Place sugar and vinegar in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Warm just until sugar dissolves. Pour over pecans; stir until coated. Spread on a lightly oiled , parchment covered baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees 10-12 minutes. Cook on rack. Cook completely and store in an airtight container. Great for snacking, salads, or gift giving.

This cake is a very modest riff on the classic lemon poppy seed cake. I’m a recent convert to olive oil cakes; they have the most wonderfully delicate, fluffy crumb, and you don’t have to bother with whipping butter until it’s fluffy or any other such nonsense. I’ve also added ground almonds and almond extract to the cake batter, which gives a hint of almond, enough to give the crust an amaretti-biscuit sweetness, without being cloying. The gooey crème fraiche glaze is optional – omit it and you’ve got a lovely tea cake that is entirely dairy-free. I quite like it, though. Bring on the sticky!

When I used to do trial-level public defense work, the most common excuse offered by my clients who were arrested on probation violations based on heroin metabolites in their urine was, “I ate a poppy seed bagel.” The best thing about this excuse is that it is LEGITIMATE. Apparently, even one poppy seed bagel can cause a false positive drug test result. So, I suppose, exercise caution when baking this cake if you are subject to regular urinalysis testing, as it contains two whole tablespoons of poppy seeds, or be prepared to offer whoever is testing you a piece of cake. (This is called neutralizing your adversary.) Happy New Year!

Ingredients:

**Recipe measurements appear both in US cups and metric to accommodate readers from anywhere.  If you’re confused about anything, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

For the cake

1.5 cups (200 grams) plain flour, sifted (all-purpose flour), plus a little extra for the cake pan

½ cup (40 grams) finely-ground almonds

1 and 2/3 cup (320 grams) caster sugar

4 medium eggs

2/3 cup (150 ml) olive oil (use something mild and fruity)

Zest and juice of one lemon

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze

4/5 cup (100 grams) icing sugar (powdered sugar)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons crème fraiche

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). Grease a bundt cake or other ring mold with a little olive oil, dust with flour, and set aside.

Combine the flour, ground almonds, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs together with the olive oil, sugar, lemon juice, poppy seeds, and extracts until thoroughly combined and sugar has dissolved. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula.

Pour batter into your prepared cake pan, and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out dry. Loosen edges gently with a thin sharp knife and turn out onto a rack to cool.

While the cake is cooling, make your glaze by combining the icing sugar, lemon juice, and crème fraiche and whisking until creamy and smooth. Pour over the cake.

Makes 10-12 servings.

So this is my mother’s, and probably my grandmother’s, Hello Dolly Cookie recipe. They are delicious, almost like eating candy, and so easy to make. My mother has made these every year for New Year’s Eve that I can remember, and from a young age I was expected to help make them. They are our special treat because the rest of our family doesn’t like coconut and two of my siblings are allergic to nuts. So Mom and I usually get the whole pan to ourselves and that’s just fine with us! Writing this post is actually making me really hungry for them. It’s also almost dinner time and I’ve been eating Christmas candy all day. Once you take a bite of chocolate it’s hard not to stop.

Hello Dolly Cookies
½ cup (or 1 stick) margarine or butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (use your favorite kind, we like walnuts for this recipe)
1 can (15 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt margarine in a 9”x9”x2” pan, then stir in cracker crumbs and pat into bottom of pan to form crust. Layer each ingredient over crust; pour milk over all. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting to serve.

Tips:
*You can melt the butter in the pan by placing it in the oven while it preheats. Then take that time to gather the other ingredients or do something for another recipe you’re making! The only drawback is your pan will be hot as you add the other ingredients.
*My mom and I like to use the food processor to make our graham cracker crumbs. It’s just easier. But you can also put them in a plastic bag and then crush with your hands or a rolling pin. You could also use the food processor to chop your nuts if needed.

Vanillekipferl

Ingredients:

100g almonds or hazelnuts, finely ground
100g cane sugar
200g vegan butter
250g wheat flour
2 packages of vanilla sugar
half of a vanilla bean

1. Mix flour, butter (slice the butter to small pieces, then its easier to work with). Then add almonds/hazelnuts, sugar and the vanilla bean. Leave the dough in the fridge for about 1–2 hours.

2. Cut the dough in pieces and make rolls with about 1cm diameter. Form the »Vanillerkipferl« and put them on a baking tray.

