This cake is so old. It’s so old that if we had any leftovers they would have been covered with green fuzzy stuff by now.

But luckily, there were no leftovers.

I just got so busy with summer (Well, not really—it’s been mostly cloudy here this June.) and kids outta school… and swim lessons… and stuff… But I still wanted to share this easy cake with you that I have made for my son’s birthday. He liked it so much that I thought it’s worth documenting and adding to the family recipe collection.

So, being busy and all + I don’t have much patience for making fussy cakes

… my little prince had to settle for a vanilla, banana, and whipped cream cake with marshmallows on top that I could make in 15 minutes. The poor guy.

Well, that one and the additional 16 individual dirt cakes + 9 *13 dirt cake I made for his party. I’m such a good mama!

Vanilla-banana cream birthday cake

for a 10-inch tart pan

petite buerre biscuits (or graham crackers, but I think petite buerre taste better and has better crumbs/texture)
1 stick butter, melted
1 package instant vanilla pudding
2 cups cold milk
1 teaspoon lemon and/or orange zest
2 cups heavy cream whipped with 2 tablespoons sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to medium peaks
2-4 bananas, sliced and mixed with lemon juice to prevent browning
Marshmallow for decorating, or any candy you like
A sparkler!

Grind the biscuits with the melted butter in a food processor. Remove from bowl and press into the tart pan + the sides.

In a medium size bowl, prepare the vanilla pudding, milk, and zest according to the instruction on the package. Chill.

When pudding is chilled, fold gently with the whipped cream.

Scatter the sliced bananas on top of the crust. Pour and spread the cream over the bananas.

Decorate with marshmallow and/or candy. Chill until ready to serve.

Happy birthday!

I made dirt cake for the first time a few years ago when my son was 6 years old. I served it in beach buckets with shovels. It looked so real–—it was totally believable to be dirt–that my boy refused to try it even after he saw all of licking our fingers.

This year the cake made a come back by special request from the birthday boy. I think I took it to the next level, don’t you think? I even saved the card boxes from the nursery.

I thought I was a geniuos. I believed that since there is no baking involved this will take no time to make. Wrong! Collecting the pots, washing each and every one of them, purchasing supplies, preparing, assembling, etc, of 16 individual “plants” consumed a few good hours of my days. Thanks to my friend S who came to help with assembling and keep me company I did not lose my head spinning in the kitchen. (I rewarded her with Shakshuka for lunch!)

I didn’t keep track of what I was doing, I kinda winged it on the go, relying on the previous cakes I made, but my cousin asked for the recipe, so here goes…

For 16 “plants” (16 plastic cups that fit into 16 4-inch pots)

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/2 cups milk
2 boxes of vanilla instant pudding (2.8 oz. each)
1 teaspoon orange/lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream, whipped with 2 tablespoons of sugar to between soft and firm peaks
2 boxes (16 oz. each) oreo* style cookies

For decoration:
16 sprigs of mint or any herb/edible flowers you have
16 plants tags
gummy worms
gummy mice (I put those at the bottoms of each cup, hidden by cookie crumbs)
chocolate “rocks”

To make the pudding: In a mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the milk, pudding powder, zest, and vanilla and mix. Transfer to a bowl and chill for a few minutes until it gets a bit firm. Then, gently fold the whipped cream with the chilled pudding.

Place the cookies in a food processor and grind until finely crumbled and looking like dirt.

Assemble the cakes: Put a layer of cookie mixture in the bottom of the cup, add a few spoonfuls of the pudding cream, and then another layer of cookie crumbs. Repeat with the other cups.

Chill for a few hours. Decorate with gummy worms, herbs and/or flowers.

* I used oreo style cookies that have no hydrogenated oils and no trans fatty acids. Look for brands free of those unhealthy ingredients.

