Lauralicious Recipes

Temporary hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:37:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I'm just posting a small post to let you all know my blog is going on a temporary hiatus.

Right now I'm very busy trying to find a job and then move out of my parents house. I'm so busy with other things and getting my life on track that my blog is the last thing I'm thinking about.

Apologies to everyone looking forward to posts but I'll definitely be picking up blogging again when I've got my own apartment and my own kitchen!

Love,
Laura

Holiday~

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 10:41:00 +0000

So, no update today... :(

Right now, I'm very busy packing because I'll be going on a 2-and-a-bit week holiday with a friend. And I'm leaving tonight! We're going to Lyon, Milan, Zürich and Copenhagen by train and I'm looking forward to it very much!

See you all when I get back.
<3

Chocolate chip cupcakes with caramel and coffee frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 11:58:00 +0000

So a week ago I had a bit party here at my house! Not only did I graduate and got my Bachelor’s degree, my birthday is also coming up~ yay! But since my birthday is the 9th of July most friends I want to invite to my party are long gone on holiday by then. So, I threw a birthday/graduation party at the end of June and we had a blast! I did a barbeque and – of course – there were cupcakes, because you can’t have a party without cupcakes!

These cupcakes were a real hit with my friends! Everyone especially liked the frosting, which made me feel so happy because it was a bit of an experiment. But they are right. These cupcakes are delicious! I love these chocolate chip cupcakes, with the right amount of chocolate chips in them so that they don’t overpower the cupcake but still leave so much chocolate to enjoy. The frosting is delicious, too. Not overly sweet and with a good taste of caramel with just hints of coffee that add a bit of depth to the frosting. All in all, a success that I’m proud to share with all of you!

Chocolate chip cupcakes with caramel and coffee frosting
Adapted from: The cupcakes are adapted from The Cupcake, published by Love Food (page 144) and the frosting is slightly adapted from Glorious Treats.
Makes: About 20 to 22 cupcakes

Ingredients
Cupcakes

200 gram self-raising flour
200 gram soft butter
200 gram caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
200 gram chocolate chips (I used plain ones)

Frosting

500 gram powdered sugar
226 gram cream cheese
113 gram butter
4 tablespoons caramel sauce
3 tablespoons cold coffee

Directions
Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F and put the paper cases in a tray (I did them 12 at the time since my oven won’t fit 2 muffin trays).
Sift the flour into a large bowl. Then add the butter, sugar and the eggs and whisk/beat until the mixture is smooth. Add the chocolate chips and mix them with the batter.
Fill the paper cases with the mixture and bake the cupcakes in 20 to 25 minutes. They’re done when they’re firm to the touch and golden.
Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and leave them to cool. They should be entirely cooled down before you frost them.

Frosting

In a large bowl, lightly beat the butter.
Add the cream cheese and mix with the better for about a minute.
Add the powdered sugar, caramel sauce and coffee and stir through the butter and cream cheese mixture with a spoon. When it’s mixed a bit, beat with a hand mixer for about 1 minute.
Put the frosting into the ‘fridge to cool, about half an hour. I do this, so that when I pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes I have a firm frosting instead of one that’s ready to melt away. After frosting the cupcakes, I store them in a box in the ‘fridge, again, so the frosting won’t get runny.

~ Enjoy!

Apple, banana and pear smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:40:00 +0000

Mom and dad went on holiday last weekend and left me with a few too many pears to eat on my own. So since summer has finally started and the weather is getting to nice temperatures and lots of sun I thought of making a smoothie. Cold, fruity and the perfect breakfast for a sunny morning!

Apple, banana and pear smoothie
Adapted from: http://uktv.co.uk
Serves: this recipes makes about 1 litre

Ingredients

1 ripe banana, peeled and cut into chunks
2 medium Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks (make sure the apples are peeled! I decided not to because I never peel my apples but the skin left some little crunchy bits behind in the smoothie)
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
250 ml yogurt
250 ml apple juice
pinches ground cinnamon

Directions

Put everything into a blender and blend until the mixture is smooth.

~ Enjoy!

Citrus risotto with garlic shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 14:14:00 +0000

Don’t you just love shrimp? I know I do! So when I saw this recipe I wanted to make it right away because not only does it have shrimp in it, the shrimp is paired with risotto. I happen to like risotto, a lot. This is a bit different from the one I usually have (the one my mom makes that is to die for, really). This citrus risotto is bursting with flavor and the shrimp go so very well with the creamy, lemony risotto!

