House of leaves

The cat silhouette

Looking down on pink petals...

A tiny shell...

...or an inverted comma, cute isn't it?

The magenta heart

Nine cookies baked on a Saturday afternoon....

I wonder how long they will last...

Icing sugar on the tiny star...

Mumsy and I love baking on Saturday afternoons; last Saturday we baked a Victoria sponge cake and this little cute star.

A red Gingham heart

Far Breton

Mum and I decided to bake a traditional cake from Brittany, the Far Breton. I think it is one of the easiest and fastest cakes to prepare and it is utterly delicious! I found the recipe at www.epicurious.com

Here is the direct link to the recipe:
www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Far-Breton-231583

During the black out...

...yesterday am we had no electricity for four hours, but we kept busy and our "plan B" was to try this recipe that involves left over panettone, ricotta cheese, chocolate chips and a generous sprinkle of Marsala wine. After an agonising wait, (the zuccotto had to settle in the freezer overnight), finally today at lunch we tucked in, (we behaved, we only had a fairly thin slice), and we were utterly please with the end result.

The recipe is very easy: slice the panettone, mix 500 gr. of ricotta cheese with 125 gr. caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of double cream. Then add the chocolate chips and raisins.

Get a glass bowl, put some cling film inside the bowl and make sure you leave enough cling film over the edge of the bowl because you will need to fold it over the bottom of the prepared zuccotto.
Now you are ready to start layering the base and all around with a first row of panettone, sprinkle with Marsala wine, or ideally with Vin Santo. Pour the ricotta cheese-sugar mix on top, then as you would do when preparing lasagna, add another layer of panettone, more Marsala sprinkled quite generously and again the ricotta cheese-sugar mix on top.

With the dome-like top of the panettone you seal the cake, press down firmly and hold it in place with something heavy. Put the zuccotto in the freezer for at least 12 hours.

When ready to serve, turn the glass bowl upside down on a plate, easy the zuccotto out of the glass bowl and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Zuccotto is utterly delicious! Try it for yourselves and enjoy! Bon appetit!

The pink row

My take on cupcakes...

...that I will bring tomorrow to the Craft Rally event in Sheffield; we were asked to bake a cake for the tea break, alas I am a disaster on legs, especially when it comes to cooking and baking, and I had to start all over again! My plan B was to bake some cupcakes, they look pretty yummy and I have managed not to burn them, LOL!

I guess I need a new baking tray, this one looks pretty yuk!

For those who would like to know more about Craft Rally, here is the link:
http://artspace.org.uk/news/permalink/2010-02/craft-rally-1