Tiramisu with fresh strawberries

It's  such a nice and hot Friday and I decided that I want to surprise my hubby with a great and refreshing desert for all the hard work that he does every single day. 

I didn't want to spend too much time preparing something in the oven, so I tried this tiramisu recipe that doesn't need baking.

I decided to adapte it, to make it quickly. I had one hour to make a little shopping and to buy the missing ingredients for my recipe and then to get to work! And I did it! In 25 minutes I had prepared the amazing tiramisu.  It's so simple and delicious!

Here is it!

INGREDIENTS: 

• 180 ml of brewed coffee  
• 30 ml Amaretto liqueur 
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar 
• 200 ml whipping cream( fresh and very cold ) 
• 250 g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature 
• 200 g lady fingers 
• 2 tablespoons cocoa 
• 300 g strawberries 

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare a round and high (at least 10 cm) form with a diameter of 17 cm.
Brew a cup of coffee and let cool; stir in the liqueur.

Beat whipping cream to stiff peaks.  Add powdered sugar and mix.

Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and beat for 2 minutes. Divide it in 3 equal parts.
Dip the lady fingers one by one , on both sides,  in the  coffee and then  put them on the bottom of the form.

 Cover with a part of  the cream and sprinkle with  cocoa.

Soak another portion of biscuits in the coffee , then put on a layer of cream  and sprinkle with cocoa.

Repeat one more time for the last layer.

Slice strawberries and place on dessert before serving.

Cool for at least 4 hours or overnight. 

PHOTOS BY EMI TRASNITU

Fluffy currant muffins

This time I tried a nice and simple recipe made with ONLY 4 INGREDIENTS!
It's a currant muffins recipe, perfect for sunny and hot days.

I know that many people don't like red currants because they are sour, but in a nice and sweet batter they work perfectly! I find this a perfect combination of sweet and sour, one of my favorites!

And now the simple recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

• 250g red currants
• 4 eggs
• 185g sugar
• 165g flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare muffin tin for 12.
Separate egg white from yolk.

 Place the egg yolks and 90g sugar in a bowl and beat over hot water to a creamy batter.

 Than whip the mixture over an ice bath cold.
 Beat the egg white with 95g sugar, until stiff.

Add the creamy yolk to the egg white and sieve flour over the creamed mixture and blend lightly.

Pour 1 tablespoon dough into each cup of the muffin forms.

 Sprinkle half of the red currants , cover with the rest dough and then sprinkle the other half of fruits.

Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes. Check it from time to time, because in my oven in 15 minutes was ready.

I just took the muffins out of the oven

You can dust with powder sugar  at the end.

PHOTOS BY EMI TRASNITU

Double - crust apple and raisins pie

Apple pie?
Yes, of course!

I know that now it's not the time for apple pie, but with all these delicious apples at the markets I can't help myself. You can serve it at room temperature and with some vanilla ice-cream and this makes it a summer treat:)

 My mom used to make apple pies all the time when I was little, but different from this one and now I really wanted to try a new version. The result: both are good and delicious, but my mom's is the best!

For my pie I used 4 different types of apples, to get a super-duper aroma. I used Pink Lady, Jazz, Golden and Braeburn. But you can go for any kind of apples you like.

Because I'm a raisins lover , I also used them in my pie. You can also use dried cranberries.

The design wasn't that great, but soon I am planning a berry pie and I hope it will look better.
And now the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

For Pastry:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons cold butter, cut up
• 6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 6 1/2 tablespoons ice water

For Apple Filling:

•  2/3 cup sugar
•  1/3 cup cornstarch
•  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•  1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
•  3 1/2 pounds Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, Braeburn and Jazz apples, each peeled, cored, and cut into 16 wedges
•  1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
•  2 tablespoons butter, cut up
• 1/2 cup raisins

•  1 large egg white, lightly beaten
•  1 teaspoon sugar

DIRECTIONS:

 To prepare pastry: 

In food processor with knife blade attached, blend flour and salt. 

