...on how to deal with a problem

Finland's answer to Oreos are Domino cookies. Dominos are as well known and classic in Finland as their American cousins are in their homeland. I find the taste of Oreos a bit deeper and somehow saltyer than Dominos, and depending on the day and my mood, prefer the original ones more than the crunchyer finnish equivalent.
Because I live in Germany at the moment, access to either one of these cookies doesn't exist. There for the big question is: what do I do when I desperately begin craving for sandwich cookies?
The first thing to do: Breath. The second part: neglect my high demands and thoughts on what kind of consistency they must have and settle for compromise. Number three: Proceed from whining to action, scan for sandwich cookie recipes in the internet and take out my blue bowl and whisk. And finally: Set my mind and heart open for a creation that might not be a Domino, nor an Oreo, but something even better that I could never even imagine putting in my mouth. A cookie that gives a new meaning to the saying 'melt in your mouth' and brings juicyness to the vocabulary of describing a cookie.
The teaching of this story? Next time you want something good, consider this recipe.





Sandwich Cookies


3 dl flour (1 1/4 cups)
1,2 dl dark cocoa powder (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3,4 dl sugar (1 1/2cups)
10 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
1 egg


filling:


100 g cream cheese
powder sugar (depending on how sweet you like them. I used 3 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract



Preheat oven to 190 °C (375 F). In a bowl combine together flour, cocoa powder, soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix with an electric mixer and add the butter and then the egg. Blend until you have one solid mass of dough.

Take small pieces of dough and roll them in your hands into balls. I made 2 cm thick balls, but you can decide yourself depending on the size of the cookies you want. I propose you try out with a few and then you will see how much they spread in the oven. Also try to make them about the same size, so that it it easier to pair them in the end.
Remember to leave some space between them on the baking sheet.
Press the balls of dough with your fingers to flatten them slightly. And bake for 9 minutes.
Don't be confused when taking them out of the oven. In the beginning they may seem raw and too soft. The cookies will settle after letting them cool on a rack for some time, nevertheless they do maintain a soft and juicy consistence.

When you've baked the cookies and they have cooled down, it is time to make the filling.
It's simple, just whisk together all the ingredients. Then put a teaspoonful of filling on a cookie and press another cookie lightly on top. And there you have it! The first homemade, oreo/domino-like sandwich cookie. Now, do the same to the rest of the stuff.


P.s They taste even better the next day!




Adapted from: http://bread-and-honey.blogspot.com
and allrecipes.com

Chantarelles with Fettuccine and a chocolate savarin on Sunday

My mother was visiting me for over a week and we ate out a lot. We ate typical german as well as italian and asian food, to name a few. We were both happy with everything Freiburg had to offer, except for one thing, my mom had been craving for since she arrived; simply fresh chantarelles with some speck (bacon) and pepper. She had eaten something like this in a restaurant last time visiting, but this time I had to make it myself since the restaurants didn't have anything like this on their lists. And as dessert... well, a damp, bittersweet chocolate savarin. The king of flourless chocolate cakes.
As a dinner for her last night here, she finally got what she wanted and my dessert fantasy came to life.











Chanterelles and bacon with Fettuccine



250 g Fettuccine
300 g fresh chanterelles
1 large onion
80 g bacon (cut into thin and stringy pieces)
olive oil
fresh parsley
lemon juice
parmesan






Pour water into a kettle (for the pasta) and bring to boil.
Meanwhile cleanse the mushrooms if needed. Cut the onion and sauté on a pan with some olive oil for a few minutes and add the bacon. Add the chanterelles (crumble them with your fingers if they are very big) and some salt and black pepper.
Cook the pasta in boiling water as instructed. Remember not to over cook it!
Add a couple of tablespoons from the pasta water to the mushrooms and stir carefully. Or if you happen to have a white wine bottle open, add that instead of water! Cook the chanterelles only for 4-5 minutes and set aside until the pasta is ready.
Pour the cooking water away, drizzle in some olive oil and combine with the mushroom mixture.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and set the parsley, parmesan and slices of lemon individually to the table so that everyone can season their own portion as they want!



Chocolate savarin (three to four portions)


75 g butter
100 g dark chocolate ( 70 or 75%)
80 g sugar
2 eggs
whipped cream for serving


Preheat oven to 200 °C.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and remove from the stove. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until it becomes a smooth and shiny mixture.

Add the sugar and eggs and stir again until smooth.
Pour it either into one half liter round mold or, as I did, to three small molds (200 ml each). Remember to butter the dishes first.

The baking time depends a lot on what size molds you are using. 12 minutes was enough for the small ones. A large, 1 liter dish required 30 minutes and half liter mold between 15 and 30 (logically!).
The best way is to test a few times with a toothpick. The consistency should be damp and moist...







...When ready, let cool for some minutes and carefully turn savarins out of the moulds up side down for serving and garnish with whipped cream.

The healthiest mousse au chocolat I ever ate

As much as I like chocolate, 99 % chocolate is just too much chocolate. 85 % is the limit and still that is very strong to my taste. I'd been saving a 99 % chocolate bar, that I got for my 24th birthday, for something special and this week I found the perfect recipe for it.
My mother arrived today to visit me for one week (yey!), and I wanted to make her something good. This avocado based mousse au chocolat was perfect since she can't have any dairy products. The avocado adds a soft taste to the bitter chocolate and makes the mousse so silky that eating it was pure pleasure. I had to make some changes to the original recipe which uses cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate. So if you prefer that, just use 3-4 tablespoons of cocoa powder and forget the whole thing with the chocolate melting.

Thank you, Monkeyfood for this awesome recipe! It was the perfect welcoming dessert.






Mousse au chocolat végan - the healthiest chocolate mousse I ever had


1 ripe avocado
40 grams 99 % chocolate (or 0,60 dl cocoa powder)
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
60 ml warm water
powder sugar to taste


Scoop the flesh of the soft avocado into a blender (or a bowl if you are using a handblender) and add the lemon juice, cinnamon and warm water.
Carefully melt the chocolate in a pot (make sure it doesn't heat more than necessry, that is, until it has melted) and add it to the other ingredients.
Blend the ingredients until you have a smooth mixture.
Adjust the sweetness to your taste by adding powder sugar. Some like it more bitter as some enjoy it more sweet!





Source: http://monkeyfood.net/