Blackberry Muffins

Looking at my blog, I can't believe the last post was added more than three months ago! Plus there was an Easter offer in the menu a while ago :D All I can say, is that both April and May were the two most difficult  and exhausting months. I was preparing for my university entrance tests in April and for my school leaving exam in May. Fortunately, I passed them both and now I can say that high school is behind me. Finally! :) It was neither easy nor too difficult. Somewhere in the middle I think. Anyway, it's time to start baking again!

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Poppy Seed Cherry Muffins with Eggnog

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

This time I'm as late as I've never been before though I think it's always better later than never, right? Here's my excuse :D I try to learn for my school leaving exam every day  but sometimes it's so freaking hard to concentrate! I mean there's a voice in my mind and it keeps telling me that it's time to turn on my PC, load my fav search engine, browse my fav foodblogs and, of course, visit thedaringkitchen.com :D So let's say it's my inner voice's guilt and definitely not mine :D Anyway, I don't regret at all because otherwiseI wouldn't have had the chance to bake these unusual muffins.

Hraběnčiny řezy (Countess' Cake)

At first I'd like to remind you the giveaway is still open to everyone so don't hesitate and give it a chance :) Now let's move to Christmas. This time it was really RICH when it comes to Christmas cookies and food in general. Anyway, I keep telling myself there's enough time till summer, so why shall I give up delicious treat in January? This cake is extremely popular with my family - even when I bake it at 10pm, there hardly is a half of it left the next morning and it "magically"disappears within the next few hours. Even Jack Malon wouldn't be able to find it!

Mince Pies

The magic number for today is 24. Asking why? No, don't worry, this IS a foodblog, no oracle or something :D The number reffers to the days left to Christmas. I think you all have to be bored by my constant talking about it but I simply love Christmas time. And I want to share my Christmas mood with you :) Here you have my first official Christmas cookie recipe (at least in this year and only when you don't count blondies as a Christmas cookie alternative) but these are not cookies in fact...

Pear and Nutty Cinnamon Crumb Cake

According to the way it looks like outside, I can say the fall is here. Genuine colorful cold fall. In my hall there are large boxes filled with walnuts (I always need tons of them for Christmas), deep red apples and also pears. Gone are the days when I would most likely go out only wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Right now I'd be an ice cube in such clothes. It's time to take out all those scarves, coats, sweaters and warm trousers. I don't know how about you but it always takes me a lot of time to get used to them :D The reason is that I feel kind of tied in that warm heavy clothes. Anyway, my tastebuds change a bit, too. I no longer search for no bake dessert stored in the fridge (okay, I'm kidding, I'd eat anything at any time :D) and I start to look for typical Czech baked pies, crumb cakes, strudels, puddings, bundt cakes. and baked apples. And as I have mentioned above, I have kilos of pears and nuts so it'd be a pity not to use them...

Red Currant Citrus Olive Oil Cake

I know that everybody knows, but I simply have to repeat it. School's back. It starts on the first of September here in the Czech Republic and this year it was on Thursday. Okay, I know how imporant it is to educate ourselves but to be completely honest, I hate going to school. We have nine hours every day except for Monday and Friday and I really "love" when the teachers test us from Math, Physics and Biology in the same day. However, I guess I'm gonna hate especially this year the most because I'm in the fourth grade which means...leaving exams (aka maturita in Czech). So, I'm extremely happy for every single day free of learning. Unfortunately, the only free day I have is Friday afternoon and that sucks. Anyway, here I have a fast recipe if you crave something sweet and don't have much time like me these days :)

Black Currant Marzipan Swirls

Each summer I try to visit my granny. She lives quite far away from the town I live in and since I (still) don't have a driving license I have to travel by train which is pretty exhausting (our trains are AWFUL!) and expansive. So I'm always happy when my parents have a few days off and we can travel by car together. Also, when we the opportunity to go by car we always bring back some fresh fruit, veggies, eggs and other stuff because my granny has a large garden where she plants apples, cucumbers, apricots, cherries, strawberries and so much more! This time we were given a huge bowl of sweet and tangy black currant. I was pretty surprised that I was able to eat a small bowl all by myself without adding any sugar or something - I mean usually currant is pretty sour, but this time I guess I was lucky :) Anyway, I didn't want to waste the fresh juicy black treasure so I had to figure out a way to use them.

