mushitza

Poppy Seed Tea Cake

2012-02-04T04:42:00.000-08:00

Minus 15 to minus 25 isn't the normal temperature for our part of the world but this is what we are dealing with for the last 2 weeks. Everything is white and transparent with snow and ice. And it's like the nature prepares itself for renovation. It's just the right time for some tea and cake. This time it's poppy seed cake with lots of poppy seeds that produce a crunchy pop sensation in the

Tangzhong Bread

2012-01-28T03:21:00.000-08:00

For the second time we are hosting the January Fresh from the Oven challenge. This time we decided to make bread using the Tangzhong (water roux) method. It was Yvonne Chen's book "The 65º C Bread Doctor" published in the 1990s that made this method so popular. We however don't have the book but took the recipe from Christine's Recipes. It's the texture that differs this bread from any other

Palmiers

2012-01-19T10:31:00.000-08:00

“Resistance is like swimming against the current, exhausting and pointless.” I'm thinking over these words for awhile, ever since I finished Joanne Harris' Five Quarters of the Orange. It happens to me quite often, when reading a book to think over certain sentences, phrases and circumstances. To transfer them over my life and live through them. To consider them as signs. A sign searcher - this

Chocolate Coconut Cookies

2011-12-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

There are certain moments when everything seems possible, when fairy-tales come real, when one can see beyond the imaginary frontiers of the universe. Maybe being a daydreamer what I am makes it easy to believe and see. I was having a coffee with a friend today and she said her son who is 4 still believes in Santa. I'm 29 and I do believe into the magic with all my heart. Does that make me

Candied Ginger – Milk Chocolate – Roasted Pineapple Tartlets

2011-12-14T02:06:00.000-08:00

We made these tartlets some time ago(believe it or not but it was in April) and they were extremely delicious but I never found time to write down the recipe. Since I've promised myself to finish all the things initiated through the year before its end there was no more time for procrastinating. The original recipe is from Larousse du Chocolat by Pierre Hermé, but we changed it a little bit by

Chocolate Walnut Muscovado Cookies

2011-12-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

Almost every Sunday I bake cookies for Ivan to take to work for his tea pause. So I'm always in search for new cookie recipes. When I'm out of inspiration I stick to the classic shortbread cookie or just transform a recipe I've already done. These cookies fall under the latter case. We used to make them often at the hotel during the pastry course this summer, since they served them with the

Moelleux au Chocolat with Avocado Mousse

2011-12-07T11:43:00.000-08:00

“Merde!”- cursed the french salesgirl when my sister specified exactly which piece of moelleux au chocolat she'd like. Of course it was the biggest one. And knowing what goodness lurks in it wouldn't you ask for the biggest piece if you had such a choice. Me and my sister exchanged

Quince Frangipane Tartlets

2011-12-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

Recently I found I'm extremely picky when it's about fruits mixed in desserts. There are certain fruits which I enjoy eating when raw but never or at least rarely when cooked. Like lemons, oranges, whatever citruses you name, if turned into curd – this is something I am definitely not fond of, but I do love them when candied and use lemon zest even more often than vanilla. Normally I do like

Panettone

2011-11-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

We don't have a fireplace, how are we going to eat the panettone? It was Sarah from Maison Cupcake who made me puzzle over this question by setting this month's Fresh from the Oven challenge to be Panettone. Of course there's no need to have a fireplace in order to eat panettone, but we've eaten it only that way. Several years back, the day after Christmas, we were having our five o'clock

Cinnamon Roses

2011-10-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

I was in a “play with dough” mood. Besides I wanted to try my hands on bread roses for a long time. And since it looked like as if the weekend's gonna be completely featureless and dull – Ivan was out of town and I was having a cold – it was just the perfect time for some dough work as a way to push myself off from the burning sensation in my sinuses. And this month's Fresh from the Oven

Povitica

2011-10-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Povitica is a Central European holiday cake/bread also known as potica or nut roll. It is typical for Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and its name means something like “rolled up”.We were not familiar with this bread and it was fun making it (as well as eating it) while taking part at the October's Daring Bakers Challenge which was chosen by Jenni from The Gingered Whisk. The

Twisted Baguette

2011-10-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

It makes me feel cosy. That aroma that comes out of the oven while baking bread is what I'm talking about. That odour evokes images of perfectly crunchy crust. Have you ever thought about this – one could actually smell the crust. By the aromatic molecules coming out of the oven one could say if the crust is crunchy or soggy, if the middle is well balanced or the bread magic didn't worked out.

