Apricot Jam

Photography Serge Oryan

I have to admit, that no matter how hard I try, it’s never better. It happened to my mother before me and to her mother before. For some reason most of the men will never give their wives this pleasure. There’s always GOOD… BUT… – you could have added more salt – or reduced salt – the pieces of vegetables are too big – it’s not juicy enough – it’s still crispy – I prefer short grain rice, etc. My friend made a whole list and a calendar to keep a track of her husband’s daily comments and she is one of the best cook I know;-) So why men can never make an exception to a couple of meals and let their wives enjoy this privilege!! I know my husband will never do that. He goes bragging telling everybody that my food is delicious, but when it comes to one of the recipes that his mom cooks, then the best I can do is a tie for first place. A compliment for him is when he tells me, it’s not better, it’s same. WE ARE EQUAL IN THE CONTEST! I have to say that I’m writing this blog and laughing out loud, because deep inside I know that the apricot jam I did last week finished in 5 days, and here I am doing my second batch. While my mom’s in law apricot jam jars “who happens to be the same taste” are still lying on the shelf waiting for mine to be exhausted first. So in my dead heat struggle somehow I managed to share the recipe with you with the exact amount I used, nevertheless I’d like to highlight the following:

1. Any traditional apricot jam recipe uses at least 600g to 900g of sugar for each kilo of fruits. I never use this much especially if the apricots are ripe and sweets. Also because I always make a little quantity to consume within the next couple of weeks.
2. I learnt that French warm the sugar in the oven for 7-10 minutes and throw it warm on the fruits; you may want to try that.
3. Most of the recipes uses 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, so feel free to add it if you like.
4. Some housewives crush few pits and add the kernel inside to the confiture while boiling.
5. Remember, to make a good jam, use nice firm ripe fruits and not green or overripe fruits.

Apricot Jam Yield: 3 jars, 370g each Ingredients

• 1 kg fresh ripe apricots; cut in half and pits extracted
• 450g / 2 cups brown sugar

Preparation Place the apricots in a big salad bowl and cover with sugar. Let it rest for 7-10 hours, preferably in the fridge if the weather is hot. In a heavy based saucepan transfer the apricots and bring to boil for 10mn. Reduce the heat to low and remove any scum from the surface. Let it simmer for about 25mn or until a small amount of the juice gels on a chilled plate. Ladle carefully in jars and keep refrigerated. Consume within 3 weeks.

No matter what, I anticipate the summer’s arrival with equal measures of happiness and zeal. I plan each week significantly making sure not a single journey goes wasted. While filing the past couple of months pictures earlier today, I smiled and thought what a great job I did!!

Pictures of relaxed family meals and get-togethers, cheerful wedding parties, fun-filled friends gathering and beach barbecues, carefree night clubbing, leisurely kids playdates and park visits and lots of family selfies!

Well my favorite album is the one about the road trips we take during the weekends. Lebanon offers much to see. Our culture has been shaped over the years by a strategic location and intense historical events to spread worldwide and inspire so many. I try to show my kids the beauty that their seven thousands years old little country holds.

Sadly, many of my friends and my children’s friends have been to Louvre but never to Beirut National Museum, where visitors can admire a world class collection ranging from Prehistory to the 19th century AD. I sure want to travel the world with my daughters, but I also have a keen desire to show them as well all the Lebanese regions and traditions.

And what is a better way than having this over a fabulous event and lots of traditional food. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Mymoune. Mymoune produces all-natural specialties such as jams, preserves, syrups, seasonings, flower waters and other refined products made the traditional authentic way, in a small village called Ain-El-Kabou, at the foot of Mount Sannine in Lebanon and where the event was held.

The invitation was sent in a beautiful hamper full of goodies from Mymoune and a thyme plant smelling like heaven.

As soon as we arrived we were overwhelmed with a sumptuous outdoor venue, set in a fragrant garden surrounding an authentic Lebanese mansion where Mymoune has preserved a great history of Lebanese traditions. The stone house has an arch topped by a steep, red tiled roof, overlooking mountains and valleys. Tables were decorated with a centerpiece of seasonal yellow wildflowers (wezzal) and guests, were entertained by a live band playing local music. An array of traditional food was served, from bite size saj manakeesh, to lavish pork shawarma prepared by Michelin-starred chef Greg Malouf using Mymoune products. We drank Mymoune’s Mulberry Syrup & Arak cocktail, and finished it off with Lebanese style areesheh and candied pumpkin.

