Lavender tea

As we are closer to winter, we wear more scarfs, more caps, still longing more for the warm and fragrant bath, little candles glitter in our rooms full of the aroma of scented lamps and... we love more to drink a good tea.
May be you haven't been lazy during the summer and you picked up lavender... If not, buy it and make a cup of lavender tea. This is one of my favourite herb teas. It's a nice tea in the evening, for excellent sleeping.  

Recipe for lavender tea

(about 3 cups)

1-2 tea spoons of lavender flowers

  3-4 dl of boiling water 

Pour the boiling water over the flowers, cover and leave for 5 -10 minutes. Strain and serve. The infusion can be repeated.

I recommend sweeten it with honey. Lavender is very aromatic, so do not make a strong brew tea as it will be very spicy,bitter taste and probably you couldn't enjoy its lovely smell and taste.
Tip: You will get excellent tea if you  add a little Peppermint or Melissa. You can also add lavender flowers into your black or green tea.

Why lavender tea? 
This mood enhancing tea , full of flavour, amazing, soothing tea works like antidepressant, helps with headache, cold, weakness, is antiviral...But of course, to prepare your lavender cup of tea you don't need to suffer of all this diseases, make it just to enjoy it and feel like lying in the middle of the lavender meadow. 

add lavender flowers into your green tea 

lavender flowers

lavender tea with honey

Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cup of oil
1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of grated carrots 
1 1/2 cup chopped pinapple

Filling:
8 ounces of cream cheese 
10 tablespoons of unsalted butter - slightly melted
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1 - 2 tablesoons od fresh lemon juice 
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
chopped wallnuts ... 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 338 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare the form for the cake at first.  I like to use coconut oil to grease it and shredded coconut to sprinkle it. 
Beat the sugar, vanilla extract and yolks until it changes tho colour and smooth.  (I always use hand mixer and large bowel) 
Then add walnuts, cinnamon, salt, mix, then add carrots, pineapple and oil - and mix by hand. 
Whisk the flour, baking powder and baking soda and stir with the mixture. Then beat egg whites and gently stir in by hand. 
Bake for cca 60 minutes. (until toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean ) Leave it in the oven for about 10 minutes, then, transfer it to cooling racks and cool it. When cool flip it over, carve into two halves and put in the filling. 
Filling /coating : 
Take a large bowl and beat the sugar, vanilla extract  and butter until smooth and creamy. Add cream cheese and beat until velvety smooth. Finally add the lemon juice. 
Finish the top with toasted nuts and Bon appetite !

carrot cake with walnuts

carrot cake recipe

my favorite carrot cake

carrot cake 

Myt Lavender Cake

( gluten free and still the best in the world )

lavender cake 

Corpus:
6 eggs (separate yolks and whites  )
120g of cane sugar - grind it
120 g of walnuts (try to grind it in the way that you get both, smaller and bigger pieces )
1 teaspoon of ground coffee

------------------------------------------------

Mix yolks and  sugar until it changes colour more to white,  add coffee and walnuts.
Then - very gently mix the beaten whites by parts. 
Spread the form with butter, then add a little bit of spelt flour and pour batter into the cake form.
Bake cca 45 min (and more) on 180°C ( always check with a toothpick - it must be clean when you pull it out . And remember - don't crack the oven door ! the cake is as fragile as you)

Cut it in two halves ( use the knife to cut it around and then use thread to finnish it.)
-------------------------------------------------
Put fresh raspberies (you can tear them)  on the bottom half of the cake and then cover it with filling. 

