A happy birthday and a recipe for a most decadent cheese cake

The best cheesecake we know

A couple of weeks ago I turned 39. I must confess I wasn't too thrilled about it. Though I never hide my age the passage of time is starting to be cruel. I cannot ignore anymore the signs time is marking on my face and skin. This year I allowed myself a bit of dark, moody brooding before the big day. It didn't last long tough, because we all took a day off and went to celebrate my birthday weekend in the north part of Israel with all my family, parents and brothers included. It was a perfect day. Unpredictable great weather with beautiful deep blue sky dotted with white clouds (we call it The Simpsons sky), empty roads with no traffic jams and an almost completely empty national park. We hiked the short but challenging Arbel cliff that hangs over The Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), combining adventurous rock climbing on ladders with history and archaeology. The Arbel is a fort built into the rock like something out of Game of Thrones, which makes it a great place for pretend knight dual or hide and seek. 

   

The Arbel

Hiking the Arbel mount

thorns of summer

We ended the day in a lovely family gathering at the hotel lobby where we all stayed. We had a cake of course, with only one candle; I think the heat from 40 candles would've caused a fire.  

All together now

Since we've recently celebrated the Jewish holiday of Shavuot every Israeli and Jewish food blog had recipes for cheesecake. Although I was reluctant at first my friend and food blogger Foodbridge convinced me to publish my version for cheesecake.  It is my daughter's favorite because it combines perfectly sweet, savory and sour flavors.

Cheesecake recipe modified from Doram Gaunt's cookbook "A tall man cooks".

A 22cm tin lined with baking paper.

Cake base:

150gr savory gluten-free pretzels (Osem has a special edition for Passover from potato flour) or any savory crunchy gluten-free crackers.

125ml (half a cup) Nutella spread.

75gr butter

The filling:

4 eggs

250ml (1 cup) sugar

500gr 5% white cheese – Quark cheese (gvina levana)

200gr soft ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 table poon corn starch

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Ganache topping (Not necessary)

100gr dark chocolate at least 60% cocoa solids

100ml whole cream

Preparation:

1.       Making the cake base:  In a food processor grind all the ingredients to crumbs. With moist hands take the base and flatten it on the bottom of the cake tin and chill for one hour in the refrigerator.

2.       Heat the oven to 150 centigrade

3.       Prepare the filling: bit together the eggs and sugar (at least 5 minutes in an electric mixer), add the cheeses, and lemon zest and mix. Dissolve the corn starch in the lemon juice and add to the mixture.

4.       Assembling the cakes: pour the mixture on the base and bake for 50 minutes until the cake is stable. Cool the cake for at least 5 hours in the fridge before serving.

5.       If you want to top the cake with ganache, boil the cream, take it off the heat and immediately add the chocolate, mix and cool. Spread carefully on the cake and let it cool for another hour.

Have a bite

How I spent my summer vacation (and a recipe)

Akziv Beach National Park

When I was at elementary school the first day of any school year started with writing the assay: "how did I 

spend the summer holyday".  I want to share with you a bit of what we did this summer. In contrast to last year's summer that we spent in Canada, this year we mostly juggled between work and kids on vacation. This year's summer broke records, we had such long heat waves that air-con became as essential as breathing.  In spite the heat we tried to get out of the house and break the routine. We had a lovely five days break in the Greek island of Crete. While at home we went mainly to movies or museums (yes, especially for the air-con not necessarily or culture) and travelled mainly in the car. We had a nice picnic in the Carmel woods with food blogger   Foodbridge and her family. Somehow between the 

 work, the heat and the long endless vacation we had fun.

.Having said that I'd really like to spend next year's August in a very cool place, The North Pole will be nice

View of the Jordan river south of the Kinneret

Picnicking in the woods

Hot day requires some cold juice in Wadi Nisnas, Haifa

Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Keshet cave in the Western Galilee 

Sunset on Akziv beach

  

There is still an abundance of summer fruits in the markets and this cake is a wonderful way to use them.

Upside down gluten-free fruit cake

Ingredients:

A cake tin 26cm diameter.

Fruit lair

1kg fruits (plums, apricots, peaches etc.) pitted and cut into halves.

Zest from half a lemon

3-5 sugar spoon

10-20gr butter

Cake

200gr soft butter

1 cup of sugar

6 eggs

1 tea spoon vanilla extract

2 cups of gluten-free flours dived to 1/3 soy flour, 1/3 corn flour 1/3 tapioca flour.

1 table spoon baking powder

Assembling the cake:

Layer the tin with baking paper, spread butter on the paper. Arrange the fruits densely so that the fruit's inside are upwards.  Spread the sugar and half the amount of the lemon zest.