Our host Amine Ghorayeb made sure we leave with another goody bag from Mymoune products that I placed fondly in my kitchen next to the rest of the range.

The ideal way to beat the heat this week was a watermelon granita using Mymoune orange blossom water. A fresh recipe and a fun bite worthy of most any celebration. I hope you love it!

Watermelon Granita

Ingredients

• 6 cups seedless watermelon chunks
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• 3 tbsp Mymoune Orange Blossom water
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Mint, to garnish (optional)

Directions

In a small saucepan, warm water over medium heat, add sugar and whisk until it has completely dissolved. Stir in lemon juice. Remove from heat and wait to cool.

Process watermelon chunks in a blender to a slush. Mix in the sugar syrup and the orange blossom water.

Pour into a shallow or a baking pan and freeze mixture for 1 hour. Rake mixture with fork and freeze for another hour. Repeat the procedure and freeze for one more hour.

Scrape vigorously into icy chunks and serve immediately in individual cups garnished with mint leaves.

I always wanted to post one of my recipe videos but kept on postponing thinking that it might be boring; until today, I was watching this recipe with my little daughter when she told me “this looks super easy, lets make some straight away!”

Not only I was happy that it took her only once to watch the video and wanting to try the recipe out, but also I was encouraged to upload my video and not to be nervous anymore about it.

If you love Halawa (Halva) you will love these cookies. They are both crisp and chewy and totally easy to make. The combination of Tahini and honey tastes like Halawa and who wants to resist this flavor.

These cookies will be your new favorite!

Honey Tahini Cookies

Makes 30

Ingredients:

• 1 stick / 100g butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup tahini (I used Al Wadi Al Akhdar tahini)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy.
2. Gradually add the tahini, honey and orange blossom water.
3. In a medium size bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour to tahini mixture, combining well until forming a dough.
4. Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 170°C or 350°
6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using your hands, take a walnut size of dough and shape into balls. Arrange them on the cookie sheet at least 2 inches / 5cm apart. Dip the tines of a fork in flour and gently press a crisscross pattern into each ball. Dip fork in flour after every cookie to avoid sticking.
7. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 13-15 minutes or until the cookies begin to show cracks.

I love our Christmas family gatherings and all the good food that comes in between. This year I wanted to change from my ginger cookies giveaways and made cranberry bread instead. What’s better than a Stollen recipe!

The origin of this bread is German and traditionally baked during Christmastime. Sweetened with honey and packed with dried fruits, this recipe contains no sugar. I wrapped each loaf with Christmas papers and twines, the presentation and the taste were amazing.

Merry Christmas to all and happy baking during the holidays!

Follow me on Instagram @oryanmaya

Ingredients

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dried raisins

¼ cup fresh orange juice

1 tbsp cointreau        

1 tbsp active dry yeast

¼ cup lukewarm milk

2 tsp honey

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup/100g unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup honey

1 large egg, beaten

1 tbsp grated orange zest

½ cup peeled, slivered almonds

3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. Place the dried fruits in a bowl and drizzle with orange juice and liquor. Stir the mixture to coat and set aside.
2. In another bowl sprinkle the yeast with warm milk and wait until it rises and makes a good head of froth (about 10 minutes). Add honey and flour and set aside for another 15 minutes.
3. In the mixer bowl, add the cranberries and raisins, the yeast mixture, butter, honey, egg, orange zest, almonds and salt. Start mixing adding the flour gradually, half cup at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic.
4. Wrap the dough in an oiled plastic film and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in volume.
5. Knock back the dough and divide into 2 portions. Shape each portion into an oval; alternatively roll the dough in one large loaf without dividing it. Glaze with melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.
6. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper, place carefully the dough, cover with tea towel and leave again to rise for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 185 degrees C/ 365 degrees F for 10 minutes. Place the dough in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. If using thermometer the internal temperature of the bread should reach approximately 90 degrees C (190 degrees F).
8. Remove from the baking sheet and place on a rack to cool.

