Rice noodles and eggplant soup

I've had two eggplants laying around half a week, so today it was their turn to go in the pot. First, I was thinking about baking them and making a salad, but the weather has been rather chilly and we needed something warm and cosy. I hadn't made cream soup before and I was very curious how that would turn out. Now that I have tasted it (divine combination of flavors, by the way), I realize that I like too much having something to chew besides the noodles. :) What kind of soups do you prefer?

Ingredients


rice noodles
1 onion
1 leek
2 red peppers
2 eggplants
1 can chopped tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
red pepper
curry
salt
olive oil
parsley
3.5 cups vegetable stock


Method


1. Peel and cut in medium sized pieces the eggplants. Leave them in salted water for 15 min. Boil them until soft. Strain and set them aside.
2. Dice the onion and the leek. Saute them for a couple of minutes. 
3. Throw in the chopped peppers and add the tomatoes. Cook for 5 min. and add the hot vegetable stock. Cook until the peppers are almost ready. Then add the eggplants and the spices. 
4. When ready, remove from the stove and let the soup rest for a bit. Blend until smooth.
5. Boil the rice noodles.


Serve the eggplant soup with rice noodles. 


I should figure out how to make it, so there are less bubbles after blending. Any ideas?


We thought the rice noodles are better on their own, while the soup goes greatly with some sprinkled feta cheese or freshly baked bread.


Velbekomme! (Bon appetit! in Danish)

Grocery shopping and pizza Misfortunata

Today was another lucky day of sweet discounts... 1 kr ($ 0.18) for an apple/orange. So, I rushed to the store as soon as it was open... you know, it's not just our household that checks the newspaper. :) As I was picking up apples (they all look disturbingly perfect - glazed and same-sized) a young shop assistant came over and started rearranging the boxes. Nothing out of the ordinary and worth noticing, right? Well, I wish so. But when she picked up a half-full box and poured the remaining apples in another half-full box, my heart ached. It's not potatoes. It's apples! If one mishandles them, they go bad faster. This is some serious offense against them. I still remember picking up apples with my dad from our garden. He'd make sure each apple is picked with its stem (longer shelf-life) after which we'd wrap them in paper and arrange them in boxes with as little space between them as possible (less movement and damage when being transported). We'd check each apple for worm traces or other imperfections that cause quick rotting, so we could leave them aside for immediate use. Then every once in a while, my dad would check the boxes in case there are apples that have started going bad. The paper prevents the spread of rotting, but he still thought he should be diligent about it. And we always have apples until spring. Maybe not as perfect as the ones in stores (because they're not as juicy as when they're picked up), but all natural. So, you see... when I notice anyone being careless about apples, I get a bit on edge. Nothing personal. ;)

Now, about my pizza Misfortunata... I'm not sharing the dough recipe, because it simply didn't live up to our expectations. This means I'm still on the lookout for the perfect pizza dough. :/ The topping was amazing though - mozzarella, onion, maize, pepper and parsley. Combined with some salad, it made the perfect easy meal to go with an episode on Project Runway. I'm not much about fashion, but I love seeing things created from scratch. Plus, I'm a woman - anything to do with clothes is in my blood. :) 

You know how short skirts are always a hit... I'm particularly excited that there's a trend to wear maxi skirts with a see through top layer. They make for such a youthful and elegant look. So, I think I'm gonna get one for this spring/summer and wear it like this.

Salmon with potatoes

I hadn't stopped at the meat section in the store since I can't remember when. It just has nothing attractive for me, so I pass it by like it's empty space. Yesterday, I had a conversation about meat and the necessity of eating at least some (every once in a while), so I decided I'd give it a chance. Peeking through the glass, hoping that I won't see anything worth buying is a bit odd even for me, but I kind of did it anyway. Fortunately there was no red meat (it just always looks so bloody and then brown - or as I otherwise describe it "cooked blood and flesh"). I don't particularly trust chicken either, but I'm more likely to have that as long as it has the skin and fat removed. Picky much? I have no idea how my parents have put up with me. Ideally and as it happened today, I have fish. Salmon was on sale - 250 g. for 17.48 kr. ($3.10)!!! In my opinion, fish goes best with potatoes and greens. Plane boiled potatoes are a bit boring though, so I give them that little extra. Thank you childhood memories!

