Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Friand, Australia, January 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




Plump blueberries, available from late spring through summer, are usually sold in pint boxes containing about 2 cups (8 oz/250 g) berries. The commercial berry is the North American high bush variety growing up to 15 feet high, primarily in Oregon, Washington and Florida. Small, intensely flavored wild blueberries, native to England and parts of Canada, can be used in this recipe. You can refrigerate berries for up to 2 days before using them. Do not wash them before storing, as the water will promote mold.

Plum Pavlova

Pavlova (Photo credit: babe_kl)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




The original Pavlova dessert, a baked meringue topped with fruit and whipped cream, was named for the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Making crisp meringues requires a high ratio of sugar to egg whites, and a slow oven that will dry them out without giving them color. A gas oven with a pilot light is ideal for drying them out. Bakers seeking hard and completely fry baked meringues will leave them in the oven overnight to dry out. The Pavlova, however, calls for a softer baked meringue, crisp on the outside and slightly sticky on the inside.

Let us see if you can equal the taste of Plum Pavlova with your own style of cooking this recipe. When your cooking is done and everyone has tasted, let's hope that Anna Pavlova will be proud of the food that bore her name.

Warm Pear Charlotte

Banana Split Charlotte. See also File:Banana Split Charlotte, No Cookie.jpg. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




Charlottes are molded desserts, served warm or cold. A standard charlotte mold is a pail-like tin with heart shape handles, but a souffle dish or ramekin (for single servings) may also be used. The classic warm charlotte, lined with bread  and filled with apples and custard, is transformed here into a pear dessert with a lighter filling.

If you have tasted apples and custard charlottes, this will be your chance to differentiate the taste from pear charlotte. But for me, each has a distinct taste that can't be compared. Let you taste buds decide but before this goes to an argument, let's start making pear charlotte on the kitchen table.

Rolled Blackberry Cake

石屋製果's Sponge Cake + Ice Cream Delicious~ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




Rolled Cakes. This recipe calls for a thin rectangular sponge cake that is rolled into a cylinder while still warm from the oven, then cooled, unrolled, spread with a filling, and then rolled again. The cake is sliced crosswise when served, revealing a spiral design. These cakes are sometimes called jelly rolls especially when they are spread with jelly as the first (or only) layer - or Swiss rolls.

Rolled blackberry cake recipe is not only tempting to the eyes because of the blackberry rolled in it but it is more tempting to the taste. Whatever the secret of this great tasting recipe, there could only be one thing that is sure...it must be because you will make use of your own caring hands in making this recipe to be served only the best for a love one.

ROLLED BLACKBERRY CAKE

You will need:


One 12 -by-9 inch (30-by-23-cm) Yellow Sponge Cake, still warm from the oven

1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) heavy (double) cream, preferably not ultrapasteurized

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)

1 tablespoon confectioners's (icing) sugar, plus extra for dusting

1 cup (4 oz/125 g) blackberries


Here's how:


Bake the sponge cake as directed and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes.

When the sponge cake is still warm to the touch, use a thin metal spatula or knife to loosen the edges from the pan. With a long side toward you, gently roll the cake into a cylinder with the parchment (baking) paper still attached to the bottom. Allow the cake to cool completely, about 45 minutes, then gently unroll it on a work surface and remove the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the cream, vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Using a wire whisk, beat until soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted, 5-7 minutes.

To assemble, spread the center of the cooled cake with whipped cream, scatter the berries on top of the cream, and reroll the cake. Transfer the log, seam side down, to a long serving platter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours.

To serve, using a fine-mesh sieve or a sifter, dust the top of the cake with a generous coating of confectioners' sugar. Cut the cake crosswise into slices.

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Grand Marnier Souffle

Berry soufflé. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




A souffle is made from a light batter leavened by whipped egg whites. In the heat of the oven, the air in the egg white foam expands to make the souffle rise. Souffles should be served directly from the oven, before they have a chance to deflate. Souffle dishes, made of ceramic to help hold in the heat, have tall, straight sides that are usually greased and then dusted with sugar (or, for savory souffles, bread crumbs) to help the batter climb the side of the dish.

You can give it a try with souffle in this Grand Marnier Souffle recipe. It is made for everyone who wants to experiment doing souffle in the simplest cooking idea.

Autumn Fruit Strudel

Pastry made with phyllo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw





Filo (or phyllo) dough, best known for its use in Greek and Turkish pastries like baklava, is sold in the freezer section of large grocery stores. It is an elastic dough pulled into very thin sheets and cut into large rectangles. Follow the instructions on the box for thawing. When working with filo, keep the unused dough sheets stacked under a piece of plastic wrap or a barely damp kitchen towel until you are ready to use them; otherwise, they may become brittle and tear easily. Frozen filo dough keeps well, but not indefinitely; it becomes dry or sticky if stored for too long.

