Cakes I baked this weekend

Just a quick post today, to share with you 2 cakes I made this weekend. The first one was for a twins Christening party and the second one was for welcoming back C. who was away on work for the last 2 months or so.

Both cakes have a chocolate base (click here for recipe) with a chocolate frosting centre. The chocolate frosting was especially lip licking good! The twins cake had a layer of rasberry jam whilst I put fresh strawberries in the plain chocolate cake.

 Spent the whole day baking and decorating... and absolutely loved every minute of it :-D

This week is an especially busy week. Apart from working at the ITS restaurant, in the bar area, during a theme night next Friday evening, I will also be participating in a Cuisine, Culture & Artisan festival on Saturday evening... so I will be baking all day. Bring it on!!

 



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Zeppoli (or "Sfineg ta San Guzepp")

My first thought, as I woke up this morning was: "I'll make Zeppoli today".

It's my friend J.'s fault. He's been going on and on all week about how he's looking forward to eat Zeppoli. Because today is St. Joseph's feast here in Malta, and it is tradition that on this day, people eat sweetened deep fried pastry balls, filled with Ricotta.

Zeppoli

J. asked me, forced me, threatened me until I accepted to go out and buy them for him... He even called and sent messages in order to remind me. Which I did... I bought a couple for him. But then made some home made ones for the rest of us.

The recipe calls for candied peel and since I did not have any, but did have an orange and some sugar, I started the day by boiling the orange skin in water to make candied orange peel. I added some bay leaves and a handful of spices (cloves, cinnamon, juniper berries) just to make the house smell better.

Homemade candied orange peel

I made the filling by mixing ricotta cheese with finely chopped dark chocolate, the orange peel & almonds. To the choux pastry I added grated rind of an orange and a lemon.

In the afternoon I went to see my bro & his friends' mare Lady IV. She's just 9 months old, a real cutie and very sprightly. 

Me & Lady IV

Back from the visit, I finished off the Zeppoli by deep frying the batter and then drenching the pastry with a honey/homemade marmalade mixture and sprinkled them with chopped almonds. Eaten immediately, the outside shell has a nice crunch with a soft, creamy interior. Eaten later, the shell had softened but the chocolate bits and nuts make for a nice bite. YUMMY!
Happy St. Joseph's day! Recipe after the jump... 



Sfineg ta' San Guzepp

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Imbuljuta and an Imbuljuta-inspired brownie

Imbuljuta tal- Qastan

The Maltese culture presentation is tomorrow, and today (yes! the night before :p) I made the last recipe to finish it off - a brownie, inspired by a Maltese traditional chocolate-chestnut soup - the imbuljuta.

This soup, which is traditionally eaten at christmas time, right after mid-night mass, is a thick & hearthy drink,  flavoured with tangerine & orange peel, cinnamon & crushed cloves. I also like to add dark chocolate to the mix for an even more decadent drink.

The last time I drank the imbuljuta, the chocolate-ness of it reminded me of my favourite brownies... and when doing the above mentioned project, I thought of incorporating these two, excellent recipes to produce a brownie using chestnuts, orange zest & spices.

Imbujluta Brownie

I am happy to say that the result is a brownie, as fudgy and as soft as the nut brownies I usually make with an awesome citrusy, cinnamony flavour. OH YUM!!

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