Pistachio and berries friands (GF) - Financiers a la pistache et aux fruits rouges (GF)

I love making (and eating) friands! There are quick to make and very convenient to use unused white eggs after you made a custard or ice cream. Plus, it's very fancy: tiny, yummy, pretty and French! So easy to wow your guests with friands! At last but not least, there are super easy to turn into a gluten-free sweet treat!

Here is my latest favourite recipe: pistachio friands with berries. This is a GLUTEN-FREE recipe!

Easier and tastier than a sponge cake - The 'Wow' factor of the Gateau Lorrain

After a computer break down, lots of baking and parties, super busy work weeks and a teething crisis (4 teeth in 4 days nights, I am finally back... as a survivor... Poor baby though, that was terrible for him. No.2 is back to normal with a new and so unexpected routine of 4 hours sleep a day (twice 2-hours sleep). Who knows how long it will last? There is definitively a God! thanks to Him!

Given the usual workload and the obvious absence of any backup or granny (as an expat family), I chose a fairly easy cake that I filled with vanilla custard, decorated with whipped cream, tangelo jelly and and fresh fruits. I declined three version of this cake: one for the daycare party, one for our private family party and one for our friends party. Easy, beautiful but still pretty healthy - success guaranteed!

The base for the cake is from an original French recipe: the gateau Lorrain. Few years ago, this cake has been showcased on a French blog Les Ateliers d'Hys. It's been a hit and almost all cooking blogs showcased their own declination of the gateau Lorrain. I literally fell in love with this cake - it is moist, fluffy so delicate. I love it straight, with cream, custard, fruits, whatever I love it!

Three for One - Love, lots of love

My little fella, also known as No. 2, has now turned 1 (hear the nostalgia in my voice).
Three parties for just one, the Big One. As much as I loved making three cakes and other treats for celebrating your first year in our lives, it would never be enough tell you how much I love you, my little bubba.

There is so much ahead of us, but please darling don't grow too fast. It's been only few days since you turned one, but in few days so much happened: your very first steps, getting down the stairs (climbing up was never an issue), singing and dancing, babbling your own first name - so sweet -. Happy birthday happy little fella.

Love. Je t'aime.
Maman

Daycare party - a tiny bit worried my little boy

Family's after dinner party - a bit more relaxed

Friends' party - Easy!

Friends' party - no touch! :)

Where I can find the recipes? coming soon... keep in touch!

Quatre-quarts cake with a twist

I usually don't plan my cooking or baking to feed this blog, but to feed my family; sometimes to feed my friends or my son's little mates. I'm always cooking or baking to show someone my love or my appreciation. The recipe I am sharing today was meant to give my partner and I a little after-dinner treat: A French classic Quatre-Quarts cake with a twist.

This cake then became a special breakfast for a special day: a mum-at-home day. Another figure of speech, as we spent all day outside attending our playgroup, then a lunch date and a play and walk date in Western Springs - no doctor appointment for today (Yay!) but a beautiful spring day (Hooray!!!), just a wonderful day with my two boys.

The story of this yummy, fluffy cake does not stop there, though. After breakfast, this cake became a sort of a friendship cake as a shared dessert with one of my girlfriend and our children, and then as a shared afternoon snack with other friends. It's always nice to share some food with your beloved ones. 

For a first time home-made recipe, the verdict was unanimous: YUUuuuuuuuummm!

Happy end for this trip companion!

The Quatre-quart (i.e., four-quarters) cake is a French classic from Britany (Bretagne). It was named after the proportions of the core ingredients that make it: 1/4 flour, 1/4 sugar, 1/4 butter and 1/4 eggs. Originally, it does not contain anything else (apart the baking powder), but I had some pecan left and I like the marriage with choc chips, so I added some. I also added some milk; I'm not quite sure why but I think it makes the cake a bit lighter and moister. It's up to you to follow the original recipe or to customise it to your desires!

Chocolate cake and coconut chantilly

Last week-end, we invited our neighbours at home for a pudding. It took only 2 sec to the little girls to notice the chocolate cake sitting on the kitchen bench. I bet they could smell the chocolate from their place, so the cake was rich in chocolate. But because it's never enough for dinodad, I decided to glaze it with a chocolate ganache. And because, dinomum is only a chocoholic beginner... What??! How?... Yes I need to tell you that story.

