My Pasta Sauce!

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                                                              My Pasta Sauce!
                                               

Pasta Sauce! A taste that takes me back a few years to the first time I ever cooked, my very first recipe was pasta sauce. My cooking mentor,my Mom,who passed on her cooking skills to me, I was the oldest so it was inevitable for  me not to cook, I believe I was about 13 at the time. She took two onions, one for each and she said try to do what I do and that was it, we created our first recipe together. I have to admit dicing onions was a teary situation (lol). My cooking skills aren't bad at all but I still enjoy my meals way better when  they are cooked by my Mom. My Pasta recipe has become my trademark among family and friends. I have a knack for creating a scrumptious marinara sauce, it can be used almost anywhere, on pasta, rice, with french fries, even with fried eggs. My in-laws plant abundant tomatoes in their huge garden and  therefore I have the essential ingredient to create various pasta sauces, which I  freeze and use when our pasta craving hits us. Making pasta sauce from scratch is super easy and so much fun because after the basic ingredients, your pasta is alterable and you can add various ingredients, such as, green peppers, carrots, celery, you name it, use your imagination and a little TLC and presto your sauce is ready! Most people before making a pasta sauce, they blanch their tomatoes. (boil,peel and scoop the seeds out ) I honestly don't see a reason for this, I want the whole tomato in my sauce not a part of it.  If your Greek and you love rustic bread they compliment each other perfectly! 

Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 large tomato
• 1 large onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 whole nutmeg(optional)
• cinnamon (optional) 
• 4 cloves (optional)
• peppercorns 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste 
• olive oil

O.K. as I said, I don't blanch tomatoes. I take my cutting board and I dice my tomatoes, onions and garlic. I take my cooking pot, add the olive oil about 1/4 cup, heat the oil until it starts shimmering,   Then I add onions, tomato, and garlic saute for about 10 minutes,start to stir all the ingredients until they are covered with oil. Saute until the onion it's tender but not browned, add a teaspoon of oregano salt & pepper to taste. Don't stop stirring and use a wooden spoon.  During this time if you want you can add diced up peppers, carrots etc. it's all up to you.Then add about 2 cups of  water. Bring to a boil and cover, cook for about 20 -30 min. When water has reached half its cooking point, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and if you like add spices like cloves, grind a bit of nutmeg etc. Once again try a few things around and see what you prefer. During the summer time I have fresh basil so of course I make pasta sauce using some fresh basil. Yum! Yum! 

                      Another great tasting recipe form my kitchen to yours KALE OREXI!! 

                                                           

Octopus and Pasta Bake

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Octopus and Pasta Bake 

Octopus and Pasta Bake, if you're a true seafood lover then this dish is definitely a must try!! The savory juices that are extracted by the octopus while it simmers in red tomato sauce and slowly baked in the oven oh! so mouthwatering....  Octopus and Pasta Bake is a favorite dish among, almost all Greeks during lent. Hey, I don't only cook it during lent, it's a great summer dish! My mother cooked this scrumptious meal and we couldn't wait to sit down. Reminiscing a bit, I used to take my fork and swiftly before my mom could catch me I would grab a piece of the octopus right out of the pot ( she always hated this)  but the scent of fresh octopus simmering was just so tantalizing I couldn't resist. Now on to the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Octopus
• 1 package ditalini 
• 2 medium onions
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• rosemary (optional) 
• 1/2 cup of red wine(optional) 
• bay leaf (optional) 

You can use any pasta you like but ditalini is the traditional way. 

I made this dish with frozen octopus (It's much more tender than fresh bought octopus) 

Rinse your octopus very well, if your octopus has a hood open it up and clean it and make sure there's no sand in the suction cups of the tentacles. If you would like you can cut your  octopus in bulky pieces (octopus shrinks as it cooks) I didn't I cut the octopus until after it was cooked. 

                                            

                         

                     Place your octopus in the pan on low heat, juices will be extracted keep stirring until all juices have evaporated, use a wooden spatula. Keep in mind the octopus will change color.

