Blackberry jam

And so my jam making adventure continues. For the first time in my life I made blackberry jam and I have to say it came out absolutely divine. If I'd have to pick my absolute favourite jam it would be raspberry jam made by my great aunt. Sweet, quite runny and oh so good with absolutely everything - from porridge to pancakes. And as I could not get my hands on any raspberries over here I went for the next best alternative - blackberries. I don't think I'd ever seen a blackberry until I move to the UK. And until a couple of weekends ago I had never picked a single one! After spending a couple of hours on a common I was equipped with a good few kilos of blackberries. And when I got home I set out on a mission to turn my blackberries into all things sweet. I set few aside in a freezer bag, waiting to be made into a delicious crumble once the weather gets really cold and nights get really dark and I'm in desperate need of something comforting. And as for the rest it, I made it into a jam.

One big difference between jams over here and back in Estonia is that Estonian jams are runny, whereas the ones over here are thick enough for spreading on toast without having to worry about it dripping. A couple of phone calls later (as usual, when you need to ask something no-one really picks up their phone!) I had the recipe. Or I should say general directions. Because everyone does their jams a bit differently - and I guess that's one of the beauties of making your own jam. You can play around with the sugar and water to make it as sweet and runny as you want. There are no hard rules and limits - whatever you yourself fancy! And after an hour or so later I had a lovely collection of jars to add to my already quite varied jam collection. If I carry on this way I  will be stocked not for just one winter, but many winters to come! I've already polished off a jar by adding a generous spoonful or two to my morning porridge...



Ingredients:
- 2.2kg blackberries, rinsed
- 1.5kg sugar
- 225ml water


Directions:
Place the blackberries, sugar and water into a large saucepan and mix. Bring to boil and skim off the foam. When the berries have broken down and there is no more foam divide up between sterilised jars.

I have to say that this jam is quite on the sweet side so if you prefers yours slightly less sweet reduce the amount of sugar a bit.

White chocolate & blueberry cheesecake

I am currently visiting my parents in Estonia and it is nearly impossible to stay over and not make a cheesecake (or two). Although my mum was insisting that I'd make the classic one, I really wanted to try out something new and different. And to my pleasant surprise I made such a good choice that she said that she likes this even more than the other one!

This is slightly different from the other cheesecakes I've made as it uses curd cream (this is the one I used). Curd cream is something I've only seen in Estonia and I know it's available in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Russia as well, but if you don't have curd cream, use ricotta instead.

I love trying out new cheesecakes and have to say that they make a lovely summery dessert, even though they're quite heavy. The fact that you can have berries and the cake is served chilled makes up for the heaviness. This cake is really simple to make and takes a lot less work than the ones I usually make. On top of that the blueberries go so well with the creamy vanilla cake that it just melts in your mouth. And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the white chocolate didn't make it too sweet and you can just barely taste it. All in all, a lovely summery dessert that's guaranteed to go down a treat.

Ingredients
(Serves 12/16)
Base:
- 300g Digestive biscuits
- 150g butter

Filling:
- 500g Philadelphia cream cheese
-  380g vanilla curd cream (quark cream)
- 1 dl sugar
- 2 dl flour
- 1,5 tsp vanilla sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 dl cream
- 200g white chocolate
- 2 dl blueberries

Directions
First preheat the oven to 175C and line a round springform tin with baking paper. Then prepare the base. Crush the digestive biscuits and melt the butter. Mix together and press into the baking tin. Bake for 10 minutes and then set aside.

To make the filling, whip the cream cheese and curd cream. Then add sugar, flour and vanilla sugar. Add the eggs one by one and finally add in the cream. Melt the white sugar in a bain marie and add into the filling mixture.

Pour the mixture on top of the base, top it off with blueberries, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Then leave it in the oven for another 30 minutes with the door open. After that place in the fridge and chill properly before serving.

Blueberry & Chocolate mousse pots

Few weeks ago I prepared a cosy romantic dinner at home - fresh baguette with herb butter to start and beef with crispy potatoes as a main course. And for dessert I prepared these lovely mousse pots. I had quite a few ideas for dessert but because I wanted something that I could make in advance and that would not be too heavy, because as we were quite full already after finishing the first two courses, having a heavy dessert would have been out of the question.

