Plum Cake

When I was a kid, cakes like this one were on our table very often.

My lovely Mom used to make them.

They were filled with any fruit that was in season. And during the months of winter, Mom would use just about any canned fruit she had on hand.

So, whether you use plums, cherries or any kind of berries to make this sponge cake with fruit, you’ll be amazed by a very nice flavor it has and how surprisingly easy it is to prepare it.

 
 

Here’s what we need.

 
 

1. First, preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).

 

2. Separate the eggs placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.

Use larger bowls.

 

3. Pour the sugar into the egg yolks and beat until thick and pale in color.

 

Try your best not to eat this all.

Oh my gosh, it’s so good.

Or is it just me?

 
 

4. Then add the butter and mix until fluffy.

 
 

5. Next, in a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add it to the egg-yolk mixture. Mix to combine.

 
 

6. Then, using a cleaned whisk attachment, whisk the whites…

 
 

…until they hold stiff peaks.

 

7. Add the whites into the egg-yolk batter.

Small lumps of egg whites in the batter are okay.

 
 

8. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and dust it lightly with flour.

 

9. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

I used a 13 x 9-inch (33 x 22 cm) baking pan. This cake will rise a lot, so if you are going for a less tall version, use a larger baking pan.

 
 

10. Spread out the batter evenly.

 
 

11. Now cut the plums into halves. Or, if you are using canned plums, drain them.

 
 

12. Evenly arrange the halved plums on top of the batter.

 
 

13. Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

 
 

14. Remove from the oven and let cool.

 

14. Then dust with a little confectioner’s sugar and cut into squares.

 
 

And most importantly, enjoy, dear friends!

 

(This cake takes about 45 minutes to prepare.)

 

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Chicken Roulade Stuffed with Ham, Cheese and Peppers

This roulade, which by the way is just another word for a roll, is devilishly good.

There are countless variations of chicken roulades, in fact. They can be stuffed with basically anything you can imagine. Well, not anything maybe (chocolate chicken roulade might be a little too funky, I guess), but still there are many ingredients that just work perfectly in that lovely rolled up wonder.

Spinach, bacon, cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, shallots – these are just some of the ideas, and the list goes on.

 

What I love about chicken roulades is how cute they look. This is one of those dinners that will elicit a lot of oohs and wows.

And you know what?

They really are easy to make!

 

 

Here’s what we need.
 
 

1. First, preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C).

 

2. Place the chicken breast into a Ziploc bag (or between two sheets of plastic wrap).
 
 

3. Beat the chicken breast with a meat mallet until about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thin.

 
 

This is the ham I had on hand.

It’s beyond yummy!

 
 

4. Place two slices of ham lengthwise along middle of the breast.

 
 

5. Then place two thin slices of the cheese over the ham.

I use Edam cheese in this recipe. You can, of course, use any kind you like.
 
 

Blue cheese.

My true love.
 
 

6. Now divide the blue cheese into three equal parts and arrange one third crosswise at the near end of the breast.

We are starting to create the center of our roulade here.

 

 

These are red peppers.

I had some pickled ones in my fridge.

Yum!
 
 

7. If you are using fresh red pepper then place two thin slices over the blue cheese.
 
 

8. And two green pepper slices over the red ones.
 
 

9. Roll the chicken roulade from one end to form a cylinder, securing the seam with a couple of toothpicks.
 
 

11. Secure the ends as well.

We definitely want to keep those flavorful juices inside.
 

12. Repeat the process for each of the two remaining chicken breasts.
 
 

13. Brush a baking pan with some olive oil and place the roulades inside, the seam side down.
 
 

14. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil with salt.
 
 

15. And brush the roulades with the oil mixture.
 
 

16. Place in the oven and bake (at 400 °F – 200 °C) for 30 minutes.

There will be a little juice in the pan when your remove the roulades from the oven.

Keep it please, it’s precious.
 
 

17. Remove the roulades from the pan and let them rest for 5 minutes before doing anything else.
 

18. Then remove the toothpicks and slice the roulades crosswise into 1/2 inch (1 1/2 cm) rounds.

Then sit down for awhile and feast your eyes on that cute structure you’ve just created.

 
 

When serving these cuties, pour a little of that precious and flavorful sauce from the pan over them. That will make them even more moist and delicious.
 

You can serve these roulades warm with toasts.

Or, to create a more satisfying dish, serve them with mashed potatoes.

 

And most importantly, ENJOY, dear friends!

 

(This recipe takes about 1 hour to prepare and makes 3 servings.)
 