                                 

Once the juices have almost evaporated add your olive oil, make sure it covers the bottom of your pan.  Saute for about 5 minutes. Then add your chopped up tomatoes,and onions saute for about another 5 minutes. Stir until your onions have a golden color. Some people add rosemary, bay leaf, allspice etc. I don't, I just add pepper, oregano and garlic and I saute for another 3 minutes or so. At this point I usually add red wine. When you add the red wine allow it to boil and almost evaporate before you add the water. I didn't add wine this time. I just covered with water and allowed it to boil on high for about 1 hr or until the octopus was tender. If after an hour your octopus isn't soft then just add  more water and allow to keep boiling. When your octopus is tender and it's almost ready to simmer add your tomato paste and allow to simmer into a thick sauce.

TIP: Don't add salt or it will make your octopus tough and hard to swallow. If you would like add a tiny bit at the end. 

                                         

When your sauce is ready empty contents into your pan add your pasta and cover with water. TIP: Cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper. 

                   

                     Preheat your oven 1/2 hour before, place your pan in the oven. Cook for about 30min. or until pasta is Al dente Stir occasionally always with a wooden spatula. When it is almost ready you can add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, your salt & pepper to taste.

   

                     

              When you octopus and pasta bake is ready serve with a nice Greek salad
 and a tall glass of refreshing red wine, an ideal combination. 

              KALE OREXI! Another mouthwatering dish from my kitchen to yours! 

Chicken Pie a.k.a Bouroukopita

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Chicken Pie a.k.a bouroukopita or Kreatopita

Ingredients

• 1 Whole chicken
• 5 whole eggs
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 pastry puff (optional) I make my own
• 1 1/2 cup rice ( long grain rice) 
• 1/3 cup of oil

Chicken Pie a.k.a Kotopita is a savory traditional  dish that mom has created over a hundred times. A recipe that has been handed down from generation to generation. On the little island of Mathraki, in the early days, the home culinary chefs were very innovative as they used ingredients  that were handy. The chickens they used, were home grown, I have tasted a pie with home grown chicken, it tastes way better then commercial chickens. I'm so glad that I have had the opportunity to taste real organic recipes, as this has provided me with great experience in defining a real good tasting meal.

This Chicken Pie recipe is great for freezer food. You can make one big pie, like I did or you can make small pies and freeze them for later use, when you are just not in the mood to cook. You can either use a home made crust or you can use a ready made pastry puff. For this particular Chicken Pie recipe  I prefer to make my own crust even though I might spend more time in the kitchen. The result according to my taste buds is just so scrumptious! A creamy filling wrapped in a homemade crust and baked until crisp and golden brown is absolutely heavenly! 

Some people use roasted chicken but the pie will turn out dry, in order to get a succulent taste you need to boil it. Chop up your whole chicken you can disregard wings and neck, or you can freeze them to make a quick chicken broth for soup. Once your chicken is all cut up saute in olive oil in a big pot with garlic and onions, add salt an pepper to taste,  saute for about 10 minutes. Cover with water and boil until chicken is tender and ready for tearing. 

Once it's ready take out of pot with a ladle strainer spoon on a platter. Allow it to cool and then tear it apart and place in another platter. I used my pan it was convenient for me.

Return back to pot add water, rice salt and pepper to taste. Add just enough water to boil, add your  rice, boil until it  becomes tender but make sure it doesn't over boil or it will become too creamy. 

Take off the stove, allow it to cool for about 15 min. Take your eggs beat them with your whisk then add them into the filling. Mix very well, add salt and pepper to taste.

Make your phyllo/ pastry  or buy a ready made pastry puff.

Make sure you butter your pan first. My dough

Once you have rolled out your phyllo, add your filling and then make your crust. Make sure to even out the filling either with a flat spatula or using your hands.

When done beat one whole egg and apply on top of the filling use a brush to spread around your Chicken Pie filling.

Preheat your oven on high for 15 min. Place your pie in oven cook on high for about 10 min. reduce to almost half and bake for another 20 - 30  or until golden brown. Cool and cut into pieces, serve with a nice salad. 

TIP: If you have some filling and dough left over you make some small patties and freeze. I made them and served with fries, my kids enjoyed them so much. 

Roll out your pastry add you filling, roll the sides inward and then roll all the way till you close it. Freeze and cook at your convenience. They can even take the patty to school. 

KALE OREXI!! Another great tasting dish from my kitchen to yours! 