Citrus risotto with garlic shrimp

Adapted from: Bills Food by Bill Granger (page 88 Dutch edition)

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1,5 litre chicken stock
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
50 gram butter
330 gram Arborio rice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Black pepper
2 small red, Spanish chili’s
2 cloves garlic
20 shrimp (peeled, with the tail still attached to the shrimp. Make sure to remove the intestine)

Directions

In a large pan with a thick bottom, heat one tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion, salt and half the butter and heat until the onion turns glassy. Add the rice and stir for about 1 to 2 minutes, until the rice is completely mixed with the onion mixture.
Gradually add the chicken stock to the rice (I use a small ladle and add one spoonful every time). Stir constantly and don’t add a new spoonful of stock before the previous spoon is soaked up by the rice completely. The recipe says it takes you about 20 minutes but I’d count on at least half an hour before the rice is creamy and al dente.
Take the pan off the stove. Stir the remaining butter, lemon zest and lemon juice through the rice and add black pepper to taste. Put a lid over the pan and let it stand for a few minutes so the rice absorbs the flavours.
Meanwhile, grind the red peppers and garlic. In a frying pan, heat the remaining olive oil over high heat.
Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and put them in the pan. Fry them for about 2 minutes while shaking the pan. Add the chilli and garlic mixture and fry for another minute. Put the pan aside.
Stir the risotto before dividing it over 4 bowls and put the shrimp on top before serving.

~ Enjoy!

Rolled oats, dark chocolate and strawberry muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:23:00 +0000

The process of losing weight is never fun. Of course, when you get on the scale at the end of the week and see the progress you’ve made there is this moment of glee and happiness. But when you’re at a friend’s place and have to say no to cookies, snacks and have to think of cooking and eating healthy every single day it gets tiring and frustrating.

For me, it takes a lot of time, effort and perseverance to lose weight. Not because I’m not motivated, but because I’m not just looking to lower my weight temporarily. I don’t want a quick fix. I want to change my eating-habits, make them healthier so I know I’m taking proper care of myself and my body.

So, to give myself a break every once in a while I decided that I’m allowed to have a nice muffin or other delicious snack in the weekend. But eating a muffin filled with sugar and butter isn’t going to make me feel good about myself. So instead, I made myself these delicious muffins. They’re healthy, using olive oil and honey, and very tasty with the strawberries and chocolate in them. A very nice treat I don’t feel guilty eating!

Rolled oats, dark chocolate and strawberry muffins
Adapted from: Smulweb (a Dutch recipe website)
Makes: about 14 muffins

Ingredients

150 gram whole-wheat flour
125 gram rolled oats
12 gram baking powder
75 gram dark chocolate (broken into little pieces)
235 ml milk
60 ml honey
30 ml olive oil
2 egg whites
Handful strawberries (sliced in quarters)
Pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F and put the paper cases in a muffin tray.
Mix all the dry ingredients (including the chocolate) in a bowl.
Add the olive oil, milk, egg whites and strawberries and mix. If the mixture is a bit dry, add a bit more milk.
Fill the paper cases about 2/3 with the batter and bake in the oven for about 17 minutes and then transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool.

~ Enjoy!

Pasta pesto with ricotta and chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:48:00 +0000

This dish is a real hit at my house! My sister’s girlfriend in particular loves this dish and no week goes by without her asking me if I can make it again (or my Chicken Parmesan, which I’ll be posting soon too). She’ll be looking at me with a grin and ask me: “It’s been a while since we’ve had that paste pesto, isn’t it?” I can’t help but feel flattered every single time.

But she is very right in liking this dish, because it IS absolutely delicious! It’s quite a simple dish, quick and with little ingredients. But the ingredients that are in there go perfect together. The original recipe used heavy cream but I decided to use ricotta instead and, in my opinion, it works perfectly! The ricotta takes a bit off the strong taste of the pesto away and mellows it very nicely so it doesn’t take over the entire dish.

Pasta pesto with ricotta and chicken
Adapted from: Martha Stewart
Serves: 3

Ingredients

2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips (about 445 gram)
100 gram pesto
250 gram fettuccini
3 tablespoons ricotta
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook until golden and cooked through. Cover the pan to keep the chicken warm.
In a small saucepan, heat the pesto over low heat until it starts to turn liquid. Add the ricotta and stir until all the ricotta is mixed with the pesto.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Before draining the pasta, make sure to catch a little of the cooking water (about 50 ml.).
Stir the cooking water through the pesto and ricotta mixture.
In a large bowl toss the chicken, pasta and pesto and ricotta mixture and serve with some fresh parmesan cheese.

~ Enjoy!

Chili and Garlic Eggplant

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:49:00 +0000

So a few weeks ago I told you all about my trip to China last summer. During the cooking class I took there I learned two recipes. Gong Bao Chicken and this one, Chili and Garlic Eggplant.

The Chili and Garlic Eggplant is absolutely delicious! The dish is spicy but not overly so and the eggplant is so soft and smooth it all but melts on your tongue! I love to make it and serve it together with the Gong Bao Chicken and white rice.

Chili and Garlic Eggplant
Adapted from: Cloud 9 Restaurant in Yanshuo
Serves: 3

Ingredients

250 gram eggplant, cut into 4cm long strings
1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into 4 cm long strings
1 green pepper, de-seeded and cut into 4 cm long strings
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 pieces of spring onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon chili bean paste
4 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
Water

Directions

Put the eggplant in salty water and let it stand for about 10 minutes before removing it (I was told during the class that it helps to get rid of the bitter flavor and the dish needs less oil this way).
Heat the wok with the oil. On medium heat, stir-fry the eggplant until it starts looking a bit brownish and it gets soft. Remove the eggplant from the wok and put aside.
In the wok, on low heat, fry the garlic and chili bean paste.
Return the eggplant and add enough water so that half of the dish is covered. Then add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt and sugar.
When the eggplant is soft and the sauce is thick, add the spring onion. If the sauce is still watery, add some cornstarch.