How many of you believe that his mom is the greatest mom in the whole world raise his hand! I agree. Raising my hand too:)

I am blessed with a wonderful mom, who has always been there for me, present at every milestone I reached. She is soft, smart, fun, talented and absolutely patient. In fact, if patience had a face it would be my mom’s.

I love you mom and so proud of you and proud to apply in my life, all the beautiful things you taught me.

My daughters, Axel and Kaia, have been drawing me and making me cards all this week for Mother’s day so cute of them but I need a bigger house now with more walls to hang all their little masterpieces;-)

I wanted to bake a cake for my mom and started browsing the net for inspiration when I saw Angel Food cake. I love Angel cakes and I love the name!! Angel Food! Of course ANGELS this is what moms stand for:)

There’s a reason angel food cake is a favorite vanilla sponge cake, it’s fluffy as air, fat-free as it uses no butter or oil and tastes like heaven. It’s simple and best served with vanilla sauce, but can also be consumed with whipping cream and strawberries.

Here below I’m sharing the Angel Food Cake recipe, I found online. I actually found this same 6-ingredients-recipe  almost everywhere. I prepared my cake as per LovetoKnow‘s instructions and turned out to be a success!!. Hope you’ll get the same results and get to bake your own Angel food cake.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Angel Food Cake Recipe

By Cheryl Cirelli

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 large egg whites at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 170 C / 350 F degrees.
2. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat egg whites until they become foamy. This should take 1 minute.
4. To the egg whites, add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks begin to form.
5. Continuing beating mixture on low and slowly add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. This takes about 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.
7. Transfer the egg white mixture to a large bowl and begin sifting in the flour mixture.
8. Gently fold until the two mixtures combine.
9. Spoon the batter into an ungreased cake pan.
10. To release air bubbles, run a small knife through the batter once it is in the pan.
11. Bake for 40 minutes or until cake springs back when pressed lightly.
12. Allow cake to cool in pan for an hour before removing.
13. To remove from pan, run a knife along the edges to release and invert cake onto a plate.

April is for me a month to celebrate; Kaia turns 11 and Axel turns 6 and my youngest baby Maya’s Ingredients turns 5!

Yes, Five years ago, my baby blog was born!!

Like any child, he needs attention, warmth and care. He kept me awake at night reading him stories. He made me wake up early answering his inquiries. He tested my photography skills and made me follow him with a camera. He became so popular that he made me famous:)

My baby blog has followers and friends from all around the world. He is established on the blogosphere and has a fine reputation.

To celebrate I prepared a giant bowl of fruit salad soaking in orange juice, just by adding a drizzle of honey and a handful of pine nuts, I made it taste like the best fruit salad ever.

No recipe directions to follow! Combine at least 4 to 5 varieties of your favorite fruits chopped. Add fresh orange juice. Drizzle some honey and decorate with raw pine nuts.

Enjoy it fresh and Happy anniversary to Maya’s Ingredients!

Last week I came back home to find a beautiful gift from POLYGEL HOME BAKER waiting for me on my desk office.

A jam-packed goody bag has always an enjoyable impact on me, especially when it’s from a brand that I love. I rummaged through the bags to find many baking accessories, party items, 65% dark INAYA chocolate from Cocoa Barry ideal for my ganache, Spanish almond flakes and a lovely cake mould that I will try soon. But the one item I was thrilled about the most was the star cream, which is a ready mix to make crème pâtissière. I’ve been craving for a choux a la crème for a while and this came handy at the right time.

I love choux because the dough on its own is not too sweet so it really goes with any flavor you fill in. It can be catered to your liking. The most popular is to have a custard cream inside, but some recipes include caramel, coffee, strawberries, banana,… so the options are really unlimited.

The choux a la crème and éclair dough are the same, they are just piped in a different way. I prefer the choux pastries because it’s a bite size treat picked up and devoured in a single mouthful. These little sweets dole out an irresistible dose of rich flavor and will soon become your next favorite treat.

As per the rest of the items found in my goody bag, I know now I have few weeks worth of testing and evaluation. Checkout Polygel Home Baker website, many of their fabulous products can be ordered online.

