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.

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?

Strawberry Poppy Seed Sponge Cake

I don't know how about you, but I'm quite cold these days. The summer season is definitely over and the temperature is lower every day. Oh, and don't forget to add rain to the mix! Yes, fall/autumn is coming or maybe I should say it's already here and to be honest I really don't look for a scoop of ice cream in days like these. In my dreamspace there is an imagination of a warm sweet piece of soft and tender sponge cake. So let's get some!

Rakvicky (Little Coffins)

Is it too depressive? Believe me it's not as gross as it sounds. These little treats are very sweet and makes you smile rather than sad.