Dessert for summer

Indeed, this is more a dessert for summer, when strawberries are in season, but I decided to give it a try anyways. What else could I have done with those not-very-sweet strawberries I had in my fridge. It is very easy to make (don’t tell your guest that) but it looks rather sophisticated and you can prepare it in advance. The only disadvantage of preparing it in advance is that the sugar will stick to the class and it is difficult to do the washing up. 

Serves two:

250 g strawberries

3 tablespoons rum (I used dark, but white is recommended)

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

200 ml whipping cream

1 lime

some sugar for the glasses

 

# Wash the strawberries, remove the stems and cut into four. Place in a bigger bowl, add 2 tablespoons of rum and 1.5 tablespoons of sugar. Gently pressing the strawberries, mix everything together. Be careful not to over-process the strawberries – the end result should be chunky rather than mushy. 

# Grate the lime zest and divide into two portions. Mix one portion to the strawberry-mix.

# Stir whipping cream with the remaining rum, sugar lime zest and the juice of 1 lime and whip until stiff peaks form. 

# Rub the serving glasses with the lime and dip the edges into white sugar. 

# Place strawberry-mix in the bottom of the serving glass and top with the whipping cream. Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to 2-3 hours before serving. 

 

Sugar overdose: Daring Baker’s November challenge

Although I was first frightened by the amount of sugar and butter the DB November challenge asked for, I am so happy I took part of it. The cake was divine and I’m sure I’ll be baking it again, some time when I feel I have lost the kilos I gained with eating this cake. Just kidding. 

The proper name of the cake is Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting by Shuna Fish Lydon, as published on Bay Area Bites. Hereby I would like to say a big thanks to this month’s hosts Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Alex of Blondie and Brownie and Jenny of Foray into Food. They gave good advice on how to improve the cake and what to keep in mind while baking. For the recipe, check here.

First, make the caramel syrup, then bake the cake, prepare the butter cream frosting and assemble. The frosting was truly addictive, although you could literally taste the calories in it…one pice of cake was probably something like 400 calories, if not more…nevertheless, I did not feel bad about eating two pieces of cake after a meal. After all, I earned it for all the hard work I put in making this cake! But if you count everything you eat, I suggest still trying the cake, just search for a lighter frosting, something that does not ask for 12 tablespoons of butter… Enjoy the slideshow!

At the show

Back from the BBC Good Food show. It was excellent! Several hundred square meters of food and wine (and some square meters of pots and pans and other kitchen appliances which were not very popular). It was a great experience, one reason being that I was able to taste many excellent cheeses, chocolate, sausages and  wines and the other reason being of course that I left the show stocked up with freebies. I only have one complaint: I was expecting some more extravagant food and was looking forward for more “dynamic” experience – you  know, there could have been professional sushi chefs preparing beautiful maki rolls on the spot and other such kinds of things. I also found that the organizers had allowed way too many chutney-producers to the show – not that I have anything against chutneys (they were all delicious), but it was pretty, how should I say – boring? – to find seven chutney stalls in a row, each of them selling the same flavors, only in different packages. Nevertheless, 5 hours that I spent there went past quickly. 

Here I want to promote some of the discoveries – make no mistake, I am not being paid for advertising them, I just want to let you know of some new things I found from the show.

If you are looking for delicious cookies with what to surprise someone during the Christmas time, check what  Clever cookie company has to offer. The ones I tasted were very moist and delicious. Or maybe you fancy a freshly baked bread delivered straight to your door? Visit Sould bakery website and place the order. I recommend the date and raisin bread. It still tasted fresh after 1 week in the fridge.  

If you are a fan of granolas, you might want to check Munchy seed’s choice of variety. They have a great pumkin seed oil, which is ideal for is ideal for salad dressing, dipping sauces and drizzling over cooked food. Or just take some bread, dip it into the oil and enjoy. I can’t get enough of it!

One more delicious treat – handmade cheese Cornish Blue. They offer a smooth and creamy Gorgonzola-type cheese, which I believe is a treat to all cheese lovers. 

