Islands in the sky, food & travel

Here’s another fun cake roll to bake, a Bailey’s chocolate sponge that’s actually flourless! A light chocolate cake with a delicate Bailey’s mascarpone cream filling, and sweet summer strawberries to offset, what more could we ask when you need a bit of chocolate love and comfort ?! Here’s what you’ll need : 4 eggs, separated 120 g caster sugar 2 heaping teaspoons of cornstarch 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2-3 tablespoons milk 2 teaspoons Bailey's Irish Cream (I used Bailey’s Caramel) Pinch of salt Cream filling 200 g mascarpone or cream cheese 2 tablespoons sour cream 1/2 cup powdered sugar 3 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream Strawberries or other fruits to garnish Preheat oven 180 C (350 F). Line oiled rectangular pan with wax paper. Separate eggs. In a bowl, beat egg whites until stiff and you can literally turn bowl over. In a separate bowl, blend yolks, sugar milk, Irish cream and other dry ingredients until creamy. Gently fold egg whites into ...

  Hey, friends! How about a tangy yet sweet and all together fluffy Italian cake this week? This is a take on my Italian friend, Corinne’s, lemon and almond caprese, with absolutely no flour. You know how a cake flavor brings back a certain country or region or even the warmth of summer days where you once tasted that dolce or sweet? This dessert certainly carries the warmth of southern Italy, and brings back memories of cliffside Mediterranean towns overgrown with lemons. The Sorrentine coast is overrun with orange and lemon trees, vineyards and olive trees in their terrassed glory.  The fragrance during the springtime can be deliciously overwhelming. Considered since antiquity as a place of great physical beauty and diversity, the Amalfi Coast beyond Sorrento and the island of Capri, the namesake of this cake, is suspended between sea and mountain, and also a UNESCO world heritage site.  Legend has it that the chef “forgot” to add flour to this cake and the ...

Throughout the years, we’ve visited the castle of Versailles countless times, because, well, it’s stupendous. It’s beautiful during the different seasons, the garden is a delightful visit in itself, the outlying extensions of the Petit Trianon and the Hameau are day visits on their own, and it’s just a few minutes away from our house. I also worked for years not too far away from the castle grounds so saw it near every day. Lastly, one of our friends was an administrator there, who would invite us to galas in a fairy-tale decor and would show us access (with a very large  key) to things beyond the public realm. Au fil des ans, nous avons visité le château de Versailles un nombre incalculable de fois, parce que c’est tout simplement formidable. C'est beau pendant les différentes saisons, son jardin est une visite agréable en soi, le Petit Trianon et le Hameau sont des visites à faire pour une journée, et c'est à quelques minutes de notre maison. J’ai également travaillé pendant...

At a query about what to do with egg whites? Well you’ve come to the right blog! I am the egg white doer-upper! For years, I would throw out egg whites when a recipe called only for yolks. But wait, here’s what you can do, you can freeze them for later use. Tell family members “in the freezer there’s a glass, do not touch it !” (You can skip this step if it does not apply to you.) And every time you have an egg white just add to the glass and freeze. You can use a jam jar or glass and just cover it, add a post-it to remember how many egg whites you’ve added. When you’re ready to defrost, leave on the kitchen counter at least 5-7 hours. Once at room temperature you can whip them up nicely like I did here for a pavlova roll. Vous vous posez la question quoi faire avec les blancs d'œufs? Eh bien, vous êtes au bon blog! Je suis Madame la magicienne du blanc d'oeuf! Pendant des années, je jetais des blancs d'œufs lorsqu'une recette ne demandait que des jaunes...

There’s a small window of time roses become rampant in our garden after laying dormant all winter. And it’s now. If the weather is nice, as it has been lately, with a couple of weeks of bright sunshine and quite warm days, they bloom and become glorious. In the evenings the air is sweet and fragrant and has you breathing in deep and fills you with a kind of giddy happiness. At the same time, our magnolia tree is in bloom. A bit of competition. The pointy white flowers are hidden in the thick leaves but I know they are there. You only need to leave the window slightly open and with a slight breeze a whiff will bring the sweet delicate perfume in the house. Beyond the wall the hydrangeas are timidly growing, still tender buds at the moment awaiting the full onset of summer, when they too will take their turn at being the center of attention. The flowers were once a blueish lavender when they were young shrubs, now years on down and matured, they have become a ...