Christmas Flavours of Spain, part 1: Turrón de Jijona

I love Turrón de Jijona... It's one of the varieties of Turrón that exist in Spain. The ingredients are almonds, honey, sugar and egg whites and the texture is sticky but at the same time dry... I can't explain it... it has to be tried!!
I haven't tried to make it myself (yet) but, due to its popularity, it's quite easy to find abroad (When I say "easy", I mean "easy", not "cheap". Actually, here in Germany it's VERY expensive). In any case, my parents sent me a Turrón Bar in their Christmas Parcel:

After this brief introduction to the (delicious) world of Turrón, let's start with my Turrón de Jijona Cupcakes.
The ingredients are the same as in my previous recipe... but adding Almond Extract.

• 2 eggs
• 175 gr. flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 115 gr. butter
• 200 gr. sugar
• 1 tbsp vainilla sugar
• 120 ml milk
• 1 tsp almond extract
  

Mix the ingredients as you would in any other cupcake recipe (The thing is... I always end up adding everything in the wrong order... and it works nonetheless haha). Then, bake at 180ºC for 20-22 mins (check with a skewer).

For the icing, I whipped cream, whilst adding 2 tbsp vainilla sugar. And then I added a portion of Turrón:
It would be even better if you add more Turrón. But I only have this Turrón Bar... and I want it to last until Christmas!!
Then, with the help of a spoon, I spread it on top of the cupcakes (the Turrón de Jijona has some almond bits that wouldn't go through the noozle of the piping bag). And decorated it with Polvorón crumbs.
Polvorón crumbs??
Yes! Polvorones are another kind of Spanish Christmas Sweet. Also made with almonds, they're similar to shortbread... but definitely heavier on the stomach!!!!! There are many varieties... I used the basic almond ones (only because those are the only ones I have here! haha)

(My poor Polvorón ready to be torn into crumbs!!)

My cross-stitched table runner... haha. I can't resist showing it!!

My teddy bear (named: "Navidad") wants a cupcake too!!

It was a present from Andrew... I love it!!!

Close up... YUM!!!

I hope you like my recipe! If you can find Turrón and Polvorones somewhere in your city... I recommend trying this original way to eat them :)

PS: Can someone make the rain STOP??? It has been raining (without stopping) for 5 or 6 days now... I even had to run into my living room with the cupcakes in my hands during this "photoshoot" because it started to rain so hard it was making the balcony (and the cupcakes) wet!!!

Flavours of Spain, Part 11: Leche Merengada

My best memories from childhood are those from the days spent at my grandma's house in Umbemendi (Basque Country). I remember how I used to wake up in the morning and run to the window to see the valley covered with a thick fog that slowly revealed the lovely "Caseríos" from Laukiz.

I also remember the smell of Compota that filled the house just before our Christmas dinners (dinners that I never ate because I was too busy with my presents!! haha)

But if there's a special memory from my childhood in the Basque Country, that's the Leche Merengada that my Aunt Lourdes used to prepare for us and that my brother and I drank in less than 5 seconds, either in summer or in winter.

(My brother and I...)

So today I'm dedicating this Leche Merengada Cupcakes to my aunt Lourdes and our happy times in Umbe.

First of all, let's prepare the Leche Merengada:

Ingredients

• 1 l. milk
  
• Lemon zest
  
• Cinnamon Stick
  
• 300 gr. sugar
  
• 4 egg whites
  

Put the milk, sugar, lemon zest and 1 cinnamon stick in a pan and bring it slowly to the boil. Simmer 5 minutes and then let it cool down.

Tip the egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl and beat them the mixture up in stiff peaks, adding slowly the 50gr sugar left.

Strain the milk mixture and add it slowly to the egg whites.

Put this mixture in the freezer until it's solid. (If you aren't cooking it for cupcakes, then freeze it directly in cups and sprinkle cinnamon powder on top before serving).



While the Leche Merengada waited in the freezer, I baked some cinnamon cupcakes, using the same recipe I used for my Arroz con Leche Cupcakes.




Once the cupcakes had cooled down, I took the Leche Merengada out of the freezer (by then it had already the texture of ice cream) and put spoonfuls on top of the cupcakes. Finally, I decorated the powder some cinnamon powder and cinnamon sticks.





This is the result, which was... YUM!!!!!!

Make sure you prepare this cupcakes right before serving them, as the Leche Merengada will melt otherwise.






This is Hormiga, the last present from Andrew... how cute!!!! I love it!





More coming soon!!!!!!!

PS: My parents are the best! they just posted a parcel full of Spanish Christmas sweets for me... so that I can make Spanish Christmas Cupcakes! I can't wait to receive the parcel!!

Flavours of Spain, Part 10: Aunt Paquita's Lemon Pie

Today I'm going to reveal a family secret... the Aunt Paquita's Lemon Pie recipe!

Aunt Paquita's Lemon Pie is my dad's and brother's favourite dessert and every time my mum bakes it at home, it dissappears in less than 5 mins.

You're probably thinking: But who is Aunt Paquita?? Well, she's not my aunt and, actually, as I started to bake this recipe, I was asking myself the same question. I was so confused I started to think that maybe Aunt Paquita never existed and that she was only a mythological character invented by my mum in order to make her recipe more interesting.

So I called my mum, and she explained to me that Aunt Paquita actually existed and wasn't a legendary character. Paquita was the wife of my Grandma's brother. So she was one of my father's aunts. She invented this wonderful Lemon Pie and today, in honour of herself and my Grandma (who cooked AMAZING too), I'm going to bake these Aunt Paquita's Lemon Pie Cupcakes.

AUNT PAQUITA'S LEMON PIE CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 big glass of milk
  
• 3 tbsp Maizena
• 3 eggs
• 7 tbsp sugar
  

Pre-heat the oven to 180º (well, on the original recipe it says "moderate heat"... and that's all... so I decided to use 180º! haha)

Make a bechamel heating the milk with the Maizena. It has to be have a thick texture.

Whisk on a bowl the three egg whites, until the form firm peaks. Add slowly the 7 tbsp of sugar and then the 3 egg yolks (previously beaten) and the Bechamel.

Now fill the cupcake cases with this mixture (no more than 3/4 of each case) and bake for around 20 mins (the pie, when baked as pie, takes around 30 mins, if you'd like to try it too). Check with a skewer if it's done.

Let the cupcakes cool down while you make the sauce.

These are my freshly baked cupcakes!

Now let's prepare the sauce (YUM!!!!!!!!!!)

Ingredients:

• 2 lemons
• 100 g. sugar
• 50 g. butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
  

Put the juice from the lemons, their grated zest, 1/2 glass of water, and all the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring it to the boil, slowly, and stirr continuously until it gets thick!

Then decorate your cupcakes with this sauce:


Theoretically (and that's what I did), the sauce has to be hot when poured over the pie (cupcakes in our case)... but you can see what happened: my cupcake liners bent because of the heat. (Ok, I bought 100 cases for 0.69€ at Aldi... what could I expect??? haha)


Somehow (as you can see from the "Blueish" colour of my pics) there isn't light at all anymore in the afternoons here. So I decided to take some pictures in my living room too:


They were delicious !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Andrew had 3 in a row... ok, me too! hahaha

WARNING: EAT THEM WITH A SPOON!!! or you'll have to clean the floor (or the carpet, which is even worse!!)

That's all for now... more recipes coming soon!!!!!!!!!!