The best present ever: cotton candy maker

I haven't left you my dear blog!:P
Sorry, I was a bit busy in the last few weeks and had many things and plans on my mind, and finally I always felt too tired and lazy to sit down and write...not to mention baking.
But promise, I'll be a better blogger! And thank you all for (still) following!

Aww,I have to tell you, today I got a cotton candy / candyfloss maker for my nameday. It's sooo cool!
Ok, I know, cotton candy is not the healthiest food, but definitely my all time favorite! And sure, it can be a wee healthier using fructose. And I want to try some interesting natural flavours! I'll let you know how does it work. Can't wait to try it!
Mine is exactly like this:

Carrot-cake mini cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting

Hello my dear Readers, I know I was lazy again, but finally here I am with a recipe.
I should write this much earlier as I have so many new recipes to share, but don't want to miss any of the cakes I tried.

Carrot-Cake Mini Cupcakes

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 42 mini muffin cups with mini cupcake liners; set aside.

Beat sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until well combined.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add three-quarters of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture; mix until well combined. Add carrots and raisins to remaining flour mixture; toss to combine. Stir into batter until well combined.

Fill each muffin cup with about 2 teaspoons batter. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of cupcakes comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

Maple Cream Cheese frosting:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners' sugar

 In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add maple syrup, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar; continue beating until well combined and smooth.

This recipe is not my own. It's from Martha Stewart's website. (but of course the photos are mine!!:))
I found her site very useful and there are still so many sweets that I want to try.
But I have a few comments about this recipe. Just my own experience.

1. The carrot-cake batter seemed a bit too liquid to me. When I used a little more flour it seemed better and also they got ready easier. Otherwise it took ages to bake them. 10-12 minutes is way too short I think.. but that's only my experience.

2. The same problem with the frosting. I think it should be denser / thicker. Anyway it was ok, and very-very tasty, just it wasn't easy to make precise, nice decoration on the top of the cakes. But it's easier to work with it if you put it into the freezer for an hour.

In general I can say, I recommend this recipe and I'll definitely prepare it again!
Try to listen to your own common sense, sometimes you don't have to make everything exactly like the recipe says. ;)

And of course it's easy-peasy to make the healthier version, just use wholemeal flour instead of white flour (or replace at least the half of it) and instead of simple sugar you can always use fructose and milk sugar. I like to mix both fructose and milk sugar at the same time because they are prefect combination. Fructose is more, while milk sugar is less sweet than real sugar.

If you have any questions, let me know! And sorry for this veeery long post!:)

Raspberry cheesecake without baking

As I promised before, I post the recipes of my previous party. Let's start with the raspberry cheesecake.

100g wholemeal biscuit
30g butter
250g mascarpone
150g yogurt
200 ml cream
4 tbs fructose
2 tbs milk sugar

raspberry souce:

200g raspberry
1 tbs milk sugar
2 tbs agave syrup (or replace with honey)

At first, crumble the biscuits, than add the melted butter, mix it, than push the mixture into the bottom of a pot or baking tin.
Than put it into the fridge for 15 minutes.

In an other bowl beat all the other ingredients together until smooth, except the cream, that you have to beat separeted. When the whipped cream is ready, add it carefully into the mixture.

The raspberry sauce is very easy.
Add the milk sugar and agave syrup to the raspberry and start heating it on medium temperature, just for a few minutes, when it starts to leak juice and looks like a nice sauce, it's ready.

Start layer the mascarpone mixture and the raspberry sause on the biscuit base.
The top layer will be raspberry sauce with some whole raspberries as decoration.

Put the cake into the fridge for at least 5 hours or shorten the time and put it into the freezer.

Enjoy!! That's something I can't stop eating... it's never enough!;)

You can vary the decoration. As you could see in my previous post, I made a "love" cheescake for my hippie party.

Hippie party! Hippie friends! Hippie cakes!?

I organzied a little party on Saturday with the topic of "Hippies".
I think it's so much fun to dress up and February is the right time to do this, isn't it?!
Let me show you some cakes I prepared for the party. Not all of them was 100% healthy, but in a party I think that's allowed!;) But anyway I was really trying as I didn't want to fail in the eyes of my guests & readers!:))

On the menu: raspberry cheesecake, carrot-cake mini cupcakes & ham and gruyere thumbprints.

