Honey cake with walnuts and mascarpone

There are many versions of the Russian honey cake. I have been baking honey cakes for many years, following numerous recipes. This recipe is not exactly a traditional Russian recipe, but more of a variation on the theme.

The last time I baked the honey cake the soured cream for the cream filling was too runny. As my Philips Fresh Cooks party was approaching, I wanted to treat my guests to a selection of cakes.
I wanted to find a substitute for the soured cream that wouldn't be runny. Mascarpone on its own would have been a bit too sweet, so I decided to add some plain fromage frais to add a sour note.
It happened to be a winning combination, it was a thick cream, not too sweet, not too sour, and it matched the sweetness of the honey-based cake very well.

Ingredients:
170g self-raising flour
100g butter, melted
2 medium eggs
200g granulated sugar
2 heaped tbsp honey (I used Tiptree Orange Blossom honey)
1 tsp baking powder
50g ground almonds

for the cream
200g chopped walnuts
200g fromage frais
250ml mascarpone

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 3. Butter and line the bottom of a 20cm cake tin.
2. Beat the eggs with sugar in a big bowl, using a hand blender. Add the melted butter, honey, baking powder, ground almonds and flour and mix well.
3. Pour the contents into the cake tin and bake for about 45 minutes, check if the wooden skewer comes clean. It should be springy to the touch and slightly shrinking from the sides of the tin. If the wooden skewer is still sticky, cover the cake tin with the foil, and leave in the oven for another 10 minutes.
4. Cool the cake in the tin slightly and turn out onto a wire rack. Once the cake is cool, slice the cake into 3 layers (one layer slightly narrower than the other two).
5. Take the narrow layer of the cake and break it into pieces. Mix the pieces with half of the fromage frais, mascarpone and walnuts.
6. Spread the fromage frais & cake pieces' layer on top of one cake layer, top up with the second one. Spread the remaining mix of fromage frais, mascarpone and walnuts on top of your cake and the sides.
7. Leave in the fridge overnight, covered with foil. The honey cake is quite dry, so you need time for the cake to become moist.

 

 

I forgot to take the photo of the cake before the party so you can only see the slice of the cake. :)

A goatally delicious cheese (giveaway c/d 19 October 2012)

As my second blogversary is approaching fast, I have decided to ask my favourite brands to sponsor a few giveaways for my blog readers.

Capricorn Somerset Goat's Cheese has been my discovery of the year.
It is a versatile cheese that could be savoured as it is, with a selection of crackers and oatcakes, grapes and figs, or enjoyed in many cooked dishes.

To tantalise your tastebuds, I'm going to showcase a few mouthwatering photos.

One of my most favourite blogs, London Unattached, has several wonderful recipes that use Capricorn cheese. If you are a foodie, Fiona's blog is a must.

I love the idea of making these lush pumpkin jam and goat's cheese tarts, they are so full of flavours and textures.

Or would you like to try these delicious crispy golden filo parcels?

This recipe has been suggested by lovely Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews (another of my favourite blogs), you can find the recipe on her blog among several other dishes, using Capricorn.

I have also participated in the Capricorn Challenge with my own ideas and recipes.
If you fancy trying Goat's cheese, baked in shortcrust pastry, my recipe can be found here.

More suggestions from me, offering a choice of pirozhki and arancini could be found here.

All of the recipes above use pastry, I think goat's cheese and pastry are made for each other, but of course, you can do any other dishes with the cheese like summer salads and risottos. Search for Capricorn Challenge on Google, you will be surprised how many wonderful dishes you will find.

Now how would you like to win a month's supply of Capricorn Somerset Goats Cheese (8 vouchers)?

 For a chance to win the prize, please fill in the rafflecopter form.
Leaving a comment is a mandatory step, all the other steps are optional.






a Rafflecopter giveaway

Learning words with Usborne First Words Flash Cards

Our Usborne First Words Flash Cards set is already quite battered. I bought it several years ago for our older son. And now it's Eddie's turn to play with the Flash cards. By now he can say most of the words in the pack.
This pack is based on the popular Farmyard Tales series, and all the cards are illustrated by Stephen Cartwright. His style is unique and very easily recognizable. You might not know the artist's name but you have surely seen his work.