For 9 * 13 inch pan

2 boxes of vanilla instant pudding (2.8 oz. each)
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups heavy cream, whipped with 2 tablespoons of sugar to between soft and firm peaks
1 box (16 oz.) oreo style cookies + 1 box vanilla wafer cookies (or whatever cookies you have in the pantry)

For decoration:
gummy worms
gummy mice
chocolate “rocks”
springs of herbs

Follow the same directions as above to make a 3 layers cake.

A few years ago, when I was trying to promote my (now defunct) personal chef business, I set up a table at my son’s day care center and offered brownies to those people who were interested to hear about it. Then a little girl passed by with her father and commented, ”these brownies look like poopy.” Her father was embarrassed and scolded her about being impolite and such, but she was right. The tiny little brown bite-size pieces did look like poop, even though I put each one in an adorable heart-painted mini cupcake liners. Ah, the honesty of children—so brutal! So pure!

Speaking of poo, I had a pretty crappy day this week. I was in a bad, bad mood because of… never mind. Unfortunately, I volunteered to bake some desserts for a teachers’ appreciation lunch at the school.

Bad mood + making desserts = ?

I guess that maybe because of my bad mood, the desserts didn’t turn out so good… At least not in my mind. Not the kind of treats I felt I could bring to the school and put my name on the tag attached to it.

Mediocre brownies. Bland lemon bars. Mixed nuts cookies which were actually totally awesome only they included a secret ingredient, peanuts!, and I found out about it hours after they were done, packed in a box and ready to go, when I read the fine print, “may contain peanut ingredients”—darn!

Regardless, taste-wise, it sure is a great thing that people cannot taste the emotions of those who were involved in making the food! I keep thinking about this book that I just finished reading. For that reason, that day, I served my children cereal for breakfast.

The kids were SO excited. For them it’s a special treat. They are too young and innocent to know that it is a bad sign. A sign that their mother is either one or more of the following: tired, lazy, emotionally drained, and/or angry. That specific morning, I just didn’t care what they ate, the love was not pouring out of me, so I served factory food .

But the following day was better. I woke up with better energies, clearer thoughts and I was ready to tackle the day, and the desserts that needed some TLC (Tender Love and Care). I had 3 hours to fix things and/or bake something new.

First thing, I quickly made Citrus yogurt cake. That took about 15 minutes to prepare and put in the oven. Great. I love that cake.

Next, I thought about ideas how to make the brownies I made which were sooo meh—It’s the recipe’s fault!—taste better, more exciting. One idea I had was to turn them into rum balls. After reading some recipes, I’ve decided to try something else.

I took a small piece and drizzled cherry brandy, mashed it with my hands and stuck a dried cranberry in it… It tasted good.

But it needed something else, texture. A crunch.

A-ha!

You know these coco puffs?

They turned out to be just perfect.

I mashed and mixed everything,

Rolled them into balls, and coated them with powdered sugar,

(so they don’t look like you know what…)

Pretty, ain’t it?

Yum yum.

I liked it a lot! I was proud of it. I could sure put my name on it.

I thought it was brilliant!

I wish I left some for my family to eat—there was a lot of joy in them. (Ah! The secret ingredient.)

So, teachers and staff, if you happen to read this post, tell me, did you like them?

***

Next post: I’ll tell you what I did to the lemon bars…

I love&hate frosting.

Yes, frosting is sweet, and some can even make it tasty. But after eating 1/2 a cupcake I feel the sugar rushing and gushing in my veins. And after eating 3/4 of a cupcake I feel a sugar intoxication going through my bones and my brains. (And I think about diabetes too…)

This is why I can never bring myself to make frosting at home! But, the other day, there was a birthday. And, a little girl asked for cupcakes. What was I to do?

I considered making a sour cream frosting. It sounded “healthier” and less fatty than cream cheese frosting, and hopefully, I thought, it’ll contain less sugar. See an example recipe for cream cheese frosting (for 24 cupcakes!):

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

OMG, who eats like that and lives to tell? That’s 2.6 tablespoons of suagr for the frosting only on each cupcake + add the sugar in the cake… Wowza.

(People, I think I’m becoming a “health” fanatic by the second… also see: Orange yogurt cake and… too much SUGAR!)

