Profiterole with Lychee Ice-Cream and Cherry Chocolate Sauce

Are you ready for something different,
Profiterole with Lychee ice-cream and Cherry Chocolate Sauce

Hay Hay its Donna Day finally.

Do I here drum rolls? Yup, for this is one of those food blogging event that I so am excited to join since my last partaking (you can check my pizza recipe here). HHDD is a food blogging event immortalizing all the kitchen and palate tested recipes of Donna Hay created by Barbara but its now Bron that will take care of it from now. Would you believe that I never realized I have a book of her stuck in the middle of all my french and japanese cooking book. :-)

HHDD 21st edition is being hosted by Suzana of Home Gourmet, a great blogger from Portugal (I just love her dessert recipes, you should go and check). And for this edition she has chosen a delicious and a challenging theme to play with: the Chou, that fluffy thing perfect for savory and sweet recipes. If you love chou and want to join the fun you can find the guidelines here and Chou your recipe.

Choux Pastry
Adapted from Donna Hay's magazine, Issue 35

1 cup (8 fl oz) water (240 ml)
100 grs (3 ½ oz) unsalted butter
¾ cup (112 ½ grs / 4 oz) plain all-purpose flour
5 eggs

Place the water and butter in a saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil. Put the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (360ºF). Continue stirring over low heat until the mixture leaves the side of the pan. Remove from the heat. Pour in an electric mixer and beat on high, gradually adding the eggs until well combined. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with 12mm (½ in) plain nozzle and pipe 2 cm (¾ in) rounds onto baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool on wired racks.

Lychee Ice-Cream
Adapted from Donna Hay’s Ice-cream recipe , The New Cook

1 can of preserved lychee
3 cups of heavy cream
6 egg yolks
2/3 cups sugar

Place the lychees on the food processor and process until smooth. Push puree through a sieve. Place cream, egg yolks, and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir for 10 minutes or until mixture have thickened slightly. Allow to cool.

Fold in the lychee puree through cream mixture, pour into an ice-cream maker and follow manufacture's instructions until ice cream is firm and frozen. Alternatively, pour mixture into a metal container and freeze for 1 hour. Remove from freezer and beat mixture until smooth. Return to freezer for 30 minutes. Beat mixture again and then return to freezer until its firm.

Cherry Chocolate Sauce

250 g of dark pitted dark cherries
½ cup sugar
A pinch of cinnamon powder
1 tsp of Grand Marnier
100 g of dark chocolate
¾ cup of whipping cream

Cook over medium heat until the sugar melts, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes then remove from heat. Stir in the Grand Marnier and set aside. In a separate pan over low heat, heat the chocolate and whipping cream. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and sauce is smooth. Pour in the cherry sauce. Continue stirring until well mixed.

Oh forget your diet....

Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Cream Chantilly

Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Cream Chantilly,
nothing but the best for Mother's Day

Oh , l'amour d'une mère , amour que nul n'oublie!
Pain merveilleux qu'un Dieu partage et multiplie!
Table toujours servie au paternel foyer !
Chacun en sa part, et tous l'ont tout entier !"

-Victor Hugo

(Translation
oh, a mother's love, a love that no one forget, a wonderful bread that God shares and multiply, table always served the paternal home, each has his own share and all have a whole)

Last Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day in France. I know we are two weeks late compared to the rest of the world (are we?). And I have absolutely no idea why. So please don't ask me:-). Nonethelless, I was happy that I finally feasted my first mother's day. My husband offered me the two cookbooks I've been salivating for months now (I'll be posting about it probably this week) and I am so excited to start cooking from this book. But the biggest happening last weekend was the dinner party I organized for my mom-in-law. I took that opportunity to show my gratitude to her for all the wonderful things and all the love she's been giving me all this time. I always find it difficult to think what to buy as a gift for special people in our life for most often they already have all the material things they want and needed. And that was the case for my mom-in-law. So I just opted for something different. I concocted a very special dinner for her and I made a short movie of gratefulness (that's the reason I was quite busy the past few days, pardon me for not having a lot of time to drop by at your blog :-) ).