Pancakes a.k.a Tiganopsomo Fried Bread

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                                                      Greek Pancakes a.k.a Tiganopsomo ( Fried Bread)

Fried Bread or Tiganopsomo, A heavenly treat for anytime of the day, Tigano/tigani means frying pan and psomo/psomi means bread, therefore, we have tiganopsomo. My mom was exceptional in the kitchen,I thank God she passed down her culinary skills on to me. Every time she would make Tiganopsoma, the sizzle and scent from the olive oil whiffed my nose and I just couldn't wait to sink my teeth in this crunchy and fluffy tiganopsoma.  This recipe has value because it's not only the fact that it tastes goods but it's associated with the scenic and beautiful birthplace of my parents. Mathraki. It represents a time when people didn't have access to supermarkets and fast food chain stores. They cooked with what they had at hand and this kind of forced them to come up with various recipes. My mom can be called a home cook aficianado. Tiganospsoma are fulfilling and so fun to make! You can eat them in so many different ways, the traditional way with feta cheese, tomatoes and olives. For a sweeter version, drizzle them with honey, sugar and cinnamon. TIP: a) you can  turn them into personal pizzas with a variety of toppings. b) In some regions they add feta cheese, olive oil, oregano or mint leaves in between two tiganopsoma and fry them. This is a great idea for your next party. A simple and yet so savory delight that I had to share this experience with my kids( which they love) and now I'm sharing my mom's traditional  recipe with you all. 

Ingredients

• 500 grams of all purpose or self rising flour
• 1 cup of luke warm water
• 1 envelope of dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/2 cup of olive oil

First, have your luke warm water ready, add it in a bowl, add your yeast and mix until the yeast has been diluted completely. Once this has been done add flour mix until you get a soft stick substance ( this is called a leaven

When you are almost done set it aside for about an hour or so the longer the better. An hour is a good portion of time for the leaven to rise, if starts to make bubble it's good.

When the leaven is ready, keep adding luke warm water and flour, before completing it onto a pliable dough add your salt. The dough is ready when it no longer sticks to your fingers. I usually use all of the 500 grams of flour and then I have extra flour when I roll the bread pitas out. I usually make about 15 -18 pancakes, I  used all 500 grams of flour and of course, I give to my neighbors as well. 

Before making your tiganopsomo allow the dough to rest for 30 min.

Make sure you flour your surface before rolling out your flat breads. I roll them out to about 7 - 8 inches, We all like them big, if the  dough is a bit sticky just add more flour. Don't roll them out to tick or they will not fry well in the middle. I know this from personal experience. 

Add olive oil enough to cover the bottom of the the pan. When placing the bread in the pan dust off the extra flour then place in pan make tiny holes in the bread with your fork. Let it fry until golden brown on both sides. Olive oil works best for tiganopsoma. Best to serve when they are warm. KALE OREXI!! Another great recipe from my kitchen to yours! 

A Healthy Salad!

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A Healthy Salad! 

My first post for 2016 and I wanted it to be something healthy and quick. After all that meat eating and all those holiday time consuming meals. I decided to begin with something lighter,healthier and quicker, I created my Healthy Salad A  healthy salad always makes me feel better after misbehaving with the kitchen stove ;) 

A Healthy Salad

Ingredients

• 1 Romaine lettuce
• 1 cup arugula salad
• 1 cup pomegranate
• 1 cup walnuts
• Parmesan cheese (optional) 

 The most important part of this recipe is to clean both salads thoroughly, I can't stress it enough. Recalling an incident I had a few years back at a  local  restaurant. I ordered a romaine salad special and when it arrived and I took the first bite, something wasn't right and then I looked at the salad and the chopped up lettuce had soil, I mean really! Soil?? Wash, wash your salad! What I do is chop off the leaves one by one cut the stem a tad bit and rinse each one under running tap water. For the arugula I cut the stem up to the leaf place in a colander and rinse with plenty of water. Let your lettuce drip dry and chop it up as you see fit. Then, add to your chopped up salad in your  salad bowl and mix. Add your walnuts ( if you would like you can chop up you walnuts) I used them whole. Add you pomegranate  and mix. Add salt,balsamic vinegar and olive oil. For added flavor sprinkle some Parmesan cheese. ( I didn't sprinkle any Parmesan cheese my family didn't want it).

Kale Orexi from my kitchen to yours! 

Halloween Lunch

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                                             Halloween Festivities with a complete lunch!

            Witches Brew, Bloody Spider Rice and Bloody Eyeballs served with Bloody Shots!

