5 egg whites

2 tbsp vinegar

200g sugar

10g vanilla sugar

5 tbsp cornstarch

+

10 pcs of passion fruit

3 teaspoons sugar

+

250g whipping cream

25g sugar

I haven’t baked a large Pavlova in a while – only its mini version. After Christmas, I was, however, left with many egg whites. Without a cake made by me on my birthday, it was time to bake it!

Beat the egg whites; when they are stiff, pour in the vinegar. Continue to mix, adding the sugar and the vanilla sugar mixture bit by bit. The cornstarch comes in at the end.

Line a baking pan with baking parchment. Using a round shape (mine is 23 cm wide and 7 cm deep), pour the mixture, level it, and remove the shape. 

Bake for 2 hours in the preheated oven at 100°C (after baking, leave the meringue in the oven for 5-10 more minutes with the door slightly open; it will prevent it from cracking).

In the meantime, scoop out the passion fruit pulp. Add the sugar and mix.    

When the meringue has completely cooled, beat the whipping cream with the sugar. 

Decorate by using a pouch to add tufts of whipped cream (Marcel’s idea) and the passion fruit mixture on top.

Use what’s left from the passion fruit mixture for individual slices when you serve them – that is if your Pavlova keeps in the fridge without being munched. :D  

Makes 10 portions (10*5 choux)

Choux pastry

125ml water

60g butter

a pinch of salt

130g flour

4 eggs

Filling

2 eggs

330ml milk (+3-4 tbsp milk)

120g sugar

50g flour

a drop of vanilla extract

2 sachets vanilla sugar

Chocolate sauce

200g dark chocolate

30g butter

500ml milk

20g cornstarch

Éclair – chou – profiteroles. The perfect triad – even my Mom had them written down one after the other. I had baked the first two; so, profiteroles were still on the list. Marcel is crazy about this dessert, so I made it today and…

To make the shells, add the water, the butter, and the salt into a pan and place it on low heat. When the mixture boils, add the flour at once, stirring fast with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and let the dough cool. Add the eggs one by one, stirring continuously. Don’t add an egg until the one before was fully incorporated.

I’ve recently read that using a mixer for an extra-airy dough would be a smart trick. Why do we think that mixers should only be used with cold ingredients? J

Fill a pastry bag with a 1-cm nozzle (I still use a cup to make my life easier) and – on a baking tray lined with parchment paper – pipe out small balls, about the size of large sour cherries (says Mom). Leave a 2-cm space between them.

Bake the shells in the preheated oven, at 190°C, for the first 15 minutes, and then at 170°C, with the oven’s door slightly open, for 5 more minutes.

Take them out of the oven, place them on a rack (I also placed aluminium foil underneath the rack).

When the shells cool, by using a pastry bag nozzle, make a hole on the back of the shells and start filling. I usually fill all the shells once, I leave the cream set, and then I fill them one more time.

You need to make the pastry cream. Mix the yolks with 2/3s of the sugar amount until you get a foamy cream. Add 3-4 tablespoons of milk and mix again. Add the flour and immediately pour into the milk (simmering with the vanilla extract). Stir continuously until it boils. Remove from heat and add the egg whites beaten until stiff with the remaining sugar. Finally, add the vanilla sugar for that extra touch.

I ate profiteroles often in Turkey. They use a pretty gooey sauce there – and I’m still researching the recipe. However, at the end of 2020, in Egypt, I found a delicious chocolate sauce while having one of my breakfasts. I ended up talking with the chef and he told me the ingredients used.

Inspiration for the chocolate sauce came from these two sides. Melt the chocolate and the butter on a steam bath, add the milk; when the mix is hot, stir in the cornstarch. Continue stirring until it boils and you’ll get a wonderful chocolate sauce.

In the end, put 5 choux into a cup and cover them with chocolate sauce. You’ll probably ask for a refill.

...the wait was worth it.  