Ingredients


250 g. salmon
1/2 cup orange juice
1 t. sp. honey
fresh onion
black pepper
red pepper
olive oil
mint


6 potatoes
1 leek
red pepper
black pepper 
salt
olive oil
parsley

Method


1. Chop the fresh onion in small pieces and mix it together with the orange juice, the honey, the olive oil and the spices. 
2. Put the salmon in a plastic bag and pour the marinade on it. Close the plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. Every once in a while turn it around, so all the fish can soak in the marinade.
3. Remove the marinade, cut the salmon in serving pieces (I forgot to do it) and wrap them in aluminum foil. Bake at 200 C for 30-40 min. 
4. Boil the potatoes. Cut them in medium-sized cubes. Add to them the diced leek, the spices and a little olive oil. Mix well together.


Serve the fish and potatoes with some greens. 

Gotta say, it turned out better than I thought it would. My hands still smell of fish, but that's alright! :) Doesn't its skin look just amazing?

Healthy breakfast/ lunch

Waking up to find the town snow white is a dream! If it was sunny, the snow would have glittered!! But it's Denmark and we live under a huge, rarely giving way to sunlight cloud. That's alright... we can still walk on the fresh snow, listen to the lovely sound our boots make and enjoy the tranquility the view and the lack of traffic creates. Super nice!

Going back to food now. Wheat isn't commonly found on our table. Mostly we just don't remember about it, unless a friend/ tv show/ food blogger mentions it... like it happened this time around. So, today I went to the store and bought some wheat to boil for lunch. Yummy! I especially like the combination of wheat, natural yoghurt and fruit. So, here it goes.

Ingredients


100 g. wheat
5 dates
1/4 cup raisin 
1/4 cup minced walnuts (I didn't have any today. :/ ) 
1 t. sp. lemon zest
1 t. sp. orange zest
1 t. sp. vanilla sugar


1 cup natural yoghurt
1/2 orange
1/2 apple


Method


1. Boil the wheat and leave it aside to cool.
2. Cut the dates and the raisin in small pieces.
3. Mix the what with the dried fruit, the walnuts, the zest and the vanilla sugar.
4. Serve with yoghurt, and orange and apple slices.


It has everything you need! But more than that, it's light and fresh, which makes it the perfect breakfast or lunch! :)

Instant caffe latte

I and my sister don't have a coffee machine (not that I drink coffee anyway), so it takes quite a bit of experimentation to get even remotely close to real caffe latte. Instead of brewing proper coffee, she uses instant coffee - Nescafe is excellent when it comes to that! Then, rather than using the blender to make the milk foamy as it should be (that would mean washing the blender :O), she shakes the milk in a little glass bottle... very entertaining to watch and a quick arm exercise. ;) You just need 40 ml instant coffee, your favorite sweetener (I recommend honey for its special flavor), 150 ml milk and a pinch of enthusiasm!

As I've mentioned in the personal brand and style page, I'm gonna be sharing a few ideas about my personal style. Clothing is part of it... and I've just been looking at Vila's online store sale... yey! Not that I'm gonna be buying anything (I've learnt my lesson to think twice, three times, four times... until I'm sure I need and not only want something... moving around makes you gain a new perspective on stuff, what can I say. :D), but it was fun matching up two favorite garments and arranging a whole outfit. This one's appropriate both during the day and for a party... okay, okay... without the heels. Walking around in those for too long can kill your feet!!

Light carrot and apple salad

When I'm back home in Bulgaria, I and my dad indulge in freshly home-made carrot and apple juice. Although both carrots and apples are juicier right after you pick them from the garden, we make fresh until Christmas. The flavor balance is just perfect!

Fortunately, carrots and apples in Denmark are relatively cheap, so I can keep up with the tradition.... with one tiny adjustment. Instead of juice, I make salad. It takes seconds to make and provides some more fiber than juice does. You can also add more ingredients to it for a satisfying lunch!

Ingredients


3 carrots
2 apples
1 red pepper
olives
fresh onion


1/2 t. sp. honey
1 t. sp. lemon juice
1 t. sp. olive oil


Method


1. Cut the vegetables and the fruit however you like them most. I shave the carrots (going easy on the teeth :D) and cut in small pieces the rest (although, it's healthier to keep the pieces as large as possible - less oxidizing) . 
2. Whisk the honey, the lemon juice and the olive oil and add to the salad.


I would also add a boiled egg to make it a more substantial lunch meal. Otherwise, I also have the apples and carrots with raisin and a cup of natural yoghurt. 