3. Bake them 10, maximum 12 minutes at 180° degrees.

4. Decorate them with powdered sugar. Be careful when you get them of the baking tray – they break easily!

Linzerradl

Ingredients:

250g wheat flour
75g hazelnuts or almonds, finely ground
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
100g Agave Nectar
1 portion egg substitute (for example from »3 Pauly«)
120g vegan butter
redcurrant jam

1. Mix flour with hazelnuts/almonds, cinnamon, clove and vanilla. Then add agave nectar, egg substitute and the butter (slice the butter to small pieces, then its easier to work with). Mix the ingredients well and leave the dough in the fridge for about 1–2 hours.

2. Roll the dough with a rolling pin. Cut out the cookies. »Linzerradl« consist of two cookies. One cookie with holes and one without holes in it. Be sure that you have the same amount of upper and under parts in the end.

3. Put the cookies on a baking tray and bake them in the preheated oven for 10 – 15 minutes at 175° degrees.

4. Let the cookies cool a bit, then you brush the underpart cookie with redcurrant jam and put upper and under part together.

Also:
• a package of Zwieback (watch out that you catch a vegan one)
• 2 espressi
• 2 oranges
• cherry juice
• cacao powder

Melt the margarine and mix it with all the other ingredients for the cream.
Mix the two espressi with 5 spoons of cherry juice (normally its with Amaretto, but I didn’t want to buy a whole bottle just for one Tiramisu, so I took oranges, thanks to my orange juice cravings every morning this is an always in kitchen item!, and cherry juice),
take the zwiebacks and dip them in the espresso-cherry juice mix that they soak a little bit the liquid. Fill with this the floor of the dish and put over it the first layer of cream.
Dip now in the same procedure the Zwiebacks in you fresh squeezed orange juice and cover with this the cream layer.
After this another layer of cream and over night in the fridge!

What you need is:
• 250 grams of chestnut flour
• oil
• raisins (a handful)
• pine nuts (also a handful)
• Rosemary leaves
• water (half liter)

First blend water and chestnut flour, let it stand a bit and add later raisins, pine nuts, 2 spoons of oil and a pinch of salt.
This hast to be in the oven for 35 minutes at 220 degree.
Later put a few rosemary leaves over it and after baking put 2 other spoons of oil over the cake.
I would suggest to eat directly a piece when it’s still warm! But of course with a little cooling up time before!!

Today i made some vegan Banana-Chocolate Muffins and even managed to take some photos!!

They are delicious and really easy to make!

Banana Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:
300g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Natron
100g sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
270ml almond milk
70ml rapeseed oil
3 bananas

1. Preheat the oven with 175°C. Mix flour with baking powder and Natron. Then add cocoa, sugar and if you like some minced chocolate or flaked almonds.

2. Add almond milk and rapeseed oil to the other mixed ingredients. Next step you mash the bananas and add them to the dough.

3. Now you can fill the dough in your muffin cases. bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes.

–> The original recipe i found here (I changed it a bit)

Today it is Almond Stars. You can call them Christmas Stars, or Winter Solstice Stars, or heck, get a six pointed star cookie cutter and you’ve got Hanukkah Stars. Of course, you don’t have to cut them out in stars at all – I just like the shape and thought they would be festive. I love these cookies. They are so crisp and light on the outside, with a bit of chewiness on the inside. I think that is due to the ground almonds, which lend a nutty, almost candy-like quality to these lovely little bites. Ice them with a quick royal icing and holiday sprinkles. Enjoy with a coffee, tea, or big glass of milk. And don’t forget to leave some for Santa!

Almond Stars

• 3/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp almond extract

In a food processor, finely grind toasted almonds with a pulsing action. Combine in a small bowl with flour and salt; set aside.

Beat butter ans sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the flour mixture. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours or up to two days.

On a lighting floured surface, roll dough to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut into stars or other desired shapes. Place one inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 8-12 minutes or until edges are light brown and centers are set. Cool for 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Decorate with your favorite icing.

The taste is similar to blackberry preserves, but has a nice bissap taste. Not overpowering or too tart.  The texture is very jam-y, which I like.

3 big handfuls of dried bissap flowers, rinsed
2-3 cups sugar (to taste

Put the bissap flowers in a saucepan. Add just enough water to cover most of them – not all the way submerged. Cover and bring to a low boil for about 20 minutes or until flowers are soft. Using a stick blender or food processor, carefully (HOT!) purée the mixture until even texture.

