Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Does anyone have any fun plans for Halloween? Instead this party I celebrate "la Castanyada", you can have a look to this last year post to know more about that. Even is quite long time I'm not living in my town any more, I try to continue this tradition, but of course is imposible to avoid other influences, and also in the Netherlands you can find almost everywhere stuff for that day. So but is pumpkin season and this week is a perfect excuse to show you and other pumpkin recipe.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies 

makes 28 cookies

300 g all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250 g golden caster sugar
115 g butter at room temperature
1 large egg
100 g pumpkin puree
200 g chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180 and line 2 trays with baking paper.
Sift the first 8 ingredients and set aside. Using an electric mixer cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy and light. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the pumpkin puree and mix it well. Add the sifted ingredients gradually and beat until just combined. Finally stir in the chocolate chips and mix it with a spatula. Using and ice cream scoop make balls and place them on the baking trays. Gently flatten each ball of dough and now it's time to add some extra chips on top. Leave about 8 cm between cookies to allow for spread.  Bake for 10 minutes until they just begin to firm up. Remove from the oven, wait one minute before transfering on a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

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If you like pumkin have a look to this loaf, these cupcakes, this jam or one of my favorites a cheesecake.

I invite you to join my new facebook, since facebook doesn't allow the change I would appreciate if you come with me to the new page. Thanks for your support!

Have a nice week ♥

Courgette, Walnut and Cinnamon Layer Cake

Last weekend I went to Barcelona again and on friday I had dinner in Ten's, which the tapas bar of the known chef Jordi Cruz, in the heart of the Born district in Barcelona, and the good news is we met him in the resaurant! I went there with some friends we did the photography workshop last july. Yes, I say friends because after that day we started a nice relationship, it is really amazing the nice people you can meet throw the blog. The curious matter is we met him also that day after the workshop. So we decided to have dinner in his restaurant and lucky of us he was there. I enjoyed a lot with the philosphy of this restaurant, tapas and side dishes for share, very  succulent and elaborated.  I  highly recommend you this place if you have the chance.

So let's go with the cake of to day, I have not so much to say, you can appreciate the pictures the fantastic moisture of the sponge. I love putting vegetables into the cakes, specially the courgette and with the aroma of the ground spices it makes a delicous and tasty cake.

Layer Cake with Courgette and Wallnut 

makes a 15cm tin

2 large eggs
200 ml sunflower oil
200 g soft light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
200 g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
225 g peeled and grated courgettes
90 g chopped walnuts, plus some extra to decorate

for the frosting:
500 g icing sugar
120 g unsalted butter softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
75 g greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 170º and grease the tin.

Sift the flour, the baking powder, the bicarbonate and the ground spices, set aside. In the mixing bowl mix together the eggs, the oil, the sugar and the vanilla until smooth and combined. Add the sifted ingredients graduatlly to the mixture until all the ingredients are well combined. Finally add the grated courgettes and the wallnuts to the batter and mix it with an spatula. Pour the batter into the greased tin and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just few crumbs. Allow to the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and later transfer to a wire rack. If you use 3 tins bake for 30 minutes.

For the frosting sift the icing sugar and the cinnamon and mix it wiht the butter in the mixer or with an electric whisk until pale and consistency, add the yogurt and mix until fluffy and light.

Layer the cake and fill and cover with the frosting. Sprinkle with some cinnamon and top with caramelized walnuts. 

Since the cake hs yogurt we will keep it in the fridge.
Recipe adapted from Cake Days from the Hummingbird Bakery

Have a nice week ♥

French Apple Tart

First of all I have to welcome you to the new look of the blog, I've been working quite long time with it and this is it, what you think about that? I'm pretty proud of it and I hope you sitll visit the site even with the new design and the new name. So what better than to celebrate it with a tradicional apple tart? This is a french style apple tart, with no complications and it taste delicious. You can add some extra flavour to the pastry and to the filling, I just added some cinnamon to the pastry, since I rather like the singular taste of the baked apples. 

