Bringing back memories

"Mom, how come you don't have a whisk?? where is that cake pan I used to bake all my chocolate cakes in?? your oven is weird!!!" this is what you would hear me say when I am in my mom's kitchen. Even though I've spent most of my time ( when I was single of course!) in this kitchen, I feel like a complete stranger who just came into a new place and keep asking for things here and there. Unfortunately, I don't have the privilege to visit my parents that often........

I used to spend hours in the kitchen, baking obviously. I used to love it, love every little corner in it. For me, it was the best equipped kitchen: I had my Philips mixer which I used to adore, my pans, my so few tools, my cookbooks, the good and the not so good! Oh and the marble counter top which I think is the only "luxury" I am missing. Now, I can see that a LOT is missing in this kitchen, especially when it comes to baking, but still when I think about all the cakes, cookies, and many other desserts I created there, I truly believe that it doesn't really matter how fancy your kitchen is. It is true that having the right equipment helps, but if the passion is there, you can create amazing things with pretty much......nothing.

The first time I made these cookies I was so excited, yet scared to mess them up. Everytime I do mess up my mom would not be happy.....not at all sometimes! The part I was mostly scared of was the meringue. What if it doesn't come out right? what if the cookie burns and the meringue comes out soggy?? Fortunately, they came out perfect: a melt in your mouth biscuit sablé, a crunchy meringue and that addition of sweet apricot jam, a lovely and tasty combination. These cookies are simple, light and elegant, just perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.

Meringue & Jam Cookies

Biscuits sablés

600g all purpose flour (about 5 1/2 cups)
330 g ( approximately 3 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed.
80 g powderd sugar (3/4 cup)
3 to 4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Vanilla Meringue

2 egg whites, preferably room temperature. First, separate the eggs while they are cold because it's easier, then keep the whites aside.
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar or a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Apricot jam or any other jam you prefer.

Preparation

Make the biscuits sablés: sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and rub the mixture until crumbly. Add the vanilla and the yolks one by one until you form a dough. Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 320 f. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 in thickness (the cookies will be snadwiched so don't cut them too thick) . Cut out the cookies, preferably using a flower shape cookie cutter. Place on an ungreased cookie pan and refrigerate. Since the cookies are rich in butter content, the refrigeration process helps keep their shape while they bake.

Make the meringue: Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peak. Add the sugars gradually until the meringue is shiny. it shouldn't feel runny. Add the vanilla. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a small tip with the meringue and set aside.

Remove the pan from the fridge and using the pastry bag, put dollops of the meringue all around each cookie. Bake the cookies until the meringue is set: shiny and crunchy. If you notice that the meringue is starting to brown, reduce the temperature to 300 f. The cookies should have a very tender, melt in your mouth lower layer and a crunchy meringue on top. Once cooled, fill each cookie with the jam of your choice. I personally prefer the apricot one because of its mild flavor.

A daring challenge!

I can't believe I made it through this challenge...........again. Why? it's because my computer caught a very bad virus, didn't use it for many days, after it was fixed I lost my bookmarks in which I have the link to the daring bakers' secret kitchen. I frankly didn't bother and send an e-mail to request another password, that's because I did that before and was too embarrassed to ask for the code......again! I could not figure out what was the challenge until the daring bakers started posting their pictures.

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Fortunately, it was an easy challenge. I find cheesecakes pretty easy to make, like most American desserts, I think. The cheesecake came out smooth and fluffy. I made half of the recipe into chocolate by adding some melted chocolate to the batter. I also used less sugar (3/4 of a cup instead of 1 cup) and used Oreo cookies for the crust.
I wish I had more time to play with this challenge instead of making a "regular" looking cheesecake.I like to always improvise in this challenge, both in the look of the final dessert and the picture. Lately, I am just taking my camera and "point & shoot" I don't have enough time to take a nice picture. I am not happy with these pictures but had to post for that daring bakers. Short visit and short post I know, let's just hope for more free time to bake and blog and as usual I hope you'll try the recipe....it's a good one.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

crust

2 cups / 180 g Oreo cookies (filling removed)
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cheesecake

