Cannot Live without Sweets

Bagel

2013-03-19T04:39:00.001+09:00

Last year I found out to be pregnant and so happy! But during my pregnancy I had no problem with any food but sweets!!! So I did not feel to cook any and either write this blog. Naturally the body changes and only accepts what baby needs?

Anyway my baby was born without any problem and I started to feel to eat sweets again. It makes me happy but I read an article about "Glycation", which is one of biggest cause of aging(>_<). So for me and for my baby, I try to cook sweets with less calorie and sugar.

Today I made Bagel I hooked on recently.

<Recipe>

Flour 150g
Whole wheat　　100g
Dry yeast 　5g
Salt 　　　　　　　　5g
Beet sugar　　　　12g
Water　　　　　　140g

1.　Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix them.
2.　Once mixed, put the dough on the board and knead it until it becomes smooth (around 15min).
3.　Roll the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl with the film, and leave it to be fermented (around 1hour to be double).
4.　Punch the dough down, cut it into 4 pieces and roll them into a ball.
5.　Leave them for 10 min.
6.　Press the dough to flatten, fold 1/3 of top and down to the centre, close the seam using the fingers and roll the dough into a shape of a rod.
7.　Joint the both ends to make a circle (wrap one end with another end).
8.　Prepare 4 of 10cmX10cm cooking sheet and place each dough on it.
9.　Boil water in a pan with 20g of sugar and boil the dough with cooking sheet (1min per side).
10.　Drain off the water and bake them in the oven with 200℃ for 15 minutes.

If you cannot find beet sugar, you can use sugar but I recommend to try maple syrup.
You can replace 10g of flour with 1 table spoon of cocoa, matcha, hojicha powder etc. to enjoy different taste.

Try lots of variations of filling as well♪

Bon profit!!!

Refreshing Strawberry Mouse

2012-05-26T21:21:00.004+09:00

Suddenly we concluded to invite my husband's family for Sunday lunch.
This time, he was in charge of food and me, pan & dessert.
As our kitchen was not very big, I had to finish my task to let him start, so I immediately got on.

Since I had strawberry pure done, I decided to make Strawberry Mouse as dessert.

It is so light and refreshing, we can eat easily even on a full stomach.

＜Recipe＞

Strawberry pure　   160g
Sugar   　　　　　　   　25g
Powdered gelatin 　 6g
Fresh cream   　　　 200g
Strawberry　　　　　 some

Strawberry sauce
（You can make it by boiling strawberry pure 100g + sugar 20g in a pan）

1.　Put strawberry pure and sugar in a pan, heat it until start bubbling the surface then remove from the heat.
2.　Make gelatin soft by soaking in 1 spoon of water, add it into 1 and mix them.
3.　Once gelatin is mixed, pour the mixture into a bowl and apply ices around the bowl to cool the mixture.
4.　Whip the cream until soft peak stage.
5.　Check if 3 is not hot any more, add 1 part of whipped cream into 3 and mix, then pour this mixture into the rest of whipped cream and mix.
6.　Pour the mixture into glass cups and let them cool in a fridge.(if you add some cut strawberries in the mouse, we can feel more strawberry♪）
7.　Before serving, pour strawberry sauce on a top and place some strawberries.

I was in a hurry to make it, so the surface was quite rough, sorry!
But this mouse has lots of Vitamin C + antioxidant, so it can be recommended to everyone!

Bon profit!!!

Cafeteria in Barcelona - 2. PAUL

2012-05-16T23:02:00.002+09:00

Cafeteria where I was visiting often when I was in Japan was PAUL, and in Barcelona I am still visiting.

Also my husband brings me Macaron from PAUL when he gets back from business trip via Paris so that I can enjoy cafe time with some of them at home.
（Normally they are from PAUL, not from Ladurée, which can be for only special occasion...(>_<) so, I usually derive happiness from PUAL's one...）

I had eaten one before taking the photo!

Today I prepared Matcha Latte.
Taking Matcha which helps burn fat and prevent from absorbing oil makes me feel less guilty to enjoy sweets...

There is a space to sit and eat, so it is quite convenient if you are a bit hungry in Barcelona.

PAUL
Calle Rosselló 235
08008, Barcelona (Barcelona)
Very near from Provença station.

Bon profit!!!

Doughy Bread with Rice flour

2012-05-03T18:17:00.001+09:00

These days are Golden Week Holidays in Japan.
It seems the weather is not very nice but I hope they are having lovely holidays.

Today I made bread again.

In Spain, we have about 20minutes break for breakfast at around 10:00-11:00.
(In Japan also we had snack time at 10:00, didn't we? Or still have?)
So around this time, Cafeterias are full of people with suit, and who seem to work near, etc.
If you are in a queue in, for example municipal office, you can notice that there are less workers around this time. Even though so many people are waiting!
Of course, we can be tired to go to Cafeteria everyday, or we cannot find any near the office, so there are lots of people who make and bring their sandwich.