Caramelized Chocolate Mille-Feuille with Strawberries

2011-10-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

Do you feel that wind, do you smell it, do you taste it? That wind that autumn brings along her way.The wind changes with seasons, with moods and thoughts. You could ride it sometimes, you know, or at least you think you could do so. But you could never tame it and it would never be yours. I like it to be in my hair although sometimes I have this creepy feeling it could blow me away. Sometimes

Fougasse Fresh from the Oven

2011-09-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

Like every end of the summer season I've turned myself onto a preserve mode. I feel like a squirrel who crams its tiny hollow with dry nuts till no free space is left. In my case the dry nuts are replaced by plums, tomatoes and red bell peppers. For the last two weeks the oven works almost every night. I'm using it as a dehydrator – fan function at 60 – 70ºC. Bell peppers, if on slices are

Apple Cake and Banana-Jaggery Ice Cream

2011-09-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

I was working on another post that's been in my drafts for a long time when my sister called to say she is coming the next day and will be staying for two days before she flies back to Paris. So I wanted to bake something for her. Recently I saw this recipe for fresh apple cake with boiled cider at Jane's Sweets & Baking Journal and this boiled cider thing caught my attention. The problem was I

Chocolate Cake & Pear Ice Cream

2011-09-02T04:42:00.000-07:00

Ice cream maker had been on my wish list for a very long time. My heart's been set on pacojet but it's price was whispering into my ear “Have you gone nuts?! This costs more than our car!” We were not even looking for such a gadget when we saw a small Kenwood model on our way home from a morning coffee with some friends. As soon as we get home we washed the machine and put the bowl in the

Courgette Bread

2011-08-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

We've missed the last few Fresh from the Oven challenges due to travelling here and there, but we couldn't miss this one, since it's our friend Sally from My Custard Pie hosting. Sally's blog is one of my favourite to read. This woman has the ability to always catch my attention. I love the way she writes. Reading her posts one never knows what she would start and end up with. Sally could make

mojito on the loveliest balcony

2011-08-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

Back at home! You haven't heard a word from me for 3 months, but here I am again. I was tired and exhausted, not of baking, of course not. The pastry course is over, the early wake-ups too. No more heat and sweat into the pastry kitchen. But you know what? I miss it. There are many new things I've learned about myself. Like, I do love to be in the kitchen! Way more than being in front of the

Chocolate-Avocado Entremet

2011-05-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

The avocado-chocolate combination stuck to my mind ever since I saw it on Asha's blog Fork Spoon Knife. I love avocados, but since far I've never tried them in sweet variations. I'm glad I fixed that since this combo happened to be extremely good. Rich and fresh at the same time. I had some doubts if the avocado mousse will keep it's nice colour long enough after assembling the entremets. This

Mum's Kozunak Recipe

2011-05-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

It took me ten days to gather my strength to write down this recipe. Firstly I thought not to post it since I find it difficult to write about something I haven't done all by myself. But I promised to my sister and a couple of friends I'll systematize mum's kozunak recipe to an easy to follow step by step guide. Mum is famous for her kozunak amongst all her friends and all the neighbourhood. (

Hot Cross Buns

2011-04-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

We've never made so many Easter breads like this year. Firstly we made Kulich to take along with us in the countryside as a present for Ivan's parents, then I helped mum with the baking of 5 loaves of Kozunak. Plus I'm on a gluten free diet (I hope it will last for just a couple of months) and have tried nothing of the above, unless you count the wonderful aroma that was in the air. So we had a

Kulich - Russian Easter Bread

2011-04-23T07:57:00.000-07:00

Easter is this time of the year when everybody in Bulgaria makes (or rather buys) Kozunak. In our family my mother is the great “Kozunak Master” but I'll write more about this into the next post. The point is, we don't make Kozunak since we don't “mess” with the Master. However, this year we decided to make a Russian Easter bread – Kulich. To be honest I don't see a lot of difference in the

Apple Coconut Cakes

2011-04-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know what type these apples were but they were huge. We had 5-6 kilos of them and the problem was they were plane and tasteless if eaten raw but if cooked or baked all of their aromas evolve to a blissful perfection. After eating loads of apple tarts, crostatas, pies, it's time for something different. Grated apple makes these cakes moist and flavourful. Note: These mini cakes are

