Shortbread time: we are approaching sweet & savory shortbread today – both linked by the flavours of lemon & thyme. Twice we’ll get these wonderful crumbly texture of shortbread almost melting in our mouths … once together w/ coffee (or espresso!), once w/ wine or long drinks … The procedure doesn’t change: shortbread is shortbread is shortbread …
There are 6 small Bundt cakes coming out of my new toy – isn’t it great! Have a look at the gleaming new baking tin … Of course I had to test it asap! I stuck to the recipe attached to the packaging concerning the amounts of butter, flour, eggs … only reducing the amount of sugar by about 20%. So don’t let’s waste precious time: let’s take off!
I made lots of apricot jam during summer. Of course it’s absolutely delicious to have some homemade apricot jam on your fresh roll or croissant or crispy toast or soft French bread or … nevertheless what else can you do w/ the jam? So I started surfing … I thought about something like a cake or a tart or … whatever. It’s end of summer now, but there are still wonderful fresh apricots around us…
I stumbled across the idea for this recipe in Mimi Thorissons’s cookbook A Kitchen in France. It sounded nice & delicious & I thought it would be fine w/ my espressos (you know that I’m addicted to espresso!). So for my next shopping I made a mental note to buy an organic lemon as well as dry yeast … & some almond flakes. The rest would be waiting in my fridge resp. pantry. Originally the…
… I decided to create some cookies for my better half & me when taking a break in the afternoon (or whenever!) & having a coffee or espresso – summer with high temperatures doesn’t stop us from enjoying our coffee mania. … & I imagined some cookies w/ chocolate on top. I’m sure … we deserve some treats like these shortbread cookies I enriched w/ rosemary & orange zest – not to mention the dark…
Once I happened to get a present: a small Bundt cake pan (∅ 18 cm). So I started baking little cakes. Little cakes are fine for 2 – 4 people for coffee, for dessert … I’m not talking about a real big Bundt cake that may lead up to 16 big slices! After having managed to define the proper amounts of the usual suspects (like butter, flour, sugar, eggs …) in order to achieve a…
I remember my very 1st true carrot cake: it was during a USA holiday trip many years ago somewhere in Northern California in a small diner – rather late in the evening – when it turned out that only carrot cake was left for dessert. It wasn’t a simple cake it was a 3-layer structure w/ lots of frosting & minced walnuts … it was just delicious! To set the record straight from the beginning:This…
Another lemon cake: today we’ll get a moist lemon cake loaded w/ lemon flavour (aka zest & juice!) & topped w/ a creamy lemon sugar icing. Seems simple & plain, but it’s far more than a small pound cake … … latest exit point now: anybody who doesn’t like lemons may stop to read on!
Imagining it’s happy hour: chilled white wine (or rosé wine) & smooth red wine are awaiting their destiny, gin tonics & vodka tonics are mixed or whatever else – in the very middle of all the drinks sits a plate w/ crispy crumbly cheesy spicy shortbread cookies … We are still in Southern France enjoying happy hour at times … so I started to make some savoury shortbread to enjoy w/ the wine – instead…
Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising. It’s summer. This year there is a real summer – seems so at least (until now). The sun is blazing, there is rain every now and then meaning that in the garden and anywhere else all is green and thriving. Sometimes it’s hot and humid – my better half & I are not so fond of it. Anyway … what to cook & bake? I suddenly remembered my sponge…
Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising. To make this cake I only used 2 bowls. Honestly, I hate dishwashing … especially when there is any china or bowls or pots or whatever which doesn’t fit in our dishwasher. (We only work w/ a slim 45 cm dishwasher.) So I always try to minimize the number of any equipment when cooking or baking. For this simple cake I was fine w/ only 2 bowls. The…
Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising. This is another recipe from my winter blues phase … For the record: Now we are living in the Corona era feeding us w/ new challenges – so my winter blues phase seems null & void. Coming back to the baking … It is a cheesecake, however, not the American style w/ cream cheese or the fluffy style w/ lots of whipped cream or the no-bake…
Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising. I told you about Mastering Spice, a new book in my library. So I made the next try to recreate something out of the book. I stumbled over a recipe for an olive oil based loaf cake. The book is so organized that there is a main recipe & following there are some variations. I found the recipe for the olive oil cake loaf & a variation w/ additional…
Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising. Last week I wrote about Odette Williams’ book „Simple Cake“ – now a recipe turned into life. Based on the olive oil cake w/ orange flavor I created my own version following the tips in the book. The recipe defines cake for 2 rather small round cake pans – I used a larger springform. I made some rough calculation & decided that the area covered by…
Dieser Beitrag enthält Werbung – advertising. A cake loaf w/ fresh fruit… This isn’t my 1st try. To be honest: my overall experience is that a cake w/ fresh fruit likes to collapse due to too much fresh fruit – or to be flavorless & dry due to the lack of enough fresh fruit. Therefore I’m always skeptical when folding in fresh fruit into batter. (More than once recipes in books/blogs proved incorrect!). However,…