Chocolate and Raspberry Tartlets

Chocolate crust, creamy mascarpone and beautiful raspberries drizzled with sweet syrup...doesn’t it sound like a perfect tartlet? The inspiration for this was a picture posted by Bea from La Tartine Gourmande food blog. Bea, didn’t give the recipe, but this couldn’t stop me. There was a Chocolate Weekend coming on Polish food blogs and I wanted to make chocolate and raspberry tartlets. So, I did. And here’s the result.

Chocolate and Raspberry Tartlets

Makes 6

FOR THE CRUST*
125 g all –purpose or pastry flour
15 g cocoa
35 g caster sugar
pinch of salt
80 g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 large egg yolk
about 2 tbsp iced water

FOR THE MASCARPONE CREAM:
200 ml heavy cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
225 g mascarpone

FOR THE RASPBERRIES IN SYRUP:
250 g raspberries (frozen are fine)
40 g sugar
2 tbsp water

FOR THE TOPPING:
200 g fresh raspberries

1. Grease the tartlets pans.
2. Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks crumbly. While the motor is running, add egg yolk and water, spoon by spoon to form smooth dough. Transfer to a flat surface and knead slightly to form a ball.
3. Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface. Line up the tartlets pans.
4. Place a piece of parchment paper over each tartlet and fill with baking weights or uncooked peas or beans. Refrigerate overnight (or at least 3 hours).
5. Preheat the oven to 190°C (370°F)
6. Put the tartlets straight from the fridge to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven, remove the parchment paper and weights. Return to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more, or until the dough feels completely baked. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes, unmold and leave to cool completely.
7. In the meantime prepare the raspberries in syrup. Place the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 3-4 minutes, reduce the heat and add 250 g of raspberries. Simmer for about 3 minutes or until syrup forms. Set aside to cool completely.
8. Prepare the cream. Whip the cream with the sugar. Fold in mascarpone.
9. Spoon the cream onto the pastry cases. Just before serving, top with a few fresh raspberries + some raspberries from the syrup. Drizzle with more syrup. Serve immediately.

*prepare one day in advance to chill properly.

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Recipe in Polish/Przepis po polsku:
Czekoladowe tartaletki z malinami

Financiers aux framboises...

I wanted to bake something more ‘autumnal’ today, but when I saw the recipe for raspberry and pistachio financiers, I just couldn’t resist them...

Financiers, also called friands are little almond tea cakes originating from France. I already posted a recipe for them once here. Unlike Donna Hay’s recipe which I had used back then, this recipe doesn’t use baking powder at all. The cakes come out even more delicious. Soft, delicate, spongy, just wonderful!!! Traditionally, financiers are baked in oval or rectangular molds resembling bars of gold, but since I don’t have them (yet), I used other molds instead.

The recipe comes from one of my favorite French food magazines Cuisine Gourmande.

Use real butter (no margarine) in this recipe. Cooked until golden brown it will add a light nutty flavor to the cakes. The raspberry - pistachio combination is truly delicious, but feel free to experiment with other fruit/nuts. The cakes taste delicious plain as well.

Raspberry- Pistachio Financiers

Makes 12 cakes

125 g raspberries
1 tbsp unsalted pistachios, shelled
125 g butter
100 g icing sugar
30 g flour
90 g almond meal
3 egg whites

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180°C). Grease 12 friand molds or other molds you use.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan; heat over low heat until it turns nutty brown and some of the milk solids separate. Leave to cool.
3. Sieve flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add almond meal and stir to combine.
4. Add egg whites, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add cooled butter and stir until the ingredients are well combined.
5. Spoon the batter into prepared molds. Press a few raspberries and pistachios into each cake.
6. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before unmolding.

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Przepis po polsku:
"Finansjerki" z malinami

Skubaniec Cake

Skubaniec is a delicious Polish crumb cake with fruit and meringue. The first time I've had Skubaniec, was in Weranda Caffe, which is one of my favorite cafés in Poznań, Poland. Served with strawberry sauce, sprinkled with nuts and decorated with fresh lemon balm leaves, the cake tasted absolutely awesome!!! A few weeks after my last visit to Weranda Caffe, I found my mother’s recipe book by chance and, surprisingly, a recipe for Skubaniec cake in it. Since that time, I’ve been baking the cake constantly experimenting with different kinds of fruit.