Cherry Rosemary Yogurt Mini Loaves

Last week I shared with you one of my strawberry recipes and it was a high time to show up with one since strawberries are gone for this year (unless you live outside Europe - I'm so jeleaus!) and another fruit is starting leaving us. Oh yes, you're right. Sweet juicy cherries. I can't express how much I love them. LOVE them. I think they're my most favourite fruit. The taste is so sweet, full of juiciness, no sourness, fresh, deep red colour, shiny....simply outstanding. If you love cherries as much as I do these loaves are just perfect for your taste buds AND you definitely won't gain weight by eating them, because they're almost fat free, high in proteins and don't contain any added sugar! Isn't this a piece of pure slim-and-thin-in-summer bliss?

Strawberry Vanilla Strudel

I'd love to say that I'm enjoying beautiful sunny warm and bright summer day right now, but the truth is it's quite the opposite. The sky ain't blue, birds aren't singing and it's raining. Pretty awful summer day, don't you think? Usually I like to dig into something light, refreshing and prefarably cold. However, when I see that "wonderful" weather outside I just feel like eating something a bit heavier, warm but still juicy and at least a little bit summery :) If that's how you feel, then you may try out this not-so-traditional strudel and I bet it'll make you smile no matter what the weather looks like.

Croquembouche (Piece Montée)

It's the end of May and some may suppose there's about to be another The Daring Bakers' Challenge. Unfortunately, no, there isn't and won't. At least not this month. I really did want to complete it as it is chocolate marquise and I'm a big chocoholic, but the dessert requires freezing and that's what I can't do right now. My freezer is a bit more than just over filled with other stuff (meat, vegetables, fruit, fish etc.) and there's no way I could store there whole baking sheet. However, the main reason is that May means my parents' birthday. Oh, yes, they both were born in May. My mom came to this world on 25th May and daddy two days earlier - on 23th May. Of course, it wasn't the same year, but still I think it says something like these two were ment to be together (and so they've been living together for more than 20 years). Anyway, I wanted to surprise them with something wonderful. Wanna know what it was?

Strawberry Almond Cookie Bars

Do you like summer? I bet you do :) Summer is a wonderful season - in my opinion it's the best time of the year. All great kinds of fruit, flowers and vegetable are getting ripe and taste the best in this time. Of course, for the real summer we have to wait for a few more days (or maybe weeks), but in the end the real summer begins and brings all these delicious berries - strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries etc. and the list goes on and on and probably it wouldn't even get to the end :D So while we're waiting for the summer to arrive in its most powerful form, we can prepare something a bit summer-y yet warming and rich. I got a lot of inspiration on this fantastic blog by Michele.

Kumquat Spiced Cupcakes with Crème Fraîche Frosting

It's been a long time since my last entry and I guess you remember it was the DB challenge :) I really enjoyed it and i want to say thank you to Evelyne, Ivonne and Lis for choosing me as one of the 5 finalist. I couldn't believe it and still it feels as if it's not true. I mean, c'mon, so many absolutely stunning creations among the DBs and I'm one of the chosen ones? I just can't express how happy I was, am, has been :D Feel free to visit the Daring Kitchen and vote for your favourite edible container - it may seem to be easy but it's really hard to choose the one as all of them are so beautiful and creative :)

I've been quite busy since the end of Easter and therefore I haven't baked anything difficult. I walked through our local store on Friday and saw some wonderful fresh kumquats - deep bright orange color, shiny surface, neither soft nor solid, just right balance of both. I couldn't resist the temptation to buy them. Okay, so I ended up with 0.5kg of fresh kumquats. What shall I do with them?

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Maple Cocoa Spiced Cookie Egg Shells with Maple Mousse

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

Edible containers are a part of my baking. I make them at Christmas, parties and so on. However, I've never thought of them as edible containers. They were just cookie cups or bowl filled with some kinda cream, buttercream, jam or nut filling. That's it. Nothing special. Until now. You can imagine almost anything as an edible container. Cookie cups and bowl, profiterols (cream puffs), pastry cones, waffle cones, edible plates etc. Simply anything. What would you come up with?

Hot Cross Buns

Spring, sunshine, flowers, bunnies, eggs, lambs and chicks. What do these words have in common? Easter of course! Wait one week and it's here! I love Easter just like I love Christmas (and that's quite a big love!). The traditions are wonderful and the food...yum. We always spend the Easter time with our granny in her house in small village in the countryside. I can't imagine staying in the city during the holiday because here it seems to be tradition-free. Unfortunately, it's true. The traditions are slowly disappearing and nobody cares about it. On the other hand, in villages the traditions are fully alive, everybody is preparing to them, baking traditional dishes and simply enjoying live. And that's what love. The athmosphere. It's very friendly, kind and without any troubles in the air (if you what I mean :D). This time I'd like to tell you something about our Czech Easter traditions and share a recipe for one traditional English Easter dish.

