Cooking With Clay

Orange Cupcakes (approx. 12 servings)

2008-10-26T22:26:00.003Z

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Copyright:

This recipe is mine and i did not copy or adapted from others recipes.

Required equipment:

Muffin cup pans, preferably non-stick. If non-stick ones aren't readily available, aluminium or stainless steel will do, provided they're smeared with butter and dusted with flour. The ones I used were 7 cm wide and 2.5 cm tall.

Electrical egg-beater. A whisk will do in a pinch.

Note:

You can also make lemon muffins. Just substitute lemon zest and lemon juice for orange zest and orange juice.

Ingredients:

60 grams of margarine

3 eggs

135 grams of sugar.

200 grams of self-rising flour.

15 cl (one teacup) of warm or cold milk.

Zest and juice of two large oranges.

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven at 200ºC.

Mix together the margarine, the eggs, the sugar, the flour, the milk and the orange zest thoroughly. The smoother the mix, the softer the muffins will be.

Pour the dough into each of the cups. Don't fill them to the brim, only about ¾ of the way to allow for the muffins to rise.

When the oven is at 200ºC, bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, poke the muffins with a toothpick to check that they're thoroughly baked. If the toothpick comes out with raw dough, bake for another 2 minutes and check with a fresh toothpick.

Remove the muffins from the cups and line them on a tall-bordered tray (see picture).

Add a sachet of sugar (5/6 grams) to the orange juice and stir until completely dissolved. Then pour the juice over the muffins. Don't worry if you pour onto the tray rather than over the cupcakes, they'll absorb the juice like a sponge.

Extremely simple and delicious recipe!

Before going into the oven:

Baked cupcakes after pouring the juice:

Translation from portuguese by Pedro Polónio (Arabian Shark).

Chocolate Muffins - 8 Approximatly

2008-10-12T00:16:00.002+01:00

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Copyrights and stuff:

This recipe was adapted from the website Vaqueiro.

Necessary Equipment:

Two pots, one small and another one a bit larger. This will be used to melt the chocolate.

Forms for the muffins, preferably non-adherent. you can use aluminium, but you will have to isolate with butter and flower. The forms i used have 7cm / 2,8 inches in diameter and 2,5cm / 1 inch in hight.

Electrical mixer (you can also mix by hand, but it takes much longer).

Oven that can get at 200ºC / 392º F.

Notes:

In order to melt the chocolate, do this, put some water in the biggest pot, break the chocolate and put it inside the smaller pot. Then, heat up the largest pot with the smaller pot placed inside. The water will boil maintaining a constant temperature that will heat up the smaller pot, melting the chocolate without burning it!

Ingredients:

100 grams / 3.52oz of dark chocolate (i recommend Nestlé Chocolate).

60 grams / 2.11oz of margarine (vegetal butter)

3 eggs

100 grams / 3.52oz of sugar

35 grams / 1.23oz of flower with baking powder.

Optional - Grated or chocolate drops.

Preparation

Completely melt the chocolate with the margarine.

While it melts, mix the eggs, the flower and the sugar with the mixer and join the chocolate when it is completely melted. Mix until you get a chocolate collared moisture.

At this time, you can add the grated or the chocolate drops.

Pre-heat the oven at 200ºC / 392º F.

Put the moister in the forms. Don't fill them completely! Leave at least 1/4 of the form empty, the muffins will grow!

When the oven is at 200ºC / 392º F, take the forms to the oven for about 20 minutes. After that, stick them with a tooth-pick in order to see if they are cooked from within. If the muffin doesn't grab to the tooth-pick, it means they are ready! If not, leave them for another 2 minutes and the repeat the process.

This recipe is extremely simple and delicous!

Chocolate and Orange Muffins after done!

Cooking Forum!

2008-10-01T17:19:00.002+01:00

In case you haven't notice -> Cooking Forum!

Almonds Sweet with Nuts - 5 Cups

2008-09-30T19:57:00.000+01:00

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Copyright stuff:

This recipe belongs to the Portuguese cooking book, Doces Conventuais {de A->Z} - Livro 4 from Biblioteca Activa.

Necessary equipment:

Grinder to grind your Almonds.

Casserole were you will make the sweet.

5 small cups (see the picture).

Notes:

To remove the almonds skin. put them in a cup and add some boiling water and let it be for 3 to 5 minutes, then take the almonds from the water (be careful no to get burned), and remove the peel by hand, it will get off very easily.

