Islands in the sky, food & travel

Don't be fooled, this spectacular looking cake is easier to make than it looks!   It's been a while since I baked one of these Scandinavian-inspired kvaefjord cakes, when you're in the mood for crispy toasted almond meringue with a creamy or tangy filling, this beauty checks all the boxes. Here are some tips to keep in mind : I usually freeze egg whites (from previous recipes needing only egg yolks), and this is the perfect way to use up surplus egg whites Choose your filling and make it ahead of time. Sometimes I fill this cake with a pastry cream (the traditional Scandinavian way), other times with a lemon curd, and this time with pistachio cream and cherries  Make your buttercream ahead of time as they often need cooling time in the refrigerator to set Use parchment or wax paper to line your cake pans for a quick removal of cake. I often have seasonal fruits to pick, gather, buy at the market, or are given by friends from their harvest... I had some cherries from this ...

If you love chewy, gooey cookies with a rich caramel flavor, this recipe can quickly become your favorite. I use it for cookie cakes, cookie bars, or as classic chocolate chip cookies. With a little decoration (like frosting, sprinkles, or candies) it can even double as a birthday cake. What makes this recipe special is simple : its rich caramel flavor and tenderness. Once baked, the cookies have a soft center with golden edges, and stay soft for a few days. Some things to note :  Brown sugar adds molasses flavor and moisture. This makes the cookies chewy, their toasty color and gives them a distinctive caramel taste. Gentle mixing keeps cookies thick and tender. Overmixing builds gluten, which makes them spread (melt when baking) and hard. Letting the dough rest overnight hydrates the flour, firms the butter, and develops richer flavors. I’ve played around with fillings too, from chocolate hazelnut cream and marshmallows to pistachio cream or even speculoos spread with chocolate...

It's a fun challenge trying to find ideas to bake with cherries, our cherry tree being plentiful this year, and the cherries were particularly sweet and juicy.  So after the clafoutis, and after the Black Forest, we mustn't forget a classic cherry cheesecake!   I've tried different cheesecake recipes, no-bake, gluten-free, chocolate... but this time, I'm going to stick to a delicious, tried and true creamy New York style cheesecake, which has served me well with very few mishaps.  The thing about cheesecakes is... they can be really easy to start off as the ingredients are basic : cream cheese (make sure you get the brand name, the generic types are more watery), sugar, eggs ... but what gets tricky is cooking times and texture, and it's all about understanding these two things and keeping an eye on the baking time as each oven varies. Here's the recipe I often fall back on : Cookie crust :  150 g or 1 cup mix of butter cookies,  30 g sugar,  50 g butter,...

Clafoutis is one of my favorite French words because it can make me feel like I’m cursing or insulting someone, "You club-foot-id i o t. » Ok, only me ?! Never mind... It’s also the most delicious flan, so that’s double the fun, and the best part is it's quite easy to make. I often make different kinds depending on the fruits of the season and here you have pictures of an all cherry version, because our tree was so abundant with cherries just ready to harvest. Here's the recipe : 3 eggs 1/2 cup sugar (100 g) 3/4 cup flour (110 g) 1 cup milk (250 ml) 1 teaspoon vanilla or half teaspoon vanilla bean 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons melted butter 1/2 pound of cherries (300 g) Preheat oven to 350° F / 180° C.  Butter a deep dish, pan or ramekin. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until you get a smooth batter. Add milk, flour, vanilla, salt, melted butter. Place the cherries (remove stems, but no need to remove pits) in the pan or ramekin. Pour the batter over the cherries. Bak...

Here's a version of a Victoria sponge cake that kind of evolved on its own. This is a fairly straightforward layer cake. It involves 2 cake disks, buttercream and strawberry jam, decorated thereafter with some powdered sugar, or more cream and strawberries. I did, however, take liberties... Well, first of all, I didn't have any jam but I did have strawberries so made a quick jam by simmering about a dozen diced strawberries, a couple tablespoons of sugar and a star anise which I love adding lately to all jams (try it with fig jam, awesome combination).  But I digress... use some jam if you have some at home!  I also swirled one of the disks with raspberry reduction, mixed with a bit of the batter to add some color.  (Also, no need to do this except for a bit of fun or if you're always experimenting like me). Here's the rest of the recipe made with 2 eggs, a sign of the times : Batter: 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine 1 cup of sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup of milk or juice...

This was actually another accidental cake!  I had been wanting to make one of these checkerboard cakes for a while, and one day, I realized I had all the ingredients ready to go in my freezer, so in essence it went pretty quickly.  I often make cake disks and use them for cakes I'm making, and freeze extra disks for later use. So I had 2 chocolate cake disks and 2 vanilla cake disks in the freezer.  All that was needed was the cream and that went pretty easily since I also had some chocolate mousse frosting I had made previously. This was my first attempt, and although it was far from perfect (leaning to one side, lol), it turned out much better and easier than I expected. For tips, I would say 1) have some good cake cutters (I used glass cups and it's not ideal) 2) spread the frosting fairly thinly in between the layers in order to see the checkboard pattern 3) if you freeze cake disks or frosting ahead of time, it is a time saver, in a delulu kind of way 4) the wow fact...

Whenever I'm craving a special, creamy, silky, chocolate dessert, I make this silk tarte.   First, I made a chocolate crust. Then it was as easy as making a chocolate ganache by melting chocolate and blending it with a milk and cream mixture. Here's the recipe. Chocolate crust : 1/2 cup (110 g) unsalted butter (softened) 1 cup (125 g) flour (or gluten-free flour blend with xanthan gum) 1/4 cup (30 g) almond flour 1/3 cup (60 g) confectioners sugar 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon sea salt Knead butter and flours together, add sugar, cocoa, vanilla, salt and egg.  Knead about 2 minutes, to get a non-sticky texture (does not stick to finger).  Cover and allow to cool in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Preheat oven 175°C (350° F).  Line a pan (or individual tarte moulds) with parchment paper, roll the dough on a flat surface and flatten to an 1/8 inch thickness, cut out round forms, then transfer to pan....