Makes 5

500ml milk

8 teaspoons sugar

vanilla extract

50ml water

20g cornstarch

2 egg whites

30g powdered sugar

250ml sour cream

It is a homemade şarlota [=a type of Romanian custard that we eat separately, as a pudding], which took me back to the walks around my grandparents’ village, stopping at the only sweet shop in the area to buy the inexpensive yellowish dessert that calmed my cravings for ’something sweet’.  

How did I make it?

Mix the milk, sugar, and a little bit of vanilla extract in a pan; leave it for 5 minutes on low-medium heat and 15 minutes more on low heat, without stirring. Then, add the cornstarch dissolved in water and let the mix cool.

Separately, beat the egg whites with the powdered sugar until stiff and easily stir in the sour cream, using a wooden spoon. Pour this cream into the milk mix and split the final mix into 5 cups. Let these cups sit in the fridge overnight.

I served şarlota with whipped cream. What about you? J

3 large indiene

2 eggs

2 tbsp sugar

4 tbsp flour

The syrup

60ml water

15g sugar

a drop of rum

The glaze

50g milk chocolate

The filling

150g whipping cream

30g sugar

My Mom used to love indiene! So, I wasn’t surprised to find the ingredients written down in one of her old notebooks that had pages flying out.

I adapted the recipe while keeping the amounts and I got this—

Mix the eggs and the sugar until the batter is foamy; add the flour. Pour 1 and a half tablespoons of the batter into a round metallic mould (diameter: 7 cm – I wanted some giant indiene), in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. You will get 6 shells. Bake them at 160°C for 10 minutes. Then, let them cool a bit.

The syrup is next: mix the water and the sugar and leave the syrup boil on low-medium heat; add the rum in the end. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of syrup onto each of the 3 shells and let them sit in the fridge. Place the remaining 3 shells on a grill and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of syrup onto each shell.

Melt 35g of chocolate on a steam bath; then, remove it from the heat and add the remaining 15g, to temper the chocolate a bit. Pour the chocolate over the shells on the grill; leave them for 30 minutes in the fridge after the chocolate cools.

In the end, beat the whipping cream and the sugar well.

Place a syrupy shell on a plate, then add the whipped cream, and put the chocolate shell on top of it.  

Enjoy! ♥ [Marcel said that this would be his dinner.]

Makes 8

60ml water

30g butter

a pinch of salt

70g flour

2 (small) eggs

Filling

1 egg

165ml milk

60g sugar

25g flour

a drop of vanilla extract

+150g whipping cream or sour cream, 25% fat content (beaten with 20g sugar)

It took too long for this recipe to get to you (it is still my Mom’s recipe!) – I was very stressed over the last period but it’s getting better –. These cakes turned out so delicious... that I could not not share their taste with you.

The shells are made like in the case of éclairs—

Add the water, the butter, and the salt into a pan and place it on low heat. When the mixture boils, add the flour at once, stirring fast with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and let the dough cool. Add the eggs one by one, stirring continuously. Don’t add an egg until the one before was fully incorporated.

Half-fill a pastry bag with a 1-cm nozzle and – on a baking tray lined with parchment paper – pipe out dough half an egg large, and not bars. Bake the shells in the preheated oven, at 190°C, for the first 20 minutes, and then at 170°C, with the oven’s door slightly open, for 20 minutes more.

When the shells are baked, cut off their top and fill the lower part with pastry cream and add a whipped cream layer.

How to make the pastry cream? Mix the yolk with 2/3s of the sugar amount until you get a foamy cream. Add 1-2 tablespoons of milk and mix again. Add the flour and immediately pour into the milk (simmering with the vanilla extract). Stir continuously until it boils. Remove from heat and add the egg white beaten until stiff with the remaining sugar. /I must tell you that it’s my favourite pastry cream version!/

Going back to the cut-off top, place it back onto the cake and... munch it.

