Winter calls for winter cakes. This is a simple recipe for our fluffy ‘7LR lime & blueberries’ cake. You just need:
200g organic plain flour 4 brown eggs 150g light brown sugar
150g fresh blueberries zest of 2 limes juice of 3 limes 1 cup of olive oil 1tsp madagascan vanilla liquid 1tsp baking powder 1tsp greek cognac or rhum
Mix sugar & olive oil in a large bowl & stir well Separate the yolk from the white of the eggs (keep the white in a separate bowl) Add one by one the yolk from the eggs in the bowl (of sugar & olive oil) and stir well until fluffy Zest the two limes & add the zest in the mixture, then add the juice of the three limes Add the vanilla and the cognac/rhum and continue to stir. Then add the blueberries, continue to stir. Lastly, add the flour in your main mixture
Whisk the whites separately in their bowl to create your fabulous meringue and add this to the main mixture.
Stir well! Finally add the baking powder & give it a final soft stir. Then, grease a rectangular cake tin with some olive oil or butter, add the mixture in the tin & place it in the oven (approximately 45-60 minutes: 180* Enjoy!
· 500-800g crystal cane sugar (I would rather opt for less sugar..)
· 150ml Greek honey
· 3-4 cinnamon sticks (plus some ground cinnamon)
· Clove (3)- you may combine ground clove & cinnamon
Do you feel the christmassy smells?
· We add all the liquids (except the honey) in a small casserole and bring to boil. As soon as it has been boiled and the house is filled with christmassy smells, remove and set aside.
· Add the Greek honey and let it cool
THE SYRUP NEEDS TO BE COLD WHEN THE MELOMAKARONA DEEP DIVE INTO IT!
Melomakarona
· 400 ml fresh orange juice
· 400 ml sunflower oil
· 180 ml olive oil
· 50g icing sugar
· 3tsp of ground cinnamon & 3tsp of ground clove (or a mix of the two)
· We mix the above liquids in a large bowl (NOT the syrup)
· You will need 800g flour (all-purpose or even raising flour). However, keep this in a separate bowl.
· Start mixing the liquid into the flour, gingerly and merrily… Use your hands to gently mix the two, but do not overdo it… This is not the art of bread making… You may need to add a bit more flour if it feels too liquid…
· My 7LR secret is that we add a bit of crashed walnuts in the mix… (150g is more than enough…)
· Start shaping and baking the melomakarona…Egg-shaped, dots, small or large…The Greek christmassy tradition of baking those delicious Greek honey cookies has been given a twist with our 7LR recipe….
Prepare the oven (180*) & use as many trays as required… Place the melomakarona on the tray (use a baking paper underneath).. Bake for approximately 30 minutes
· Remove from oven and deep one by one the cookies in the syrup… Place them in your christmassy dishes and…..
· Pour the crashed walnuts on top, including some of the roasted sesame seeds… You may pour the remaining syrup on top (if you want them even juicier, but do not overdo it, otherwise they will melt)…. Add some extra Greek honey on top…
It has been a while, but inspiration comes and goes… Yesterday however, we felt inspired. Craving for something sweet and autumnal and Tada…here we go…. our simple, delicious and very autumnal recipe for blood orange cookies.
INGREDIENTS
The liquids
-100ml Greek olive oil
-20-50 ml of spiced rum or cognac
-70ml blood orange juice
Sugar
-100g brown sugar
Dry ingredients
-The skin of one orange
-365g self-raising flour
-1tbs cinnamon powder
-A pinch of salt
-1tsp baking powder
THE ART OF MIXING
In a bowl, add the liquids and the sugar and stir well
In another bowl mix all the rest, i.e. dry ingredients together
Then mix the two
THE ART OF MAKING COOKIES
As soon as all ingredients have been mixed and well combined together, a beautiful brown dough appears. Use your hands to form the dough and create several small balls that fit into the palm of your hands.
Then start forming your shapes, any shapes really… you use your arty fingers and palm to make little buttons, or little snakes, as I call them, that you can twist around to form a cookie. You can create sticks, rounded shapes, twists, stars, anything really!
THE ART OF BAKING
Preheat your oven (180 degrees). Make sure to use baking paper, so that your dough does not stick into the cookie tray, and bake the cookies for 25 minutes approximately. Let them cool for 5 minutes in the oven, remove and let them cool for a few more minutes, if you can resist the temptation!
Enjoy!!!!
NB: testimony from a 7 year old boy: “delicious, yummy, love them”
Fresh, homemade and greek honey-sweet bitter in taste
Beat the Sunday afternoon blues with freshly homemade lemonade. ‘Simplicity’ is the queen of the kitchen, so we believe at least at 7LR.