Recipes are coming soon!;)
Love & Peace

Here again

Hello my dear Readers, I hope you didn't forget me totally ,I know I've disappeared a little bit, but I had some busy, complicated weeks, full of thoughts and to be honest, the last thing on my mind was to write into my blog. But didn't forget baking, I was baking a LOT of things, but it's a bit weird, I won't be able to blog about all of them as I didn't write down the recipes.That's an old same mistake. Do you know what I mean? When you find out something very good and delicious and you think, ahh, of course I will remember for this.. yeah.. somehow I always believe in that. But I never remember!:P
But I'll try to do my best..:)

Anyway. I would like to share a good news with you.
I applied for a few Scottish hotel jobs and one of my favorites answered me and wanted to have a phone interview. It went really well, but than I didn't hear back about them and after a week I was absolutely sad and depressive as I wanted this so much. AND than yesterday I got a mail and their offered me the job!
I can't find the right words to show you how happy I'm!! I was jumping and smiling like crazy in the rest of the day!:)
So, from the 16th of May, I'll be a general assistant in Kylesku hotel, far far far away in North Scotland.
That will be a perfect place to get some more hotel experience and this is very inportant to me as I have some serious plans for the future and one day, hopefully I can drive my own little castle hotel. That's my dream, that's the goal and I'll do my best to realise it!

On a boring thursday night - first video post

Haha, my accent is so funny! I always wanted to try this!:P

Never mind if you don't understand what am I talking about... I'm talking about absolutely nothing!! :D

dreams, dreams, dreams

Have you ever had a dream when you could control the happenings?

I had that last night and it was so special. I was in a situation I always wanted to be and I chose what happens next..everything was pefrect and I felt happy. Than suddenly I woke up and I was dissapointed. I wanted to continue that dream, so I tried to go back in my thoughts and continue the story line. At 5AM for more than an hour I was thinking about this dream,but thinking about it  wasn’t the same feeling anymore.

Isn’t it interesting we dream about things that we always wanted to do, but never did? And sometimes about fears…sometimes we visit the most wonderful places and sometimes dreams take us  where we never wanted to be…

Anyway still in Italy. Feeling a little ill, so no skiing today. Maybe I go for a short walk and enjoy the bright snow and sunshine…

Meals I eat here really inspire me and give me lots of ideas what to cook & bake when I get home..;) So, get prepared, delicious and healthy recipes are coming soon!:)

Hello from Sappada,Italy!

After 12 hours travelling by car, we are finally here.
Although on the whole way it seemed there will be 0 snow, finally we were just 15 minutes away from our destination when it started to snow heavily! Evertyhing is white, so don't have to worry about the upcoming days..
Anyway my biggest joy of the day was when we ate outside in the 3°C next to the car... Yeah, but the car feels good and clear!;) Ok, I stop being impish!:P My father has some interesting rules, but that's ok,I have some too!;))

And to write something about sweets: I ate tiramisu tonight and it was amazing. But have to say it was a bit too sweet for me... so, not sure I'll eat more desserts while I'm here, athough it's hard to say no, they look fab!

Ok, I have to keep this post short as I only have 3 hours internet access and  have to leave the half of it for tomorrow... it's not free...:(

Sweet dreams to everyone!

Fried apples with cinnamon & preparing for the travel

Tomorrow I'm travelling to Sappada, Italy with my parents. So, today was about preparing, make my suitcase ready...and that's all. It was kind of boring. And I say this very quietly as my lovely Mum is reading my blog, but I'm not in a mood of travelling. At least at this moment. But maybe tomorrow on our way (on our looong way) I'll feel different. And not at last, I hate to travel by car!!!!!!! Usually I feel so bad.. and it makes me tired and sleepy.
Never mind, more than 10 hours.. what's that for me!!?

But without jokes..I have to say on other hand I'm waiting  it as it seems like a perfect place to think about things which are in my mind these days.

But be back to the main topic. Sweets!
Today I prepared fried apples with cinnamon.
I have never eaten them before, so I was afraid a bit, but have to say these were TASTY!