Just to give you an idea of what I served, here is the menu:

Apperitif:

Amuse-bouche of Southern Flavor (mini canapés, mini-croissant and crostini all garnished with flavors of home-made sundried tomatoes, grilled red pepper and sausages) served with Tropical Cocktail (mixture of fresh juices of mango, bananas, pineapple mixed with lychee liquor)

Entree

Seared Scallops with Duo Tartar of Mango and Asparagus, accompanied by an organic salad

Main Course

Roasted porc in wild thyme and rosemary served with orange butter sauce, accompanied by millefuille of gratin dauphinois and creme of artichokes

Dessert
Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Chantilly and orange salad in cannelle and mint

Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Cream Chantilly
(adapted from Pierre Herme)

Dacquoise
90 of hazelnut powder, 100 g of hazelnuts (you can replace this with any nuts you like), 100 g of icing sugar, 3 white eggs, 30 of granulated sugar

Preheat the oven at 165° celsius and grill a lit bit the hazelnuts. Let it cool and chop them evenly. In a separate bowl whisk the egg until it becomes stiff and little by little the granulated sugar. In another bowl combine the hazelnut powder with icing sugar, mix evenly; fold in this mixture into the whisked egg. Spread it over in a parchment paper about 1.5 cm thick . Sprinkle on the top the chopped hazelnuts. Bake it at 150° celsius for 20 to 30 minutes. Let it cool then cut it the shape you want.

Praline
100 g of crepe dentelle (any thin biscuit)
50 g of butter
40 g of chocolate

Crush the crepe dentelle using a rolling pin. Melt the butter and chocolate in bain marie. Mix evenly. Incorporate the crushed biscuit; spread this evenly on the top of the dacquoise. Put them in the fridge.

Chocolate Cream Chantilly
40cl of heavy cream
240 g of chocolate milk (you can use any type of chocolate)

Boil the heavy cream in a casserole. Cut the fire then add the chocolate. Mix evenly then put in the fridge for minimum of three hours. With the aid of electric beater, beat the mixture to make your chantilly. It will normally thicken after about five minutes of constant beating provided that the mixture is very cold. You can add an ice cube to facilitate the task. Spread over the chantilly over the cake.

Mango Bluberry Opera Cake

Singing in harmony ,
Mango Bluberry Opera Cake

Confession time.

Believe me; I have never had a real pâtisserie before I met my husband. My mouth have only known of my auntie's rice cake and rice muffin, chocolate cakes of Goldilocks ( a famous cake shop in Philippines) and my best-friend's brownies. It was in fact my husband who introduced me to this sinful world of pattisserie. I remember how often we would go to Tokyo's Le Notre Pâtisserie disregarding our eventual massive calorie intake and yen expenses only to devour these sweet little things beautifully decorated. My first "rencontre" with Opera was equally a moment to remember, the flavor of chocolate and coffee were so beautifully blended in my mouth I felt like Mozart was playing in front of me. Only for me.

When I heard that this month's Daring Baker's Challenge was to make a lightly colored Opera (meaning not using dark chocolate nor coffee) in line with Livestrong Day Celebration I knew that I will have so much fun. A big thanks to this month's hosts: Lis of La Mia Cucina and Yvonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, co-hosted by Fran of the blog Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shea of the blog Whiskful.

I never realized that mango and blueberry could play a lovely note together.

Mango Blueberry Opera Cake

6 Large Egg Whites (room temperature)
2 Tablespoons (30 grams) Granulated Sugar
2 Cups (225 grams) Almond Powder
2 Cups (225 grams) Sugar
6 Large eggs
(70grams) All Purpose Flour
½ Tablespoon Vanilla
3 Tablespoons (45 grams)butter

Line two ½ sheetpans with parchment paper. Butter the paper. Sift together the almond powder and sugar. In a separate bowl beat the eggs to break them up. Add the sifted almond and sugar mixture as well as the vanilla. Add the flour and continue mixing. In a another bowl using the beat the egg whites to soft peak and while still beating slowly add the granulated sugar. Continue to whisk until the mixture is at full peak and glossy. Fold this mixture into the egg, almond & powdered sugar mixture. Remove ¼ cup of the mixture and stir into the melted butter. This will allow the melted butter to completely mix into the larger mixture. Divide the mixture in three parts and bake for about 7-10 minutes at 200° Celsius.

