My Delhaize sweet Christmas buffet

In case you stay home and decide to create a perfect dinner for friends or your family, this year, I propose you a few tips and recipes of how to make a special sweet buffet. Inspired by my greek traditions, always under the aspect of french pastry and with a few touches by the anglosaxonic sweet kitchen here's the structure of a delicious buffet.

It's true that during Christmas period we consume a lot of food, starting from the apero drinks including little appetizers, until the first and second plate of a meal and reaching the sweet temptations at the end. When I prepare dinners for friends I always like making a buffet for two reasons. I give people the choice to eat what they want. I give myself the opportunity to express my talents in kitchen and propose delicious recipes that could cover all tastes. Well, at least majority's taste!

I recently went to Delhaize Luxembourg, found my favourite sweet ingredients and started to play with sweet combinations that definitely fit my end of meal buffet. I prepared for you the following desserts and sweets:

Traditional greek melomakarona (translated to greek macarons with honey)

Little chocolate mousses

Atomic greek traditional walnuts cakes like gifts

Οrange chocolate cake frosted with orange meringue

Chestnut mousse wit chocolate truffles and vanilla sauce

(Fresh fruits)

In fact I propose you a variety of options where you can combine a special festive cake and all over creamy or drier desserts and sweets. And the biggest advantage of it is that you can prepare everything 1-2 days before the dinner, easily and practically. For those who don't wish to eat sugar or don't like sweets (are there any people?) I suggest you keep a nice plate with various fruits.

Are you ready to dive into the taste? Ready? Set? Go....

RECIPE 1: MELOMAKARONA

These little biscuits are especially devoted to those who don't like butter and eggs.

For almost 3kg

Preparation 20'

Baking 30'

Waiting 20'

Syrup processing 30-45'

2 cups of virgin olive oil

1 Kg of Delhaize all purposes flour

2 tsps of baking powder

1 cup of Delhaize fine sugar

1 tbsp of cinnamon

3 tbsps of cognac or armagnac

1 cup of Delhaize orange juice

3 Delhaize oranges zeste

1 tbsb of bicarbonated soda dissolved in the cognac

1 tbsp of girofle

Chopped Delhaize walnuts

For the syrup

2 cups of honey

1 cup of Delhaize fine sugar

1 1/2 of water

1/2 Delhaize lemon juice

Beat the oil and sugar in the mix for at least 10'. Add one by one all ingredients starting with zest, the cognac and soda, the juice and finally the spices. Finally, once you have mixed the baking powder and the flour, add them little by little sifted in the mixture.

Don't over mix otherwise the little biscuits will not be fluffy after baking.

Preheat the over to 180 degrees C.

Make little egg shape cookies. Slightly push the surface of the biscuit to a cheese grater in order to make an embossed design on it. If you don't have a cheese grater you can use a fork.

Use a cookie dish to place all biscuits with a short distance between them. Bake them for 30 minutes. It depends on the shape and the size. If they are small it will take less baking time.

Let them cool.

Prepate the syrup.

Pour in a pan the water and add the sugar. Turn to boil for 3'. Then add the honey and the lemon juice and continue for 2'. It will be necessary tο skim the liquid mixture with a spoon.

Dive 3-4 biscuits for 5 minutes to the syrup and then place them to a nicely decorated/festive plate by sprinkling coarsely chopped walnuts.

RECIPE 2: EASY CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

The absolute devil's festive templation

For 5 people

Preparation 15'

For the chocolate mousse

1 cup of Delhaize fresh liquid cream 35%

140 grs of chocolate 55%

2 Delhaize medium eggs

50 gs of Delhaize fine sugar

Heat the liquid cream in a saucepan. Don't turn it into boiling. Just heat.

At the same time, beat the eggs and the sugar until whitened and fluffy.

Pour them in the liquid cream and heat them until they become thick. Don't hesitate to constantly whisk them in order to well homogenize the mixture.

Pour the eggs mixture to the chocolate cut in little pieces. Mix well with a maryse spatula until you have a chocolate mixture. Let it cool for at least 1-2 hours.

Take off the fridge, put the chocolate mixture in a piping bag and fully cover and decorate 5 individual verrines.

RECIPE 3: Traditional greek walnut cake gifts

For 10-12 persons

Preparation 15'

Baking from 20' to 1h depending on the size of cake(s) that you are about to prepare.