1. Pre-heat the oven for 160 centigrade

2. Whip together in a mixer the butter and sugar till a soft foamy batter, add the eggs one by one.

3. Lower the mixer speed and add vanilla extract, flour, baking powder till again the batter is unified.

4. Pour the batter on the fruits and bake for 60-70 minutes.

5. Let the cake cool properly and then flip it on a serving dish so the fruits are upwards.

Upside downgluten-free plum cake

Cherry season

Pitting cherries with my DH posh tourne knife 

Summer is here. Spring was exceptionally beautiful this year but as usual in this place short lived. Very quickly the green lush turned yellow and dusty. Pretty delicate flowers were replaced by thorns.  It's getting hotter everyday as well. The temperature hits 30 centigrade by 10am. Although I am not a fan of Israeli summer, there some nice sides to it like cherries.

Cherries for sale in the Banias National Park

We've just returned from a vacation in the North of Israel, and everywhere we went they sold cherries. We couldn't resist their lovely color so we bought more than a kilo of cherries. They were in good price.  Getting home we discovered that not all tasted that good but even sour cherries are great for dessert.

We've decided to make a French classic: "clafoutis aux cerises" namely cherry pudding. Since the amount of flour is minimal in this recipe we had no problem to convert it to a gluten-free version. The recipe is based on the one published by Benny Saida. With our northern cherries the dessert turned out just perfect.

Ingredients

 6 egg yolks

3 egg whites

2/3 cup sugar

2 table spoons of brandy or cherry liquor

1/4 cup soy flour + 1/4 corn starch

1 cup milk

1/3 cup whole cream (38% fat)

1/2 kg pitted cherries

 1 bag of vanilla sugar

A 26cm diameter pie tin or personal soufflé dishes buttered.

1.       Heat the oven to 180 centigrade. Mix the eggs in a large bowl while adding the sugar till a light fluffy mixture is formed.

2.       Add the flours and liquor mix till unified. Add the milk and cream in slow stream while stirring the mixture.

3.       Mix the cherries with the sugar and vanilla sugar and spread at the bottom of the tin.

4.       Pour the batter on the cherries and bake 50 minutes till the pastry is browned.

Clafoutis- such a cute word.

A family heirloom

Have you met Señor Del Mundo?

If you speak Spanish or Ladino you might be appalled by this question that actually asks if you met your maker or in Hebrew "Adon Olam" aka God.  For years I heard my grandmother speak about this guy on many occurrences. I thought he was a friend of hers from abroad called Mister Delmundo. My Ladino improved as I grew up and I believe only when I got to school I finally realized who the mysterious Señor was.  I still think he's my grandmother's pal.

My mother's mother was born on board of a ship sailing the Black Sea from Istanbul (than Constantinople) to Constanta in Romania. She was born to a Sephardic family that according to household myths were direct descendants of Jews deported from Spain.  She married an Ashkenazi from The Ukraine but never abandoned her Sephardic heritage and especially the food. She had a fascinating life story: born in the era of The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires and living to see the fall of Communism, tiny cell phones and emails. I didn't know all this about as a child, I only knew her as my "safta". She lived with us and helped in my upbringing. She was a very important figure in my life and a major impact on my nutrition. In short, she spoiled me. She had her clever way to feed me stuff that otherwise I would not touch. For example in order to make me eat spinach and cheese she would bake an Inchusa. I loved inchusa, never refused a slice. Throughout my childhood and rebellious adolescence inchusa was the taste of comfort. Now my mother makes inchusa from time to time reminding us of my grandmother that is still very present in our lives although she passed away 15 years ago.

I ate inchusa all my life but only recently I've discovered its origins. This was thanks to my acquaintance with Gil Marks and his Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. There I discovered that Inchusa is a traditional Sephardic tart containing a sweet or savory filling. The name originates from the Spanish enchusa, an herb from the borage family that was primarily used in the tart but later replaced with spinach. The custard was originally baked without a crust. To prevent it from sticking to the baking pan some flour was mixed with oil and the thick spinach and egg mixture gratin was spread over the top and baked.

The Sephardic culture and the Ladino language are slowly disappearing though there are efforts of preservation; the number of Ladino speakers is dropping steadily. I don't speak it to my kids though I grew up on it, my grandmother spoke very little Hebrew. Recently I've met two lovely ladies that have Turkish grandmothers and are trying to keep their legacy through food, and cooking. Liz and Ariella made me realize that making my kids inchusa or other Sephardic foods is a way of keeping my Sephardic legacy.