Invert onto a clean sheet of parchment paper and peel off the parchment. Let them cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap to keep it air tight.

Blueberry Syrup

1 Cup of blueberry
juice of half a lemon
15 g of sugar

Bring the blueberry, lemon juice and sugar to a boil and reduce a little to a syrup consistency. Blend in a mixer and strain to get a smooth syrup consistency. Keep in the fridge.

Mango Buttercream

2 Cups Sugar
½ Cup Water
2 Large Eggs
2 Large Egg Yolks
14 Ounces Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1/3 Cup Mango Puree

In a bowl beat the butter until it becomes light and free of lumps. Set aside.
Put the eggs and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk for a minute. Put the sugar and water in a sauce pan and cook without stirring until the mixture reaches thickens. Pour the sugar mixture slowly down the bowl and mix slowly. When its well incorporated whisk it again at a higher speed and beat until it cools down. Add the butter and continue mixing. Fold the mango puree and mix well.

Mango Mousse
4 Ounces of mango puree
1 Ounce Sugar
1 ½ Gelatin Sheets
6 Ounces Heavy Cream

Heat the mango puree and sugar to melt the sugar. Add the gelatin and stir. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.Whip the cream and fold it into the puree mixture.
.
Assemble the cake

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
Cut the cake so you have one piece 10” x 10” and one piece 10” x 5”. Repeat with the other cake. Moisten each cake with the blueberry syrup.
Spread a ¼” thick layer of mango buttercream over the cake.
Spread all the mango mousse onto this cake layer and spread out evenly. Refrigerate at least one hour. Cut evenly the edges.

Okay here they are, your afternoon tea breaks will never be the same again..

Pannettone Pudding with Cream Anglaise and walnut brittle

Pannetone Pudding in Cream Anglaise

The Great British Pudding Challenge is one of those yummy food event that I have been drooling to participate. This food event was spearheaded by Rosie (one of my baking inspirations) of Rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake. I am not sure if I am too early or too late to publish this. But this was supposedly my entry for the month of April but I had some family issues that I attended to (you know about this anyway). Since I am so busy today and I find it too bad that this recipe is stuck for weeks in my computer, I thought it would be generous to share it :-). So for all pudding lovers out there this one is for you.

Have a nice weekend everybody.


Pannetone Pudding in Creme Anglaise

500 g of pannetone, 50 g of butter, 875 ml of wam milk, 1 tsp of vanilla essence, 4 eggs, 220 g of sugar, 110 g of walnuts chopped, 2 tbsp of water

Start by cutting the pannetone in cubes of about two cm thickness (you can also use brioche for this recipe). Butter the ramekin and fill each with the cut pannetone. Put the vanilla essence on the warm milk and let it boil slowly in a casserole. In another bowl cbeat the eggs with 110 g of sugar until the mixture becomes creamy. Add then the milk. Continue beating the mixture and put little by little the milk. Put back all the mixture in the casserole and let it thicken a little bit over medium fire. Pour this sauce over the ramekin with pannetone and bake for about 20-30 minutes at 160° until it caramelises on the top. While waiting prepare the walnut brittle. In a casserole cook the rest of sugar mixed with water. Wait until it changed color and thickens a little bit. Pour over this caramel on the walnuts spread over a flat dish. Once the caramel has thickened crack them over and put them on the pudding. You can powder the top with icing sugar.

Waiting to be cracked...

Chocolate Rolled Brioche and I am campaigning for me

Let's Rock n Roll, Chocolate ROLLed Brioche

Have you ever have that feeling you are jinxed.

Well you know I was born with a birthmark “balat” on my right leg (it’s actually hidden) and growing up I always hear people say it is unlucky to have one. When I was in grade school if it rains on a special occasion or if we would lose in school competition they would try to ask who has a birthmark and blame the circumstance on her or him. I have never been persecuted because I never told them I have one. I succeeded in hiding it among my friends until university days in our swimming class. But I am already a grown up and it’s easier to defend myself. Of course I never believed in that. Although sometimes I doubt if it’s really true.

