floresta negra. { schwarzwälder kirschtorte: black forest cherry cake }

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, or Black Forest cherry cake, is a layered bliss in many levels, let it be flavour or texturewise. Just you imagine a chocolate cake as light as a meringue, drenched with juicy and boozy cherries and layered between fluffy clouds of whipped cream. Got your attention already? I've taken this German classic and I've given it a delicious twist!

it's THAT chocolate cake! { chocolate-cherry cake with mascarpone-blueberry filling and brigadeiro frosting }

It happens that, sometimes, I find myself in the need of baking or cooking something for some special occasion, and yet I have absolutely no clue of what I intend to do exactly, or even the desire to do anything at all. I know... coming from me, it may sound a bit odd. But, even if seldom, it happens.

para a minha mãe. { clafoutis dutch baby pancake }

She is a one in a zillion kind of woman.

She may not be easy to deal with at times, for she has the boldest of personalities. She will teach you how to stay strong no matter what, how to stand up for your ideas and ideals. She is the strongest person you will ever meet. She will, without even knowing it, show you to be that woman - in a man's world. She will teach you not to care about petty things and to treasure authenticity and essence. She is not afraid to speak her mind, and although she is transparent as she can be with her emotions, she will always remain a mystery to you.

That makes her infinitely sexy.

She may seem unattached at times, but she has the biggest heart you could ever imagine. She will come off as though she won't easily get off her own track for something or someone - yet she definitely will. Don't let the looks fool you and make her regret that later on. If you find her, beware that you have found a rare gem. You will have to - and you will want to - catch up with her unique pace.

She's not for the faint of heart. 

She embraces challenges and change. And she likes to live with her head up in the clouds. She is a dreamer. She will tell you all about some crazy idea she has had, right in the haze of it, and then she will leave you puzzled as she moves on to the next one, for her mind is both restless and reckless. Don't be fearful and don't try to stop it, it's not like she cannot commit or care. She is merely capable of seeing countless roads at the same time. She's witty and creative and she will definitely inspire you. Her endless unfinished projects may always remain so, for she has already accomplished so much. She has achieved so much in her life, you can only feel profound admiration for her. That is both insping and intimidating, for it's not easy to live up to that standard.

She is larger than life.

We do have a lot in common, and I am glad for it.

And I hope and like to think that, one day, I will be worthy of these words of my own myself.

baked porridge or the ultimate comfort breakfast. { three baked porridge recipes }

A sweet comment from my friend Laura on my facebook page today got me to share these three baked porridge recipes with you!

By coincidence... it's her birthday!

(no fuss, no muss) delicious and moist gluten-free brownies. { moist buckwheat brownies with cherries and white chocolate chunks }

I think I may be falling for buckwheat flour!

can you believe these are some of the healthiest brownies I've ever made?

gluten-free, much lower in sugar than usual and with less butter,

yet still surprisingly delicious!?

I came up with this recipe from scratch, and I'm quite proud of it!

they are a delicious combo of moist and chewy, packed with flavour

 and really easy and quick to make, hence perfect for any chocolate cake cravings.

to stir things up a bit, I loaded my batter with cherries and white chocolate chunks.

whatever you think, think the opposite. { buckwheat, oatmeal and coconut milk banana pancakes with morello cherry sauce }

I am not gluten nor dairy intolerant. I do have a couple of friends who are, to who I would like to whip up a batch of these right now, but unfortunately they live thousands of kilometers away. Nevertheless, I made these just for myself. You know, I like experimenting with new ingredients, I'm captivated by risk and fascinated by those deliberated walks on the wire of life where one can either go terribly wrong... or incredibly well. So I just decided to throw all caution out of the window (together with the gluten and the buttermilk) and turn my entire pancake recipe upside down, without having tried buckwheat flour a single time in my whole life.

Oh well, who cares if I'm starving for breakfast at three pm in the end?

I was way too sure it was going to work exactly as I wanted it to.

do you wanna? { cherry pie bars }

dreams. creativity. inspiration. originality. authenticity.

passion. love. freedom. breaking the rules. depth. intuition. quick-witt.

i crave all of the above... and some more.

schwarzwälder. { black forest cheesecake }

i don't always bake cake every other day

or even once a week.

but when i do

i feel this urge to expand myself

in terms of kind, composition and flavour.

took this cake to the office today

♥

about brunches. { american pancakes II }

... bringing some happiness to your next lazy day breakfast or brunch.