Mine is one of them(Sometimes he has croissant and cafe con leche and makes me envy him).
So for his breakfast, what I made was Doughy Bread(Mochi mochi Pan/Pan Pastoso) with Soy milk and Rice flour.

＜Recipe＞
Strong flour　　　　200g
Rice flour　　　　　　50g
Sugar       　　　　　　12g
Salt      　　　　　　　　4g
Dry yeast      　　　　 3g
Soy milk 　　　　　175g
Butter        　　　　　15g

1.　Mix flours, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl.
2.　Add lukewarm soy milk to 1 and mix them roughly.
3.　Whip room temperature butter until becomes white.
4.　Add 3 to 2 and mix them, then put the dough on the board and knead until becomes smooth.
5.　Roll the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl, wrap the bowl with the film, and leave it to be fermented (I put less yeast so the fermentation takes longer, so leave until becomes double).
6.　Punch the dough down, cut it into 6 pieces, roll them into a ball and leave them for 15 min.
7.　Flat the dough, fold 1/3 of top and down to the centre, and also fold 1/3 of both sides to the centre.
8.　Place the folded dough seam-side down on your left hand, and roll it into a smooth ball straining softly the dough from the top to the down by your right hand, seam the down using fingers and place them on the baking pan with cooking sheet.
9.　Cut the centre until 2-3mm from the bottom so that the 2 parts are not separated.
10.　Leave them to be fermented (around 1 hr).
11.　Bake them in the oven with 200℃ for 15 minutes。

So your croissant breakfast is postponed for a while♪

Bon profit!!!

Macrobiotic Strawberry Cupcake full of Strawberries

2012-04-30T16:31:00.003+09:00

As I made big quantity of strawberry pure the other day, I have decided to bake Macrobiotic Strawberry Cupcake full of Strawberries.

This oil-free sponge is low in calories, and doughy like steamed cake due to rice flour.

＜Recipe＞

－Cake－
Rice flour 　　　            100g
Strong flour 　　　　　　　20g
Baking powder 　　           2 tea spoons
Salt　　　　　　　　　　　　   a pinch

Soy milk　　　　　           30g
Strawberry pure 　　　　120g
Maple syrup 　　        　　70g
1.　Mix all sifted flours in a bowl.
2.　Mix all liquid ingredients in another bowl.
3.　Add 2 to 1 and mix them.
4.　Pour the mixture in 6 molds for muffins and bake them in a oven with 170℃ for around 30 minutes.

－Soy milk cream－
Soy milk 　　　              150g
Strawberry pure            150g
Kanten 　　　　　　　           3 tea spoons
Maple syrup 　　             45g
Rice syrup                      45g
kudzu　　　　　　　           15g
Salt                                a pinch

1.　Put all ingredients in a pan and heat it while stirring with a spatula for 3 minutes.
2.　Pour 1 in a plate and leave it to be cooled.
3.　Once cooled, stir with mixer or beater to make the smooth cream.
Squeeze the cream out on the cooled cupcakes.

It is just me who think this pink colour cake is so cute??? (At least my husband doesn't)

Bon profit!!!

Strawberry Cake full of Strawberries

2012-04-26T20:46:00.000+09:00

Strawberry is in season! It is a wonderful time for strawberry lovers.
Today I bought 2kg of strawberries, which was turned into strawberry pure, and I made a sweet for Strawberry Lovers(It is me), Strawberry Cake full of Strawberries.
Naming is not wonderful though...

Sponge did not come in pink as imagined, but we can feel Strawberry from everywhere and enjoy spring, and also get a benefit of rich Vitamin C♪

＜Recipe＞

－Sponge－
Egg　　　　　　　　　　　 3
Sugar 　　　　　　　　　60g
Flour 　　　　　　　　　75g
Strawberry pure 60g

1.　Whip eggs and sugar until becomes white and fluffy but thick enough to leave the pattern when drop the mixture on the surface.
2.　Add sifted flour and mix them like cutting the flour into 1.
3.　Add strawberry pure and mix them from the bottom.
4.　Pour 3 in a rectangular mold(around 40X20cm) with baking sheet and bake it in a oven with 180℃ for 20 minutes.

－Cream－
Fresh cream　　　120g
Sugar 　　　　　　　 10g

1.　Whip the cream with sugar.

－Strawberry sauce－
Strawberry pure　　100g
Sugar 　　　　　　　　 20g

1.　Heat strawberry pure and sugar in a pan.

Once sponge becomes cold, cut into 1/3, cover the surface with the whipped cream, put the strawberries, put the other slice on it(repeat twice) and cover with whipped cream and later strawberry sauce and decorate with strawberries.

Bon profit!!!

Hot Chocolate with Matcha

2012-04-24T18:31:00.000+09:00

It was a few years ago when I found a news "White Cocoa had come to market!" on the web. As soon as I read this, I decided to buy it and try Matcha Hot Chocolate.

I love the combination of Matcha and Chocolate and also do most of Spanish people. But if we mix Matcha with normal chocolate, we cannot enjoy the beatuful green colur of Matcha and it is a pity. So to make sweets, we should add white chocolate but to make a drink??? Then here we have White Cocoa to solve this problem!

