Neighbours Affair

Yesterday, I went for a coffee at a neighbour's house taking DD along so she could play with her little son.We got to know each other some months ago at a condominium party (we met 4 years ago but never really had the chance to meet and talk) So I was really glad to go over there and chat over a coffee.

I thought about baking a cake that can go a long with the coffee, something simple but tasty at the same time.So I started to look into my kitchen cabbinates in order to find some ingredients that might inspire me for a cake.
Going through the stuff I had in there, I bumped into a box of popy seeds which I have bought sometime ago at the supermarket.Popy seed is not commonly used in the Italian kitchen and I have never seen yet anyone here using it in cake making.So I thought to myself :"why not?" and I started to prepare a cake that I used to make a lot when I was in college.It is a popy seed and raisins cake with a fresh lemony zest that fails not to impress everyone with it's simplicity yet very sophisticated twist (the popy seed).
You can prepare sugar glaze or just melt some dark chocolate and pour it on top to make a nice looking cake.I didn't do that on my cake ,I just took it with me the way it came out from the oven and it was really appreciated :-)


Happy Baking!



Popy seed and Raisins cake

Ingredients
for 24 cm ring pan

4 larg separated eggs
150 gr butter
200 gr (1 cup) sugar
A zest from one lemon
1 ts vanilla extract
70 gr (1/2 a cup) self raising flour
150 gr popy seed ( make sure it's minced)
5 tbs milk
2 tbs raisins
30 gr chopped walnuts ( I didn't have any so I used hazelnuts instead and it came out just fine)


Method

Preheat oven into 180°.
grease and dust a 24 cm round pan.
Mix butter with half of the sugar using an electric mixer.
Add egg yolks, lemon zest and vanilla, beat on a medium speed untill fluffy.
Mix the flour and the popy seeds and add in small batches to the butter mixture alternating with the milk.Add raisins and walnuts and mix gently with a spatula just until incorporated.
Beat egg whites with the remaining of the sugar (a little bit at a time) until a nice and stiff consistancy results in.Add to the butter and flour folding it gently from bottom to top, just until combined.Pour in the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

New year's resolution

One year has gone by, another year has just came in.

I recieved the new year yesterday with my beloved family thinking about how

wonderful the year 2011 was.It was a year full of excitment, happy moments, self

develpomnet but most of all the year which I have recieved my second bundle of

joy,little Giovanni Amir.

I am not a list person,but as you grow older you realize that you can't escape

the "list" thing, starting with small reminders like: "buy milk and bread" and

ending with something as important as the new year's resolution list.For 2012 I wish

myfself and my family and loved ones health,love,joy and self development.As for my

list,here it is:

Loose weight (do you know anyone that doesn't have this on their list? ;-) )

Learn and master cake design skills (my biggest passion)

Take some yoga classes (I have two kids, did I already mention that ?)

Learn how to make a good pastry cream .

Learn how to make macroons.

Go to south france again (fell in love with Provance)

Understand and accept the different (I wish all of us would learn to do that)

Be a friend to another foreigner in this country.These are the things that are mostly on my mind for the new year.

So to sweeten up the new year,I decided to post a recipe for a dessert which I found

very simple but yet very elegant and tasty. It's a panna cotta with a pomegranate

glaze.

I love the delicate sweetness of this dessert and the tangy-sweet flavor of

the glaze used on top.

It is taken from Gordon ramsay's christmas recipes.

So may we all have a sweet and tangy year like this beautiful dessert.

Selma

Panna cotta with pomegranate glaze
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

2 medium gelatin sheets

250 ml heavy cream

50 gr sugar

15 ml dark rum, or any flavoring you prefare

For the pomegranate glaze:

20 gr sugar

275 ml pomegranate juice

Soak the gelatin sheets in 30 ml cold water .In the meantime, put cream,milk, sugar

and rum in a sauce pan. Bring to simmer and heat gently do not let it boil.

Remove from fire ,squeeze the gelatin sheets to remove any acssess

water and put in the sauce pan, stir until gelatin disolves completely.let cool

then pour cream into 4 serving glasses.Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours (I

recomend to leave it overnight)

For the pomegranate glaze, heat a frying pan then pour in the sugar and the

pomegranate syrup and bring it to boil.Let bubble for 10-15 min until thick and

sticky.Pour the glaze in a small mug and let cool,then pour the cooled glaze over

the setteled panna cotta.

Good cheers for the new year!