African Sweet Potato, Peanut and White Bean Soup

Today I woke up early, as normally, did my morning routines, took a shower, brushed my teeth, made and drank coffee, did some pinteresting and browsed the news online. I was about to leave home when I started to check my shifts, in order to be sure I had the morning shift. The amazement was huge when the list said “free”! I had to call my colleagues at the office and ask them to check if that was really true.

And it was, so me and S decided to clean up the apartment, I planned to go to the supermarket to get our weekly stuff and S was going to spend the evening at the Finnish language course, where he’s doing really well (I’m so proud, as anyone who has ever tried to learn Finnish knows it’s one of the hardest languages in the world, alongside of Hungarian and Estonian). So when we were waking up in bed very late this afternoon S made me a riddle by drawing…which I had to solve to find out he wished me to bake a chocolate cake.

So after his daily dose of Finnish there was a chocolate tart waiting for him. The recipe will follow, but first I want to tell you what I cooked for dinner tonight.

The soup was so hearty, so flavorous and so good. The recipe is adapted from Vegetarian Times. The original calls for spinach, but I forgot to buy it. Instead I used some baked white beans, as I guessed S would like some protein in the soup. It worked fine, but I am sure spinach would have been lovely too!

A word about harissa paste too. This North African delicious spice paste is so rich in flavor, that I just love it. However, I’ve noticed some brands are hotter than others. So I have decided to use the mildest one I’ve found, so that I can use it in quite large amounts and get all benefits of the wonderful flavors. 

African Sweet Potato, Peanut and White Bean Soup (serves your whole family)

2 large sweet potatoes, washed

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small leek (white and light green parts), halved and washed

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon cumin

3 tablespoons peanut butter

2 heaping tablespoons harissa paste

750ml light chicken stock

1 can baked white beans, drained

salt to taste

peanuts, fresh coriander and Turkish yogurt to garnish

Place the sweet potatoes in a microwave and cook in full power for 10 minutes. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, and cook for 10 minutes more, or so long that they are relatively soft.

Cut the meat off the potato skins with a spoon.

Heat the olive oil in a medium/large saucepan or a Dutch oven. Chop the leaks and sautée them over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic, turmeric and cumin, and keep sauteeing for 1 minute more. Add harissa, peanut butter, sweet potatoes and chicken stock and let simmer for 20 minutes, half covered.

Take the pan off the heat and puree the soup by using a stick blender.

Put back to heat and add the beans. Add some water if the soup is too thick. Season with salt if needed.

Serve with some yogurt, coriander and peanuts.

Layered Fudge Brownie, Chocolate & Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

In my post of zucchini & tomato galettes I gave a hint that I was preparing myself a birthday cake which, when successful, would be THE cake of the decade. Well now the birthday party is over, and I can proudly tell you, that it was THE SH*T. It must have been the best cake I have ever stuck my spoon into. It got so many compliments from my guests that I didn’t have time to count.

In a nutshell: it was perfect.

Now, I am so sorry to provide to you these photos that really don’t do justice to the cake. The thing is, that the moment I finally got to put the cake on the table, cut it and photo shoot it, the sun was just setting, which can be seen in the pictures. After the first piece was cut, people attacked the cake so that just minutes after there was nothing left. I succeeded in saving one big piece in my fridge - which some hours later I saw a girl eating. So, I succeeded in saving a small piece in my fridge after that… Which, on the next day, I did my best in photographing. The quality of the pics is a pity mostly, because I really wished I could show you how amazing it was. Just for you to see, that you HAVE to give it a try too! But now you just have to take my word: do yourself a favor and prepare this cake.

A couple of words about the inspiration and the process of doing the cake. First of all, the cake is a combination of several recipes I found. The recipe for the fudgy brownie base was taken from Sugar Duchess.  It was by far the best cake base I have ever come across. The execution of it had some set-back though, as it’s baked in a water bath in the oven, and my cake pan leaked water in. So my brownie base was basically wet and broke in pieces when I took it out of the pan. So you might wanna line your pan very properly with aluminium foil before baking.

Cracking of the brownie wasn’t too harmful, as the toppings saved the situation perfectly. I especially loved the chocolate mousse recipe found from Delicious Magazine, as it didn’t require gelatin. For some reason I’m not a big fan of gelatin, and every time I can avoid using it, I will. This mousse got perfectly firm after staying overnight in the fridge. A great choice was also the other topping, peanut butter mousse, for which I took the recipe from here. I made only half a portion of the original amounts, and that was more than enough for my 22cm diameter cake. Lastly, I decorated the cake with simple chocolate ganache and pieces of Snickers bar. In the end, the cake could actually be called a gigantic Snickers, as that’s how it tasted like.

Hope you enjoy, and please, tell me what you think after trying this!

Killer Fudge Brownie, Chocolate & Peanut Butter Mousse Cake

For the brownie base:

300g high-quality semisweet chocolate

4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated, room temperature

0,5dl + 2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

120g butter, room temperature

For the chocolate mousse:

150ml double cream

225g semisweet chocolate

4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated

For the peanut butter mousse:

300g creamy peanut butter

250g cream cheese, room temperature

2,5dl powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I left this out)

250ml double cream, chilled cold

Prepare the brownie base. Preheat oven to 200 C. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and below it a deep baking sheet almost filled with water. Prepare a 22cm-24cm diameter spring form pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper and greasing the sides lightly with butter.

Chop the chocolate into small chunks and melt in a metal bowl on top of simmering water (bain marie). Set aside to wait.

Place the room-temperature egg whites in a large, grease-free mixing bowl with about a third of the sugar. Using an electric mixer, start beating on slow speed, gradually increasing the speed. Beat until the whites begin to look fluffy. Add the remaining sugar, salt, and vanilla, and continue to beat until the meringue is shiny.

Next, using a whisk, stir the soft butter into the melted chocolate until completely incorporated. Then whisk in the egg yolks (I used electric mixer). Using a wire whisk, fold half of the meringue into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining meringue with a rubber spatula, being sure to mix in the heavier batter at the bottom of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place the cake in the oven. Bake for 26-28 minutes (for me it took 45 minutes to bake, so keep checking how it will be with your oven). The top will be shiny, and a cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the cake for 1 hour, then run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a serving plate. Remove the bottom of the pan and the parchment paper circle, and replace the ring from the spring form around the cake; it will be the mold for the two mousses.

Make the chocolate mousse. Whip the cream and set aside. Melt the chocolate over a pan of gently simmering water. Remove from the heat once melted, beat in the egg yolks, then fold in the cream. Whisk the egg whites in a bowl to soft peaks, then fold into the chocolate mixture. Spoon evenly over the brownie base and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, well before serving time, prepare the peanut butter mousse. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter and cream cheese in large bowl to blend. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat until well blended.

Using clean dry beaters, beat whipping cream in medium bowl until stiff peaks form; fold into peanut butter mixture in two additions. Spoon filling on top of the chocolate mousse and spread evenly. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

For decoration:

100g semisweet chocolate

100ml double cream

+ one Snickers bar

Bring double cream to a simmer in a medium heat. When lightly simmering, add chopped chocolate. Once the chocolate starts to melt, remove from the heat and stir until fully incorporated. 

Garnish the cake with slightly cooled ganache and chopped Snickers.