Tart Tatin

2011-04-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

We made the tart from the photo more than a fortnight ago and I had no intentions to post about it since this is an extremely ordinary recipe. But we were overloaded with apples that if eaten raw were blind and crumbly but when cooked they were extremely flavourful. So this tart became something like our everyday tart. Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves could also be added but I prefer the

Walnut Cocoa Nib Cookies

2011-04-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, just before going to bed I saw this photo saying “Let's find some beautiful place to get lost”. This was exactly what I was dreaming about the last few days, or maybe even months. Wouldn't it be just great if we were able to go wherever our imagination takes us. With no fears for tomorrow, no thoughts for today, neither regrets for yesterday. If you can't find a beautiful place to

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

2011-03-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

We were great Top Chef Just Desserts fans. We were watching it through the YouTube channel of a Korean guy who was living at that time in New Zealand. Recently I found they've banned him :(( Why?! Come on people, how are supposed Bulgarian guys to watch an American show? Whatever. This recipe comes from the baker Eric Wolitzky, who showed great recipes but his plating was always in a quandary

Kouign Amann

2011-03-11T04:34:00.000-08:00

one of the kouignettes I had no idea of what kouign amann was and it would have been all the same to me if it wasn't David Lebovitz who made me crave for it. A week ago I had my birthday and instead of making a fancy looking gateaux or a luscious entremet I ended up with these – a 20 cm kouign amann and 2 little kouignettes. Strange choice for a birthday dessert. Even Ivan was suspicious of what

Challah Fresh from the Oven

2011-02-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

“Po ze le shuk, le mitvahim al a mehir!” (This is not a market and we do not haggle over the price!) - although I've never had the right occasion to use this phrase, this is one of the few things I can say in Hebrew (but can't write it). Don't ask where I know it from. Weird job experience. This phrase came to my mind when I saw this month's Fresh from the Oven challenge. It was hosted by Dom

Honey Panna Cotta & Florentines

2011-02-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

Making panna cotta and florentines was this month's Daring Bakers challenge which was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. Ivan did a good job with the panna cotta part – it was very creamy and smooth on the palate. And he played a bit with the orange jelly to make a hole in it where to pour some sour cherry jam. It was up to me to make the florentines and I had a nice idea for

Date Chocolate Orange Entremet

2011-02-25T09:18:00.000-08:00

It's been so dull and cloudy lately that we needed something bright and sunny to bring the good humour in. Oranges and chocolate are my winter mood boosters, and dates – ok, I found them in the fridge, deeply forgotten from the summer, but they fit perfectly into the mood booster conception. Overall the end result was quite good, although I find the orange mousse a tad sweeter for my tooth(

Macha Pumpkin Seeds Financiers

2011-02-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

Natalie from Vin de Peche passed us a Stylish Blogger Award. So now we have to share 7 things you might not know about us. Where to start from? I've started to write the “about us” page maybe 4 months ago and since then I've written only one sentence. Our friend Nicky, who is a pro photographer took us some super good shots especially on this occasion. Maybe I'm too lazy and need a serious

Pain aux Raisins

2011-02-04T07:31:00.000-08:00

One of the things I miss the most about Paris is Paul and more particularly their pain aux raisins (or L'Escargot). I've tried it in almost every Paul boulangerie in the city as well in many other pastry shops and can definitely say that the best pains aux raisins or at least my favourite are in Paul at Palais des Congrés. They are always warm and generously glazed, shiny and crunchy. (The thing

Khrushchev dough

2011-01-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

It was our honour to host the first Fresh from the Oven challenge for this year. We chose to set our favourite snack and breakfast recipe. Besides it's very easy. But you have to forget everything you know about the dough when it comes to this one. It's said that this was the favourite dough recipe of the Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev. Thus came the name – Khrushchev dough. He liked it

Matcha Black Sesame Entremet

2011-01-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe from accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert. And we loved it! Meeting challenges like this one was the reason we joined the Daring Bakers. We decided to make matcha Joconde with black sesame pattern filled with two mousses – matcha and black sesame. But black

Chocolate Macarons with Italian Meringue

2011-01-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

The first time we tried to make macarons using the Italian meringue method was 5 years ago as soon as we got back from Le Salon du Chocolat in Paris, where we attended a demonstration of how Pierre Herme's macarons are being done. I said “tried” for a reason here, as instead of macarons we made something more like a big fat and fluffy cookies. But there was a significant difference between those