Add butter and shortening, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until large moist crumbs just begin to form. I had to use more water then in the recipe ( I added 5 tablespoons more)

Shape dough into 2 balls, 1 slightly larger. 
Flatten each into a disk; wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight. (If chilled overnight, let stand 30 minutes at room temperature before rolling.)

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 Place cookie sheet on rack in lower third of preheating oven to bake pie on later.

 To prepare apple filling:

 In a bowl, combine sugar with cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Put the apples in a large bowl and add the sugar mixture and lemon juice, and toss to coat evenly. 

On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll larger disk of dough into 12-inch round. 

Ease dough into 9 1/2-inch deep-dish glass or ceramic pie plate.

Gently press dough against bottom and up side of plate without stretching.

Trim dough edge, leaving 1-inch overhang; reserve trimmings. 
Spoon apple mixture into pie crust and add the raisins; dot with butter. 

Roll remaining disk for top crust into 12-inch round.

Center round over filling in bottom crust.

Trim pastry edge, leaving 1-inch overhang; reserve trimmings. Fold overhang under;

Bring up over pie-plate rim and pinch to form stand-up edge, then make decorative edge. Brush crust with some egg white. 

Reroll trimmings.

Cut short slashes in round to allow steam to escape during baking.

 Brush cutouts with egg white, then sprinkle crust and cutouts with sugar.

 Bake pie 1 hour 10 minutes or until apples are tender when pierced with knife through slits in crust. 

To prevent over-browning, cover pie loosely with tent of foil after 40 minutes. 

Cool pie on wire rack 3 hours to serve warm. Or cool completely to serve later.

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Apricot tart

Yeyyy! Another delicious tart on the blog! Hope you like tarts, cause I'm crazy about them  and I decided to try lots of them this summer. With all these fresh fruits around me it's almost impossible to resist. This time I made apricot tart. Let me tell you a little secret: apricots are my fav fruits in cakes and tarts. You just try it once and you'll love them!

My fresh  and delicious  fruits

Ohhh! Don't even bother buying the tart dough. This one is so simple to do and it really makes the difference. You'll see!

Here is the recipe step by step.

INGREDIENTS:

Sweet tart dough

·         1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour

·         2 tablespoons sugar

·         A pinch of salt

·         1 stick of butter (4 ounces), cut into small pieces

·         1 egg

·         2-3 tablespoons cold water

Apricot filling

·         4 cups of finely sliced apricots

·         ½ cup sugar, adjust to taste

·         1 tablespoons orange juice

·         4 tablespoons of tapioca or corn starch

DIRECTIONS:

Sweet tart dough preparation

1.  Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and mix.

2. Add the butter pieces, in batches, and pulse until mixed.

3. Add the egg and the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until clumps of dough start to form.

4. Remove the dough from the food processor and knead it gently.

5.  Mold the dough into a flattened thick disc, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

6. On a floured sheet of wax paper, roll out the dough into a thin sheet that is a couple inches larger than the tart pan you plan to use – it’s okay if it extends beyond the edges of sheet of wax paper.

7.  Carefully flip the wax paper and the sheet of rolled pastry dough on to a lightly greased tart pan.

 8. Gently press the dough with your fingers onto the mold, start at the center and move outward. Use a rolling pin to roll over the edges and remove any excess dough from the edges. If you want you can leave a ½ - 1 inch to wrap around the edges of the pan – this will help prevent the crust from shrinking.

9. Prick the tart shell with a fork and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use.

 Optional: From the remaining dough you can make all kind of different shapes (I did squares) and use them later, after you add the fruits.  

 Apricot filling

10.  Put the sliced apricots in a bowl, add the orange juice, sugar and tapioca or corn starch. Mix well and let rest for at least 30 minutes, stirring every once in a while. 

11.  Pre-heat the oven to 400F / 200C.

12. Pour the apricot filling into the tart. 

Optional: I decorated it with the squares made earlier.

13. Place it in the pre-heated oven.

14. Bake the tart for about 35-40 minutes or until the crust is golden.

15. Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.

 I served my tart with home made vanilla ice-cream. The recipe soon on the blog :)

My home made vanilla ice-cream

 

Happy baking!

Photos by EMI TRASNITU