~ Enjoy!

Raspberry Loaf

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 27 May 2012 20:34:00 +0000

So, after being away for a long weekend to France last week I’m back again with a new recipe! This time, I brought a raspberry loaf.

I’ve had some trouble with baking loaves and previously I always blamed our oven. Useless thing, I used to say. The temperature is off by about 15°C and I thought that for most of my cakes to fail, there had to be something else wrong with the oven, right? Wrong. As it turned out, there was nothing wrong with the oven. Just with the ingredients I was using. I swear, I’ll never buy “large” eggs again. What a foolish mistake! Of course my cake is going to fail if I’m using “large” eggs instead of “medium”…

So, the moment I figured it out I baked a loaf. And it came out perfectly! This is a great raspberry loaf with a slightly sweet flavor and adding the mint really makes it special!

Raspberry loaf
Adapted from: Sophie’s savory loaves by Sophie Dudemaine (page 67 in the Dutch edition)
This recipe makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

3 eggs (medium!)
170 gram sugar
160 gram flour
± 2 gram instant yeast (the recipe calls for 1/3 package)
150 gram butter (lightly salted. If not available, add a pinch of salt to the butter instead)
200 gram raspberries
6 mint leaves

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a loaf pan and sprinkle with flour.
In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture is light and slightly fluffy.
Melt the butter and spoon it through the egg-and-sugar mixture.
Puree the raspberry and mint before adding it to the batter.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 40 minutes.

~Enjoy!

Cajun Corn Chowder

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:43:00 +0000

Corn holds a special place in my heart. My parents once told me that as I kid I loved to eat was corn. When they took me to one of my father’s friends in France they apparently joked about me only eating the pig’s food.

Now, we have corn at least once a week and to me, it never gets old. This is a recipe my mom once made for us and I absolutely loved it. So much that now I’m making it myself, too. It’s such a flavorful! The corn is absolutely amazing and it’s both creamy and spicy at the same time.

Cajun corn chowder
Adapted from: Spices by Manisha Gambhir Harkins (page 15 in the Dutch edition)
Serves: 4

Ingredients

475 gram canned corn (you can use cobs if you want. You’ll need about 4.)
25 gram butter
1 onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
5 slices of bacon, sliced into small pieces
3 teaspoons Cajun herbs (see below)
1 ¼ liter vegetable stock
250 ml cooking cream

Method

In a Dutch oven, melt the butter. Add the onion and sweat for about 5 minutes. Add the celery and braise for about 3 minutes until the celery has softened. Add the corn and Cajun herbs (start with 2 tablespoons and then add more to taste since it’s quite spicy). Stir well.
Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes. When you use cobs, let it simmer for about 35 minutes since canned corn is pre-cooked so it needs less time (at least, in the Netherlands it is).
Add the cooking cream and, over a low heat, let the soup boil to your desired thickness.
Optional: pour the soup into the kitchen blender and mix until it’s smooth. Return the soup to the pan.
Add the bacon.

Cajun herbs

½ teaspoon black pepper corns
½ teaspoon white pepper corns
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt

Grind all the spices together and store, sealed, in a dark spot.
The Cajun herbs can also be used with fish and meats.

~Enjoy!

Slightly spicy zucchini pasta with parmesan cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:18:00 +0000

You know, when I was a kid I didn’t like zucchini at all. But, as we grow up our taste buds change. There’s still some things I don’t like in my food. Brussels sprouts, raisins and walnuts are examples of the things I don’t like. But overall I’ve grown up to NOT be a fussy eater. Which is good, otherwise I would have some problems cooking for myself.

As for zucchini, I’ve grown to like it a lot. Especially on the grill, it’s delicious that way! But this pasta is a great way to eat it, too. It’s a super-easy dish, quick and delicious too. It’s not what I’d say a pasta-sauce but it is so good with the rich flavor of the zucchini, the spiciness of the chili and the parmesan cheese just wraps up the dish in a great way.

Slightly spicy zucchini pasta with parmesan cheese
Adapted from: Ainsley Harriott's Friends & Family Cookbook
Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
500 gram zucchini, cleaned and cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped thyme
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
300 gram lint pasta (the recipe calls for fettuccine but I used spaghetti)
25 gram butter
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Method

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sweat for about 5 minutes.
Add the zucchini, garlic, thyme, chili flakes and some salt and pepper to taste. Stir occasionally and let it stew for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water like you usually do (or as the package suggests). When it’s done, drain the pasta and stir in the butter and parsley.
Stir the zucchini mixture through the pasta, ground over some pepper and sprinkle the parmesan on top.

