Islands in the sky, food & travel

Hello everyone !  This isn't particularly blueberry season, but cheesecake is almost always wonderful with them, so blueberry cheesecake it is !  Especially after the madness months of holiday baking, it was nice to whip up something that set in the fridge. I have to be honest, no-bake cheesecake can be tricky.  I've had disaster moments ! Once in a while for no apparent reason, the cheesecake filling doesn't set and there's no understandable reason why even after following the recipe like a mad scientist (with funny glasses). Here's what I've learned since this recipe includes no eggs or flour, nothing really holds it together     - always use a spring form pan.  Without this, it is difficult to remove the cake from the pan and it is often quite delicately set in the first place     - have the crust not only cover the bottom, but rise up the sides about 1-1/2 - 2 inches.  In case the filling is a tad too soft, at least the crust holds it tog...

Well it's my favorite time of the year again.   No, I don't like rainy and cold weather, I'm not that bonkers. When it comes to baking that is, and taking advantage of the variety of harvests this season.  I always feel silly posting recipes for time-honored classics like this pie, because the recipes are everywhere and I think, why waste my time?!  Well, now I realize it isn't quite a waste of time.  Because not only do I myself look for these recipes through my blog, as well as my children, but friends and followers say they appreciate the easy approach and anecdotes (what anecdotes?!) and so my work is done (deep voice)...I shall persevere... I do tend to bake fairly easy-to-bake recipes, primarily because that's really the way I cook, I don't like fuss and like a lot of you, I work and don't have much more than an hour or two to whip something up.  Therefore, let it be something goooood. Here's my go-to shortbread crust that I use almost ALL the time...

Hello everyone, it's been a while! I've been busy with work which has picked up somewhat.  Hope you're also keeping fit and still able to enjoy the beauty of autumn. I have requests for the recipe for these walnut tarts which are fairly easy to make. Friends gave us a bushel of nuts so I spent an afternoon cracking them and then toasting them to bring out the crispiness, oil and flavor but so worth it.  The mini-tarts or pies were therefore crunchy and flavorful, the shortbread crust buttery and crumbly. I usually make a large batch of dough for 1 large pie and 6 smaller ones, and end up keeping half the dough in the fridge/freezer for later treats. Here's the recipe : 150 g softened butter 4 tablespoons sugar 4 tablespoons of cream or buttermilk 260 g flour 2-3 tablespoons of milk (as needed) 1 teaspoon of salt Filling :  2 cups lightly toasted walnuts 1 cup caramel (made from caramel candies or 1 cup brown sugar / 1 cup whipping cream). Mix all ingredients in a bowl, ...

Just in time for the onset of autumn, I made this cake inspired by Asian sponge cakes, but added cider and cream and it did wonders for the texture.   While the mamon, or filipino sponge cake is topped with sweetened shredded cheese (I omitted this) and the Japanese kind is delightfully jiggly and cheesecake-like (I did not add cream cheese), this is slightly more dense, moist and light. With the amount of batter below, I made a medium sized cake and 6 smaller cakes in which I added raspberries. Give it a try and tell me what you think: 4 eggs, separated 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1-1/4 cup cake flour 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup cider (French kind, or 4.5% alcohol) or beer 1/4 cup sour cream (or thick cream) 1/4 cup milk (as needed) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt. Preheat oven to 180° F / 350° C.  Line pans with parchment paper.  I used one 9 inch flower shaped pan and 6 smaller 3 inch tart tins. Beat egg whites until sof...

This is an absolute favorite comfort food, so simple and so tricky at the same time !  I'll get to the tricky part in a minute. As you may know, the legend says that this was a mistake, one of the Tatin sisters accidentally dropped the tarte and it flipped over, resulting in this famous version of caramelized apples on top of a crust.  (The only time I accidentally flipped a cake, it in no way became a legend). However, this legend has been debunked as the sisters weren't known to be clumsy, on the contrary they were known to be the astute business owners of a highly reputed restaurant.  Originally from the  central Sologne region of France, this tarte seems to go back generations, sometimes made with apples, sometimes pears, the recipe handed down for generations. So back to this week's celebration cake, since September is a birthday month for me, as well as for some of my closest friends, I thought why not make this a birthday cake, even if it's not your typical la...

You may be wondering why I was obsessed with guava with the amounts of Instagram guava pastry posts.  That's not it.  I never knew much about guava before (other than juice).  It was just that my cousin had bushels of the fruit, they were were so ripe and just falling off his trees, so we would get a load delivered to the house weekly.  The scent is intoxicating, and the flavor delicate and exotic. I would look at the guava and think, what can I do with this (other than smoothies and soups for the tangier ones, believe it or not, a filipino regional specialty), not a fruit I'm accustomed to working into cakes.  I learned how to make a guava cream gelatin so created this soft sponge cake with whipped cream frosting and guava gelatin in between and on top.  The pink is so surprising, both as a color and taste, which is almost pure guava.   Also, this was the last photo shoot I did in Arizona before coming back to France. The dessert bloom was specta...

In this series of birthday cakes for my birthday month (as well as so many friends and family, and I do celebrate them with these cakes), here's the next entry : chocolate, apricot and mocha!  I'm not gonna lie, they do take time but something I've learned to do with several-layer cakes, I make them over a 2 (or 3) day period.  First I make the mousse or gelatin layers and refigerate overnight. The next day I bake the cakes and assemble.  Maybe I'm fooling myself but it seems like much less work.   Ok, I am fooling myself, but it's a habit now and several-layer cakes seem to go faster.  Like with this cake, I made the mousse and white chocolate frosting first and let them set overnight, whipping them only once assembling the cake.  The next day I made the brownie layer and the dacquoise and assembled it.  So it's actually just a few minutes a day.  Also, I sometimes make different cakes so I'll make 2 dacquoises and use one layer for this moc...