Happy Holidays from D!

It's Christmas!!!

and the best part: the dessert!!!

 

Who doesn't love a decadent Buche de Noel? It's one of my personal favorites. You have a lot of variations of this famous yule log but the classic chocolate genoise with  chocolate whipped cream will always have a special place in my heart <3 .





 

 

I'll admit, the rolling part of the cake took me some time (and several cakes!) to master, but the result definilty worth the trouble. 

 

 

Other than that, the cake is pretty straightforward to make. Just bake your favorite genoise sheet cake , spread some chocolate whipped cream and roll!

 

Some green and red fondant holly will look great on top. But maybe next year I'll try baking some meringue mushrooms.

 

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!! May the coming year bring us even sweeter things...

Pin It now!

Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Pink Rosewater Frosting

It's been a while I haven't baked and was starting to miss it.

And i was in the mood for a sugary rich chocolate treat. I opened up mu favorite cake blog (sweetapolita) and found this recipe for a dark chocolate chiffon cake with pink rosewater vanilla frosting.

The cake itself is as light and moust as can be! The meringue in it really gave it height and texture. 

I was slightly afraid of it rising but the result was amazing!!

After cooling (this was torture!!), i slathered on a HUGE amount of pink frosting and dug in!!

They barely let me even take pictures!!!

Pin It now!

Homemade Croissants - Paris style!

During my last trip to Paris, i took this amazing pastry class at La Cuisine Paris. It was the highlight of my trip. I felt at home!! The chef was the sweetest lady ever and the people taking the class with me were from all over the world!

But let me tell you, croissants need time! And the smallest mistake can mess them up. You even have to make sure the weather outside is suitable for these french yummies. 

Lebanon weather is very humid, so yea I had some trouble making them but they turned out pretty good.

I guess I'll just have to keep trying (and eating) more croissants in order to get the perfect one.

So here are my babies before I left them rise!

And here they after rising! They rose quite  a bit didn't they?!!

And here they are after baking!!!

Et voila!  

Pin It now!

Cake and Spongebob Square Pants

A while ago a friend asked for a spongebob cake. I jumped at the request! I felt like a little kid again. Working with cake and edible "playdough" - yes thats how i explain what fondant is when people ask about it.

As usual, before i started working on the cake I started planning and designing in my head a huuge cake with all the characters surrounding a big pineapple! But alas, they only wanted the character.

So spongebob square pants it was...

With all his yellow glory..

Pin It now!

Another iPhone Cake

After all this haze surrounding iPhone 5, I was bound to have another iPhone cake order.

This was - surprisingly - one the fastest cakes I've done. Took me 2 hours!

The inside is chocolate fudge and the outside - yes you guessed it - marshmallow fondant.

What do you think??

Oh and check out my last iPhone app cake:

Pin It now!

Baby Shower..Cakes & Cupcakes

Baby Showers..they have to be as cute as can be. The pregnant ladies, the emotions, the tears and awwwwww's all around. but the best for me always is: CAKE! I just love the cuteness, the cakes are always so pretty, colorful and childish (in a good way :P )

So when the opportunity came where I had to do one, I was ecstatic! I got out all my colors and started coloring all the marshmallow fondant I had.


The first step was to mold the baby and let it dry overnight. I admit the baby turned out a bit too cartoon-ish but it all came together at the end with the blanket and the colors.

I propped the baby on a light green fondant covered chocolate cake and propped a blanket on top. Looks cute, no?

 

The cupcakes are chocolate, vanilla and marbled flavored. I was trying out my new cupcake pan. I got the biggest one I found since I had many to do. Then I got creative and started cutting out shapes and piping on the cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

The mess I made :$

 

 

I just love the colors!

 

Pin It now!

Guest Post: Have Your Cake and Eat it: Four Sweet Treats That Can Be Surprisingly Good For You!

by Lily Robinson

 

Are you a secret chocolate eater? Do you beat yourself up about having that extra slice of cake or picking the most calorific desert on the menu? Well fear not – extensive scientific research is proving that cakes, chocolate and deserts can actually be surprisingly good for your health and wellbeing. Here are some of your favourite treats and the way in which they can benefit you.