Gordon Ramsay has this cookbook where he states that breakfast is the most challenging meal of the day, even for a chef. I can say I totally side with him. I usually wake up happy and full of energy, but even so, it's not like I'm jumping on air over running to the kitchen and start cooking right away. It's a bit hard for me to believe that anyone wakes up with this much energy. Plus, for some reason I don't quite understand, it makes me mostly desperate having to wait one hour for breakfast to be ready.

So one thing is for sure: if I am making you brunch... I really like you ;)

Made this for my Italian 'family'. It's so sad you're leaving, guys!

I must add that this is now my absolute favourite pancake recipe. I used to make them with baking soda, but this time I changed the recipe a bit and I'm pretty satisfied with how they turned out.

cherry booze will make you smile ;) { sparkling cherry sangria }

I confess... I'm on a cherry inebrity these days.

Champanhada de Cereja

750ml de espumante, frio

300ml de sumo de cerejas ácidas, frio

1/2 a 2/3 de chávena de açúcar

1 colher de sopa de sumo de limão

meia dúzia de cubos de gelo

uma dúzia de cerejas doces descaroçadas e cortadas em metades e mirtilhos para decorar

Num jarro, misturar as cerejas, os mirtilhos, o açúcar e o sumo de limão,

Juntar o sumo de cereja, misturar tudo bem,

Por fim, juntar o espumante e o gelo e servir.

Cherry Champanhada

750ml sparkling wine, cold

300ml sour cherry juice, cold

1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

half a dozen ice cubes

a dozen sweet cherries, pitted and cut into halves, and blueberries to garnish

In a jar, mix cherries, blueberries, sugar and lemon juice,

Add cherry juice and stir until dissolved,

Finally, add sparkling wine and ice and serve.

rouge cerise. { sweet cherry pie }

Blog recipes are not always planned.

(btw, blog texts are barely never planned around here, and as you can see, sometimes it can go a bit wild, as this one quite turned into an essay!)

I mean... sometimes it can be as spontaneous as 'oh, I've just made this, and it actually looks pretty cool. I should go grab my iPhone'. Sometimes this happens while I'm sitting at the table with eager guests.

And here's where an interesting thing that may intrigue many people comes about: often, people waiting on the table get a bit upset while waiting for the pictures to be taken. That is a big reason why I will post dessert, or anything that's not to be immediately served, over main courses, even though my preferences used to be otherwise (guess what, desserts are really growing on me over time!). For older people who don't use the web, me shooting the table over Christmas may even come out as a bit odd, I suppose.

As time went by, however, most of my friends got used to the fact that 'she has a cooking blog' and an unspoken agreement was established on if they are willing to eat it, they should sometimes (It's not like I'm posting every single thing I make) be willing to be a bit patient while not teasing me about it. Nowadays, I get a bit proud out of the fact that I am less teased and less conscientious about taking the damn pictures - is my 'cooking blog thing' getting a bit more acknowledged? :) I know I'm no pro cook and I'm not here to lecture you on what is right or wrong in the kitchen, but I do have a cooking blog and it makes me really happy to share recipes.

Back to the spontaneity, there's times when I've been dreaming about whipping the thing up for ages, whereas quite often the idea just crosses my mind the minute I step into the kitchen, or even whilst cooking. It's actually not uncommon for me to plan on doing something and then just decide otherwise - last minute.

That was what happened today. As I invited Catarina for lunch, my first thought was: 'let's do something wrapped in pastry crust! Like... salmon and spinach... or maybe salmon and mushrooms... what about beef wellington (and here I hit one of my ever growing 'to-do recipe list' items)... yeah, that's it and it's gonna be awesome!...' (then back in the supermarket) 'Oh wait, they have not a single good cut of beef here... What about chicken, stuffed with this duxelles thing you wrap the beef in?' (as strolling down the aisle) 'Oh, but I really feel like pastry crust... I've got to make a pie! Yeah, that cherry pie I was dreaming about yesterday (hitting another item again) sounds great. Well then, chicken and cherry it is!'

(this is what happens when you don't let it cool! We were a bit in a rush but you should wait for it ;) ) 

Sweet Cherry Pie

(para um mini pyrex e 2-3 pessoas)

- 400g de cerejas escuras doces descaroçadas

- 1 massa folhada de compra rectangular

- 1/2 chávena de açúcar

- 2 colheres de sopa de maizena

- 15g de manteiga em lascas

- 1 colher de sopa de vinho branco

1) Misturar bem as cerejas com o açúcar, a maizena, a manteiga e o vinho branco; deixar repousar um pouco,

2) Entretanto, cortar a massa em duas partes; forrar um mini pyrex com uma delas e fazer alguns furos/desenhos (para o vapor) no topo da outra metade,

3) Deitar a mistura de cerejas dentro do pyrex, cobrir com a segunda metade, remover o excesso de massa e dobrar os lados da massa de baixo por cima da do topo, pressionando ligeiramente,

4) Levar ao forno pré-aquecido a 200ºC, no tabuleiro de baixo, durante cerca de 30 min, ou até estar dourada,

5) Deixar arrefecer antes de servir.