Well you see, it’s been a year I needed to have my French documents translated in English to regain back my Filipino nationality. I asked a friend (another blogger who has gone through already to this) if we could meet up at her place so she could accompany me in advancing on this matter We are suppose to do it two weeks ago but every time something comes up. Last week the weather was so bad that I couldn’t bring my daughter with me since there was nobody to take care of her. So I ended up in canceling my rendezvous with her. When I called her last Monday, I told her nothing can stop me from coming today for this purpose. My daughter will stay in his grandparents’ house so even if the weather isn’t good it won’t matter. She left me a message last Tuesday telling me there will be a big transportation strike in our area and it might be impossible for me to go out. Roads will be blocked and there might be some detours. I told her no problem I’ll just ask my husband to bring me to her house thinking that no detours and roadblocks can stop me from doing this today. Guess what happened? When hubby went home last night he told me I won’t believe what happened. Our gas tank was empty and there’s no gasoline station open due to transportation strike and road blocks. I just abandoned for today and console myself by eating this brioche.

Beets, basil & ricotta Candy Ravioli in Orange Sauce

By the way, remember my Candy ravioli entry to Italy Magazine for their story and pasta competition (Italy Food Lovers Event: Spring Pasta Competition), well it is already up and you can start voting now. If you love that story and recipe, please vote for me. Or if you just love me, please vote for me here. You can check out other recipes and vote on this link.

Chocolate Rolled Brioche

550 g of flour, 100 g of sugar, 3 eggs, 150 g of fresh cream, 125 g of butter, a pinch of salt, 125 g of chocolate or you can use Nutella (depends on how much you want to put), 20 g of dry yeast, some sugar and one egg yolk for the crust

Dissolve the yeast in a small cup with about 2 tablespoons of warm water. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with sugar, fresh cream, flour and salt. Mix well. Add the dissolved yeast on the mixture and continue mixing. Let the dough rise covered with a wet towel for a night. The next day work on the dough as if you are working on a “pate feuillete”. Form a rectangle and put the butter inside then fold twice. Using a rolling pin flatten the dough and fold this time in three parts. Put the chocolate in the middle and roll the dough. Let the dough rise again for about three hours. Cook for thirty minutes at 150° Celsius. Brush the surface of the dough with egg yolk and sprinkle some sugar on the top.

My Nutella is trapped inside...

Orange soufflé

« Daig ng maagap ang masipag ».

This is my mom’s favorite Tagalog proverb. This literally means «Quickness is better than hardworking”. I never believed her until yesterday when I tried doing an orange soufflé recipe. I have seen a lot of French highly acclaimed chefs giving tips on making this light and fluffy dessert; the way you butter your ramekin, the way you powder it with flour, the way you beat your white eggs, well all the right jest to make it rise (as soufflé means to blow up in French). And for the first time I followed the recipe to the letter. When I saw my soufflé bloating slowly like balloons in the oven, I got really excited. I saw them rise really high thanks to the help of the baking paper sheet I put around the ramekin to support it. And when they were done they look absolutely gorgeous.

I took them and put them on the table. I went to my room to get my camera but I couldn’t find it. As I was busy searching for it the phone rang. I took and answer it. Of course it’s one of those “exhausting” commercial calls (someone must have sold my phone number to these people for I get minimum of three calls per day). I tried to cut the conversation as fast as I could but you know how they are. I don’t want to be impolite after all. I hurried back to the kitchen with my camera and enthusiasm but to my surprise I was shocked that my soufflé have already deflated. I am really disappointed. I guess it pays well to be organized and quick.

I hope Helen of Tartellette will still love my Orange soufflé even they are deflated for I am sending her this for Sugar High Friday that she is hosting with the theme, citrus. This is an event created by Jennifer of Domestic Goddess.