~Enjoy!

Banana & yogurt muffins with chocolate spread

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:39:00 +0000

As I said in my Banana Cake post my love for bananas is a growing one. I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for quite some time, I just never got around to making it.

So when a friend of mine gifted me a Muffin Maker she found stored on the attic, I was stoked to try this recipe! It was a total failure. Not because the recipe sucked, because the batter tasted great and even the poor, failed muffins tasted… decent. But because the Muffin Maker was such a bad, bad piece of kitchen appliance that it will now never see the light of day again. I hadn’t expected the Muffin Maker to make good, proper cupcakes. I’m not that delusional. But I’d hoped for a better result than a muffin with a black bottom, a colorless top and everything in-between unbaked.

So, after that fiasco I still hadn’t tried this recipe properly. So when I got myself a new heart-shaped muffin pan, this was the one I was going to make! And it was delicious. It’s quite a dense muffin because of the banana but the taste is very good with the banana and the yoghurt and the chocolate spread on top just made it a tad bit more special.

Banana & yogurt muffins with chocolate spread
Adapted from: www.taste.com.au
Serves: 12 muffins

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup natural yoghurt
1 egg
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large bananas, mashed
Chocolate spread (Nutella for example)

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 12-hole, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pan.
Sift flour and sugar into a bowl.
Combine yoghurt, egg, oil and 1 cup mashed banana in a large bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
Spoon mixture into muffin holes. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Stand muffins in pan for 5 minutes
Turn onto a wire rack and spread a thin layer of the chocolate spread over the top of the muffin. The fact that the muffin is still a bit warm will melt the chocolate spread a bit, making it easier to cover the top of the muffin.
Put muffins in the ‘fridge to cool completely (I put them in the ‘fridge to keep the chocolate spread from melting completely down the sides).
Take the muffins out of the ‘fridge to get to room temperature before serving.

~Enjoy!

Tomato and parmesan pasta sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 11:36:00 +0000

I absolutely love Italian food and pasta most of all. I could eat pasta every day for a very long time and not get tired of it. Not only because I love it so much, but also because there’s so many different ways of preparing pasta sauces out there.

For a while now I’ve tried to make my own pasta sauce. Most times I failed miserably until I made this one! Admittedly, it’s not as great as your real, delicious Italian sauce but it’s a great sauce nonetheless. My family loved it and to me, that’s the most important thing, really. So, I hope you will enjoy it too. Here it is.

Tomato and parmesan pasta sauce
Serves: 10

Ingredients

800 gram canned tomato (2 cans 400 gram, try to get them “diced” if possible)
65 gram tomato paste
125 gram crème fraîche
150 gram carrot – cut into cubes
100 gram parmesan cheese
1 onion – chopped
2 gloves garlic – chopped
½ yellow pepper – cut into cubes
± 4 tablespoons Fresh basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt

Note: You need a kitchen blender for this recipe

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds. Add the carrot, onion, pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the thyme and oregano and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the canned tomato, tomato paste, sugar and salt. Stir well before adding the crème fraîche. Let the sauce simmer for another 5 minutes.
Add the basil and parmesan to the sauce before pouring it into the kitchen blender. Blend until the sauce is smooth but with a few small chunks of vegetable.
If you want, add a bit of corn starch to thicken the sauce.
Serve the sauce with tortellini, they go great together!

~ Enjoy!

Gong Bao Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:05:00 +0000

If I’m being totally honest, I must say that while I like Chinese take-out, I don’t love it. It’s okay, nice to have every now and then and hey, I don’t have to cook it myself. But most of the dishes just aren’t all that great. They’re greasy, have too much sauce with them.

So last summer I went on a 3-week trip to China. Now, China is absolutely amazing! If you ever get the chance of going there for a holiday, take it and go. So, in China I was overjoyed when I found out that in Yanshuo I could sign up for a cooking class! Of course, I went and I had the greatest fun!

I had my own station and we all cooked three different dishes.

All in all, I had a great time and the food was just amazing! It’s take-out, but better! Honestly, I am in love with this dish. It’s full of flavor, spicy and not greasy at all!

I must admit that China ruined me. Because of course, here we’re eating westernized versions of the food they really eat in China. And I find now that I’ve had real, proper Chinese food for three weeks (even though I was SO happy to come home and eat something other than Chinese food) take-out just isn’t the same anymore. I like it, as I said, but it just isn’t the Chinese food I had on my trip. But at least I have the recipes of the cooking class to help me make that food again! Here’s the first one:

Gong Bao Chicken
Adapted from: Cloud 9 Restaurant in Yanshuo
Yields: 3

Ingredients

250 gram chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut into cubes
1 green pepper, de-seeded and cut into cubes
20 gram cucumber, seeds removed and cut into cubes
20 gram carrots, cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
Small piece of ginger, minced (I’d say use about 1,5 centimeter or more if you like ginger a lot)
6 pieces dried red chili, make a 1 inch cut in the chili (the original recipe called for 10 red chili’s but I found that 6 made the dish spicy enough for me)
2 pieces of spring onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
20 gram deep fried peanuts
3 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon chicken stock
1 teaspoon Sichuan numb pepper
Pinch of sugar
Water