I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :)

Crescent rolls with cheese

I thought I'd experiment a bit with my favorite dough (recipe) and make crescent rolls for a change. I used 150 ml milk and 100 ml buttermilk (kærnemælk) instead of 250 ml milk. I also increased the butter to 45 g., using the extra 15 g. for spreading between the rolled out dough layers. This time I estimated the dough at a little above 400 g.

Method


1. Once the dough increases its volume twice, separate it in 8 parts.
2. Roll out each part and use butter to glue each two round layers/sheets.
3. Roll out again the so formed 4 circles and cut 8 triangles of each. 
4. Fill in the triangles with cheese/ jam/ chocolate and roll them into buns.
5. Brush over each bun with a whisked egg white.
6. Bake on baking paper at 220 C until ready.


Although they were softer than the buns from the original dough, both I and my sister prefer the lighter version.


That being said, I'm planning to make croissants with cheese/ chocolate on Sunday. So, I'm hunting for recipes now. DO share, if any of you dear readers have a favorite croissant recipe! :)

Vegan raspberries ice-cream

It's been one of those days when everything just had to be frozen. I woke up in the morning looking at the frosty field behind the dorm, thinking that it is as good time as any to take a walk with a poncho instead of a coat. First mistake! Then I thought that I'd go for a run in the evening, as I'm planning to register for a 10km motorway run on 24th March in Kliplev. Had I been more considerate and taken the less windy streets, while avoiding the particularly open beach area, things might have passed uneventfully. But no! Second mistake! Since it's Wednesday, I wanted to prepare something vegan and fruity. For reasons unknown to me (to be read as bad judgement), I immediately decided on raspberries ice-cream. No matter how delicious, it tipped off the balance and I've been feeling particularly under the weather for a bit now. Hopefully that passes by tomorrow and I get a bit smarter about my everyday choices.

Never mind common cold, here is raspberries ice-cream - a simple, super healthy and delicious treat for kids and adults!

Ingredients

250 g. frozen raspberries

1 banana

100 g. coconut milk

50 g. coconut milk 

1 tb. sp. vanilla sugar 

Method

1. Blend the banana, the frozen raspberries and the 100 g. coconut milk until smooth. Pour in serving glasses or in a bowl and leave in the freezer for 2-3 hours. (I had very little patience, so I waited just 30 min; it melted almost instantly.)

2. Mix the remaining coconut milk and the vanilla sugar to use as sauce. (It was nice, but too much! Next time I'm gonna put a mint leave for looks and leave it at that. ;))

Baked potatoes with tomato sauce

Potatoes with ketchup! That was my response to the question "what do you want for dinner/ lunch?" when I was a child. Nowadays, I vary that with feta cheese (yummy combination), when I don't feel like cooking tomato sauce. No, I don't buy ketchup, cause I don't particularly like all the listed ingredients. Coming from a country where you occasionally get cheated about food ingredients doesn't help much with trust issues either. Today, I was thinking about лютеница (Bulgarian tomato spread, which we most often use for bread), so I thought I'd make something similar (too time consuming to make from scratch) to go with the baked potatoes. It turned out a bit more liquid than the original version, but I didn't want to keep it on the stove any longer.

Ingredients

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 onion

1 carrot

1 red pepper

1 1/2 tb. sp. olive oil

salt

ground red pepper

ground black pepper

garlic

1 tb. sp. parsley

5 medium sized potatoes

ground red pepper

ground black pepper

parsley

spearmint

salt

olive oil

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them however you like. Grease a baking form or use baking paper. Spread the potatoes in the baking form. Sprinkle the spices and bake at 220 C until ready. Use a couple of drops of olive oil when you get the potatoes out of the oven.

2. In the meantime, chop the onion, the carrot and the red pepper. 

3. Cook them together with the chopped tomatoes until it gets dense and the chopped vegetables soften. Add the olive oil, the garlic  and the parsley just a few minutes before you remove the tomato sauce from the stove.

4. Let the sauce cool for a couple of minutes and then blend it until smooth. 

Serve the potatoes together with the tomato sauce and store the rest of the sauce in a jar. Let it cool at room temperature and then refrigerate for later use. By the way, if you decide to combine it with feta cheese and spaghetti, for example, you'll love it! :)

Carrot bread with ricotta dip for lunch

I've been craving a ricotta dip for a few days now and since I haven't had it in a very long time, it seemed like a good idea to remind myself of its taste literally. What I've noticed is that it goes equally nicely with both vegetables and fruit. So, I decided to match it with carrot bread (my first). Sadly, even though I knew I should squeeze the water out of the carrots, I missed the step. It didn't bake as nicely as I would have wanted it and it should have had twice the volume it ended up with (I just made half a doze without considering using another form - my mind's elsewhere today :S), but it was delicious anyway. I particularly enjoyed how well the bread and the dip go together.

