Room for Dessert - Food Blog

Ok, I know, I’m so late with this post for Shavuot! It’s been 3 weeks since my favorite holiday has passed, and I haven’t got the chance to blog about the little cuties I’ve made.

This Shavuot went by without a decent dairy celebration, a thing I like so much. My mom was abroad, and we had a not so dairy dinner with Avi’s family. We’ve been invited by my friend, Hadas, who is a great cook by the way, for a Shavuot brunch at her and her husband’s place, but unfortunately we weren’t able to make it.

With all that being said, I couldn’t let this wonderful holiday go by without even mentioning it with a little something I made. Yet another problem here - there’s no oven in our current apartment (at the end of this week this will be solved by the way, we’re moving to our new apartment! Yay!!), and also I still don’t have my mixer back. So it got to me finally, that about the only thing I COULD do is some truffles, well not exactly the old fashioned truffles, made from chocolate ganache, but truffles adapted for Shavuot - containing ricotta cheese and chocolate. You can call them chocolate-cheese spheres if you like.

Those of you who like the taste blend of chocolate and cheese will love these little spheres of goodness. Those of you who don’t - there’s a good chance you’ll love them too :). The cheese’s taste is quite mild, and won’t overwhelm you there, what you’ll feel mostly is the chocolate, with a hint of refreshment - that’s where the cheese kicks in. So easy to make, and they so helped me ease the urge of mentioning the holiday in making something sweet and dairy.

The recipe calls for petit beurre biscuits, if you can’t find them where you live, you can easily substitute them with Graham Crackers or something similar.

Cheese and Chocolate Spheres / Self Recipe
For about 50 spheres of the size seen in the photos

Ingredients:
250 gr Petit Beurre biscuits (or Graham Crackers), coarsely crashed
250 gr Ricotta cheese, at room temperature
100 gr biterweet chocolate, melted
4-5 Tbsp milk
4 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 Tbsp chocolate liqueur (or any other)

For Topping:
Coconut shreds / Powdered sugar / Cocoa powder

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients together into a uniform mixture.
2. Form spheres of the preferred size.
3. Roll them into a bowl containing your chosen topping.
4. Let cool in the fridge for 4 hours.

כדורי גבינה ושוקולד / מתכון עצמי
עבור כ - 50 כדורים בגודל הנראה בצילומים

רכיבים:
250 גרם ביסקויטים, מרוסקים גס
250 גרם גבינת ריקוטה או טוב-טעם, בטמפ’ החדר
100 גרם שוקולד מריר, מומס
4-5 כפות חלב
4 כפות אבקת סוכר
1 כף ליקר שוקולד (או כל ליקר אחר)

לציפוי:
שבבי קוקוס / אבקת סוכר / אבקת קקאו

הכנה:
1. מערבבים יחדיו את כל הרכיבים.
2. יוצרים כדורים בגודל הרצוי.
3. מגלגלים בשבבי קוקוס / אבקת סוכר / אבקת קקאו.
4. מקררים למשך 4 שעות.

Avi’s birthday was a week before Shavuot - a Jewish holiday during which, among others, it’s common to eat dairy products. So that’s why, in the spirit of the holiday (and because Avi really likes them) I decided to make 2 cheese cakes. The first one, the one I’ve told you about in my previous post, was supposed to be the pretty one (let’s, for a moment, ignore the fact that it didn’t come out pretty as I hoped for in the end…), and this one I made because it’s the best cheese cake there is! Seriously, it is, try for yourself and see!

I baked both cakes at my friends’ house, and I had only a very limited period of time to make them both. Since assembling the mousse cake took me longer than I expected, I didn’t have enough time to wait for this one to finish baking. What do I do? I thought to myself, worried that all the work was for nothing, and that the cake is going to be ruined. Knowing that they always say that cheesecakes are better off cooling inside the oven, I decided to take my chances and estimate how much longer it needs to be in the oven for, set the timer, and left the house. I came back after 3 hours - and was surprised to find out that the cake was just perfect. That being said, when Avi’s friends from work came to our house in the evening, I was still stressed out that it wouldn’t be as good as always - until I tasted it and relaxed All was peaceful again.