So I bought it.

I can see the seeds of vanilla beans in white cocoa and it looks so delicious as it is.
But if we add Matcha, and moreover, if we drink it in the morning, it would be much better for our body, mind and brain♪

I added TEA TIME MATCHA, the organic one from The Matcha House.

Delicate sweetness of White Cocoa goes well with Matcha and it tastes as nice as expected.

＜Recipe＞
White Cocoa　　　4 tea spoons
Matcha 　　　　　 1 tea spoon
Hot milk 　160g

1.　Put white cocoa and sifted Matcha in a cup.
2.　Heat milk just before it boils, pour in a cup and mix well.

* If you cannot find White Cocoa, you can make Matcha Latte, dissolving 1 tea spoon of Matcha in 20-30g of hot water, and add hot milk and mix them well. You may add sugar or honey as you like.

Bon profit!!!

Cafeteria in Barcelona - 1. CUP&CAKE

2012-04-21T21:30:00.001+09:00

Cupcake once again.

It was around 3 years ago when I met Cupcake first time.
When I was walking near Provença, in Barcelona, I found this Cupcake shop, CUP&CAKE.
They were too cute to ignore, so I bought them. But I didn't imagine they would be this popular everywhere!

Here is the shop information:

CUP&CAKE
Enric Granados, 145
Barcelona

C/Tallers 79
Barcelona
New cafeteria is opened near Plaça de Universitat.

Bon profit!!!

Cupcake with Cream Cheese frost

2012-04-20T17:42:00.000+09:00

Cupcake again!

I love butter but butter cream is not my favorite, so I didn't feet to make any cupcake, but they are sooooooooooo cute!
So, after Macrobiotic version, I decided to make Cupcake with Cream Cheese frost(queso cremoso).
Moreover, instead of butter I added olive oil to the sponge and sour cream to the cream.
So it makes the cake low in calories;-)
Butter is rich in saturated fatty acid, on the contrary major part of olive oil is unsaturated fatty acid(olein acid), which has effect to lower only LDL(bad cholesterol) and is recommended to use for cooking. Of course you should not take too much even it is good oil for our health, because oil is oil!

＜Recipe＞

－Sponge－
Olive oil     　　 90g
Yogurt　　　　 125g
Sugar 　　　　　 80g
Egg　　　　　　　 2
Flour　　　　　 140g
Cocoa 　　　　　 10g
Baking powder　1 tea spoon
Chocolate   　　 45g

1.　Mix olive oil and yogurt in a bowl.
2.　Add sugar and mix.
3.　Add 1 egg and mix(X 2).
4.　Add sifted flours and mix.
5.　Melt chocolate in a microwave or by putting the bowl in hot water, and add and mix.
6.　Pour the mixture in muffin molds and bake them in a oven with 180℃ for 20 minutes.

You will have around 12 cakes.

－Cream－
Cream cheese　120g
Sour cream   　　70g
Powder sugar 　50g

1.　Leave cream cheese with room temperature to be soften, then add sour cream and mix them.
2.　Add powder sugar and mix them.

This time I made 4 colours, so added Green： Matcha 1 tea spoon, Brown： Cocoa 2 tea spoons, Pink： Raspberry jam 2 tea spoons, White： Lemon juice 2 tea spoons in 1/4 of cream respectively.
And squeeze the cream on the cooled cake.

My favorite was Raspberry cream, but among others Matcha one was the most popular
Matcha is good for health so it is like killing two birds with one stone?

Following the article of Nikkei Health, I also added Matcha in Omelet. Lots of vegetable, too.

If you take Matcha from morning, it shows a diet effect due to its promotion of fat burning and inhibition of fat absorption. I will try to have Matcha Latte instead of Cafe Latte from tomorrow♪

Bon profit!!!

Macrobiotic Cupcakes

2012-04-19T17:31:00.002+09:00

I had been trying several Macrobiotic cake recipes, and this time I decided to make Cupcakes, which were also very popular in Spain.
Cupcakes are sooooooooooo cute! With so many colour! (Mine didn't come out like that though...)
So, if I pass by some shops with Cupcakes, my eyes are fixed upon those colourful, lovely cakes, and I am drawn to them. But normally those cute & colourful cream are butter one, which are not my favorite, so I am disappointed once I bite it. I should love butter cream!
But, if it is macrobiotic one, the cream is not butter one but soy milk! I didn't have any food colouring, so I made 2 colours with Matcha and Cocoa.
Obviously I need to practice the decoration, but soy milk cream was quite nice, and it was my first time, so I should be fine with them.

＜Recipe＞

－Cake－
Whole wheat flour 　　　30g
Wheat flour 　　　　　　　60g
Almond powder    　　　30g
Baking powder      　　    2 tea spoons
Salt　　　　　　　　　　　　 a pinch

Olive oil            　　　　　25g
Soy milk 　　　　　　　　125g
Maple syrup         　　　　60g
Vanilla essence　　　         2 tea spoons

1.　Mix all sifted flours in a bowl.
2.　Mix all liquid ingredients in another bowl.
3.　Add 2 to 1 and mix them.
4.　Pour the mixture in 6 molds for muffins and bake them in a oven with 170℃ for around 20 minutes.

