my latest version of our favorite apple cake

I am revisiting our family favorite fall cake:

apple cake or as we call it at home harvest cake!

By changing the pan (and the amount of the dough)

I change the cake:

this one is like an easy apple tart.

It does look different depending on how the apple slices are arranged on top of the dough:

But it tastes just as good as the original harvest cake,and the perfect cake to make at the last minute,it takes longer to heat up the oven to 350 than making the dough!
for this larger pie pan:3 eggs150g of sugar150g of AP flour1.5 tsp of baking powder0.5 tsp vanilla0.5-1 tsp cinnamon3 tbsp of milk 150 g of melted butter
mix together, one after the other,pour into greased pie pan,and arranged the sliced apples (1.5 apples for this size)

bake for 30-35 min at 350,enjoy warm or cold.
We also make it in a loaf pan:

harvest cake



Happy thanksgiving!

Enjoying some harvest cake in a new pan

Long time, no see!I am back with some autumn/harvest goodness:everybody's favorite apple harvest cake!(well at least at home, which matters most to me!)

It is pretty much the same recipe from the previous years:

here and here,

2 eggs, 100g of sugar, 125g of flour (a little more),1 tsp of baking powder,

2 Tbsp of milk or apple cider, a little vanilla, a little cinnamon, 

 90g of butter (salted for us) and of course 1-2 apples cut into small pieces.

Quite tasty!

The new pan made it extra special, and fun!

It requites some baking spray to insure proper demolding,

pretty much little any cake.

Happy first day of Autumn!

Honey spice bread

This winter is really stretchingand I am truly longing for some childhood taste,so I made some honey spice bread.
It is slightly different from the one I used to eat,but it is delicious, with lost of honey and spices.

I followed this recipe from Chic, Chic, Chocolat.It is in French, so here are the ingredients:180 g of honey100 g of butter150 ml of orange juice
250 g of AP flour
100 g of sugar
1 tsp of baking soda
1-2 tsp of total spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clover...(I avoid measuring cup, too inaccurate for me!)
Grease/spray a baking loaf pan.
Heat up honey, orange juice and butter to melt it.Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and spices.Once the liquid has cooled down,add it the solid. Mix.
bake at 350 for ~35 min.
Enjoy cool or even better the next day,but it is hard. Waiting is my least favorite activity!
It is perfect with tea or coffee,breakfast or snack!

Happy day!

Merry Christmas

We are celebrating Christmas at home,and to mix it up a little,we moved the table in front of the fireplace.

We kept it low key with wintery plates,

a few candles and some red accents.

I baked some gingerbread houses that Miss C. and Brick Master decorated,

quite festive.

The fire makes it so perfect on this cold day.

I tried a new recipe for our traditional buche de Noel:

black forest, following this recipe from Amuses Bouche,

once again not perfect but tasty!

I tried my hands at some sugar cranberries and cranberry syrup, 

(both from Inspired by Charm)

quite good for cocktails and mocktails,

that Mon Cheri, myself and my teens enjoy.

We wish you all Merry Christmas!

a fast and easy plum tart

Last weekend, we went to our favorite orchardto purchase apples, and we found some plums, I could not resist.

Because of a late freeze on mother's day, the orchard lost of lot of fruits,

almost no peaches this summer, and fewer apples,

so I was quite pleased to find these beautiful plums.

And I made a quick and easy tart!

 I used frozen puff pastry for the crust (I thawed it first).I just cut the plums into eights, added some sugar, cornstarch and a little cinnamon,and baked it until golden:

The actual ratio is about

1 lb of cut plums,

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tbsp of cornstarch

1/4 tsp of cinnamon

Mix all the dry ingredients,

then mix the cut plums,

pour in the crust

bake at 375 for ~1h

Enjoy warm but not hot,

otherwise the filling will run,

like most pies!

Happy Day!

simple panini with homemade focaccia

A couple of weeks ago, I shared my latest guilty pleasure:

homemade focaccia,

great for appetizer with a little olive oil for dipping.

It also make great panini:

so tasty with fresh pesto 

(I make my own: basil, roasted pine nuts, Parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper),

tomato, mozzarella, (ham if you are into meat...)

Just slice the focaccia, spray some pesto,

and layer tomato and cheese.

It tastes good like that but to take it to the next level,

warm it up in a panini press:

the same one we use to make Croque Monsieur and toasted quesadilla....

And then it is truly ready to be eaten....

The fresh mozzarella doesn't melt,

so Miss C. and Brick Master like to use shredded mozzarella for the gooiness

But Mon Cheri and I enjoy it that way,

maybe slightly more authentic....

These panini make great sandwiches,

upping our lunches,

keeping us daydreaming to next summer or the summer after....

Happy day!

a little homemade focaccia

While we had to postpone our Italian vacations this summer,

we have been enjoying some traditional food 

like taralli, drinking espresso in the front yard, lots of homemade pizza

 and some classic movies: Roman Holidays, la Dolce Vita,

a Room with a View (visiting the sites from our couch!)

and now homemade Focaccia:

Baking bread is a great cool weather activity as it warms up the house,

but right now it is the last thing I want! (hello 30 days in a row above 90!)

Since I have found out that I can use our outdoor pizza oven (propane),

I have been making at least weekly.

With this recipe from Gimme some Oven,

it is ready in less than 2h from dissolving yeast to slicing the warm bread!

Isn't it gorgeous, just out of the oven?

We serve it quite simply with a little olive oil, some herbs and

 maybe some shredded Parmesan, delicious!

The perfect appetizer to a glass of vermouth for aperitif!

Happy day!