No-bake "cake"

Not so enticing photos (taken with phone's cam.) ; but real easy to make and tasted lovely!
This was adapted/inspired by this recipe

What I've used (quantity estimated, as you can adjust according to size of your dish) :-
27 pcs. Marie type biscuits (locally known as keksz )
250ml Whipping cream 30%
1 pkt. stabilizer for cream
3 tsp powdered sugar (or to taste) for whipping cream
vanilla extract (for whipping cream)
4 tbsp strawberry jam, heated with some fresh strawberries
fresh strawberries (for topping + heat some with jam)
chocolate ganache

How :-
1) Start by laying a layer of biscuits covering bottom of your dish.
2) spread the heated strawberry jam ; just enough for to wet biscuits.
3) divide whipped cream by 3. spread 1/3 of whipped cream just enough to cover biscuits +j am layer
4) repeat step 1 - 3
5) Place the last layer of biscuits , top with remaining whipped cream and garnish with fresh strawberries , finally drizzle chocolate ganache all over.

Upside-down sour cherries black forest cake

My new favourite cake recipe. So easy and delicious! I've halved the recipe and turned all just fine!

Chicken stuffed with spinach and dates

yummy ! recipe from BBC Good Food

Roasted cauliflower & curry soup

A new favourite at our household ... simply delicious! Just follow the recipe at Recipezaar

Stuffed chilli peppers II

After 3 years I finally get to make this recipe again ; with the availability of garam masalathis time round ( Bombay masala by Kotányi )

The masala really boost the fragrance and taste of this dish... wow, what a difference it makes! I think I'll cook only the potato filling next time ;)

Stuffed chilli peppers
Recipe from Spice Hut
(link no longer active...)

Ingredients:
8 chilli peppers
2 large potatoes
1 small onion
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp MDH Pav Bhaaji Masala (used locally available Bombay masala)
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste, oil for saute

Method:
Peel the potatoes, wrap them in paper towels and cook in the microwave for 8-9 min. Remove, crumble them. Keep aside. Place coriander seeds in a ziploc bag& pound roughly with a rolling pin. Finely chop the onion.

Hold the chilli pepper in the palm of your hand and make a long slit along one side, using a small knife. Remove the seeds & white part inside the pepper with your fingers or spoon. Repeat with all the peppers. When done make sure to clean your hands with soap. Preferrably wear gloves.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add the onion, saute till translucent. Add the Pav Bhaaji Masala, red chilli powder, cumin seeds, crushed coriander seeds, salt to taste. Saute for 2 min. Add the crumbled potatoes & adjust salt. Mix well till potatoes are coated well with the masalas. Turn off stove. Cool this stuffing for a bit.

Pack the stuffing in the prepared chilli peppers. In the same non-stick pan, heat more oil. Once oil is hot, reduce heat to medium low &carefully (use tongs) place the stuffed peppers into the oil, slit side up. Let it cook like this for 5 min.

Turn off stove, remove stuffed chillies and place them in a baking dish. Bake for 15-20 min in a preheated 325 degrees oven. Serve hot.

Hungarian chocolate cream sponge cake a.k.a Lúdláb

For my husband's name day I made him this classic Hungarian chocolate sponge with chocolate cream and sour cherry filling a.k.a Lúdláb ; which translates to "Goose foot". Not sure how the name came about , perhaps the shape?

Thank you Elfrieda for posting an English version of the recipe. I found your version only after translating a Hungarian version...

I'm re-posting her recipe below with my own notes and alteration in brackets { } for my future reference.

Lúdláb

Sponge cake batter:
3 eggs,
3 tbsp caster or superfine sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp cake flour {substitute with 3 tbsp plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder}

Filling:
400 g sour cherry preserves or compote {with some drops of essence of rum}

Chocolate buttercream:
300 ml cream {used only 200ml}
4 tbsp icing sugar
150 g bittersweet chocolate {used about 80g bittersweet (70°%) + cooking choco}
1 tbsp cocoa powder
200 g butter

Fondant:
200 g bittersweet chocolate {omitted - as I decided leaving it out should be fine}

Prepare sponge cake:
Grease 9" cake pan with a small amount of butter and sprinkle a bit of cocoa in the pan to prevent sticking.
Separate eggs, cream yolks with sugar until pale.
Mix flour and cocoa in a separate bowl.
Beat egg whites separately until stiff.
Gently combine wet and dry ingredients.
Bake in 180 C/350 F oven in round cakeform for 25 minutes or until cooked.

For the chocolate buttercream:
Heat cream with sugar, add chopped chocolate and mix until chocolate is melted. Add cocoa. {Beat butter until light and fluffy}
When completely cool, mix with butter(room temperature).

Preparing the Ludlab:
{With cake} still in the cake pan, {spread half the choco. butter cream on sponge}, pour the sour cherry preserves onto the sponge cake, then spread the {remaining} chocolate buttercream on top. Cover with chocolate fondant (simply melted chocolate).

While in the pliable stage, cut the cake into pieces with a heated knife. I waited until the chocolate fondant had hardened and I had a heck of a time slicing the cake.

Allow cake to cool to room temperature or refrigerate for cold Ludlab. It is an extremely rich cake so a small piece for each person is all that you will need. In a regular sized cake pan, count on 14-16 slim slices.

Variation:
Heat sour cherry preserves in small pan and add a tablespoon of brandy or kirsch. Cook for a few minutes to allow alcohol to evaporate, remove from heat and let cool. Smooth over sponge cake as directed above.

Notes
1) With increase sugar by a little
2) will add vanilla extract to buttercream instead of rum.

In search of good frosting - Vanilla Buttercream

Most of the frosting I've made have not been successful . The following recipe and the reviews have been encouraging ; so, this weekend I'm giving this a try.

Vanilla Buttercream

source : Foodnetwork

Ingredients

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

• 1 cup butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Tip {from on of the reviewers}

I followed the original recipe exactly as listed. It was a little too sweet for my taste so from there I added and tweaked it till I found what I liked. I added a pinch of salt which tells me to use salted butter next time. I also add a tablespoon of pulp free orange juice and that seemed to help cut the extreme sweetness too without compromising the consistency. I also found I had to add a 3rd tbs of whipping cream. In the end, when I was satisfied with it.....