Emma's Homemade

Wow, it's been such a long time since I've written something on Make your souls blossom.
I've been so busy with other things that I honestly didn't had the time nor inspiration to blog...
And then I decided it was time to start all over again with a whole new blog about my true passion: food!
So here it is! It is called Emma's Homemade and is all about food, sharing recipes and my adventures in the kitchen with my food-allergies. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Let them eat Cake!

I have had some major problems with both my computer and the internet connection, but now they are solved and I am back!
While I was gone I have been very busy with starting my own catering annex cake-baking company from home on, called 'Let them eat Cake'. It is still at the beginning status, but I've already had some orders and there is a major one comming at the end of July.
I am still developing my logo and attempting to build a website, but I am terrible with computers....

Because of all of this I have been experimenting a lot and in the past couple of months I've been making things like: apple, caramel and lavender cakes, an orange poppyseed cake with orangeblossom creme and brownies with rosemary and seasalt.

Two weeks ago I set up a high tea for one of my friends and me. This was a good day to take some nice (food) pics and test some new recipes.
On the menu that day:
     - soft goats cheese sandwiches with rocket and balsamic caramelised onions
     - a smoked salmon and green asparagus tart
     - scones with home made rhubarb and ginger jam
     - raspberrie brownies

    
I think the raspberries in the brownies brought some welcome freshness to them.

This is the recipe if you would like to try the yourself:

*I have a dairy (cows milk) intollerance so i use margarine in my recipes, but you can replace this easily by butter, but you will have to keep them slightly longer in the oven.

Enough for 20 brownies:
Ingredients:
100 gram dark (70%) chocolate, melted
125 gram softened margarine
275 gram caster sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 large eggs
50 gram of dark chocolate chips
100 gram of fresh raspberries, coated with some flour
Preheat the oven to 180oC or 350oF.
Put the marganine into a mixing bowl and mix it till you get a smooth mixture. Add the sugar and vanilla in three parts and mix well. Add the eggs one ate the time and then add the melted chocolate. Sif the flour and cocoa onto the mixture and incorporate carefully until you have a silky smooth texture. Add the choclate chips and mix well. Pour the batter into a prepared tin (appr. 25x25 cm) and scatter the raspberries on top. Carefully push them into the batter and put the brownie into the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Take out of the oven and let cool (in the tin).
Once cooled, take tem out of the tin and slice into nice squares.

Optional: Serve with a nice dollop of creme fraiche and some frech raspberries.

Vanilla flavoured madeleines

I have always loved madeleines. They always looked like such a chique and sophisticated kind of cake to me, but I never had the chance to make these French delicacies myself...until now.

My French neighbor let me borrow her special madeleine baking tin and I started looking for a recipe. The recipe I initially found was one with rose-buds (by Nigella Lawson). This did sound lovely, but unfortunately I did not have any rosewater or rose-buds. So instead of the rose-flavoured ones I decided to give the recipe a twist and make vanilla ones. I can't help to say, but they tasted amazing and as soon as I took a bite, I was sitting at a beautiful Paris based terrace.

RECIPE
makes 12 or 24 small ones

Ingredients:
50 grams of butter
          - melted and cooled down
1 big egg
40 grams caster sugar
a pinch of salt
45 grams of flower
half a vanillapod

           - just the seeds (scrape them out with a knife)

Grease the tin with a tablespoon of the melted butter.
Mix the egg, sugar and salt for 5 minutes untill you have got a thick mixture with the texture of mayonaise. The sif the flower onto the mixture and carefully fold it in with a spatula. Pour in the melted butter and carefully fold this in as well.
Cover the bowl and put it into the fridge for an hour.
Preheat the oven at 220oC, gasmark 7.
Now get the bowl with the madeleine mixture out of the fridge, and let it rest for another 30 minutes at roomtemperature.
Pour about a tablespoon of the mixture into the molds. Do not worry about spreading the mixture out, because this will happen in the oven.
Put the tin into the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Get them out of the oven and let them cool down on a wire rack.
Once they have coolded down they are ready to eat.
Enjoy them with a nice cup of tea and just imagine you are in Paris :)

I advise you to consume them on the day of preparation, because they tend to turn a bit dry and chewy.

pumpkin soup

This is a recipe for a spicy pumpkinsoup with sweet apple.

The past year I disovered the pumpkin with it sweet flesh and beautiful deep and bright orange colour.

I love to experiment with this amazing fruit and use it in cakes, stews, curries and ofcourse soups.

This is a soup that will give you that beloved warm feeling inside, which is why it's perefect for a wet and cold day.

RECIPE

serves 6

Ingredients:

1 medium sized pumpkin (I used the onion pumpkin)

          cleaned, deseeded and cut into 2 cm big chunks

2 sweet apples (I prefer the Dutch Elstar, but apples like Braeburn will work as well)

           washed, deseeded and cut into 2 cm big chunks

2 medium sized onions

           peeled and finely chopped

3 medium sized carrots

          cleaned and sliced (1 cm thick)

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

1 dried red chilli pepper   

           finely crumbled

1,5 litre of vegetable stock

olive oil

Pour a splash of olive oil into a hot pan and add the coriander and cumin seeds. Toast them for about 30 seconds and then add the onion, cinnamon stick and chilli and turn the heat down to meduim/low. Fry the onions till they are softened and then add the pumpkin, apple, carrot and bay leaves. Put the lid on the pan and let it soften for 15 to 20 minutes, while stirring occasionally. By the time the vegetables are softened they will have spread a deliciously, warm and fragrant smell through the kitchen. Now it is time to pour in the stock and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for another 30 minutes. To create a bright orange and velvety soup you will now need the help of a (hand-held) blender or food processor.

Add some salt and pepper to taste and the soup is ready to enjoy!

To make it extra special you can decide to:

          - stir in some golden raisins to bring out the sweetness of the ingredients

          - add some coriander leaves

          - add a swirl of cream to soften the heat of the chillies

          - add some pieces of crispy bacon or pancetta for a salty contrast

          - add some shaved, toasted almonds to bring, which is nice with the nutty pumpkin

The past couple of weeks I finally had time to start drawing and experimenting again.
All of them are made with watercolour crayons and/or pen and ink.

They are all based on pictures out of magazines like Elle, Lula ans I-D magazine.

 

This is the first one I made in a really long time, and probably the one I am the least happy with out of all of the following

I just love to work with pen & ink and watercolour crayons and do think they combine very nicely. This is the very first real drawing I just made with watercolour and it is the base of the rest of the drawings...

What are the materials you love to work with? And do you have any tips for me to optimalize my work ? :)

tuna sandwiches

I absolutely love tuna sandwiches with home made tunasalad.
To make my favorite tuna salad you need the following ingredients:

The recipe is enough to make sandwiches out of a whole loaf of bread.

Ingredients:
2 cans of tuna
3 sweet and sour pickles, finely chopped
1 apple, chopped in dices of apr. 1cm
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
2 tablespoons of capers
1 red onion, finely diced
4 heaped tablespoons of low-fat mayonaise of creme fraiche
salt and pepper to taste

All you have to do is to mix the ingredients and the salad is ready to eat!

tea time

Tomorrow I'm doing a belate birthday party and organizing a high tea for my family.
On the menu will be:
- scones with clotted cream and jam
- lemon cakes
- pear, hazelnut and dark chocolate cakes
- dark chocolate and espresso cupcakes
- red onion, goats cheese and thyme tartlets
- tunasalad sandwiches
- BLT sandwiches
- salmon and broccoli quiches

pictures and recepies will follow soon :)