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

2011-01-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

Remember these chocolate salted caramel tarts? They were worth licking the screen! Yup, they were that good! This time we've twisted the recipe a little and ended up with these chocolate salted caramel cookie bars. Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookie Bars Recipe: Idea taken from Marmiton For the Cookies: Makes around 40 cookies 250 gr all purpose flour; 40 gr finely ground almonds; 125 gr

Stollen for a Happy New Year

2011-01-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

It's this time of the year when everybody's making recapitulations of the past year, lists and plans for the new one. But I tend to never think of what I could have done but haven't. I never make planning lists just because the future is there, waiting for us and I prefer living it instead of planning it. In Bulgaria, we have a tradition. On Christmas eve we are eating banitsa stuck with lucky

Beetroot Whoopie Pies

2010-12-06T04:32:00.000-08:00

It was an exhausting week and I'm glad it's over. Last tuesday was set to be the kitchen demolition day, although we didn't ruin the entire kitchen but almost. We had brand new counters and cupboards made by Ivan and his father and there was only one old thing left in the kitchen that was supposed to be gone – a 35 years old huge concrete counter moulded like a sink that looked like a huge

Kiflice – Mini Cheese Rolls - Fresh from the Oven

2010-11-28T07:50:00.000-08:00

Kiflice, although called differently in the different countries, are a very Balkan breakfast. They were chosen by Maja from Cooks and Bakes as this month's Fresh from the Oven challenge. Maja is a Serbian, i.e. she is a neighbour of ours. After having Chelsea buns, which are a typical British breakfast, last month, it was interesting to see a typical Balkan one. I always tend to overfill

Apple Crostata

2010-11-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

November Daring Bakers' challenge was to make a crostata, and the first we thought about was apple one, since we were loaded up with apples from Ivan's uncle front yard. The challenge was hosted by Simona from Briciole. I planned to post it earlier today but we were invited to have a tea with our friends Dessie and Nikolay and we had a wonderful lazy day with honey cookies, apple cake and

Hibiscus Macarons with Mascarpone-Butter Cream

2010-11-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

Our friends Ann and Becky sent us a huge bag of these beautiful enormous dry hibiscus flowers from Egypt. This is the best hibiscus tea we've ever tried – profound and intensive flavour, deep rubious colour and concentrated flowery aciduous taste. But it would be a sacrilege to use these gems for just making tea. Candied flowers, hibiscus jelly or reduction sound quite tempting too, but first of

Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies

2010-11-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

We admit it, we aren't great gluten free baking fans, but it's so trendy recently, that makes us curious to try it. Besides we wanted to surprise our friend Svetla who became gluten intolerant after her first pregnancy. Now she is pregnant with her second child and she is craving more than ever for cookies and crackers. So we examined several gluten free recipes in quest for the perfect one.

Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart

2010-11-11T03:30:00.000-08:00

I had a great story to tell you about these tarts involving me and my sister in Paris, a scrumptious round of Camembert grillé and a crunchy baguette, a long walk on foot from my sister's tiny apartment at rue Miollis (15ème arrondissement) to rue Cail (10ème), samosas at Krishna and shopping spices at Ganesha, then on our way back dropping ourselves in a small local pastry shop (not as trendy

Chelsea Buns Fresh from the Oven

2010-10-28T01:45:00.000-07:00

For this month's Fresh from the Oven challenge Wendy of Notes from the Quirky Kitchen got us baking Chelsea Buns. Most of FFO members are English natives and everybody was familiar with these buns. Apparently this is something they teach the kids in the UK during the school cookery lessons and everybody from our baking group seems to have warm memories from that time. But we are Bulgarian guys

Doughnuts for October's DB Challenge

2010-10-27T01:40:00.000-07:00

October has past so fast that I haven't even realized it yet. This morning I remembered we haven't made the Daring Bakers' challenge and it was already the posting date, so we've got down to work. Lori of Butter Me Up was the host of October's DB challenge and she chose for us some doughnuts recipes. We had some fresh yeast in the fridge so we decided to try Alton Brown's yeast doughnuts. And

