Natural Yogurt Cake

With all cake recipes available on countless baking websites it is hard to select the best ones. The best way to get a recipe is from someone who has baked a cake you have actually tasted and pigged. In this particular recipe it was Ms. Cassia from whom I´ve learned the recipe. A simple moist cake that uses natural yogurt instead of ordinary milk. 

Ingredients

1 cup (170g) natural yogurt

4 eggs

2 cups flour

2 cups refined white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tbs baking powder

Note: Use yogurt cup which is 170g to measure the ingredients

Procedure

Mix all the above ingredients using a blender for 5 mins

Pour the batter in a baking pan (basic baking procedure: spread and sprinkled with butter and flour respectively all over). My cake got a brown color as I sprinkled chocolate powder instead flour in the pan.

Place in a pre-heated oven for 45 mins in 180-210 degrees.

Now I have this cake recipe I can count on and a blog to keep recipes I can´t lose.

the original recipe that Cassia gave me

Want to know what we did Saturday night at home? Here it is...

Gwyneth Paltrow´s Pancake! Recipe first tried on this post. Learned from GOOP.

Hope everyone is enjoying their lazy Sunday!

Homemade Hawaiian Pizza

Pizza is one the easiest recipe I learned here in Brazil. Back in the Philippines, never did I experiment on making pizza at home. Hawaiian pizza is my favorite flavor of pizza. Yes it is. I love the sweet taste that the pineapple adds to the whole pizza and it´s very light. However, this flavor of pizza is no typical in Brazil. Famous pizza houses don´t have hawaiian in their menu. I had no choice but to fed my cravings with a homemade hawaiian pizza. My 3 companions today are hubby, his friend and mom - all of them were first timers with the flavor. This medium-sized pizza was eaten quickly. Success it was! Recipe at the bottom of the post.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium-sized pizza bun ( ready to bake available at the supermarket)

half pc. green bell pepper cut into 1/2 inch square

4 spoons pineapple chunks

ham (as much as you want)

5 tablespoons pizza sauce

half pc. onion thinly cut

200 grams of mozarella (100g at the bottom, 100g on top)

oregano

olive oil

PROCEDURE (as seen in order of photos)

1. pre-heat the oven (medium fire)

2. spread the pizza sauce on the bun

3. cover the bun with mozarella

4. place the ham, pineapple, green bell pepper and onions  (in an organized way - see second photo above)

5. sprinkle with oregano and pour olive oil

6. top the pizza with the rest of mozarella

7. bake for 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven

This is a very light food you can eat if you´re kind of calorie-intake conscious. The ingredients are mostly healthy.

Happy cooking and healthy eating!

xoxo,

Cecille

Homemade Fruit Jam

Aren´t they sweet? Literally sweet because of the great deal of sugar in it and the sweetness of living a simple life. These fruits are just falling on the ground from our garden and the neighborhood´s. Blackberries and oranges are fruits in season that you can get it here for free. Since we love fruit jam spread on our bread and crackers I decided to give jam making a try. Viola! Sweet fruit jams on our table for a month of consumption. Bestowed with a little creativity, these spread catch attention at the kitchen. Cute packaging.

 oranges pesonally picked by the author from her mom in-law´s garden

orange jam this much needed 10 peeled oranges, 3 cups (240ml) of sugar and 1.5 cups of water (240ml).

 they call it "amora" in portuguese. blackberries are very common in south america. freshly-picked by the husband from our client´s farm. they are sweet!

black berry jam. this size contain 5 cups of blackberries, 3 cups of sugar and 1.5 cups pf water.

Procedure (both jams)

1. boil the fruits in water until tender. around 30 mins

2. mix the sugar to the fruit mixture.

3. simmer until thickened. don´t overdo simmering as the jam will get chewy if overdone. I had mine for 15 minutes on medium fire.

When I get to the the Philippines I´ll do this for my Dad. He loves fruit jam for breakfast spread on pandesal or american bread or as dessert every meal mixing it on rice.

Sunday Dessert - Passion Fruit Mousse

 Unlike Philippines, passion fruit (maracujá in portuguese) in Brazil is as common as banana. Meaning it is available the whole year round.  Musse de Maracujá is a usual Brazilian dessert and preparation is very easy . This is another brazilian cuisine that I would love to make for my family and friends in the Philippines. Here is the recipe,  originally in portuguese, thanks to my hubby for helping me translate it in english.

Ingredients

1 (12g) envelope colorless and flavorless gelatine

1 can condensed milk

1 can nestle cream

1 box passion fruit flavored gelatine

120ml concentrated passion fruit juice

Topping

1 medium-sized passion fruit

4 tablespoon sugar

Procedure

1. Pour nestle cream, condensed milk and passion fruit juice in a blender. Set aside.

2. Dissolve flavorless gelatine in conformity of to its cooking instruction written on the package. ( Mine was to dissolve the gelatine in a 250ml boiling water). Set aside until it gets warm.