The cake has a really mild taste, and the eggs in it aren’t felt at all (something that bothers me sometimes about baked cheesecakes, the emphasized eggish taste), and the sour cherries simply complete it. It’s also very light in texture. 
Usually I make a baked crust for it, but this time, as I was short on time, I used the same base as I used with the mousse cake, it’s a wonderful base that I use regularly since I’ve discovered it, and it was great with this cake as well.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to take many photos of it since there were people here, so here are the leftovers

Cherry Cheesecake / Adapted from Hans Bertele’s recipe
For a 9 inch cake

Ingredients:
For the base:
150 gr Graham Crackers, ground
100 gr butter, melted
zest of half of a medium sized lemon

For the filling:
500 gr low fat cheese (9%)
10 Tbsp sugar
3 medium sized eggs
2 medium sized egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of half of a medium sized lemon
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
120 gr butter, melted
1 cup milk
350 gr sour cherries (fresh or canned)

Powdered sugar

Directions:
1. The white cheese in Israel is quite runny, in order to deal with that and prevent my cheesecakes from being too moist, I drain the fluids. Place the cheese on a piece of clean cloth or on an absorbent paper, and let it stay for half an hour, or until most of the liquids are out.
2. Prepare the base: mix the ingredients of the base to a uniform mixture. Spread the mixture out evenly on the bottom of the cake pan. Place the pan in the freezer until finishing making the cake. Preheat the oven to 338F (170C).
3. Prepare the filling: Whisk together the cheese and sugar.
4. Whisk eggs and egg yolks together with the vanilla extract, and gradually add into the cheese mixture. Add in the flour, butter and milk and stir well.
5. Take the crust out of the freezer, spread the filling on top of it. Scatter the cherries evenly upon the filling, they will sink in a bit, and it’s ok.
6. Bake for 40 mins, or until the cake firms up and starts to get golden.
7. Let cool and powder with powdered sugar.

עוגת גבינה ודובדבנים / עיבוד למתכון של הנס ברטלה
לעוגה בקוטר 24 ס”מ:

רכיבים:
לבסיס:
150 גרם ביסקויטים, טחונים דק
100 גרם חמאה, מומסת
גרידה מחצי לימון בינוני

למלית:
500 גרם גבינה לבנה 9%
10 כפות סוכר
3 ביצים מס’ 2
2 חלמונים מס’ 2
1 כפית תמצית וניל
קליפה מגוררת מחצי לימון
1/2 כוס קמח
120 גרם חמאה מומסת
1 כוס חלב
350 גרם דובדבנים חמוצים מגולענים (משומרים או טריים)

לזריה:
אבקת סוכר

הכנה:
1. מסננים את הגבינה בתוך בד או נייר סופג למשך כחצי שעה.
2. מכינים את הבסיס: מערבבים כל חומרי הבסיס לתערובת אחידה. שוטחים בתחתית התבנית ומפזרים באופן אחיד. מכניסים למקפיא עד לסיום הכנת המלית. מחממים תנור ל - 170 מעלות.
3. מכינים את המלית: טורפים או מקציפים גבינה וסוכר במהירות נמוכה.
4. טורפים ביצים וחלמונים עם תמצית וניל וקליפת לימון, ומוסיפים בהדרגה ותוך כדי טריפה לתערובת הגבינה. מוסיפים קמח, חמאה וחלב ומערבבים היטב.
5. מוציאים את הקלתית מהמקפיא, יוצקים עליה את המלית ומפזרים את הדובדבנים. הם ישקעו חלקית בתוך המלית, וזה בסדר.
6. מחזירים לתנור ואופים כ - 40 דקות, עד שהעוגה מתייצבת ומתחילה להזהיב.
7. מצננים ומאבקים באבקת סוכר לפני ההגשה.

The time of year around birthdays is my absolute favorite! When my birthday is coming up, I’m all excited and waiting for “my day” to arrive, and I really enjoy extending it to “birth-week” instead of birthday, so I can be pampered a bit longer When Avi’s birthday is coming up, I’m always fussing around, trying to think how can I surprise him best. Last year I threw him a suprise dinner party, with 30 friends. I cooked and baked for 3 days straight, and everybody (but most importantly Avi) had a great time.

This year we really needed a happy time like this to come up, after the hard times we’ve had with the fire. Living in a temporary apartment, the celebrations were naturally a bit smaller than last year, but not one bit less fun, I can assure you. Some friends from his work called me 2 days before the big day and told me that they wanted to suprise him. We came up with a plan according to which they’d come to our apartment while we were out (signing a contract for our new and beautiful apartment, to which we’re gonna move on July 1st!!), and wait for us till we came back.
Avi was really surprised, there were beers, wine, snacks, and most important - great friends that love Avi so much and wanted to make him happy - so we had a wonderful time.

