Ingredients (makes 12 muffins):
300 grams (10, 5 oz) all-purpose flour
160 grams (5,5 oz) muscovado sugar
1 tea spoon baking powder
2 tea spoons ground cinnamon
1 tea spoon ground ginger
1/2 tea spoon ground cloves
A pinch of salt sea salt
2 large eggs
1 tea spoon vanilla extract
1/2 tea spoon rum extract
100 ml. (3, 5 fl oz) unflavored vegetable oil
100 ml. (3, 5 fl oz) honey
100 ml. (3, 5 fl oz) milk
Chopped hazelnuts for decoration (or any other nuts of your choice)

Preheat your oven to 170C fan-forced (340F).
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.
In another bowl combine eggs, vanilla extract, rum extract, oil, honey and milk.
Transfer dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a rubber spatula to combine (don’t over-mix).
Line a 12 muffin tin with paper muffin cups, evenly distribute the batter among all muffin cups, sprinkle a little bit of roughly chopped nuts on top and bake for about 25 minutes.

Crispy coconut cups, filled with creamy chocolate mousse.

I remember preparing these coconut tartlets and thinking how flavorful they are. I was drooling all over from the minute I mixed the batter. Somehow just a few simple ingredients can turn your whole kitchen into a dream of coconuts, palm trees and blue skies. Well, no matter what the real view from your kitchen window is, these coconut bites will make your day a little brighter and flavorful.

Recipe is easy and pretty quick, so there’s no reason not to have these on your table tomorrow.

 

Ingredients for the coconut cups (makes 24 mini cups):
125 grams (4,5 oz) gluten free biscuit crumbs
1 table spoon rice flour
50 grams (1,8 oz) almond meal
30 grams (1 oz) coconut flakes
2 table spoons raw sugar (muscovado)
100 grams (3,5 oz) butter, melted
Ingredients for the chocolate mousse:
100 grams (3,5 oz) dark eating chocolate
60ml. + 80ml. sweetened heavy whipping cream
1 egg yolk
20 grams (0,7 oz) Muscovado sugar
1/2 tea spoon vanilla extract

To make the coconut cups:
Preheat your oven to 180C (350 F).
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix until butter is evenly distributed and mixture looks like moist sand.
Grease a 24 mini muffin tin with vegetable oil. Distribute the mixture evenly between the muffin cups. Using your fingers gently press the mixture onto the sides and bottom of the muffin cups, forming small “baskets”. This is the part where you will want to eat the biscuit mixture before even baked, cause it smells so good, coconut-y and sweet.
Bake for about 15 min or until slightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely then put in the freezer for 30 minutes. Once the cups are firmed in the freezer, it will be easier to remove them from the muffin tin. Use a small spoon or a knife to take them out of the tin. Arrange all cups on a serving platter and set aside until ready to filled with the chocolate mousse.

To make the chocolate mousse:
In a small bowl combine the chocolate and 60 ml. of heavy whipping cream. Heat t in the microwave oven until cream is so hot that the chocolate starts melting. Stir with a small spoon until the chocolate melts and the mixture is glossy and smooth. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan whisk the egg yolk and sugar until pale. Add vanilla extract and start cooking on medium / medium-low heat (depending on how strong your stove is). Whisk almost constantly until sugar dissolves and the egg yolk mixture is hot to the touch. Cook egg yolks on medium low heat until you temper them, then you can turn the heat up a bit and continue cooking until the mixture thickens. Make sure to whisk often to avoid curdling the eggs.
Once the sugar dissolves and the mixture is thickened, remove from the heat and add the chocolate-cream mixture. Stir until all combines and the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
In a medium-size bowl whip 80 ml. of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Don’t over-beat the cream, you need it with soft peaks in order to get a smooth and light as an air mousse.
Fold in the heavy whipping cream to the chocolate mixture and gently stir with a rubber spatula.
Fill in a piping bag with a tip of your choice and pipe the chocolate mousse over the coconut cups.
Serve immediately.
NOTE: On their own, coconut cups have a crispy texture, but once filled with the chocolate mousse they soften a bit and loose their adorable and super delicious crispiness, so I would recommend you to fill the cups with the chocolate mousse just before serving, in order to keep the cups crispy. I believe this is one of the great things about this recipe – it combines crispy, flavorful base and smooth, creamy mousse.

One of our favorite at home!

Ingredients (30 mini muffins):
1 large banana
1 egg
1 tea spoon vanilla extract
150 grams buttermilk
100 ml. unflavored oil
180 grams white sugar
260 grams flour
25 grams cocoa powder
1 tea spoon baking powder
A pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 170C (fan-forced) or 340 F (fan-forced). Line a 24 mini muffin tray with paper cups. The batter makes just a little bit more than 24 mini muffins, so pour the rest of the batter into a regular muffin tray or other dish that you prefer. I have only one 24-mini muffin tray, so I filled 4 additional cups of regular size muffins to use up all the batter.
In a large bowl puree banana with the egg, using a hand blender. Add vanilla extract, buttermilk and oil. Mix well. Add sugar, flour, cocoa powder, a pinch of salt and baking powder. Stir with a rubber spatula until all ingredients are well combined. Don’t over-mix.
Distribute the batter evenly between all muffin cups, fill almost up to the edge. Sprinkle a little bit of mini chocolate chips on top and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely.