                                                         

Bloody eyeballs!

Halloween is a time to make spookatacular lunches that are darculicious! I'm an expat living abroad but that hasn't stopped me from celebrating my U.S. holidays whether it's Halloween, Thanksgiving or Fourth of July, with  the help of  few good neighbors and community support,I always go out of my way to provide my kids with the best of both worlds. Before cooking our Halloween lunch, I joined up with the local English Afternoon School and after quite some hardwork of the owner of the school, Ms.Katerina Katsouli, and quite a few days of organization, My kids  and her students enjoyed a full week of Halloween festivities everything from spooky stories, trick or treating to Halloween fun and games and of course a complete lunch!! Happy Halloween!  It doesn't matter where you live in the world you can celebrate any holiday you want! We would like to thank Ms. Katerina Katsouli,  she really goes out of her way to make her students happy! Teachers like her are hard to find!

It's that time of the year again and I love it just as much as the kids!! There's so much in creating, serving and seeing smiling faces on the faces of people you love.

And now for the Halloween Lunch 

Ingredients
Witches Brew:

• 1 big round eggplant
• 1 medium sized onion
• 2 garlic cloves ( you can add more garlic to make it spicier) 
• 1 medium sized zucchini
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• salt & pepper to taste
• Chili pepper (optional)

Take a sauce pan add your chopped up onions and garlic sweat them for about 2- 4 minutes then add

your chopped up zucchini and the inside of the pumpkin saute until veggies are soft enough to place in a blender. Add about 1/4 cup of water to and boil, veggies will soften faster, just be careful don't add to much water or it will become to soggy and watery.When veggies are soft enough run through blender making a smooth dip.

Take your eggplant and carve out the inside, add salt and place upside down on a paper towel and allow for the water to drip out for about half hour. Then place in oven for about 20 minutes on high. Make sure it doesn't bake all the way or it will  fall and it will not hold your dip. Take out of the oven add your dip and it's ready to serve!

Bloody Eyeballs:

Take 6 eggs separate egg whites from egg yolks

Add 1 cup water with salt and pepper allow to boil add egg yolks

boil until hard.

Add red sauce or ketchup in  plate spread add your egg yolks top with tiny pieces of olive and serve!

Kids will love this!

                                                            

*I found the spider idea on the internet.

Bloody Spider Rice

Ingredients

• 3 cups of long grain rice
• 1 cup red sauce or ketchup
• 1 tablespoon butter
• a few black olives

Boil rice as per package directions

When you drain and you return to pot add butter and stir.

Take a small cup that resembles a ghost add rice and pack well turn upside down on a plate

and your ghost figure should come out.

Make small spiders out of olives, place them on top of your rice , add red sauce or ketchup and your 

Bloody Spider Rice is ready to serve! Another food your kids will get a kick out of!  

Bloody skull shots any red juice

Serve with Bloody Skull Shots! Happy Halloween and spine chilling cheers to all! 

                                               

                                             A Complete Halloween Lunch!

                                   

Bacon and chili peppers bean soup

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                                       Bacon and Chili Peppers Bean Soup

                                                

                          

     

Good morning  my fellow readers/followers, I'm just so excited this week! I belong  to an amazing group on facebook called Foodify, and this week we had the Fall Soup Challenge which I was thrillled to join, This was my first food challenge and I loved it!! We had to use only 6 ingredients and for me ( as you know I love spices & various ingredients) so using just 6 ingredients was a real challenge for me! My creation was Bean Soup with bacon and chili peppers, we are legumes lovers in my house. I chose legumes because they are  healthy and adding chili peppers to it just makes a perfect fall soup! I bring another great recipe from my kitchen to yours. KALE OREXI!!!

Ingredients

• 1 pound small white kidney beans
• 1/2 celery stick
• 5 bacon slices
• 1 chili pepper
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 medium sized tomato
• 1/4 cup oilive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

 I soaked my legumes (kidney- beans) over night. The following day I boiled them and drained drained them in a colander. I chopped up all the ingredients and added them in the pot. I sauted for about 10 minutes, added 8 glasses of water( if needed add more. Boil on high for about 1 hr. When they have softened place on low heat and allow to simmer until legumes have reached an almost creamy taste. 