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
3/4 cup / 150 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 vanilla bean


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream and vanilla.
4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Busy Times

During times of extreme busy-ness, I do miss baking........a lot. It is my comfort, it allows me to forget and play with my creativity. I feel such a joy when I am mixing, kneading, cracking eggs and smelling the aromas of vanilla bean, citrus, even the smell of fresh yeast!
They say diamonds are a girl's best friend?!! I have never been attracted to diamonds, fancy jewelry or even wished to own them. My kind of jewelry you would ask?? mixers, food processors, pans and different pastry tools, COOKBOOKS!

I always wonder why I have never pursued a pastry career. I always knew deep inside of me that this is what I want, this is my passion and I would never be bored working in that field. Instead, I didn't want to disappoint my parents and of course had to follow the "standards". So instead, I ended up studying Economics (something that I've never been excited about): statistics, macro economics, micro economics, political economics, probabilities...........the only thing about economy that would attract me was the availability of eggs, sugar, flour, not to forget the vanilla, extremely important for the economy!!

Past is past, right? everything was/is there for a reason and there is nothing wrong with dreaming. As long as our economy can provide us with the eggs, butter, sugar and the vanilla................bean, then I am more than fine.
This post has no recipe. I did everything in such a hurry: cake and pictures. I just made a simple chocolate cake for the base and a raspberry mousse. Let the mousse firm up in the fridge for couple hours. Then covered it with tempered dark chocolate and a ganache on top. I love mousse cakes, so don't worry whenever I am done with this busy phase and have free time, I'll remake the recipe, write it down precisely and post it. Meanwhile, try to be happy with what you have, and take care of your dream (s).

Have a sweet safe trip..

These muffins were made during moments of emptiness and feeling of loneliness and although I am not a muffin type of person, these were delicious and irresistible and they did make me feel a bit better.......why sad? well, nothing bad happened, it's just that my husband is away for 2 to 3 weeks and I'm feeling a little down. So, I made him these muffins in case the flight meal comes out "horrible". Not that muffins will replace a real meal but I wish he'll find comfort (like I did) when he eats them. A little taste of home while he is away!

We used to get almond muffins from a Farmer's Market and I always liked them. I was hoping one day I could discover their secret recipe and I think I did! The result has the perfect balance of everything: sweetness, softness and flavors. Although the almond part is only on the topping, these muffins taste almondy enough with the tiny bit of extract that I added. Next time I'll try to put ground almonds in the batter and if it works fine I'll add the appropriate changes to the recipe. Meanwhile, I hope you'll try these deliciously easy muffins.....you never know they may bring some comfort in those moments!

Almond Crunch Muffins (for 11 muffins)

150 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled.
2 large eggs.
100 g brown sugar (I used dark one).
30 g granulated sugar.
80 ml whole milk.
80 ml buttermilk.
50 g cake flour.
200 g all purpose flour.
75g  ground almonds.
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda.

1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
1/4 tsp almond extract.
1/8 tsp salt.

Almond Topping

35g  cup sliced almonds ( I use sliced for their fine texture)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1/8 tsp cinnamon
 pinch of salt

Preparation

1- Preheat your oven to 375 f. Line a muffin tin with muffin cups. Set aside.

2- Make the topping: in a food processor, mix all the ingredients and pulse until crumbly. You should still see small pieces of almonds, do not grind the mixture too finely.

3- Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the ground almonds and set aside.

4- Beat the eggs and the sugars until fluffy. Add the milk, buttermilk and melted butter. Beat until well combined. Add the vanilla and the almond extract.

5- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones. Do not over mix.

6- Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter between the muffin cups. Spread about a tablespoon of topping on each muffin and bake for 20 to 25 minute or until golden brown.

As mentioned before, I said I'll try to add almonds to the recipe. It worked wonderfully and added more almond flavor. So I made the appropriate changes to the recipe

Sweet........