－Soy milk cream－
Soy milk     　　　 300g
kudzu　　　　　　　 12g
Kanten 　　　　　　　3g
Maple syrup     　　70g
Vanilla essence　　 2 tea spoons

1.　Put all ingredients in a pan and heat it while stirring with a spatula for 3 minutes.
2.　Pour 1 in a plate and leave it to be cooled.
3.　Once cooled, stir with mixer or beater to make the smooth cream.

* If you want to have different colour or taste, you can add Matcha, Cocoa etc. when you stir the cream with mixer or beater.
I added 1 tea spoon of Matcha, and 2 tea spoons of Cocoa.

And squeeze the cream out on the cupcakes once cooled.

Bon profit!!!

Matcha Pound Cake - OIL FREE -

2012-04-17T05:06:00.002+09:00

JAZZ FESTIVAL is taking place every year, around March, in Terrassa, and normally there is PICNIC JAZZ on the 3rd Sunday. That day, the stage is set up in Parc Vallparadís, and lots of people are coming with foods and drinks to enjoy Jazz in the open air.
Of course, food stands are set up, too so you can buy beer(cerveza), hot dog(perro caliente! as it sounds), sandwich(bocadillo) etc., but this year we decided to prepare Lunch Box with our friends.
She said to bring quiche. I love quiche! But then we have enough butter there, so mine was OIL FREE Menu: Roll SUSHI and Matcha Pound Cake.
As I neither use butter nor 1 pound of each ingredients, shouldn't I call it Pound Cake...

By the way, Matcha has effect to prevent from absorbing oil you take, and also rich fiber Matcha contains promotes bowel peristalsis and help oil egest!
You can see more detail Nikkei Health HP (sorry only in Japanese...)

＜Recipe＞

Egg　　　　　　2
Sugar　　　　60g
Honey 　40g
Soy milk 　50g
Flour 　　120g
Matcha　　　1 Spoon

1.　Whip yolks and 30g of sugar until becomes white.
2.　Mix honey and soy milk, and add to 1.
3.　Whip egg whites and 30g of sugar until becomes meringue.
4.　Add 1/3 of meringue to 2 and mix.
5.　Add sifted flours to 4 and mix.
6.　Add 1/3 of meringue to 5 and mix, and add the rest and mix as well.
7.　Pour the mixture in a mold for pound cake with baking sheet, and bake it in a oven with 170℃ for around 30minute.

* I added remained Red Beans again... (Persistent? This time I finished;-)).

It was not really Pound Cake but suited with Muscatel♪

Bon profit!!!

Braided bread(Pan de trenza)

2012-04-13T23:04:00.000+09:00

Normal bread becomes cuter if we make it into a braid.
So today I have baked Braided bread (Pan de trenza), and made some sandwiches for lunch.
I used Soy milk instead of normal milk so that the bread became more doughy.
If it is sunny and warm, it is nice to go to a park for a picnic with sandwiches.
Thinking of Japan with beautiful streets with cherry blossoms...

＜Recipe＞

Strong flour　200g
Wheat flour 　50g
Sugar      　　 12g
Dry yeast     　 5g
Soy milk 　　 160g
Salt 　　　　　　　5g
Butter　　　　　 15g

1.　Mix flour, sugar, yeast, soy milk(40℃) and salt.
2.　Once mixed, add butter(room temperature) and mix them.
3.　Knead it on the table.
4.　Leave it to be fermented(around 1hour until the volume is doubled)
5.　Remove the gas, form into a ball once again and leave it for 15minutes.
6.   Divide the dough into 8 pieces, press each piece with a hand to flatten into a triangle shape.
7.   At 1 cm below the corner of triangle(you have to keep this 1 cm triangle), start to make 2 lengthwise cut in to have 3 strings of dough which are still together on the top, and make them into a braid(fold the end into the backside).
9.　Sift flour on the top and leave them to be fermented. (Until doubled, around 1 hour)
10.　Once fermented, bake them in the oven(180℃ for 15minutes)

This time, I made Smoke salmon + Mayonnaise and Ham + Mayonnaise sandwiches.

I baked ham mayo sandwiches in the toaster for 5minutes.
Once baked mayonese tastes nicer♪

Bon profit!!!

Chiffon cake - OIL FREE -

2012-04-12T05:16:00.001+09:00

As I could not find any mold for chiffon cake(chifón) around here, when I went back to Japan, I took one from home and started to make it in Spain.
We don't see a lot this kind of fluffy texture cake in Spain, and our family and friends who tasted it for the first time loved it.

This time I made Hojicha chiffon cake with HOJICHA Powder currently I was into.
Hojicha is made from Japanese green tea by roasting the tea leaves and turning them into brown color. It has less caffein and mild taste so we can drink even before sleeping. Of course it is nice to drink as tea but so different to cook something with the powder and I love to make cake using it.

