How to prepare a Chocolate-Raspberry Trifle

Here is my own version of the Trifle. I used leftovers of a chocolate cake and only needed a couple of additional ingredients to prepare this great and easy dessert. You can use leftovers of chocolate muffins and well, and replace the raspberries with raspberries, blueberries or any other berry you like. Yummmm!

Serves 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes + 1 hour in the fridge
No cooking time!
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound (about 450 g) raspberries
- milk
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) heavy whipping cream (very cold)
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- leftovers of chocolate cake/muffins (or chocolate cake bought already made)
***2 clear glasses to serve the trifles***

1. Cut the chocolate cake into small squares. You'll need about 5/6 pieces per person.

2. Clean the raspberries and prepare the raspberry sauce: in a blender, blend 3/4 of the raspberries with a bit of milk with one teaspoon of sugar. Add the milk slowly until the texture is smooth but not liquid. Reserve.

3. With a hand mixer, whip the cream, adding one teaspoon of sugar, little by little.

4. In each clear glass, layer the ingredients in this order:
- raspberry sauce
- whipping cream
- chocolate cake & raspberries
- whipping cream
- chocolate cake & raspberries

5. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and serve cold.

Bread Pudding Soufflé and Whiskey sauce

How to use bread leftovers? Bake a Bread Pudding Soufflé! This dessert is old fashioned light, and fluffy. My recipe includes raisins and pecans but you can replace the raisins with fresh fruits (diced apples and blueberries are my favorites), other dried fruits (cherries, apricots, figs..) use honey, chocolate chips, etc.

Serves 8
Praparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
Soufflé
- 5 cups (about half a medium round loaf) day-old French bread (from a loaf, not a baguette), cut into 2 cm cubes
- 4 eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1 cup (225 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmated
- 4 cups (1 l) milk
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in dark rum (to cover)
- 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
- butter and sugar for the mold

Whiskey sauce
- 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon


Prepare the soufflé first.
Coat a large, deep baking dish with butter and sugar.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar, the spices, the vanilla extract until creamy. Mix in the milk

Place teh cubed bread in a large bowl and pour the milk mixture over it. Set aside for 30-45 minutes.

Preaheat your oven to 350°F / 180° C.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the remaining 1/4 of the sugar until peaks form.

Add the raisins and chopped pecans to the soaked bread and slowly fold in the beaten egg whites with a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the preapared mold and bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden.

For the Whiskey sauce, heat the cream over simmering water in a double boiler.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar. Off the heat, whisk the egg yolks into the warm cream.

Return the preparation to the double boiler and cook over simmering water, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Slowly add the bourbon. Continue to cook until the miwture is lightly thick and smooth.

Serve the soufflé with the warm Whiskey sauce.

Italian Meatballs: … tutto buono!

Last night I decided I was going to make meatballs with fresh ground beef. Back in Massachusetts, my friend Linda showed me her real Italian recipe and I used her tips to make this dish. It is extremely flavorful and really simple. Once you start, you can't have enough! And don't forget to pair it with a good red wine, Italian or not, it is good anyways ;)

Serves 2
Preparation: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 handful breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- salt & pepper
- 1 handful parsley, chopped
- 1 tsp Herbes de Provence (Provençal Herbes - or use a little some thyme, basil and rosemary)
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic clove, crushed

For the tomato sauce:
- olive oil
- 1 big can whole tomatoes (you can use diced tomatoes)
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 10 olives, pitted and chopped - green or black, both are delicious, you can mix
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- salt & pepper

Start preparing the meat balls, mixing beef, egg, breadcrumbs, fennel seeds, parsley, onion and garlic. Use your end, that's better to mix everything well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion first and when it starts being translucid, add the garlic and the olives. Let cook for a few minutes; it should be brown but not burn. Add the tomato paste and let cook again for 1 minute. Then add the whole tomatoes. [I like using whole tomatoes because it is less liquid than a regular tomato sauce and I also like eating the tomato pieces with the meatballs.]
Wait until it starts boiling gently.

Start rolling the meat balls. Take a small quantity of meat in your hands and roll it to make a ball [2 inch diameter max]. Place the meatballs into the sauce and let simmer for about 45 minutes, turning the meatballs after about 25 minutes.