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup flour

30 g. butter

3/4 cup carrot

1/4 cup yoghurt

1/2 t. sp. baking soda

1/2 sp. baking powder

1 tb. sp. sugar

1 t. sp. salt

1 tb. sp. poppy seed

1/2 t. sp. ground cardamom 

1/2 t. sp. cinnamon

2 tb. sp. raisin

For the dip

100 g. ricotta cheese

3 tb. sp. sweet corn

1 tb. sp. peas

2 tb. sp. fresh onion

1/2 red pepper

salt

basil

Method

1. Mix the eggs and the soft butter.

2. Put the baking soda in the yoghurt.

3. Sift the flour in a big bowl and add the dry ingredients.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour and mix them well. Add the blended carrots and the raisin and fold them into the batter. 

5. Bake at 220 C until ready.

If you are making the ricotta dip, just cut the pepper and the fresh onion and mix everything together. Garnish with basil.

Have an enjoyable and productive week!

Hand-made pasta

I've been considering making my own pasta for a while now, but I never got down to it until today. Although it was probably the hardest dough to roll out, looking smugly at the separate pieces on the rack and later tasting it made the effort quite rewarding. It also turned out cheaper than buying fettuccine!

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1/4 t. sp. salt

Method

1. Sift the flour on the counter and make a well. Put the eggs inside.

2. Start beating the eggs with a fork, adding flour little by little.

3. Once the mixture gets thicker, start kneading, integrating the remaining flour. If it gets too dry, add a little water. It it remains sticky, add more flour.

 4. Once you have a well-formed dough, roll it out thinly, sprinkle a little flour and roll it in. Then start cutting the roll as thinly as you like.

5. Roll the pieces out and let the pasta rest for a bit on a rack. At this point, you can either prepare the ingredients for your sauce or refrigerate it for later use. When you boil the pasta, be ware that it will cook fast - about 5 min.

I made my pasta with leek, sunflower seeds, herbs, cottage cheese and olives.

Bread and butter

I've been thinking about the use of butter in bread. It's surely healthier to use sunflower oil, but how can one make a real croissant with it? Moreover, one eats about 2-3 slices of bread a day (regardless its kind) and home-made bread is not an everyday occurrence, so why not make it tasty?! Because yes, bread with butter tastes many times better than bread with sunflower oil. Just as I'm about to finally convince myself about the superiority of butter, I think of olive oil. Divine! I made this year's Christmas eve bread with it (fasting day in Bulgaria). Now that's a memorable flavor! Cheap as it is not, I'd still go for it unless some special pastry dough is on the agenda. Then I'm gonna smile at the thought of the recently introduced "fat tax" and head for the dairy section. :D How do you solve this quandary?

I had half a package of yeast left, so this morning was a last call for using it - nothing should go to waste! ;) Since we really liked the dough I used last time (dough), I made a braided bread with tomato pure, feta cheese and herbs filling, and a couple of buns. Admittedly, I've become fond of bread without any filling, as it bakes better and I can choose what I wanna have it with afterwards. How do you prefer your bread?

Winter and Chai Latte

I find the long dark evenings up north as depressing as cosy. Missing the day light is one thing, but getting blown away by an unforgiving wind is an entirely different matter. That being said, sipping a cup of tea under a duvet, listening to the wind's song and chatting with family and friends is worth the temporary discomfort.

What I love and dread about winter most is snow! Right now we're missing it in Denmark, but I have a few pictures of the snowy Pirin mountain in Bulgaria to console myself with. 

Returning to my point about tea, tonight my adorable sister asked me to make some chai latte for her. We found a recipe from BROOKLYNSUPPER, which sounded dreamy and I got working. Unfortunately, it turned out a bit too spicy for her taste. So, now I'm wondering for next time whether I should simply reduce the spices or look for something milder altogether. Has anyone got a chai latte recipe they love?