I made 2 cakes for his birthday - the first is a Nutella and Mascarpone mousse cake, which I’ve tasted a week ago, on a friend of mine’s birthday. It looked and tasted so wonderful that immediately after tasting it I decided that this is (one of) the cake(s) I’m gonna make for Avi’s birthday. The flavor of  the cream cheese blended wonderfully with the mild hazelnut taste of the dark mousse, and it’s a very firm mousse cake, due to the gelatin in it.
It’s a great cake for special occasions, but next time I’ll definitely make it in  a simple 2 layer manner, since this design is not that easy to make, and as you can see, it isn’t that beatiful and clean…
About the second cake, and more birthday baking adventures - in the next post.

Mascarpone and Nutella Mousse Cake / Adapted from Danit Solomon’s recipe
For a 9 inch cake

Ingredients:
For the base:
150 gr Graham Crackers, ground
100 gr butter, melted
zest of half of a medium sized lemon

For the cake:
4 Tbsp water
14 gr (3 tsp) gelatin
250 gr ricotta cheese
250 gr mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
3 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup sugar
50 gr dark chocolate, melted
4 flat Tbsp Nutella
500 ml whipping cream

Directions:
1. Prepare the base: mix the ingredients of the base to a uniform mixture. Spread the mixture out evenly on the bottom of the cake pan. Place the pan in the freezer until finishing making the cake.
2. Prepare the cake: put the water in a bowl, scatter the gelatin over them, and let stand for 10 mins.
3. Place the ricotta, mascarpone and sugar in a mixer bowl, and beat for 5 mins at least, until smooth.
4. Heat the bowl with the gelatin and water in the microwave for 25 secs.
5. Gradually add the gelatin into the cheese batter while continue beating.
6. Divide the batter into 2 bowls. Add 3 Tbsp milk to one of them and whisk well until incorporated. Add melted chocolate and Nutella to the other bowl, and whisk well until incorporated.
7. Beat the cream in the mixer to stiff peaks. Divide the whipped cream equally into the two bowls, and fold it gently in each one of the bowls.
8. For creating a cake as seen in the pics: Spread 2/3 of the chocolate batter on the cake’s base, and smooth the top. Place 3 Tbsp of the white mousse in the middle of the dark layer. Place full Tbsp of the dark mousse around the white center, like petals of a flower. Fill the remaining gaps with the white mousse.
9. For creating a two-layer mousse cake: Spread the dark mousse on top of the cake’s base, freeze for one hour and then spread the white mousse on top of the dark one.
10. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

עוגת מוס מסקרפונה ונוטלה / עיבוד למתכון של דנית סולומון, מתוך הספר “שוקולד ושושנים”
עבור עוגה בקוטר 24 ס”מ

רכיבים:
לבסיס:
150 גרם ביסקויטים, טחונים דק
100 גרם חמאה, מומסת
גרידה מחצי לימון בינוני

לעוגה:
4 כפות מים
14 גרם (3 כפיות) ג’לטין
250 גרם גבינת ריקוטה או “טוב טעם”
250 גרם מסקרפונה בטמפ’ החדר
3 כפות חלב
3/4 כוס סוכר
50 גרם שוקולד מריר, מומס
4 כפות מחוקות נוטלה
500 מ”ל שמנת להקצפה

