Caramelized Pineapple Upside Down Individual Cakes

My grand-father used to bake this cake for family gatherings. I love this dessert, it is so sweet and soft. This time, I baked individual cakes for my husband and me: de-li-cious and well-portioned.
This recipe can also be made with apples in winter time when no fresh and ripe pineapple can be found.

Serves 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
For the caramel:
- 7 big teaspoons of powdered sugar
- 1 big tablespoon water
For the cake
- 2 slices of fresh pineapple + 1 slice to garnish
- 2 tablespoons / 33 grams melted butter
- 33 grams powdered sugar
- 33 grams white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1 small egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Get two ramekins ready for your two individual cakes.

Start with the caramel: Add the sugar and the water in a pan, and increase the heat to high. When the caramel is light brown, pour half the caramel in one ramekin. Make sure you coat the bottom and a bit of the side of the ramekin: act fast and don't get burnt since the ramekin will get hot very quickly!
Do the same with the second ramekin.

Cut the 2 pineapple slices in pieces and cover the bottom and the sides of the ramekins.

In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter with the sugar. Then add the egg. Continue whisking.
Then add the flour and the baking powder.

Pour the preparation in the two ramekins over the caramel and pineapple pieces. Do not fill them completely since the cakes will grow in volume.

Bake for 20 minutes at 410F° / 210C°. Let cool a little before returning the cakes upside down into small serving plates.

Really Easy Salt and Pepper Tofu

Want to make a vegetarian dish which everybody will love? Try this easy recipe with Tofu. Tofu is not a very tasteful ingredient but the texture is pretty nice. So we'll give it a little kick with pepper and a little crispiness by pan-frying it.
Great served with bock choy.

Serves 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Baking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu
- salt
- pepper
- mix 1 teaspoon vegetable oil + 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Slice the block of tofu. Then cut each slice diagonally to form triangles. Pat dry each tofu piece with kitchen paper.

Season well both sides of each tofu triangle with salt and pepper.

Heat the 2 teaspoons of oil in a large frying pan and add the tofu triangle. If your pan is not big enough, heat only half the oil and proceed in batches.

Let cook the tofu on the first side until it's light brown and crispy, about 5 minutes.
Turn the tofu triangles and let cook on the other side, until brown and crispy, like for the first side.

Once it's ready, transfer the tofu to a plate covered with kitchen paper.
Just before serving, you can transfer the tofu back to the hot frying pan and reheat for 1 minute.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve hot, with bock choy (quickly pan-fried with soy sauce) and/or brown rice.

Small Homemade Walnut Breads

I have a bread machine but for walnut bread, I use my hands :-) Indeed, I actually prepare individual portions because it is so convenient and so cute when I have family or friends over! Using the same recipe I'm going to share with you, you can make Fig and Walnut bread, for an even more fancy homemade bread. Ready? Go!


For 4 small walnut breads
Preparation time: 10 minutes + 1h20 to let rise
Baking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- 160g / 1 cup and 1 big tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon liquid honey
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 10 cl / 3/8 cup (a little bit more than 1/3) warm water
- 1 teaspoon bread yeast (machine bread yeast works wonderfully)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 figs cut into small squares (optional)

Pour the liquids in a large bowl (water, oil, honey). Add the flour and make a small whole in the center and add the yeast. Close the whole with some of the flour and add the salt on the side (the yeast should not come in contact with the salt).

Knead with your hands for at least 5 minutes. If the dough looks dry, add a little bit of water or in the contrary, if the dough is sticky, add a little bit of flour.
At the very end, add the walnuts (and the fig pieces if you are using some).

Leave the ball of dough in the bowl, cover with film paper and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Then place the dough on a clean and lightly floured surface. Cut it into 4 equal parts and shape your small breads (round, oval...). Then place the breads on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and let rise again for about 20 minutes, covered with a clean towel.

Preheat your oven at 350°F / 180°C. Bake the breads for 10 minutes first, then increase the heat to 410°F / 210°C and continue baking for 10 minutes.

Mini Herb and Hazelnut Goat Cheese Balls

This fresh appetizer is great if you have a party with a lot of people. You can prepare the Goat Cheese Balls in advance and create a lot of variations, depending on the likings of your guests.
For this recipe, I used hazelnuts but at the end of this post, I'm sharing more ideas to garnish your cheese balls.

Serves 8
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: none
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1 log of herb & garlic goat cheese (or use a regular goat cheese and mix with 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of herbes de provence - or savory)
- 10/15 hazelnuts

Prepare your herb and garlic cheese if you did not find one ready: mix the cheese, the herbs and the crushed garlic with a fork, until smooth.
Crash the hazelnuts and chop finely. Spread the hazelnut pieces on a flat baking sheet or plate.

For each cheese ball, take 1 big teaspoon of goat cheese. Form a ball with your hands and coat it in the hazelnut pieces. Proceed in batches and place the cheese balls on a plate.

Other ingredients to coat the cheese:
- freshly ground pepper
- spices: paprika, ground cinammon, ground cumin, ground coriander...
- any type of nuts, finely chopped: walnuts, brazilian nuts, pecan nuts...
- dried fruits, finely chopped: apricots, prunes, raisins, peaches, cranberries...
- seeds: flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds (white and black)...
and more!