Ingredients for the marinade:

¼ teaspoon salt
½ table spoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon rice wine
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 egg white

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Marinade the chicken and put aside for about 5 minutes.
Heat a wok and put in 3 tablespoons of oil. Stir-fry the chicken and move it out when it’s about 80% done.
With the oil still in the wok, stir-fry the garlic, ginger and dried chili’s over a low heat.
Put the rest of the vegetables in except the spring onions. Stir-fry the vegetables and when they’re about halfway done, add a little water (only add a little. When you’re done with the dish you can always thin it out with some extra water if you think it’s too thick).
Season the dish with the soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, chicken stock and sugar.
Add the chicken to the vegetables, put in the Sichuan numb pepper and stir-fry for about 2 minutes over a low heat.
Add the spring onions and peanuts, heat them with the dish for about a minute and then serve your Gong Bao Chicken.

~Enjoy!

Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:22:00 +0000

I absolutely love cupcakes and seriously, who doesn’t? But, if I’m completely honest, I must admit that I do find buttercream frosting to be overly sweet most of the time. So when my grandma asked me to bake her cupcakes for her birthday I decided to try this Cream cheese frosting I found on Glorious Treats instead of the buttercream I’d made up until now.

And now, I’m hooked. I loved this frosting that was still sweet but not overly so and it went amazing with the chocolate cupcakes I made! They were a real hit at the party too and some people were surprised that I’d made them since they thought they were bought in the store. Kudos for me and this is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again!

Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Adapted from: Cupcake from 500 Cupcakes and the frosting from Glorious Treats

Yields: ± 15 cupcakes

Ingredients for the cupcake

230 gram self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
230 gram light brown sugar
230 gram soft butter
2 eggs, white and yolk separated
100 gram dark chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
125 ml milk

Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting

½ cup butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered confectioners’ sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)

Directions

Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 175°C/345°F and put the paper cases in a muffin tray.
Sift the baking powder and put aside.
In a medium-bowl whisk the sugar and butter until it’s creamy and light. Mix the egg yolks in and then fold the melted chocolate and vanilla essence trough the mixture.
Add the baking powder and milk bit by bit until they’re mixed completely through the batter.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg white until it’s firm and then fold it through the batter.
Fill the paper cases with the batter and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

Frosting

Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met (don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes).
Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute (if you want, add some food colouring now).
Frost your cupcakes and add any other kind of decorations.

~ Enjoy!

Spring spinach salad with brie, apple and chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 11:09:00 +0000

Spring is in the air! Don’t you just love it when the days get longer, the temperature rises and it’s actually nice to be outside again?

Really, I don’t like winter. It’s cold and even worse, there’s snow. So when Spring hits I get excited, go outside more often and, for some reason, I start to crave salads. Instead of a hearty, warm meal I suddenly want to eat light, cold or lukewarm salads that particularly shout Spring!

When I saw the recipe for this salad I knew I wanted to make something like it but not exactly what I found online. First off, I wanted chicken in my salad so I took the liberty to add chicken. Secondly, I don’t have a broiler so I turned creative and found some other way to make a normal, boring apple a lot more special then it usually is.

In the end, I’m glad I made it the way I wanted to because the salad was absolutely delicious! I even ate it two nights in a row and my family loved it just as much as I did. An empty salad bowl was proof for that. The sweetness of the apple goes wonderful with the chicken, creamy brie and slightly tough spinach. It’s a great combination and definitely a Spring-dish to me!

Spring spinach salad with brie, apple and chicken
Inspiration from: Tase of Home
Yields: 3 person main-course salad

Ingredients for the salad

200 gram spinach, cleaned
180 gram brie, cut into small pieces
2 chicken breasts
1 ½ apple, diced
1 ½ tablespoon maple syrup
1 litre vegetable stock

Ingredients for the dressing

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions

Boil the chicken in the vegetable stock for about 15 minutes until it’s cooked. Drain the chicken and cut it into small pieces.
Coat the diced apple with the maple syrup and heat them in a pan until the apple has soaked up all the syrup.
Mix all the ingredients for the dressing.
Combine the spinach, brie, chicken and apple in a large salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss until combined.

Tips:
• Instead of using brie, this salad would also taste great with a “heavier” cheese such as Gorgonzola

~ Enjoy!

My first award!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:29:00 +0000

Thanks so much Anisha from Anisha's Platter! I'm so honoured that you liked my blog and gave me this award. Thank you.

Now I have to share this award with 5 other bloggers who each have a wonderful blog worth a visit. Be sure to check them out!
The chosen ones are :

Gerlinda from Cooking Weekends
Julia from Delectameals
Abby from Seaweed & Sassafras
Soni from Soni's Food for Thought
"Wifey" from Wifey With a Knifey

If you accept the award:

Copy and paste the award on your blog. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers who deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five moreblogs.