INGREDIENTS
-Fresh, juicy lemons- to make around 200ml
-4 tsp Greek honey
-400ml water
-Sparkling water
-Fresh Rosemary (optional)
-Ice cubes
PREPARATION
-Remove the lemon skin and set aside. Squeeze the juice of the lemons and then use a colander to drain it (keep aside).
-In the meantime, add the water and honey in a small caserole and bring the water to the boil (stir gently). As soon as it starts boiling, leave for a minute or two and then set aside to cool, together with the skin from the lemons
-Mix the juices together, (use a colander to drain), but remove the lemon skin
-You can keep the mixture in the fridge for a few days-keep it in sterilised bottles
ENJOY
-Enjoy your lemonade in a glass filled with ice (and some rosemary from your garden). Pour some of the lemonade juice in your choice of glass and mix it with equal amount of sparkling water….Refreshing, light & invigorating…
Surprises during lockdown come with fresh ideas…This is an understatement when it comes to this colourful beauty.
Oh well, we all know what a Pavlova is and how it looks like and a plethora of variations and recipes exists out there… This is our take on this Russian beauty.
INGREDIENTS(A)
-4 Large Eggs (only the whites)
-220g Caster Sugar
-Madagascan Vanilla extra (1 tsp)
-Corn Flour (1 tbsp)
-White Vinegar (1tbsp)
You will need these ingredients to prepare the meringue, which is the base!
THE ART OF THE MERINGUE
-Separate the egg whites, then add them in a large bowl
-Start whisking the whites (preferably with an electric hand whisk tool)- BEAT the Eggs Steadily and Strongly
-Perform this sensitive art of whisking until you see the whites turning fluffier- like a cloud
-As soon as you start feeling the transformation-leaving aside your enormous smile- start adding the sugar. This should be done slowly and gently, and keep whisking in between –DO NOT STOP
-Separately, combine the cornflour with the white vinegar (alternatively you can use some lemon instead of vinegar) and then add this to the mixture- Keep Whisking
-Lastly, add the vanilla extract to the mixture and keep whisking until you feel the stiffness- you need to reach this stiff peak stage
Well done, now you have your fluffy white mixture ready!
First step has been completed.
Now next, you need to fetch a baking tray, add a baking paper sheet on top and draw a circle in the middle with a pencil –Use a plate (21-23cm) or your arty skills to trace it
Start pouring the meringue slowly into the drawn circle with a large spoon. You just need to feel that you are building it, like a form of blocks of fluffiness stacked in an arty way at the edges and within the circle. Rise the borders higher than the centre. (I am sure you all have seen how a Pavlova looks like!)
Try to build your own version and use a spatula as a tool to guide you if need be. The centre needs to be formed lower than the edges, since this is where your filling will find its natural home later on.
In the meantime, preheat the oven and as soon as you have finished with the steps, as above, bake the meringue for approximately an hour (approx. 140C or even lower temperature). It should stay white or turn into a fading beige colour. Take care not to burn it (no brown colour please). It should be crunchy outside and feel like a marshmallow inside.
If you are able easily to slightly peel off/remove the baking paper sheet from below, (without burning yourself of course), it is likely to be ready.
After the base has been baked, leave it to cool-preferably inside the oven- for about an hour. You may keep the oven door shut, but open it towards the end.
TOPPING
Whilst the meringue is in the making, prepare your filling, which is the next step. You will need two different sets of ingredients:
INGREDIENTS
A) For the bubble-pinky coloured sauce
-A handful of fresh fruits (around 100g in total of fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)
-1tbsp of icing sugar and
– some whipping cream (less than 100ml)
B) For the white coloured, creamy filling (and decoration)
-At least 500-600g of fresh fruits (a combination of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
-whipping cream (350-400ml)
-icing sugar (1-2tbsp)
-vanilla extract (1tsp)
-We also added some spicy rum, but any other alcohol such as cognac would be sufficient- You just need a splash of it, 1tsp will be more than enough.
WHIPPING CREAM v WHIPPED CREAM
-First, blend the ingredients for the pinky sauce in a blender until you get a smooth texture. Add more whipping cream in the blender if you think it requires it.
-Second, separately, whisk the whipping cream used for the white filling, until it becomes whipped. It has to stand in peaks. Whilst whisking it, add slowly into this mixture the rest of the ingredients (mainly the icing sugar and the splash of alcohol and vanilla extract)- All except from the fruits.
THE ART OF DECORATING
Last few steps-Finally!
Now you have a base and two variations of whipped creams.
Start filling the meringue base with the white filling/whipped cream first. Then pour over some of the pinky sauce.
Save some pinky sauce to pour over at the very end, on top of the piles of fruit.
Lastly add and decorate with the fresh colourful fruits.
Your Pavlova will now spend an hour or two in the fridge before serving.
My 7LR 