autumn baking continues...

Did I mention that together with kitchen renovation came big, new, shiny oven? Normally I don’t get overly excited about kitchen appliances (ok, I do sometimes) but after years and years with the tiny little thing I had before, it is such a nice change that I just can’t leave it alone for long.

And so… my autumn themed baking continues…

Plum muffins

 

2 large plums
¾ cup custard powder
¼ flour
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp sugar
dash of cinnamon

1 egg
3 spoon of oil
¾ cup greek yogurt
splash of lemon aroma

Cut plums into small pieces – leave 6 slices aside
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Stir the together energetically until combined then fold in the plums. Divide batter between 6 medium muffin tins. Place slice of plum on top of every muffin, sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Bake in 180 for 20-30 minutes – until golden.

Apple coffee cake (adapted form this recipe)

4 Eggs
pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 tspn on baking powder
juice from 1 lemon
4-5 big apples
cinnamon
brown sugar

Preheat the oven. Cut apples in thick slices – set aside. Separate egg whites and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until foamy and add salt. Continue beating till soft peaks, slowly add sugar and beat until stiff and shiny. Fold in lemon juice and egg yolks and then flour mixed with baking powder. Pour half of the batter into cake pan and place half of the apples on top – sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar, then repeat with remaining ingredients. Bake for 40 minutes in 180^oC

Raspberry cake a la tiramisu

Cake batter – prepare like in previous recipe but with ½ cup sugar. Bake, cool down and cut in half (horizontally).

Frosting:

2 big or 3 small eggs – separated
3 spoons of sugar
300 g mascarpone – refrigerated
60ml raspberry liqueur
handful of fresh/frozen raspberries (I didn’t have either so had to use raspberry preserve)
¾ cup of strong black tea

Cream egg yolks with sugar until pale and creamy. Fold in mascarpone until well combined. Smash raspberries with 1 spoon of liqueur and stir into the cream. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold in delicately – refrigerate. Combine remaining liqueur with the tea.

Spoon tea mixture over both parts of the cake until well moisten. Cover the bottom half with half of the frosting, place the top half and cover it and the sides of the cake with remaining frosting. Refrigerate overnight or at least few hours.

I suggest serving with fresh raspberries – if you have any handy!

Coffee and tea station

We’ve always talked about staying in old, Portuguese villa, but it was “oh, wouldn’t it be great to live here” kind of thought, people usually have on holidays. I’ve never lived in a house, not to mention an old house, so, the holiday dream aside, I didn’t know how I would like it.

I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about it, or how I would feel, if we were staying here for more than a year. The garden is beautiful, the house is quite pleasant, not to mention huge, but it definitely needs some serious repairs and remodeling. Plus it’s full of temporary solutions – ugly and ultimately not solving much. I’ve noticed, people here are often satisfied with quick fixes. I mean… strings and cello tapes in home repairs? Come on!

The biggest eyesore in the house is the kitchen – leaking roof, false ceiling falling apart, cabinets with no right angles - you name it... So once more I was presented with ultimate debacle: how to decorate rented flat (without the bulldozer and major expenses)?

Setting up the kitchen was a priority. First of all, we added some shelves and painted kitchen cabinets – they are still wonky, but at least they are clean and all in one color! Second, and bigger change was the coffee station.

Creation of coffee station…

This part of the kitchen comes right in front of small stairs leading to the rest of the house. We decided to go with accent wall and wall sticker, to detract the attention from the rest of the space.

It’s the first rule of decorating the rented space. There are always million things you would like to change, but can’t, and the best way to deal with that is to concentrate on eye-catching elements.  The key is to find the part of the room eyes automatically wander to, and make it stand out.

The kitchen has red floor and black counter-tops – both strong colors, so it took us a while to figure out how to paint the shelves, the cabinets and the accent wall and not create a color mess. We decided on pale mint and teal which turned out to be great choice. Works with existing colors, adds freshness to the space and stands out nicely.

We used Asian paints with satin finish which have just enough gloss to hide wall’s imperfections. Shelves are made of reclaimed wood and few simple hooks for the cups. We refreshed the counter-top with black enamel from Dulux. It was supposed to have satin finish as well, but it doesn’t look like one. From the other hand it’s really easy to wipe, so no complaints here!