I baked inchusa for the first time last week and it was a great success. I made the gluten-free version (something my grandmother never heard of). My middle child got a school project. She has to bring something to class for "show and tell". It needs to be related to our family history and to combine something of Jewish history. My brother suggested I'll bring an inchusa, which is our true family heirloom.

Inchusa

1/2kg spinach leaves without stem and washed, chopped.

150gr Feta cheese

3 eggs

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons of flour (corn mill for the gluten-free version)

2 tablespoons grated cheese (either cachkaval or parmesan)

Salt and pepper.

Heat the oven to 180 centigrade.

Oil and flour a 22cm round tin or Pyrex

Mix all the ingredients till the mixture is unified. Pour to the tin and bake till a crust is formed.  

A study in scarlet or is beet photogenic?

Beet ravioli: gluten-free

Less than a year ago all I knew about photography was how to click the little silver button and have the subject more or less in the middle of the frame. Each time a term such as "closing aperture" or "shutter speed" was used in my vicinity my eyes would glaze. Thanks to my best friend the talented Sarah Melamed (Foodbridge) I now see the world as one big photo op.  My latest craze is food photography and so I drive the whole household insane because they're not allowed to eat before I take a picture. I'm now studying diligently Helene Dujardin's "plate to pixel" and practice food styling and lighting.

 I was thrilled when my DH decided to buy beets for cooking. Beets have such a gorgeous color therefore must be very photogenic. I needed to find something to do with them and to form something eatable I can photograph. Again it was the DH that came up with the idea: beet ravioli. We had that dish a long time ago when we had only two kids, in a very luxurious restaurant. We didn't have the recipe of course but we recruited our memory and creativity.

Not a new nebula but an almost transparent slice of beet 

We used very few ingredients: beet, hard goat cheese such as a tomme de chevre, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and of course salt and pepper. The trickiest part is cutting the beet in thin slices that will form the ravioli. We used a mandolin slicer that does a beautiful job and is safe to use. Safety is an important issue when using this device, there're models out there that the term guillotine slicer describes them better. I must confess that all the pretty slicing was done by the DH while I simply chopped the cheese and walnuts. We marinated the beet slices in lemon juice and olive oil for half an hour and then proceeded to form the ravioli. Between two slices of beet we've put a chunk of cheese and chopped walnuts, trying to make it look like a closed pocket.

DH hand modeling how to close the ravioli

On top of the raviolis we sprinkled a bit of kosher salt and balsamic vinegar. The fun part was styling the whole thing, it was rather amusing since not me nor is the DH professional, so improvisation was the key to the photo session. When I finished taking the pictures we just ate the lot. They turned out great.

salad

The rest of the beet was cut julienne style and tossed into a salad with the cheese leftovers, walnuts, chopped parsley, dill, olive oil and lemon juice. We served the salad to my parents at the Shabbath dinner, and they admitted it was the first time they had ever ate raw beet. My mom liked it but my dad diplomatically said he preferred to eat it as borscht.

crocuses blooming in the Judean Hills. 

Though winter is stalling and the days are still mostly sunny and clear, some flowers start to bloom after the long dry summer. We found not very far from where we live, in an archeological site dating to the days of King David, these carpets of crocuses. Sheer beauty. 

          

Memories of maple

Maple trees and maple syrup from Canada

One of my favorite childhood books was Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods. I liked many books in the "Little House" series but the first book had a certain charm that made me read it so many times that at some point I knew whole bits and paragraphs by heart. For an Israeli kid growing up in the city under the harsh Mediterranean sun, the descriptions of endless woods and melting snow were utterly dreamlike. Above all I preferred the chapter "Sugar Snow" I think it still has a magical ring to it. In this episode little Laura's Grandpa and Pa are producing maple syrup.  

I loved the depiction of the way Grandpa hammers the wooden troughs into the trees and the sap flows and fills the buckets. I didn't even know what real maple syrup tasted like till I was a grown-up. In my childhood, maple syrup was artificially flavored simple sugar goo. I know people my age that think to this day that the fake syrup tastes better than the real thing, maybe because it was what they grew-up on. My kids, on the other hand when given the bogus maple, were outraged and claimed it to be disgusting. They've grown up on organic maple syrup imported from Vermont.

Last August in our voyage to Canada, it was clear to me I'll come back with lots of maple syrup. I knew I wouldn’t meet Grandpa as he drill into trees but I thought I might have a chance of seeing something similar to what I imagined so many years ago. When we stayed at the small island of Ile d'Orleans in Quebec I finally saw maple groves. I thought it was beautiful. These days the trees have plastic tubes where the sap pours. But a lot of the process is still as it was 150 years ago, as you can see in the following link:

When we got back home with something like 3 liters of maple syrup we immediately put them to good use.  For example in this salmon entrée, that was the star of our Rosh-Hashana meal.

