Sweetened Condensed Milk Cupcakes

Look at them, aren't they just lovely? Kind of childish and girly. They remind me of a kids party with a lot of baked stuff, colorful jellies and many sweets. But no. No kids. And no party. It was just me and some friends having mokka with some sweetnened condensed milk cupcakes. Originally, the recipe that I was using was meant to be for a pound cake.  Fabulous but so easy. The batter was very soft but at the same time very fluffy and spongy and went excellent together with the rich and heavy frosting. I'm definitely going to use this recipe again, probably trying a simple sweetened condensed milk pound cake next time.

Sweetened Condensed Milk Cupcakes
makes about 10 regular size cupcakes
cupcake recipe (slightly changed) taken from J's Kitchen

cupcakes
100gm soft butter or margarine
40gm sugar
2 eggs
120gm flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
200gm (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line 10 regular size muffin moulds with paper cups or line a 20 x 20-cm cake pan with baking paper. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat in. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat well until incorporated. In another bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt, sieve over wet mixture and beat in quickly just until everything is combined. Pour into prepared muffin cups or baking pan. Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes (or for about 40 minutes if you bake a cake) until nicely browned. Take out of the oven, remove from the pan and let cool completely.

frosting
250gm curd cheese or cream cheese
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl beat together the ingredients for the frosting using a hand mixer on high speed until everything is well incorporated and the mixture is very fluffy. Frost the cupcakes.

Optional: Decorate with some jelly fruits if you want. Enjoy :)

Cheese filled Sesame Strudel

I like yeasted dough so much. Every single day I have to eat something made with yeast, no matter if it's something sweet, e.g. cinnamon rolls or something savory, like fresh bread or buns. The taste and the consistency of a baked yeast dough is simply my favorite. 

This is why I'm here to share with you one of the best savory strudel recipes on this planet. The inside contains a lot of cheese and many herbs (almost any herbs or spices can be used) while the top of the strudel is brushed with fresh olive oil and a lot of sesame seeds. This strudel is perfect either for breakfast, for lunch or for dinner, and it can be served as a side dish with meat or as a main course with a simple salad and a spicey dip.

Cheese filled Sesame Strudel

dough
500gm white flour
20gm fresh yeast, in crumbles or small pieces
2 tsp salt
300ml warm water
3 Tabsp olive oil
1 egg
2 Tabsp sugar

Combine the crumbled yeast, sugar and water in a glass bowl and set aside for about 5 minutes until the mixture is very foamy and light. In a very large glass bowl sift together flour and salt. Add the egg, oil and the yeast mixture. Mix well using a wooden spoon or spatula slowly adding the flour from the sides of the bowl. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead for about 2 - 3 minutes until you have a very soft and elastic dough. Place in the glass bowl again and let rise at a very warm place for about 1 - 1.5 hours, until doubled in size.

filling
200gm Greek white and crumbly cheese (or use any other cheese you like, fresh mozarella will be perfect as well)
1 cup cottage cheese or farmer's cheese
2 Tabsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tabsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 Tabsp chili sauce (I was using ajika / aджика / aџьыка, which is a very hot and spicey Caucasian red paste)
1 tsp salt
a pinch of pepper
1 tsp majoram, dried

+ about 2-3 Tabsp olive oil for brushing
some sesame seeds (about 2 tsp)
some coarse salt (about 1/2 tsp)
some black cumin seeds (about 1 tsp)
some ground dried rosemary (about 1 tsp)

Mix the Greek cheese using a fork until very crumbly. Add the cottage cheese, parsley, coriander leaves, chili sauce and as much salt, pepper and herbs as desired, mix well. 

Now fill the yeast dough: Roll out the dough very thinly in a square shape, arrange the filling mixture on top. Roll the dough in and form a strudel. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper and place the strudel on it. Brush the strudel with some lukewarm water (about 2 Tabsp) to make sure that the top of the strudel won't become dry but stays moist and wet. Let rise again at a very warm place for another hour.

Preheat your oven to 175 C. Brush the completely risen strudel with olive oil and sprinkle the top with sesame seeds, salt, black cumin seeds and rosemary. Place in the oven and bake for about 30 - 40 minutes until nicely browned.

 

Moist and Rich Lemon Sour Cream Cake

Let's just say: This cake is an excellent mixture between creamy and fruity. 

