Spiced Zucchini Cake with Golden Raisins and Walnuts

 

When the weather outside is getting colder, a simple homey cake. served with a hot beverage, is a good way to keep warm. The following zucchini cake is exactly that.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken wings and Smashed Potatoes

Crispy, sweet and spicy, the following chicken wings and smashed potatoes are just perfect for a summer lunch.

Spiced Pears in Butterscotch Sauce

Poached pears is my go-to recipe, when I’m looking for a quick, tasty and light dessert (click HERE for the recipe). Pears have an incredible way of absorbing flavors while cooking, yet keep their shape, and can be easily served on their own, or with few additions, creating an effortless and elegant dessert.

Pears poached in White Wine, Brown Sugar and Star Anise

The following recipe is one of the shortest ones in this blog, yet I’m sure you’ll find it is also one that you will make frequently, as it is so easy to prepare and so tasty.

Flourless Banana, Peanut Butter and Coconut Cookies, with Chocolate Drizzle

These tasty and chewy cookies started with a minor disappointment: I’ve tried one of the popular recipes for flourless peanut butter cookies (the ones that contain only peanut butter, sugar (or sweetener) and an egg), and the result was not as exciting for me as it was for a lot of the online reviewers. I thought the cookies were on the boring side taste-wise, and found their texture too crumbly to handle.
However, by then I was already in “flourless peanut butter recipe” mood, so I started to add “this and that” to the original recipe. The cookies here are the result of that process.
They are tasty on their own right, but the chocolate drizzle adds another layer of flavor, which goes so well with all the ingredients.
Try them and decide for yourself.

Upside-down Rhubarb Cake

Upside-down cakes got a bad reputation in the States, and it is no wonder why, when most of the recipes for it call for “a box of yellow cake mix, canned pineapples in heavy syrup and artificially colored red maraschino cherries”…
Yet, upside-down cakes are wonderful when prepared properly, with fresh ingredients; the sugar and butter at the bottom caramelize lightly, blending nicely with the fruit, and with the cake batter on top. Add to this the fact that the cake is very easy to make, and you can’t help but wonder why on earth anyone would consider ruining this nice cake with all those horrid ingredients. So, here’s a chance to redeem the cakes’ bad reputation.

Stewed Spiced Plums and Plum Jelly

What to do if you buy beautiful plums that end up tasting disappointingly bland? Don’t throw them away! Instead, stew them with brown sugar and spices, to enhance their flavor.