Category Archives: dessert

Crème caramel

Posted on January 18, 2016 | 1 comment

creme caramel

Crème caramel or Crème renversée or even flan custard, they are different names for this succulent dessert. I always thought it’s very difficult and tricky to make it until today, i promise you it’s so easy and prepared in less than 20 minutes.

The secret of success of this caramel dessert is in using bio eggs and both milk and cream to get this very smooth and silky texture.

creme caramel

It consists of two parts of preparation. First the caramel and then the creme.

Heat 1 1/2 cup of sugar on a medium heat and in a non stick pan until the sugar gets brown and gradually melt to turn into golden caramel. it will take about 5-7 minutes.

creme caramel

Pour the caramel into a baking dish and distribute it evenly in the dish until it covers all the parts by tilting it in circular moves. Put aside to prepare the creme.

4 tbsp sugar
6 large eggs bio
dash of salt
zest of half lemon (3/4 tsp almost)
1 1/2 tbsp cognac or whiskey of a good quality
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream

Whisk sugar and eggs, gently so you don’t get bubbles, then add salt, zest and cognac (or whiskey) and mix them until combined. Finally add milk and cream and mix well again gently to avoid bubbles which won’t give the smooth texture later when baking.

If you get bubbles you can get rid of them by sieving the mixture before pouring it in the prepared baking dish. Cover it with aluminum foil and make small holes in it. Bake it bain marie style on 200°C for almost an hour or 70 minutes. Start checking on it after 50 minutes. Insert a wooden skewer, it should comes out clean.

creme caramel

For those who doesn’t know bain marie technique (water bath or double boiler), it consists of bathing your baking dish in another wider dish containing boiling water. The water covers the outside of your baking dish to half. This technique is meant to evenly cook something, gently and gradually.

Let the crème caramel cool down, then turn it upside down on a plate, not too shallow because you will have caramel liquid coming out.

creme caramel

Better served after chilled in the fridge for at least 5 hours!

If you wish to serve it as individual portions you can pour the creme evenly in small ramekins.

Recipe courtesy of my mum, i am so lucky she is still here!

creme caramel

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Tagged caramel, cream, creme caramel, creme renversee, eggs bio, flan custard, golden, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, milk, recipe, sugar

Apple carrot cake

Posted on January 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

Sometimes all you need is a simple and easy cake recipe for everyday. Breakfast or dessert, this is the wholesome cake to adapt. It has fruits (apple and carrots), nuts (walnut), eggs and milk.

It’s a complete meal or snack, made it healthier by replacing the butter with vegetable oil and using low fat milk.

So much flavors in a simple cake to enjoy and indulge.

You will need: (9″ baking dish)

5 eggs
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
zest of one lemon (approx 1 tbsp)
zest of one orange (approx 1 1/2 tbsp)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 large carrot grated
1 medium apple grated
1/2 cup milk (low fat)
1 cup dark chocolate chip
a handful walnut

Preheat oven on 180°C. Butter a 9″ dish and dust with flour then put it aside.

Start by mixing eggs, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed until light in color and fluffy. Mix in the lemon and orange zest and the oil and keep mixing for another 5 minutes on low speed.

Fold in the flour, baking powder, grated carrot, grated apple and milk. Mix gently until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Pour in the baking dish and bake for an hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

If you wish to wrap the cake with chocolate, sprinkle 1 cup dark chocolate chip on top when the cake is done and still hot then garnish with a handful walnut. If you don’t want to add chocolate, chop the walnuts and add them to the batter before baking.

It’s so fluffy and rich, beware that one piece could drag another. In other words it’s addictive.

This cake is so versatile, you can add cinnamon if you’re fond of, and if you wish to enjoy a deep flavor, you can add a pinch of nutmeg and clove.

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.

Epiphany traditional sweets – Zlebyeh

Posted on January 5, 2016 | 1 comment

Epiphany (غطاس) is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of Jesus, the son of God: In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates the visit of the Magi, the three kings Gaspard, Balthazar and Melchior who came to pay their tribute to the world famous baby born Jesus. La galette des rois , is a typical french tradition celebrated on this day.

Moreover, the feast in Eastern Christianity commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river. Zlebyeh(زلابية) or fried dough is one of the Lebanese traditional sweets prepared that day.

The story says; on the epiphany day, Jesus met a poor woman, she was frying a dough to feed her children, so he multiplied and increased her dough. We fry zlebyeh to remember this act of kindness, asking God to increase our blessings.

Another tradition for that night, requires to prepare a small dough with coins inside and we hang it on the tree waiting for Jesus دايم دايم to pass by midnight and bless it. This way our food and money are blessed for the whole year. I love these traditions, they are so beautiful and it’s nice to practice them and pass them on to our children.