Each card has a simple word and picture on the front, and the same word, without a picture, on the back - a great way to help children learn to read.

It is interesting to notice that some cards have very simple and basic images, like a trio below. You can't make any mistakes: an apple is clearly an apple, you can't confuse the cow with any other animal.

Some cards are a bit trickier. Take a mouse and a rabbit, for example. Eddie keeps calling a mouse a rabbit, and I can see why. Two images are very much alike, the animals are standing in the same pose, painted in the same colours. I understand that an adult would immediately see the differences in the shapes of the ears and a tail, but for a young child it could be utterly confusing. Perhaps it would have been better to make the difference more visible, by changing the pose and facial features.

Along with the plain cards there are also flash cards that are way too fussy and have too many distracting details. Take a hat: it is decorated with the flowers, and there is a duck hiding behind the flowers. Eddie thinks he should say "a duck". Or the house card: two kids are playing football in front of the house. Eddie says "ball". What do you expect? The details only hinder understanding the concept. And if you compare the first three cards in the photo above and the cards below, there is no consistency in style. One is simple and basic, another is too detailed and fussy.

When we look at the cards below, Eddie usually mentions "egg, broken" or "sock, broken", which is actually true, the egg is broken and the sock has a hole. Again, these details are diverting attention from the concept. I think the artist should have taken the age group this set of flash cards is meant for into consideration.

Eddie also likes to cheat a bit, when he sees a card with an umbrella he usually says "raining", as he finds the word umbrella quite a mouthful.
I often call Eddie "a silly billy". And when we look at the "goat" card I say "a silly billy" as well because a goat is eating a newspaper. The other day, when I showed this card to Eddie and asked him what it is, he thought and answered "Silly Eddie", bless him, confusing his billies.

Overall, we love this set of flash cards, they are very colourful, bright and have cute characters. If you are a fan of Usborne Farmyard Tales, then this set is a useful one for learning new words.

With the younger child, you might use the cards to teach them new words, with the older children these cards will be helpful in learning to read.

Anchor cooking challenge (part 1)

I often wonder why there are so few brand loyalty rewards around. When we visit my in-laws in Italy, I wistfully look at my mother-in-law carefully cutting the little tokens from milk cartons and dairy products, which she collects and exchanges for beautiful kitchen items. I wish we had more schemes like this in the UK.

I think Anchor has read my mind. They have introduced a new Anchor Rewards Club (link removed as non-existent). You can collect points to exchange for must-have kitchenware items (cake tins, butter dishes, tea towels) and dining out discount vouchers. You collect points by entering codes found on special packs of Anchor Butter, Anchor Spreadable and Anchor Lighter Spreadable.


My boys love pancakes, and I make them at the weekend. While my husband prefers a bigger size pancake with sweet fillings & toppings, my sons prefer the Russian style pancakes known as blini (I deliberately omit the S from the end of the word, as Blini in Russian means pancakes (in plural). I know many people use the word "blinis" but for the Russian ear it sounds definitely odd, it would be like adding an extra S to scissors).

For the basic blini recipe you will need

4 heaped tbsp of standard self-raising flour
2 medium eggs
1 tsp of granulated sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
80 ml milk
2 tbsp of soured cream or plain yogurt (optional)
butter for oiling the pan and for the blini themselves

There will be enough batter to make 12 blini and one big pancake.

Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and use a blender until you have a smooth batter. Use a pancake pan, you need to add some butter to it first. Once very hot, using a ladle, add the batter to the pan, or use a tablespoon if you like, about 2 tbsp per one pancake. You can make them big-sized too. Spread a bit of butter on top of the hot blini as you make them.

They are best eaten hot. Serve them with a dollop of soured cream and a sprinkle of sugar for the authentic Russian flavours, or with a generous drizzle of honey.
If you prefer savoury blini, then omit the sugar from the batter, and once cooked, serve them with a thin slice of the smoked salmon, a dollop of the soured cream and some chopped dill, totally amazing. Or if you feel like splashing money about, top up your blini with a spoonful of caviar.

