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!

a berry brioche will make your day brighter! { berry swirl brioche }

i love challenges.

i feel the uttermost need to experiment, discover and push my limits every time.

i can't stay still, because even when I do it my mind is still racing.

in my head, at any time, ideas swell and eventually overflow like popping corn, unpredictable, plenty and loud.

i also use to put recipes together during meetings. or on my way home, in the metro. or while i'm shopping for groceries. or in the shower. it's just something that i can't avoid.

all of this to say that i have been dreaming about this day for a long, long time.

i had the recipe thought of, i had seen plenty others for inspiration, i was even convinced i could successfully do it, but i never found the time. it does take some eight hours - and some more overnight rest - but i finally convinced myself that it would be absolutely worth it.

i was partially guided by some brioche recipes i've found online, but i made it pretty much from scratch. having no stand-mixer, i kneaded it all by hand - and oh yeah, if that wasn't some heavy work out! - i used frozen berries - which are usually too watery for this kind of recipe, but i'm not rich! - and i didn't really follow any guidelines on pretty much anything - only my gut, which once more has proven to be sharp.

i was astonished at how perfect this whole thing actually turned out.

modesty aside... it was absolutely gorgeous.

whenever i bake bread, i always think that it is the best bread i've ever made/eaten/seen. but this time i think i've raised the tide quite high.

i think i am in love with my breakfast,

may i tempt you too?

oh those winter mornings... { orange infused scones }

... when the white sheer curtains filter the cold and dull wintry light, slowly allowing it to drench the entire room, only to dilute its already washed out whiteness: from the rough snow coloured walls, on which a few thoughtfully lined up postcards hang, down to the lazy messy bulk of soft white sheets and blankets, covered in faded pink and blue blossoms.

oh how easily my heart tunes with the slow pace of these cold mornings, and how suddenly my mind is in total synchrony with the world, as if the light had somehow managed to creep in and wipe away all thoughts; oh how naturally inspiration comes to me, my eyes trying to catch all these textures and wrinkles within the soothing white wash, while at the same time I know it is just time to lay back and simply purify my mind.

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.

about a birthday cake. { ombre chocolate cake with orange marmalade curd, frosted with ganache, pistachio and vanila-caramel buttercream }

i mostly like to talk, but is it okay if sometimes i don't feel like saying anything?

it was a really exhausting (though great) weekend!

made this cake for my birthday while watching my favourite series

and i had so much fun planning, baking and assembling the whole thing!

hope you enjoy it!

love, xoxo,

inês.

a christmas message. { yogurt pancakes with homemade cranberry sauce }

and possibly some pancake recipe too.

the eternal trilogy mac. { neapolitan macarons }

guess what: i got a job!

(no... not cooking... as an architect...)

this comes out as a little menacing to the blog,

maybe i'll have less time to bake/cook/post...

but don't worry. i'm not going anywhere.

i'll keep bringing you goodies ♥

definitely.

french turned english ♥ { english breakfast french toast }

(So September is here...

or so they say,

... to me it feels like November!

freaking cold, a homogeneous and thick layer of clouds covering the whole sky, the whole day...

really?

I feel like I had no summer this year: August was work and rain all the way.)

Ok. On to the recipe.

one brownie with a twist. { malibú fudgy brownies }

I know you haven't seen them all...

But I've seen them raising in the oven...
and I have this feeling I've been baking way too many chocolate cakes.

These brownies were made by request.

I was actually not even going to do them, because I kept postponing it and ended up being too busy with other stuff that day... but I was feeling bad for the whole afternoon, until I finally gave in and decided to go chop some chocolate.

I took the liberty of improvising a bit lot (the request was quite specific for this brownie batter), but I guess I was able to still meet the wishes of my friend ;) They travelled to a barbecue early this week and no one has seen them ever since!