As I Googled-Binged “sour cream frosting for cupcakes” I found recipes like:

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
• 2 – 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

***

• 1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 tablespoons sour cream

***

• 4 Tbsp butter, softened
  1/2 cup sour cream
  1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  1/2 tsp lemon juice
  1/4 tsp salt
  2-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

***

• 1/4 cup of butter, room temperature
  1/3 cup of sour cream
  2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
  1/8 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  pinch of salt

***

• 1/2 CUP (1 STICK) unsalted butter
• 3 CUPS powdered sugar
• 1 TEASPOON vanilla extract
• 3 TO 4 TABLESPOONS milk

***

OK, you got the picture. You can’t get away with using less then 2 – 2.5 cups of sugar for 12-24 cupcakes. (I really should try to make one with no more and 1/4 cup sugar and see what happens…. Sometimes in the future…)

I felt discouraged so I figured out let’s just drop off the whole frosting part. But what was I to do?

The solution? Real, homemade, freshly-whipped whipped cream! My favorite!

With a thin layer of red currant jelly (it tasted the best) on top of each chocolate cupcake + 2 tablespoons of vanilla flavored whipped cream (The whole batch of 1 cup heavy cream was made with only 1.5 tablespoons of sugar) + sprinkles + 1 marshmallow (Yeah, I know, marshmallow is not the healthiest choice, but… and… it’s only one) all the kids were very, very happy!

I’m not sure whether this cake should be filed under “small cake” or “big cookie”. I’ve seen people complain (about a similar cake, on other sites) that it is actually a big cookie. Well, the title did claim it was, well, cake… I guess that led them to develop some, you know, expectations. However and nonetheless, why complain about such a thing? On the other hand, all this business could  have been prevented had the cake been titled correctly.

My mantra is: all disappointments grow out of expectations. If one’s expectations are set straight then there will be no (major) disappointments or frustrations. Right? Certainly not about a cake that turns out looking like a big cookie!

So, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about this lil’ cake/giant cookie. Maybe we’ll call it something new: a cakookie? Would that do?

Anyway… This cakookie is perfect to nibble on when the mood strikes all of a sudden. When one is in desperate need of a piece cake, or a cookie, like… RIGHT NOW. Especially on an average weekday, or weeknight. Or weekend. Especially when it’s rainy and blue.

It is also the perfect cakookie if you’re on a diet! Yes. Because you might want to have cake and eat it too! But you don’t want leftovers sitting around the house for days and days, tempting you, alluring you, winking at you like little devils, “eat me, eat me” and this exactly what happens when you’re dealing with a 9 to 10-inch size cake. Unless you’re sharing.

(Pssstt… Has anyone noticed I said “leftover cake”?)

The hazelnut chocolate lil’ cake presented to you hear is a variation on this walnut cake. I think hazelnuts and chocolate are the perfect match+ throw in a handful of walnuts for some crunch… Perfect-er!

Chocolate hazelnut cake/giant cookie

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 pound hazelnut meal, lightly toasted*
1 handful chocolate chunks
1 handful chopped walnuts, lightly toasted, optional
1 cup all-purpose flour

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch springform pan and line it with parchment paper, grease it too.

Place the butter in a food processor with the sugar and process until creamy. Add the egg, rum, vanilla, and baking powder and pulse until you have a uniform paste. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Fold the hazelnut meal, chocolate, and walnuts into the butter mixture with a spatula. Sift the flour in small amounts over the batter and fold together. When all the flour is incorporated, pour the batter into the cake pan, leveling it off with a spatula.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, then test the center of the cake with a toothpick. If it comes out dry, the cake is done. If not, bake 5-10 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and remove the sides of the pan. After the cake has cooled a bit, invert it onto a plate and carefully lift off the pan base and peel off the parchment paper. Invert once again and place on a serving plate.

NOTES: you can use whole hazelnuts instead of hazelnut meal and toast them, peel, and grind to make a meal. I find that the cost ends up pretty much the same and buying a meal in the first place is a terrific shortcut!