Orange soufflé

for the orange reduction: half lemon, 10 g of sugar, zest of 1 orange (organic), 4 oranges

for the soufflé:5 egg whites, 200 g of sugar, and 1 tsp of Grand Marnier, 1 tsp of butter and flour for the ramekin, confectioners ’ sugar for dusting

In a casserole boil the juice of 4 oranges and half a lemon together with the orange zest. Wait until the liquid becomes thick. In a separate bowl whisk the white eggs and add little by little the sugar. Add slowly the reduced orange juice in the mixture and the Grand Marnier. Butter the ramekin and powder all parts of it lightly with flour. Shake off excess flour. Preheat the oven at 180° and bake the soufflé for about ten minutes.

"Orange is the happiest color"
- Frank Sinatra

Old-fashioned Clafoutis

A delicious old-fashioned way, Cherry Clafoutis

I don’t feel very well today. Monday blues? So I just decided to pen a letter to my grandmother.

Dearest Grandmom,

The weather in our region of southern France has not been so generous with a sunny weather for the past weeks fortunately that we have been solaced by the presence of all the big stars from Hollywood to grace the 61^st celebration of Cannes Film Festival. Anyhow, the constant rain showers have rendered our dry region with much greener and colorful sceneries. I guess no real reason for me to complain after all. And besides one thing that I couldn’t help but notice is the early arrival of cherries and melons in the market. Two of the fruits I enjoy a lot. Much to our surprise our cherry tree in the garden will be ready in two weeks time. But my impatience (you know me) drove me to gather some that have already ripen in advance of the rest and decided to make some Clafoutis.

Well this is a cherry cake that I fell in love with the first time I met him. It was love at first taste I would say. Although so many have tried making this cake using different kinds of fruit, but cherry still remains the best. Better to cook the cherries depitted for the pit gives that distinct flavor in clafoutis. Speaking of pitt, I think I’ll have to finish this letter soon because I heard that Brad Pitt has already in Cannes. I will try to get a snapshot of him and who knows I’ll be lucky enough to get an autograph of your favorite actor.

Until here and big kisses,

Hilda

ps, I'l be sending you the photo of your grand-daughter she has seven teeth now :-)
I'm sending this over to Cate of Sweetnicks host of this week's Weekend Herb Blogging an event for herb lovers founded by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.



Old-fashioned Clafoutis (grandmom's recipe)

250 g of cherries
4 eggs
60 g of butter
9 tbsps of sugar
5 tbsps of flour
a pinch of salt
half a cup of fresh cream or heavy cream (or milk)
3 drops of vanilla
1 pack of vanilla sugar

In a bowl cream the egg, with melted butter and sugar. Add the vanilla drops and salt. Fold in the flour and mix well. Put the heavy cream or the milk and mix until the mixture becomes homogenous. Let the mixture stand for about an hour. Pour this in the buttered baking dish. Then add the cherries. You can replace the cherries with other fruits such as figs, peaches, apricot or apples. Pre-heat the oven at 180° celsius and cook for 20-30 minutes. Ten minutes before the end of cooking top the cake with the vanilla sugar. This cake is better eaten warm with the crunchy and caramelized sugar on the top.

Get mesmerized...

He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me :-)

Beets, Basil & Ricotta Ravioli in Orange Sauce

Old memories new recipe.
Beet, Basil & Ricotta Candy Ravioli in Orange Sauce

Have you ever met a person that loves to collection things we might find unimportant but definitely a jewel for them? Well, my dad is that person.

Growing up us a kid, we've witnessed how he collectioned stones, pages of magazines, piece of woods, cartons or tin cans and his great favorite are the calendars. The one that he wants were not the ordinary ones for he has special preference for the ones normally given away as year ender's gift.

When I heard that Italy Magazine is hosting an event on Italian Pasta story, I knew that I need to share this one. This happened long time ago when we were still kids but the good and happy memories are still fresh in my mind. I still remember the day he went back home so proud of his newly acquired calendar. It was a calendar given by a bank that featured different beautiful sceneries of Italy and a bonus recipe at the end. He cut all the pictures and pasted it on his album and told us he may never have enough money to travel abroad but every time he looks at these pictures it will bring him directly to Italy. Poverty has never inhibited my dad to become optimistic in life. That night he tried cooking the recipe on the calendar. My sisters and I saw how he slaughtered the recipe; his ingenuity in the kitchen replaced too many Italian ingredients. Well to cut it short, his pasta recipe was totally disgusting. But we ate it and we were laughing so much teasing him. Oh, those happy childhood memories. Wonderful childhood memories are like oxygen of life. It rejuvenates us, it makes us alive

It’s been long time we wanted to bring our dad to travel to Italy for a vacation but his fragile condition has been holding us back.