It is best if you will only buy filo dough just enough so as not to store it for a long time and just waste your money or think of other recipes in order to consume all your filo dough in one cooking. Autumn fruit strudel can be added to your menu and make use of your filo dough and at the same time enjoy the savings from unused dough.

Summer Berry Trifle

Summer Berry Trifle (Photo credit: esimpraim)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




Fruit brandies, or eaux-de-vie, are distilled liquors made from a variety of fruits. White the most common brandy is made with grapes, framboise is derived from raspberries, Kirsch from cherries, Poire Williams from pears, and Calvados, a specialty of the French region of Normandy, from apples. These brandies are not sweet, but instead reveal an intense fragrance and flavor of the fruit from which they are made. It often takes as many as  18 pounds (9 kilograms) of fruit to make a small bottle of eau-de-vie.

Summer berry trifle recipe will be the next goodies you can do that would make use of fruit brandies. This is another thrill knowing that one can taste a brandy that doesn't necessarily served in a cocktail glass.

Apple-Brandy Crepes

A sweet crêpe opened up, with whipped cream and strawberry sauce on it (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




Crepe-Making Savvy. These thin, tender pancakes can be topped with sweet or savory ingredients after being folded. They are best made in a hot, well-seasoned crepe pan, a flat-bottomed pan with sides that are flare slightly. The first crepe you make is "for the pan", it won't turn out, but it allows you to determine the proper heat level for the pan (the batter should sizzle when it hits the pan.) Use a flexible heatproof spatula to turn the crepe after the edges are golden and the sides begin to curl, cook the second side briefly. Crepes should be soft and flexible, never brittle.

Apple-brandy crepes recipe will be good to try to experience making crepes for the first time or even if you are a seasoned cook who just want to try another crepe recipe. It has a different kind of sizzle brought by the goodness of brandy.

Bananas Foster

Bananas Foster at Stanley's Restaurant, New Orleans. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




When sugar is cooked, it melts and develops a more complex flavor and deeper cooler. In this recipe, the sugar is mixed with butter for additional flavor and the butter sugar mixture is cooked until it darkens. Be aware that cooked sugar becomes very hot and will badly burn fingers or tongues that venture a premature taste.

Bananas foster would be best to try in order to know the degree of hotness can a caramelize sugar become after the brown sugar coats the bananas. It maybe burning hot but when stand for a while, another exciting taste will burn to your heart's desire.

Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet

a glass dessert cup of raspberry sherbet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




A sorbet is a fine-textured frozen dessert that is similar to ice cream, but is made without any dairy products or eggs. The churning action of an ice cream maker is what gives a sorbet its smooth, creamy texture. Alcohol can inhibit the freezing of a sorbet, but in this recipe most of the alcohol is cooked off when the wine is reduced to a syrup. All that is left behind is the full-bodied fruit flavor, which marries well with the blackberries.

Strawberry and Creme Fraiche Ice Cream

English: Strawberry Ice Cream with Strawberries Deutsch: Erdbeereis mit Erdbeeren (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




Creme fraiche tastes similar to sour cream, which can be used in this recipe, but it has a subtler flavor. French and domestic branch are widely available, but it is also easy to make creme fraiche at home. In a small saucepan, combine 2 cups (16 fl oz/500 ml) non-ultrapasteurized heavy (double) cream with 2 tablespoons buttermilk and heat gently to lukewarm. Cover and let sit at warm room temperature until thickened to a yogurtlike consistency, 12-48 hours. The longer it sits, the thicker and tangier it will become. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours to chill before using.

STRAWBERRY AND CREME GRAICHE ICE CREAM

You will need:




4 cups (1 lb/500 g) strawberries

2 cups (1 lb/500 g) creme fraiche or sour cream

1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) heavy (double) cream

1 cup (8 oz/250 g) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)

Pinch of salt

Crisp butter cookies or tuiles for serving


Here's how:




Hull the strawberries and coarsely chop them; you should have about 3 cups. In a blender, combine the strawberries, creme fraiche, cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt and puree until smooth. Cover and refrigerate to chill thoroughly, about 3 hours.

Pour the strawberry mixture into an ice cream make and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days, before serving.

Serve accompanied with cookies.


Note: This Philadelphia-style ice cream--that is, an ice cream made without a custard base-relies on the fat in a cultured dairy product for its smooth texture and rich flavor. Do not use nonfat or low-fat sour cream for this recipe.

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Ruby Grapefruit Granita

This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Farsi Wikipedia for the 22nd week, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Juvy S. Iliwiliw




Granita is the Italian term for an ice. Similar to sorbets in their vivid flavors, but with a more granular texture,  granitas usually contain no dairy. Instead, they are made from a thin, flavorful liquid, such as fruit juice, wine or coffee, and sugar. The mixture is placed in the freezer and stirred at regular intervals, rather than churned  in an ice cream makers. This method results in tiny icy crystals that melt easily on the tongue.

This Ruby Grapefruit Granita will redefine what a granita is like. The taste of grapefruit would be a perfect match of your next granita to be served.