To toast whole nuts, spread them on a baking sheet and place in the middle of the oven. Toast in a 350 degrees F oven for 5-6 minutes.

I toast the hazelnut meal in a skillet or toaster oven—watch it closely—for a few minutes over low heat.

Today I’m going to preach to you. But I’ll keep is short, OK?

It’s about sugar. Wa-aaay too much sugar.

I confess, I never understood what’s the point in eating sugar as is. It might be called a “glaze” or a “syrup” or… whatever, but the bottom line is: it is pure sugar that people are eating. Why? It doesn’t really taste good, it’s just sweet, nothing interesting about that, and for sure, it doesn’t do any good to our bodies. So why, why, why do so many bakeries insist on drenching and drowning their baked good in cups and layers of sugar?

I can’t stand sugar glazed pasties. There, I’ve said it.

I had a little exercise lately. I’ve been cutting the amounts of sugar in baking recipes. And you know what? Nothing bad happened. On the contrary, good things happened.

I won’t name names but with some chefs/cooks/cookbooks I learned that I can automatically omit 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar from the baking recipes and the cake will still rise and all. For example, last week I made lemon bars. The recipe called for 3 cups of sugar but I used 2 1/2 cups instead and it turned out great—sweet just right.

A few weeks ago I looked for a yogurt cake recipe. You know how a container of yogurt can be pushed to the end of the refrigerator’s shelf and be forgotten only to be discovered one day before its expiration date? So I needed a yogurt cake recipe.

I found recipes in 2 very popular cookbooks—I won’t name names, but keep an eye open when you bump into a recipe named Lemon yogurt cake or French-style yogurt cake. The recipes were 90% identical.

I’ve decided to go with the one that uses more yogurt (1 cup compared to 1/2 cup). Both recipes use a lot of sugar: 2 1/4 cups of sugar in one and 2 1/3 cups of sugar in the other. Now, let me break it down for you:

2 1/4 cups = 36 tablespoons of sugar.

For a cake that serves 8-10 people, that’s 3.6 to 4.5* tablespoons of sugar per slice/per person!!

* If you need more visualization, 4 tablespoon = 1/4 cup. Could you eat 1/4 cup of sugar if it was not hidden in a slice cake?

I was horrified only by the thought of it so I decided to skip the sugar glaze and the sugar syrup altogether and see how the cakes turns out. Instead I used only 3/4 cup sugar total in the cake’s batter, and, what do you know… it turned out perfect!

That’s a total of 12 tablespoons for the whole cake. That’s only 1 to 1.2 tablespoons of sugar per slice/person.

Halleluiah.

I also used oranges instead of lemons for 2 reasons: 1. it looks like lemons are way more expensive than oranges, and 2. oranges are less acidic and sweeter than lemons so I could use much, much less sugar (but regardless, I think it’s better to add other ingredients to balance a lemon’s sour taste than sugar like herbs (Thyme, rosemary, for example), or honey (more natural and rounded).

I also used a thick yogurt, Greek style which has less fluid and the cake was moist.

This cake is so easy to make, you just mix the ingredients, no mixer needed, and it tastes divine!—minus the 1 1/4 extra cups sugar—delicately tangy, so fresh, with a wonderful, light crumb.

Citrus yogurt cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup thick, Greek-style yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
3 extra-large eggs, room temperature
2 small oranges/lemons, juiced* and zested
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into one bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, and vanilla.

Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Whisk the oil into the batter, until it’s all incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. While the cake is still warm, pour the orange juice over the cake and allow it to soak in. Let cool before unmolding and slicing.

* NOTE: This is optional. Pour the freshly squeezed 1/4 cup fresh orange juice over the baked, cooling, cake, or drink it for your pleasure.

I LooooooooooooooOoooooooooooOOooooo…ve doughnuts!

How about you?

My favorites are yeast doughnuts—nothing beats those! But, with a lack of time and/or frequent special occasions, I opt for quick ones, a.k.a drop doughnuts. The kind you can prepare in 15 minutes or so: 5-10 minutes for the batter and 10 minutes for frying all the batches.