Moreover, we are recently little bit worried about our belly, so I made oil-free version.
I was not sure, but the result was quite fine♪ So please try it!

＜Recipe＞

Yolk　　　　　　　　　　　　 5
Sugar　　　　　　　　　　　50g
Water　　　　　　　　　　　 50g
Milk 　　　　　　　　　　　50g
Flour 　　　　　　　　　　　70g
Hojicha powder　　　　　　5g
Baking powder 　 1 tea spoon
Egg white 　　　　　　　　　 5
Sugar　　　　　　　　　　　 50g

1.　Whip yolks and sugar in a bowl until becomes white.
2.　Add water and milk mixed in advance into 1 and mix them.
3.　Add sifted flours and mix them.
4.　Make meringue whipping egg whites and sugar.
5.　Add 1/3 of meringue into 3 and mix them. （Repeat 2 times more）
6.　Once mix the mixture and all meringue, pour the mixture into a chiffon cake mold (around 20cm diameter) and bake it in a oven with 170℃ for around 40 minutes.
7. Once baked, turn the mold upside down and leave it until becomes cold.
(Like below ↓)

8. When the cake cools down, remove it from the mold cutting the sponge along the mold carefully using a slim long nife(first outside of the sponge, separate the exterior and cut the down and the last medial side).

Red beans I made was remained, so I added them.

Bon profit!!!

Cake Salé

2012-04-10T21:14:00.000+09:00

It is not sweet but this time I made Cake Salé(salty pastel)...

Because Spanish people (or Catalunya people) customarily eat Mona, traditional sweet, on the last Monday(used to be Sunday) of Easter Holiday（Semana Santa）, and of course we are no exception.
It seems there are basically 2 types of Mona, brioche type like Tortell for Christmas and sponge one, and the most traditional one is decorated with butter cream which is not popular among our family, so this year my mother-in-law brought egg cream(? like adding more yolk to custard cream) version.
Normally Godfather(Padrino) and Godmother(Madrina) present Mona to their godchildren(ahijado/a). But as we are all adult, now my mother-in-law is in charge of buying Mona for us.

Generally the cake has egg shaped chocolate or baby chick but this time there was bear!

So we were in charge of cooking.

Main dish was Roast Chicken and we started with Cake Salé.

Cake Salé with lots of vegetable was very well recieved♪

＜Recipe＞

Egg　　　　　　　　 2
Olive oil 　　　　 70g
Milk　　　　　　 130g
Flour　　　　　　 150g
Baking powder　 2 tea spoons
Salt&pepper

Onion　　　　　　　1
Cherry tomato 　 10
Bacon　　　　　　　4 slices
Mushroom　　　　6
Cheese 　　　　　60g

1.　Whip eggs until become white and fluffy.
2.　Add olive oil and milk, which are mixed in advance, to 1 and mix them.
3.　Add sifted flour and salt&pepper and mix.
4.　Cut onion, bacon, mushroom into thin slices and tomato in half.
5.　Grate or cut cheese you like(Parmigiano, Gruyère, Chedder or etc.) into small pieces and add with 4 into 3, and mix them roughly.
6.　Pour the mixture into a mold for pound cake and bake it in a oven with 170℃ for around 50 minutes.

Bon profit!!!

Strawberry Shortcake

2012-04-07T23:43:00.000+09:00

Speaking of strawberry, we should not forget Strawberry shortcake！
In Japan, it is the essential sweet for Birthday, Christmas, etc.♪

I have made several of them for our family, relatives, friends for this Christmas.
Even though we are in Spain, these days we are celebrating events, like Birthday and Christmas with Strawberry shortcake as in Japan.
I want to eat more while we can find strawberry！
With Calon-Ségur we received and heart shape candle my brother's wife made...

＜Recipe＞

－Sponge　18㎝ X 1－
Egg　            　　　3
Sugar　　　           75g
Vanilla essence  2-3 drops
Flour　                 80g
Butter             　　20g

－Cream－
Fresh cream　300cc
Sugar 　　　　　 30g

1.　Whip eggs and sugar until becomes white and fluffy but thick enough to leave the pattern when drop the mixture on the surface.
2.　Add vanilla essence and mix them.
3.　Add sifted flour and mix them like cutting the flour into the 2.
4.　Add melted butter and mix them from the bottom.
5.　Pour 4 in the mold buttered and floured and bake it in a oven with 170℃ for 30 minutes.
6.　Once becomes cold, cut into half, cover the surface with the whipped cream, put the strawberries, put the other slice on it and decorated with whipped cream and strawberries.

* If you apply the syrup (water 30ml+sugar 10g+liquor like kirsch 10g）, the cake will be more moist and delicious.

Bon profit!!!

Cafeteria in Madrid - 4th Recommendation - Living in London

2012-04-05T01:18:00.000+09:00

As my friend knew I loved Scone&Clotted cream, she was planning to bring me to a cafeteria, called "Living in London".
It was Sunday and it just opened from 16:30, so we went there to the opening.