Red Currant Walnut Sheet Cake

Finally! Easter is coming and green grass is almost everywhere, flowers are in blossom, insect is (unfortunately) waking up and - the most important one - sun is shining! While I'm getting ready to start another baking season in my kitchen (our national Easter sweets have to be done :D), the others are roller skating, running, just walking or playing ball games in park. I don't mind that. I mean I love roller skating but baking is my true passion :) And when I'm really tired from this particular activity I just run out (or maybe I should say roller skate out if this even exists :D) and enjoy the fresh air. When I come back home I always feel like eating something juicy, fresh and not very heavy. I'd say this sheet cake belongs to this cathegory and delivers all these things. Plus it's perfect for hot Sunday afternoons when you want a sweet after-lunch treat.

The DB Challenge: Meringue Coffee Cake with Dulce de Leche, Salted Pistachios, Cranberries and Chocolate

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Another month, another DB challenge. I always look forward to finding out what the challenge is and I'm always extremely happy with it. This time we were to make a coffee cake according to a recipe which Jamie found on a piece of yellowed paper in her dad’s collection of clipped out and hand-written recipes from the 1970’s without any source or date. I think the old recipes work the best (even though I want to make and try as much new things as possible) and that's a double true with this one. And again I immediately started thinking about summer and spring (I do this all the time right now). However, it's not the best season for my eyes, nose and skin. Trees and flowers are in blossom now and I sneeze, my nose is blocked (hay fever is sooo unpleasant!), my eyes are watering and my skin is itchy. So what should I do to feel better? Of course, make something sweet, eat it and feel great!

Apricot Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Can you feel summer in the air? I definitely can. Well, I guess it's more spring than summer but nevermind. They both mean the end of winter! It's not like I hate winter but it's been here for quite a while now and I think that's just enough :) Yes, you can hear me shouting around in summer "I want winter! The weather is too hot!" and when winter comes I just want summer. Too much is simply too much. The ideal temperature would be around 25C all the time (and sometimes snowing without being cold at all). Of course, that's not possible and maybe it's good. Life's a change and without hot summer days there wouldn't be any fresh juicy fruit in my garden. Last year there were almost no apricots and the small amount of them was made into a delicious homemade apricot preserve. I'm the kinda girl who can eat preserve/jam/jelly as it is - I don't need any bread - but sometimes it's much better with a cookie and because summer season is almost here and I have this great apricot preserve why should I wait for summer to arrive when I can make my own little summer rigth now? And so can you!

Biscotti Fiorentini (Florentines)

I'm so happy to invite the spring season finally! The winter one was way too long and I can't wait to see the birds, flowers, sun, green grass and butterflies flying around. I love hot weather, swimming and so on. I know, it's too soon to think about that but spring means it's all coming, getting closer, almost here :) I don't know why, but these cookies remind me spring and summer a lot. Maybe it's because there are cherries, orange peel and they come from Italy - warm, beautiful, hot, sunny Italy. The promised Florentines are here!

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Honey Jelly and Banana Quark Cream

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I'll be absolutely honest here, I've never made panna cotta before but it's been on my to-do list for a long time. I love whipping cream in any form (I would drink it instead of milk if possible :D) and I was very happy to find out what the challenge was. As for the florentines, I'm gonna show them mine next week :) And now it's time to prepare something full-fat and delicious!

Fudgy Chocolate Cherry Cookies

February is here - the shortest month of the year and still it includes the most romantic holiday. The holiday of love. Yes, you're right it's Valentine's Day. This celebration comes from the USA and it's spread all over the world. As soon as the shops get rid off the Christmas stuff they start selling lots of red and pink shiny cute things like stuffed animals, chocolate bars with hearts on their wrappers, pralines, flowers, cards and so on. And that's it. The most common gift is chocolate and because we all love chocolate I just could have made nothing but something very chocolatey chocolate :D If don't know what to give to your loved ones, you can try these extra chocolate cookies with moist cherries which I made using absolutely delicious recipe by Marcellina who makes them at Christmas for her family (thank you so much for this recipe!). So let's get to work then :)