Brownies Malibú Fudge

- 200g de chocolate 70% de cacau

- 120g de manteiga

- 120 ml de café frio

- 3 ovos M

- 120g de açúcar

- 50g de farinha

- uma pitada de pimenta, piri-piri e gengibre em pó

- 200g de doce de laranja com raspas

- 2 colheres de sopa de coco ralado

- 1 colher de sopa de gin

1) Derreter o chocolate com a manteiga em banho maria; deixar arrefecer,

2) Bater os ovos com o açúcar até obter uma mistura cremosa e esbranquiçada,

3) Envolver suavemente a farinha peneirada,

4) Incorporar o chocolate derretido e o café,

5) À parte, misturar bem o doce, o coco e o gin,

6) Verter a massa numa forma rectangular forrada com papel vegetal, distribuir pequenas colheradas de doce por cima e levar ao forno a 160ºC durante cerca de 15 minutos,

7) Deixar arrefecer e cortar em pequenos quadrados.

Malibú Fudgy Brownies

- 200g 70% cocoa chocolate

- 120g butter

- 120 ml cold coffee

- 3 medium eggs

- 120g sugar

- 50g flour

- pepper, chili and ginger powder

- 200g orange marmalade

- 2 shredded coconut

- 1 tbsp gin

1) Melt chocolate with butter in a pan placed over another pan with simmering water; let cool,

2) Cream eggs and sugar,

3) Carefully mix in flour,

4) Mix in melted chocolate and coffee,

5) In a bowl, mix well the marmalade, coconut and gin,

6) Pour the batter over a rectangular cake pan, lined with parchment paper; spread the jam over and bake at 160ºC for about 15 minutes,

7) Let cool and cut into small squares.

blueberry bliss... in a cake. { blueberry orange pound cake with vanilla glaze }

Baking, baking, baking... you're all invited for tea!

I think I may have found my most recent favourite yellow cake recipe (heart)

Pound Cake de Mirtilhos e Laranja com Glacé de Baunilha

- 125g de manteiga

- 125g de açúcar

- 125g de farinha

- 125 ml de buttermilk

- 1 colher de chá de fermento

- 1/2 colher de chá de sal

- 2 colheres de sopa de orange marmalade

- 2 ovos

- 150g de mirtilhos

- 1/2 chávena de açúcar em pó

- 2 colheres de sopa de leite

- baunilha moída e gotas de aroma de baunilha

1) Bater bem a manteiga com o açúcar e o doce até obter uma mistura cremosa homogénea,

2) Acrescentar os ovos um a um, batendo entre adições,

3) Misturar a farinha, o fermento e o sal,

4) Com um fouet, incorporar à vez parte do buttermilk e parte da farinha,

5) Com uma espátula, envolver os mirtilhos cuidadosamente,

6) Verter numa forma de bolo inglês ou de bundt cake untada e levar ao forno a 170ºC cerca de 40 minutos,

7) Desenformar e deixar arrefecer; entretanto, misturar bem os ingredientes do glacé,

8) Verter o glacé sobre o bolo de forma irregular, deixando escorrer para os lados.

Blueberry Orange Pound Cake with Vanilla Glaze

- 125g butter

- 125g sugar

- 125g flour

- 125 ml buttermilk

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tbsp orange marmalade

- 2 eggs

- 150g blueberries

- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

- 2 tbsp milk

- ground vanilla and vanilla aroma drops

1) Cream butter, sugar and jam,

2) Add eggs one by one, beating between additions,

3) Mix flour, baking powder and salt together,

4) Alternately mix the flour and the buttermilk into the egg mixture,

5) Carefully fold in the blueberries,

6) Pour into a greased english or pound cake mould and bake at 170ºC for about 40 minutes,

7) Unmould, let cool; meanwhile prepare the glaze, mixing all ingredients,

8) Pour glaze over the cake; it should run down the sides of the cake here and there.

preppy in pink { raspberry mousse cake }

It's being a I-need-a-lot-of-coffee Monday...

This cake was one of my Easter weekend projects.