The recipe for: Choux a la creme

Makes around 50

Ingredients:

• 100g / 1 cup butter, diced
• 300ml water
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3-4 eggs, lightly beaten

For the filling:

• 1 pack/400g Laped Vanilla Star Cream (crème pâtissière)
• 1lt cold milk
• ¼ cup Laped Italia Powdered Sugar, to dust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F. In a medium size pan, melt the butter with water and bring to simmer.
2. Add the flour and the sugar, whisking constantly and remove from the heat and continue beating until the mixture forms a paste that doesn’t stick to the pan. Let the paste cool for 5 minutes.
3. Add the eggs a little at a time and beat until you have a glossy smooth dough.
4. Using two teaspoons (I prefer piping), place blobs of the dough onto the lined baking sheet, leaving space between them as they will puff up. If you use a piping bag, dip your finger in water and flatten down the little tips on the top.
5. Bake the buns in the middle rack of your oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden. Leave to completely cool on a rack.
6. To make the filling, mix 350g of Laped Starcream Vanilla (crème pâtissière) with 1 liter of cold milk and whip for 3 minutes until glossy and fluffy or use the whole pack (400g) with 1 liter of water and whip vigorously.
7. Fill the choux pastries with the chilled mixture of crème pâtissière and dust with Laped Powdered Sugar, ideal for usage in pastries and decorations.

Note: Alternatively, you can fill these choux with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or any other filling of your choice.

Isn’t something to have a recipe after your name? Fettucini Alftedo,  Béchamel sauce or cake Savarin! I wonder if these people knew that one day their name would be remembered and taught for hundred years later.

Most of us have special recipes passed to us thru our parents, relatives or neighbors. Recipes that are famous in the family and even sometimes in the neighborhood! But how is it possible to make a recipe internationally recognized and adapted for the next generations?

I invited my friend Carole to spend the day with us. She got us with her a box filled with apricot crumble tart cut in squares.

I tasted one and it was the best buttery shortbread-style cookie ever with a soft crumbly texture that just melts in your mouth. Totally delicious! And when I asked for the recipe, Carole answered with confidence: “Tart Em Tony” (translated from Arabic to Tony’s mama), as if I was supposed to know what does that mean and what’s inside. She continued: ” Everybody on the block knows Tart Em Tony. That was our favorite dessert when we were kids”.

My face turned pale, it must be jealousy! Who on Earth is Em Tony and has a recipe after her name? A recipe that all the neighborhood shared at a time when food blogger wasn’t even a word.

I requested the recipe and instantly Carole whatsaped it to me. It was a picture from a recipe book handwritten just like the old days. How many of you remember his mom writing all her recipes in an old agenda notebook. The trend was to copy recipes into our books, while now we take snapshots with our smart phones and share digital copies effortlessly with friends or on the Whatsapp family group.

I know that many of my recipes have been tried all over the country. I know that my pumpkin sweet potato soup is a hit and have been passed to many people on the five continents, but would I ever have one recipe that will outlive me? A recipe recognized as the Oryana recipe, and for decades from now? I will call that an achievement!

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ icing sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 cup apricot jam

Preparation

Grease or line a 9-inch square pan. In the bowl of the stand mixer cream the butter and the icing sugar on medium speed. Beat in the egg and vanilla and mix further until light and fluffy.

In a separate bow, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add it slowly to the butter mixture, mixing until the dough comes together.

Push half of the dough into the pan so it covers it evenly. Let it chill in the fridge along with the other half of the dough for about an hour.

Take it off the fridge and spread the jam on the top.

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

To make the crumble topping, grate the remaining dough over the jam to cover it all.

Bake the tart in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let it cool completely before cutting.

It can be sliced into squares using a knife or cut into circles using a cookie-cutter.

Hello hungry people:) I have good news for you, this cake recipe is so simple that even the most amateur cook may bake it. And with the almond crumble that tops it, you will end up with a celebratory treat to serve on ceremonial occasions like Christmas.

What makes this cake looks fabulous is the Bundt pan and the glaze. So if you are tempted to try this recipe please don’t skip these two steps, especially the topping.

Happy Baking!