Here I am, after a whole month of absence! I didn't realize that I did not post anything since the last daring bakers challenge. These days, I don't even realize how time goes by. I never thought once the kids start school I'll have more work, that my life will get more stressed out and that the dream of having more rest and free time........ was indeed a true dream!
I don't know why I always do the same mistake by leaving the challenge to the last minute "sure I have more time, why hurry!" then life just makes it harder on that "particular" day. I also don't even think about how am I going to improvise and play with the recipe. I do it all on the same day and that's a lot of thinking and working!

This month's challenge was obvious. It is February, and what is February without that sweet thing called "chocolate". The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The cake is flourless, very rich, dense and chocolaty, really chocolaty! If you like that type of cakes then you definitely will love this one. The addition of berries balances the richness of the cake. I personally love to serve berries with this kind of cakes (chocolate and raspberries/strawberries is one of my favorite combo), or may be it's just an excuse to add these tiny little red fruits everywhere!

Chocolate Valentino

454 g (16oz) semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped.
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter.
5 large eggs separated.

Preparation

1.Preheat your oven to 375f. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter a 9 in pan and line it with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full.Bake for 25 to 30 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out slightly wet.

9. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

300 ml heavy cream.
300 ml low fat milk (I used 2%).
1 vanilla pod.
4 large egg yolks.
75 g granulated sugar.

Preparation


1. Using a small knife slit the vanilla pod lengthwise. Scrape the seeds out of the pod. Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla seeds and the pod and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse

2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy. Gradually pour in the hot milk, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time

4. When the custard thickens and is smooth, pour it back into the bowl. Cool it then chill.

5. By Hand: Whip the cream until it has thickened but still falls from a spoon. Fold it into the custard and pour into a plastic tub or similar freeze-proof container. Freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop, beating it twice (during the freezing process – to get smoother ice cream or else the ice cream will be icy and coarse)
By Using and Ice Cream Maker: Stir the cream into the custard and churn the mixture until thick (follow instructions on your ice cream maker)

For this particular presentation

After the cake cooled, I used a square cookie cutter and cut out pieces. I then tempered some chocolate and used a plastic template to make the impressions. I surrounded the cake with the chocolate squares, added some berries and topped everything with a scoop of ice cream.

Enjoy!

Tuiles and Tartelettes

This week has been a very busy one: hectic school mornings that makes you want to scream: "I don't want to go through this again!!" school meetings, classes, guests..... By the end of the day, the minute I put my head on my pillow I'm gone right away. Life has become so busy lately that I'm almost stealing time to be able to bake and barely finding enough time to take nice pictures. Honestly, I don't know how I could find time to make those tuiles for this month's daring bakers challenge. But, did I have a choice anyway??!!

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux. At first, when I saw the month's challenge, I thought it was an easy one. Easy yet I had to find a way to make these tuiles look pretty, original and tasty. Tarts are among my favorite types of desserts to make. I love the fruity ones, with a light cream. SO, I thought about combining the two: tuiles and tarts. The result was unbelievably delicious : crunchy, creamy and sweet . The addition of all extra components made the tuiles taste richer. I put a layer of dark chocolate on the tuiles to avoid sogginess, followed by a Crème mousseline for the plain ones and a chocolate mousse for the chocolate ones.

This recipe is easy especially when you make things ahead. Many of the components could be made earlier. The tuile batter can be made and kept in the fridge for up to a week and the creme mousseline can also be made up to 3 days before, just add the heavy cream before using.
Although this challenge was made under very stressful circumstances, it turned out a pretty tasty one (which I didn't expect by the way). Tuiles are very versatile after all!!

Tuiles en Tartelettes

Tuiles

65 grams softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams sifted confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Dark and white chocoalte melted

Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil. In this case I used a stencil that I cut out using a plastic cap (big yogurt box).
Divide the batter into 2 big parts and one small. keep one part plain, add coco to the other one and color the small part into any desired color.
Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Use the colored batter to make decorations.