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Bacon and Cheese Biscuits

I’d love to reveal a little secret about our monkey household of two.

We love biscuits! All sorts of them!

Unbelievable, huh?

 

Biscuits are especially enjoyed by the male monkey over here.

You should see his smile each time he finds out they are in the oven.

It’s the widest and most content smile I’ve ever seen.

And when the biscuits are done my boyfriend immediately grabs his plate of at least fourteen and hurries to watch his favorite sitcoms.

I love to make biscuits because somehow they make the world a perfect place.

They are magical.
 
 

Here are the ingredients.
 
 

And here’s the bacon.

It’s a crucial part of the magic.
 
 

1. To make your own Bacon and Cheese Biscuits, first preheat the oven to 390 °F (200 °C).

 

2. Then slice the bacon thinly.
 
 

3. In a large pan, fry the bacon over moderate heat until crisp.

This will take a couple of minutes.
 
 

4. When beautifully crispy, remove the bacon from the pan and crumble it finely.
 
 

5. Grab the cheese and grate it.
 
 

Just like this.

This is a lot of cheese.

 

The cheese mostly will constitute the flavor of your biscuits. So choose the one you really like.

It’s completely up to you.

I used Leerdammer. Next time I’ll try Cheddar, I think.

It’s fun because the biscuits can be different every time.
 
 

6. Now we need a large bowl.

Using a pastry cutter (or just a fork), combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper and butter until crumbs form.
 
 

7. Stir in the grated cheese and the bacon.
 
 

8. Then add the milk…
 
 

9. …and stir together just until the dry ingredients are well moistened.
 
 

10. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and make a Halloween face out of it.

Sorry.

What I really mean is that now you should knead the dough 4 – 5 times.

To make the biscuits perfectly soft, the trick is not to over-knead the dough.

 
 

11. Roll it out to about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thickness.

When it gets sticky use some flour to make the job easier.
 
 

12. Cut out rounds using a 2-inch (5 cm) cutter.

Pat the scraps together, re-roll them and cut out some more rounds.
 
 

13. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Arrange your biscuits on the sheet about 1/2 inch (2.5 cm) apart.
 
 

14. And bake them for about 15 minutes.
 
 

These are so yummy.

Enjoy, dear friends!

 

This recipe makes about 36 biscuits.

(The recipe was adapted from LeitesCulinaria.com.)
 

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The Perfect Bundt Cake

I heart bundt cakes.

You can clearly see it in the above picture and also in the picture below.

Hearts overload.

 

Bundt cakes are cute, bundt cakes are fun and they also are super-easy to make.

In addition, this one is also perfect.

I promise.

It’s moist but not too moist,  it’s sweet but not too sweet and it tastes just like heaven.

Actually, I’d so love to give you a slice right now.

But I think it will be more useful to give you the recipe…
 
 

Here are the ingredients.

Six of them.

I love simple recipes.
 
 

1. First preheat the oven to 347 °F (175 °C).
 

2. Then butter and flour thoroughly a 9 x 4 inches (23 x 10 cm) bundt pan.

Instead of buttering the pan you can use a vegetable spray.
 
 

3. Now separate the eggs into two larger bowls.

Set the egg whites aside. Their time will come a little later.
 

4. Add the sugar and the vegetable oil into the bowl with the egg yolks and using a hand mixer mix them for about three minutes.
 

5. Then add the milk and mix for another three minutes.
 
 

6. Now pour the flour and the baking powder into a smaller bowl and combine them with a spoon.
 
 

7. Add the flour mixture into the beaten egg-yolk mixture…
 
 

8. …and using a spatula stir it to combine.

First there will be lumps. But don’t give up, keep stirring and kill them all.
 
 

9. Finally, grab the bowl containing the egg whites and whip them until firm.

 
 

10. Using a spatula again, gently fold the whipped egg whites into the batter just until blended.
 
 

11. Pour the batter into the pan.
 
 

12. And into the oven it goes for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick (or a wooden skewer) inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

When you do the toothpick/skewer test you might find dry crumbs adhering to the skewer. That’s all right. The cake is done.

But when you find raw batter on it that means that the cake needs some more baking.
 

13. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool.
 
 

Then place it on your Mom’s old cake stand (which is actually older than you) and admire the beauty for a while.
 
 

Then make a nice cuppa tea or coffee, cut a big fat slice of the cake (or three) and have the best time ever.

Enjoy, dear friends.

And, please, make this soon.
 

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