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup / 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose-flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ cup milk
• 3 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh or frozen (and thawed) blueberries

For the topping

• 3 tablespoons icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons oats
• 2 tablespoons almonds, broken or sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 185 degrees C. Grease and flour a 12-cup pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla.
3. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add gradually to butter mixture. Beat until well mixed, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. Fold in lemon zest and blueberries and transfer to pan.
5. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least ten minutes before trying to remove it from the pan.
7. To make the topping, combine flour, sugar, oat and almonds. Add the butter and rub the mixture with your fingers to make small clumps. Spread the mixture on a baking tray and cook in oven for 7-10 minutes. Let cool. To make the glaze, whisk together icing sugar and lemon juice. To finish, drizzle the glaze over the cake and immediately sprinkle with the almond mixture and wait for the glaze to dry before serving.

Apple – Cranberry – Clementine – Cinnamon… These are the necessary key words to make you want to bake this elegant Christmas cake.

Nothing beats a smoothly frosted cake semi-naked look, I promise you it’s so easy to prepare anyone should give it a chance.

I couldn’t resist, but taking photos from different angles and post them on all of my social medias accounts.

I have tried many recipes for the festive season. I hope I’ll get the chance to share them all, since all of my spare time lately has been spent on Christmas shopping hearing Georges Michael and Mariah Carrey songs on repeat.

APPLE CRANBERRY CAKE WITH CINNAMON FROSTING FLAVOR

Ingredients

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 200g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 ½ cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla
• 4 cups flour, sifted
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup Clementine juice
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• 1-2 red apples, cored and sliced (skin on)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1tbsp limoncello

Preparation

1. To make the frosting, add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the whipping cream and whisk on high speed for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Refrigerate.
2. Preheat oven to 175° C. Butter and flour a cake pan.
3. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Pour Clementine juice gradually while mixing and scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Turn off the mixer and fold in the cranberries.
5. Pour the batter in the cake pan and decorate with the apple slices arranging them close together and overlapping on top of the batter.
6. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle this over the apples. Drizzle with limoncello liqueur (or lemon juice).
7. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack.
9. Frost the cake with your chilled cinnamon icing. Sprinkle with icing sugar. Decorate with cinnamon sticks, kumquat and fresh cranberries, if desired.

Ingredients

• 250g chestnuts, roasted and peeled and cut in 2
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250 ml / 1 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons Cognac or Irish Cream liqueur

Preparation

1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and stir with a spoon until sugar dissolves.
2. Let simmer for 10 minutes or until chestnuts have softened.
3. Off heat, blend the mixture until soft and smooth.
4. Refrigerate overnight or until firm and serve with apple slices or your favorite crackers.

Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas to me without a lot of recipes with chestnut on the table.

I have a home-made chestnut cream that I did last week, so I decided to bake my regular banana cake recipe and add it to it, the results were simple and delicious.

I know this recipe is a keeper and definitely worth to share with you.

Chestnut Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose-flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, diced
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 small mashed ripe bananas
• 3 tablespoons chestnut cream
• ¼ cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, continue beating about 3 minutes.
4. Add bananas followed by chestnut cream and beat until combined.
5. Gradually add dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
6. Beat in milk.
7. Pour batter into pan and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
8. Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

I got this heart shaped pan on Mother’s Day few years ago, I’m so happy for Valentine day to find an excuse and use it again. This cake is spongy and smells gorgeous. The texture is close to breads so don’t hesitate to bake it in a loaf pan if desired.

Gifts, flowers and cakes are all expressions of love and celebration, most important of get-together. I wish you all love and happiness and a lot of cakes to bake.

Maya

Cream Cheese Strawberry Cake

Ingredients

• 200g butter, softened
• 1½ cups sugar
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2½ cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1½ cups chopped fresh strawberries

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Grease and flour your cake pan and set aside.
2. Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together with an electric mixer.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla and beat.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the cream cheese mixture, beating just until combined.
5. Add yogurt, mixing well to incorporate. Fold in the strawberries.
6. Transfer batter to the prepared pan, spreading evenly with a spatula. Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Remove pans to rack, and let cool for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto serving plate and allow to cool completely before slicing.

FRIENDS… and not the TV show! Friends that we have, from school, work, clubs… and friends we make through our children later in life. How many times while dropping your child at a new friend and when waiting for the door to open, you start wondering about the mom… Is she nice? Fun? Warm? Chatty? Psycho? Does she give a lot of sweets? And how many of them ended to be a keeper and became one of your closest friends. I am blessed with few of them, actually many, and we share a lot; we take trips together, we volunteer for school projects and we sometimes bake together.