Banana Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Hurray! Today is my mum’s birthday and the entire family came by to celebrate with us. And with a birthday comes cake. A banana cake in this case.

Since a while I’ve started to love bananas more and more. I used to never eat fruit. A bad habit, yes I know, but I just didn’t like most fruits we have lying around the house (apples, tangerines). So instead of going to the store and buying fruit that I did like, I just never ate it.

But I’m taking a turn in my life now and want to be a bit healthier. Which means watching the amounts of food I eat (since over-eating is nice when you’re eating but not so much after), going out skating two times a week AND start eating fruit. So now I’m being a good girl, eating a banana and a pear a day.

So I offered to bake a cake for my mum’s birthday party and started going through the book and I knew I wanted to make this banana cake the moment I saw it. Granted, this is far from healthy but hey, it’s a birthday cake.

This banana cake is very firm so if you want your guests to eat any of the snacks you’ve made for after the cake-and-coffee-round I advise you give them a small piece each. But the flavor is very nice! The bottom is still a tiny bit moist and the cake has soaked up all the flavor of the banana put into it. The frosting on top is nice, not too sweet and it gives the cake a nice and creamy touch.

Banana cake

Adapted from: 500 cakes

Yields: 8 persons

Note: I made the recipe twice since I wanted a big cake for the entire family, so the cake in the picture is twice the size of what the recipe is for

Ingredients for the cake

2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
175 ml vegetable oil
3 tablespoons milk
300 gram light brown sugar
150 gram flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
½ teaspoon ginger powder

Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting

200 gram cream cheese
85 gram confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 banana (optional to put on top of the frosting)

Directions

Preheat the oven at 180 °C (350 °F) and grease an 7 inch cake pan. If you use one of these (like I do) I suggest you cover the bottom with baking paper.
Mash the bananas in a large bowl and whisk the eggs through the mash.
Stir the vegetable oil and milk through the mixture.
Sieve any lumps out of the sugar before adding it to the mixture. Stir well.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder and ginger powder into the mixture, add a pinch of salt and fold it into the banana mixture.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for about 45 minutes. The recipe said to bake the cake for 1 hour but mine (while making twice the recipe but using a bigger cake pan) was done at 45 minutes.
Let the cake cool.
In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice until it’s a smooth, creamy mixture.
Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. Decorate with the third banana and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon powder over the top.

~ Enjoy!

Healthy apple and honey muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:19:00 +0000

I love my muffins and cupcakes and this is the recipe I make when I'm in a heatly mood. They're very tasty muffins. When you eat them you can taste that they're healthy instead of filled with lots of sugar. The good thing about this recipe is also that you can add any fruit you want. I made them with apple but you can also choose to make them with berries, bananas or any other fruit.

For this batch, I decided that I wanted my muffins to be a bit more fancy than they usually are. So, I added a glaced apple on top and not only did it look much nicer it also tasted great!

This recipe makes 12

Ingredients

Muffin
2 egg-whites
240 gram wholemeal flour
170 ml. milk
110 gram apple, in small cubes
4 tablespoons sunflower oil
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt

Topping
± 1 ½ apples
75 gram packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Recipe
Pre-heat the oven at 190°C and grease a muffin-tray with butter.

A side-note: I advice you put a small piece of baking paper on the bottom of the muffin-tray. I didn’t do this while preparing the recipe but I think it will help you lots in getting the apple-topping out.

Topping

Combine the brown sugar, the cinnamon, and the melted butter and put the mixture on the bottom of the muffin-tray.

Core the apples and cut into ¼ inch rounds (see picture below). I drew a circle around my muffin-tray to know how big the rounds should be. If you don’t want to go through the trouble, just cut the apple into parts and cover the sugar-mixture with the apple. It should be about a ¼ inch layer of apple that covers the mixture.

Muffin

Lightly whisk the egg-white and mix the dry ingredients in another bowl.

In another bowl, mix the milk, oil, honey and apple. Then carefully mix in the egg-white.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix until you get a light but firm batter.

Fill the muffin-tray with the batter. Usually you fill them about 2/3 but I filled them up almost completely to the brim. That’s because when they’re done, you’ll need to cut off the top of the muffin in order to properly flip the tray over.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the muffins are light-brown.

Let the tray cool for about 10 minutes before running a knife along the top of the muffin-tray, removing the tops of your muffins.

Flip the tray over above a wire-rack so the muffins fall out. If the apple sticks to the bottom of the tray, scrap it out and place on top of the muffins.

These muffins are best while still hot with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

~ Enjoy!

Source: Kookjij a Dutch website with recipes

Lauralicious Recipes now on Facebook!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:48:00 +0000

After having been sick most of the past week I've finally had time to make Lauralicious Recipes its own Facebook Page!

Go check it out and like it!

And just for fun, here's a nice pic I took a while ago of a batch of mini-pineapple-muffins. The recipe is far from share-able but the pic came out nice nonetheless!

Now, don't forget to go to Lauralicious Recipes Facebook page!

