By running your knife (do not stir!) through the two mixtures creating a fun pattern!
Ps: The classic marble cake is chocolate and vanilla, but there are thousands of different variations: chocolate and orange, chocolate and banana...

Ingredients: 


200gr of butter
2 cups of sugar (I usually put: 1 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar)
4  teaspoons of vanilla flavouring
3 eggs
2 and 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
6 tablespoons of cornstarch
1or 2 teaspoons of baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 cup of milk
Chocolate (mmmmm... The best part!)

Proceedure:


First of all pre-heat the oven 250 degrees (although I always do it at the end because I can literally spend hours mixing and matching different ingredients just to bake a cake! I'm kinda like Ferran Adrià in the experimenting sense jiji)and then lower to 180ºc once you've put the cake in.
Mix the butter and the two different types of sugar in a bowl until you're left with a smooth texture.
Beat the eggs and add them into the mixture.

Mix the milk and the vanilla together in a bowl aside and then mix it up with the main mixture.
After that, add the flour, the cornstarch (although I added custard powder made out of corn... Wish me luck for the cake to come out well :s) and sprinkle in a pinch of salt.
Beat veeeeeeerry well and separate the delicious, sweet delight into two different bowls.
In the fisrt bowl,  put in  chocolate powder or melted chocolate tablets and some chocolate chips (just in case you didn't have enough chocolate!)
And  in the other bowl, add some ground cinnamon (yes ma dear, zat is the extre tastyness...)
Alternate vanilla-cinnamon mix with double chocolate, while pouring them into the buttered base.
Use a knife (or your fingers... yummy!!) to gently create the marble effect... but careful! Don't get too happy and start mixing,  'cause you'll lose the effect completely!
Wait 35 minutes for the baby to bake and... Let me know how delicious it tastes soon!


Lots of love,  Dessert Disaster.
XXX

Yummy scrummy carrot cake

I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaally think Mary Poppin's magical medicine was not, in fact, a spoonfull of sugar, but a nice, yummy carrot cake.
It is moist and flaverfull and you have a great excuse as it is....... "healthy"!

So here goes the cure to any type of damage or illness:


Cake:


4 eggs
1 and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 cup of white sugar
1 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking soda
A pinch of salt
Walnuts
About 6 cups of grated carrots


Icing:


8 oz. Mascarpone cream cheese
Stick of butter
1 box of icing sugar
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

First of all pr-heat the oven to 200ºc.
After grating the carrots (and nearly leaving my poor little fingers behind doing this! Phew...)
I put them in a medium bowl and mixed the brown sugar in. Let the mixture rest, so the brown sugar will react with the carrot's juice and make extra juicy juice.
Beat the four eggs and pour them in another bowl.
Add the white sugar and mix (or beat) to crerate a nice, soft texture.
Add the oil and the vanilla extract and mix it all together.
(Recomendation: I do luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve the long lasting- hahahahha this sounds like a makeup advert :S- omnipresent vanilla taste in your mouth, after grabbing a bite of this yummy cake. That is why I put more than two teaspoons)
After that, combine the flour, the baking soda and add a pinch of salt.
Chop the walnuts and add to the mixture.
Add the juicy, grated carrots into the main mixture and stir.
Bake between 45-50 minutes until the carrot baby is done!


LONG LIVE CARROT (ORANGE TANNED) CAKES! :)




Loys of love
XXX

Buttered cat tongues...

I haven't had much time to touch the kitchen recently, buuuuuuut as I am starting to get fonder of this dessert blog I would like to pass you a very old recipe.


Butter could be considered the king of the french plates. Without butter three hundred and forty five (and maaaany more...) recipes I know wouldn't be so heaven tasty if it wasn't for the magic ingredient... butter.
If you want something to be more thick, add butter. If you want something to be more cremier, just add butter. If you want something to be more greasy, sticky, smooth or even just to put that last salty touch, just add butter!


So as butter is such a special ingredient in any kind of recipe I decided to give , 'cause it's special to me :)
So here goes. Llengues de gat ( Although the translation may sound awful "Cat tongues" it does not have anything to do with the poor animal!) is a very traditional buiscuit. The type your grandmother used to give you everytime you went to visit her, know what I mean?

This buiscuit brings so many memories... it brings back the soapy odor, the summer eavning sun that peeked through the courtains, the slight purring of the dishwasher.... Small details that, without knowing why, remain in someones memory.


The ingredients for this magical (and surprisingly easy cooking) cookie are:


100g of white sugar
100g of flour
100g of butter (yummy... lots of butter!!)
2 eggs


Procedure:


Preheat the oven 180ºc.
First of all, you must crack the egg open and separate the yolk from the white of the egg .
After throwing away the yolk (you don't have to throw it!! you can also cook it), beet up the white of the egg, until it becomes foam (like snow!).
Add the sugar and the flour to the egg foam.
Melt the butter in the microwave and add it to the mixture.
Grease the oven tray with butter and then sprinkle some flour on it, so the cookies won't stick to the base.
Put tiny blobs of cookie mixture on the greaseed tray and let them bake for ten minutes (aproximately).
and... voilà, yummy grandma's cookies!


I hope I helped you, once again, in the kitchen. I may not be a five michelin star cook, but I do know my way to the oven! And cooking is just a nice way to escape into my cookie dough scented bubble :)


Yours sincerely, Dessert Disaster.
XXX