I was thinking of adding a framed picture or two, but in the end I decided not to pile up decorative elements and concentrate on cute jars and mugs. I have to say, I’m rather pleased with the effect. Plus the whole project was very time and cost efficient which is exactly what I’m looking for while decorating yet another rented flat!

autumn crisp

I’ve always had a soft spot for Septembers. Till today, nothing says “beginning of new year” like first day of school. Plus there is sth very special about early autumn… the colors, the light, this elusive golden glow of the fall and unmistakable crispness in the air. Funny as it may be, I long for this time of the year when I can pull out all my woolen clothes, wrap myself in knitted cardigan and spend endless evenings over mug of hot tea.

Goa provides rather different experience. September ends the monsoon and the whole state prepares for the coming season. Rain stops, sun comes out and tourists flood the beaches. Even with that in mind, I couldn’t stop myself from bringing a little autumn to our house – the only way I know how. And that, of course, means cinnamon!

Filo Apfelstrudel 

6-9 filo sheets

5-8 tsp of melted butter

3-4 apples

Juice from 1 lemon

50g brown sugar

Cinnamon to taste

Handful of raisins (or cranberries)

Handful of walnuts (or almonds)

Slice the apples into thin slices, mix with lemon juice and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain any liquid and mix apples with sugar, cinnamon, walnuts and raisins.

Prepare filo sheets. How many you use and how you roll them up is really up to you. You can just pile few sheet, fill them with apples and roll. OR…

Place filo sheet on baking paper or baking mat and brush with 1 tsp of butter, place another sheet on top of it and brush again. Place 1/3 of apple filling on the longer edge of filo and roll. Prepare 2 more filo sheets, place ready roll and 1/3 of apple filling on the edge and roll again. Repeat once more, then seal the edges and brush the final roll with butter. Lightly cut the top layer the way you will slice your strudel later. Bake for 30 minutes in 180-200 degrees – until golden brown and crispy.

Dust with icing sugar and serve. If you want to be extra decadent, you can add vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!

Carrot cake

1 ½ cup of flour

¾ cup of brown sugar

2-3 tsp tea masala or ginger bread spice mix

2 tsp baking soda

1 ½ baking powder

½ tsp salt

4 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup greek yogurt

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup shredded pineapple

1 cup of nuts

Cheese frosting

500 g cream cheese

3-4 spoons of butter

½ cup of icing sugar

Vanilla extract to taste

Three important things to note: I usually make it with half of the ingredients, so the full recipe will result in much higher cake than the one on the picture; I use both carrots and pineapple leftover from juicing and the cake is still very moist, the cake is best after few hours in the fridge (though I can never wait that long for the first slice).

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately and thoroughly, then mix together. Mix carrot, pineapple and nuts and fold it into the mix. Bake 40-50 minutes in 180 degrees. You may want to divide the batter in half and bake separately. In some ovens the cake may not set properly if baked in one go.

Let it cool down.

Mix cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth and refrigerate until the cake is cool.

Cut the cake in 2-3 layers (if you baked it in two batches, you have layers already made). Spread the icing evenly between the layers and the top of the cake. Refrigerate for few hours before serving.

new house - new beginning

It’s been a month since we successfully moved. Or, I should say, moved our stuff, cause I can’t call “successful moving” what’s happening in our new house.

Past few weeks were particularly busy, so it should come as no surprise that we are still in boxes.
I always get so excited about moving, I keep forgetting how daunting the perspective really is. On top of which, we are not the most organized or rational couple – hence the crazy month that followed our relocation.

We restarted our couch-surfing with three guests, just couple of days after we moved. We all got along marvelously and had tons of fun, but it didn’t help us setting up the house one bit. Just after that, we had couple of friends over, which at least motivated us to unclutter the guestroom.
Mid-month, we made a trip to Malvan – undiscovered beach in Maharashtra – for the Independence Day weekend. We got back just in time to start packing again. This time we spent few days in Delhi, celebrating the wedding of our friends – another international couple.
The day we came back, another couple of friends arrived to unwind in Goa, after their honeymoon trip around India. 

Around that time, our Cat decided to venture out and get himself into trouble. Luckily nothing major happened, but we had to make few rounds to the vet – just in case.

It’s been only couple of days, since we had time to sit down, look around and realize what mess we are living in. 

In all the craziness, I didn’t even notice the school year started. I always liked that time of the year: getting new notebooks and pencils, making resolutions, meeting friends after summer holidays…

Though I don’t have a school to go to any more, I still get the feeling that something new and exciting is coming and it’s up to me to make good use of it!

And so this month I plan to:

• Set up the house
• Try my hands on furniture makeover
• Make detail work plan
• Get all my papers (and PIO card) in order
• Start exercising