It was my dearest person’s birthday yesterday. Very important day and so a very big but nice task pressed down on my shoulders.

I’ve been thinking, this whole present giving ritual that so many of us expect on our birthdays is not really something we do in our family. Kids do get something special from their wish list, but us big ones, we try to just be part of a great celebration and make sure the ‘birthday person’ will have something that will lift him or her up and hopefully will leave something lovely to remember. So with that all in mind, I’ve offered our oldest son to make something for Karsten, that would pass as ‘especially for you’ and more importantly -’ with love’. Mr. K loves to eat. And he loves a good treat. So this time it was very easy. We chose biscotti.

My boy added, peeled, mixed and giggled as his very first biscotti was being made. I had to do the cutting, and brushing with the oil part, but the rest was done well without my help (not that there is that much to do anyway)

And the result was good. They look great, taste great and it made K very happy. Even though the surprise was ‘spoiled’ by a 3.5 year old announcing first thing in the morning before the big day that ‘we made biscuits for you daddy, it’s your birthday surprise’… bless those little darlings!

Next day it was my turn to bake. I spent quite a bit of time looking for the right cake. Wanted something new, something quarantined to taste more than good and something that doesn’t take too long to get to the final result. It was a French style yoghurt cake with lemon that made the honours. And if you haven’t tried one yet – this should be the next thing you will bake. Ours is gone. Two adults and two little mouths – in one day. That’s the reference. And if any of you did hear me talking something about ‘reaching my normal weight very soon’ you will have to wait longer till you see the results. Even too tight jeans will not stop me from making (and eating!) one of those French yoghurt cake variations again soon! Gosh… that’s not the right attitude is it?

Recipe is from here. Again: 50×50 whole wheat and plain flour, 180gr of raw sugar, red palm – canola oil, some ground almonds, 1,5 grated lemon zest and some frozen summer berries (blackcurrants, redcurrants, blackberries, raspberries).

Plus to all those good calories from sweet things we also went to a Spanish tappas place and stuffed ourselves with delight. Ah, good food and a good birthday goes so well together!

I’m detoxing myself today

Who doesn’t like a good treat? Well, I’m sure there are some people who would say they choose savoury or something else  instead of anything sweet, but me – I’m a sweet tooth girl. Not too sweet, but still – a bit of sugar in my life does me good. And the baking process… the mixing, the smell that travels around the house and tickles your taste buds and makes you feel happier – hmmmm… It’s a perfect therapy! So I bake…

Here we have a simple ‘honey cake’ recipe, but since we did not use any of it, it has to be renamed into a ‘molases cake’ (although it’s very yummy with honey too)

Ingredients:

3 eggs (separated)

1 glass of milk

250 g butter

200 g honey (in our version it’s 4 heap spoons of black molases)

500g flour (in our case 250 plain and 250 wholegrain)

1 tsp baking powder

4 tsp cacao or carob powder

3 tsp mixed spice (ground: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, coriander seed, caraway)

100 g  chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 220C/ gas 7/fan 200C and lightly grease a cake pan. Dust with flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cacao and mixed spice.
In a large bowl,  cream together molases  and egg yolks. Add milk and melted butter. Add flour. Whisk the egg whites and gently fold it in the rest of the dough. Add walnuts.
Working in two or three additions, alternately add flour mixture and milk to the sugar mixture. Stir only until just combined, then gently stir in the diced pears.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean and the cake is brownish in color.
Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving if you wish.

Now, how about some very quick and very easy morning buns? Can be vegan if you choose! Originally it’s a scone recipe, but we change it a bit and those buns taste even better.

It takes 25 minutes. Makes 5-6, easily doubled and can be frozen after baking.

225g self raising flour ( I use wholegrain spelt)

1/4 tsp salt

50g butter (I used vitaquell spread), chilled, cut in small pieces

25g caster sugar (1 heap tbsp black molases is even better)

I also add 1 spoon carob syrup

125ml buttermilk (we substitude it with plain soya yogurt)

4 tbsp full fat milk (or soya)

a handful of linseed, sunflower seeds, rasins or anything else you want

I also put 1 tsp mixed spice and grated zest of an orange

a little extra flour for dusting

Preheat the oven to 220C/ gas 7/fan 200Cand lightly butter a baking sheet (unless you’re using a non stick sheet). Tip the flour into a mixing bowl with the salt. Shoot in the butter, then rub together with your fingers to make a reasonably fine crumbed mixture, lifting to aerate the mixture as you go. Try not to overrub, as the mixture will be lighter if it’s  a little bit flaky. Now stir in the sugar. If you’re using molases, mix is with the buttermilk or yoghurt.

Mix milk with buttermilk/yoghurt. Make a bit of well in the middle of the flour mixture with a round – bladed knife, then pour in buttermilk mixture. Using knife, gently work the mixture – just cut it till you get a soft, sticky dough. Don’t overwork at this point or you’ll toughten the dough.

Put the dough out of the bowl on to a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough gently with your hands to a thickness of no less than 2cm and no more than 2.5cm. Dip cutter into a bowl of flour , then cut out the buns. Place on the baking sheet and dust it with flour.Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and golden/brown.