Dutch Endive Stamppot

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:55:00 +0000

I’m from the Netherlands and here we eat a lot of Stamppot. True, my family isn’t into “traditional” Dutch dishes a whole lot so we almost never eat it. But on a rare occasion (mostly in winter) I just crave this.
Stamppot translates to “mash pot” and is a potato dish where the potatoes are mashed with vegetables (usually sauerkraut, endive, spinach, kale or carrots). Overall, Stamppot is a cheap, hearty and filling meal and in my eyes a winter treat you don’t need to eat too much.

So, I got this recipe from De Allerhande. De Allerhande is a cooking magazine brought out monthly by one of our biggest supermarket-chains and while most of the dishes aren’t all that special I took an instant liking to this one. It adds a few new and exciting ingredients with the normal endive Stamppot that I really liked and the end result was a nice not-so-traditional dish that I wanted to share with you all!

This recipe serves 4

Ingredients
1.2 kilo potatoes (any kind of high starch potato since they are best for mashing)
1 sprig rosemary
1 clove garlic (chopped)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 crop of endive (chopped)
90 gram black olives (without the pits, cut in quarters)
80 gram jamon Serrano (cut in strips)
Salt and pepper

Recipe

Peel the potatoes and cut them into equal pieces (the size doesn’t matter much, you’ll be mashing them later)

Cook the potatoes in water with the rosemary, salt and pepper for about 20 minutes

Drain the potatoes and catch a cup of the potato-broth and put aside

Remove the rosemary and then mash the potatoes

Stir in the garlic and oil with a wooden spoon

Stir in as much of the broth you need to get a thick, smooth mash

Add the endive, olives and jamon Serrano and mix it all together

Eat right away

Side note: You add the cold endive in with the hot potatoes. So while it’s usually recommended with this dish it’s an absolute must to have everything ready and chopped before you begin. Otherwise your potatoes will have cooled down a lot when you add the endive which makes the dish luke-warm.

~ Enjoy!

Valentine's day vanilla cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:25:00 +0000

So Valentine’s Day is coming up. It’s not something I celebrate. I don’t have a boyfriend and even if I did, I see it as some forced romance that is so commercial the romance has gone off of it, hasn’t it? But, it is the perfect opportunity for me to try out something I’ve been wanting to bake for a while! Chocolate filled cupcakes.

The result was both hilarious and delicious so I’m quite happy with my first try of filling cupcakes although, of course, I need improvement. But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy to share this recipe with you and hope you like it or make some improvements of your own and then maybe like it even more.

I got the cupcake recipe from 500 Cupcakes. It is SO easy and the cupcakes are light with a nice vanilla flavour. Reading the recipe I thought there would be no way they would rise properly in the oven with the way it was prepared but rise they did! Beyond my expectations… I’ll show you a picture of that later in the post.

The frosting recipe I got from Glorious Treats. A wonderful blog with the most amazing cupcake and cookie recipes, tips and gorgeous pictures. You should definitely check it out if you haven’t already!

This recipe makes about 15 cupcakes.

Ingredients

Cupcakes
2 cups soft butter
2 cups fine sugar
2 cups cake flour
4 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache
1 oz dark chocolate (I use 75% cocoa chocolate)
1/8 cup heavy cream

Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered confectioners’ sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)

Recipe

Ganache
A side-note: My ganache took ages to set to the right firmness for me to be able to use it and even then it was more runny than I’d have liked it to be. So start with the ganache first and then when it’s reached the right consistency, start making your batter. That way you won’t have your batter waiting for your ganache to harden.

Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a heat-resistible bowl.

Heat the heavy cream on the stove until it nears the boiling point.

Pour the heated heavy cream over the broken chocolate and leave it to cool for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, stir and put in the ‘fridge until it’s reached the right consistency. It should be able to be formed into a soft bowl with a spoon. It shouldn’t be too runny for then it will disperse within the cupcake as it bakes. Mine took about 45 minutes but I advise you to leave it for about an hour if not longer.

Cupcake batter

Preheat the oven to 175 °C/345 °F. Put 15 paper cases in a muffin tray (I bake 2 times for this).

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix with a mixer for about 2 to 3 minutes. If you want to colour your cupcake (like I did) add the food colouring now as well.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases.

Top each cupcake in the centre with a teaspoon of ganache (I used small teaspoons).

Bake for 20 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack and leave to cool.

Look at how my Volcano Valentine’s Day Cupcakes came out of the oven. Something definitely went wrong there but they tasted great and there’s nothing that a good layer of frosting can’t hide.

Cream Cheese frosting
While your cupcakes cool you can make the frosting.

Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.

Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.

Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met (don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes).

Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute (if you want, add some food colouring now).

Frost your cupcakes and add any other kind of decorations.

~ Enjoy!