And we found people waiting for the seat inside. Wow, it is popular!
In the shop, we can buy sweets, tea, lots of products from UK.

Finally our turn came and we could sit.

Inside was dimly illuminated and there was another room with more seats at the back.

We enjoyed English Tea Time with scones&clotted cream and tea for a while.

Here is the shop information:

Living in London
Santa Engracia 4, Madrid 28010
TEL 91-319-7958
Principe de Vergara 34, Madrid 28002
TEL 91-435-4897

If you start missing UK in Spain, please try.

Bon profit!!!

Matcha Fondant au Chocolat

2012-04-04T16:41:00.001+09:00

As I found an article which recommended us to drink more tea for detox, I made Fondant au Chocolat with Matcha. (Of course I am also drinking tea;-))

Let's detox having Vitamins + Antioxidant of Matcha♪

＜Recipe＞

－Sponge－
White chocolate　 60g
Butter 　　　　　 40g
Egg　　　　　　　　　2
Sugar　　　　　　　40g
Fresh cream 　　　15g
Matcha　　　　　　　 5g
Flour 　　　　　　25g

Please refer to Fondant au Chocolat for Ganache and the process to make.

Ganache sank to the bottom... But don't mind!

Bon profit!!!

Cafeteria in Madrid - 3rd Recommendation - Vailima

2012-04-03T06:59:00.004+09:00

I had been interested in since I had seen this cafeteria in Madrid, "Vailima" on TV, so I took the opportunity of being in Madrid and went there.
The entrance was pastel color and tea pots and ornaments on the window were lovely♪

In the shop, we can buy variety types of tea from THEODOR. Tea caddies in different colors were so cute♪

From the selection of baked goods in the glass case, I chose a scone and my friend chose a piece of carrot cake and we had them with a cup of tea.
The cream served with the scone was not clotted cream but whipped cream, but I was quite fine with the scones which I had for the first time in ages.

If you feel to go to a cafeteria with homey atmosphere, please try.

Here is the information：

Vailima

C/ General Pardiñas, 54

28001 Madrid

Next time, I will introduce another cafeteria where we can have clotted cream！

Bon profit!!!

Fondant au Chocolat

2012-04-02T06:23:00.002+09:00

My husband is chocolate lover and he requested Fondant au Chocolat for his birthday.
Spanish name is Coulant (de xocolata) and it is often served in Restaurant as a desert and very popular.

Thinking about it, I have not eaten it for a long time...

So,

with the strawberry I love...

＜Recipe＞

－Ganache－
Chocolate　　　　　50g
Fresh cream    　　25g
Rum            　　　　1 Spoon

1.　Heat fresh cream in a pan and when starts boiling, remove it from the heat and add chocolate and mix them until melted.
2.　Once becomes cool, add rum and mix. And pour it in a mold covered with cooking sheet and leave it in a fridge.

－Sponge－
Chocolate　       60g
Butter        　　   40g
Egg     　　　　　    2
Sugar     　　　    40g
Fresh cream 　   20g
Cocoa powder　 10g
Flour            　　 20g

1.　Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave or putting the bowl in hot water.
2.　Whip yolk and 20g of sugar in a bowl until becomes pale yellow.
3.　Add 1 into 2 and mix.
4.　Add fresh cream and mix.
5.　Add sifted flours and mix.
6.　Whip egg white and 20g of sugar and make meringue.
7.　Add 1/3 of meringue into 5 and mix them well, and add the rest of meringue and mix.
8.　Fill a mold for Muffin half-full with 7 and place 1/6 ganache chilled on the mixture and cover the surface with 7, and bake in a oven for 10 minutes (180℃).

* I recommend to use dark chocolate with more than 70％ cacao.
If the fondant becomes cold, it is better to heat it in a microwave for 20-30 seconds♪
Cacao contains polyphenol and there is a study which shows chocolate effect against cardiovascular disease, so I am gonna enjoy without feeling guilty♪
Of course we should take care not eat too much・・・

Bon profit!!!

UKISHIMA

2012-04-01T02:36:00.002+09:00

I was missing Japanese sweets, SAOSHIKA, which my friends had used to bring me from Tokushima, then I started wondering if UKISHIMA was close to SAOSHIKA and decided to try.
I had both AZUKIAN(sweet bean paste) and SHIROAN(white sweet bean paste), so I made 2 colored one with Taisho- Kintokimame(one type of red bean) from Hokkaido.

The result was not very like SAOSHIKA, but I derived happiness from the delicate sweetness of Wagashi, and I had a nice tea time with Genmai Tea from The Matcha House.
The combination of Wagashi and Japanese green tea is wonderful♪

＜Recipe＞

Koshian(Shiro or Azuki)  200g
Wheat flour                 10g
Joushinko(rice flour)　15g
Baking Powder           　1g
Yolk             　　　　　　 1
Sugar             　　　　　45g
Egg white     　　　　　　1

1.　Mix Koshian with sifted flours (flour, joushinko, baking powder).
2.　Add yolk to 1 and mix them.
3.　Add 20g of sugar to 2 and mix them.
4.　Whip egg white and 25g of sugar and make strong meringue.
5.　Add 1/3 of merinque to 3 and mix them well.
6.　Add the rest of merinque to 5 and mix them.
7.　Place a baking sheet in a mold and pour 6 in it and steam it for 15 minutes.