This is the second time I've made these mousse pots - first time was for a dinner I made for my sister - and I have to say that if I'd have to entertain a bit bigger crowd that just two persons I would seriously consider serving this. It's quick and very straightforward to make, doesn't require baking, isn't too heavy, can be made in advance, has nice berries in it (you can mix different berries) and on top of everything it contains chocolate! And trust me, after tasting home-made chocolate mousse you'll never ever reach for the stuff they sell in shops.

All in all, it is light and fluffy, but at the same time gives you the melt-in-your-mouth feeling and satisfies both the people who try to keep their eating healthy as well as those devoted chocoholics who don't consider anything a proper dessert unless it contains chocolate. I'd like to point out that even though the recipe calls for dark chocolate, it does not taste bitter at all (and has all the antioxidants!) and in my honest opinion it would be a bit too sweet if made with milk chocolate instead.

Ingredients
(Serves 4 - approximately 160 cal per serving) 
- 75g dark chocolate, melted
- 4 tbsp low-fat yogurt
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 350g blueberries (or other berries or even a mix of different berries)

Directions
Firstly melt the chocolate and set it aside to cool for 5-10 minutes. Once it has cooled down, mix in the yogurt. Then wash and dry the berries and place in small glasses or ramekins.

Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, then add sugar and beast until sugar is dissolved and the egg white has turned into stiff glossy peaks. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture - firstly loosen the mixture with a spoonful of egg white and then carefully fold in the rest of the mixture, trying to keep as much air in as possible.

Finally, divide the chocolate mousse between the ramekins and chill in the fridge until set (or until serving). Enjoy!

Recipe from BBC Good Food

Smoothies

I decided that instead of making a single post every smoothie, it would make a lot more sense just to put all the smoothies in one single post. I absolutely love smoothies - the real reason why I bought a blender in the first place. It is so easy to make up a smoothie from berries, juices and yogurts that you have at home or to use up some leftovers. To save you the headache, here are some great smoothies to enjoy as snacks, breakfasts or refreshing drinks. I promise, that every time I try out a new one, I will update this post, so if you're into smoothies, keep an eye on it.

Pineapple-watermelon smoothie 
(Serves 1)
- 150g pineapple
- 200g watermelon

Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth. You could also add ice if you prefer, however, I keep my ingredients in the fridge for few hours before making the smoothie, so it is already nice and cool and as I don't need to add ice I avoid getting the 'brain freeze' feeling when drinking my smoothie.

This is a really refreshing drink, which also fills you up (for a limited time of course). Perfect for hot summer days or as quick snack. Sweet watermelon and a bit sour pineapple create the perfect balance and neither of the ingredients dominate over the other.

Blueberry muesli smoothie

(Serves 1)

- 125g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

- 125ml 0% natural yogurt

- 125ml skimmed milk

- 25g muesli

Put all in the blender and enjoy as a delicious start for the day.

This is one of my absolute and long time favourites. I find this smoothie a great way to kick-start my day. It is filling enough to keep me going for hours and on top of that it is filled with all the goodness one can possible thing of:- antioxidants from blueberries, calcium and protein from milk and yogurt and fibre from muesli. Honestly, what else could one want from a smoothie? 

Raspberry & peach smoothie

(Serves 1)
- 100g raspberries, plus few for decoration
- 1 ripe peach, chopped
- 100 ml cold water

Blend everything until smooth. Serve over ice if wish and decorate with few raspberries.

This smoothie is light and refreshing, but depending on the sweetness of the peach it can also be quite sour, rather than sweet. This would be perfect when served with some crushed ice on a hot summer day to refresh and rehydrate yourself. 

Green smoothie
(Serves 1)
- 1/4 melon, peeled and chopped
- 1 kiwi, peeled and chopped
- 50g green seedless grapes

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve with some mint and ice, or just enjoy by itself. Decorate with a kiwi slice or a grape.

This is light and refreshing smoothie, which is slightly sour. Great for breakfasts or to sip during a hot summer day.

Antioxidant smoothie
(Serves 1)
- 1 Pom Pomegranate juice (240ml)
- 150g mixed frozen berries (or other frozen fruit)

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Enjoy immediately.

This is a perfect pick-me-up smoothie to have for breakfast that is sweet and sour at the same time. I love the fact that using frozen berries immediately results in a creamy and refreshing drink without having to add any ice and ending up diluting the taste of the smoothie itself.