You need:

1 cup flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast to be dissolved in 1/4 cup of warm water and a dash of sugar
1/2 cup of water

Mix flour, oil and sugar. Give the yeast 10 minutes to dissolve in the warm water with a dash of sugar, after that add it to the flour mix with another 1/2 cup of water. Knead well and let it rest (covered at room temperature) for at least 2-3 hours to double in size.

Divide into 10 strips (10-12 cm each). You can keep them as is like fingers or twist each two together like i did. Fry them until golden brown. Usually they are served with sugar, but some people like them with honey too.

This is my first post to this year, happy reading and happy Epiphany.

دايم دايم بالخير

دايم دايم بالصحة

دايم دايم بالمحبة

دايم دايم بالفرح

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Tagged deyim deyim, epiphany, fried dough, ghtas, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, recipe, sweets, traditions, zlebyeh

Superhero cake tutorial – Happy birthday Nady!

Posted on December 20, 2015 | Leave a comment

My little hero, a huge fan of superheroes (i guess like all boys of his age) turned three couple of days ago. He definitely fancy a superhero cake, but since he was hesitant which character to choose, i decided to surprise him and merge 4 in 1 cake; spiderman, captain america, batman, and hulk.

I am an amateur baker and self tutor, learning how to work with fondant and dress up a cake like professionals. I put all my heart to decorate this cake to be up to my son’s expectations. I would love one day when he looks back at his old pictures to be proud of this mom. So far i succeeded to do it over three years for his 3 consecutive birthdays. I wish him million cakes of happiness and good health!

This superhero cake looks complicated to do but if you follow me step by step you will find it’s not that hard.

First you need to cover the cake with 4 colors of fondant in equal parts; green for hulk, yellow for batman, white for captain america and red for spiderman.
To start with spiderman, you need to draw the web with chocolate or icing. Start by vertical lines then do the horizontal ones, each one like a semi circle.
For the eyes all you need to do is trace them on the fondant and cut out. Click here for a high resolution file for the eyes. It’s a vector one you can adjust the size according to your cake.
Captain america is super easy, to do his shield, start with a red circle, than a smaller one white, then a smaller one red and a final smaller one blue. Put on top a white star and decorate around the shield with blue small stars.
Batman is the easiest i guess. All you need is tracing the logo on black fondant and cut it out. Click here to download a high resolution file to use it as a stencil. It’s a vector file to be able to adjust to the convenient size of your cake.
Finally hulk, the part that needs the most work. First cut small irregular shapes to look like a wall when put together.
To do the hand, you need to make 4 green cylinders (fingers) and put them on a rectangular shape. Here you need to look at your real fist to try modeling the fondant the nearest possible to real one.
try when bending the cylinder shapes to do fingers, create the knots, nails and do small lines to look like flesh, these details will make it look real. If you don’t have the real tools for modeling you can use a knife.

Et voila the homemade superhero cake! Always add your personal touch, it adds more love and gives the occasion the warmth needed. happy birthday super Nady!

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Divine Christmas chocolate cookie

Posted on December 17, 2015 | 6 comments

Baking holiday desserts is the most enjoyable thing to do; if you’re not in the festivities mood yet, the smell filling the house when baking these chocolate sugar cookies will do the job!

These melt in your mouth cookies will be the hit for this year and a staple for the coming years. You can consider it as a homemade gift to family and friends.

This recipe makes a pretty large batch, about 4 1/2 dozens to enjoy (of course it could be plus or minus depending on the cutters size). The most important is to use a good quality of cocoa because it’s all about the chocolate taste.

The recipe calls for:

400g butter unsalted and softened
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 cup all purpose flour sifted
1 1/2 cup cocoa powder sifted
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low to medium speed. Add eggs slowly and mix. Make sure to scrape down the bowl with your spatula and mix again. Add vanilla extract and stir briefly.

Sift your dry ingredients together. (Flour, cocoa powder and salt) then add them to the mixture. Mix on low speed, when it clumps around the paddle attachment it’s ready. It’s also important at this stage not to over mix the dough. Place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. Roll out the dough and cut out cookie shapes.

Preheat your oven to 180°C. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the center of the cookie no longer looks wet. Again the baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.

When baking cookies, I usually line the baking tray with parchment paper, it helps cookies to bake evenly and it’s easy to slide the cookies off of the baking sheet without breaking them. Let cookies cool to room temperature then serve.

This is my first batch, lets see how many more i will be doing before Christmas is here. Happy baking!

You can also check last year’s scrumptious Christmas shortbread cookies.

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.