* If you want to make Matcha taste one, use Shiroan and substitute 5g of Matcha for 5g of joshinko.
   If you want to make a two colored type, pour one colored mixture and make the surface smooth and drop by drop place another colored mixture gently on the first layer and make the surface smooth gently and steam.

Bon profit!!!

My first Macrobiotic Cake

2012-03-25T21:50:00.002+09:00

One morning, I heard the doorbell, so I answered. It was Post office staff and she informed me of the arrival of a packet from Japan.
It was a gift from my friend and I was asked to pay around 30 euros to recieve it! What??? It was a GIFT! But she explained that the regulation had changed some years ago and now we had to pay the tax even it was a gift. Moreover, I had to pay the exact amount, fortunately my neighbors could change money and I could. (If we do not have the exact amount, we have to go back to the post office!)

As I was so unhappy, I started checking on the internet and then I found the info with NEW!!! mark in Correos(Post office) HP. According this, even gifts are subjected to a custom duty, if they are from outside EU and have value of more than 45 euros. Shock...
Is there any other countries where we should pay to receive a gift???
Spain is suffering from budget deficit and the goverment want to exploit our small salary, but maybe they don't need to do something small like a gift???
If your family or your friends are planning to send something to you in Spain, please be carefull in order to avoid any surprise!

Well, sorry for lengthy preamble, today I tried to make Macrobiotic Cake, which I had been interested in. As you may know, we can use only vegetable material for Macrobiotic food, and I was wondering if cakes without eggs would be nice or not and some materials were difficult to get. But finally I got a recipe book and all ingredients, including TOFU from Tofu-ya in Barcelona, so now only what I should do was to move into action!

As Spring had arrived, thinking about detox, I decided to make Matcha Strawberry Cake, filled with lots of Vitamin C ♪

Sponge.

Decorated with TOFU cream and strawberries.

Finish!

Inside.

I felt that TOFU cream had quite TOFU taste, but the cake was recieved well by my friends who agreed to be guinea pig (conejillo de Indias in Spanish).

This time I made them accorging to the recipe book, so I just explaine the ingredients I used.

Sponge： Wheat flour, whole-wheat, baking powder, salt, sesami oil, maple syrop, soy milk, vanilla essence, matcha
TOFU cream： Momen tofu, soy milk, apple juice, rice syrop, maple syrop, kanten, kuzu powder, vanilla essence

In the future, I will create my own recipe and introduce.

Bon profit!!!

The Best Croissant in Spain - 2011-

2012-03-22T19:46:00.000+09:00

I wondered which shop had been chosen for the Spanish Best Croissant in 2011? So I checked it...
Then wow, in 「Concurso Mejor Croissant Artesano de Mantequilla de España 2011」, Turull in Terrassa was chosen as the best! Surprised!!!

Terrassa is located in Barcelona (not in Barcelona city, but Barcelona prefecture(?)) and it takes around 40 minutes from Plaça Catalunya by Ferrocarril. We can find Turull in Plaça Vella, centre of Terrassa and this bakery shop is quite popular in Terrassa. I had bought croissants there a few times but I didn't get impression that this was the best croissant! Moreover, I couldn't find Butter Croissant (Croissant con Mantequilla) during weekdays before... (Here in Spain, we should ask if this croissant is made with butter or not, because some croissants are not!)

So, I tried once again.

I went there the weekdays, but this time I could get one with butter.

I forgot to take the cutaway...

Indeed, the crust was crunchy, when I bit, it was crispy, and I felt the butter taste and it was quite nice, but still had doubt to say this was the best... I thought that I had had better croissants in Spain.

And another doubt was why the best croissant was found in Barcelona again (not Barcelona city but still in Barcelona)? Then it turned out that this contest was organized by la Escuela de Pastelería del Gremio de Barcelona and those who were interested in applied.
Condition is: Croissant made with butter, should be 45-65g once baked, no filling inside, etc.
Then the judges check the croissants baked and brought on the day, and decide the best after evaluating various factors, like aspect of the top, down, cutaway, the colour, texture, the rayers, taste etc.

If you are interested, you can see how they are chosing ↓

http://www.lavanguardia.com/ocio/20111005/54226844634/como-se-elige-el-mejor-croissant-de-espana.html

Here you can find the shop:

Forn Turull
Font Vella, 1 - Tel. 93 780 41 14
Carrer de Gutemberg, 2, 08224 Terrassa - Tel. 93 788 45 96
(↑ This shop is located in front of Terrassa Station and there is Cafe space)
Ctra. de Rellinars, 82 - 08225 Terrassa - Tel. 93 788 49 88
"Centre Comercial Terrassa" - Av. Abat Marcet, 43 - Tel. 93 735 03 00
Passeig de Les Lletres, 12 - Tel. 93 733 41 68

Bon profit!!!