Now there’s a new doughnuts cookbook in the stores.

I pretty much swore that I will not buy anymore cookbooks and I won’t be renewing any food magazine subscriptions because my kitchen is exploding with tons and piles, and 2 full bookcases of them. But when Lara’s book came out and an alert was tweeted on Twitter that only 4 copies were left in stock… Well… I was doomed. It’s a doughnuts book. It was hopeless. I was helpless.

And since I browsed the inner pages of my newly purchased book, I’ve been craving for so long to make these dropnuts (All rights reserved ) Finally, the day has come!

I had an hour. I had only one kid around. She was eager (“But only if there’s salt”, she said). I was eager. And we made it!

We were all ecstatic about having doughnuts for dessert last night. Finally.

It took hardly any time to prepare and was a lot of fun to make with the kiddo.

We had leftovers left for breakfast. I warmed them up in the toaster oven and they were like new: soft, fragrant and subtly sweet. (Warm them up until the outside sizzles, just like when frying. The microwave did a nice job, about 20 seconds for 4, but they lost the crispiness of the outer layer.)

Click to see Lara’s beautiful doughnuts + her doughnuts blog.

Click here to buy the book.

Lara’s ricotta drop doughnuts

Slightly adapted with comments.

Makes 32 (8 * 4 batches) using a small cookie scoop

So… My lil’ girl (She’s almost 3 years old!) insisted she will only make doughnuts if there’s salt. Go figure… But it retrospect, she was onto something. However, she forgot about it later on, and the recipe does not have any in it… Which might explain the doughnuts’ “something’s missing” flavor. So, if you make these (+ a note for myself for next time), I suggest adding 1/4 – 1/2 (OK, let’s compromise, 3/8) teaspoon salt to the batter.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Next time: add 3/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
3 eggs
8 ounces ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Canola/Vegetable oil for frying
For serving, confectioners’ sugar, jams

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the lemon zest, eggs, ricotta and vanilla, and mix just until combined. (Do not over-mix.) The batter can be used immediately or stored up to 1 day covered in the refrigerator.

To fry, heat at about 2 inches of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until a deep-fat thermometer registers 360 degrees F. Drop tablespoon-size dollops directly into the oil (I used a small cookie scoop, quickly dipped in the hot oil before scooping the dough so the it doesn’t stick), 7-8 doughnuts for each batch (depending on the size/volume of your pot and oil) and fry for 1-2 minutes (the doughnuts will roll and bath themselves in the oil), or until golden brown. Adjust the heat as needed.

Remove with a slotted spoon (I love my big spider—see photo) and drain on layers of paper towel. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.

Let cool slightly. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with jam and/or chocolate spread/sauce.

YUM.

Last week I went grocery shopping. (How exciting is that?) I stopped by the plastic bags dispenser and grabbed two handful of bags, anticipating to fill up my cart with a bounty of fruits. To my surprise, there were no peaches, no nectarines, no plums, no pluots, no… no summer fruits in sight—No summer fruits! (OK, there were grapes.) I slightly panicked.

Two days later, full of optimism, I went shopping again, but to another store on a hunt after some summer fruits. I found nothing. So I had to interrogate the produce guys about the whereabouts of the fruits.

“You got no peaches”?”

“No.”

“No nectarines?”

“Nope, no nectarines.”

“No plums?”

“No”.

“Reeeally??? What about pluots?”

“Oh, we might have pluots. Let me check in the back.”

Yes!

And then he returned with a case of wonderful, red, flowery smelling pluots. I almost bounced with joy—but I didn’t—and I bought 6 lbs.!

Now, what do I do with 6 lbs. of pluots?

Luckily, the day before I stumbled upon Melissa Clark’s Plum Polenta Upside Down Cake. I used nearly 2 lbs. of pluots for my cake.

