The sun was shining high when he came into our world, so beautiful, so calm & strong… he brought the love… He’s my little teacher, my friend, joy. He’s my first-born. He’s with us! And I’m so grateful.
I was listening to Dead can dance album ‘Toward the Within’ for half a day while dancing around the kitchen….My favourite. Now even this music will have memories of his & my big day…
Gingerbread man on sticks recipe. Great little something to share your special day with friends. We brought these for classmates and they made people smile. Wrapped in paper bags they would be perfect for party bags.
Cake recipe. A successful modification: agave instead of sugar (used about 70ml, mixed with buttermilk). The filling is just ricotta cheese with lemon juice and agave. I wanted to try to colour the dough, using natural colourants : raspberries for pink, carrot juice + turmeric for yellow and spirulina for green. Next time I would swap beetroot juice for pink and would use saffron for a deeper yellow. And would bake the cake in a wider tin…
Celebrations continue.
]]>For example: tested many times, praised by others and so loved by my family – a dough recipe, that with a bit of correction and the house fills up with vanilla smell again. For your table and your tummies – sugarless muffins or cake with berries.
100g butter or vegetable spread
284ml soured cream or natural yoghurt (I use plain soya one)
2 large org. eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
280g plain flour (I use whole spelt or wholemeal, can be 50×50)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
200g caster sugar (I only used 2 brushed off spoons of agave syrup, sometimes honey or black molasses)
4 tsp. poppy seeds
140g fresh or frozen berries (summer berries, winter ones or cranberries)
Leave on the rack to cool before you ‘demolish’ the final thing. You also could spoon over some maple or agave syrup and eat while they are still warm. Whatever way you choose – enjoy!
Kad cukrus is ilgamecio draugo gali patapti nedraugu – isitikinau, bet zmogus neprivalai but kokia ten be galo stipria asmenybe ir visiskai ignoruoti maista, kuris kazkuo pasaldintas. As salduma megstu. Subtilu. Kuomet burnon keliaujantys skanestai neapsaldina kuno, bet paspalvina kasdienybe. Eh. Yra desertiniu patiekalu kuriuos vien mintyse pasigaminus seiles per lupa ilgai varva… Bet dabar toks laikmetis, man cukraus negalima… Tad kas lieka? Alternatyvos. Va kas. O ju yra. Ir visai neblogu.
Stai pvz mano seniai patikrintas, kitu isgirtas ir seimos pamiltas teslos receptukas, kuri kiek pakoregavus namuose pakvipo vanile. Jusu stalui ir skrandziui – becukriai keksiukai arba pyragas su vaisiais
Teslon desim:
100g nesudyto sviesto augalinio pakaitalo
284ml grietines arba naturalaus jogurto (tinka ir sojos)
2 didesni kiausiniai
1arb.s. vaniles ekstrakto
1-os citrinos tarkuota zievele
280g miltu (labai gerai naudojasi ir speltos ir rupesni kvietiniai, galima per puse)
2arb.s. kepimo milteliu
1arb.s. sodos
1/2 arb.s. druskos
200g cukraus (as naudoju agave sirupa, medu, juodaji molases… dedu vos 2 nubrauktus saukstus pasirinktinai)
4 arb.s. aguonu
140g svieziu ar saldytu uogu (spanguoles, braskes, avietes, serbentai… )
Orkaite isildoma iki 190C. Istirpdytas sviestas paliekamas atvesti, tuomet imaisom greitine ar jogurta, kiausinius, citrinos zievele ir vaniles ekstrakta. Kitame dubenyje sumaisom visus sausuosius produktus. Supilame skystaja mase, lengvai ismaisome. Suberiam uogas ir vel pamaisom. Jei kepami keksiukai, i spec forma susideliojama keksiuku popierinius krepselius, dosniai juos pripildome tesla ir kepame apie 20-25min. kol graziai paruduoja. Visada patikrinu mediniu dantu krapstuku ar gaminys iskepes. Isimtus is orkaites paliekam atvesti, o toliau tai jau kas kaip.Galima apslakstyti klevu ar agavo syrupu ir valgyt dar siltus…
Kepant pyrago varijanta, zema forma istepu sviestu, pripildau tesla ir lygiai taip pat, kepu 20-25 min.
These were with frozen summer berries: raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants
Cia puikuojasi keksiukai su saldytom vasarinem uogom: avietem, gervuogem, serbentais
and this beauty – with fresh cranberries
o cia – grazuolis su spanguolem
The berries work wonders, you don’t miss sweetness (unless, of course, you love deserts to be obviously sweet) in these and the moist and soft texture doesn’t leave your taste buds doubting whether it’s some sort of bread, or realla a reminder of a cake you’re munching. It’s good and in moderation – much better than the sweeter version. I think.
Uogos pagrindines darbininkes, nepasigesit saldumo (nebent jus megstat akivaizdziai saldzius desertus) situose ir dregna, svelni tekstura jusu skonio receptoriu neuzklausines ar duona kazkokia valgot ar tikra pyrago uzuomina. Tikrai geras, o saikingai vartojant – daug geresnis nei saldzioji versija. Taip galvoju.
]]>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
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!
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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!
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