Strawberry Tart

2012-03-21T23:16:00.000+09:00

Strawberry's season has arrived while I neglect to write! As I love strawberry, this season makes me so happy and I feel to make sweets with them.

So, I decided to bring Strawberry Tart to my friend's house, they had invited us to have barbecue.

The other day I was asked to make a Birthday Cake for our friend's kid and some blueberries were left over, so I also added them.

Due to vitamin C from Strawberry + anthocyanin from Blueberries, the cake is good for body and also eyes;-)

＜Recipe＞

－Tart－

Butter　　　　　　75ｇ

Sugar　　　　　　50ｇ

Egg　　　　　　　20g

Flour　　　　120g

1.　Mix butter and sugar in a bowl until becoming white

2.　Add egg and mix, then also add flour and keep mixing until the dough comes together
3.　Wrap the dough with the film and put in the fridge and leave it for 2 hours-1 night

4.　Take the dough out from the fridge and rolling it out and put it in the mold
5.　Puncturing the base of the dough with a fork and put it in the fridge for 30minutes

－Almond Cream－

Butter　　　　　　　　　60g

Sugar　　　　　　　　　60g

Egg　　　　　　　　　　　1

Almond Powder 60g

1.　Mix butter and sugar in a bowl until becoming white

2.　Add egg and mix, then also add flour and keep mixing until the dough comes together

3. Add sifterd Almond Powder into 2 and mix them

---＞Fill this cream into the tart chilled in the fridge, and bake this in the oven for 30 minutes(170℃).

－Custard cream(Crème pâtissière)－

Milk　　　　　　　　 180cc

Vanilla pod　　 1/2

Yolk　　　　　　　　　 2

Sugar　　　　　　　　　35g

Corn starch 　　　10g

Butter　　　　　　　　15g

1.　Put yolk, sugar and the seeds taken from vanilla pod, and whisk them until becomes white.
2.　Add cornstarch and mix them roughly.

3.　Put milk and vanilla pod in a pan and heat it until just before starts boiling.
4.　Add the half of 3 into 2 and mix them. Once mixed, put the mixture back into 3, place it over the heat and stir.
5.　Once it comes to boil and the mixture becomes creamy, remove the pan from the heat, remove the pod from the cream and put the cream in a bowl.
6.　Put ice in another bowl and place the bowl with the cream in this with ice.
7.　When the cream becomes lukewarm, add the butter and mix them.

---＞Once the tart is cold, cover the surface with the custard cream and decorate with strawberries♪

Since I was so in a hurry to finish and deliver, no photo of the final Birthday's cake was taken... But I was told that the cake was so delicious and they were happy, so anyway I was relieved...

Bon profit!!!

Stollen in Japanese style

2012-01-16T18:50:00.000+09:00

As I made Kanroni of chestnuts (peeled and boiled with syrop), I decided to make Stollen in Japanese style, and delivered to The Matcha House where I was normally buying Matcha.

Photo：provided by The Matcha house

＜Recipe＞

Butter　        70g
Wasanbon*　30g
Yolk          　　1
Soya milk　　60g
Dry yeast     　8g
Strong flour　80g
Flour         　80g
Matcha　　     2 table spoons
Salt        　　　4g

Nutmeg　         1/3 tea spoon
Cinnamon 　     1/2 tea spoon
Ginger powder 1/2 tea spoon

Kanroni of chestnuts      　30g
Roasted walnuts　            50g
Rum steeped dried fruits 100g

Melted butter & Powder sugar

Please refer to the recipe of stollen to know how to make.
Stollen is German traditional sweet but Japanese version was also quite nice♪

Bon profit!!!

*Wasanbon is fine-grained Japanese sugar traditionally made in Shikoku. If you don't find any, you can use any sugar from sugarcane.

Matcha macaron

2012-01-14T00:12:00.000+09:00

It seemd that 2011 had started recently, but wow, already we has entered 2012! Time flies too quick to follow!!!

As our dog passed away and more over we lost dad suddenly, 2011 becomes so sad year for us. Also the terrible earthquake and tsunami made 2011 very tough and sad year for lots of people who had suffered and were still suffering.

I really hope 2012 will by happy year and will bring us only happiness.

Last time what I made was more less macaron, so I bought almond powder and decided to make proper one.

Our family was hooked on Matcha recently so I chose Matcha Macaron. As Matcha has lots of good effect, like antioxidant, anti-cancer, etc., we feel less guilty when we choose sweets with Matcha.

＜Recipe＞

Egg white　　　　 30g　

Sugar　　　　　 30g　

Almond powder　25g　

Matcha 　　　　　 5g　

Powder sugar 　 30g

Please refer Hazelnuts Macaron recipe to know how to make.

The combination of Matcha and Chocolate is so delicious♪

Bon profit!!!