easy dessert // sweet & sour cake in a jar

Cake-Jar.JPG

I know a blog who knows a blog. And the result of this is this sweet and sour cake in a jar. This recipe is so very simple and done in less than five minutes, so of course I had to try it out. Plus, it includes ingredients I always have at home–cookies, yogurt, fruits.


SWEET AND SOUR CAKE IN A JAR

You will need:

some cookies

some yogurt

some red currants

some lime juice

some agave sirup

And here is how to make it in less than 5 minutes:

Get your favorite jar.

Crunch the cookies, fill them into the jar.

Mix the yogurt with the agave syrup and lime juice. Fill the mixture into the jar.

Wash the red currants and peel them from the little twig directly on top of the jar.

Voilà!

Enjoy! :-)


Cookies already contain enough sugar, and currants usually have enough fruit acid, so you technically don’t need to add agave syrup for more sweetness and lime juice for more sourness. But I wanted to add some more flavors, so both worked fine for me. Also, in the end it’s up to you how much of the healthy parts of this dessert you use and how much of it is a good treat and sugared energy kick. But you always have to make enough for at least two gourmets (obviously–see my pic and the ones behind the links, haha). ;-)

chocolate cake in a jar // baking for valentine’s day

chocolatecake

As I wrote last week, I keep on eating a bit more sweet stuff during February, ’cause it’s cold and mostly gray here and I like to be comforted by cake and cookies and pies. And chocolate.

The first time I had this tiny chocolate cake with a liquid core was at Café Cantona and it became my favorite dessert really quick. I like the combination of hot liquid chocolate and a crispy crust. Not to forget that it tastes best with pure vanilla ice cream.

And then, recently, in one of my favorite cooking shows on TV (yeah, I am doing that…) they prepared this little cake in a jar, which already had become a classic. But I never made it before and so I watched carefully and prepared it right away. And then I was thinking, why not sharing it for all of you who need a last minute gift for Valentines Day, ’cause since it’s made in a jar you can store it easily in the fridge a couple of days or even freeze it and bake and serve it when you like.


CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A JAR

You will need – for 2 portions:

30 g flour

30 g sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

90 g dark chocolate

90 g butter

1 lemon

2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar for greasing the jars

And here is how to make the Chocolate Cake In A Jar – in 20 minutes:

Grease the jars (or cupcake baking cups) with butter and sprinkle them with brown sugar. Add the chocolate and butter in a small bowl and put them on the stove over a water bath to melt.
Stir the eggs and the yolks in another bowl well with a whisk, add sugar and flour and mix briefly with a blender. Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and add a pinch of lemon zest.

Then fill the batter into the prepared jars (they fill only about two-thirds since the dough comes up during baking) and bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees for about ten minutes. You can see when the cake is ready, ’cause it will form an even surface coming from the edge while still having a little pit of liquid chocolate in the middle. Then serve immediately (and don’t forget to sprinkle some hearts on top).


So with the saying The way to someone’s heart is trough his stomach I can assure you’re on the right path with this cake. ;-)


PS: Because I didn’t have enough jars, I made my little cakes in cupcake baking cups (that’s why the crust has these little grooves).
PPS: For a vegan version I would replace the eggs and egg yolks with maybe 50 ml oil and the butter with vegan butter, but I am not sure if that will work, since I didn’t test it yet.
PPS: So this cake is an adaptation from here.

for the sweet tooth and the hardworking brain: my fav summer sweets 2014

TOPAPicFavSweets

Well, pure chocolate is one thing that keeps you happy during important projects with a short deadline. Cake is another. Though I am a big supporter of the bakery around the corner, the last few months I also made some all time favourites and tried new recipes that turned out pretty good and saved my nerves. :-)

I Nougat and Cherry Jam Muffins: For that I used a recipe similar to this one. And then I chose two different fillings, nougat chocolate (for the ones with powdered sugar) and cherry jam (for the ones with the hearts).

II Non-baked Chocolate Almond Cake: This is a recipe I always wanted to try. And then, when I made it and tasted the first bite, it reminded me of a similar German one called Kalter Hund (hedgehog slice). So you only mix all the ingredients together and put it in the fridge for a few hours. Then you eat it cold. Very rich, but really good. ;-)

III Vegan Carrot Cake: I never made this one by myself before, but I love, love, love eating carrot cake. And it turned out to be made pretty easy (except the frosting part is a bit challenging when you do it for the first time – yes, I know…). ;-) I used vegan butter, soy milk, vegan fresh cheese and skipped the eggs (used a bit more oil) to keep it vegan. You should try it, it’s great!

IV Cheese Cake: Since there was a birthday coming up, I was thinking to bring a little cheese cake that looks nice instead of the traditional and common big one. So I made the dough following this recipe (except for the cacao powder) and gave it into little cup cake paper shapes.


PS: I am not on the vegan food challenge anymore that I started last year. Eating vegan mixed with eating vegetarian food has become a routine in my life. I tried meat again three times (you know, family gatherings…) and it wasn’t that good anymore. As for the taste I even prefer vegan sausage now. So I think I made it. Cool, isn’t it?

foryoursoul – my cookings in 2013

cookings2013

Just in case you are hosting a New Year’s party and looking for a menu for New Year’s Eve, I was thinking to sum up the meals I cooked and posted on topa in 2013.

So first you’ll find salads, soups, main dishes, desserts and smoothies. Further more there are my few vegan dishes and if you are in a reading mood or looking for a change or plan regarding your own cooking in 2014, there are also my thoughts about cooking in general added. So have fun and tell me how my recipes turned out and feel free to ask me any questions!

Salads:

Bread salad

Water melon salad

Soups:

Carrot soup

Gazpacho

Beet soup

Main dishes:

Cauli flower with rice

Couscous muffins

Typical German?

Salmon toasties

Milk rice

Noodle gratin

Pancakes

Potato wedges

Mashed sweet potatoes

Desserts:

Berry cake

Cheese cake

Mango cake

Rhubarb cake

Schmarrn

Mustard eggs

Water melon and quark

Smoothies:

Nectarine smoothie

Pink smoothie

Green smoothie

Orange smoothie

Vegan dishes:

Zucchini soup

Beans soup

Chili

Couscous and chard

Salad and fries

Rice pan

Spinach casserole

Savoy rolls

Rice pudding dessert

Chocolate dessert

And my thoughts on cooking in general:

Cookbooks

Where to buy good ingredients

Five little helpers

About failing

Being lazy

Balconing

See you tomorrow with my sum of my favorite places to eat in LEipzig! :-)