I never really enjoyed chocolate, never ever. As a child, I would have never taken a chocolate ice cream, vanilla or strawberry instead! I had Easter or Christmas chocolates in horror for the greatest pleasure of my dad and brothers. I much preferred candy and nougat. I would make chocolate cakes only to please the ones I loved. I couldn't understand my partner's addiction for this bitter and quite hardcore treat. I was quite proud of this reluctance to chocolate; it made me feel different than the mass of all those chocolate fans. And last year, when I got introduced to chocolate Fridays at work, I even prided myself that they would be happy to know that I'd leave them my portion as I would never feel like chocolate. No one could believe me.
But short after this, I got pregnant and everything changed (again)! I started to join in chocolate Fridays. I started buying chocolate tabs (for the big enjoyment of dinodad of course!), one per week, then two... or more... I developed an embarrassing chocolate addiction. When dinodad implied that I behaved the same way toward chocolate during my first pregnancy, I couldn't believe. So I kept confident that straight after delivery, this chocolate thing would vanish!
Bubba just turned 9 months-old and I am still fighting the chocolate appeal. My last hope is in weaning my little one off the breast... To be followed later this year... Hopefully this works before I got completely crazy about chocolate!

Well, as I was saying a bit earlier... (after the chocolate cake and the chocolate ganache...) 'And because, dinomum is only a chocoholic beginner', I decided to serve the chocolate cake with a light coconut chantilly to balance a little bit the bitterness and heaviness of the chocolate.
We all enjoyed this pudding very much, although the kids were more keen on the cake than the chantilly cream, but mummy was happy! :)

Lemon and blueberry Financier cake

I was so excited to be off work, on annual leaves today. Figure of speech?

My day began around 5.50am, just as usual, with the first food request of the day - No.2's breastfeed! But lucky we both fell back to sleep until 7.30am! Yay! Until I can vaguely hear "Maman, I'm hungry" from somewhere like on another planet... No.1 is awake. The day can start.
9am: direction to the doctor to get - I took the 'working mom special plan': every day off, I have the pleasure to see our doctor for one of my two boys when it's not myself!
Followed by the pharmacy, the bank, the post and the mall.
11 am: the kid show started in the mall (cause holidays). No.1 was so happy to watch it I couldn't refuse. Time for No.2 second breastfeed of the day... I really enjoyed sitting on the floor in the centre of the mall, with a baby breastfeeding and a big boy watching the magician with little stars in the eyes, in spite of what he made several requests for all sorts of naughty food.
12 pm: we're all home and starving! Of course, it's lunch time already! Fortunately I had some delish leftover of Paella (still need to find the time to post you the recipe as this dish was just stunning!)
1.30pm: No.2 Plunket appointment. I think that at that time I did not get a chance go wee-wee. Don't laugh at me I'm sure you already experience that!
2 pm: Back to the mall to change a faulty item bought the same morning.
3 pm: we are finally back home! for good! Just on time for a little dino snack, but nothing is ready yet.

I looked in the fridge and find a bowl with egg whites left from the day before that I needed to use. Perfect to test this appealing recipe with egg whites only: Financiers myrtilles/citron created by Camille from Cakes in the city. Despite the English name, this is a French blog. But don't worry - I have tested and translated this easy and quick recipe for you ;-)

Yoghurt Cake: A kid hit!

Easy start for my blog with a day off work - YAY!!! 

A nice winter day with my two boys at home. No. 1 is busy somewhere in his playroom. No. 2 is sleeping. All good. I make myself a cup of tea, sit in the kitchen and start thinking about what could be an interesting cooking challenge for my blog... 'I'd love to eat a Paris-Brest, or maybe a pasta challenge...' when No. 1, arched back, crooked fingers, knees bent, grinning and roaring - #dinomode - popped into my peaceful kitchen.

It might be time for another type of cooking or baking challenge... baking with No. 1. Actually, this would not be his first time; he's far from being a beginner. He loves helping me in the kitchen, but I can't always afford the time. Today is thus a perfect day for such a baking challenge: baking with No. 1! I love such activities with my son as it is a great opportunity for fun learning. 

Dressed up like a real little chef, he is ready to measure all the ingredients and mix them together. He even broke the eggs with no egg shell left in the batter - he just turned 4 and need to show that he is a big boy, so the next step was naturally breaking the eggs by himself - well done little dino. On my side, I was more interested in his counting skills as it still a bit difficult to get him counting up to 5 or 10. This baking challenge was a revelation in that he did not fail and the dino-yoghurt cakes were delicious!