Azuki bean soup

Azuki (or adzuki) bean is grown in East Asia, genetic evidence indicates that the azuki bean was first domesticated in the Himalayas. It is second most popular in Japan after soybean. Azuki bean is commonly eaten as a sweet dish, but this is a savoury dish, recipe of which I found in here. It claims that it helps diminish the appearance of dark circles around the eyes by cleansing the body and it's a great diuretic.

3 cups of azuki beans soaked overnight
2 tbsp of cumin
1 tsp of white pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 diced carrots
2 tbsp of finely chopped fresh ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
1 lime juice
3 tbsp of fresh chopped coriander leaves

Put the soaked beans into a pot, cover in cold water and bring to boil. Drain the beans, then add fresh cold water again. Simmer for 30 minutes, then add cumin and white pepper. In a frying pan, sauté diced onion, carrots, ginger and crushed garlic until tender. Add this mixture to the beans, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, or until beans are cooked through. During the last 15 minutes only, add salt to taste. Adding the salt any earlier will harden the beans. Just before serving, add lime juice and coriander.

Raspberry cupcakes

No occasion necessary.

250 g raspberries
150 g flour
80 g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
100 g sugar
salt
1 egg
250 g butter
+ 1 tbsp of melted butter
1/2 tsp grated ginger
icing sugar

Mix flour with almonds, baking powder, sugar and a pinch of salt. Beat the egg with butter, add ginger and 1 tbsp of melted butter. Add this mixture to flour and mix well. Pour the batter into paper muffin cases and press a raspberry into each cake. Bake in the oven (180C) until golden. Powder in icing sugar.

Chocolate, ginger and praline bombe

100 g dark chocolate
200-300 g ginger preserve
600 ml double cream
50-100 g sugar
50-100 g flaked almonds

Measure 450ml of cream and whip well (it should be quite thick). Grate 30 g of chocolate and mix into whipped cream and ginger preserve. The next time I will be making it, I will add less ginger (200g or less), as together with chocolate it gives quite sickening sweet taste. Take a bowl and line with clingfilm and pour the mixture into it, cover and freeze for at least 4 h, better overnight.
Heat sugar in a pan until it caramelizes, mix the almonds in. Pour the mixture on a flat surface covered with foil, leave for few hours, or overnight.
Next what you do is pour the rest of cream into a saucepan, break the rest of chocolate, mix in, heat everything on the low heat, then leave to cool for until it thickens.
Now take the bowl out of the freezer, turn and take the bombe out, put on a plate. Pour the praline mixture over it, decorate with almond caramel, broken into pieces. Put again in a freezer for about an hour.