That's how I serve pancakes to my husband who has a sweet tooth: he likes the pancakes with the chopped banana (half a banana per pancake) and lots of Anchor Real Dairy cream.

You might have noticed a pretty Anchor butter dish and a wooden spoon in my photos. You can get hold of the same lovely kitchen item, once you collect enough Anchor points. I was among the first to receive these items from Anchor and have already started collecting points for a cake tin.

Have you started collecting Anchor points? Well, what are you waiting for?

P.S. I received two Anchor collectable items for the purposes of writing this post, all opinions are mine.

A whole lot of smiles on a rainy day: Justin's Funny Faces Sticker Book (review & giveaway c/d 15 October 2012)

When Justin's Funny Faces Sticker book arrived the other day, I don't know who was more excited about it: Eddie or I. It couldn't have arrived at a better time: it was raining non-stop, Eddie was cranky, as he's got sniffles and I didn't want to take him out in his favourite garden. We've done painting and colouring, read a few books, but he wanted something new to discover.

Justin was just the right remedy for the miserable rainy day.

 As I mentioned many times Justin is a big part of our life. My sons love his shows. And I think he is simply marvellous.
Justin Fletcher is a talented actor who has been working as children's presenter and voice over artist for the last fifteen years. He won a Bafta in 2008 for best Children's Television Presenter, and if it were in my power, I'd keep giving him Baftas every year.
In 2010 Something Special won the Bafta for best pre school programme and Justin won his second Bafta for best Children's Television Presenter.
He is very talented. Working with children who have special needs is not an easy task, but he is doing a great job. You can see how children respond to his jokes and kind words, how their shy smiles turn into wide grins.

Eddie calls him Tamba and every night when we go to bed, we go through the routine of saying "Papa is asleep, Sasha is alseep, Mr Tumble is asleep etc etc" to convince Eddie he should go to sleep as well.

The sticker book was a real godsend. It is a book with lots of stickers that you attach to empty faces. As stickers are reusable, you can move them around to create a totally hilarious effect. You clown could looke like a witch, and vice versa. Or do them as suggested at the beginning of the book, you can see all the images together on one page.

We loved the grumpy pirate and a funny clown, the smiley lion and the dreamy astronaut.

The Picasso-style lion above is Eddie's work. This book could be as educational as it is entertaining: just name all the facial features as you stick them on, or try putting them in the wrong order and ask your child to change them.

You will find Justin on the last page of the book, and he invites you to decorate him as you like. We thought we won't be too cruel to Justin and wouldn't add any witch's warts or an elephant's nose. I think he looks lovely.

This brilliant sticker book will be available on sale at all major book shops from 4 October. You can also preorder it from Amazon.

And if you love Justin as much as we do, keep your eyes open for The Official Justin Fletcher Annual 2013. I have seen it at Sainsbury's already and it looks very good.

I have a copy of Justin's Funny Faces sticker book to give away to one of my blog readers.
To be in with a chance of winning, please use the Rafflecopter.
You must leave a blog comment, all the other options are bonus entries.
Good luck!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A good book and a cup of Twinings (Pinterest competition c/d 14 October 2012)

How many times have I read online how boring it is to enter competitions which only require numerous RTs on Twitter and Like & Share on FB.

Now you have a chance to join in a creative competition sponsored by Twinings.

You are probably aware that Twinings has introduced a range of Twinings Literary Tea Gifts which include book inspired mugs and notebooks and paired them with a box of Twinings tea. What a super gift for any book and tea lover!

 

I invite you to create a Pinterest board that would pair any Twinings tea with any book from the world literature. Just add the image(s) of your chosen Twinings tea and pictures/images from the book you might associate the tea with and the quote that you think might look good on the mug.

What you need to do:

1. Log in to Pinterest and create a new board called A good book and a cup of Twinings.

2. Pin or Re-Pin 7-10 images on your board. At least one of the images has to be your chosen tea from the Twinings range. Then add images (possible ideas for you to choose from): the book cover, the author, illustrations from the book, photos of the country described in the book or any images that you associate with the tea. Don't forget to find the right quote for your mug and add it to the description on one of the pins.