Chocolate Molten Cake with Caramel Heart

2010-10-14T04:46:00.000-07:00

After returning from the countryside last week the whole kitchen was full of fresh vegetables and fruits waiting their turn to be processed, pickled, cut, frozen, cured, etc. Plus, we finally received the long expected wooden doors for the new kitchen cabinets that Ivan and his father made. And now there's a lot of work to be done since the doors are not even polished. We wanted the doors to be

Plum Jelly and Yoghurt-Aniseed Mousse on an Almond-Walnut Dacquoise Base

2010-10-08T04:45:00.000-07:00

We've spent last weekend in Vetren – a small village near Silistra. Ivan's parents had built their summer house there several years ago and now they live there from april till november. This was a great milestone in their life that changed them thoroughly. Hoeing the garden, planting fruits and vegetables, nipping off tomatoes' side shoots, mowing the grass, weeding, cultivating the soil – all

Polenta Bread Fresh from the Oven

2010-09-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

For the September's Fresh from the Oven Challenge we had to make polenta bread. The hostess - Becky from Fraxknits chose a recipe by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter. The recipe included some pine nuts but we were out of stock, so replaced them with pumpkin seeds. And as we were in the middle of drying Capia peppers, we added two tablespoons of chopped dry peppers. So the bread turned in

Natural Colours from Our Pantry

2010-09-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Decorated Sugar Cookies using royal icing was the September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge which was hosted by Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. I'd rather prefer to top the cookies with some fruits and bake them that way. Besides, considering my hate-type relationship with the meringue flavoured sweets and the fact that royal icing gives this taste, at the first place I wasn't so keen about this

Safflower Macarons with Lime – Kukicha White Chocolate Cream Cheese Ganache

2010-09-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

After coping with the humidity factor churning out macarons became a great fun. We amuse ourselves by creating scrumptious combinations of natural colours and flavours. It's always interesting to experiment with colourful ingredients. This time on the spot is the safflower. Safflower is one of humanity's oldest crops used as a colouring agent. In the past, before the appearance of the cheaper

Date Cake with Orange Blossoms Ice Cream and Fig Topping

2010-09-14T05:23:00.000-07:00

Our fridge was packed to its capacity with dates from my parents' trip to Tunisia a couple of weeks ago. We ate a lot while still fresh but there were still two kilos of them left. And honestly, we had more than enough. We couldn't even think of eating one more date unless it was transformed into something more appealing. It's not that dates are not appealing but after devouring a certain

Nectarine Galettes and Plum Rosettes

2010-09-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

This week I made this recipe twice. The first time I made the whole recipe with the eggy part, but the second time I halved the recipe to make a quick breakfast for two. And as I was in a hurry I skipped the egg and replaced the yolk with milk. There was no significant difference, so it could be done this way too. We had our galettes on the balcony while I was trying to find the little

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

2010-09-08T04:04:00.000-07:00

We've been living on the sea coast for more than 12 years but have never gone to the beach during daytime. Burning sun, crowds of tourists making fuss, sweat and sand sticking on your body – it's just not for us. The comfort of the kitchen, the hot oven, simmering sauce pans, the sweet odour of vanilla filling out the whole apartment – this is our world and we love it! No, you can't find us on

Mini Cheese Cakes

2010-09-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourite deserts. But this winter I used to make it so often that at the end I wasn't able to love it anymore. There's been several months since I haven't even thought of making cheese cake, but when my sister was here she asked me to make it as it's one of her favorites too. And... my old love for this cheese cake came back. I'm totally addicted again, but this time I'm

Cheesy Peachy Cracker Bites

2010-09-04T06:04:00.000-07:00

After putting the fourth batch of the graham crackers in the oven I decided to break the monotony of the rectangular shape with some little rounds having in mind to use them for a multi layered dessert. Lately I enjoy making multi layered desserts with a cookie base. Besides when they are bite size small you can eat them directly with your hands. Cheesy Peachy Cracker Bites Recipe: For the

Graham Crackers

2010-09-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Me: It smells like the end of the summer. Ivan: How does the end of the summer smell like? Me: I don't know but you can feel it in the air. There is not a specific aroma but there are many fast changing odours. The wind is colder but pleasant. Thus all the flavours are somehow cleaner and deeper, and more distinctive. Unlike at the height of the summer when it's hot and all the odours are

Brioche - Fresh from the Oven

2010-08-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I realised that the month has passed and we hadn't yet fulfilled the August's Fresh from the Oven Challenge. Ivan was lying in the bed with fever, besides it was his birthday. It was 35ºC outdoors (and nearly 30 indoors) but he was shivering, his nose was running, he was sneezing, coughing and maybe this was the worst birthday he has ever had. He wasn't in a mood neither for party nor