The Honey Almond Slices is a new recipe for me. Axel, my daughter, had tasted it at her friend’s house and at pick up time she begged me to bake some for her. The funny part is that the mom bought her bars at the market and doesn’t even know what it was called. Thanks God for Pinterest where I combined few recipes and made my own with less butter and less sugar but still I thank my friend for the inspiration. My eagerness is boundless to try new recipes, especially that belongs to the dessert section.

Ingredients

For the base:

• 1 ½  cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup ground almond
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 120g butter, melted

For the topping:

• 150g butter
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 cups sliced almonds

25 cm x 25 cm pan

Preparation

1. To make the base Combine flour, ground almond, brown sugar and melted butter until you have a moist sandy mixture. Press mixture into a brownie mold or tart tin and bake for 12 minutes at 170°C / 335°F.
2. To make the filling Inside a saucepan, on low-medium heat, place butter to melt, add sugar, honey and sliced almonds. Stir to well combine.
3. Spread mixture to top evenly the base and return to oven to bake for 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.
4. Allow to cool completely. Remove from pan and slice into squares or rectangles and serve.

Carob Molasses Vegan Cake

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp ground aniseed
1 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups carob molasses (Dibs el kharrub)
1 cup water
½ cup slivered almonds (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 180°C. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and aniseed. Add oil and stir to make a paste.
In a separate bowl, combine molasses and water. Add gradually to the flour paste and mix.
Grease a cake mold and pour batter. Make sure it’s flat and even. Sprinkle with almonds.
Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the pan before transferring to a plate.

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp orange zest -2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp limoncello
• 1 blood orange sliced
• 1 orange sliced

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180° C.

2. Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add eggs, zest, flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Combine milk and lemoncello and add to batter.

4. Align sliced oranges in the bottom of a greased round pan. Pour the batter in the cake pan.

5. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Check early, cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack before reversing on a serving dish.

I was craving for IKEA “Havreflarn” but since it’s gonna be a long time before I get hold of any of it, I decided to bake some myself.

INSTAGRAM @mayasingredients

THIN OAT COOKIES – HAVREFLARN
Recipe makes around 30
INGREDIENTS

75 g unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. coconut water (or milk)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line baking sheet with baking paper or silicone mat.

2. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy then add coconut water or your choice of milk.

3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and add to butter mixture.

4. Add rolled oats and pumpkin seeds and knead to form a dough.

5. Spoon about one heaping teaspoon for each cookie onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving lots of space between each cookie.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are browned around the edges. Let cool completely, until crispy.

Axel my daughter turned TEN 2 days ago, despite the confinement because of coronavirus, she still deserves a nice table decoration set by “MOMMY” i.e myself. Axel loves these cookies and they are super easy to make. To color them, you just split the dough in 3 parts and add 3 drops of food color to each. The result is a batch of fluffy Crinkle Cookies with a dash of lemon flavor. 

Springtime Crinkle Cookies

Makes 32 cookies 

Ingredients

• 100g butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp Lemoncello
• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup icing sugar

Preparation

1. Cream the butter and sugar.
2. Add in eggs and lemoncello until fully incorporated.
3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and add into batches.
4. Split the dough into three portions and color with food color of your choice.
5. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
6. Roll dough into balls and cover with icing sugar.
7. Bake in oven at 170°C oven for 8-10 minutes.

Lemon curd tops my lemon tart to make it epic, and layers my blueberry cake to make it a star dish and spreads over my coconut scone to make it morish. This is how I make it!

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• 85g /6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and diced

Preparation

This is best done in a double boiler or in “Bain Marie”. Fill a small saucepan with water (about 4 inches) and bring it to boil, reduce the heat to keep the water at a simmer and place a clear Pyrex bowl inside. Make sure the size of the heatproof bowl (i.e. the Pyrex) is not too smaller than the saucepan so the steam is concentrated underneath it.

Place egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt into the Pyrex bowl and whisk until completely blended. As the curd cooks, whisk constantly until the mixture becomes thick, around 10 minutes.

Off the heat, add the butter dices and whisk until completely melted. Pour curd into a jar. Leave it open until completely cooled. Store in refrigerator up to 10-14 days.