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A Taste of Yellow - Saffron lemonade jelly
grated zest and juice of one big lemon 300 ml water 3 tbsp raw demerara sugar 1 tbsp Marsala 3 gelatine leaves pinch of powdered saffron Winosandfoodies.com's Barbara had announced a one-time foodblogging event, A Taste of Yellow, for supporting Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation on 16 May, this year's Livestrong Day. I think there are more and more people directly or indirectly affected by cancer, so raising awareness is really important. To do it via foodblogging is a very clever idea, it is easy and fun to participate and at the same time one might be able to promote the fight against this serious illness. So here's my contribution to this event; it's quite simple and as yellow as can be :). Put the grated zest and juice of the lemon with the water, sugar and Marsala in a pan, heat it, when it becomes hot, add the saffron. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water, and when the lemonade starts to boil, add the softened leaves to the pan. When it dissolves, switch off the heat. Leave it to cool, then spoon it into mini muffin trays (two will be filled completely) and place it in the fridge for at least six hours to set. I had checked Tamasin's Kitchen Bible for jelly recipes beforehead, and although she consideres them to be part of the Christmas menu, I think it's very refreshing in the summer. It might be a better idea to serve them in glasses as I could not turn them out so nicely of the moulds. Serves 4-6. Based on Tamasin's Kitchen Bible's jellies. 
Parmesan hands
100 g grated parmesan 100 g grated gouda cheese 100 g flour 80 g butter small teaspoon of baking powder I started the preparations with doubling the original recipe's amounts, as 16 pieces are just nothing for kids, not to mention adults :). Nigella used Cheddar, but I had other types of cheese at home, so to compensate the dryness of the parmesan (which provided a very characteristic taste), I used more butter. It was not easy to get the dough to its required consistency, I had to work the ingredients together for quite a long time. Then I put it in the fridge for 15 minutes, packed in clingfilm, then rolled it out to about 3 mm thickness and cut out forms with cookie cutters. Nigella used a foot-shaped cutter, I had hands :). Bake them in an oven preheated to 200 C for about 12 minutes. This amount adds up to two baking sheets, but lasts only for minutes :). From Nigella's Feast 
MM#1 - Cinnamon muffins with pineapple and mascarpone
350 g flour 16 g baking powder 120 g caster sugar 2 eggs 150 ml milk 50 ml oil 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon 50 g mascarpone 3 slices of canned pineapple pinch of salt Hurray for the newest food blogging event, Muffin Monday! I like muffins a lot, because they are quick and easy to prepare (even my husband could prepare it with some supervision :) ), and basically there are milion possible variations to them. This one is a winter-flavoured cupcake (although today it's already March :) ). Mix the flour, baking power, salt, sugar, cinnamon, then add the milk, the oil and the beaten eggs. Mix until you get a slightly sticky dough. Preheat the oven to 190 C. Line the muffin tray with paper cases and put a huge tablespoon of dough into each. Cut the pineapple slices into quarters, push one into the cases and spoon some mascarpone on both sides of the pineapples. Cover with the rest of the dough. Bake for about 25 minutes. Makes 12. I've modified a recipe from The Ultimate Cookie Book. 
Caprese
120 g mozzarella 150 g ripe tomatoes a couple of basil leaves olive oil salt pepper Slice the tomatoes and the mozzarella to thin, same-sized slices, arrange them, tear the basil leaves on top, drizzle with olive oil and spinkle with salt and freshly gound pepper. Serves one. I've checked it in Silver Spoon. 
Bucks Fizz
50 ml freshly squeezed orange juice 50 ml dry or semi-dry champagne orange zest Simply pour the champagne on the orange juice and scrape some zest into it for decoration. The Bartender's Guide. 
SHF #27 - Orange flavoured milk rice with white chocolate icing
For the milk rice: 600 ml milk 120 g round rice 1 vanilla pod 50 g raw cane sugar grated zest and juice of 1 big orange pinch of salt
For the icing: 120 g white chocolate (four Caramac bars) 50 g soft butter 110 g icing sugar 3 tbsp. cream
Milka heart-shaped chocolates SHF #27 - chocolate by brand. My two contestants are Nestlé Caramac and Milka chocolate hearts. 
The game immediately brought to my mind the chocolate hearts that have been waiting for their destiny for some months. They were a birthday gift from a good friend of mine, I have never tasted them before, but the shape was love at first sight :). She gave them to me to use them for decoration and that was exactly my purpose with them :). The only difficulty is that I rarely prepare cakes, as that would mean a lot of extra kilos for the two of us with my husband and/or for my colleagues :). So I have been saving them until now. The taste - as I have just found out today - is nice, full of cacao flavours (45% content, not bad), it gives an impression of a semi-dark chocolate, although the colour would rather suggest a milky one. 
So Mission No. 1. completed; I started looking for a white contestant as well. I met Nestlé by accident :). One day a colleague of mine had intended to drop by the cantine and asked me whether I wanted anything from there. I gave her an enthusiastic and detailed description of a Dove Caramel Liason bar, which is a must in every office on a long day, especially when it rains :). Probably the description was too long, or she had just picked up the main theme (caramel); she returned with a Caramac. I had absolutely no clue about this caramel flavoured white chocolate. But what the hell, it can't be bad if it contains caramel :). And it's not so bad at all :). 