   

Maple mustard grilled salmon

Ingredients:

4 salmon fillets about 170gr each

1/2 cup (125ml) maple syrup

1/2 cup good quality mustard

Salt and pepper.

Season the fillets with salt and pepper.

Whisk the maple and mustard together in a bowl. Place the salmon in the bowl and marinate for at least 2 hours or even over-night.

Pre-heat a heavy pan, preferably cast iron place the fillets in the pan and braise them 5 minutes on one side and a little less on the other.

Serve at once.

Salmon served with Israeli couscous 

Let's start with something sweet

Brownies

Jewish holidays are over. Yesterday we finally got back to the blessed routine: school, kindergarten, work and job hunt. We had a lot of free time on our hands these past couple of weeks but we ended up not doing much with it. I'll summarize my holiday adventures (and recipes) in the coming post, which naturally is taking me ages to write.

For now I just want to share with you this great gluten-free brownies recipe that will ease up any crisis or post-holiday melancholy because it uses a lot of chocolate. My loyal readers already know that I come from a household of chocoholics and I keep looking for new opportunities to incorporate chocolate in our nutrition. I firmly believe that one day, scientists will declare that chocolate is good for you.  I have adapted the current recipe from Chef Michael Smith's book: "Chef At Home", which I highly recommend for its simple yet delicious everyday cooking.

Ingredients:

250 gr dark chocolate

200 gr butter

1 cup flour divided to 1/3 soy flour, 1/3 tapioca flour and 1/3 corn starch.

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1.5 tea spoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 eggs

2 cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180c (350F)

Preparation:

Melt in microwave the chocolate and butter then mix till smooth. While the chocolate mix cools whisk together the flours, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, sugar and vanilla to the chocolate and mix thoroughly. Stir in the flour mixture until incorporated. Pour batter into a lightly oiled and floured 9x13 inch tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

The brownies come out moist and fudgy, and taste great. 

Easy, Light - The Ultimate Dessert for Hot Summer Days

Chocolate mousse filled Pavlova

When I first encountered Jayne Georgette’s dessert blog, Chocolates and Figs I knew I'll like it. It's the perfect blog for owners of a sweet tooth like me and my three kids. I had discovered that Jayne’s blog is a great source for new techniques and recipes, accompanied by interesting stories and informative facts. I was thrilled when Jayne offered to write a guest post for my blog and make a dessert that is gluten-free but elegant and easy to make.  Be sure to check out Chocolates and Figs for more beautiful Pavalova recipes. 

Elegant, lithe, graceful—a beautiful and famous ballerina dancing the Dying Swan, or perhaps the tragic bewitched White Swan Queen.  Now imagine a dessert that would embody the lightness of the dancer in the air. 

That was the challenge for pastry chefs when inspired by the greatness and celebrity of Anna Pavlova, (1881-1931) one of the most famous ballet dancers of all time.  She was the first ballet dancer to tour the world, including Australia and New Zealand in 1926, to adoring crowds.  In one of those countries, a chef created a dessert that would be worthy of her, drawing upon the lightness and elegance of the classic French confection, meringue. 

A pavlova is a cookie-like meringue dessert, usually made with vinegar and cornstarch and topped with light fruit and airy whipped cream.  Some also claim that the shape of the pavlova is supposed to resemble the tutu worn by Pavlova, with the whipped cream the netting of her skirt. Another story holds that the dessert was invented first, and someone commented, “It’s as light as Pavlova” bestowing her name on the creation.  In any case, the Pavlova quickly became a hit in both Australia and New Zealand, and later around the world. 

But which country has the honor of first invention?  Like many Americans, Australia and New Zealand tend to blend together in my mind and I vaguely think of them as being right next to each other.  But don’t tell that to an Australian or a New Zealander.  Although their countries are diplomatically and culturally close, there are 1400 miles setting them apart. Both countries are proud to claim ownership of Pavlova. Many investigations have been launched, but no definitive conclusions reached.  I think that’s for the best, let the glory of Pavlova be shared.    

I knew nothing of this history when I first encountered the Pavlova but I knew we were perfect together.  Meringue desserts were also a classic part of my Hungarian upbringing.  I loved nibbling meringue cookies as a child and I’ve never stopped.  In Hungary, they are often made with nuts, (i.e. hazelnuts or almonds) but no other filling or indentation for toppings.    