Eat them as fresh as you can and smile!

and especially if you’re looking for ways to still have something sweet to treat yourself with, want something baked,  but also want a healthier sort of version….

Last night I went through some vegan blogs and found this very very simple recipe. Modified it a bit to suit our own needs and yes… these muffins were so so good, moist and delicious that it needs to be shared

3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup oil or melted margarine (I used sunflower oil)
1 cup sugar (I opted for 2 generous spoons of pure black molasses instead)
2 cups flour (I used wholegrain spelt)
1 tsp. salt (only used half)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional—see other options listed below) our muffins were with sunflower seeds & raisins

• Mash bananas (overripe ones make the best bread). Add oil/margarine and sugar. Mix well.
• Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together and add to the banana mixture. Mix until the flour is blended (do not beat).
Pour into muffin pans or a bread pan and bake at 360°F  gas 5 until a toothpick comes out clean.

Optional: Add a handful of walnuts, oatmeal, raisins, chocolate chips, currants, coconut, or all of the above!

I’m still drooling if I look at that picture… so good they were. Too good.

Among many many good things that Britain brought into my life I’m gonna mention scones today.  Plain ones, with raisins, cheese or cherries… but most importantly with a cup of  tea – I love scones so much, that to prove my love I bake them very often. My current best version is a wholemeal ones with shopped apricots, sultanas and raisins. I get them ready for breakfast and I’m not gonna say the number – all of them are gone (somewhere) by the end of the day.

I’ve also found a great apple cake recipe

and a new Polish recipe that makes  really yummy Christmas cookies

50g butter

1 tbsp golden syrup or honey (I used honey)

50g light brown sugar

225g plain flour

3tsp mixed spices (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon..)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3tbsp milk

1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Melt the butter, syrup or honey and sugar in a pan. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the melted butter mixture, milk and egg yolk. Mix to a soft dough.

Kneed until smooth, then roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Stamp out forms using cookie cutters. Place on the baking sheets. Make a hole in each if you wish to hang them up later. Bake for 10 minutes, until a slightly darker shade.

Speaking of cookies, I had to make some for my kids school’s Christmas fair. I used simple gingerbread dough and decorated it with the icing. No idea how successful they were, but it was fun making these.

Ok. Next up buckwheat pancakes

Made from  wholewheat and buckwheat flour (50/50). My kids actually love them. I also substitute normal sugar for black molasses, it not only is healthier, tastes better, but also makes the pancakes look brownish, so my kiddos call our pancakes ‘the chocolate ones’

So that’s baking. Now making. Lina and her goodies. Already in my shop

I also have a bigger bear that needs to be finished… and a couple of other things…  so I might do my last shop update next Tuesday night, but no promises here

That’s it. The sun outside is calling – have a great Sunday!

I read somewhere, that around one month priory to your birthday you’re supposed to take it all easy, as apparently it’s quite a serious time, where no big decisions, plans, acts are recommended… It’s all about preserving, thinking, charging up and leaving the lot for latter. And all of the above was crossed over in my life last week. Will report later if that turned to be a good thing. Phew. Any volunteers to keep fingers crossed for me?

Here are a couple of things I’m allowed to talk about:

I’ve managed to bake 53 cookie medals (had to modify the recipe to use far less sugar and add some lovely spices) for kids from my son’s school for a fun sporty afternoon in a park that me and my darling have pooled together (I’m too proud to not to mention it – sorry!!! ).

And yes, at last, I’ve made toys and they are not bears!

What do you think? Opinions needed I think I’m going to explore more outside the teddy theme That doesn’t mean I’m saying ‘no more’ to my grizzly bears

OK. That will have to be it for now. Will be back next week. Enjoy yours! x

Baking. Spicy honey cookies are the essential dessert for our Christmas, but this year I’ve made these already twice in the last 6 days and personally am feeling like I would rather skip sweet stuff at the moment and it’s not even Christmas yet! Maybe that’s for the better…

The recipe is very simple and the result very yummy:

500 g self raising flour
100 g butter
200 g honey
100 g sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons of ready mixed spices (cinnamon, coriander seed, caraway, nutmeg, ginger, cloves)
grated rind of 1 orange

100 g almonds finely chopped

Preheat oven to 200C°. Grease 2 baking sheets.

Melt the honey, sugar and butter together. Take off the heat and let it cool down. Stir the flour, baking powder, spices and nuts in a separate bowl. Once the honey mixture has cooled down, mix in the eggs. Add the flour, orange rind and mix until blended. Gather mixture into a ball, wrap in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll out the mixture about 8-10mm thick. Stamp out some shapes and place them on the sheets. Brush the cookies with the egg yolk. Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.

Nothing too special, but these ended up as a symbolic ‘Thank you’ for our oldest son’s teachers.

And some ended up in my tummy… or quite a few… a lot of them actually. Eh. They are good!

We have now officially switched in to a relax mode.

All is ready, no more rushing. Time to appreciate, time to enjoy. I’ve been very happy.

Have a lovely Christmas.