Then the last thing I needed: a base. I had thought about sponges, cupcakes, whatever, then I came across this recipe. Milk rice! So, here goes the final recipe. Bring the milk to boil with the sugar, the vanilla pod and the pinch of salt. Then take out the vanilla pod and pour in the rice. Simmer until it thickens, then add the zest and orange juice. Simmer for another couple of minutes. Spoon into four small (cca. 10 cm diameter), buttered springforms and leave to cool. (I decided to prepare an icing rather then a cream mixed into the rice, so I took Delia's recipe and adjusted it to the white chocolate.) Beat the butter and the sugar, when it's a smooth mixture, add the cream. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and slowly fold into the cream. Spread on the rice and leave to cool. Place an extra teaspoon of the mixture on the top so that it can hold a heart. When it's cool, add two or three hearts on the top. The rice is dominated by the orange flavour, but it's not too sweet, like the white chocolate part and then the hearts complete the overall impression with a lightly bitter taste. Do not count the calories :). The milk rice and the idea is from Barry Callebaut, the icing is from Delia's book Chocolate. I thank my friends (Cic, Thor, moes+1, kókusz, Bee) and my husband for helping me with the hard task of choosing the final photo :). 
Meringue rounds with chocolate Chantilly cream
For the meringue rounds: 4 egg whites 180 g caster sugar 1 tsp. corn starch 1 tbsp. poppy seeds 10 g sliced almonds
For the chocolate Chantilly cream: 300 ml double cream 2 tbsp. caster sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 100 g dark chocolate Beat the egg whites with half of the caster sugar until semi-firm, then add the other half of the sugar and the corn starch, and beat until completely firm. Cut out an 8 cm diameter round from a piece of cardboard paper and use the template with the round hole to spread nine round meringues on a baking sheet covered with baking parchment. Scatter almonds and poppy seeds on their top and place them for an hour in the oven preheated for 100 C. When they're ready, get them out and let them to cool on the baking sheet. Bake another nine meringue rounds the same way, this time without the almond and poppy seed topping. For the Chantilly cream whip the chilled double cream with the caster sugar and vanilla extract, until the cream begins to thicken. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, leave it to cool down a bit, then cautiously mix to the whipped cream. Pour the cream into a piping bag with a star-shaped head and pipe it onto the plain meringue rounds in a spiral. Put the almond and poppy seed covered meringue rounds on their top, this way it can be prepared with one layer: 
Or with two layers: 
You can risk even more, but that's already the BigMac level :). It should be placed to the fridge for a couple of minutes because of the Chantilly cream, but do eat it immediately after that, as the cream later softens the meringues. Michel Roux: Desserts
Kir Royal
2 tablespoons of Créme de Cassis de Dijon 100 ml dry or semi-dry champagne It's a true beauty to see one of the most famous cases of the European Court coming to life in one's glass :). Pour the champagne on the liquor, drink up and think about the free movement of goods :). Simple Kir is the same thing, with white wine instead of the champagne. Serves one. The Bartender's Guide. 
Marzipan stollen
500 g flour 170 g butter 80 g + 1 tablespoon caster sugar 50 g fresh yeast 200 ml milk 1 tablespoon lemon juice pinch of salt 100 g almonds 150 g candies mango (or other candied fruit) 100 g prunes 3x150 g (or somewhat less) blocks of marzipan 50 g butter for topping caster sugar for topping Discovering with my friend, Andi, that a ready-made stollen is small, but very expensive triggered the decision to bake one myself :). Accidentally I've found a recipe that I had typed in a forum about two years ago (a good sign for the project! :) ). Mix the milk with the tablespoon of caster sugar and heat it in the microwave for about a minute (it should be warm, but not hot). Crumble the yeast into the milk and wait until it rises. Meanwhile mix the flour, the caster sugar, the pinch of salt, the lemon juice and the butter, work them out well. Add the yeast-milk mixture, knead a nice dough. Let it rise for about 45 minutes. Chop the almonds, the mango, the prunes and add to the risen dough. Divide it to three pieces. Roll out each piece to a 20x40 cm rectangle. Roll a block of marzipan to 40 cm length and place it on the middle of a rectangle. Fold the dough on the marzipan from both sides, seal the ends, then turn it around and place it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Repeat with the other two rectangles as well, so the result should be three nice loafs. Leave them to rise a bit more, for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 160 C and bake them for approximately 40 minutes. Leave them to cool, then spread them with the melted butter and sprinkle a lot of caster sugar on top. The recipe is from a Hungarian culinary magazine, probably Kiskegyed Konyhája, but I don't remember clearly. 
Ham and mustard sandwich
2 slices of toastbread 1 slice of ham 2-3 slices of Gruyére 1 tbs. mustard butter I watched Rachel Allen on BBC and I took the fancy of this sandwich of hers. Butter one of the toastbreads, put the ham and the cheese on it. Spread the other toastbread with mustard and cover the other with this. Butter one side of the sandwich and toast it to golden brown in a non stick frying pan. Meanwhile it's frying in the pan, butter the other half as well and when the first side is ready, turn and toast the other side to golden brown as well. Serves one. Rachel Allen's recipe. 
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