Happy Birthday Chef Robert: Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake

Bonjour Y'all....

It is another beautiful day because it is my papa's B-day! I don't think he will be very thrilled with my announcing this tiny fact on the world wide web, but what he doesn't know- yet - is that this post is my birthday present to him!!!!

My papa is cool! I am proud that he is my dad, because he is a succesful, inspiring and wise man with patience and advice at any time of the day. He is my 'go to' in a million different situations and talking to him makes me think twice about whatever is bothering me - saves the € on a shrink eh?! Lucky me! Anyways, he has made his life his own, doesn't mind what others think, all the while remaining the most respectful man I know. I don't think I have ever seen him being rude or angry to anyone (outside of the house), and that makes him an inspiration.

Most importantly, I can share my love and passion for food and wine with him. I will never forget one of the best summers of my life where I spent a month at my parents house in Brussels because of several non- important-to-mention reasons. Many would ask me: 'seriously?? and you enjoyed this?', and I would honestly answer 'YES!' My daily tasks consisted of: sleeping in, breakfasting, choosing recipes to cook, do groceries, tan, walk the dog, sleep some more, read and start cooking.... and drinking once my dad came home and got the bottle of wine to match dinner from the wine cellar'. My idea of a SPA!

The coolest part is that I can enjoy lots of wine with my dad! How many peeps can say that? Priceless are the moments I spent in the garden, on a terrace, in a restaurant getting tipsy with my paps and talking about literally everything in life.

Dad, you're cool and I love you and I am proud to be your daughter!
Happy happy happy birthday!

A birthday deserves a birthday cake:

Ingredients:

• 200gr softened butter
• 200gr bio sugar
• 4 eggs
• 200gr whole weat flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 12gr baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250gr strawberries chopped in little pieces
• 200gr chocolate chips

How to make it:
Start by heating up the oven at 170-180 degrees Celcius.
Grease a circular cake form of circa 24 cm diameter, with some extra butter.
Mix the butter and sugar into a light creamy mixture - make sure you use a big bowl because you need to mix in many ingredients.
After which you add the eggs one by one mixing while you add them.
At this point you add the flower and baking powders into the bowl. Mix well but not too long, as you don't want the cake to become too tall by rising too much.
At the very end, you mix in the strawberries and chocolate chips. Do this manually because if you use an electric mixer you will squash the fresh strawberries and that would be a shame.
Pour the mixture into you cake shape and place it in the preheated oven
Usually it takes around 30-40 minutes to bake a cake, but this one needed an hour because of the wet ingredients. Use pin to check when it's ready - if it comes out clean, it's done!

Outcome: MMMMMMMMMM.... one of the best inventions I have ever created. And many people, whom I made eat the cake can testify! The only thing that bothered me was that the strawberries en choc chips sank to the bottom instead of spread out in the cake --> any suggestions on what I can do to prevent this from happening?????

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake

Buon Appetito

Chef Steph

Lemon Muffins

It's sunny, life is good and that deserves some happy cooking.
What makes you happy?? 

Yellow makes me happy and well answer me this: what is a happier color than yellow????
Yellow stands for creative and intellectual energy, it symbolizes wisdom, means joy and happiness. People of high intellect appearently favour yellow, maybe because it is linked to gold and smart people want the money money money.... lalala... money money money! Yeah yeah money might not be the only thing that makes you happy - cos food already does - but it is an important factor to happiness - how else are you going to buy that food that will really make you happy?
Back to yellow....  Yellow brings clarity and awareness. It helps you make decisions and gives relief to those who suffer from burnouts, panic, nervousness and exhaustion. Furthermore it stimulates your concentration skills and therefore sharpens up your memory.
Makes me think of why, unconsciously I have been wearing lots of yellow lately, and reading the above, I realise it has actually helped a lot. My mind IS clearer, decisions have been made and I am smiling and bubbeling again. It might have been the clothes, but it might also have been the LEMON MUFFINS!!!!! My god were those babies good. I will no longer withhold you with my psycho-babble and just give you the recipe alright.

I got these from the BBC Food site made by James Martin. Tweaked it here and there with my own healthy freakness - but didn't change the taste a bit.

Ingredients: for 9-10 muffins

• 2 eggs beaten 
• 85gr brown bio sugar
• 240ml half full fat milk
• 100ml vegetable oil - sunflower oil
• 300gr wholeweat flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 4 biological lemons, zest only

How to make it:

Heat the oven up to 200 degrees Celcius, grease up the muffin cups or use paper cases. 

As all muffins, the trick is to prepare the wet ingredients seperately from the dry ones and then once you are done, you mix them all together.

Wet ingredients: mix the egg, sugar, milk and oil in a large bowl.