Return to saucepan and add sugar to taste. Cook uncovered another 15-20 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.

Pour into clean glass jars. Seal and let cool. Store in refrigerator.

Over the next several weeks I’ll be sharing with you some old and new cookie and dessert favorites. To help get you rolling on the baking express, here are a few of my favorites for you to try. Just click on the links for past recipes.

Russian Teacakes Cakes Yummy little snowballs filled with hazelnuts and coated in layers of powdered sugar.

Neapolitan Cookies Nothing says Italian like chocolate, nuts and citrus. This year I’ll be changing out the walnuts for unsalted pistachio nuts. Yum!

So keep checking back in the next few weeks for more of my favorites including, almond stars, panetone, and my mom’s recipe for canolli. Tis the season!

All ya need to do is blend & enjoy

For 2 servings:

• 3 frozen bananas
• 5 pitted and soaked dates
• raw chocolate powder
• dash of vanilla extract

The bananas should be frozen for atleast 1 night. When you take them out the freezer let them defrost for about 5 min. It makes it easier to cut the peel of with a knife. Cut the bananas in pieces and put in blender. The pitted dates should be soaked in water for atleast 1/2 hour. Not too much liquid, they should be just coverd. Use Medjool dates or any soft dates that you can find. Blend the dates (with the water )with bananas and the rest of the ingredients. You will need to scoop down the sides of the blender a few times to make sure everything gets mixed well.

My Icecram was a little too soft because i used too much water. but it dident matter for the chocolate flash was aaamaazing I added walnuts at the end.

Yes, this yumminess is hard to beat. And so easy to make and on top even healthier than most other choc snacks.

Shit damm, Raw chocolate podwer I <3 U

A friend visited me from Portland this weekend, and on Friday night she tipsily said, “Let’s bake something tomorrow.” (When my friends drink they fantasize about cooking.) Saturday was properly chilly. We went to the farmers market in the morning in search of inspiration and found it in just-picked greengages, damsons, and cranberries. And – in the most beautiful fresh ginger, which was green, rose-pink, and bone-white, and looked like living coral. I’ve never seen anything like it.

First we cooked the fruit with lemon zest and sugar, and I made a streusel out of butter, macadamia nuts, brown sugar, and fresh grated ginger. My poor friend had to leave before the cake was finished, so I made the batter, assembled the cake, and baked it in my co-worker’s spotless Thermador oven. (I know, right? I’m seriously lucky to be staying here.) My sister arrived about an hour later. I fed her some cake and then grilled her remorselessly: should I blog this cake? Would you want to bake it? Having eaten it, would you want the recipe? Bless her, she answered YES to all my questions, so here, for your pleasure, is my lovely Seattle fall coffee cake.

Ingredients:

***All measurements in this recipe are in US cups. To convert these amounts into metric, here is a link to a useful table.

For the fruit layer

1 cup cut up pitted plums

1 cup cranberries

Zest of 1 lemon

½ cup sugar

For the streusel

¼ pound macadamia nuts

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ stick unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into chunks

¼ cup white sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger

½ cup flour

For the cake

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 large eggs

½ cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Butter the inside of a cake pan. (I used a 7” x 10” dish, but if I made this cake again I might use a ring mold for more even baking, as the fruit tends to fall slightly in the center as the sides of the cake cook and rise.)

To make the fruit filling: combine plums, cranberries, sugar, and lemon zest in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until sugar is thoroughly melted and cranberries are soft, about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

To make the streusel topping: using a food processor or, if you don’t have a food processor, the back of a rolling pin, crush the macadamia nuts to a fine meal. Gradually mix in sugars, salt, butter, and grated ginger, starting with one teaspoon of ginger, until thoroughly combined. Stir in flour. Taste and add additional ginger if desired. This streusel may be a little wet because of the oils from the nuts and the moisture from the ginger, but it will crisp up nicely in the oven.

To make the cake batter: combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, vanilla, and sugar until the mixture forms thick ribbons. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg for a good couple of minutes until the mixture is light and frothy. Add the buttermilk and lemon juice to this liquid and beat well. Fold in the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula until just mixed.

To assemble the cake: spread the batter in the bottom of your prepared cake pan. Spread the fruit mixture over your batter. Dollop the streusel evenly over the top.

Bake for 70 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan before slicing and serving.

Makes about 10-12 servings.