Peach and cocoa cream (Vegan)

I had a mission: present my lovely fruit salad of diced oranges and pears topped with home-made vegan pear ice-cream and a hint of honey. Time wasn't on my side though and the ice-cream thickened only after it was dark outside. No matter how I tried to photograph the plate, it just wasn't as good as day-light photographed food. That's probably because I'm only equipped with a flash, but also because I'm clueless how to be creative with the lights at home. Truth be told, right now it doesn't make the top of my list of tricks to learn anyway.

Since the pear ice-cream is a simplified version of the peach and cocoa cream, I'll dedicate this post to the latter.

Ingredients

3 peaches

1 banana

20 g almonds

400 g coconut milk

1 1/2 spoon cocoa powder

2 t. sp.  honey

Method

1. Mix the coconut milk with the honey.

2. Peal the peaches and start blending them with the banana and the almonds. Continuously add 320 g. coconut milk and blend until smooth.

3. Pour the mixture in serving glasses/ bowls, leaving a little space for a tiny layer of the cocoa cream.

4. Combine the remaining coconut milk with the cocoa powder until well integrated.

5. Pour the cocoa cream on top and keep the layer thin. (The cocoa layer is a bit bitter, as I don't add more honey, but I like the contrast it creates. Feel free to adjust!)

6. Let the cream refrigerate for an hour, so it can thicken. Serve cold!

Vegan desserts - the kind that makes you feel good even after the plate is empty! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! :)

Fruit days

I'm a fruit person. I've always had at least an apple a day, but certainly more than 2. Last year, while reading about raw food, I discovered just how healthy it is to have one cleansing day when one eats only fruit. It keeps your blood sugar at a normal level, while also supplying you with vitamins, enzymes, fibers and proteins (however little quantity). At the same time, they're easily digested and aid the cleansing process of the body by not creating additional work for the liver and supplying the necessary nutrition for the body to function properly. Considering the amount of toxins we burden ourselves with (meat/ eggs/ milk - I cringe at the thought about animals' diet of food supplements and antibiotics - alcohol, beauty products, the environment, etc.), having a day when we can take a breath and let our system recover sounds like a very basic thing to do. Some may say that we adapt. Maybe! Sometimes our cells mutate though and by the time we notice, it's time to visit a doctor. I'm not saying that a day would save us from health issues either. But it's a start and while I'm at it, make them two! So, I pronounce that this blog's fruit days are Wednesday and Friday!

How do you feel about having a fruit day?

Soft buns with filling

It's amazing how many people return to baking their own bread. Hardly surprising though! Nothing compares to the smell of freshly baked bread coming out of your oven! Kneading has been one of my favorite activities in the kitchen and I'm always up for it. So, whenever someone from my family or friends gives a hint that they'd like to have some home-baked bread, I'm up for it. Like today.

Usually I use only feta cheese for the filling, but today I decided to add a bit of extra flavor to it. Some of the buns were with feta cheese, spearmint and basil filling, others with feta cheese and double concentrated tomato pure, and the third ones with feta cheese and garlic.

Ingredients

250 ml milk

25 g. fresh yeast

2 eggs

30 g. soft butter

1 tb. sp. sugar

1 t. sp. salt

flour (as much as it takes to form soft dough - approx. 500 g.)

125 g. feta cheese

double concentrated tomato pure

basil

spearmint

minced garlic

Method

1. Heat the milk until its lukewarm. Then add the yeast, 1 tb. sp. flour and the sugar in 150 ml. milk and stir until everything integrates. Set aside for about 10 min. until the yeast doubles its volume.

2. Sift the flour in a large bowl. Add the salt, the eggs, the remaining milk and the yeast. Start kneading.

3. Little by little add the butter. Continue kneading for about 10 minutes or until the dough feels soft, but not sticky. Hit the dough 100 times on the counter (It's an old trick shared by elderly women and bread bakers in Bulgaria. It helps the flour integrate better.)

4. Let the dough rest for about 40 min. in a greased bowl and covered with a towel.

5. Separate the dough in 8 parts. Roll them out to form rectangulars. Put from the filling I've suggested or whichever you prefer. Fold the rectangulars and extend them until they become like ropes. Be careful that the filling doesn't come out of the dough. Then either form knots or "snails".

6. Add 1 tb. sp. milk to 1 egg yolk and whisk them together. Spread the mixture on top of the buns and sprinkle with sunflower seeds, sesame or poppy seeds.