Soft ravioli filled with sweetness and flavor inside

Until finally last year we decided for Father’s day to bring him to an Italian restaurant to enjoy that recipe he failed to copy long time ago in our kitchen. According to my sisters he was moved into tears. Was it because of the music serenading him? Was it because of the beautiful Italian ambience? He answered that it’s because he feels lucky to have wonderful children like us. And of course, the ravioli pasta was really really good.

Today is the 40th day since my father died. In our family the 40th day of the death is normally celebrated with a mass in the church and a small gathering at home to feast the day that the soul has finished its journey. It is normally the day symbolizing that the soul have already entered in heaven.

This ravioli pasta recipe is for you dad! Now you know why ravioli pasta is my favorite!

Beet,Basil & Ricotta Candy Ravioli in Orange Sauce

for the dough: 300 g of flour, 4 tbsp of Olive oil, one egg yolk, about half a cup of hot water, some salt

This is my own ravioli dough recipe. I normally use hot water as this help in making my dough more elastic. I mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add the water little by little. You can more or less of the water suggested. Use a ravioli maker if you have one. Or use a rolling pin to flatten the dough and make the shape you prefer. As in my case candy shaped ravioli , prepare about 5 cm by 6 cm rectangular shapes of flattened dough.

for the filling: about 150 g of cooked beetroots chopped, 1 shallot, half a bunch of basil leaves chopped, about a cup of ricotta cheese, 30 g of almond powder, 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper

I started by sauteing the shallots in about 2 tbsps of olive oil. In a bowl mixed all the ingredients; ricotta, cooked beets, cooked shallots, almond powder, chopped basil leaves, salt and pepper to taste. In the ravioli dough put about a spoon of the filling and seal each ravioli with an egg wash.

for the orange sauce: 110 g of butter and juice of 1 organic orange and its zeste

In a casserole bring to a boil your orange juice together with the zest over medium fire. Then add your butter. Stir the sauce until it thickens. Cut the fire.

I think she's so pretty she deserved a solo shot!

Who said that candies are always sweet they can be savory too....

One last bite for the road!

Lentils & Feta Salad

BONEfully yours, Lentils & Feta Salad

The wonderful Susan is hosting a meaningful food event campaigning against Osteoporosis thru Beautiful Bones. She wants us to recall that women have high risk of developing osteoporosis and we should take precautions at all ages.

I believe that this is a worthy cause and so I concocted a high protein and calcium recipe. I am not really a dietitian but I know that lentils have high nutritional value and health benefits for their protein and fiber content. Cheese is very important too in providing the calcium that we need to have stronger bones that is if we have aversion for milk. Before I met my husband I used to hate drinking milk and eating cheeses (that probably explain my height J). As the saying goes, “when in France do as the French do”, I eat slowly, I savor each meal and most importantly I eat lots of cheese. I think there is no secret to a healthy long life but good diet, exercise, healthy living and lots of happy thoughts.


I am sending over this photo too to Click, my favorite monthly photo event spearheaded by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi. This month's theme are beans & lentils.

Lentil & Feta Cheese Salad
2 to 3 endives washed and cut
Half a bunch of arugula
Half a pound of cooked beet thinly sliced
Half a cup of cooked lentils
Half a cup of feta cheese sliced thinly

Dressing:

2 tbsp of wine vinegar
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
4 tbsp of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Combine the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a salad bowl. Add the oil and blend well with a wire whisk. Add the beets, endive,lentils, arugula and feta. Toss well and serve. Makes 4 servings.

2 Awards, ooops I mean 3 and a Tag

With Cannes Film Festival opening today, I feel that there is no other day better to give away these two awards I got. But let me start with a tag.