Raspberry & Yogurt jello's

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:38:00 +0000

A while ago I went over to a friend’s house for dinner and she made me tangerine jello’s. They looked cute and they tasted amazing! So coming home, I wanted to try and make something like that for myself as well. But, I wanted to use a different kind of fruit since I’m kind of picky with my tangerines. So, I decided to make a raspberry jello. But just a raspberry one sounded a bit plain to me so I came up with the idea to do a 2-layered jello. And lo and behold, when they were done they tasted very good! In fact, we went through almost all 12 jello’s in one evening with the three of us (my mom, dad and myself)! A recipe that I’ll definitely try again and one I wanted to share with all of you!

This recipe makes 12 mini-jello’s

Ingredients

Raspberry jello
75 gram raspberries
1 ½ sheets of leaf gelatine
65 ml sweet white wine
25 gram sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Yogurt jello
1 ½ sheets of leaf gelatine
95 ml boiling water
95 ml yogurt
1 ½ tablespoon sugar

Recipe

I used my muffin-tray for mini-cupcakes to put the jello’s into. You can of course use something bigger, just be sure to grease it with a bit of oil. That way, the jello’s will come out easier when you’re done.

You start with making the raspberry jello.

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes.

Bring the wine, sugar and cinnamon to a boil and turn down the heat.

When the gelatine has soaked for 5 minutes, take the wine-mixture off the heat. Squeeze the leaves firmly and add to the wine-mixture, stirring until it’s completely dissolved.

Puree the raspberries and add the puree to the mixture.

Let the mixture cool down (I put my pan into a bowl of cold water)

When the mixture is brought down to room-temperature fill the muffin-tray with the liquid. Fill it only half-way! The yogurt jello will fill the rest of it.

Refrigerate for a bit over half an hour before adding the yogurt jello-mixture. I do this so that when I add the yogurt jello, the colours and flavours won’t mix. You get two layers of jello which will make them look good.

Then, while that is in the ‘fridge, you can make the yogurt jello.

Making this won’t take an hour. I advice you start making this when the raspberry jello’s have been in the ‘fridge for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring 95 ml of water to a boil.

Take the water off of the heat when the gelatine has soaked for 5 minutes. Squeeze the leaves firmly and add to the water, stirring until it’s completely dissolved.

Put the pan into a bowl of cold water and leave for a minute.

Then gently and slowly stir in the yogurt. Stir until it’s completely dissolved.

Add the sugar and give the mixture another good stir.

Get the raspberry jello’s out of the ‘fridge and add the mixture for the yogurt jello.

Put in the ‘fridge and let it set.

Let the jello’s set properly. I let them stand overnight since then you get the best result but if you’re in a hurry you can also let them set for about 2 to 3 hours.

~ Enjoy!

Spinach and coconut soup with shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:35:00 +0000

Since I live with my parents I (almost) never have to worry about what to eat in weekends. True, I cook two to three times a week on working days but on Sundays I generally don’t cook because mom doesn’t have to work. But there’s some Sundays when mom and dad aren’t at home and I’m left to my own devices. With an empty ‘fridge.

Today was such a day and I felt like making a nice soup for myself. But, since it’s Sunday and the shops are closed (unless you want to actually travel for it) I had make-do with our storage-closet and freezer. I found a recipe for a spinach and coconut soup in one of my mom’s cookbooks (500 soups). Of course, I never follow a recipe as I find it in a book so I decided to add the shrimp I found and leave out some of the other ingredients.

What came out was a rich soup that’s both creamy and spicy and let’s all the flavors come to their right, or so I think. I hope you enjoy it!

This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoon chili flakes
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon ginger powder
2 ½ cup vegetable stock
2 ½ cup coconut milk
500 gram frozen spinach
175 gram shrimp (either fresh or frozen)

Recipe

• Heat the oil in a large sauce pan and add the onion, garlic and chili flakes. Cook on a low heat for about 4 minutes.

• Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and ginger and stir.

• Add the vegetable stock and coconut milk and on a medium heat bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, defrost the spinach (I use the microwave for that) and after 10 minutes of simmering add the spinach to the soup. Stir and then let the soup simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes.

• Add the shrimp (defrost the shrimp first if you use frozen ones) and stir.

• Season with salt and pepper if needed.

~ Enjoy!

Chocolate brownie cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Laura) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:29:00 +0000

Like most women I love chocolate and my memories of mom's brownies are good ones. Especially the ones that failed to come out the way she wanted them to. You know, the brownies that haven't baked properly and thus are still a bit wet on the inside? My sister and I ate them with a spoon and they were delicious! Sorry mom...

So when I came across a recipe for chocolate brownie cupcakes in The Cupcake I knew I just had to try those! They were very tasty with a good chocolate flavor, although of course not as moist as my mom's failed brownies were. You do need to carefully watch your oven on this one, since just a tad bit too long ensures you that your brownie cupcakes have a rather hard top.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

225 g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
85 g butter (softened)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
200 g soft dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
140 g plain flour
75 g walnuts (optional)

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Put 12 paper cases in a muffin tray.
Place the chocolate and butter in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until melted. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool slightly.
Place the eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat together, then add the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and fold in gently, then stir in the melted chocolate mixture until combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cases. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch but still slightly moist in the centre. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

~ Enjoy!