If you have been following the recipe posts on my blog (I know you have! right??!!) you have probably noticed that I don't care much about low-fat products. I've never enjoyed them and I rarely use them. Instead, I think that a healthy amount of fat in your food makes the meals even more delicious. So if it says in the recipe 'sour cream' definitely use real sour cream, if it says 'whipping cream 40%' use real whipping cream 40%, if it says 'butter' use real butter. Have you ever tried to make one dessert with low-fat buttermilk (1% fat) and another with usual heavy cream (50% - 60% fat) and then compared the taste of both with each other? Then you know, obviously, that you cannot make a nice dessert or a sweet cake without using fat. Impossible.

That's why this mouth-watering cake contains full-fat sour cream in the frosting and a looot of fresh vegetable oil in the cake layers. 

Bake it. 

Frost it. 

Decorate it. 

Enjoy a piece. 

And then another. 

Never worry about calories. 

If you have a really healthy lifestyle with a lot of exercising, you can enjoy as much baked stuff as you desire without falling sick or becoming overweight.

So here comes the recipe . . .

Lemon Sour Cream Cake

cake layers

3 eggs

zest of 2 large lemons 

16 Tabsp sugar

16 Tabsp vegetable oil

5 Tabsp cold water

16 Tabsp white flour

15gm baking powder

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 175C. Line the bottom of two regular round baking pans with baking paper. Beat the eggs, sugar and lemon zest using a hand mixer on high speed until very light and foamy. Add oil and water, beat in quickly. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and sieve it over the wet mixture. Beat in quickly just until incorporated. Fill in the two lined baking pans and bake for about 20 - 30 minutes until nicely golden. Remove from the pans and let cool completely.

lemon glaze

juice of 1 lemon, freshly squeezed

1 tsp sugar

Whisk together lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Brush the top of each cooled cake layer with the sweetened lemon juice. Let soak for a few minutes.

frosting

1000gm full-fat sour cream / crème fraîche

250gm white sugar

1 Tabsp corn starch

grated chocolate (optional)

Combine sour cream, sugar and corn starch in a large bowl and beat using a hand mixer on high speed until the mixture becomes very creamy and fluffy for about 2 - 3 minutes. Frost the two cake layers. (Sprinkle some grated chocolate on top, if desired.) Let cool and soak completely for a few hours or overnight. Enjoy :)

Apple Chocolate Cheesecake

The combination of a nice buttery crust, a heavy chocolate cheesecake and a fruity apple cake is weird. I admit that. But still, it's really worth trying. If you are a passionate breakfast lover like me you're going to adore this cake. It's perfect for breakfast. 

Apple Chocolate Cheesecake

dough
5 Tabsp butter
1 1/4 cups flour
1 egg
a pinch of salt
1 Tabsp sugar
1/4 cup water

Combine the ingredients for the base. Place on a floured surface and knead until the dough is soft and elastic. Roll it out. Line a medium size baking pan. Place the dough in the lined baking pan with the sides of the dough hanging out.

batter/filling
500gm curd cheese
2 eggs
100gm butter
150gm chocolate
2 Tabsp corn starch
5 Tabsp semolina
3 Tabsp cocoa powder
100gm sugar

+ 5 large baking apples, cut into slices or pieces
 
Preheat the oven to 200C. Melt together the butter and chocolate in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, curd cheese and sugar. Sift together the dry ingredients and sieve over the wet mixture. Beat in quickly until incorporated. 
Arrange half of the apple slices on the dough in the baking pan and spread about one half of the cheesecake mixture on top of the apples. Arrange the remaining apples on the cake mixture and spread the rest of the batter on the apples.
Fold back the sides of the dough. Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes until done and nicely browned. 
Dust with some icing sugar if you like.

 

 

 

 

Wedding Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Frosting

A few days ago my great-grandparents had their 65th wedding anniversary. Since this is a huge number of years and and amazing event, my whole big family was celebrating as if there was no tomorrow. Everyone in my family loves to talk loudly, to eat a lot, to sing out of tune and to hug each other like crazy. So, in short, I was having a great time. Not only because of my lovely family but also because of all our delicious traditional food. And I can say with pride that somewhere on the dessert table between about hundreds of other cakes, there were some beautiful little chocolate cupcakes with a pretty buttercream frosting made by me. And now they are requested and desired for every future celebration or family event. 
That's why you should definitely try them. The batter is extremely moist and soft while the buttercream is very fluffy and creamy. They're perfect for any special occasion. So here comes the recipe ...

