Islands in the sky, food & travel

Hello, everyone! Now that it's the season... Had quite a bit of fun making this yule log.  I was dreaming of a red and white Santa-inspired cake with raspberries. I was so pleased with the result, the cake was so soft and not too sweet, the cream light and the raspberries added that perfect tanginess and sweetness. Here's the recipe for the pink velvet and raspberry base: 60 g cooking oil 80 g milk 100 g cake flour 70 g sugar + 3 tablespoons more for the egg whites 6 eggs, separated 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon of coffee extract 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon red gel food color + fresh raspberries, rinsed and pat dried + macarons, candies, sprinkles to decorate Cream cheese frosting 200 g heavy whipping cream 200 g softened cream cheese 50 g confectioners sugar 1 teaspoon lemon juice Preheat hoven 340° F / 170° C. Line a large rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper (I used a 13" x 17" pan). In a bowl, whisk cooking oil, milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, salt...

Just a quickie recipe because I'm getting requests for this no-bake triple chocolate cheesecake. I'm so pleased with how it turn out, the last one I made was a tad too soft and didn't hold together and the texture this time was perfect : firm, soft and creamy over a crunchy crust.  Also, with the previous one being too soft it was difficilt to get out of the mold and this time, I had a few tricks up my sleeve to avoid that disaster (wish I could have filmed that!) For the crust, I didn't have any chocolate biscuits so I made my own chocolate cookie crust using, but I did bake it a bit to get the crunchiness:  2 cups or 270 g butter cookies 4 tablespoons butter 1/8 cup Dutch process cocoa powder 2 tablespoons finely crushed white chocolate  1/2 teaspoon sea salt Pulverise the butter cookies. Add cocoa powder. Soften butter and mix with cookie mixture.  Add white chocolate bits and salt.  The texture should be dry and crumbly and not too sticky so you can press it...

Hi guys ! A bit late but I did say I would post this recipe, which was a fun cake to put together for a birthday.  I layered pink velvet and fudge brownie cakes with vanilla cream and candied cherries to make this Pink Black Forest cake for October Rose (breast cancer awareness month). Believe it or not, I didn't have fresh cherries, since it was late in the season, but here is reason to believe you can use frozen or preserved cherries and it works out well too. To be honest, I did make this cake over the space of 2 days. First I preserved the cherries, then made one cake layer and refrigerated everything.  The next day I made another cake layer, as well as the cream and assembled it.  Start with preparing the cherries. In a medium saucepan, over low heat, add 400-500 g of frozen or preserved (unsweetened in water) whole pitted cherries and 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of kirsch. Once simmering, add 1-1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch until dissolved and...

I'm posting this easy recipe not because I think anyone needs it, you can find similar ones on the net, but because I need to find this recipe easily, ha!  These fondants are truly so good.  I shouldn't give away this recipe because my friends come especially to our house when I tell them I made these (it's the sea salt and almond extract), but I'll find another reason for them to come by. Batter recipe : 100 g softened butter 150 g baker's chocolate 100 g sugar 2 eggs 30 g flour 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon almond extract 1/2 teaspoon sea-salt (fleur de sel) Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan.  Allow to cool  to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 200° C / 390° F. In a bowl, mix sugar and eggs until you get a creamy light yellow texture.  Add melted chocolate mixture, then fold in flour, extracts and salt and mix until you get a uniform batter.  Spoon or ladle into ramequins or non-stick cupcake molds.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until th...

Time for a little magic, guys. There is a chocolate version of this famous "impossible" flan but I've tried a vanilla cake version for a change.  First time making this and I was a bit nervous at first but really pleased with the result.  It really does work! I love the mixture of creamy custard over a cake base.  I usually make a custard with a dozen eggs so was interested to see how a 3-egg custard would turn out.  With the slow cooking and water bath it turned out suprisingly velvety and delicious. The caramel also did its job of giving that rich color and bold taste. Here's the recipe :  Flan : 1 cup granulated sugar (for the caramel) 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk (I didn't have any so replace it with cream) 3 large eggs, room temperature 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Start with making the caramel.  Melt 1 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it melts and becomes a med...

Hey, everyone! I've gotten requests for this, a favorite milkbread recipe, or pandesal (rolled in breadcrumbs), also great for buns and morning rolls or as twists with fruit or caramel. Pandesal dough : 1-1/2 tablespoon of active dry yeast in 1/8 cup lukewarm water (not hot) 1-1/4 cup milk (warm) 1 egg 5 tablespoons of softened butter 4 cups (to 4-1/2) all purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon sea salt +1 cup breadcrumbs for rolling dough + or fruit or preserves for stuffing Line a pan with parchment paper. Mix dissolved yeast, milk, flour and sugar in a bowl.  Add egg, softened butter and salt and knead until softened (about 10 minutes).  Allow to rise about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.  Punch air bubbles out of dough and divide dough to make 6-8 parts.  Roll into balls and fold each ball into itself 3-4 times.  Roll the ball in breadcrumbs and place in pan, leaving space between the rolls to grow.  Allow to rise about 30 minutes to an hour  Preheat oven to 180...

My kids had a birthday to celebrate so I made the cakes and they decorated. I used to do this when my children were small, set up a table for them to decorate cookies or gingerbread houses, even had parties like this, and to this day, they like assembling treats and are good cooks. Here's the batter recipe I often use which you can find in my other recipes (mocha sponge, apple cider cake...) : Cotton sponge cake recipe : 4 eggs, separated 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar 1-1/4 cup (180 g) cake flour 3/4 cup (150 g) confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup cider (60 g) (French kind, or 4.5% alcohol) or beer or carbonated water 1/4 cup (60 g) sour cream (or thick cream) 1/4 cup (60 g) milk (as needed) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 180° F / 350° C.  Line pan with parchment paper.  I used a 7" spring-form pan and a small fluted brioche mold. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add granulated sugar a little at a time and continue...