Crème Onctueuse au Chocolat et aux Framboises

2010-08-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

Every year near the end of July my Paris comes to me, meaning that Dessie (my sister) and Frederic leave their tiny apartment in Paris and come to stay for a month with us. Last year we made this cream for them and they loved it so much that this was the first thing they wanted for dessert this time. We made it last week and it was a real fun to watch them eating it – slowly and with a great

Making Chocolate Macarons in a Humid Climate

2010-08-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Living on the sea coast definitely has its good points but when it comes to making macarons the humidity literally kills them. Cracked and feetless – this is how normally our macs end up. But not this time, meaning we made them, woohoo! Armed with patience (in huuuge amounts) we finally managed to dehumidify the air and all the ingredients to a such point that skin formed during the resting

Whole Wheat Walnut Bread

2010-07-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

The adorable Sarah from Simply Cooked hosted July's Fresh from the Oven Challenge. She chose a whole wheat walnut bread from The Neighborhood Bakeshop by Jill Van Cleave. Instead of two loaves we made an extremely big one and baked it in an extremely big cake baking pan. We put less walnuts than needed and a certain amount of them was finely ground. The ground walnuts give a nice reddish

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake

2010-07-27T05:17:00.000-07:00

I loved this month's Daring Bakers Challenge, however Ivan wasn't so keen on it. But the thing I liked the most was that we were given a frame – to make a Swiss roll, two ice creams and a hidden chocolate sauce. And about the recipes – we had the full choice to make whatever we want – to use our own recipes, to invent new (which is the best part of a challenge like this). After turning the

Rosemary Cookies with Apricot Espuma

2010-07-22T05:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't been cycling for more than 15 years. My last bike, and the only one I've ever had (barring the green tricycle when I was three), was yellow, shiny and fast enough to race with the other kids from the neighbourhood. Ivan claims it was a child's bike, since it was with small wheels, but after all I was 9 when I got it and this is the only one I have ever ridden. When I was 13 I left it

Cherry Jam Muffins with Rolled Oats

2010-07-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

Well, now, this is the first official post in our new blog Mushitza. Till now we used the name Chococo because this is the name that we registered for our firm in Bulgaria and we have the right to use it till september this year. But it appeared that there was already a company using this name in the UK. So we decided it is correct to change our blog name. Mushitza is my nickname and it means

Strawberry Pate de Fruit Cake

2010-07-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

Early sunday morning. We were having 2 kilos of fresh milk in the fridge but there was nothing that could go with a cup of milk. I needed something sweet and cakey, and fruity, and I needed it baked, cooled and served in less than two hours for breakfast. We still had some of those fancy looking pate de fruit squares we made last week. Or we ate them and these are from the subsequent batches

Turkish Pidé Fresh from the Oven

2010-06-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's june 28, so it's time for Fresh from the Oven challenge. This month it was hosted by Pei Lin a.k.a Mrs Ergül and it was a very good one. We made Turkish Pidé - a special Turkish bread for Ramadan. We've eaten this bread before so we made it with a great delight as soon as Pei Lin posted the recipe. But then we had to make it again.I saw it's going to be a big loaf but that didn't stop me to

Chocolate Pavlova with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse

2010-06-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Our first Daring Bakers' challenge. To tell you the truth this was quite a challenge for me as I don't like meringues. Actually I hate them. But... Apparently when there is cocoa involved everything becomes better.This month the Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged us to make Chocolate Pavlova and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The recipe is based on

Cherry Clafoutis

2010-06-24T02:13:00.000-07:00

We have never eaten so many cherries like this year. Downstairs, beneath our apartment, our neighbours have opened a “Fruits and Vegetables” shop. The place isn't big, actually it was a garage once, but it's well stocked with fresh produce. It's like a little farmer's market just at two paces distance away from me. Literally. And the best part is that while drinking my tea on the balcony it's

Strawberry Pate de Fruit

2010-06-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

I wasn't a big fan of pate de fruit. I've always found it too sweet to eat it. Even now when thinking of store bought pate de fruit my teeth are aching. I just don't like to eat foods in which the dominant taste is that of the sugar. It's named “pate de fruit” so you should feel the fruits in your mouth not solely the sugar.But when it comes to home made one – I'm drooling over these fruity