Chocolate Cupcakes With Caramel Buttercream Frosting
(cupcake recipe taken from raspberricupcakes, I slightly changed the recipe)

cupcakes (makes about 12 medium size cupcakes)
95gm white flour
150gm sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tabsp unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tabsp hot water
85gm melted butter
6 Tabsp buttermilk or low-fat yogurt
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line 12 muffin pans with muffin paper cups. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine cocoa powder and hot water and stir until the mixture is a thick paste. (According to Steph, this step intensifies the chocolate flavour of the cupcakes. I think it definitely works. The cupcakes had a very strong and delicious chocolaty taste. So don't skip this process.) Beat together the chocolate paste, butter, buttermilk and the egg. Sieve over the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fill the batter in the prepared muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes until done. Remove from the pan and let cool completely. 

buttercream
100gm butter, at room temperature
200gm cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
2 Tabsp caramel syrup (or use any other kind of syrup you like)
3 tsp corn starch

Beat together butter and cream cheese. Sieve over corn starch and beat in quickly. Sieve over the icing sugar and continue beating for about 2 minutes until very smooth and well incorporated. Add the syrup and mix. The mixture should be very thick but smooth. Frost the 12 completely cooled cupcakes. (Optional: I decorated the frosted cakes with some dark chocolate roses. Use whatever you wish.)
Enjoy :)

It's Chai Time ~ Moist Banana Cake

Honestly, this cake needs no introduction. Everything important is mentioned in the title. The cake is amazingly moist. And it contains some yummy bananas. If you have some ripe bananas to use up and if you are a cake lover, try it. It will make you happy :)

Moist Banana Cake

layers
3 eggs
16Tabsp sugar
16Tabsp oil
7 medium size bananas, mashed
16Tabsp white flour
15gm baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
a pinch of nutmeg
banana flavour (optional)

Preheat oven to 150C. Line 3 round baking pans with baking paper.
Beat the eggs and sugar using a hand mixer until very foamy and bubbly. Add mashed bananas and oil, beat in quickly. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Sieve over the wet mixture and beat again, just until incorporated. (Add banana flavour if desired.)
Fill the batter in the three prepared pans, place them in the oven and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes until done and nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

frosting
150gm butter, at room temperature
250ml heavy cream
500gm curd cheese
1.5c icing sugar

Beat heavy cream until stiff. Add soft butter and curd cheese and beat until very smooth and well combined. Sieve over icing sugar and beat in. (Add more icing sugar if you want the frosting to be very sweet.)
Take the cooled cake layers out of the baking pans and frost the cake.

topping
80gm dark chocolate
50ml heavy cream
some sliced almonds for sprinkling

Melt the chocolate together with heavy cream until you have a very smooth and liquid mixture. Fill the melted chocolate mixture in a piping bag and decorate the cake (or just sprinkle the top of the cake with the melted chocolate if you want your cake to look a little bit messy.) Arrange the sliced almonds on the sides of the cake. Place the cake in the fridge for a few hours until it's completely cooled.
Enjoy :) 

Carrot Orange Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

Well, I had some carrot left-overs. I love carrot cake. And I love cream cheese. So I combined those two yummy elements and and about one and a half hours later I had some lovely carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting sitting in my kitchen waiting for me to eat them all up.

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
makes about 12 medium size cupcakes

cupcakes
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
2 cups finely grated carrots
zest of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 150C. Line 12 muffin pans with muffin cups.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Beat the eggs for about 1 minute. Add sugar and orange zest and continue beating until very light and foamy. Quickly beat in oil. Sieve over the dry ingredients and mix until you have a soft batter without any lumps. Fold in the grated carrots and mix well. Fill the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

frosting
112gm butter, at room temperature
250gm curd cheese (or cream cheese)
1 cup icing sugar

Beat butter and curd cheese using a hand mixer until incorporated. Sieve over the icing sugar and beat again. The frosting should be very smooth and thick. Fill into a piping bag and frost the cupcakes.
Optional: Use orange jelly and melted chocolate to decorate.
Enjoy :)

New York Cheesecake With Raspberry Topping

There are probably at least hundreds or thousands of recipes for NY Cheesecake. But this is the best one. Trust me. A nice buttery crust, a moist and heavy cheese filling and a very fruity and sweet raspberry topping. Honestly, I could have eaten the whole cake all by myself. 

New York Cheesecake with Raspberry Topping

crust
200gm ground biscuits or cookies or whatever you like
120gm butter, melted

Line a normal size round baking pan with baking paper and grease the sides.
Combine ground biscuits and the melted butter, mix well and press the mixture on the bottom of the pan. Place in the fridge while preparing the cream cheese mixture.

cheesecake
1kg curd cheese or cream cheese (or ricotta for the Italian version of the cheesecake)
1 cup sugar
3 Tabsp flour
4 eggs
100ml heavy cream
zest of 1-2 lemons (depends on how lemony and fruity you want your cheesecake to be)

