The Days Of Spring

The Days Of Spring by Hafiz

The days of Spring are here!

The eglantine,The rose, the tulip from the dust have risen

And thou, why liest thou beneath the dust?

Like the full clouds of Spring, these eyes of mine

Shall scatter tears upon the grave thy prison,

Till thou too from the earth thine head shalt thrust

Hafiz is one of the world’s most beloved poets , was born in Shiraz - Persia (Iran) . Every time I read his book, my imagination always flew away.. I feel so happy, I feel so blessing. And this is one of my favorite spring poetry . Enjoy reading his book in a lazy afternoon with a basket full of macaroon while my daughter, Annisa running around the yard picked the flowers, oh GOSH..!! it's heaven ^-^

Happy Spring everyone !!

and this is my entry for CLICK : Spring / Autumn, hosted by Bee & Jai

Cashew Macaroon

For the macaroons shells, according to Helen's Recipes on Tartelette Blogspot - and modify by me

90 gr egg whites (about 3), room temperature

30 gr granulated sugar

200 gr powdered sugar

110 gr cashew

with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until glossy and peak Combine the cashew and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground.

Add them to the meringue, mixed together with spatula less than 50 stroke. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds onto parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Let the macaroons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.

Pipe or spoon about 1 big tablespoon of chocolate ganache in the center of one shell and top with another one.

For the Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream

5 1/3 oz dark chocolate

Grate the chocolate and place it in a bowl.

Heat the cream and bring to a simmer. Stop and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute, then mix together to get a smooth paste. Let cool before using.

Lime and pistachio zucchini cake

Hi Everybody .. how are you doing ? where have you been .. uupsss... next question must be for me ^_^ , well .. yessssssss, long time not updating my blog .. seem time pass so quick, it's been busy day, running around , try to catch up many things .

Anyway, I will try the best as I can to say "hello" to all my friends, and enjoy the day .. as I enjoyed a slice of zucchini cake in a nice spring afternoon while watching my daughter running around backyard. It was so nice, when she saw some wild flower then she picked some and gave to me, and said : "mommy, this is for you, you are my best friend" ooooooh.... isn't She so sweet ?

Lime and Pistachio Zucchini Cake

Source : Better Homes & Garden

Ingredients

Melted butter for greasing
2 Tbsp self-raising flour
2 large or 3 medium zucchini
2 limes
3/4 cup vegetable oil
11/2 cups caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup pistachio kernels
3/4 cup almond meal
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
2 tsp ground cardamom, sifted

Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a loaf pan or other 8 inch round pan with melted butter and dust with flour. Rinse the zucchini and pat dry with paper towel. Grate the zucchini using a large hole grater.

Finely grate the rind from the 2 limes. Place the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lime rind into a large mixing bowl and whisk with a balloon whisk until the mixture is well combined and thickens.

Using a large sharp knife chop the pistachios finely. Add the prepared pistachios, almond meal, flour, cardamom and zucchini mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the surface. Bake for 45 minutes or until when a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. Stand the cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out, to cool. Sit the cake right side up on a cake cooler and stand over a sheet of baking paper. When cold pour the glaze over the cake, sprinkle with the pistachios, and stand for 30 minutes before serving.

Lime glaze
60g butter
Juice from 1 lime
1 cup pure sifted icing sugar
Extra 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios

To make the glaze place the butter and lime juice into a medium pan stir over a low heat until the butter has melted remove from the heat and add the icing sugar, stir to combine.

Return to the heat and stir for 1 minute. Remove and stand for 15 minutes before pouring over the cooled cake.

Coffee Bread // Mexican Bun

I remember 2 years ago when I went to my country, Indonesia for visit , me and other friend went to Pasaraya Food Court. She told me about the famous bread store which just sell one variety of bread, Mexican bun .. !! woow.. never heard about that before . My Goodness.. people stay on the line just to get those bread. Well, what I can say is .. my friend was right, the bread so delicious and since than I never forget the taste, the smell ..

Since make bread no longer nightmare let me sharing the recipe to you too, with my bread maker method too off course :-) .

Coffee Bread //Mexican Bun

500 gram all purpose flour, sifted - if you have bread flour, that will be great too

1 pack of active yeast ( +/- 7 gram)

¼ cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

200 cc tepid water or less depend on your dough

2 eggs , room temperature

25 gram full cream milk powder

50 gram caster sugar

1 tsp salt

75 gram butter, softened

Filling :
160 gram salted butter, cut into 16 pieces @ 10 gram, keep into refrigerator until ready to use

Topping :

75 gram unsalted butter

100 gram powder sugar

2 tbsp instant coffee - strong coffee is recommended

1 egg

75 gram all purpose flour

20 gram milk powder

1 tsp coffee-essence

Directions :
Sprinkle the yeast onto ¼ cup the tepid water add 1 tsp sugar, stir, and set aside for 10 minutes until foamy. If yeast are foamy mean yeast active

In a mixer with dough hooks, mix flour, milk powder, caster sugar, eggs and waters until all mixed, then add butter and salt. Mix well, then knead it for a second time until dough become elastic. Put in the big clean bowl, cover with plastic.

Set a side for 1 hour or until raise well, double in size. And you can start to prepare the topping too this time.

Punched the dough and knead again lightly, then divide them into small size about 30 – 40 gram each ,then rolls into balls, flatten a ball of dough with the palm of your hand. Place filling in the centre of the dough, be sure to seal well or the filling will leak out during baking.

Let stand for another 45 minute in a warm place

Pipe the topping on the buns in a spiral, starting from the centre.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 F for 20 minute or until buns are lightly brown

Make Topping :
Beat butter and icing sugar in electric mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed for five minute until mixture is light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs. Mix in coffee flavouring.

Shift flour onto mixture and mix on low speed until combined.

Set a side until ready to use.