Ingredients:
240 grams (8,5 oz) all-purpose flour
130 grams (4,5 oz) brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
350 grams (12 oz) pitted and chopped fresh white cherries
2 large eggs
120 grams (4 oz) butter, melted and cooled
Zest from 1 orange
90 grams (3 oz) buttermilk
Juice from 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the meringue frosting:
370 grams (13 oz) white granulated sugar
4 medium egg whites

1/3 tea spoon citric acid

Prepare the muffins: Preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper muffin liners.
In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, salt and baking powder and the cherries. Set aside.
In another bowl beat the eggs lightly, then add the butter, salt, buttermilk, juice from 1 orange and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
Pour the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until the batter comes out nice and smooth (don’t over-mix).
Distribute the batter evenly between the muffin cups and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely.
Prepare the frosting: Add the sugar and egg whites in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Cook the mixture until the sugar’s completely dissolved (or reaches 160F, if you have a candy thermometer).
Then, add the vanilla and citric acid and mix with a hand or stand mixer until the meringue is fluffy, thick and glossy (about 10 minutes).

Use a brûlée torch to burn the top of the frosting for better looks and taste.

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These banana muffins are amazing! Soft, moist,sweet and full of flavor!

I baked these for the celebration of my baby boy turning 5 months! They are great for any kind of celebration or kids birthday party – easy and quick to prepare and we could say they are a bit on the healthier side since there the batter includes a lot of bananas and only 100 grams of sugar.

Ingredients:
250 grams (9 oz) flour
1 tea spoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
130ml. buttermilk
100 grams (3,5 oz) sugar
65 ml. plain flavored oil/melted butter
70 grams (2,5 oz) honey
2 medium eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
150 grams white chocolate chips
Decoration: whipped coconut chocolate ganache

Leave to cool on a wire rack then decorate with the whipped chocolate ganache.

Chocolate and hazelnuts – may be two of the best things in food, cooked together in these small, super delicious cupcakes. No one could resist to these cupcakes. The recipe is super easy and quick, but they will disappear from the pan even quicker.

Ingredients:
100 grams (3,5 oz)  dark chocolate
200 ml. water
1 table spoon hazelnut syrup (here is my recipe for homemade hazelnut syrup)
100 grams (3,5 oz) butter
250 grams (9 oz) brown sugar
3 medium eggs
40 grams (1,40 oz) cocoa powder
120 grams (4 oz) flour
1/2 tea spoon baking powder
50 grams (1,80 oz) hazelnut meal
Recipe for the chocolate frosting.

Preheat your oven to 170 C fan-forced (340 F). Line your muffin pan with paper cups (12).

 

Serve muffins warm or at room temperature.
Makes 18 muffins.

I am in such a great mood these days….. I am filled with energy and I want to go out, cook and share many many recipes with you guys. I can’t wait to show you my new logo! I can’t thank enough to my dear friend and colleague Miglena, who is responsible for this amazing logo of Vessy’s Day.

I will love it if you share your thoughts and opinion about it!

Enjoy this great recipe, have fun and be happy!

Ingredients:

300 grams plain flour
2 table spoons (10 grams) baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
150 grams unsalted butter
160 grams brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup applesauce
2 tea spoons pure vanilla extract
2 pears chopped into small pieces
2 apples chopped into small pieces
150g (1 cup) chocolate chips
100 grams walnuts and almonds mixed, and finely chopped

For the apple sauce:
2 large apples
2 table spoons brown sugar
1 table spoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180 C and line 2 – 12 muffin tins with muffin paper cups or aluminum cups.

Mix together all dry ingredients – plain flour, baking powder, salt and set aside.
With an electric beater, whisk the brown sugar with the eggs. Beat in the butter piece by piece, followed by vanilla extract.
Add the applesauce and mix well with a rubber spatula. Add the flour mix and mix well with rubber spatula, bu make sure not to over-mix.

Fold in the chopped pear, apples and chocolate chips with a spatula.
Pour the mixture into the muffin tins. To get even muffins by size, I would suggest to use an ice-cream scoop for the purposes. It really helps!
Sprinkle with the chopped nuts and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Voila!

Mini Pizza Bites

Adapted www.circle-b-kitchen.squarespace.com

Ingredients:

150 grams all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

250 ml milk

1 egg

115 grams (4 ounces) mozzarella cheese, shredded (I always put more, since I love mozzarella)

115 grams (4 ounces) pepperoni, or other salami, close to peperoni in taste – cut into small pieces

2 table spoons parmesan cheese, shredded

½ cup finely chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon dry or fresh oregano

½ teaspoon thyme (dry or fresh)

Salt & Pepper

1)      Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan.

2)      Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a large bowl

3)      Whisk in the milk and egg.

4)      Stir in the mozzarella, peperoni and basil

5)      Add the seasoning and whisk it all together

6)      Divide the batter among the muffin cups.

7)      Sprinkle the shredded parmesan cheese on top of each muffin

8)      Bake until ready, about 20 minutes. (depends on your oven)