Dry ingredients: mix the flour, baking powder, salt and add the lemon zest.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix roughly. Don't mix too much as you don't want too much air to get into the mixture as that will stop them from rise the way they should.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and put them in the heated oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen and golden.

Take them out and cool them on a wire rack - if you can resist.

Outcome: Happy happy happy happiness!!! 

Lemon Muffins

Buon Appetito

Chef Steph

Classic: Whole Weat Choc Chip Cookies

Chef Stephanie ..... I made em!!!!!! After 3 batches... they finally turned out good! Still not Chocolate Chip Perfection, but heck Rome wasn't built in a day right??? Guess it's going wrong in the substitution of normal flour with whole weat flour, but it's what I had at home at the moment of baking.
As they say here : 'eh beh pazienza'! aka: 'ah well, be patient!' This international Cooking Club might even become a language cooking school... ouh not to bad of an idea actually!!! What do you think??
Original recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies Take Two


Ingredients:

• 125gr all purpose flour (I used whole weat flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 113gr Cream Butter
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 165 gr Light Brown Sugar
• 1 egg
• 200gr Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 60gr chopped Walnuts

How to make it:

Blend flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter with vanilla extract.  Add brown sugar and continue to blend.  Add egg and blend thoroughly.  Then add dry mixture gradually.

Fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts.  Drop by Tablespoonfulls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake in a pre-heated 190° degree oven for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown. WARNING: DO NOT KEEP THEM ANY LONGER AS THEY WILL GET CRISPY WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OUT!!! 

Let rest on pan after removed from oven for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to wax paper or wire rack to cool.  ENJOY!!

Here is the outcome of my version of Steph's Beauties

'Healthy' Chocolate Chip Cookies

ENJOY

Chef Stephanie & Steph

Another Shot At Muffins: Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

I never give up a battle!
My last muffins were good but there was definitely some space for improvement. So today I gave it another shot. This time however I gave them the good old fashioned chocolate/vanilla twist!
And guess what??.... I WON the battle!!!!

Have a look at this beauty

Ingredients:

• 50 gr oat meal 
• 150 gr whole grain spelt flour 
• 50 gr flaxseed
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1,5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 10 gr vanilla sugar
• 50 gr brown sugar
• 250 ml milk
• 100gr crushed 85% chocolate

What to do:

Whisk together the dry ingredients : oat meal, spelt flour, flaxseed, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla powder.

Then beat up the eggs, add the oil and sugars (vanilla and brown), afterwhich you stir in the milk.

Once both mixes ready, stir in the wet mix into the dry mix. Make sure it gets a nice homogenous mixture and that you let in some air while stirring.

At the end you add the crushed chocolate and give it another good stir.

Put the mixture into buttered or slightly oiled muffin cups.... 20 min in the oven and voila!!!

Outcome: DUHLICIOUS!!!! Ask Chef Robert!! 

BUON APPETITO

Chef Steph

Healthy Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Oat Bran Apple Cinnamon Muffins

When sick, or when training for a marathon like I'm doing, you are always at the look out for good but healthy foods in order to fuel your body with things it needs.
My latest trend is to buy a big bag of apples that are on offer in my supermarket: peel them, cut them into pieces and make a nice apple compote out of them! Healthy, sweet without any guilt!!!

Last sunday, I thought to use this home made compote in some healthy muffins. So I looked for a recipe and found one on the womenhealthmag.com, the site of Women's Health Magazine.

Oat Bran Apple Cinnamon Muffins - to make 12 muffins:
http://recipes.womenshealthmag.com/Recipe/apple-cinnamon-oat-bran-muffins.aspx

These baked beauties are a cardiologist's dream food--the pectin fiber in apples, the oat bran, and the vitamin E-rich canola oil are loved by docs because together they lower both total and LDL cholesterol and keep insulin and blood sugar levels under control. But protecting yourself against heart disease won't even cross your mind when this dessert-worthy combo of apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg hits your taste buds. Too yummy to be typecast as breakfast muffins, they can be popped anytime for a filling and satisfying bite.

Ingredients:

• 50gr oat bran
• 150 gr whole weat flour
• 50 gr flaxseed
• 1teaspoon baking soda
• 1,5 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 4 tbs canola oil
• 55 gr brown sugar
• 100 gr apple compote
• 30 gr walnuts or pecans crushed

What to do:
The trick of muffins is to mix the dry ingredients together and the wet ingredients together, and only then you gently stirr them in together before pooring them into the muffin cups.

So in this case:

Heat oven to 170 C.

Mix oat bran, whole weat flour, flaxseed, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon together in a bowl.

In another bowl whisk together the egg and the oil, after which you add the sugar and apple compote.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and add the crushed nuts.

Poor the batter in the muffin cups and put into an oven for 20-25 mins.

The outcome: the taste was good but they needed to get a little bigger. Any tips??

BUON APPETITO

Chef Stef