2 individual pluots made it into the fridge—they softened/over ripened so quickly—and the rest I used to make ice cream. Mmm…

I hope that wherever it is that you live you can still enjoy summer fruit. As for me, I am mentally preparing myself for a few good months of pears, apples, and oranges. Clementines too. They’re nice, I like them, but it’s just not the same thing, you know…

Pluot Polenta Upside Down Cake

Slightly adapted from Melissa Clark: I used less sugar for cooking the fruit and I added thyme and salt. (I know I was tempted to grind some black pepper too but I’m not sure if I did it or not.)

Makes a 9-inch cake, 10-12 servings

1 3/4 pounds pluots, rinsed, pitted, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 1/4 cups sugar
2-4 thyme sprigs
Pinch of salt
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream or ice cream for serving, optional

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9-inch springform pan* with parchment paper and grease the parchment and pan well (I like to use butter).

Cook the pluots and 1/4 cup sugar in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the pluots are tender and most (but not all) of the liquid has reduced, about 20 minutes. Scrape the pluots mixture into the prepared cake pan.

In a bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixer bowl, cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one a time and beat to combine. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients, using a spatula.

Spread the batter on top of the pluots and smooth with a spatula.

Bake until the cake is golden and springs back when touched lightly, 45 to 50 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and release the sides. Invert onto a plate.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

NOTE: I know that my springform pan leaks so, to make cleanup easier, I wrap it with foil and place it on a baking sheet.

In my previous post, an interview with Shauna, Gluten-free girl, I asked her where does she find her food inspiration, because they seem to be making all kinds of cool foods over there at her place… It makes me feel like such a bore.

Shauna replied with a few names of people she knows and a food book that inspire her cooking, but summed it up simply with “I’m inspired by food all the time.”

She is right. There’s so many things within close reach and people around us from whom we can get inspired about the next dish or meal to make, or life. Or dessert. We only have to look more closely. The inspiration might be right there, waiting under our nose.

Just look at this mint. I have–It was hard to ignore–and it made me want to run back into the kitchen and make mint ice cream.

My ice cream maker has been standing lonely and neglected since 2 summers ago. 2, summers, ago!

Last summer sucked—my father was really sick and last August he died. I was in no mood to celebrate. Making ice cream feels like a celebration.

This summer I’ve decided to slow down with work and spend as much time as I can outdoors, in the sun, and with the kids. June was wintery, rainy, and grey (I used the F-word a lot in June), which makes the current Seattle summer very, very shot—only 2 months!

I know we’ll have a long winter (The temperatures drop at the end of September) and there’s going to be plenty of time to stay inside the house, and in front of the computer, and hibernate until next May or June. The ice cream machine had to be used, immediately, while the mint is lovely and at its prime time.

The same as I was, still am, crazy for soaking my feet in water and sand at the beach and watch as many sunsets as time and schedules allow, it burned in my mind, “I must make ice cream this summer!”

And so I did.

The recipe I used is from David Lebovitz’s book, “The Perfect Scoop”. It has many recipes that I marked with little Post-It notes but the fresh mint in the backyard was so gorgeous, so that recipe was the first one to be made. Luckily, you can find it on his web site as well under Mint ice cream with an addition of chocolate. Hmm, why haven’t I thought of that?

Do you have an ice cream machine? Have you used it this summer? What did you make?

From that point on, I noticed more and more inspiring stuff around, like… Thyme.

Ah, these beautiful beets reminded me of a wonderful dish, Rib Roast of Beef with Beets, Potatoes, and Horseradish, a friend, Mark, once cooked for dinner and we had the pleasure of eating. It’s a recipe by Jamie Oliver from his cookbook, “Cook with Jamie” (which I bought after seeing it in Mark’s kitchen–what a gorgeous book! The pavlova recipe is taken from that book.)

The recipe is on Martha Stewart’s site + a video how to make it. (I must make it myself soon.) In the video Jamie is making this dish with Martha—you must watch it! I can’t get over him calling Martha “my darling”, and “sweet heart”, and “love”… I must add a to that! Jamie Oliver is always very inspiring.

