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Decadent dark chocolate “fleur de sel” and caramel tart


dark chocolate caramel tartA decadent chocolate and caramel tart, cures the cravings of all chocolate lovers. Fleur de sel chocolate and caramel are a winning combo, anyone who is into dessert will be totally thrilled with this indulgent tart!

Yesterday was my hubby’s birthday, i wanted this tart to look as romantic and as sinful as it tastes, one bite and he is in another realm! I guess i succeeded.

dark chocolate caramel tartdark chocolate caramel tart

To make the crust you need:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tbsp dark cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup caster sugar
  • 200g butter cut in cubes
  • pinch of salt

Mix flour, cocoa, sugar and salt. Add the butter and mix with your hands. At the beginning while adding the butter it will resemble the breadcrumbs and by the final cube of butter it will form a big clump.

Wrap it and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour before rolling in a mold. I used a rectangular one of 36x11x2.8 cm (14″x4 3/4″x1″). Preheat oven to 180°C. Poke the dough with a fork (it will prevent the dough from getting puffy). Baking for 20 mns.

Let it cool to room temperature before applying the first caramel layer. you will need almost 5 tbsp of caramel(i used a ready made caramel from bonne maman). Put it in the fridge for 2 hours then pour the chocolate ganache over and return it to chill in the fridge for another 4-6 hours before serving.

dark chocolate caramel tart

dark chocolate caramel tartTo make the ganache you need 100g chocolate fleur de sel chopped, 150 ml cream and one tbsp butter. Heat the cream for 2 minutes in the microwave, add the chopped chocolate and butter and whisk until u get the glossy ganache. Usually i don’t use butter in the ganache unless i want the glossy effect to chocolate. If you want to booze it up you can add 1 tbsp of fine whiskey or rum, depending on your preference.

dark chocolate caramel tart

dark chocolate caramel tartHappy birthday Antoun and many happy returns, Nady and I, have been waiting for this day since a week to sing for you: hapababa da to you… hapababa da to you 🙂 ❤ xx

dark chocolate caramel tart

Personalized birthday gift wrap – Nady’s DIY


DIY birthday gift wrapA beautiful art that will make papa antoun very happy. A personalized wrap done by Nady (and the help of mama) with so much love and joy.

DIY birthday gift wrap

 

DIY birthday gift wrap

 

DIY birthday gift wrap

Get a roll of white paper, some colors and get down with your child to design the best gift wrap that papa will find more important than the gift itself. As i always say small things done with big love are the most important.

DIY birthday gift wrap

It is not just beautiful but unique and so meaningful! This is one side and here is the other side:

DIY birthday gift wrapI used washi tape to wrap it and a blue ribbon. Can’t wait to see Antoun’s reaction 🙂

DIY fridge magnet for a birthday daily note surprise


fridge magnet DIYAntoun’s Bday is in less than a week! Nady’s is so excited about it, especially he loves birthdays and singing “to you” (happy birthday to you). We decided to make for him a daily small drawing with a cute message till the big day comes (tuesday, october 7). Happiness and love are in small details, and it’s so important to teach your kids how small gestures can bring happiness to someone and show care and love. Our motto is “we don’t do big things, we do small things with big love”- mother teresa

To post them, there was no better than the fridge to serve us as a message board, therefore we needed magnets. It was so quick and super easy to craft them, we just glued small magnets on colored buttons and that’s it! I told you it’s super easy 🙂

fridge magnet DIYNady took care of the drawing part and i did the writings. It was so fun thinking that Antoun will love it and wait for his daily dose of love from us!

fridge magnet DIYThat was our first note on the fridge. Aren’t these buttons so cute?! But nady didn’t like the fridge so plain, he wanted to draw on it as well. Why not?! this is a cool idea, now the fridge is a mini gallery! With beeswax crayons (safe and so easy to clean) he did a really good work and concretized his dream of drawing everywhere with no restrictions… Everything is permitted, it’s “papa to you” (daddy’s bday) surprise.

fridge magnet DIYYesterday we posted our second note with more drawings! Now I am sure Antoun is waiting impatiently for his daily note!

fridge magnet DIYToday we posted our third note. Antoun didn’t see it yet, he will now as he is reading the post.

fridge magnet DIY

There will be 4 more notes until the birthday. It’s an ongoing post, come back everyday to check the new images updated for the daily notes. See how the fridge will look on the day of Antoun’s birthday 🙂

As promised this is today’s fourth note.

fridge magnet DIYand today’s fifth note is:

fridge magnet DIYThe sixth note, the one before the last! yessss papa to you is so soon 🙂

fridge magnet DIYAnd here is the final note before papa’s bday!

fridge magnet DIYHappy birthday Antoun ❤

fridge magnet DIY

Digging toys in ice sculpture


ice sculpture

An enthralling sensory play to experience melting ice. Very simple activity but has a lot to discover and learn. You will hear lots of ahhhhhs once your kid touches the ice. Nady was so fascinated by his frozen toys and got so excited to melt the ice and take them out, he got so driven, he forgot how cold the ice was.

How to do this beautiful sculpture? I put Nady’s favorite small toys in 3 different shape containers, added few drops of food coloring and froze them for over night. To remove the ice, I ran water over the outside of each container and held it upside down. I placed the three parts on top of each other to make the sculpture like form.

We started with squeeze bottles full of warm water, Nady was in a hurry to take out his yellow ball!

ice sculpture

ice sculpture

Nady was so enthusiastic, he was eating raisins when we started the play, he grabbed the bowl to fill it with water to throw it on ice, experiencing different ways maybe the gush of water can melt the ice faster!

ice sculpture

ice sculpture

Now it’s hammering time we should get all toys out!

ice sculpture

ice sculpture

It’s a fun activity for all the family actually, we were all playing with Nady! We must admit it’s a senses stimulating play, (experiencing hot – warm – cold and of course solid – liquid or frozen – melted) it fosters learning in all developmental areas and engages extra words to your kid’s lexicon.

ice sculpture

All toys are out, mission accomplished! Nady’s hands were ice cold, but he was warm at the heart! He really enjoyed playing…

ice sculptureIf you liked this post and you want to see more of interesting activities , follow this blog and like marmite et ponpon facebook page. Happy reading!

honey ginger glazed chicken


honey - soy glazed chicken

The most delicious oven roasted chicken you will ever eat! Honey, soy, ginger and garlic combined to make this succulent glaze.

It only takes few minutes to prepare the marinade. Pour it over the  chicken and let it rest in the fridge for couple of hours to absorb more moisture and the result is a sweet glazed oven-roasted chicken that is incredibly tender.

honey - soy glazed chickenSuch a luscious and savory lacquered chicken pairs perfect with potatoes, rice or noodles. I had some leftover of sesame ginger rice, it went great together, with the extra glaze i did.

For that you need:

  • 10 pieces of chicken (you can use breasts, thighs, full legs or just drumsticks)
  • 3/4 cup soy
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 5 garlic cloves minced
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated ginger
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Combine together all ingredients and pour over the chicken. Keep it in the fridge to marinate at least 2 hours to overnight until time of baking.

Preheat oven 240°C and bake for 45 minutes. Keep an eye on the chicken and be careful not to overcook it.

honey - soy glazed chicken

The sweet smell was filling the house, I was preparing the table to take some pictures (for this post) when Antoun came in from work to have lunch. This is the most challenging part, not letting him dig in before i take the pictures. I only had 3 minutes, I don’t blame him actually, i was in a hurry too, they looked so delicious, they made my mouth water!

honey - soy glazed chicken

honey - soy glazed chicken

This meal is so rich in flavors, it caters all tastes. Try it!