The Pavlova is a meringue cookie superstar, befitting its namesake.  It has the texture that reminds me of the meringue cookies, crispy on the outside soft, chewy and moist on the inside.  Who wouldn’t love to top that off with fresh fruits, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, vanilla ice cream, roasted/stewed fruits and more (although not all at the same time)? 

What’s more, Pavlovas are easy to prepare, they require a minimum of time in a heated kitchen, and are light to digest.  Simple and versatile, they are a splendid summer dessert.  Depending on the toppings you use, it can be a low-fat or fat-free dessert as well. 

I’ve been playing around with Pavlova variations, and have prepared four for presentation. Since it is too long to be placed in one post, we decided to divide the recipes so that two are reported here, and two on my blog, at http:///www.chocolatesandfigs.com. I love the White and Black Swan Queen Pavlova, topped with the Black Swan’s seductive chocolate mousse to smother the pure white meringue of the White Swan. The bright Lemon and Gingered Peach Palovas are also wonderful.   My favorite is a simple and classic presentation of Mixed Berries on Chantilly Cream.   While piping the meringue onto a baking sheet is traditional, I prefer using a muffin or cupcake pan for easy, attractive and structured Pavlova creations.

So, without further ado, here are the recipes:

PAVLOVA

All the meringues or PAVLOVA’s are the same:, except I added in some recipes chopped, roasted almonds

Ingredients:

4 egg whites, room temperature

1-tablespoon cornstarch

1/2-teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup caster (fine) sugar

1-teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Pinch of salt

Method of Preparation

1.     Preheat oven to 375°F.

2.     Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in a large bowl until soft peaks form.

3.     Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating constantly until it becomes thick and glossy.

4.     Add the cornstarch with the last 3 tablespoons of sugar.

5.     Fold in the vanilla and the vinegar and mix it for 10 seconds.

6.     Spoon the meringue either on jelly roll pan covered with buttered parchment paper, 1 inch apart; or as I did use a muffin pan and either butter the muffin pan or place a silicone muffin cup into each unit.  The meringue should be higher then the muffin cup and make indentations in the middle of each unit with the back of a spoon; this is where the filling will be placed.

7.      Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F.

8.     Bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the muffins. It has to appear dry and crisp outside. Try not to open the oven door at least for the first 15 minutes of baking.

9.     Turn off the oven and open the oven door. Cool completely in the oven (the meringue (pavlova) may sink during cooling, but it is fine).

10.                       Serve with various fillings. See suggestions below

Empty meringue shells

Chocolate Mousse

• 3 large eggs, separated
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• Optional: 3/4 cup chilled whipping cream

Method of Preparation

1.     Whisk egg yolks with 3 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons water, and rum in a metal bowl to blend.

2.     Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch the water). Whisk until the candy hermometer inserted into the mixture registers 160°F; you may need about 6 minutes.

3.     Add the chocolate pieces and whisk until melted and smooth.

4.     Mix the cocoa powder with 3 tablespoons hot water (make sure there are no lumps and add it to the chocolate/egg mixture.

5.     Turn off heat; leave bowl over water.

6.     Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form.

7.     Gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff peaks form

8.     Fold 1/3 of egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten.

9.     Fold in the remaining whites.

10.               Remove from over water and let the mousse cool 20 minutes.

11.               Beat whipping cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form.

12.                Incorporate the whipped cream into the chocolate mousse or alternatively, use it as a decoration placed on top of the chocolate mousse.

Assembly

This type of “cake” or “cookie” can be assembled in a variety of ways. Here, I scooped  three small scoops of chocolate mousse and placed it into the indentation (see the photo without fillings), then used raspberries for color, and the mousse is sprinkled with roasted, ground almond and the entire service plate is sprinkled with tempered, melted dark chocolate.

Note: You can add sweetened whip cream (Chantilly cream), on top of the mousse; you can use other nuts,  you can have just whipped cream with chocolate shavings as decoration and so on…

Gingered Peaches

Peaches

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
• 3 firm but ripe large peaches, peeled, pitted, quartered

Method of preparation

1.     Combine 2 cups water, 1-cup sugar, fresh lemon juice, and sliced ginger in large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2.     Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.

3.     Add the peeled peach quarters to the syrup and remove from heat.

4.     Allow the peaches to cool to room temperature in the syrup, at least for 30 minutes, turning occasionally. The longer you let the peaches to absorb the gingered syrup, the better  they will taste.

5.     Transfer the peaches with the syrup to a container that can be closed; and chill it in the refrigerator until cold. Peaches can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Asssembly

As you can see on the photographs, there is no real assembly required. Just place a few gingered quartered peaches into the indentation of the Pavlova and I placed a single raspberry in the middle for color.