Now to the drinks. I discovered a great wine which goes well with spicy food: Pink Elephant. Serve it cold and you’ll love it, if you are a fan of fresh and light wines. It is of course more of a summer drink, but why not stock up already for summer BBQ parties?

For a romantic dinner surprise your parter with a sexy aperitif: Hibiscus Champagne. It was quite expensive though…but something very special and unique which makes for example an anniversary dinner very memorable

If you are a fan of cocktails but hate that you need to get a lot of different bottles of expensive drinks to mix a good cocktail, you might want to see what Funkin has to offer. 

I also discovered lovely non-alcoholic drinks. For example, Pixley Berries  surprised me with lovely cordials, which tasted just like the juice my mum made years ago from fresh berries. All of them free from additives and artificial preservatives – something you usually can’t get from the stores nowadays. I highly recommend it and regret that I did not buy any bottles from the show…

There was also a great ginger drink, with a kind of Christmas touch, and it is best when served warm. It is probably a good alternative for mulled wine if there are any people in the company who do not drink alcohol. Check it out: Gran Stead’s Ginger. And last but not least – if you are from Eastern Europe and miss the real “kefir”, try tasting Nourish Kefir. 

I hope you found at least one new product which you were interested in. I know I did

I’m still here

It has been ages since I posted something. 

Again. I think I have just been spending way too much time in the library and way too little in the kitchen. But what can I do…I actually have been trying some new recipes lately, some of them came out nice, some did not.

The other day I prepared Mojito Jell-o shots, and served them with whipping cream for the dessert. I think it is a lovely party snack. Just make sure you don’t use too much rum. And if you don’t have fresh mint at hand, use peppermint tea (and less water). 

J surprised me with banana split the other day, combining ice cream, banana, melted chocolate, cookies and honey. I bet it was something like 2000 calories but it tasted heavenly. I think the presentation was cute, that is why I posted it. 

Talking about surprises – again I had some troubles with squash. As I was shopping for food, I discovered that they sell melons with relatively cheap price, something like 20 pence. So I bought one, a nice and yellow melon, with what I had big plans in the evening. Wanted to prepare some snacks of it, with cheese and some other good stuff. Everything was almost done and it was time to cut the melon. It was only then that I discovered that it was not a melon. It was a squash. How can that be?? How many different squashes are there?? The snacks were ruined and we just had to eat cheese…which actually if you think about, was not that bad after all. 

The next day I prepared pumpkin soup from the squash, which tasted ok, but if you are planning to use this recipe, just try to avoid curry. It’ll kill the tender flavor of the pumpkin and you end up eating something which tastes like curry sauce. 

There was also a pasta dish I have been wanting to prepare for about two months. A recipe which I got from a random organic food cookbook and which featured tagliatelle, hazelnuts, garlic and Parmesan. Among other ingredients, you also had to add 2 tsp cacao to the sauce. I thought it was weird, but I added it anyway and…all went downhill after that. The sauce looked really bad, as you can see. It tasted even worse. And it smelled bad as well. What a waste. So the dinner was ruined. At least it was early, so we could order some nice Indian take-away from the local restaurant.

This is what I love about London, every day I get another leaflet delivered to my mailbox with the information about a new restaurant in the neighborhood, offering cheap food and free delivery. And the food is good!

Also, you have to be smart here – many fast-food chains sell the food cheaper a few hours before the closing. So if it is going to be another long day in the library for me, I reward myself with going by the Bento Cafe on Kingsway (which is on my way to home) which sells their stuff with 50% cheaper prices prior the closing. We were there the other day around 8 PM and managed to get a dinner for two with £6.80. Delicious!

But the most important news – tomorrow I’m heading to the BBC Good Food Show - and I am so very looking forward to it! Hopefully will come back with some inspiration and ideas (and lots of freebies ) and give my blog a little boost before the busy Christmas time. 

Thanks for all of you who still keep visiting.