Check out my fellow Foodify Soup Contributors

Athina Pantazatou

Parvathy V Nair

Baked Ziti

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Baked Ziti 

I haven't reinvented the wheel nor is this a special or traditional Greek dish but Baked Ziti, marks a certain time of my teen life and it signifies who I am today. This is enough for me to make it a dish of quality and merit.

Just like my Chicken Parmesan my Baked Ziti recipe was also taught to me by my high school teacher Ms.Frangas. Both these recipes hold so many memories. They are reminder of laughter, tears, fears and many accomplishments that rooted from my high school and its faculty. Each time I prepare and serve this dish, I feel as if I am back in that little kitchen, were it all began. I recall the first time one the classes used a microwave, as they were waiting for the cake to be baked and to their surprise the cake didn't change color like it did in the oven so they kept adding more cooking time and the end result, well they needed a chainsaw to cut it. (LOL) The good ole' times of IAK HIGH ( as we liked to call it).     Once again taking another opportunity to thank my high school teacher Ms. Frangas. Thank You, your cooking classes were entertaining and educational. 

Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1 package 16 ounce Penne
• 1 Jar  Ragu Sauce( I made my own)
• 1/2 pound Ricotta Cheese ( You can add adjust cheese portion according to your taste) 
• 1/2 pound grated mozzarella cheese ( same as above) 
• salt & pepper to taste

Boil your pasta as per package instructions, make sure they are al dente. 

When pasta is ready, place in a pan add, your ricotta cheese and mix,

Add your mozzarel and parmesan cheese and mix.

Add your sauce and sprinkle some more mozzarella cheese.

Bake in oven at 356 for about 20 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Before serving sprinkle with parmesan cheese, your Baked Ziti is ready!

KALE OREXI!!!! 

Kumquat - Gourmet Pasta Dish

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                                                   Kumquat - Gourmet Summer Pasta    
     

Kumquats, resemble little oranges,  they originated in China and kumquat in chinese means "Golden orange" they  where bought to Corfu by an english botanist  by  the name of Sydney Merlin. You can eat them with the peel ( personally I don't like them like that) they have a bitter sweet taste. I prefer to eat them in food, as a teaspoon sweet or liqeur ( which I love ) Kumquats over the years have become a trademark of Corfu. I will provide you with more information on a later article dedicated only to kumquats.

As you already know, I  have an apetite for unique, specialty and gourmet dishes. This is a trait I inherited from my dad, his taste buds danced t specilaty dishes. As faith would have it, I was at my local butcher shop, the owner knows I have a cooking blog and he literally jumps at every opportunity he sees me, to let me know of any specialty and gourmet dishes.  While shopping there I told him I have a basket full of Kumquats, wow, you're very lucky I have the perfect gourmet recipe for you. Here it is my lovely readers. Kumquat- Gourmet Summer Pasta.

Ingredients

• 40 - 50 pieces of Kumquats ( about 1/2 pound) 
• 2.2 pounds pasta ( I used spaghetti but any pasta will do) 
• 1 large onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 cups water
• 1/3 cup olive oil

* This amount is good for 8 - 10 servings.

* For 2- 3 servings use 20 kumquats and 500 grams of pasta.

                 Take your kumquats and rinse them thorougly in a colander. Allow them to dry.

                                         

 

           Chop up your onions, garlic, add your kumquats salt & pepper to taste. Saute until                                  kumquats become soft and you can mash them with a fork.

Mash them just like you see in the picture below to release all the juice from them and then stir.

When done add your water let the cook on high heat for about 30 min. if more water is needed add accordingly.

Sauce is ready when it has thicken and it has a creamy and velvety type of taste. Add your cooked pasta ( I pre fer al dente) 

                 Your pasta is ready to serve with a Chardonnay! Another great dish from my kitchen to yours.   

                                                         KALE OREXI !!!

Strawberry Balsamic Cake

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Strawberry Balsamic Cake   

Strawberries are beneficial when added to our diet because they are filled with antioxidants. Being one of the finest berries it's packed with vitamins C and K they are also enriched with fibre,manganese, potassium and folic acid. Strawberries also played a significant role in history, it is said they were given to newlyweds as an aphrodisiac. They were served for breakfast with sour cream. Now, that I provided a bit of information and since we all love strawberries in our family. I recreated the Strawberry Balsamic Cake that I saw on a Greek TV show, of course I have added my own touch to it. This is the very first time I created a cake from scratch and I'm bringing it to you step by step as I create this fabulous Strawberry Balsamic Cake for my husband's mini Birthday Party! everyone loved it ;)  

Cake Base                   

Ingredients

*You should prepare this the night before, that way you will have less crumbs.