Ingredients:

125 grams of peeled and grinded almonds .

250 grams of sugar.

2 decilitres of water.

2 large eggs.

5 egg gems.

powder cinnamon

100 grams of walnuts grossly grinded.

Preparation:

Mix the eggs with the egg gems.

Boil the water with the sugar in high temperature for 5 minutes.

Add the Almonds and let it boil for another 1 minute.

In soft temperature, add the mixed eggs and mix without stopping until the gems cook (the gems will turn from the orange colour to yellow).

After the gems cook, put the sweet in individual cups, spread some powder cinnamon with the nuts all over the sweet.

Excellent sweet and very easy to prepare!

During the cook

After placing in the individual cups

Apple Pie - 8 Slices

2008-09-21T01:59:00.002+01:00

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About copyright and stuff:

This recipe is based (not a copy), in others recipes, which I will describe down low:

- For the crunchy base, I used as a reference, the recipe from the book “The Naked Chef” from Jamie Oliver

- For the Apple filling, I used as a reference, the recipe from the Portuguese Forum Receitas - Tarte de maçã

Necessary equipment:

Non-stick pie form with an approximately 25cm / 9.8inch in diameter (you can use a normal form, but you will have to put some butter and flower so that the pie doesn’t grab the form).

An oven that can heat up to 250ºC / 482.00º F. Despite the needed temperature is 190ºC / 374.00ºF, it’s better to get a higher temperature in order to pre-heat the oven.

Electric mixer (you can mix it by hand but it will be much harder and it will take the double of the time).

Roll pat.

Notes:

Normally, we use Golden apples and so. I used red apples despite the quantity of juice in it. In my opinion, you can simply use any kind of apple. Choose a cheaper but with good quality. If you have a fruit market near your home, go there, buy fresh fruit, it will be better.

The eggs I used are chicken eggs, Large type.

Ingredients:

For the crunchy base

100 grams / 3.527 ounces of margarine or butter (I used margarine, no cholesterol).

100 grams / 3.527 ounces of powder sugar.

250 grams / 8.818 ounces of baking flower, with baking powder included! (if you can’t find that, add a half coffee spoon of baking powder).

2 eggs gems.

2 spoons of cold milk (any kind of cow milk).

For the Apple filling

4 to 5 apples of normal average size.

Half-lemon juice (small lemon).

100 grams / 3.527 ounces of powder sugar (it can also be normal sugar but it will take longer to dilute.

3 eggs.

1.25 deciliters / 4.23 fluid ounces of creams (fresh is preferable).

Preparation

Crunchy base:

Mix the margarine (or butter) with the sugar.

When you have a good mix, add the egg gems, the flower and the milk spoons. Mix until you have obtained a workable mass ball.

At this moment, place the mass inside a cup and cover with some adherent plastic and put it inside the freezer for an hour.

After being in the freezer, place the mass on a surface were you can stretch it with the roll pat and if the mass adheres to the surface, spread some flour over the surface.

Stretch the mass until its height is about 5 millimeters / 0.19 inches and so that you can cover the form. When that happens, place the stretched mass over the form and with your thumbs, compress the mass into the side of the form. (see the pictures to know what I’m talking about).

At this moment you can start to pre-heat the oven at 200ºC / 482ºF

Apple filling:

Wash well the apples, remove the apple skin, cut into quarters, remove the seeds and slice the quarters thinly (see the pictures to know what I mean).

When you have all the apples sliced, create 2 circles with the slices, an external and an internal inside the form. Don’t let it be higher than the form.

Mix the lemon juice, the sugar, the eggs and the creams for about 30 seconds. Don’t let the cream raise, the objective is to mix the ingredients!

Cover the apple slices with the liquid that you just prepared.

And now it’s ready to go to the oven for about an hour. Make sure the temperature is at 190ºC / 374ºF.

While the apple pie is in the oven, it may get a bit liquid at the surface, don’t worry, during the cook, the water from the juice will evaporate and the sugars from the juice will spread throughout the pie, and it will become very tasty.

To eat and cry for more, believe it! My first pie didn’t last 24 hours here at home!

Images:

Before adding the liquid filling to the sliced apples.

After adding the liquid to the sliced apples.

Apple pie just after leaving the oven!