I got my favourite pistachio butter today and prepared something I had wished for a long time – my version of Dubai Chocolate.

For 390g-400g of chocolate or 6 bars of 65g, respectively 2 bars of 200g, I used:

100g 40% milk chocolate

100g 65% dark chocolate

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

6 spoonfuls of kataifi

6 teaspoonfuls of pistachio butter

Wash and dry your silicone mould (it is easy to buy, you will see).

Melt the milk and dark chocolate on a steam bath; finally, add the coconut oil and mix.

I was lucky to find ready-made (and roasted!) kataifi in Albania. Sprinkle the kataifi over the first layer of chocolate added to the mould.

Add the pistachio butter over the kataifi, spreading it carefully.

Pour the remaining chocolate over each bar-to-be, levelling everything.

You don't need to wait for too long. Marcel kept checking the chocolate in the fridge. It took about one hour to harden.

The result thrilled us!

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.]

125g almonds (or walnuts)

150g (melted) butter

150g sugar

1 drop of vanilla extract

250g flour

5g baking powder

4 eggs

150g milk chocolate

I’m back on the road with Marcel (and publishing the recipe as we travel). So I thought... what cake keeps best on the road? A pound cake!

And I ended up testing another recipe of my Mom.

Grind the almonds (walnuts), add the melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, and 4 yolks. Stir well. Beat the 4 egg whites until stiff and slowly mix them into the previously-obtained batter. Finally, add the chocolate chips.

Bake in a pound cake baking pan lined with baking parchment, in the preheated oven at 180°C, for 40 minutes.

Let the pound cake cool well; the chocolate will harden. It is a delight!

12 slices

200g milk chocolate

100g butter

salt

75g flour

20g sugar

2 eggs

1 drop of vanilla extract

I still had part of the chocolate I had received in Tulcea from another great lover/creator of sweets, so I thought that a chocolate brownie would be a great idea. (I start craving chocolate every time the weather cools. :P)

How to bake it?

Melt the chocolate on a steam bath, add the butter, stirring until it melts. Mix in the salt, the flour, and the sugar; then, add the eggs and the vanilla extract.

I don’t like it when things are set in stone... in the end, why should a brownie be square-shaped?

So, I baked it in a round silicone mould, in the preheated oven at 180°C, for 30 minutes.

The secret to a delicious brownie is slightly undercooking it (because the cake will harden either way while it cools).