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Beat curd cheese using a hand mixer until very smooth. Sieve over sugar and flour, beat until well combined. Quickly beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add cream and lemon zest and beat again just until everything is well incorporated and you have a smooth and heavy mixture.
Take the baking pan with the crust on the bottom out of the fridge. Pour the cheese mixture in and smooth the top.
Place the cake into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes at 180C. Then reduce the temperature to 150C and continue to bake for about 60 - 70 minutes until done.
The sides of the cake should be nicely browned but the middle part or the inside should still be a little bit wobbly and creamy.
Take out of the oven and let cool completely, then remove from the baking pan.

raspberry topping
1/3 cup orange juice
1 Tabsp corn starch
1 Tabsp sugar
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen and thawed)

Place orange juice, sugar and corn starch in a small sauce pan and whisk well to avoid lumps of the corn starch. Heat the mixture on high heat while continously stiring for about 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and carefully fold in the raspberries. Arrange on top of the cooled cheesecake. Keep the cake in fridge until completely cooled.
Enjoy :)

Honey Layer Cake

Some weeks ago, my grandpa brought me a huge jar of liquid honey that he got somewhere. The first thing that my mom said was "Please bake a honey layer cake! I want one!" I admit that my first thought about so much honey was the same. If you try this cake you will understand why. It has the incredible ability to take away all bad moods and rainy days within the first two seconds of chewing. No person on this planet has the strenght to refuse to eat a second piece of this cake. Or even a third one, in some cases...

And though I was using a lot of honey there's still so much left, fortunately. I keep looking for another delicious honey cake recipe checking out some baking blogs. So, there's definitely going to be another honey cake post soon. Wait for it!

Honey Layer Cake

layers
4 eggs
300gm sugar
a pinch of salt
8 Tabsp liquid honey
3 tsp baking powder
200gm melted butter or margarine
24 Tabsp white flour

Prepare the batter for the 4 layers. Preheat oven to 175C. Line 4 round baking pans with baking paper. (Or use 2 pans and bake the layers in 2 steps, preparing 2 layers each time.)
Beat eggs, sugar and salt on high speed using a mixer until very light and bubbly, for about 4 minutes.
Quickly beat in the melted butter or margarine until incorporated.
Combine honey and baking powder in a saucepan on medium heat while continously stiring. The baking powder lumps should disappear and the honey should become very watery. Keep stiring until the mixture starts to rise and becomes very bubbly. As soon as it has doubled in amount, remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
Then pour the honey mixture into the egg-butter-mixture and beat in just until well combined. 
Sieve over white flour and beat in as well. The batter should be really smooth and soft without any lumps.
Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes until done. Let cool completely.

frosting
500gm curd cheese (I was using low-fat)
400gm сметана or sour cream
4 - 5 tsp powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want your frosting to be)

Prepare the frosting. Combine the ingredients for the frosting and beat well until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth and fluffy. 
Take the cooled honey layers and frost until the complete frosting mixture is used up.

topping
50gm dark chocolate
3 tsp whipping cream
about 50gm sliced and toasted almonds

Prepare the ganache. Melt chocolate and cream in a small saucepan while stiring. Remove from heat when the chocolate has melted completely.
Pour the ganache mixture into an icing bag and decorate the top of the frosted cake as desired. 
Sprinkle sliced almonds onto the sides of the frosted cake.
Enjoy :) 

It's Chai Time ~ Vanilla Cherry Cupcakes

Well, I made these cupcakes some months ago but still, I'd like to post some pictures and the recipe since they were pretty and very delicious. There's just something amazing about a soft, fruity batter combined with a milky, creamy frosting. So if you have no idea what to have with a nice cup of tea today, try them!

Vanilla Cherry Cupcakes
makes about 18 medium size cupcakes

batter
1.5c white flour
2 tsp baking powder
150gm butter or margarine, softened
1/2c (homemade) vanilla sugar
1/2c white sugar
2 eggs
about 1.5c fresh cherries, cut in small pieces

frosting
200gm сметана / sour cream / soft cream cheese
100 - 200gm yogurt (it depends on how much frosting you want to have on your cupcakes)
4 tsp vanilla sugar

Preheat oven to 150-170C. 

Prepare the frosting: Beat together all ingredients for the frosting using a mixer until well combined and fluffy. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and keep in fridge while baking the cupcakes.

Prepare the batter: Line about 18 muffin cups with cupcake baking cases.

Whisk together flour and baking powder.

Beat butter, sugar and eggs using a mixer on high speed until light and creamy. Sieve over flour mixture and quickly beat in, just until incorporated. Do not over beat.

Fold in the cherries. 

Fill batter into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 30 minutes until done and nicely browned. Let cool completely.

