So excited!!!!!

Two weeks ago I got a call from a local reporter from our local newspaper asking if I was interested to do an interview to talk about my blog. I was very excited and also scared. In the end I loved the experience. Once the interview was published it was funny to hear people tell me how great the article and my blog are. And here I thought noboby will read them or recognize me!!! Anyway, I want to thank Lauren Carpenter for writting such a nice article about me and I hope you liked the cake!!

You can read the article here.


Now let's talk about food, shall we. This week will be a chocolaty one at my house, a nutella kind of week. To make you wait here's some yummy, drooling nutella treats !! Stay tuned.

Eve's pudding

This recipe just became one of my favorite apple cake. Seriously, it is so good, sweet and tart from the apples and lemon, and nutty and crunchy from the almonds. Amazing.

This recipe was originally known as "Mother Eve's pudding". It would have been made with suet pastry and boiled in a basin covered with a cloth. This version is baked in the oven, and is made from a lighter lemon and almond-flavoured sponge.

For this recipe you will need caster or superfine sugar, if like me you don't have any on hand, make your own. Toss regular sugar in a food processor fitted with a metal blade for a few minutes. You can try a blender, but the results aren't quite the same.


Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an ovenproof dish.

Beat together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is very light and fluffy

Gradually beat the eggs into the butter mixture, beating well after each addition

then fold in the lemon rind, ground almond and flour.

and mix well. You'll get a dough that's a little stiff but spreadable.

Mix the brown sugar, apples and lemon juice, and tip the mixture into the ovenproof dish, spreading it out evenly.

Spoon the sponge mixture over the top and spread evenly. A trick to make this easy is to use an off set spatula. Run the blade under warm water to make it even easier.

Sprinkle sliced almonds over and bake for 40-45 minutes, until risen and golden brown.

And voila!!

Give this cake a try, you will not be disappointed.

Eve's Pudding :

1/2 cup (1 stick) sofened butter
1/2 cup caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup self-rising flour. Make your own by stirring together 1 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. Presto, you've got self-rising flour!
1/3 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 lbs cooking apples, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Fondant au chocolat.

A fondant au chocolat, which translates to melting chocolate,because of it's fudgy heart is a cake that bakes with very little flour and lots of chocolate, which in my opinion is the best thing ever (this is the chocoholic on diet talking here!!!).

This chocolate cake is one of my all time favorite, easy, simple, and delicious. I make it for all special events, like birthdays, girls night out, pot luck dinners with friends, and it's always a crowd pleaser. You can serve it as is or with a raspberry syrup, vanilla custard, ice cream, or make it extra special by icing it with a chocolate ganache (a mixture of chocolate and cream) and  decorate it with fruits or, why not, with flowers.

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I suggest you give it a try and you will be sure to please your guests by serving that scrumptious chocolate cake, and it's a nice change from lets say a pecan or apple pie (well in my opinion!!!), and it's less work.

Fondant au chocolat :

1 2/3 cup (300 g) of chocolate
9 tbsp (125 g) of butter
5 eggs
1/2 cup (120 g) of sugar
2 heaping tbsp flour
1 tbsp ground almond
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425F

Melt the chocolate and butter on a double boiler. When melted remove from heat and quickly beat in the egg yolks. Add the sugar, flour and almond, mix well.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt into soft picks and delicately fold them into the chocolate mix.

Butter a 8 inch round pan, pour the batter and bake first at 415F for 10 minutes then turn down the oven to 300F and bake for another 10/15 minutes. Be careful to not over bake your cake or it will end up hard, you want it on the underdone side.

When cool, turn out your cake on a plate and enjoy anyway your heart desire....mine will be with more chocolate on top!!!

Meatloaf story.

Usually while thinking about my weekly menu, I ask the kids what they would like to eat that week, let me tell you they sometimes come up with the weirdest ideas !!!!! Last week one of them asked for meatloaf, but it came with a warning "but mom can you make a different one this time!!!!". I like to use this recipe from Giada which is a great one, but apparently not this time. Now, do you know how many recipes come up when you type "meatloaf recipes" on Google ????? TONS !! The choice was tough, but I finally found the right victim.

This time I didn't get a chance to take pictures of each steps, but I wanted to share this recipe with you all. It's a good one!! The picture is not the best one..

Ingredients


1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 ounce)

Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves,chopped

1/2 cup ketchup ( I used marinara sauce instead, cause I don't really like ketchup..)

3 ounces white cheddar cheese, diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish ( Iskipped this ingredient)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin

1 large egg, lightly beaten


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs; cook 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently.

3. While breadcrumbs cook, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Combine onion mixture, breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup ketchup, and remaining ingredients. Shape into 6 (4 x 2-inch) loaves on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; spread 2 teaspoons ketchup over each. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until done.

Recipe from Cooking Light.