Happy Easter everyone! I'm happy to be back home, after an awesome vacation. My parents have a house in Spain, near Torrevieja, and that's where we went. (My parents joined us, too, for most of the time - it was great to get to spend some time with them.) It's lovely down there - very still and peaceful, and of course warm and sunny. Foodwise... a bit good, a bit not so good. (For example, the whole debate about organic food and additives must have not made it to Spain.) Anyway - we cooked a lot, since Titus was with us and that meant it wouldn't be so easy to eat dinner at restaurants all the time. I made an awesome paella, and dad made mussles in a creamy wine sauce with cilantro. More on the food when I've downloaded the photos from my camera!
We came home to find that winter has finally gone away, and spring is here. That means, among other things, that I have to get rid of my backlog of wintery posts really, really fast, in order to get to all the nice, spring-y food! Will make that my mission in the next few weeks.
Today, a chocolate cake originally from a Swedish food blog that's sadly not updated anymore. This cake was the runner-up to "best chocolate cake in Sweden" a few years ago, and I can well believe that!
However, believe me, this is rich. And I don't use that term lightly. Despite that, serve it with some whipped cream - it goes so well with the creamy chocolate truffle, and the crispy peanut butter cake layer.
Annamaria's chocolate cake
Bottom:
6-700 ml (about 2 1/2 cups) cornflakes
140 g golden syrup (try to find this, don't substitute corn syrup. If you must, substitute honey or agave syrup, but you might have to change the quantity.)
250 g peanut butter
Truffle:
175 g milk chocolate
275 g dark chocolate
100 ml full-fat cream
100 ml milk
50 ml pistachios, unsalted
To decorate:
Some extra pistachios
Start with the bottom. Use a springform pan with a loose bottom, and place a baking sheet in it. Crush the cornflakes slightly. Melt syrup and peanut butter in a saucepan, and add the cornflakes. Stir. Press an even layer into the pan and place in the fridge.
When the bottom is completely cool, make the filling. Coarsely chop both chocolates, and melt in the microwave. Heat the milk and cream and pour over the chocolate. Stir until completely mixed and smooth. (Use a stick blender if you'd like - I used a simple spoon and that was fine.)
Chop the pistachios and add to the truffle.
Pour the chocolate mixture over the bottom and sprinkle with the extra pistachios. Place in the fridge for at least five hours or overnight. Keep in the fridge until right before serving.
Recipe in Swedish:
Annamarias kladdkaka
Happy Easter to you + your family! Glad you were able to escape the last of winter in Spain!! We, finally, had a whole week of wonderful spring weather here:)
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Aimee
Yum, chocolate!
Spain is wonderful, but I agree that the idea about organic food is somewhere else. Alcoholic drinks are very cheap, though. ;*)
ReplyDeleteThat chocolate cake looks wonderful! Perfect Easter cake!
Remember our talk in Stockholm and you said that Macarons are easy to make. I finally did it. Here they are. Thanks for the inspiration!
Happy Easter to you and your family!
Aimee, thank you! And happy easter to you too!!
ReplyDeleteBarbara - they sure are, we had lots of great wine! And food is *cheap*, in fact, everything was quite inexpensive compared to home. (It helps that our currency is strong at the moment.) And so glad you tried macarons - they look perfect!!
Mmmmh, this looks good!
ReplyDeleteI share your opinion on spanish food, I find it's often just greasy and nothing much else...
Btw, I'm curious to know what you cook for Titus or rather what you cook for all of you. The feature recipes, is that all "family food"? As a mother to a 15 months old girl, I'm always on the lookout for new ideas. She's not a fussy eater but sometimes I lack inspiration!
Happy easter!!
Honeybee, thanks for leaving a comment! :) I actually don't cook especially for Titus, unless it's something for dinner I know he won't eat. (For example, he's really not keen on pasta, so if I have a craving for it, he gets something else. And I'll admit that this something else usually comes from the freezer.) In general, he eats what we eat. I wrote a pretty long post on my philosophy on food for him (here: http://annesfood.blogspot.com/2011/02/feeding-titus.html ) and.. well, I'm happy that it's so easy, but I realize that it probably won't always be. I have a lot of cookbooks geared towards kids (or rather, parents) but so far I haven't tried all that much from them. He likes spicy flavors, but is not a big fan of saucy food (except for risotto). He refuses dips of any kind, and prefers his sandwiches to be just bread. (Or, honestly, just ham or cheese. He often leaves the bread.)
ReplyDeleteI can talk about this subject for hours and hours. :)
Glad to hear you had such a lovely holiday Anne :)
ReplyDeleteMy parents in law also have a house near Torrevieja (between there and Guadamar) which we visit. I know your eating out experiences were limited this time but if you have visited before do you have any restaurant recommendations close to Guadamar or Torrevieja?
Thank you for the link, Anne! It's very interesting to read someone else's thoughts on the topic! I always made our little one's food myself. Not so much because I think jarred vegetable purees are bad, in fact, I'm sure they're not, but because I always make the food my husband and I eat. It would have felt weird to give our daughter only "ready made" meals. What you write really encourages me to be a little more adventurous. I tried a very mild thai curry recently and that went down well but normally, I don't make exotic food for all of us. I should definitely try that more! If risotto is still a hit with Titus and if you own a pressure cooker, you might be interested in this post in my (no longer updated) blog: http://beurreetpain.blogspot.com/2009/05/risotto-in-speed-of-light.html. We eat risotto quite a lot, too, and this method is perfect for weeknights when dinner has to be on the table presto once I get home from work!
ReplyDeleteAlissa, that's very close to where mine are, too! (Torre de la Horadada, a little further south.) I haven't really eaten out much at all, while there. We've eaten in several places around the square in Torre d.l.H and that's always good, if not exactly spectacular. There's a wonderful little place up in the mountains though, it's just a hole in the wall. No menu, either, but the most amazing lamb chops, and a divine almond cake.. I still dream of that place. The owner, Paco, closed up and moved to Murcia a few years ago, but apparently he's back in business in the village again. Had I known, I'd definitely have driven up there, but my parents only mentioned it on the last day of our stay... I wrote more about it here: http://annesfood.blogspot.com/2005/09/bar-meson-paco.html
ReplyDeleteHoneybee - do try to experiment more with flavors! :) Titus seems to love them - he likes spicy food, and prefers it over milder flavors. He loves garlic, but isn't so fond of curry. All a matter of preference, of course, but he definitely enjoys tasting things! Sorry, no pressure cooker, although I have been thinking about getting one... :)
Hello there Anne!
ReplyDeleteI was looking for a recipe for cold almond soup and found your blog - it's absolutely amazing! There isn't one recipe I have seen so far that hasn't inspired me to try it. Thought I'll start with the Annamaria's chocolate cake and was wondering if I could use almond butter instead of peanut butter.
Hi Shalu! I haven't tried almond butter (at all) but I'm sure it would work here. It might be a little more subtle than peanuts, but I'm sure it'll be just as delicious.
ReplyDelete