One of my fave blogger Deeba, Passionate about Baking tagged me (and awarded me too) on my Top 10 Photo Picks from my blog. I thought I won't be tagging anyone but if I guess I would love to see the top ten picks of Oggi I can do that and Joey of 80 Breakfasts. Two Pinoy Bloggers whose work I admire so much.

I actually started blogging last year at the height of my boredom of being stock at home due to my delicate pregnancy. Three things preoccupied me: my growing belly, my laptop and my camera. Despite poor lighting and microscopic space here are my picks:

Stir Fry Noodles
Toblerone Molten Cake
Lemon Meringué Pie
Chocolate Mousse
Rock Salt, Pepper & Sesame Seeds Bread
Artichokes and Bacon Muffins
Nutella Tiramisu
Strawberry Sushi Crepes

I am deeply honored to be awarded the Yummy Award by two bloggers that I have high respect for. First by Ronell of My French Kitchen (a fabulous food blog of amazing photos and delicious recipes) and Deeba of Passionate Baker (see for yourself how gracefully she bakes her goodies).

So here goes my Yummy Awards:


First goes to guy power baking tandem Sunny & Sid of Big Boys Oven. I'm sure if you regularly visit their blog you know what I am talking about. I specially love love their Macarons...

Second goes to Marvin of Burnt Lumpia. I admire him for his tenacity in fusioning filipino inspirations in his cooking. His recipes always leave me breathless.

Third goes to Manggy of No Special Effects. I always tell myself he definitely needs to forget about being a doctor and just open up a restaurant. He is really talented. His writing is always so witty and funny. His photos always make me drool.

Fourth goes to Gabi of Feast Within. Her stunning photos and inventive recipes always make me hungry for more.

Fifth goes to Ann and Jack of Redacted Recipes. I always enjoy dropping by at their blog for delicious homely cooking garnished with lots of love.

and last but not the least Todd and Diane of White Rice Couple. I admire this couple for their beautiful photos, delectable food and entertaining videos.

I know I'm suppose to give five but I'm being generous and besides I really had a hard time choosing. There's too many of them.

And for the Second Award I got from a dear friend Gloria, Canela's kitchen and Deeba , Passionate about Baking, thanks to both of you and I'm hugging you back!



Susan of Well Seasoned Cook. You are one of the sweetest person I've ever known. Her blog is one of the best food blog I've ever seen.

Haze of Quio de Neuf. Thanks for always being there for me. I love all your anecdotes and stories of life!

My sincerest apologies to my favorite blogger Susan of FoodBlogga, who also awarded me the Blog Distinction award. She awarded me last April but I only learned about it today. She is one the blogger I regularly visit for her beautiful writing, photos and delicious recipes. I am so honored.

Thank you again for all the awards. I need to celebrate this!

Banana Nutella and Maple Syrup Bread

Hungry no more, Banana Nutella Maple Syrup Bread

A banana a day keeps the doctor away.

I know that it should have been apple a day, but growing up from a tropical country where there are tons of variety of bananas that exist (small, medium, large, yellow, red, green you can use your imagination, it does exist! ) and at an affordable price a kilo, It is hard to imagine a day without savouring the delectability of this fruit. At least in our family.

I remember when we were kids, at home bananas are so abundant everyday that we often get tired of it's taste. My dad would use all his power in the kitchen by concocting different banana recipes: banana tempura, banana spring rolls, banana ice-candy, banana choco muffins. But our biggest all time favorite was dad's version of Banana brown sugar bread. Really scrumptious!

When I heard that Nigella is hosting an event on Banana Bread, I know this is my time to share this recipe. Today is the deadline, so you can check out the round up now.

Banana Nutella Maple Syrup Bread

2 cups of flour
1 pack of baking powder (about 1 tsp)
a pinch of salt
50 g of butter
3 eggs
3/4 cups brown sugar
3 tbsps of maple syrup
4 tbsps of nutella spread (more or less depending on your chocoaddiction)
about 4 large over ripe bananas

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, mix together butter, maple syrup and brown sugar until it becomes creamy. Fold in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; then add delicately the nutella spread. Put batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for about an hour at 180°C until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let the bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Feed your imagination...