3. Dissolve the passion fruit gelatine separately in a 250ml water (neither cold nor hot).

4. Mix them altogether in the blender on a medium speed until all the ingredients are well  mixed.

5. Put in the fridge for at least half an hour to get the mousse consistency.

Topping

1. In a sauce pan, mix passion fruit pulp and sugar until thickened.

 passion fruit based on my experience can be stored for a week without spoiling.

the recipe can be substituted with other fruits but i would recommend philippine mango. the taste of the the passion fruit mousse is somehow like our mango in the philippines. baguio strawberries can be a great option too.

 shallow champagne glasses where the mousse will be set

  the blended ingredients before placing them inside the fridge

sunday dessert - delightful passion fruit mousse - the consistency is almost like an ice cream. the recipe turned out smoothly sweet.  that level of sweetness that will make crave for more. perfect recipe.

it´s fathers´day in Brazil - 2nd sunday of August..apparently, they don´t celebrate it on 2nd sunday of june

 today´s main dish i´ve served my hubby and mom-inlaw. baked pork ribs and luguine in red and white sauce (molho rosé)  that were complemented by the passion fruit mousse

Pickling Chili Peppers

I grew up in a family where almost all recipe are cooked with chili and where to every food that is served, a vinegar dip is a must. Ironically I have not learned pickling chilis in the Philippines. It was only recently (here in Brazil) I have discovered pickled chilis. Now we can have this spicy condiment anytime enhancing the flavor of any meat/fish recipe.

fresh south american aji peppers

a nice clear jar

pickled chili peppers 

Easiest to prepare with vinegar, garlic and salt as complementary ingredients. Arrange the peppers vertically inside the jar with garlic at the bottom. Sprinkle with salt and pour vinegar until the jar is almost full. Pronto! Olive oil can be added for a hotter pickle. Thanks to Thaty´s family for introducing me this recipe. Blends perfectly with feijoda.



pickled peppers also serves as a kitchen decor

Chicken Burritos

This is a healthy snack I did with our leftover shredded chicken breast and the rest of the ingredients readily available from our fridge. One of those afternoon that I served my hubby a non-brazilian food made at home. Unlike most recipes, not all of the ingredients are stir-fried. Shredded chix was the only ingredient that was stir-fried with spices and butter thus making it fresh and a little crispy.

 ready to eat burrito wrap from the grocery

 The ingredients - sour cream, mozzarella, lettuce, shredded chix, yellow corn, tomatoes. Skipped the onions (hubby hates it on sandwhiches)

I don´t have sour cream in the fridge. Did my own with mayo, mustard and cream cheese. 

the wrap was heated in a non-stick pan for around 30 seconds before it was filled with fresh ingredients. Roll it out and toast a little more. Grilling the burritos is an option. 

 yummy homemade healthy mexican snack!..for my hubby who woke up at 7am to clean and repaint the gym´s outside wall while I stayed sleeping until 11am

Canjica

If Philippines has "binatog" or " ginataang mais", Brazil has canjica. I have this love affair with whatever "ginataan" recipe which my mom cooks best, either salty or sweet. She just makes the best ginataan. Thus, the experiment in the brazilian kitchen two days ago. I cooked this canjica (recipe here) , a recipe for winter season as it is best eaten hot. This brazilian version of ginataang mais is made special by the added flavor of cinnamon bark, peanut and cloves. You might want to try this recipe the next time you do ginataang mais.

French Bread Leftover

Who doesn´t hate stale bread? Especially french bread that stays less crisp the way it´s supposed to be. In my effort to combat bed weather (10 degrees) and laziness today, I stayed in the kitchen the whole afternoon and one of the recipes I did is this pizza bread from weekend leftover.

 french bread cut into halves

 spread tomato sauce on top

 mozzarella, "frios" (cold cuts), oregano and olive oil as complementary ingredients

 bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes

 ready to serve pizza..rich in flavor and calories

my inspiration..yellow roses at the dining table..collected this from the chapel last Thursday after Corpus Christi Celebration...(well, they were just to threw them..so I brought them home)..silly kid!

Paltrow´s Pancake

 Today I served my hubby and mom-inlaw  Paltrow´s Pancake (recipe here) which was learned from Gywneth Paltrow´s blog. Unsual breakfast for them as the most common you´ll see on brazilian´s breakfast table are cheese bread or french bread, cake, ham and cheese and dark coffee. I made two types of pancake using different flour. One is unbleached flour as the recipe needed and wheat flour for a healthier eating. Best thing about this recipe is that you can prepare it a night before then just cook it the next day. So this caters to all working moms out there who have no much time to prepare breakfast for the family.

basic baking/cooking technique - separation of wet and dry ingredients

 whisk enough to combine all the ingredients

ready to flip when bubbles appear  

 pancake using wheat flour

 

pour in 100% pure honey instead of maple syrup

breakfast table today at bacci´s home

 

my plate with nutella

Fanta Natural

As much as I can, I avoid soda and prefer a natural fruit juice. This weekend I got fixated with carrot-orange-lemon juice which they call Fanta Natural. The recipe was learned from my husband´s aunties Vilma and Zenaide. The color was so enticing and really has the taste of Fanta Soda less of the gas and unnatural ingredients. A very healthy drink for all ages. Here´s the recipe:

3 large carrots peeled and chopped
1 large orange
250 ml lemon juice
1.5 litres of water
sugar to taste

Procedure
1. Mix carrots and 1 litre of water in a blender until carrots smoothen. Transfer to a jar.
2. Blend the lemon juice and orange (with skin) in 500 ml water until smooth.
3. Mix the carrot juice and lemon-orange mix in the jar.
4. Add sugar.

Note: You may opt to filter the juice to make it smoother to drink.

Cheers to healthy drinking!