Filling:

250ml of sour cream
250 - 300 ml of mascarpone 
8g (one pocket) of Bourbon Vanilla sugar or a few drops of vanilla essence 
2 drops !!! (NOT MORE) of bio Lavender essencial oil 
80 - 100g of cane sugar (grind it to powder) 

• mix it properly and spread the cream on raspberries. 
• cover with another half of the cake, put the cake form over it, cover with folie and leave in the fridge for 24 hours (OR at least for two hours, pls. Its minimum, as the cake is best after  12-24 hours)
• after 12 - 24 hours  you can make the last covering
• beat 250ml of whipped cream with 2 drops! (maximum!) of lavender essential oil and 5g of Bourbon Vanilla sugar and with 2 teaspoons of cane sugar (ground in powder)      ( the combination of true vanilla and lavender is the bases, of this cream, it must be) 

-------------------------------------------------

Decoration:

raspberries, lavender flowers, sugar candied flowers  (violet, rose, mint, verbena - crumble them a little -  smaller pieces look better and they are more pleasant to eat. Also decorate also with very tiny fresh top mint leafs. Finito!

lavender cake with candied flowers 

lavender fields

lavender cake 

sugar candied flowers

Hrusov ponds and meadows

  

Coconut Mousse au Chocolate with Strawberry Sauce

Recipe:

1 fresh, chilled whipped cream (2.5 dl)
  - 36% is ideal 
1/2 - 3/4 slice of gelatine or 1 egg
120 grams of white chocolate
a few drops of vanilla essence
or 1TS of vanilla sugar
1TS of coconut





First, pour the gelatin into a small bowl and let it swell. Break the chocolate in pieces and put it into a deep plate on the pot of  boiling water to melt slowly. It is important to stir it. The more you mix it, the better chocolate you will get.  Meanwhile prepare your whipped cream.
Then take the softened gelatine and melt it in a small pot in a small amount of cream.  Just melt it.  Then pour into lukewarm chocolate. Attention - now it will look bad. Everything begins to stiffen, and you feel that you've just broke down everything. Just do not give up and be patient. Piece by piece add the whipped cream . Add cream and lightly stir again and again... When it finally succeeds, gradually add more cream and finally mix it all very lightly with the rest of the cream and let it thicken.
(If you fail don't worry it has nothing in common with your intelligence)


Strawberry Sauce
250 grams of fresh sweet strawberries
50 grams of cane sugar
vanilla essence

white chocolate mouse with strawberry sauce

Coconut Mousse au Chocolate with Strawberry Sauce... 

Your homemade strawberry ice-cream

strawberry icecream

I will tell you the recipe for my favorite ice cream. I don't like ice cream recipes, where the basis is milk and eggs. So  ​​last summer I came up with my ice cream - I think that if ice cream basis is good, then also the ice cream as result must be good.
In this case you do not need ice cream maker, it's easy, you know all materials you will use, your friends will be stunned and everybody will be happy enjoying your marvellous ice cream.
But remember, that the most important thing is the quality of your strawberries. Try to use rape, red, fragrant strawberries from your garden or from the market. 
But don't overdo it, you might get fat  !!!  :)


We need:
400 grams of strawberries
150 g powdered sugar, if possible, cane (mix it to get powder sugar)
a few drops of vanilla essence (you will get it in M & S, or vanilla sugar in -  DM)
a few drops of lime or lemon - for better taste
250 ml 33% to 36% cream
1cl of rose water - if you have it, add it. It's great.

Puree strawberries with sugar and vanilla flavor with lemon or lime, add rose water. (rosy smell goes beautifully together with the smell of strawberries, so if you have rose water, add it to the strawberry mixture. But of course, it is not a necessity.)
Then carefully mix into the whipped cream.
Pour into a bowl,  close it properly and freeze for at least 6 hours. You will get delicious strawberry ice cream, of beautiful colour, with pieces of strawberries, with the scent of strawberries and ... with flavours of real strawberries.

homemade ice cream

delicious ice cream

Liitle Café called Gavalier

You will find it in Banská Štiavnica,

Café Gavalier

in a small picturesque town, at the end of the square Trojičné námestie. 
Nice, likeable interior, interesting style, nice people, pleasant atmosphere, very good coffee and really homemade cakes...
My favourite little place.

 

Café Gavalier - Coconut Cake

Café Gavalier in Banská Štiavnica

Have a nice cup of coffee, enjoy your dessert and perhaps take a little walk. 
Just follow the stony path. At the end it will trn to the forest path. When you think that it will never finnish, you will find a little emerald lake surrounded by forest. This is your reward. :)