Cardamom Lemon Chocolate Marble Cupcakes

My daughter made these cupcakes for a weekday get together with friends. They came out just beautiful with swirls of chocolate. That was perfect, no need to top them for decoration which would take a bit longer.

Ingredients 
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Zest of one lemon
2 tsp ground cardamom

Note: If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a great replacement by mixing a tablespoon of white vinegar per 1/2 cup of milk and leaving it on the counter for 20 minutes.

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degF. Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. 
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix the cocoa powder with 2 tablespoons of hot water until it forms a smooth liquid paste.
4. Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand or hand mixer until smooth and airy.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla, and beat until the mixture is well combined.
6. Add the flour mix and the buttermilk little by little, each time beating the batter until it is smooth.
7. Put 1/2 of the batter in a separate bowl and add the cocoa to it. Mix well until well combined.
8. Add the lemon zest and the cardamom to the other 1/2 of the batter and combine.
9. Put one spoonful of the lemon/cardamom batter in the bottom of each mold and top it off with a spoon of the chocolate mixture.
   
10. Cook for 12 minutes for small cupcakes, and 16 minutes for muffin-sized ones.
11. Let cool fully in the pan before removing.

Pineapple Sorbet

So easy you won't want to think twice about making it. The hardest part is not eating it before it freezes!  And you don't even need a ice cream maker! Here is the step by step recipe in pictures.

Ingredients
2 * 19 oz cans of pineapple chunks in juice
2 oz of white rum (optional)

Directions
Blend the two cans of pineapple until they are slightly fluffy

Add the rum. This helps the sorbet to stay smooth and stops crystallization. Mix.

Put in the freezer and mix every hour or so until frozen.

Easy Cherry Sponge Cake

Another easy and quick recipe : 10 minutes to make, 20-25 minutes to bake. This cake contains almost no butter. I have used cherries but it can be made with any other fruit, whatever you have in your pantry. Because I didn’t use a lot of cherries (not everyone in the family is a big fan), I added a crème pâtissière (pastry cream) to be served on the side to add more moisture.

Ingredients
Sponge Cake
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons luke warm water
1 tablespoon dark rum
9 inch savarin mold (or a regular pan)
Butter for the pan
2 tablespoons icing sugar for decoration
½ Lb pitted cherries

Crème pâtissière (optional)
1-1/4 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch (or flour)
1 tablespoon cocoa
1-2 tablespoons of rum (or more)

Directions
Sponge Cake

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F;
2. In a large bowl (or a stand-up mixer) beat the eggs to obtain a pale yellow color.
3. Gradually add the sugar while still beating. Add the water and rum and mix few more seconds.
4. Mix the flour, starch and baking powder together then gradually add to the egg mixture while still beating. The batter is just a little bit thicker than the pancake batter.
5. Butter the mold and pour in the batter.
6. Add the fruits on top.
7. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 5 minutes, then turn down the oven to 375F and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
8. Poke the middle of the cake with a skewer to check if it’s done. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
9. Let it cool, transfer to a plate and dust the surface with sifted icing sugar.

Please have a piece!

Crème pâtissière
While the cake is cooking, heat the milk in the microwave. Whisk the egg and sugar in a saucepan until thick, then stir in the corn starch or flour. Pour the hot milk onto the egg while still whisking. Put the saucepan over medium heat and stir until it the cream thickens. Remove from the heat, add the rum and cover. Serve the cake warm or cold with the crème pâtissière on the side.

Pâte de Coings (Quince Paste)

Quince paste is one of the delicacies for which each woman in my family prides to have the best recipe. For me my Auntie was always the winner. The criteria for best quince paste are simple: translucent and pale yellow paste. As you can see I am not there yet!...
The quince has a green/yellow color and a very delicate fragrance. I don’t know any other way to eat it other than sweet in marmalade, jam or jellied like in this recipe.
Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the fruit before cooking it, but you can google it and you will find a lot of pictures. 

Ingredients
3 quinces
1-1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Wash the quinces and scrub with paper towel. Remove any stems. 
2. Steam until soft. I steamed mine in a pressure cooker for 35 minutes. Let the quincies cool a little bit then peel, remove the seeds and any fibrous parts. It’s preferable to do it while they are still warm.
3. Weigh, then puree in a blender or hand mixer.
4. Use the same weight in sugar (around 1-1/3 cup).
5. Combine the pureed fruits, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.
6. Stir continuously until the until the sugar is dissolved and the paste comes off the sides of the saucepan.
7. Pour in a shallow dish (1/2 inch or so) and leave it to dry for few days in a dry area. After one week it should be dry enough.
8. Cut into pieces the size and shape you want and roll in granulated sugar.