French Apple Tart makes a 23 cm tin
For the pastry I used the same recipe as here but I added some cinnamon:

140 g butter cubed and room temperature

100 g white sugar

190 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

With an electric mixer beat the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the flour, the cinnamon and the salt, beat until just combined, do not overmix. Better if you use your hands. Shape the dough into a ball, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months.

On a lightly floured surface, flatten the dough into a disk and put it into a tin with removeable bottom. Press the dough into the bottom and sides and pierce the bottom of the tin all over with a fork. 

for filling:
4/5 apples (I used Elstar)
sugar for sprinkle (to your liking, I used about 75 g)
50 g butter cubed
apricot jam for topping

Preheat oven to 180º. Peel, core and slice the appel and distribute evenly to your liking covering all the surface. Sprinkle the sugar all over the apples and dot with the butter cubes. Bake for 60 minutes until edges are golden brown
In the meanwhile heat apricot jam in a saucepan until warmed and loose, set aside. Transfer tart to a wire rack and brush the top of the tart with the jam. using a pastry brush, brush top of tart with jam.

Recipe adapted from here.

If you like apple tarts I recommend you to have a look to this one as well.

By the way, last weekend I attend a cake fair here in the Netherlands, if you want to know more about that you can check the article I wrote for the Sweet Magazine.

Enjoy your week ♥

Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies became my favorites ones. I love peanut butter, and since I discovered the penaut butter chips I'm crazy for them. This was the last package I bought on my trip to US, I know is not easy to get them in any store... But don't worry if you can't find out the chips, you can always add chocolate chips instead or even peanuts. I tried several recipes but defenitly this is the best one I found.

Pumpkin Cheesecake .

I am starting October with a recipe that suits perfect with this season. Autumn is here and I can't avoid to buy pumpkins at the store. They look so lovely and they taste even better. Last saturday after I got the pumpkins I went for a walk to a special place which I like a lot.  Now the trees are getting beautiful colors and I love to get lost in this forest, makes me fell I'm not in the Netherlands. I get so happy when I discover places like that, so not only green fields, flat landscapes, farms, cows and wind mills, there are other beautiful areas to explore in this country, it doesn't mean I don't like flat landscapes, but I come from an area surrounded by mountains, so that walk made me so happy. And later in the afternoon it was time to make this cheesecake. I love the taste of the spices, specially the clove and the nutmeg. If you rather would only use cinnamon it will also taste very nice as well.

INGREDIENTS makes a 20 cm tin

for the crust:

250 g cookie (I used cinnamon cookie, otherwise add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)

90 g melted butter

for the filling:

400 g cream cheese

125 g sour cream

120 g white sugar (I use caster sugar)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

200 g pumpkin purée (you can follow this method)

caramel sauce for topping

Preheat the oven to 160º and prepare a loose-bottomed tin.

Crush the cookies in a food processor or in a plastic bag, seal the bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Mix together with the melted butter with a fork until well incorporated. Place this mixture in the greased tin and press with the bag of a spoon. Keep it in the fridge to set while we do the filling.

Mix the sugar with the ground spices and cream it with the cream cheese in a large bowl, using an spatula and a hand whisk, until lightly and fluffy, add the vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time,  mixing until each is incorporated before adding the next, and the sour cream. Mix in the flour, do not overmix. Finally stir in the pumkin purée.

Pour filling into the tin.Bake for 35 minutes until the edges of the cheesecake have a light-golden colour. It should feel firm to the touch with a slight wobble in the center. Allow the cheesecake to cool down at room temperature in the tin and on a wire rack and place it in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.
Unmold before serving. Top with caramel sauce.

To prevent the top from cracking, be careful not to overmix the batter and do not open the oven during the baking. 

If you love pumkin as much as me I encourage you to try this loaf, these cupcakes or even  this jam.

Enjoy your week ♥