Chocolate

Photo Credit: Diana Loutfy

Chocolate gets a hard time. Although it dates back to the time of the Aztecs, the inclusion of sugar and cream to the cocoa beans has seen it become the ultimate guilty pleasure for many women (and men, but mostly women!) over the years. But despite its high calorie content, research has shown that there are in fact several benefits to enjoying a moderate amount of chocolate in your diet.
Chocolate is essentially made from plants, which means that it contains many of the same compounds as dark vegetables. In particular, cocoa beans and chocolate are full of antioxidants which help protect the body from the effects of aging (such as thinning hair and clogged arteries) and also neutralises any harmful chemical reactions happening within the body during metabolism. Dark chocolate contains twice the amount of these antioxidants as milk chocolate and Healthspan say that studies indicate even 100g of dark chocolate in your daily diet can dramatically reduce the risk of high blood pressure which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by 21%.
And because we all love eating chocolate so much, it is a well known mood enhancer. This isn’t just because of the yummy taste but because it contains chemicals that help increase the brain chemical serotonin – the happy hormone. This is why chocolate can often perk you up if you’re feeling irritable or tired and is a good example of it being beneficial for both mental and physical wellbeing.

Cake

Cakes come in all shapes, sizes and varieties so it’s hard to pinpoint the nutritional value of ‘cake’ in general. Like chocolate, cakes are not renowned for being particularly healthy, what with the sugar, hydrogenated oil and bleached flour not to mention calorific, creamy fillings. However the majority of cakes do contain some useful vitamins and minerals such as protein and calcium which can be found in binding agents like egg and milk. Calming carbohydrates can also be found in the flour, sugar and oils which can give the body a boost of energy and maintain a healthy body heat, making a slab of cake the ultimate comfort food during the winter months.
The beauty of homemade cakes is that you dictate what goes in. Admittedly, many shop bought cakes do contain additives and preservatives used to increase shelf life which are both unhealthy and unnecessary. If you choose to make your own cake you can use wholegrain flour to increase fibre, omit any buttery frostings and include a variety of fruits and nuts to make your cake extra healthy.

Ice Cream

Everybody loves a good ice cream on a hot day but who’d have thought that a sensible variety and amount of ice cream can actually help you lose weight?! Because ice cream is made from milk it is very high in calcium which is one of the most important compounds needed for fat metabolism. Experts also think that ice cream can oppress the appetite and satisfy the cravings for other sweet foods, hence results in less unhealthy snacking. Frozen yoghurts and iced fruit lollies are also healthy summer treats.

Sweets

Studies have shown that certain sweets can help both prevent and alleviate symptoms of some serious diseases. In an article published in The Atlantic experts suggest that root liquorice (the root ingredient of the popular sweet) has anti-diabetic properties and can help reduce blood sugar as well as having anti-inflammatory properties. In fact, liquorice has been known to treat a variety of ailments throughout history from eczema to heartburn.
Similarly, hard boiled sweets, particularly lemon drops and sour candies, are though to help prevent oral infections and taste disorders by encouraging the mouth the produce more saliva. Saliva is important to oral health because it keeps the mouth well lubricated and doesn’t allow for an dry environment in which anaerobic bacteria can grow. Sucking hard candies is more beneficial than simply using water to hydrate the mouth because that can just flush natural saliva away.
So next time your sweet tooth flares up and you find yourself heading guiltily for the confectionary aisle, remind yourself that, providing you’re eating it in moderation, you could actually be keeping your mind and body healthy.

Pin It now!

Chocolate Tart

Ok, so this is officially my favorite dessert! I can eat it anytime, anywhere, with anything! I just love chocolate tarts!!!




With rasberries, with caramel layers, with meringue, with whipped cream...THE JOY!

I recently came across this very delicious-looking recipe via Pinterest. I checked the recipe and thought I have to try this.

I didn't like the crust recipe so I just sticked to my foolproof buttery flaky one (Click here to see it). I love this crust, it always turns out the most falkiest, butter-iest, decadent crust ever and it can easily be adapted to suit whatever filling you want. Just change the amount of sugar, add some falvors and essences, some cocoa powder perhaps, or almond flour and voila..you have the perfect crust.

Lots and lots of butter!

Now, for the main star of the show!! The chocolate ganache. Oh my, I got goosebumps when I had my first bite. The recipe was great but I tweaked it a bit to make it more my taste.

And booy, was it good. I omitted the sugar and instead added some honey and added much much more chocolate than the recipe called for.

Then the final step was to make the chocolate ganache glaze and pour it over the tart. That's how I got this glossy look.

Ahhh, I think I might have to start working out after this tart..

Pin It now!