Take the cooled frosting out of the fridge and frost the cupcakes as desired.

Decorate with anything pretty, such as cherries, grated chocolate or chocolate beans.

Keep in fridge. 

It's Chai Time ~ Almond Cheese Cake

When I tried this cake, it really surprised me how fluffy and spongy the base of a cheese cake can be! Mostly, the cheese cake base batters that I have tried were dry or too crunchy, which was the reason that I have always preferred to bake only the chream cheese mixture and nothing else. But this cake is differend as you don't have to combine crushed cookies with butter to achieve a nice cake base. It's a lot moister and softer, which makes this cake one of my favorite cheese cakes ever.


Almond Cheese Cake

cake base
100gm melted butter
80gm sugar
200gm ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs

cheese mixture
500gm curd cheese
200gm whipped cream
100gm sugar
2 eggs
1 Tabsp semolina
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tabsp oil

+ some sliced almonds for sprinkling (I was using about 100 - 200gm)

Preheat oven to 150C and line the base of a medium size round baking pan.
Prepare the cake base: Beat butter and sugar until fluffy, then add eggs, one at a time.

Sieve over nuts combined with baking powder and quickly beat in just until incorporated. The batter should be quite liquid.
Pour into prepared baking pan and spread equally.
Prepare the cheese mixture: Beat sugar and eggs until very light and bubbly, for about 3 minutes. Add cream, cheese and oil and beat in until well combined.
Sieve over remaining ingredients and quickly beat in.
Pour over cake base and lighly spread.
Sprinkle the top with sliced almonds and bake for about 40 minutes until done and nicely browned. Let cool completely.
Enjoy. 

It's Chai Time ~ (Flourless) Hazelnut Cheese Cake

A lovely and delicious cheese cake that is absoltely easy to make but still full of flavors. I love replacing flour with the same amount of nuts as it makes the cake moister, heavier and in addition, nuts have more taste and flavor than flour. But try it yourself, no regrets!


Hazelnut Cheese Cake (flourless)

batter
150gm melted margarine or butter
90 - 100gm sugar (as desired)
2 eggs
300gm ground hazelnuts
2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 175C. Line a round baking pan. Combine the ingredients, whisk together until well incorporated. Fill into lined baking pan and spread evenly. 

cream cheese mixture
500gm curd cheese (1.5% fat)
200gm whipping cream (30% fat)
3 Tabsp sugar
1 Tabsp corn starch
100 - 200gm sliced almonds

Beat together using a mixer on high speed. Pour onto the hazelnut batter and spread evenly as well. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top.
Bake for about 50 - 60 minutes until the almonds look lightly toasted and the cake is done.
Let cool completely. 

Gulchathaii

It's Chai Time ~ Lemon Syrup Cake

This is what I adore about our bazaars, especially in southern Kazakhstan: There are endlessly many syrup cakes, in all forms and with all flavors. No matter if fruity, milky or spicey, syrup cakes are always soft, moist and amazingly delicious. 
This one is very fruity as I'm a freaky lemon-lover, and pretty milky as it contains ricotta cheese (which can be replaced by curd cheese or cream cheese, by the way). It's no wonder that everybody was amazed and wanted to have the recipe. While I was eating my first slice of cake I couldn't wait to reach for the next one, and I was not the only person that couldn't stop eating. But try it yourself! No regrets! :)

Lemon Syrup Cake

Batter
250gm ricotta cheese (or use curd cheese, chream cheese or crème fraîche)
1/2 cup homemade vanilla sugar
1 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups semolina
3 tsp baking powder
zest of 1 large lemon

Preheat oven to 175C. Cream together eggs and sugar using a mixer on high speed (for about 2 minutes). 
Beat in oil, ricotta cheese, salt and lemon zest. 
In another bowl combine flour, semolina and baking powder. Sieve over the wet mixture, and quickly beat in, just until incorporated. 
Butter a bundt pan and dust it with some flour.
Fill the batter into the buttered and dusted pan and bake for about 60 minutes.
Let cool and remove from pan.


Syrup
juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 cup sugar
about 1/4 cup water

Put the ingredients into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil while stiring. Let the syrup boil for about 2 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is slightly thicker, then remove from heat.

Cut the cooled cake on the surface area using a small toothpick, until you have some tiny holes in the cake.
Slowly pour the hot syrup over the cooled cake using a teaspoon until the syrup mixture is used up. Let soak for a while at room temperature, then place the cake into fridge for a few hours.
Enjoy :)

Optional:
For the White Chocolate Topping, grate about 20 - 30 gm of white chocolate and sprinkle the top of the cake.

Gulchathaii