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!

Jidáše s medem (Judases with Honey)

I haven't even had time to "recover" (read lose those unwanted pounds) from Christmas holidays and now Easter is here. It seem to come so soon to me :D If you don't know what to bake for this festival, you may try several of my traditional and less traditional recipes :) Every year (I serious - EVERY year) I bake Hot Cross Buns - traditional English Easter buns - and perníčky and jidáše. I can't imagine any Easter without them. Of course, I can't forget to mention the most traditional cake - Easter Lamb Cake. In my country there we often bake an Easter wreath - this yeasted one not so traditional but absolutely delicious! And now let's bake jidáše...

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.

Baked Chocolate

It's freezing cold out here  but it's not snowing and the sun is shining which is pretty confusing. I might a bit of a pessimist but who would want to laugh? Every single day I have to leave my warm house and walk to school. I could take a bus if I was able to leave the house before 7:45am (the school starts at 8:00am). Usually I start my "jurney" at 7:50am - very late - so I run (yes, I really "enjoy" this :D) and get to school at 8:02am. However, in a weather like this I pray my legs won't freeze and still I can't feel them for an hour after my arrival in school. Fortunately, Valentine's Day is here to warm us up :D If, of course, I believed in it...

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Traditional Scones

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

All I can say is WOW! Audax has made 16 batches and browsed through more then 200 recipes!! How crazy is that? Don't get me wrong, I armire him so much! He's provided us with so many useful pieces of advice and explained everything! Literally, I swear. He made scones sound so great I had to make them the moment I read the challenge for January which was on the first of January :) I've never baked any challange recipe this soon!!

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!

The Very First Giveaway

ENDED!

Exactly 14 days ago the new year started. This is the very first post in 2012. I think it should be something special, don't you think?  Recipe posts are here quite often but giveaway hasn't been there yet. So it's time to change that!

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Wheat Rye Bread with Cumin

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by AndrewWhitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

At first I have to say that the Czech Republic is a country of bread :D It's the basic type of any kind of pastry and you can find it anywhere at any time! Every family eats bread, no exceptions, I swear! I think Czech people can't imagine living without a fresh loaf of bread sitting on their countertop each morning, ready to be sliced and eaten with good creamy butter and tasty ham or cheese. And that's exactly how we feel about bread in my family.

Vanilkové rohlíčky (Vanilla Crescents)

Last time we visited Britain and that's why now I think it's time for "homecoming" :D Christmas is all about traditions and even though I love trying new exotic recipes I usually stick to the old good stuff during this holiday. I can't imagine not celebrating Christmas on 24th December. I love looking forward for the evening, decorating Christmas tree, one minute fasting (= you don't eat for a minute, then you do, then you fast for another minute :D) and useless waiting for the golden pig that never comes. Well, and at the end of the evening when you can see only pieces of wrapping paper everywhere, that's the time for Christmas cookies. In the Czech Republic there it is extremely traditional to bake many kinds of the cookies and one of the most popular ones are vanilla crescents. Mine have been in our family for more than 20 years - quite old, don't you think?

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...

Coconut and Lemon Quark Cheese Mini Bundt Cakes

I've just returned home and I can say I feel as if I met Father Frost :D It's truly is SO cold outside here. Two or three days ago I'd go out wearing sneakers, no gloves or scarves but that's gone for the next two or three months. Anyway, I bought some cool Christmas decorations (the edible ones included even though these won't last for more than a week as I love eating them :D). I'm officially in....the right Christmas mood. However, before I start adding recipes for Christmas cookies simply I can't leave you without these irresistible bundt cakes.

White Chocolate Blondies

Well, here we are :D Two days ago I woke up in the morning and realized that only two months were left to Christmas. Two weeks ago I would say that it was too soon to think of Christmas. Right now I'm scared that I won't have enough time to buy the gifts and what's even worse - I have no idea what to buy :D Yesterday I went window-shopping and to be honest the Christmas atmosphere cought me. I cannot concentrate on my school stuff and I think about different kinds of Christmas cookies which I am going to bake and how many kinds it should be and so on. In my sidebar there is a survey connected to Christmas cookies and I'd love if you could participate, so don't be afraid to answer, it's 100% anonymous :) And when we are talking about cookies and sweets, it reminds me that I've decided to bring this Christmas atmosphere into my home, too, by making something small and sweet.

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...

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Croissants au Beurre (Butter Croissants)

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

I haven't even realised it. The end of September has come so fast, hasn't it?  I love and hate September at the same time because well, I have to go to school (that's why I hate it) and my birthday is in September (that's why I love it). Another reason why I should love September is because of my blog turns one year old :D In fact, the first post was posted in August last year, but my second blog (the Czech version) started in October and I've decided to "celebrate" it in September because it's in between. Anyway, this month's challenge is a great way how to celebrate mine and my blogs' b-days. Who wouldn't love fresh croissants?

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 :)

Truffes au Chocolat (Chocolate Truffles)

Last week there was the DB challenge. Its task was making at least two different kinds of candies. Since I've showed only one kind, the second one is just about to come. These "candies" were much easier to make and the result was great. Well, that's how I see it. The rest of my family would pretty much disagree. Yep, sometimes not everything turns out great for everyone. We all are different with different taste buds so it means that when I like something the others don't have to share that opinion. It's always tough to overcome the feeling because when you try to make a cake or any other sweets you hope that everyone will love it. However, this time it didn't happen and I know it only is my mistake.

The Daring Bakers' Challenge: Milk Chocolate Pralines with Spiced White Choc Mousse and Honey Roasted Macadamias

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

Here we are again :) The end of the month means revealing the big secret coming out from the DB kitchen. This time it REALLY freaked me out because on of our main tasks was tempering chocolate. As I read through the page more and more recipes, directions, tips, notes and links popped out. I was pretty confused and it took a while for me to recuperate :D Well, and my head started creating and mixing up new ideas of creams, fillings and other stuff. Now you're about to find out what my head finally created.

Mascarpone Cheese

Sometimes I have difficulty fulfilling my promises. Usually I promise my mom or daddy to wash up and then I forget all about it or it includes some king of other housework etc. However, this time I am here to fulfill my promise I gave you a week ago. And that would be about showing you an easy way of making your homemade mascarpone cheese. I promise (the word shows up quite frequently, don't you think?) it'll be easy peasy and the result stunning and delicious :)

Tiramisù

When I was young (not that I am old, a child would be a better expression I guess) I had no idea what sea/ocean's all about. I knew what it was, but it is quite hard to imagine when the biggest area filled with water I've ever seen was our local swimming pool. My parents are die-hard fans of walking, cycling and sometimes roller-blading and in winter they love skiing. So every year we'd go to mountains looking forward to skiing and in summer climbing and walking up and down the hills. I have to say that after six or seven years I hate those activities. You know, my classmates would go to the seaside, laying on the beach whole day, swimming, enjoying the nightlife and me? Walking, walking, walking. Okay, I loved it the first years, but as the time went on and on, I figured out that this was not "my cup of tea (by the way I hate this expression :D)". Three years ago (finally!) I managed to persuade my parents to go to Croatia. Wow! However, this year we've visited Italy and I consider this one to be the best vacation in my whole life!

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.