Cherry Pie in a Black Pepper Cherry-Brandy Pastry

2010-06-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

In my mind cherries are associated with the date May 24 - the Alphabet, Culture, and Education Day of Bulgaria. When I was in the primary school on this day all the students were marching via the center of the city in their full dress with a blue or red scarf around the neck, depending if they were chavdarcheta or pioneers. Chavdarcheta were the youngest children, which later became pioneers. (I

Bitter-Sweet Brownie Bites

2010-06-10T11:19:00.000-07:00

I find brownie is one of the easiest desserts to make. It happened to me to make it with a fork or even a spoon instead of a whisk. It happened to me to make it with overheated and water damaged chocolate. It happened to me to make it without using any measurements, just keeping an eye on the consistency and tasting the raw mixture. It even happened to me to bake it in my sister's little grill

Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake for My Sister

2010-05-31T04:36:00.000-07:00

25 years ago on this very date my parents gave me the most lovely present I could have ever imagined – my sister. Firstly I didn't like her very much. I thought of her like of a toy doll with which to play but she didn't seem to be very interested in my games. She did nothing but crying, eating and sleeping. So I wasn't very pleased with my toy's design and behaviour and secretly was dreaming

Pizza Napoletana Fresh from the Oven

2010-05-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last month I saw some really tasty croissants photos that made me want to join to the bread baking community Fresh from the Oven. So this is my first Fresh from the Oven challenge. This month's challenge is hosted by Lauren from Coffee Muffins who chose a recipe for Pizza Napoletana from Peter Reinhart's “The Bread Baker's Apprentice”. This recipe is quite different than the one we usually make.

Chocolate Jaggery Raisin Cookies

2010-05-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

You may have probably noticed that we are huge jaggery fans. I know, this jaggery obsession could be quite annoying, but since we've found jaggery relatively soon we are still enjoying experimenting with it. Considering the fact that until two months ago we weren't familiar with this sweetener we googled it for more information and here's what we've found.Jaggery is unrefined sugar, produced

Simple Yoghurt Cupcakes

2010-05-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

We've had strawberries for the first time this year. I know they were selling them for quite a while but since they were imported I prefered to wait for the local ones. I'm just not very fond of the idea of having fruits and vegetables from all parts of the world all year round. I'm okay when it comes for those that doesn't grow here, like bananas, citruses and the tropical ones. But when it

Banana – Jaggery Ice Cream

2010-05-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

We've never thought we could make a decent ice cream without an ice cream maker. But two months ago David Lebovitz posted his recipe for banana – brown sugar ice cream that we couldn't resist and had to give it a try. Actually it was Ivan who was overwhelmed by enthusiasm of making “the perfect scoop”. As for me – I thought his enthusiasm would transform the kitchen into a perfect mess without

Potimarron Fondant

2010-05-04T02:19:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know it's a little bit late for a pumpkin recipe. But Ivan's parents had a lot of pumpkins last year. Actually it was their first year of growing pumpkins and they didn't even know how to plant them, so the neighbour came to aid. In fact she did the whole work in five minutes. Couple of months later the yard was full to bursting with pumpkins. They were everywhere – hanging down from the

Milky Cake with a Scent of Passion Fruit

2010-04-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

We've found a tiny dairy shop near the marketplace in our neighbourhood. All the products come from a dairy farm near our home town Silistra. Actually they sell only 3 types of products – milk, yoghurt and white brine cheese /as I said it's a really tiny shop/. But all the products are of a very good quality. But when I saw their brochures and advertising materials I thought they were disastrous

Baguette Full of Paris Memories

2010-04-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

I miss Paris. I miss the lazy mornings with my sister - Dessi. We were lounging till 9 or even 10 o'clock in the morning just talking and laughing. Then while Dessi was making the tea I was going to buy the bread. Behind the corner there was one of my favourite boulangeries Le Moulin de la Vierge. Five minutes later I was back home with a crunchy baguette in my hand. Spreading some cheese on it

It All Starts With Chocolate Gingersnaps

2010-04-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

I urge myself to start this blog for a very long time. I'm making photos of almost everything that comes out of my oven but when it comes to writing there's always a good reason to put it off until later. But today is the great start-my-blog day. In fact it's not only my blog. The initiator was Ivan but he always says „You are the writer in the family“. So here I am – writing while he... actually