Bake the tuiles for for 5 to 10 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Immediately after removing them from the oven, place the round "tuiles" into the muffin pan and shape until you form a sort of cup. This step should be done one tuile at a time. If the tuiles get hard (they will very fast) put them back in the oven for few seconds and repeat. Let the cups cool.

Once cooled, brush the interior of the cups with the melted chocolate. Use white chocolate for the plain ones and dark chocoalte for the chocolate ones. Put the cups in the fridge help the chocolate set.

Chocoate Mousse

100 g dark chocolate
1/2 sheet gelatin
1/2 cup heavy cream

Melt the chocoalte over double boiler. Meanwhile, soften the gelatin in cold water. Add the soften gelatin to the melted chocolate. Mix until smooth. Se aside to cool a little bit.
whip the cream and fold it into the chocolate ( be careful not to fold the whipped cream when the chocolate is still warm otherwise the cream will melt)

Crème Mousseline:

Creme mousseline is a basic pastry cream enriched with whipped cream.

1 cup whole milk (don't use low fat versions please)
2 egg yolks
40 g granulated sugar
30 g corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Heat the milk in a pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks, sugar and corn starch and mix until well combined. Gradually, add the hot milk. Put the mixture back in the pan and cook, stirring continuously (not the time to answer the phone!) until it thickens. Off heat, stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let cool at room temperature then into the fridge for up to 2 days.
When ready to use, whip the cream and fold it into the COLD pastry cream.

Preparation of the tarts

Fill the cups with either the creme or the mousse decorate with berries, chocolate curls and enjoy!

Almond Surprises

What can I say about Algerian cookies: beautiful, extremely tasty, rich, distinctive and definitely different from any other cookie you've ever seen or tasted. There are many different types of cookies depending on the region. Algeria is a big country (the 2nd largest in Africa) with so many different cultural and culinary traditions. But most of these delicacies originate from the capital Algiers. I don't know exactly where all these cookies are originally from (may be some Turkish influence), but they sure are delicious looking and tasting. Most of these cookies are made with almonds and some other nuts (walnuts, pistachios...). Sometimes made entirely with nuts and others include an outer layer of different types of doughs. The main flavorings are orange blossom water or rose water and citrus (lemon). Sometimes we add vanilla for extra flavor.

These particular cute little ones are called "The bride's Package" I'm not sure though if "package" is the right word. I couldn't find the direct translation. In Algeria, the bride would get a big basket full of different things brought by the groom or the groom's family. They would bring this basket (pink or white usually) and show it on the wedding day to all the guests ( I know it sounds weird!). I always found it very funny when they start to grab the stuff (shoes, handbags, perfumes...etc), say the name of the object and show it to everybody. I am not sure if they're still doing it to this day but I bet some regions are.

The cookies are made with a very simple dough, rolled out very thinly. You can color the dough whichever way you want, make different colors, strips...etc. They are then rolled out all together. After the dough is rolled out (using a pasta machine), it is cut into circles. A ball of filling is put in the middle of the circle then closed to form a surprise like package. They are then cooked and plunged in an orange blossom simple syrup or honey.

I'll try to explain this recipe as clearly as I can which is kind of hard without any illustration. while I'm working, especially with recipes that require a bit of attention, I cannot handle the camera. I have an issue concentrating on two different things I guess! But if you read the recipe and still have questions don't hesitate to ask, I would be more than happy to help.

Almond Surprises Courtesy "Algerian Heritage" :)

Dough (Outer layer)

note I'm using a "measure" which means use the same cup to measure the different ingredients. Could be a cup, 1/2 cup....etc. For instance if you use the "1/2 cup" you would need a 1/4 cup of the clarified butter. Also, I usually use the food processor to make the dough.

