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13Mar

Pimple-be-gone face scrub

I think I have mentioned in the blog before that I am trying to detox from refined sugars, dairy and gluten from my diet, which has been going well and I say this because I truly feel different, from my energy levels to my weight. I did have Yorkshire puddings and chocolate cake last weekend but hey, even the detox needs a break, and I am being realistic about this, I don’t want to completely cut gluten, dairy and sugar from my diet because I know it would be unsustainable for myself and also because I believe few things bring me as much happiness as butter and chocolate do. This new regime has made me more interested in reading about food and I came across an article about Pulitzer-nominated Shann Nixx who moved from California to Wales and now has a goat farm. She experimented with goat’s milk to make a natural remedy for her son’s eczma and she was amazed by the results. What amazed me even more was that she used raw Manuka honey to look after her husband after he had a bad case of MRSA. They found that antibiotics were not doing the job on top of
4 mins read
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28Feb

Chicken filo parcels

It’s no secret that Europe is a very small continent, especially when compared to places like Russia, US, Australia or Brazil…If I drive out of Frankfurt right now I will be in France in 2 hours, a 3 hour drive would get me to Belgium, Switzerland or the Czech Republic…It’s almost ridiculous. So when I tell people that I need to take a 3 and a half hour flight to get from São Paulo to my hometown, they find it hard to believe it. If I got on a plane for 3 and a half hours from Frankfurt, I would be in another continent. The interesting thing though is that even though everything is relatively close by each country has very distinct cultural and food traditions. Whilst here in Germany the traditional food is a bit “primitive” with things like pig trotters and sausage, big portions of it with very little extra added. Next door, in France food is a tad more refined. I find this all very interesting. And then Mariana has the wonderful idea to do a culinary foreign exchange. So every so often she will send me a typical English ingredient and I will send her German
4 mins read
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13Feb

Dark chocolate cookies {GF and DF}

I feel I should apologise for being a bit absent lately. Although we’ve been posting our recipes I don’t feel I have been looking after our blog as much as I did a couple months ago, and haven’t been as active reading the food blogs I enjoy reading so much. I blame my wedding, it has taken over my life. Not in a bridezilla way, I actually wish I had enough money to pay someone to just do the organising for me because it has become so stressful. Do a DYI wedding, they said. It will be fun, they said. They were wrong. Especially when you have to work two jobs on top of the planning. This blog is how I de-stress but it has been hard to have the time to test all the recipe ideas I have (and I have many). And this little project me and Karla have going was so much fun, it reminds me of how much I love food blogging. We made a deal we would send each other traditional ingredients from our adopted countries (England and Germany) to each other and try to figure out how to use them in recipes. This is the first post
4 mins read
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07Feb

Gâteau au Chocolat

I think chocolate lovers like me are always in the search for the perfect chocolate cake. I know a lot of people try numerous recipes with often the same result: too sweet, too dry or not chocolatey enough. Sometimes you get all these disappointments in one cake! How many times has a chocolate cake enticed you because it looked so amazing, and then after the first bite you were filled with disappointment? I think my husband and I suffer even more compared to your average chocolate lover as we are both lactose intolerant so a lot of recipes are no good for us, and the substitution of cow’s milk with soy or almond milk loften leaves the cake dry as the substitutes do not have as much fat. So after a lot of trying and testing I am sharing with you a chocolate cake recipe that has become one of my true favourites. It is not your average children’s birthday cake, it’s a french recipe so by nature I feel it’s a little more refined. And it fits the saying “less is more”, and believe me reader I have this recipe ready on by Iphone’s copy and paste clipboard because
3 mins read
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28Jan

Harissa wholemeal loaf {Dairy free}

My grandmother always told me winter is not a good time to bake bread. Yeast don’t like cold, that’s what she used to say to me.  She is right, bread struggles to prove during the winter but the trick with this wholemeal loaf is to prove the loaf next to the radiator, covered in a damp cloth. So thank God for central heating, eh? This loaf was born from a flat bread recipe that did not go so well but proved itself to be a great loaf in the end! This is a triple tested recipe. In fact more than triple because it has become a favourite around the house. It’s inexpensive to make (I am sure most people have the ingredients ready in their cupboard) and as a rookie bread-maker this worked out way better than I expected. Plus is dairy free for all of you not-so-lactose-friendly people! A toasted slice of this spicy loaf topped with a good lashing of butter will put a smile on anyone’s face, believe me, even if the weather outside proves unpalatable. I have tried to make a whole 700g loaf and also by dividing it into two small loaf tins, it bakes quicker and there’s
3 mins read
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07Jan

Homemade lemon sprinkles + birthday giveaway

It honestly does not feel like it has already been a year, but here it is: this week our blog has turned 1! I think both Karla and I can say that we have learnt a lot along the way and have met other lovely fellow bloggers. So we are definitely looking forward to more birthdays to come. This week it’s not about the cake, it’s about the sprinkles. Since I saw this post on Food52 I have been dying to try it and try all the different flavours under the Sun. I also devoured these vanilla cupcakes (I am in fact eating one right now with a cup of coffee) and it’s all thanks to Jemma’s cookbook.  It’s our birthday but we want to share this moment with you so we’re giving the book to a lucky reader so you can try the cupcakes and these stupidly easy lemon flavoured sprinkles on top. Check out the bottom of the page for details. Lemon sprinkles 260g icing sugar 1 egg white Food colouring (I think Silver Spoon are the best) 1 tsp lemon flavouring Finely grated zest of 1 lemon Piping bags and tips (I used Wilton #3 but #2
3 mins read
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