225 grs of Delhaize butter softened

340 grs of Delhaize fine sugar

150 grs of brown sugar

300 gr of Delhaize self rising flour

200 grs of Delhaize bio buttermilk

5 eggs

1 1/2 cup of Delhaize finely chopped walnuts

2 tbsps of Delhaize speculoos mix spices

Optional decoration with powder sugar

Beat the butter and the sugars in the mixer in medium speed until very flyffy. Add the buttermilk and the flour. Then add the eggs one by one without stopping beating the mixture. Finally add the walnuts and the spices and mix them until fully incorporated.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

You can use an angel form, or atomic cupcakes or as I made any kind of design festive form like the one that I received as a gift from my beloved friend Pepi!! The choice is yours.

If you make cupcakes or the little gifts cakes shapes, bake them for 20 minutes.

If you make a big cake in a bigger form, bake it for at least 1 hour.

Spread some powder sugar and (why not?) decorate with whole walnuts or any little sugar sprinkles.

RECIPE 4: CHOCOLATE ORANGE CAKE WITH ORANGE MERINGUE

For 10 persons (or more)

Preparation 1 1/2h

Baking 30'

Decoration 15'

FOR THE CAKE

530 grs of Delhaize all purposes flour

540 of Delhaize fine sugar

95 grs of cocoa powder

1 punch of salt

1 tsp of bicarbonated soda

3 Delhaize oranges zeste

5 Delhaize medium eggs

300 grs of fresh Delhaize orange juice

350 grs of Delhaize buttermilk

320 grs of vegetable oil

Put the flour, sugar cocoa, sal and soda to the mixer. Add the liquid ingredients and the eggs to a bowl and mix them well with the a whisker. Pour them onto the flour mixture. Beat in the mixer in medium speed until they are fully incorporated. Finally add the zeste.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees of C

Pour the mixture to 4 18cm pans and bake them for 30 minutes.

Let them cool.

Chocolate ganache

200 grs of Delhaize fresh liquid cream

200 grs of chocolate cut into little pieces

1 tbsp of honey

Use the same steps like in the below mentioned chocolate truffles, without using sugar and replacing at the end the butter with honey.

Let the mixture cool in the fridge for 1 hour.

(Alternatively use as well 1 tbsp of triple sec or white rhum liquor for intense taste)

Spread the chocolate ganache between the chocolate layers until they form a round cake. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

For the meringue

170 grs of egg whites

200 grs of Delhaize fine sugar

Delhaize Orange zest

(optional orange colour)

Orange extract

Beat the eggs and sugar in bain marie until they reach the 65 degrees of C. Then pour them in the mixer and bit them until the bowl is cool enough and the mixture is turned to a very fluffy meringue. Add the colour, the extract and the zest and gently mix to homogenize.

Frost the cake with the meringue, by using piping bags and nozzles that you like, in order to make beautiful decorative designs. Decorate with Christmas sprinkle or Delhaize chocolate flakes or even orange pieces jam.

RECIPE 5: CHESTNUTS MOUSSE WITH CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES AND VANILLA SAUCE

For 8 persons

Preparation 20'

Waiting 30 minutes

270 grs of chestnuts cream

250 grs of whipped cream

4 grs of gelatine sheets

Put the gelatine in cold water to softer.

Heat the chestnut cream for 20 seconds in the microwave. Add the gelatine strained to the warm chestnut cream and mix well to incorporate. Add little by little the whipped cream until it makes a soft and light colored mousse.

For the chocolate truffles

150 grs of Delhaize fresh liquid cream

125 grs of chocolate

15 gr of Delhaize fine sugar

50 grs of Delhaize butter softened cut into little cubes

Put the fresh liquid cream and the sugar in a saucepan and turn to boil

Pour onto the chocolate

Mix well with a maryse until you have a chocolate mixture. Add finally the butter by mixing well until fully incorporated.

Let it in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours.

I have used little silicone molds to give shape to my truffles. I let them refrigeratead for 2-3 hours. I finally sprinkle them with cocoa or chocolate truffles.

For the Vanilla Sauce

20 gr of fresh liquid cream

1/4 of spoon vanilla grains and

40 grs of white chocolate cut into pieces

Heat in a sauce pan all ingredients until they are fully incorporated and constitute a nice liquid sauce.

Pour the sauce over the chestnuts mousse and decorate with chocolate truffles.

Just remember: You can start preparing even a few days before your event. Melomakarona can be baked and prepared even one week before. Chocolate and chestnut mousses can be prepared two days before. Even the walnuts cake (just make sure that the walnut cakes are closed in a box until they are served in order to keep them fresh). The chocolate cake and ganaches can be prepared even two to three days before. Leave the meringue frosting and decorations for the last day.

All pictures and recipes are prepared by L'Atelier Sucré d'Eleni

The recipes ingredients have been sponsored by Delhaize Luxembourg Super Markets.

Chocolate cookies decorated and macarons are prepared by l'L'Atelier Sucré d'Eleni

Decorative lucky charm boat by Pharos Nautical gifts GR

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