Strawberry & Parma ham salad

I just realised that it has been 10 days since my last post! I guess I was so wrong when I thought that the moment summer holiday arrives I will start posting something every day - babysitting my baby brother and visiting grandmothers seems to have taken all my free time so far. But nevertheless, I managed to prepare a delicious salad, which we had for lunch, but it could very well be served as a light dinner. I really love Parma ham (Parma ham with melon is one of my favourite) and this time my father had managed to get hold of freshly cut Parma - it was heavenly just on its own. But, instead of enjoying it on its own, I decided to incorporate it into a simple salad. It was really interesting to choose the rest of the ingredients based simply on the criteria that they would have to go nicely with Parma. Resisting the temptation to incorporate melon, I decided to choose a bit more interesting ingredients. Rocket is nice and peppery and therefore perfect as a base (if you prefer any other salad green, feel free to use something else) for this salad and the sweetness and juiciness of the strawberries nicely balances that. The Parma ham is quite salty already, so I did not add any additional salt to the dish. To make the salad a bit more sophisticated I added the almonds, with give it a really nice finishing touch. To sum it up - this is a healthy, tasty and quick salad that is perfect for those hot summer days when you are craving something tasty but light.

Ingredients
(Serves 1)
- 25g rocket
- 50g Parma ham
- 50g strawberries
- 1 tbs flaked almonds
- Freshly ground pepper, to serve
- Balsamic vinegar, to serve
- Olive oil, to serve (optional)

Directions
Place the rocket in a bowl / on a plate. Shred the parma ham into small pieces and scatter over the rocket. Then either halve or quarter the strawberries, depending on their size and then place them on top of the salad. Finally, add the flaked almonds, some fresh pepper and drizzle over with some balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

If you wish, you can also drizzle the salad with some olive oil, in addition to balsamic vinegar, but I didn't as I prefer to have salads without or with minimum dressing.

Very berry breakfast

I love having berries for breakfast, especially when they are in season as they are so sweet and juicy. They are great just by themselves, but eventually it gets a bit boring when just having a bowl of berries by themselves. As I had some left over Greek yogurt in the fridge, I decided to use it up on the berries. Also, I sprinkles some coconut shavings on it - but I am very sure that almond shavings would go even better with the berries. And for added sweetness I drizzled everything over with some honey. The result was a nice, filling, healthy and balanced breakfast. This also makes a really good snack and I would even serve it as a light dessert after a heavy meal - just reduce the amount of berries a bit and serve in a nice bowl or, even better, in a martini glass.

Ingredients
(Serves 1)
- 100g strawberries, quartered
- 50g blueberries
- 50g blackberries
- 50g raspberries
- 70g 0% Greek yogurt
- Clear honey
- 1 tsp coconut shavings (or any other nuts)

Directions
Place the berries in the bowl and top up with Greek yogurt. Then sprinke with coconut shavings (or any other nuts), drizzle over with some honey and enjoy.

Mango & passionfruit roulade

This is one of my all-time favourite desserts. I never though that there could be something which tasted divine and at the same time wasn't a calorie bomb. This recipe proved me wrong - it is light and absolutely delicious. This is the very recipe that got me hooked on the combination of mango and passionfruit and introduced me to the goodness of greek yogurt. In addition to all that, it is very easy to make - so it's perfect for those summer evenings when you don't feel like slaving in the kitchen for hours and want to have something simple and light that everyone will like.

Ingredients:
(Serves 10 slices - 155 cal per slice)
Base:
- 3 eggs
- 85g golden caster sugar
- 85g plain flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
- 1 tsp golden caster sugar
- flesh from 2 large, ripe passion fruits
- 2 mangoes, peeled and diced
- 250g raspberries
- 200g 0% Greet yogurt

Directions
Heat the oven to 200C / fan 180C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Place sugar and eggs into a large bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until thick and light (around 5 minutes). Fold in the sifted flour and baking power and then add the vanilla extract. Spread evenly on the baking tray and bake for around 12-15 minutes until golden. Take out from the oven and roll the sponge up immediately with the baking paper inside.

For the filling, mix sugar, passion fruit flesh and 1/3 of the mango and raspberries into the yogurt. Unroll the sponge and spread the filling on it evenly and then roll it up. Place the remaining mango and raspberries on top of the roulade and sprinkle with some icing sugar before serving.

Roulade can be filled and rolled up to 2 hours before serving and kept in the fridge.

Recipe from BBC Good Food