I used 0.5kg apples (app.3 pieces)
1 egg
10 dkg graham flour
2 dl milk
a few tbs fructose
1 tbs milk sugar
a pint of salt
cinnamon
olive oil (just for the frying)

I peeled and sliced up the apples, than put a little bit of fructose on both side of the apple slices.

Than I preared the mixture from the egg, flour, milk, milk sugar, salt and a pint of cinnamon.

I plunged the apples into the mix and quickly dropped them into the hot oil and fried them until they got nice brown.

When they are ready you can put some more fructose and cinnamonon if you prefer more sweet tastes.

Honesly, I tasted only a few slices as my family ate it all!:) It's easy to destroy these yummy sweets, so you can prepare it from 1kg apple!;)

Hopefully I'll have chance to blog from Italy...I really hope so as I can live without internet just very hardly!:P

I'm singin' follow me...;)

I send this great song to all my lovely followers!! And for those who love my blog and read it... but they are still in incognito...:D So,please, FOLLOW me!
I would happily sing this by myself, but I still don't have that many followers to make a video blog!:P

Hot, Spicy, Curry Chicken

I know...I wasn't a good girl as I missed 2 days...Hope nobody starved to death without my lovely recipes! haha
But it was a testimational time, and I gladly report you that everybody's still alive and everybody liked my sweets.(hope they told the truth..;))
Today I gonna show you a real spicy food. I know it's not sweet, but I don't igsist to publish only sweets. And I have to say I'm really full of sweets and unless I want to be 365 kg for the end of the year... I should eat a little bit less. Even if these are all healthy.

So, Hot Spicy Curry Chicken:

I don't write exact quantities,just use everything to your taste, but I have to say the more you use the tastier it is!;)

- chicken fillet
- chilli
- curry
- curcuma
- parsley
- hot pepper sauce
- salt
- pepper
-olive oil

Slice up the chicken fillet into small cubes and use the spices.
For 0.5kg meat I crumble 2-3 chillies and you need just a few drops of hot pepper sauce, but if you are not really into spicy food, you can leave this ingredient. Feel free to make it to your taste.
When you are ready with the spices, pour a little olive oil on the chicken.
If you are not in rush, you can leave it for 5-10 minutes while tastes meet.
Than fry it until it has a nice goldish color.

You can eat with rice... of course brown rice!;)) But I was lazy this time, so I prepared just an easy tomato salad with balsamic vinegar.

Hope you'll enjoy it!

Graham pancakes filled with banana sauce

I have to say I've baked my "daily sweets" yesterday, but I was too tired to blog it at the evening. But here it is now.

I prepared graham pancakes with banana sauce. These pancakes are different in taste and in consistency, but if you don't wait the same taste and you're ready for something new, than do not hesitate to try out this recipe!

What you need:
(to make app. 12 pancakes)

20 dkg graham flour
2 eggs
3 dl milk
1.5 dl mineral water
1 tbs milk sugar
a pint of salt
2 tbs olive oil + for the frying

Mix the flour, eggs, salt, milk sugar and oil. Than add continuously the milk and finally the water. When it's totally smooth leave it for at least 5-10 minutes. Than you can start baking in a frying pan.

My advice: when I mixed everything, I checked the mixture. It's a good idea to make a "test baking" so if the pancake is too thick, you can add some more milk & water. As graham flour is absolutely different than white flour, this time I had to add some more liquid into the mixture.

Banana sauce:
to fill 6 pancakes

2 bananas
5-6 tbs agave syrup or honey
5 tbs water

Slice up the bananas and put them with all the other ingredients into a frying pan and fry them on medium temperature. Mix them continuously until you get a sauce like marmelade.

Fill the pencakes and enjoy! Serve them hot! You can pour some agave syrup or honey on them.

Sour cherry pie - lazy day

Ok, after a lazy day, I decided it's time to follow my decision about baking..  but today just something easy & quick!
So, what else could be easier than a pie!
I LOVE sour cherry pie. And that's a shame, because that means I can eat it all! But a good tip to avoid this: freeze at least the half of it, so you rescue yourself and some spare pie can be great later when you have some unexpected guests!;)

Let's start it:
You need:
1 yogurt
2 yogurt glass of graham flour
1/2 y.g. of milk sugar
3/4 y.g. of olive oil
4 tablespoon agave syrup (if you don't have it, replace it with honey at your taste)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
app. 400 g sour cherry

Mix everything together, except the sour cherries.

