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.

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!

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: 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!

The Daring Bakers' challenge: Walnut Biscuit Joconde Entremet with Mango Bavarois and White Chocolate Ricotta Cream

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

Very challenging challenge!  The mandatory item was making the biscuit joconde imprime (pronunciation here, translation: spongecake with imprinted desing) using the recipe provided. Huh, something I've never heard about but seen some images (though I had no idea it's joconde imprime).  That's quite a challenge (I know I know I use the word in almost every sentence). And what a surprise, I'm late again! I didn't have time during the whole month but I am glad I completed it. It's very creative and that's just what I needed - I've learnt so many new things!

Poppy Seed Greengage Kolacky

Another week, another treat! Yes, it's time to come up with yet another pretty tasty recipe. This time I show you something traditional in a little bit untraditional way :) Want to know more?

Red Currant Sour Cream Tart

Here in my country it's time of red currant and because we have a garden I always have a huge lot of it. Maybe I should say way too much :)  Usually in July I have to go there to pick up some and mostly end up with 4 kilograms of red currant, but then in early August it's there again and our house is like a red currant castle. A huge lot of it ends up in our freezer (so it's totally overfull) and another big amount is transformed into delicious jelly. But what to do with the rest?