• 2/3 cup of Domino sugar ( if you would like you can add more sugar) 
• 1/4 cup of Pillsbury self rising flour ( if batter isn't thick enough add a tad bit more) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon Davies baking powder
• 6 eggs separated
• 1/2 lemon

Cream filling

Ingredients

• 500 grams ( 2cups) cream cheese ( or any type of cheese that's creamy) 
• 500 grams whipping cream
• 125 grams sugar or 1/3 cup of sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 500 grams of Nestle whipping cream ( to cover cake ) 

Marmalade 

Ingredients

* You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate, it's better when it's cool.

• 1 pound fresh strawberries
• 1/3 cup mavrodaphne, it's a Greek thick sweet black wine grape ( You can substitute Cognac, that's what I used)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ( I used powder vanilla)
• 1/3 cup of sugar

Extra Ingredients

Ingredients

• 1 bottle Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 pound fresh strawberries
• 500 grams whipping cream

Firstly, The Cake Base:

For the base of the cake, In the original recipe the chef used a ready made cake base. I used my experience along with some research, and I came up with this simple and easy cake base.  You will need to separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Whip your egg whites in a thick meringue add a few drops of lemon, this will thicken the whites. When meringue is ready set it aside. In a separate bowl add your egg yolks and sugar and mix on high speed until the mixture is fluffy. Add vanilla ( I used powder vanilla, you can use extract vanilla) and your baking powder and mix for about 10 minutes. A picture is worth a 1,000 words so follow along. :)

The flour will be used in the meringue.

Add the meringue with the flour interchanging between the two and mix with a spatula.

When done mixing add your yolk mixture and mix for another 10 minutes.

*TIP: In the mixture you don't have to add vanilla extract you can add what ever you like, you can even make it chocolate flavored. 

Take a big pan, place parchment paper underneath, take your ring cake(as I  like to call it) brush with butter  then add your batter. Place in oven and let it bake for about 50 minutes at 350 Farhenheit. Insert a toothpick inside the base and if nothing sticks to the toothpick it's ready.

                                             
                                               

                                                                          
This is how they should look when they are baked place them in the refrigerator and use them the next day.

           

I made three cake bases the night before making the Birthday Cake. If the base is thick you can cut in half.

* Using a plate, place it on the cake base and slowly cut around you will use this piece to make a center for the marmalade. Set aside and make your filling

            

       Secondly, The marmalade:  I also made this the night before.
       Cut your one pound strawberries into small pieces.

                

Add your mavrodaphne/brandy, sugar, vanilla extract and strawberries in a flat frying pan. Cook on high heat for about 10 min. not more than 15 min.  don't over cook them.

                       

Thirdly, prepare your filling. In a separate bowl add cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract, beat for about 10 minutes. I used a German type of cheese.

                        

 Then add your whipping cream mix for another 10 minutes or until it thickens and it becomes fluffy.
 When ready set aside.

                                                                     

Fourthly, make your syrup for the cake base.

                     

Finally,  Make your syrup, add sugar, water and cinammonugar melts sticks. Boil on high heat until sugar melts.

CAKE PREPARATION AND DECORATION 

Add a little bit of cream at the center of your platter, so when you place your cake base it will not slide left and right. This is a tip from the T.V.Chef.

First, take your syrup and brush all three cake bases. This make your base moist whether you use fondant or any type of frosting for covering. TIP:  I also brushed it with some brandy to give it an extra tangy taste. I always like to brush the bases with whatever  type of alcohol it is compatible.

Take 500 grams of strawberries and cut them in half and decorate as shown in the picture below.

The ring that you cut from the previous picture you use it as a center, so when you place the other layer and it will not fall. 

Then you add your marmalade and around the strawberries add the strawberry balsamic vinegar you could also add in the center if you like,I just added it on the strawberries.

Add your cream filling.

Add your second layer and repeat the process

And your cake is ready! 

Cut a piece and serve, top it off with Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar and a side of fresh strawberries. 

KALE OREXI!! A sweet dish from my kitchen to yours! :)