הכנה:
1. מכינים את הבסיס: מערבבים כל חומרי הבסיס לתערובת אחידה. שוטחים בתחתית התבנית ומפזרים באופן אחיד. מכניסים למקפיא עד לסיום הכנת המלית.
2. מכינים את העוגה: שמים את המים בקערית, זורים עליהם את הג’לטין ומשהים 10 דקות לריכוך.
3. שמים ריקוטה (או טוב טעם), מסקרפונה וסוכר בקערה ומקציפים במשך 5 דקות לפחות, עד שהתערובת חלקה לגמרי.
4. מניחים את הקערית עם הג’לטין והמים במיקרוגל ל-25 שניות.
5. מוסיפים את הג’לטין לתערובת הגבינה בזרם דק, תו”כ הקצפה.
6. מחלקים את תערובת הגבינה בין 2 קערות. מוסיפים 3 כפות חלב לאחת הקערות, וטורפים היטב לתערובת אחידה. מוסיפים שוקולד מומס וממרח נוטלה לקערה השניה וטורפים היטב.
7. מקציפים את השמנת המתוקה לקצפת יציבה. מחלקים את הקצפת בין שתי הקערות ומקפלים לתוך תערובות הגבינה.
8. ליצירת דוגמא כמו בתמונות: מורחים 2/3 מתערובת השוקולד על בסיס הביסקויטים ומחליקים את פני השכבה. עורמים 3 כפות מהתערובת הלבנה במרכז שכבת השוקולד ומניחים סביב המרכז הלבן כפות גדושות מתערובת השוקולד. ממלאים את החריצים הנותרים במוס הלבן.
9. ליצירת דוגמא של שתי שכבות: מורחים את מוס הנוטלה על בסיס הביסקויטים, מקפיאים למשך שעה, מורחים מעליו את המוס הלבן.
10. מקררים למשך 8 שעות לפחות לפני ההגשה.

This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri.

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.

She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.

There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicising this campaign.

Last weekend we were at my Mom’s - a chance to bake that I wouldn’t miss for the world! I asked Avi what he felt like eating, and as expected, he said “something salty”. I knew that my Mom would most definitely prefer a salty pastry as well, and so I went for it (Can you imagine how hard it is for a sweet tooth like me to be surrounded with people that sweets aren’t their favorite food?).

I remembered that a few weeks ago, I saw on Maya’s Romanian food blog, a picture of these beautiful salty cookies, that are very common in Romania. They reminded me of the same cookies that my Grandma used to make back then, and so I thought it would be a great opportunity to try them. I took the recipe from a Romanian food site, since on Maya’s post they were a part of a very big dinner she made for her birthday (Happy belated birthday, Maya!!), and a small part of the recipes weren’t there, including the one of these salty goodies.

It’s sooo easy to make them - no long kneading, no egg separating, almost nothing. 5-6 minutes and you got yourselves a beautiful dough that goes into the refrigerator for a while. Then all you need to do is roll it out and shape the cookies. Their taste is great! I really recommend using a cheese that has a strong taste - that will enrich the taste of the cookies. Unfortunately I didn’t have nigella, so I used sesame, but nigella would have taken these cookies even higher.

Romanian salty cookies / A Romanian website
Makes about 80 cookies of the size seen in the photos

Ingredients:
For the dough:
300 gr all-purpose flour
200 gr semi-hard cheese (yellow or white) with emphasized flavor
200 gr butter, soft
100 ml sour cream
2 eggs
salt

For finishing touches:
1 egg, beaten
sesame / nigella / caraway

Directions:
1. Knead all the dough ingredients just until a uniform dough is formed. Refrigerate for 90 mins, or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 356F.
3. Take out the dough of the refrigerator, roll it out to 0.2 inch width, brush with the beaten egg, and scatter sesame or nigella or caraway. Cut the dough into stripes with the length and width you prefer.
4. Arrange the cookies on a pan lined with baking sheet.
5. Bake for 12-15 mins or until golden.

עוגיות מלוחות רומניות / אתר אוכל רומני
עבור כ - 80 עוגיות בגודל הנראה בצילומים

רכיבים:
לבצק:
300 גרם קמח
200 גרם גבינה חצי קשה צהובה או מלוחה בעלת טעם מודגש (השתמשתי בקשקבל)
200 גרם חמאה רכה
100 מ”ל שמנת חמוצה
2 ביצים
מלח

להברשה ופיזור:
1 ביצה, טרופה
שומשום / קצח / קימל

הכנה:
1. לשים את כל רכיבי הבצק רק עד לקבלת בצק אחיד. מקררים למשך שעה וחצי או למשך לילה במקרר.
2. מחממים תנור ל - 180 מעלות.
3. מוציאים את הבצק מהמקרר ומרדדים אותו לעובי חצי ס”מ, מורחים בביצה, מפזרים שומשום או קצח או קימל וחותכים רצועות בעובי ובאורך הרצויים.
4. מסדרים את רצועות הבצק על תבנית התנור מרופדת בנייר אפיה.
5. אופים כ-12-15 דקות, או שעד העוגיות מזהיבות.