Than butter a baking sheet. (maybe you'll need more than one, it depends on the size.)
Usually I prefer thin pie, so that's an other reason why do I take it into more baking sheets.
Than put the half cherries on the top of it.

Finally bake it until it gets nice goldish brown. (I started to bake it on 170°C, than finished it on a 190°C, but my experience is that every oven is different, at home usually I burn everything!!)

Finally I had so many pasta that I baked also a portion of banana pie. You have to try it,it's great!! Instead of cherry, you put banana slices to the top and if you dribble it with some agave syrup or honey, than banana won't get dry!!

Enjoy!
Mines are just ready!! And yumm, they are delicious.;)

Currant muesli slices with the smell of raspberry & caramel

I promised myself and now I promise you too (to my 0 readers:)) that I gonna puplish 365 recipes this year.
So today, on the 2nd of January, here is my second helathy sweetness recipe!
Easy peasy, deliciuos, light and healthy!
Here it is:
1 cup of wheat flakes (I used honey flavoured ones)
1/2 cup of corn flakes
1/2 cup of dinkel crunchy (or any kind of mixed muesli)
1 tbs of honey
2 - 3 tbs of milk sugar
2 tea bags of raspberry- caramel tea (or any kind of fruit tea for your taste, but NO black tea)
6 tbs of currant (or be creative:))

Make tea from the 2 tea bags. We make it from 2 just because of the strong flavour.

Mix everything together,use only 1/4 cup from the tea into the mix!!

Leave it for at least 5 minutes, this way the flakes get wet.
Than put them into the muesli baker and bake them for 15 minutes, than turn them and bake the other side for 5-10 minutes.

This time I baked them for 25 minutes without turning them and they bacame a bit burned, so that's why I advise you to bake them on the other way.
Take them out when they are ready, leave them for 5 minutes while they become crunchy.
Enjoy!:)

P.S.: If you don't have a muesli baker, make longish heaps in a baking sheet, do not forget to use baking paper. And bake them on medium temperature, but this way the length of baking can change, check them continuously.

1st of January: started with Caramel frutties

Do you know the feeling when you're staring the shelf of sweets in the shop and your eyes stuck on the unhelathiest butter caramels (ok, I don't know the exact world for these in english, maybe fudge is more exact, athough these taste a bit different) ? My answer is absolutly YES!
I'm addicted to caramel, but I never bought them without pangs of conscience!:)

I want to concience that every meals and sweets have a healthier version.
That statement made me wanna create the new version of these caramel sweets and here they are: I called them "caramel frutties" as their taste really reminds me of the tutti frutti candies you can buy in shops.

I tell you what did I exactly make, but I warn you, I baked just a small portion, that's why I used a bit weird quantity from every ingridients.

Let's start it. What you need:
150 ml yogurt (app. 10 big tablespoon)
150 g fructose (app. 7.5 tbs)
a half tbs of honey
a big pinch of salt

You'll need also a pot of water with ice.

Pour all the ingridiens into a pot and start to heat it up on middle degree.

Counting from the boiling it took me app. 35-40 minuntes to make it ready. Do not forget to mix it continuously. I was in a panic when it didn't seem to work, but be patient, after 20-25 min you'll see how it gets darker and thicker.

If you are not sure if it's ready or not, drop a little bit of caramel into the icy water and if it falls to pieces, it still needs some time.

Ok, you'll think I'm mental, but I didn't have ice in the freezer, so I used some snow! haha Why not, be creative!;)
Anyway.. So if it's ready, place baking paper into a flat baking tin or baking sheet or whatever.. it's not the most important in my opinion!:) And butter the paper. ( My kitchen was out of baking paper, I just buttered a plastic bowl and it worked)
Pour the caramel into the baking tin. Optimally you have to make it app. 2 cm thick.

Leave it in the fridge for a few hours. I've already tasted it after 2 hours, so it doesn't need too much time.If you don't have so much time, than take it to the freezer.
Finally slice it up into small cubes and enjoy!!

P.S.: Next time I'll try to replace the half of the fructose with milk sugar which is even more healthy and less sweet.
Did you know that milk sugar can be used also in anti candida diets?