My favorite fruit combination so far has been raspberry and rhubarb, which I've made lately here, in Québec. In Poland, it was nearly impossible to buy fresh rhubarb and raspberries at the same time, so I've never tried such pairing before. I could have probably used frozen raspberries, but simply never thought about that. If like me, you've never had raspberry and rhubarb pairing before, try it, it's a delightful combination of flavors!!!

As I said, you can use any type of fruit you want in this recipe. Both fresh and frozen fruit will work well. The original skubaniec recipe calls for cocoa in one part of the dough, but depending on the fruit I use, I often skip on it. I think in case of some fruit, the cake simply tastes better without it. In Poland I usually use Kasia margarine in this recipe; here I made the cake with soy margarine, but butter will work fine too. Use what's more convenient for you.

If you ever happen to be in Poland, don't forget to try homemade Skubaniec cake in Weranda Caffe, here's the address:

Weranda Caffe
ul. Świętosławska 10
Poznań

Skubaniec (Raspberry Rhubarb Crumb Cake)

For the cake:
5 egg yolks
250 g margarine or butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
1 cup sugar
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

For the fruit filling:
700 g rhubarb
300 g raspberries
½ cup sugar

For the meringue:
5 egg whites
pinch of salt
2 tbsp potato starch
3 tbsp sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. Wash the rhubarb, then trim and cut into 1.5 cm pieces. Place in a bowl and cover with half a cup of sugar. Set aside.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. Using your fingertips, rub the margarine into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add egg yolks and form a dough.
4. Tear 2/3 of the dough into small pieces, scatter evenly at the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch (22 x 32 cm) baking pan. Reserve the rest of the dough, preferably in the fridge.
5. Strain the rhubarb, then sprinkle together with raspberries over the dough in the pan.
6. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, gradually add the sugar and potato starch and continue beating until glossy. Spread the meringue over the rhubarb and raspberry mixture, then scatter with pieces of the remaining dough.
7. Bake for about one hour.

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Recipe in Polish:
Skubaniec z malinami i rabarbarem

Raspberry Streusel Muffins

The first time I made these delicious muffins was in Canada last summer. In Canada there are raspberry fields where you can go with your own basket and pick up as many raspberries as you want. Then the raspberries you've picked up are weighted and you pay for them. Picking up raspberries this way is much cheaper than buying them in a grocery store and so much more fun. Both I and my husband love raspberries, so we loved to go to pick up raspberries together and try new raspberry recipes after. Some of our favorite recipes were Grilled Salmon with Raspberry Sauce, Raspberry and White Chocolate Tart (delicious, but rather expensive if you buy raspberries in a grocery store), and these lovely muffins. I made them again last week with frozen raspberries and streusel topping with cardamom and the result was absolutely awesome!!! The sweet and spicy flavor of the streusel topping is just a perfect complement to the moist and fruity muffins. The idea of using cardamon in raspberry muffins comes from Dagmar from A Cat In the Kitchen food blog who also made raspberry and cardamon muffins with crumbles a few weeks ago. The recipe for my muffins comes from one of the cookbooks from Le cordon Bleu series published by Könemann. The only thing I’ve changed was the streusel topping; the original one was made without oat meal and spices.

Notes to the recipe: You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries in this recipe. If you use frozen raspberries, do not thaw them as they will color the batter pink. If you don't have raspberries, I suspect the muffins would also be delicious with bluberries, bilberries, or strawberries.

RASPBERRY STREUSEL MUFFINS

FOR THE MUFFINS:
375 g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
115 g brown sugar
150 g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 eggs
250 ml (2 cups) milk
125 g butter, melted

FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
50 g butter, melted
50 g flour
50 g rolled oats
50 g brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cardamon

1. Heat the oven to 210 C (410 F). Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the sugar and raspberries and stir. Make a well in the centre.
3. In a small jug beat lightly eggs and milk.
4. Pour the egg mixture and melted butter into the well. Mix gently with a metal spoon just until the ingredients are combined. Do not overmix, the batter should be lumpy .
5. Spoon into the muffin pan filling ¾ full.
6. To make streusel topping, combine oat, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and cardamon in a small bowl. Pour in hot melted butter; stir to combine into crumbs. Sprinkle mixture evenly over top of each muffin.
7. Bake the muffins for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Przepis po polsku:

Malinowe mufinki z kruszonką

Grilled Salmon with Raspberry Sauce

Salmon is definitely my favorite fish of all. Smoked, or fresh, in pasta or rice, on a tart or pizza, in a sandwich or even in soup it never disappoints. One of my very favorite ways of cooking salmon though is with this wonderful raspberry sauce. The recipe for this delicious salmon comes from a leaflet I picked up at a grocery store in Québec. My husband cooked it first for me one summer afternoon, after we went to pick up raspberries together. It was very romantic dinner and certainly one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had in my life. The combination of sweet and slightly sour flavors of the sauce is just a perfect compliment to the moist and delicate fish. The dish is simple and quick, looking a little sophisticated at the same time. Served with green vegetables it would make perfect romantic dinner for two, and since the Valentine’s Day is coming up, I thought it's just the right time to make it again and blog about it.

Notes to the recipe: You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries in this recipe. If raspberry vinegar isn't available for you, increase the amount of balsamic vinegar instead. If you don't have indoor grill, you can broil or bake the salmon. Not actually the same, but it's the best alternative to grill I can think of.

Grilled Salmon with Raspberry Sauce

Serves 2

250 ml (1 cup) raspberries
1 1/2 tbsp. raspberry jam
1/2 tbsp. raspberry vinegar
1/2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar (or 1 tbsp if you skip on raspberry vinegar)
30 ml (2 tbsp.) olive oil
juice and zest of 1/4 lemon
300 g salmon filets or steaks
Salt and pepper
Fresh mint or basil leaves

1. Clean and season the salmon with salt and pepper.
2. Place the raspberries in a small bowl, crush with a fork. Add jam, vinegars, oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir until well combined.
3. Place the salmon in a dish, pour the marinade over the salmon, marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
4. Remove the salmon from the marinade. Grill the salmon on medium hot grill, turning once during cooking.
5. In the meantime, transfer marinade to a small pan. Bring to boil over low heat, cook stirring constantly until lightly thickened.
6. Serve the salmon hot, topped with warm raspberry sauce. Decorate with fresh mint or basil leaves.

Przepis po polsku:
Łosoś w malinowym sosie

Recette en Français:
Saumon grillé aux framboises

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I’d been asked to make a cheesecake for a family feast. I wanted to make something different from traditional heavy cheesecakes we usually eat in Poland. I opted for a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. Combining raspberries and white chocolate always tastes heavenly. So, does in this cake. The sweetness and mildness of white chocolate balance perfectly with the tartness of the raspberries. The only thing I would change is the crust which turned out rather tough. I think it would work out better without white chocolate addition. I’ll try that next time.

The recipe originally comes from The Australian Women's Weekly 'Cheesecakes, Pavlovas & Trifles' but I’ve found it translated into Polish on Galeria Potraw which is my favorite Polish food forum.

Some minor changes I’ve made to the recipe:
1. I added vanilla sugar to the cheese.
2. I substituted digestive biscuits with Petit Beurre ones (they’re easier to obtain in Poland).
3. I baked my cake for about 60-70 minutes instead of 90 minutes as the recipe says.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

FOR THE CRUST:
200 g digestive biscuits
90 g white chocolate
80 g unsalted butter

FOR THE FILLING:
½ cup cream (30% fat)
200 g white chocolate
250 g mascarpone cheese
250 g quark cheese
¼ cup caster sugar
1 pouch vanilla sugar
3 eggs
2 egg whites
250 g raspberries

Line the bottom of 23 cm springform pan with aluminum foil. Using a food processor or blender, process the biscuits to fine crumbs. Melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat, stirring constantly. Combine with the crumbs. Press into the bottom of the springform pan with the back of a spoon. Put into the fridge for about half an hour to set.

Preheat the oven to 160C (320F).

Put the cream in a heavy-bottomed pan. Bring to boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Break the chocolate into little pieces and add to the cream. Stir with a spoon until the chocolate and cream are smooth and the chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool slightly.

Beat together the mascarpone cheese, quark cheese, sugar and vanilla sugar until smooth, then add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chocolate mixture beating until well-combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to sniff peaks then fold into cheese mixture.

Pour the cheese filling into the chilled biscuit base. Gently press 250g of the raspberries into surface. Bake for 1-1 ½ hours. Cool in oven with door ajar. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Przepis po polsku:
Sernik z białą czekoladą i malinami