Up next, tarragon. To be more specific, chicken braised with white wine, cream, mushrooms, and tarragon. I haven’t made this in… 10-15 years??? Wow.

So, remember, inspiration is right under your nose. Start looking.

***

Blintzes… I’ve been making them since high school. That’s… never mind how many years ago.

I’ll be 40 in a few months! I hear the preparations for the celebrations are underway. (No pressure, Suburban cowboy.)

Back in high school, I used to make a batch of these crepe-like yummies and take them with me to my room to nourish my brain and pamper my soul which helped me study better. I was skinny back then. I walked a LOT.

There’s no way I can eat the whole thing by myself these days and live to tell.

The blintzes are part of the series of all sorts of pancakes and their likes I’m virtually making together with Simone and Trissa. Before blintzes we made Poffertjes and Ebelskivers. This week the three of us are making… well, you guessed it, Blintzes! I am curious to see what was their twist on the blintzes. Let’s check: click here to see Simone’s and here to see Trissa’s.

Blintzes are different from Poffertjes, Ebelskivers, and American pancakes. I think they are more like crepes; The batter is thin which results in a delicate flat cake with a smooth and silky texture. Like crepes, they are filled; Blintzes are usually filled with sweet fillings but I’ve seen them with savory ones too. (I once ate a lovely blintzes filed with liver pate. Yummmm…. And Suburban cowboy had them this morning for lunch with savory cheese.)

Here’s the recipe I’ve been using since 1997 with a few changes I’ve made as years went by, and with much more details added, so future generations can create them the same way I do. If they’d want to…. Just in case they miss them after I’m gone.

But that might take a while. I’m only going to be 40.

Sweet Blintzes

You can make the blintzes a few hours ahead; refrigerate them covered. Warm them in the microwave (about 10 seconds each) before filling and serving.
The recipe makes… eh… If I ate 2 and there were 9 left, how many did I have?

Makes 10-11 blintzes in an 8-inch skillet (measured at the bottom)

For the batter:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons sugar
Butter, for frying

For the filling:
Ricotta cheese or sour cream
Strawberry/cherries jam (or whatever you have/like)
Fresh berries, chopped, sprinkled with a bit of sugar. (Nectarines and peaches work great too! But not yet in season.)
Or, mix together Ricotta cheese/sour cream with a little sugar, lemon zest + a little lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, and raisins.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until the batter is smooth. (Optional – you can do this an hour ahead and let the batter sit in the fridge.)

Melt 1-2 teaspoon of butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat (if you work fast) or medium-low heat (if you work slow).

Pour about 1/4 cup batter and spread it evenly over the bottom of the pan. Fry for a few minutes until the edge is brown and dry. Flip to the other side and fry until the second side has light brown spots. Remove to a plate. Continue the same way with the rest of the batter adding a tiny bit of butter before each one.

When you’re done frying all the blintzes, spread your choice of filling and either roll tightly like a wrap or fold from 4 sides to make a rectangular shape, or… whatever shape you like.

See lots of photos below.

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Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter

Over medium to medium-low heat, lightly grease the pan

First side

Adjust the heat as needed. If you work quickly, use medium heat; if you need more time lower to medium-low.

Flip with non-stick tools

They say the first side usually doesn’t turn out, but it did, although a bit pale (I’ll put it back for another minute)

Second side,

First one turned out OK, a little rip there in the middle, but no worries, I’ll eat it.

There… so much better.

Second blitzes (What’s the singular for Blintzes; anyone knows? Blintz, blintze, or blin?)

Second blintzes, turned

Second blintzes, second side

and so on and so on… Until all the batter is gone

The first side looks like this

The second side looks like this. Which side is prettier?

Fill it

You can roll it

or fold it like this

or fold it like that

I tasted a second blintze. It was just as good

But maybe I’ll taste them all, just to make sure they are all good…

Are you still around?

Ha, I thought you’ll be in the kitchen by now. Concocting your own blintzes.

Go, go, go… Make some of your own.

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