6. Bake in a 200 C oven until ready.

I also made two buns (picture below), which had no special form and the filling was just in the middle. I'm not sure whether I liked them most because of their feta cheese, basil and spearmint filling or because the bread tastes better without much feeling, but they have officially become #1 bun. Decorating them was also very entertaining and I recommend it was an activity to moms with children. Your little helpers could have a whole independent role in the process of baking buns. Enjoy! :)

Potato pizza

Remember when I said rice is better than potatoes unless they're baked? Well, today I baked some potatoes with other vegetables and mozzarella. The way I arranged everything in the tart form reminded me a lot of pizza, so that's how I called it.

I admit I get a little zealous when I work on my idea of palatable art. It's also a great thing nobody around me is too eager to give their opinions on how food should look, cause I might get in a war over it, metaphorically speaking. 

Ingredients

5 boiled potatoes

125 g. mozzarella 

3 eggs

50 g. milk

1/2 red pepper

1 carrot

peas

cauliflower 

basil

spearmint

Method

1. Slice the potatoes and the mozzarella.

2. Cut the rest of the vegetables in your preferable way.

3. Arrange the potatoes and the mozzarella in a tart form like shown on the picture above. Fill the middle with diced potatoes.

4. Decorate with the rest of the vegetables.

5. Whisk the eggs and the milk. Add the spices to it.

6. Pour the mixture, starting from the outer layer of the form and finishing with the middle. Be careful, not to spoil your arrangement.

7. Bake at medium high temperature until ready.

Next time I would put the peas more to the periphery, cause they weren't covered by the egg mix and got a bit too dry.

Kvæfjordkaka with walnuts

Two years back, a Norwegian friend mentioned this delicious cake known as verden's beste kake (World's best cake). It's the most special of cakes and is thus reserved for occasions like birthdays, weddings and the national holiday. I admit, I couldn't wait for a more special occasion than my monthly visit by a few of my closest friends. I wanted to surprise them with a local dessert (interpret "local" loosely) that was guaranteed to please. Apart from the very specific methodology for preparation, it was actually one of the easiest cakes I had attempted, while at the same time visually appealing. Needless to say, it was a success and everyone appreciated it. I can't forget to this day how happy I felt when a Swedish friend commented that the taste had brought her home. Don't we all cook to please the ones' we share our food with?! I only wish I hadn't lost my pictures of that first Kvæfjordkaka.

The second time I made it was in honor of my successful passing of the driver's exam and my last day at home. I spent the holiday season with my parents in Bulgaria, where I indulged in Bulgarian vegetarian cuisine - my favorite! As soon as the holidays arrived though, I could only think about ways to represent my newly found Scandinavian cuisine with the one at home. It was gonna be its debut to my parents, so it had to be something amazing. So, it was decided! I'm not particularly fond of making the same dessert twice, so I needed something that will set it apart from the first one. After a small discussion with my dad, a few changes were integrated and I ventured on a what seemed a very long, but exciting cake-making.

I should warn here that if you want to learn precisely about Kvæfjordkaka, you should visit The transplantedbaker who I learnt the classic cake from.

So, here is my adaptation:

Instead of making a single layer of pastry and meringue, one cooked on top of the other, baked them separately. For the pastry layer, I used the Transplanted baker's recipe. Then, I cut out circles with a glass, so I could make individual portions of the cake.

Since my dad prefers a meringue layer mixed with walnuts, I added them to the egg whites once they were beaten and carefully folded the mixture. 

Then I proceded with the baking of that layer and cut out circles from it as well.

Instead of mixing the pastry cream with whipped cream, I refrigerated the pastry cream (which became as thick as butter and used it by itself. It is delicious enough by itself, I have to say.

Next, I used one pastry layer, then one meringue layer, interchanging them until I had two of each. One of the towers I named "the tower of Pisa" - I think we all can guess why. :)

Once I was done assembling the pieces, it was decoration time. My parents would have liked me to simply use the rest of the pastry cream and then sprinkle chopped walnuts on top, like I did with one of them.

I had white and dark chocolate in my possession though, and there was no way I would take the easy road! So, what came next was a series of chocolate melting, ohs and ahs as quite a few of my ideas fell in ruins, desperation, talk about necessity of continuos practice in the art of chocolate decoration and a few simple, but more or less successfully executed pieces (I wanted them all to have different appearance). Eventually, I labored on three pieces and finished the last four in the manner my parents had suggested.

Note that I used the whipped cream to top the little cakes before I finished them with the chocolate.

Hopefully, next time the decoration will be more accomplished. :)