Category Archives: desserts

Caramel au beurre salé

Salted butter caramel

This time I’ll share with you a very simple recipe that contains only three main ingredients: sugar, cream, and salted butter. French people use this caramel in many different ways: as “macaron” filling, adding caramel flavour to cakes, cookies or any other pastry. It is very typical in Britanny, where they often eat it with crêpes (pancakes) as a dessert.

By changing the quantity of cream, you can make it more or less liquid. You can also add some nuts, chocolate, dried fruits to give it a more original taste. For fillings, you need to use half sugar and half cream + butter to give it a more solid consistency.

Salted butter caramel can be a perfect gift as well, for example to your loved ones during Christmas time – I have received several orders already

salted butter caramel

Yield: 500ml of caramel, enough to serve with pancakes for 5

Ingredients:

200g sugar
250ml cream
50g salted butter (or 80g if you want a stronger taste)
a pinch sea salt (ideally “fleur de sel”)

Step by step:

Prepare all ingredients: cream, sugar, salted butter & sea salt.

cream, sugar, sea salt

Pour sugar in a saucepan and let it melt – mixing in the solid sugar grains from time to time with the melted sugar. Make sure that the sugar does not burn, keep the heat low. Meanwhile, pre-heat the cream in another sauce pan.

let melt sugar & warm up cream

When the sugar is melted and dark brown, add the pre-heated cream little by little, all the while whisking it quickly with the help of a spoon.

add cream

Once the cream is well incorporated, add the salted butter and a pinch of salt.

add butter

Serve in small jars or a bowl, depending on when you plan to eat it.

Enjoy!

Pistachio tiramisu

Arroz con leche – Milk rice pudding

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Creamy rice pudding

“Arroz con leche” is a creamy and sweet rice dessert served in households all over Spain (and other Latin countries). To give it some special flavor, in Spain they usually add lemon peal and cinnamon.

Every family has their own “arroz con leche” recipe. I’ll share with you my Spanish grandma’s recipe, that is known as the very best in my husband’s family. It is usually served cold with cinnamon or a caramelized sugar crust on top of it….and yes, it is very tasty

arroz con leche

Yield: 20 portions of “arroz con leche”

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of cold water
1 cinnamon stick
peel of one lemon – just the yellow part
1/2 teaspoon of salt
250g of medium grain rice (“arroz redondo” or “round rice”)
3l of milk
250-300g of sugar

Raspberry-blueberry ice cream

Easy to make and healthy ice cream

I really love ice cream but unfortunately I don’t have my own ice cream maker to be able to make the traditional one at home. At the same time, I was searching for some healthy recipes so that I can eat ice cream and stay fit during summer. Two years ago, my husband gave me as a present ¨30min meals by Jamie Oliver¨ and there, amongst many other great recipes, I’ve found a perfect summer ice cream recipe: you just need some frozen berries, a little bit of sugar and natural yogurt. It takes only 5 minutest and turns out very tasty!

raspberry-blueberry ice cream

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients:

300g of frozen raspberries & blueberries (or any other frozen berries)
2-3 tablespoons of sugar or honey
250g natural yogurt (I usually choose low-fat one)
optional: one spoon of lemon juice, some leaves of fresh mint

Cottage cheese pancakes – pankūkas pildītas ar biezpienu

My mom’s pancakes filled with cottage cheese

There is this one dish that, once you’re back home at your mom’s place, you could eat non-stop. For me, these are the pancakes filled with home made cottage cheese. They are delicious and my absolute favorite. So, since I’m in Latvia for the holidays, now is the time to write down this adorable recipe and share it with you all. I hope that you will love them and, if you don’t have time to make them, just come to my mom’s place and she will prepare them for you ;) I usually get them in the morning for breakfast – the perfect start for my day!

Cottage cheese pancakes

Yield: 12-13 pancakes, 2-3 per person

Ingredients:

Pancake dough

250g flour
0.5l whole milk
2 eggs
1 spoon olive oil
2 tea spoons of sugar
a little bit of salt

Cottage cheese filling

0,5kg whole milk cottage cheese
2 eggs (from free-range chickens is best)
100g of sugar
half a tea spoon of vanilla sugar
a pinch of salt

To accompany them jam, fresh cream and some fresh cut fruit work best.

Crème brûlée

“Burnt” custard cream

Crème brûlée is a sweet & creamy dessert with crunchy sugar on top. In Spain it is also known as ¨crema catalana¨, and everyone will affirm that it comes originally from Catalonia. To the Spanish version of creme brûlée you usually add lemon or orange peal as well as cinnamon. Here, I’ll share with you first the traditional French creme brûlée recipe, which I got from the Larousse ¨Pierre Herme¨ dessert book. I usually make it in small individual ramekins that perfectly serve one person.

creme brûlée

Yield: 8 portions

Ingredients:

500ml milk
500ml cream
4 vanilla beans
9 egg yolks
180g powder sugar
100g brown sugar

Flan parisien – Parisian flan

Short story

The Parisian flan is a typical french dessert that you can find in any “pâtisserie” in France. It consists of baked custard and a shortcrust pastry base. It is typically made with eggs, cream or milk, starch and vanilla.

parisian flan

Yield: 8 portions

Ingredients

230g shortcrust pastry
500ml milk (could add some part of cream instead)
1 vanilla bean
200g sugar
4 eggs
70g corn starch (maizena)

Rhubarb mousse

A way to make rhubarb tasty

In Latvia we eat a lot of this wonderful plant, which has a lot of fibre and an acid taste. Most commonly, the plant’s leaf stalks are cooked with sugar and used in pies, drinks, and many other desserts. My husband is not particularly fond of this plant, so I’m trying different ways to convince him how tasty it really is. Believe me or not, but this mousse has convinced him It has light, airy consistance and a very fresh taste – a perfect way to start the summer!

Rhubarb mousse with raspberries

Yield: 4-6 portions

Ingredients:

These measures are very approximate, as I prepared my mousse without measuring anything – just tasting and making sure that the result is as wished The only important point is making sure that it doesn’t end up too acid – taste it often as you cook, and add enough sugar so that it’s sweet to your taste! If you want it to feel creamier, you can also reduce the amount of gelatin.

4 rhubarb stalks
80g sugar
150g-200g water
5 gelatin sheets
1 vanille bean
150g-200g whipped cream