To give you an idea what it might look like, have a look at my own A good book and a cup of Twinings board.
I have chosen Russian Caravan tea and Tolstoy's War and Peace.

For me the first sip of a new tea is always as exciting and romantic as Natasha Rostova's first ball.

3. Add a link to your board in the comments below this blog post– along with your full name – before midnight on 14 October 2012.

I will choose the most creative and inspiring board and let Twinings know the name of the winner.

Terms and Conditions:
• This competition is open to UK residents aged 16 or over
• One entry per person
• Entries must be received by email before midnight on 14 October 2012
• The prize is one of Twinings Literary Gift sets (as chosen by the winner), to be delivered to a UK address
• The winner will be notified by 21 October 2012.

 

I hope you will enjoy creating your Pinterest board! Looking forward to your creations!

 

If you love Twinings tea, get all the latest news and competitions from their Facebook page.

And if you are a Pinterest fan, join Twinings on Pinterest too.

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Thank you all for taking part! Please find an update and a winner annoucement here.

My Pocket Buddy (review)

You are in a hurry to do some grocery shopping, but your tot refuses to stay in the pushchair and insists on walking. He stops to look at things around, touches all the dirty window sills on the way, admires the bins. Sounds familiar? By the time you get to the supermarket, his hands are pretty mucky, and you don't have time to find the nearest loo to wash his hands. And here is when My Pocket Buddy comes to the rescue.

What is My Pocket Buddy?
It is a hand sanitiser for kids (and parents) on the go.
It contains 100% natural ingredients. It is non-toxic, alcohol and allergen free, contains aloe vera, and hasn't been tested on animals.

Tots are often like germ hoovers, picking all the dirt on the way.
I know that a certain exposure to dirt is actually beneficial to our kids, but there are limits, of course.
Eddie is a like a little magpie, he cannot pass indifferently an attractive stick or pebble on the ground, and with our sidewalks and pavements being a common toilet for the local dogs, I am always worried about what germs he could pick. Finding a place to wash hands is not always an option.

My Pocket Buddy fits perfectly in a handbag or even a pocket of your coat, it is very light to carry when out and about.

My Pocket Buddy has been scientifically formulated to kill 99.99% of virus bacteria, while still being kind to the most delicate skin.

Before using it on Eddie's hands, I tested it on my own. You apply the product to the palms and spread evenly over your hands and fingers. It dries very quickly, hands feel refreshed and even moisturised (thanks to aloe vera).

Eddie giggled when I sprayed his little hands with the sanitiser, and wanted to carry it home.

These pen sprays are designed for children to use at school. While I appreciate the concept, I am not sure if school kids would be actually using it when they are at school.
Would they feel confident to use it in public? Could it be made to look more appealing design-wise, so that the school kids would look at it as a cool product to be seen with? I do not dispute the advantages of this product, just wondering if kids would actually use it on their own. I would love to read any reviews of parents of school age kids and their thoughts on the matter.

If you want to find more about My Pocket Buddy, please visit facebook.com/mypocketbuddy

P.S. We received My Pocket Buddy for purposes of reviewing, all opinions are mine.

Around the Clock app: it's always Wombi o'clock

Learning to tell time is a tricky business. The best way to learn without getting bored is to turn a learning experience into a game. A new app for kids called Around the Clock from Swedish developer Wombi apps is a fun way to introduce the young children to the concept of telling the time.
Keep in mind though its primary purpose is not to teach how to tell time.

The idea is to play your way through a whole day. Every hour brings you a new mini-game or activity. And when they say mini-games, they mean it. You get very short interactive games, from brushing teeth to biking home, from putting the books on the shelf to finding a teddy bear in the dark room. After each mini-game you are taken back to the smiley ted accompanied by the music interlude (while my 2-year-old enjoyed the music, I found it a bit annoying, but then we have different tastes in music and I am obviously not the target audience for this app).

The games are simple enough for a young child to understand what to do and how to play (except when we started the game, our first game was aligning the stars. I was looking at the twinkling stars and had no clue what I was supposed to do with them. Eventually I got it, but it made me think that some sort of vocal instructions would be helpful, or a written message).