How was it? :D

16 éclairs

Choux pastry

125ml water

60g butter

a pinch of salt

130g flour

4 (small) eggs

Filling

125g sour cream, 25% fat content

20g sugar

125g mascarpone

1 ripe mango

Glazing

100g dark chocolate

Do you like this dessert? My Marcel adores it and he has been nagging me to bake it since Egypt (we used to eat a lot of mangoes there). There are times in a year when he only wishes to eat ’éclair’ (he’s already bought a mango for the next batch). I found my Mom’s recipe for the shells and I’ll prepare it with a modern twist i.e. the filling.

At least 5-6 hours before baking the shells, make the mango filling. Beat the cream with the sugar in a bowl and the mascarpone in another bowl. Blend the mango, mix the mascarpone into the cream, stirring gently, with a wooden spoon. Add the mango purée and place the bowl into the fridge.

To make the shells, add the water, the butter, and the salt into a pan and place it on low heat. When the mixture boils, add the flour at once, stirring fast with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and let the dough cool. Add the eggs one by one, stirring continuously. Don’t add an egg until the one before was fully incorporated.

Half-fill a pastry bag with a 1-cm nozzle (I use a cup to make my life easier) and – on a baking tray lined with parchment paper – pipe out 10-cm long bars, a finger thick. Leave a 3-cm space between the bars.

Bake the shells in the preheated oven, at 190°C, for the first 20 minutes, and then at 170°C, with the oven’s door slightly open, for 20 minutes more.

Take them out of the oven, place them on a rack (I also placed aluminium foil underneath the rack).

When the shells cool, by using a pastry bag nozzle, make three holes on the back of the shells and start filling. [it was a bit difficult given the fibrous texture of the mango] I usually fill all the shells once, I leave the cream set, and then I fill them one more time.

In this case, I decided to glaze half of the éclairs with chocolate and I placed the rest of the éclairs in the fridge.

Melt half of the chocolate on a steam bath and then turn off the heat and add the remaining chocolate, stirring until it looks silky. Pour it over the éclairs and let it cool.  

They are great for breakfast or munched with friends.

Makes 4

100g sugar -> to be caramelised

2 eggs

70g sugar

zest from a quarter of an organic lemon

a drop of vanilla extract

300ml milk

On many Sundays of my childhood, my Mom used to make crème brûlée (the Romanian version) in a baking pan that seemed too large in my eyes. The caramel syrup fascinated me every time.

I found the recipe and I adapted it to individual portions. It is easy to make.

Let the sugar caramelise on low-medium heat (for about 6-7 minutes) and then pour it immediately into the ramekins (be careful, it will be very hot!).

While the caramel cools, mix the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the caramel, place the ramekins into tall dishes filled with water (at about ¾ of the ramekins’ height) and then into the preheated oven, at 160°C, for 35 minutes.

Marcel and I couldn’t resist (even though crème brûlée should sit in the fridge for at least a few hours if not overnight) and savoured two warm crèmes brûlées. The other two will rest in the fridge and will be perfect for breakfast. The caramel will also set. J

P.S. The taste was similar to the taste of my Mom’s crème brûlée. ♥

What to do when you find a 35-40-year-old recipe? Bake it! The result is called ’savarină'; it’s a syrupy cake that Romanians love... and I got 9 fantastic ones!

I needed

4 eggs

125g sugar

125g breadcrumbs

for the batter

300ml water

115g sugar

30ml rum

for the syrup

500ml whipping cream

30g sugar

oil and flour -> moulds

jam -> for decoration

Beat the egg whites until stiff and add the sugar, bit by bit. Mix in the yolks and the breadcrumbs (they will go great with the syrup), stirring slowly with a wooden spoon. Pour the batter into the moulds (I used deeper mini-tart moulds) and bake in the preheated oven, at 150°C for 15 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, make the syrup leaving the sugar dissolve on low heat. Then, pour in the rum (I used my favourite rum, an Indian one - Old Monk). While the cakes are still warm, dip them into the syrup and place them on a tray.

Cut them in half, spread jam onto the top of the upper half and sandwich the halves – use the cream whipped with the sugar.

Marcel told me that these were the best cakes that I have ever baked. It moved me. J