3 measures all purpose flour
1/2 measure clarified butter
pinch of salt
1 measure orange blossom water

In a bowl, mix the flour, clarified butter and salt. Work the ingredients between your hands until crumbly. Start adding the orange blossom water slowly until you get a dough. It shouldn't be very soft. Add enough water to make a dough that is not sticky. If using the food processor, follow the same instructions. Divide the dough into balls and color each one with the desired food coloring. It takes some time for the color to get incorporated in the dough, just keep working the dough with your hands and be patient! Keep the dough balls in a ziploc bag and let them rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Almond Filling

300g ground blanched almonds
180g powdered (confectioner) sugar
1 large egg
Zest of 1 large lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all the ingredients until you form a dough. It shouldn't be sticky to the touch. Form into a walnut size balls and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Orange blossom & Lemon Syrup

2 cups granulated sugar
5 cups water
1/4 cup orange blossom water
2 TBsp lemon juice
Lemon peels from 1 large lemon

In a sauce pan, mix the sugar, water and the lemon peels. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Off heat add the orange blosoom water and the lemon juice. Cover and let completely cool. The syrup should be cold when used.

Preparation of the cookies

Prepare your pasta machine. If you don't have one, you could use a rolling pin, but I don't think the result will be the same since we want the dough to be very thin. Plus, the machine makes the work much easier and faster.
If you want the cookies to be just one color (like the pink ones I made) there won't be too much work to do, you would put the dough through the machine and roll it out on the thinner setting.
If you want the multi colored stripped dough, here is what you would do: make strips out of the different colored doughs. Stuck the strips by alternating the colors. Make sure they are well glued to each other, you could use some water to make them stick (go easy on the water please!). Start rolling the strips on the medium thickness of the machine, then roll it again on the thinnest setting. while you're rolling and working, use some corn starch to make the dough dry out a little bit. Spread some corn starch on your work surface and lay the rolled out dough. Let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes, then cut out circles about 5 inches in diameter. Let the circles dry out another 5 minutes.
Put in the middle of each circle of dough a ball of filling and close the whole thing gently to form a
surprise package or some kind of a basket. Press gently so the dough in the middle stick well and won't open up during baking. Be careful not to press hardly otherwise the dough will get cut and the filling will come out during baking.
finish making all the cookies and arrange them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Let the cookies sit for at least an hour before baking. The more they sit the better they will keep their shape while baking.
Bake the cookies in a 320 f preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. They shouldn't get brown at all to keep their nice color. As soon as they come out of the oven, plunge them in the cold syrup. Let them soak the syrup for 1 to 2 minutes. Arrange the cookies on a cookie rack with a baking sheet underneath it to drain the excess syrup.

Note: You can use Honey thinned with orange blossom water instead of the simple syrup. Just heat the honey and orange blossom water and let the mixture cool. The consistency of the honey should be like a simple syrup.

A New Year!

A whole year had passed by and a new fresh one is already here! so many things happened, some good, and some not that good. Any resolutions? I'm not the kind of person who thinks about it that way. All I want is happiness and good health for my family. On the personal side, I just wish to be a better person, and avoid mistakes from the past. It is true that we learn a lot from our mistakes, and I did learn quite a lot from last year's ( I hope). Any wishes for this new year? hmmm.......for now may be a house with plenty of sunlight so I can take nicer pictures and a new camera lens........too much to ask for may be??!!

2008 was a year full of cakes, cookies, tasty pastries (and a lot of non tasty ones!). Since I've been addicted to flickr, I baked and baked ......and baked a lot! I found a good excuse to go, grab the mixer and bake something. And if baking alone wasn't enough for me, taking pictures has become an essential part of the whole process.

To start the year, I made a mousse cake. It has a layer of almond dacquoise, a light orange mousse, strawberries and a glaze made with raspberries and strawberries. It is a delicious cake, very light and refreshing. I think it is best for summer days, but in my family, we sure wouldn't mind enjoying it any time of the year.
The recipe is from "Here". I know.. it is a French site (sorry non French speaker!) I'll post the recipe some other time. I made some changes in the recipe though, I used oranges in the mousse instead of the grapefruit (I wish I had grapefruit on hand because I love the flavor of this fruit). The oranges worked well with the berries and the cake had a nice citrus flavor.

Voila, first post of the year, first cake of the year . I wish everyone a very happy new year, full of joy and good health.