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Oh Boy! It’s been a while, I know. But all this baking made my mid section get out of control. So before I had to change my pants size I gave it a rest. It’s easy for me to get exited with new recipes and challenges. Baking is a relatively new thing for me and I’m quite obsessed with it. I’m reading some technique books and trying to understand as much as I can about the process. It’s much more complicated then cooking. But I like a challenge. I loved this muffin recipe the options are endless. Maybe next time I will add some chopped sun dried tomatoes or chopped olives. It tasted very yummy, and somehow the kale in it made me feel like I was being good, LOL. I had mine with a roasted zucchini soup. Here’s the Recipe. Enjoy.

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Kale and Bacon Muffins

• 6 leaves of fresh Kale cut very thinly
• 50 oz bacon or Pancetta cut in small pieces
• 3 eggs
• 100 ml Low fat milk
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 1½ cups of all- purpose flour
• 1¼ cup grated Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a medium 12 muffins tray. Cut the Kale thinly and the bacon and small peaces. Sautee the bacon until crispy, spoon the bacon out and reserve. Sautee lightly the kale in the bacon fat, season with salt and pepper. Reserve and let it cool.

Meanwhile combine the eggs, milk and oil in a large mixing bowl and beat together. Add the flour, cheeses, kale, and bacon, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine (don’t over mix it) Gently fold the baking powder. Transfer to the muffin tray with an ice cream scoop. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden.

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Hi guys, get your fat pants out you might need them, forget about diet because this cake is worth even losing a limb with diabetes. I keed. I keed…. Please don’t lose your limbs. But if everything is fine with your blood sugar levels consider baking this cake for your sweet weekend. It was such a pleasant surprise how yummy it turned out. I say surprise because you wouldn’t believe the amount of crappie baking stuff I have done lately. Most of the time misguided by some not so reliable magazines, but eventually persistence paid off. Yesterday I spent the day baking and everything I did worked. Of course there was some lessons learned…as you can see I covered the cake pan with parchment paper…don’t do that! Because when I tried to take my cake out of the paper it fell apart, because the cake is so incredibly moist. So trust me… Just use the spring form pan and you will be fine.

A Marie Claire Book inspired this recipe, but I changed few things on the way. Like they ask for All Purpose flour, but I used pastry flour (cake flour) the difference is the amount of protein. Cake flour usually has 7.5 to 9% protein and all Purpose about 12%. Low protein cake flour will give cakes a soft tender crumb. And I used the rose water just because I’m addicted to those waters (rose water / orange blossom water). I think they make the cake smell and taste fantastic. If you never tried them, please do. I’m sure you will become addicted too, have a nice weekend y’all. (sudden ‘Southern’ accent) LOL.

Blackberry Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 1 stick of butter + 2 tablespoons (4 ½ oz), softened
• 1-¼ cups of sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup of milk
• 1 teaspoon of rose water
• 1-½ cups of cake flour
• 2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1-¼ cups of shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup of blackberry

For the topping:

• ½ can condensed milk
• 1 cup of blackberry
• ¼ cup of shredded coconut

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch spring form cake pan. Beat the butter and sugar using an electric mix until pale and creamy. Then add the eggs, milk, and 1 teaspoon of rose water. Fold with a spatula the flour and baking powder, coconut and 1cup of blackberry through the cake batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 1 ½ hours or until skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Meanwhile add the other cup of blackberries, ½ can of condensed milk, and ¼ cup of shredded coconut to a saucepan and let it cook a bit. Mixing the berries to break them apart. When the cake is done spoon the topping over the cake and let it cool down.

Awwww… Nothing like a luscious afternoon tea to kick off all the week’s aggravation. Reading my new Ottolenghi book (Plenty) it is vegetarian heaven. By the way it’s Friday, yuhuuuull! What are your plans? Going for a short trip? Or just stay at home chilling? Ether or, I strongly recommend this cookies, they are not only very yummy but they also smell fantastic. I’m so in love with this Orange blossom water. Have you tried it? They smell heavenly. I used fresh peach for this one. It’s cakey and chewy. Soooooo good. Go on…change to your flips and go bake some cookies giiiirl, (or guy) Plenty of guys baking nowadays. Isn’t that awesome? Have a great weekend.

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Great Gadget From Williams Sonoma.

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Fresh Peach Orange Blossom Cookies

Adapted from Marta Stewart’s Cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon Orange blossom water
• 2 large peaches, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch dice.
• 1/3 cup peach jam or preserves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Beat in egg and orange blossom water. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Add peaches and jam, and beat until just combined.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 11 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

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Clafoutis …there is so many recipes online, I have tried many and this one is my favorite. Because the custard tastes like a pudding, and it’s not a big deal to make in the morning, which was perfect because we wanted to go to Laguna Beach. And I have learned my lessons to never evaaaaaaar get out of the house without giving my better half a proper breakie. Without coffee his brain is on stand by mode and we don’t want any of that on the roads do we? So I made this Clafoutis, tones of coffee, and then we drove to Laguna. Wow …it is beautiful; it was such a fun day. Later strolling the little stores and Art Galleries what a cute place. The end of the day we went to this place called “the Cliff” To have some drinks and a bite. It’s in front of the ocean, sooooooo pretty with the sunset. Lovely day.

Mixed Berries Clafoutis

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1-cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• ½ pint of blueberry
• ½ pint of raspberry

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an oval ovenproof dish about 13 inches long. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and 1 cup of the sugar. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the milk to form a smooth batter. Place the blueberries and raspberries in the ovenproof dish. Pour the batter over the berries and place in the oven. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until it is sponge like. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve the clafoutis warm. Garnish with powdered sugar.