Tag: treat

14Dec

Orange, honey and pistachio biscuits

I am not embarrassed to say that a lot of my Christmas shopping has been done online. It has been hard to put off chores and to be able to do things that I want to, such as blow drying my hair or going for a run. I guess that’s adulthood. Adulthood also means more and more of my friends are now having kids, and my lack of time really holds no comparison to what all the mammas I know have to juggle on a daily basis. Karla, my co-blogger, told be that being a mum and being with her family did not leave her with a lot of time to dedicate to the blog. I visited her last month and she cooked me some amazing stuff: creamy soups and quinoa patties which were to die for. She is a pro at seasoning, and one of the most creative people I have ever met. Obviously I am sad that our partnership has come to an end, but our friendship is strong even with the Channel between us. This recipe is for her. Karla loves Christmas biscuits I bought the cutters that I used for this recipe whilst in Germany with
3 mins read
932 Views
05Dec

Whisky and caramel cake bites

I will very rarely admit defeat when it comes to recipes. In the last few months I have developed a couple of cake recipes, baked them and failed them. Eventually I got the ingredients and methods rights but that meant a few flat, mushy attempts had to be foiled up and sent to the cake morgue, a.k.a. my bottom freezer drawer. The morgue was getting really packed and this was causing marital tensions. My husband is a minimalist when it comes to storage of any kind. So what’s a girl to do with all this cake? Cake pops, naturally.  Bad idea. I watched dozens of videos, researched what was the best brand of candy melts and was the biggest visitor to Bakerella’s site last month. And yet they were a complete failure. I wanted to make something special for my nephews birthday and it went catastrophically bad, to the point I was covered in yellow candy melt, ferociously throwing away all of the jelly tots cut out in the shape of pooh’s ears. And the question remained…what to do with all this cake? Cake pops’s closest (and low maintenance) relative, cake bites. And a grown up one at that.Maybe good
2 mins read
828 Views
28Oct

Bone shaped macaroons with blood red buttercream

I think it’s amazing that egg whites and almonds can create such a delightful treat. Macaroons is one of the treats I absolutely love and don’t get to have it very often, because although small treats, their price tag is often not so small. I am going to a grown up Halloween party and thought little patisserie bones with a blood red buttercream would be perfect.  This is an easy recipe, however you must follow all the steps carefully to get the perfect chewy macaroon. Bone shaped macaroons with blood red buttercream 125g icing sugar 125g ground almonds 90g egg whites 2 tbsp water 110g caster sugar 75g softened butter 40g icing sugar Red food colouring Method: 1. Print or draw on a piece of paper bone shapes to fit your baking tray. Mine were around 4cm long. Place the sheet with the bone pattern under a piece of greaseproof paper 2. Put the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor and blitz. Sieve the mixture discarding any large lumps 3. Add 40g of egg whites to the almond mixture and mix to a paste 4. Put the water and caster sugar in a small pan and heat
3 mins read
2841 Views
28Jul

Cajuzinho (almond fudge)

My grandma left Italy in her early twenties to move to Brazil with her fiancé, my grandad. My grandad never stepped foot in Italy again, my grandma only went back a few times.  Although my grandma’s accent still has strong italian vowels, she has immersed herself  into the culture of her adopted country. She loves having papaya for breakfast, tends to her own jabuticaba trees and watches telenovelas. Her cooking has retained strong Italian roots, but most of her original recipes now often take typical Brazilian ingredients. I am now going through that same process, like her I moved to England still young, and I rejected the culture when I first arrived, but after a while I hated being and outsider. I made a big effort to refine the British accent, watch local shows, read the news, ask questions (beans for breakfast?!?!?). I now get the dry sense of humour and how to add just the right amount of milk to breakfast tea. A lot of natives now tell me they wouldn’t even be able to tell I wasn’t English, if it wasn’t for my looks. You would think that after 16 years of effort I would consider this a compliment, but it actually makes
3 mins read
804 Views
16Feb

Easy peanut butter ice cream

As a petite girl I often have to have my clothes altered to fit me better. I was sharing this with a friend and said I would love to learn how to sew so that I could do it all myself. Said friend was baffled, “why would you want to do that? It is too fiddly to do and hard to learn”. Yes, but it means I can alter clothes to fit me…I even started to dream of making my own dress. I can understand my friend’s line of thought, it is much easier to go shopping for a dress, or even do it as I often do, shop online.  I love that our modern world offers us so much convenience, giving us the time to go do other things we enjoy. But to be very blunt here, I don’t get people that don’t get the feeling of achievement when creating something, be it made of fabric or a nice chocolate cake.These days you can find absolutely anything that your heart desires in a shop, so it doesn’t surprise me that homemade items are highly appreciated presents. I can cross the road and buy a tub of ice cream for less money than
3 mins read
791 Views