This game is good for any ipad novice as you learn how to do all the finger motions like tapping and dragging objects and swiping.
The grapics are rather simple, but bright and colourful.

Here is a video demo.



P.S. We were given a code to try an app for free for the purpose of reviewing.

P.P.S. An update: just wanted to add that Eddie has been enjoying playing with this app. It's been a few weeks since we first tried it, and now he is very confident. He loves the teddy, and the music interlude and does all the little tasks now without my help. I didn't know at the time of writing this review that this app would prove to be so popular with my little man.

There is a lite version of Around the Clock available for everyone to try with 5 mini games.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id563624915

Vibrant figs and autumn feasts

Pork leg paupiettes with figs

A disadvantage of being married to an Italian is that you tend to eat lots of pasta. While my husband doesn't get bored with pasta, I cannot possibly eat it for several days in a row without an inner protest. Even if every day it is a different pasta dish. I was wandering around our local Waitrose, thinking what to cook for dinner that would not invlove pasta, when I've noticed that Pork leg paupiettes were on offer. I haven't cooked pork for ages, and decided it might do for dinner.
The paupiettes came stuffed with shallot and herbs.

Ingredients:
2 pork leg paupiettes
2 fresh figs
1 apple
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
a small glass of marsala

Place two paupiettes in a frying pan with the olive oil and brown the sides. It takes about 3 minutes per side. Put the browned pieces in a small ceramic dish, add sliced apples and figs, salt and pepper, pour the marsala over and place the dish in the oven preheated to 200C. Lower the heat to 180C and roast for half an hour. Serve with the roast potatoes and grilled mushrooms.
As the paupiettes came with two small pieces of herby butter, I removed them and used on top of the grilled mushrooms.

Roast butternut squash with figs (side dish)

It's a season for figs.
We have a beautiful fig tree in the garden, but in five years since we moved to our current address, we had ripe figs only once, in summer of 2011. This year the tree stood naked for a very long time, and I was worried that the spring frosts have damaged it. Slowly the leaves appeared and even the green figs, but they are as hard as rocks. I picked one ripe fig this month, and it almost felt like a victory.

I spoke too soon, after writing this post, I went to the garden to water the tomatoes in the greenhouse and found another ripe fig.

Having no home-grown figs doesn't stop me from buying them, they are sold at reasonable prices at this time of the year.
Last evening, when we had dinner with our guests, I served this side dish of roast butternut squash with figs (to go with the roast duck).

Ingredients:
1 medium butternut squash
1 sweet onion
3 figs
1 fennel bulb
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp orange saffron oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey
(serves 4 as a side dish)

Cut the butternut squash lengthwise, leave the skin on, wrap in the foil and place in the oven preheated to 180C. Do the same with the sweet onion and fennel. In half an hour, take them out of the oven, remove the skin from the butternut squash pieces with a knife, place them in a deep tray with the onion, fennel and sliced figs.
Mix the olive oil, orange saffron oil, balsamic vinegar and honey in a small container and pour the contents over the vegetables and fruit, mix well, using your hands. Place the tray back in the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

 

 

Figs feature as this month's ingredient in One Ingredient Challenge for September. This challenge it is hosted by Working London Mummy and How to Cook Good Food blogs.

 

 

Poster paints and starry nights

Eddie loves crayons and pencils. He's usually a total tornado who won't sit still, except when he wants to do "kayaying" (his word for colouring). We can't pass any paintwork in town without stopping and observing with great interest (who said Watching the paint dry is not fun?). Even after the work is done, Eddie would comment en passant "painting" when we walk past any recently repainted walls or windows in town.

I knew he would love to paint, but wasn't so sure I am ready to have the paint all over the house (from the times of Sasha's art activities). But I braced myself and got a set of poster paints for Eddie.

When the childminder comes to play with Eddie for a couple of hours twice a week (so that I could spend time with Sasha, one to one, without being bothered by a very exuberant sibling), he usually insists on going to the garden. However, he was happy to sit and paint for almost an hour, a big achievement for a little busy man.

Today he wanted to paint again, he woke up and asked for paints. This is his artwork.

Can you guess what it is? Starry Night, of course. Eddie's homage to the great Van Gogh.