Bolo Mousse de Framboesa

- 5 ovos

- 125g de açúcar

- 175g de farinha

- corante vermelho

- 200g de framboesas congeladas, descongeladas

- 300g de natas

- 100g de açúcar

- 1 clara

- 8 folhas de gelatina

- 200g de morangos, picados

- 100g de açúcar

- 1 colher de sopa de vinagre balsâmico

- 25g de chocolate branco

Forrar o fundo de uma forma de fundo amovível com película aderente,

Preparar dois tabuleiros, forrando cada um com uma folha de papel vegetal com um círculo ligeiramente maior que a forma desenhado,

Bater os ovos com o açúcar até obter uma mistura esbranquiçada,

Peneirar e envolver a farinha,

Separar a massa em duas metades e misturar corante numa delas até obter a cor desejada,

Preencher os círculos com colheradas de massa de ambas as cores e desenhar um padrão de mármore com a ajuda de uma faca,

Levar ao forno a 200ºC durante cerca de 10 min,

Retirar o papel vegetal, deixar arrefecer e cortar com o formato da forma,

Colocar a primeira fatia de bolo no fundo da forma, reservar a segunda,

Escorrer a água das framboesas para um tacho, aquecer e dissolver a gelatina,

Reduzir as framboesas a puré,

Bater a clara em castelo e as natas separadamente com o açúcar,

Envolver o puré de framboesa e a gelatina nas natas, incorporar a clara,

Deitar a mousse dentro da forma, cobrir com a segunda fatia de genoise,

Levar ao frigorífico durante pelo menos 3-4 horas,

Preparar o molho da cobertura, levando os morangos, o açúcar e o vinagre ao lume até obter uma compota suave, dissolver o chocolate branco partido em pedaços,

Desenformar o bolo, colocar num prato de servir e cobrir com o molho de morango.

Nota: este tem também côco ralado.

Raspberry Mousse Cake

- 5 eggs

- 125g sugar

- 175g flour

- red colourant

- 200g frozen raspberries, thawed

- 300g cream

- 100g sugar

- 1 egg white

- 8 gelatin leaves

- 200g strawberries, chopped

- 100g sugar

- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- 25g white chocolate

Line the bottom of an removable bottom pan with plastic sheet,

Prepare two baking trays by lining them with a sheet of parchment paper with a circle a bit bigger than the mould drawn,

Beat eggs and sugar to a light colour,

Sift and mix in the flour,

Separate the batter in two bowls and mix the colourant in one of them until obtaining the desired colour,

Fill the circles with both batters, mixing them in a swirl pattern with a knife,

Bake at 200ºC for about 10 min,

Remove parchment paper, let cool and cut the size of the cake pan bottom,

Place the first layer inside the pan, set the second aside,

Drain the water from the defrost raspberries, heat in the stovetop and melt the gelatine leaves in it,

Puree the raspberries,

In separate bowls, beat the egg white and the cream with the sugar until stiff,

Fold the raspberry puree and gelatin into the cream, fold in the egg white,

Pour the mousse in the pan, cover with second cake layer,

Place in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours,

Prepare the sauce by heating the strawberries, sugar and vinegar until obtaining a soft compote, melt in the white chocolate,

Unmould the cake, place in a dish and pour the strawberry sauce over.

Nota: Mine also has shredded coconut.

Sweet affair... { the best pear compote }

Compota de Pêra

Ingredientes:

- 2 kg de pêra Rocha

- 2 pêras Conference

- 1,8 kg de açúcar

- 2 paus de canela

- sumo de um limão

- 3 colheres de sopa de vinho da Madeira

Preparação:

1) Lavar as pêras, descascar metade e cortar tudo em gomos,

2) Levar tudo ao lume a ferver numa panela e deixar cozinhar cerca de 3 horas,

3) Deixar arrefecer e utilizar imediatamente, ou deitar em frascos e guardar no frio.

Pear Compote

Ingredients:

- 2 kg Rocha pears

- 2 Conference pears

- 1,8 kg white sugar

- 2 cinnamon sticks

- juice of one lemon

- 3 tbsp Madeira wine

Preparação:

1) Rinse the pears. Unpeel half and slice down to thick edges,

2) Take everything to a boil in a large saucepan and let cook for 3 hours,

3) Let cool and use immediately, or store in small jars in the refrigerator.