Sweet Cherry Pie

(for a mini pyrex and 2-3 people)

- 400g dark sweet cherries

- 1 rectangular pastry crust package

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 2 tbsp corn starch

- 15g butter shavings

- 1 tbsp white wine

1) Mix well cherries, sugar, corn starch and wine; let sit for a while,

2) Meanwhile, cut the pastry in two pieces; place the first inside the mini pyrex, sides up, and make cuts on the other (for the steam),

3) Pour the cherries inside the pyrex, cover with the second layer of pastry, remove any excess and fold the sides of the bottom layer over the second layer, pressing them together,

4) Bake at 200ºC on the bottom rack for about 30 minutes or until golden,

5) Let it cool before serving.

1 + 1 + 1 = CAKE { three ingredient chocolate cherry cake }

When I first found out about this cake here, I knew it wouldn't be long before I tried it...

(and this is what you get when you're so eager you don't allow the cake to bake properly)

Bolo de Chocolate e Cereja... em Três Ingredientes

- 200g de nutella

- 3 ovos

- uma dúzia de cerejas descaroçadas

1) Derreter a nutella em banho-maria, deixar arrefecer um pouco,

2) Bater os ovos durante 10 minutos com a batedeira na velocidade máxima,

3) Incorporar a nutella nos ovos,

4) Forrar o fundo de uma forma de fundo amovível com papel vegetal,

5) Deitar as cerejas no interior e verter sobre elas a massa,

6) Levar ao forno a 170ºC durante cerca de 15-20 minutos,

7) Retirar do forno e deixar arrefecer completamente antes de servir.

Chocolate Cherry Cake... with Three Ingredients

- 200g nutella

- 3 eggs

- a dozen pitted cherries

1) Melt nutella over a pot of simmering water, let cool a bit,

2) Beat eggs for 10 minutes at maximum speed,

3) Fold the nutella in the eggs,

4) Line the bottom of a removable bottom cake pan with baking paper,

5) Pour in the cherries and the batter,

6) Bake at 170ºC for about 15-20 minutes,

7) Let cool completely before serving.

Summer Burst { summer fruit tart }

Peço mil desculpas pela minha ausência prolongada! As últimas semanas de faculdade são sempre de loucos, e este ano não foi excepção... Agora até para o ano, até Munique, mas primeiro quero aproveitar muito este calor e a minha adorada praia (que neve não me aquece o coração!).

E para celebrar o início das férias, nada melhor do que uma mão cheia das minhas frutas preferidas!

Forgive me for my too long absence! Last weeks have been crazy, as all last weeks of University are... Now, work, I see you next year, in Munich, because first I want to enjoy all this summery heat and my beloved beach (snow doesn''t heat my heart!).

And to celebrate summer holidays, nothing better than a handful of my favorite fruits!

Tarte de Frutos de Verão
Ingredientes:
- 1 base de tarte de massa quebrada
- molho de caramelo salgado
- 2 nectarinas ou pêssegos
- 2 alperces
- uma mão cheia de cerejas
- uma mão cheia de mirtilhos
- uma pitada de alfazema

Preparação:
1) Preparar a base de acordo com a receita,
2) Cobrir com o caramelo,
3) Fatiar as nectarinas/pêssegos e os alperces,
4) Cobrir a tarte a gosto com a fruta e polvilhar a alfazema,
5) Levar ao frigorífico até servir.

Nota: cobri com um pouco de gelatina transparente preparada com sumo de limão. Salpicar com sumo de limão evita a oxidação dos frutos, apesar de no caso destes frutos isso não ser um problema.

Summer Fruits Tart
Ingredients:
- 1 massa quebrada pie crust
- 1 salted caramel sauce
- 2 peaches or nectarins
- 2 apricots
- 1 handful of cherries
- 1 handful of blueberries
- pinch of lavender

Preparation:
1) Prepare the crust according to the recipe,
2) Spread the caramel over,
3) Slice the fruit,
4) Place the fruit over the caramel and sprinkle the lavender,
5) Place in the refrigerator until serving.

Note: I used a little gelatin prepared with lemon over the fruit. Using lemon juice helps preventing oxidation, although this fruits don't oxidate much.