Recipe Book

My friend André wanted me to keep this recipe secret, isn’t he selfish? But it’s my mom’s recipe, (her mom’s before her) and she’s ok with sending it out to the world, so why not?

Continue reading…

Have you ever had any of those happy accidents, where you improvise something with leftovers and it turns out to be even better than the original recipe? This recipe was just like that.

Continue reading…

When I first looked at July’s challenge, I panicked a bit. After all, a chocolate covered hazelnut cake with buttercream wasn’t quite what I wanted to be doing, because of several reasons. First of all, hazels are my least favourite nuts, specially when combined with chocolate - I hate Nutella! Continue reading…

Time flies! My adorable niece Helena is already one year old! And what a smart, happy and fun kid she’s turning out to be! My mission for this weekend was to bake her a birthday cake, big enough for a crowd of 50. Scary… Continue reading…

I never got to know my grandmother Isabel very well, as I was only five when she died. And as a kid I always felt I was missing out. Having one grandmother was wonderful, having two would have been even better.

This cupcake recipe was one of my first adventures into baking. I remember doing taking a batch to school, I remember sharing the recipe with friends and teachers, and I remember being proud of it, because it was my grandmother’s recipe and had a little story attached to it. Continue reading…

While my first Daring Bakers Danish Braid was proofing, neatly tucked away, I decided to do something a bit more subtly flavoured and less sweet for the second one. And although most people liked the lemon one best, this one was my personal favourite as I’m a big fan of poached pears. Continue reading…

Daring bakers time again again! This month’s recipe - a Danish laminated dough braid with a filling of our choice - was actually much easier than it seemed at first, ant the end results were very satisfying.

Continue reading…

Another fruit mousse recipe, I know. But this time, it was by accident! This weekend, I was actually going to do some Apple Crêpes, as I have been meaning to post my crêpe recipe in a long time. After all, it’s my favourite recipe, fast fun and very versatile, and I do it at least once a week.
Continue reading…

Yet another chocolate birthday cake!

Truth is, tough to please birthday boy only likes chocolate cake, and even then, he’s very demanding. The brownies I made for him were a bit too dry, Claudia’s cake was a bit too strong… But I’m not one to give up.

Continue reading…

Garlic & Honey is, for me, the ultimate sweet and savoury combination, garlic being, in my opinion, the most savoury of all ingredients and honey the symbol of sweetness itself. I have used this combination in other dishes, like roast chicken or pork ribs, always to great results.

Continue reading…

After postponing for a couple of weekends, I finally declared last Sunday as Daring Baking day, and set out to complete my first Daring Bakers challenge. I must admit, after seeing how long and complex this recipe seemed to be, I was a bit scared of it. As such, I called for help!

Continue reading…

It’s tart, it’s sweet, it’s yummy, but most importantly, it’s fast.

Continue reading…

“Strawberries and cream” are in season, but I decided to turn things around to “Cream and Strawberries” by using my heart-shaped ice tray from IKEA for something other than ice.

In the end, the mini pannacotta hearts on strawberry sauce require a bit of work, so I don’t blame anyone for just popping them in regular jelly moulds. However, after seeing how extremely cute they were, I thought they were totally worth the effort.

You can make both the hearts and the sauce well in advance. Actually, you need to do them in advance, so they have time to thaw once removed from the moulds.

Creamy hearts in strawberry sauce

For the sauce:
2 cups pureed strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbsp Corn flour
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Dissolve the powdered gelatin in a few tablespoons of cold water and let it soak for a bit. Mix the sugar with the cream in a saucepan, and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 3 minutes and then remove from heat. Add the gelatin mixture, stirring until fully mixed. Let it cool for a bit and then pour into the ice trays. Chill and then cover the trays with cling film and freeze until solid.

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan and blend thoroughly. Gradually stir in the water.
Add the pureed strawberries, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Continue to boil about 2 minutes. Pour into serving dishes.

When the sauce is completely cooled, you can remove the ice trays from the freezer. Run them under hot water to help release from the moulds, and them pop them into the sauce. Let them sit in the refrigerator until the hearts thaw completely and regain their jelly softness.

You can use other red fruits for the sauce, raspberry, for instance, is a classic.

Sugar. sugar, sugar! Let’s face it, I’m addicted to desserts, and my friends are starting to hate me when they jump on the scales too see the pounds pilling up. But as we can’t just live on sweets (or so the doctor told me), it’s about time I post a savoury dish around here, don’t you think? Well… mostly savoury, as one of the ingredients is pineapple. But, hey, getting there!

Polka Dot Quiche

250g of mascarpone cheese
2 large eggs
100g wafer thin ham
2 slices of pineapple
14 cherry tomatoes

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Lay the ready rolled pastry on a loose bottom pan and trim off the excess. Of course you can make your own pie crust, if you’re up for it. I wasn’t…

In a big bowl, mix the cheese and the eggs until you have a smooth mixture, and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Roll the ham slices and chop them into thin strips. Finely chop the pineapple slices. Stir the ham and the pineapple to the mix and pour it onto the pie crust. You can use other ingredients in the quiche, like spinach, mushrooms or corn, but i usually like to keep it to just one or two, at most.

Slice the tomatoes in 3, and lay them cut side up on the pie. Sprinkle some oregano and pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until the pastry is done and the top is golden. Serve with some salad greens - Rocket goes nicely with it, for instance.

My friend Cláudia’s was 30 on Friday - Happy B’day C! - and I promised her a proper birthday cake for the dinner party. Continue reading…