TWD: Puffed Double Plummed Tart and more..

I'm finally back with my posting, sadly it is one of the last bakes of the TWD baking group.

I cannot believe I've baked so much from a single cookbook and with such joy. I've learned a lot and tried things I've would have never dared to.

The book will end in December and then we'll start baking from 'Baking with Julia'.

Puffed Double Plummed Tart chosen by Julie of Someone’s in the Kitchen

Even in Italy I didn't find the right plums but switched succesfully to apples.

Honey Almond Fig Tart in the Florida version chosen by Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table

Again no figs around so I tried the grapefruit version.

at least I got a bump (and I suspect a not straight oven..)

Earl Grey Madeleines chosen by Nicole of Bakeologie

I finally bought a madeleines mold and discovered a passion for them in my kids..

Normandy Apple Tart chosen by Tracey of Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

A very classic torta di mele !

The Cake Slice : Orange Almond Caramel Upside Down Cake

The recipe for this month's cake makes a deliciously moist flavourful and orangy cake, I'm sorry I photographed it to late in the evening and it looks like charcoal !

You can visit the blogroll and see much better looking ones and start baking the cake right now !

RECIPE

Ingredients – Topping

50g sliced almonds
75g unsalted butter
120g light brown sugar
55ml honey

For the Cake
180g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
80ml sour cream
2 eggs
55ml orange juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g unsalted butter

150g caster sugar
1 tbsp grated orange zest

Method - Topping

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9 inch round non stick cake pan and line the base with parchment paper. Dust with flour.
Spread the nuts on a baking tray and toast until golden, 8 to 10 minutes (mine only took 4 minutes!!) Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Whisk in the brown sugar, turn the heat to low, and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Drizzle over the honey and scatter over the toasted nuts.

Method - Cake

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Combine the sour cream, eggs, orange juice and vanilla in a glass measuring cup and beat lightly.
Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Stir in the orange zest.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides.
Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, a third at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Then mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
Pour the batter over the almonds, gently spreading it into an even layer.
Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let stand for 5 minutes.
Holding the pan and a plate together firmly with oven mitts, invert the hot cake onto the plate. Peel away the parchment paper. If necessary, replace any almonds stuck to the base of the pan. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

here

I Heart Cooking Clubs : Lemon Drizzle Cake

This week to celebrate Mother's day the children and I rang my mother in law to invite her for tea and started baking this cake and the '5 minutes chocolate cake' (could you believe my husband said that it was the best cake I have ever prepared ?).

My mother doesn't really care about Mother's day just as much as my mother in law does.

The cake is not so sweet because its sweetness is increased with the lemon syrup and lemon drizzle (which we had to diminish because I ran out of confectioner's sugar).

I actually think it's a very nice cake as I love lemony cakes and the crunch of the poppy seed made it just more delicious.

I got the recipe from 'Cook with Jamie' (all Jamie's books are on my bedsidetable now)

but you can find it here too.

RECIPE

• 115g unsalted butter, softened
• 115g caster sugar
• 4 large free-range or organic eggs
• 180g ground almonds
• 30g poppy seeds
• zest and juice of 2 lemons
• 125g self-raising flour, sifted

for the lemon syrup
• 100g caster sugar
• 90g lemon juice

for the lemon icing
• 225g icing sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lemon

Using an electric whisk, beat the butter with the caster sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs one by one, beating each in well. Fold in your ground almonds, poppy seeds, the lemon zest and juice and the sifted flour. Spoon the mix into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until lightly golden. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by poking a cocktail stick right into the sponge. Remove it after 5 seconds and if it comes out clean the cake is cooked; if slightly sticky it needs a little longer, so put it back in the oven. Allow the cake to cool on a rack.

Make your lemon syrup by heating the sugar and lemon juice in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. While your cake is still warm, make lots of little holes in the top with a cocktail stick and pour your syrup over.

To make your icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon zest and juice, stirring until smooth. When your cake is almost cool, put it on a serving plate and pour the icing carefully over the top. If you pour it on to the middle of the cake, then let gravity disperse the icing down the sides, you get the ‘drizzle’ effect! Give it a helping hand with a spoon if you want.

French Fridays with Dorie : Tourteau de Chevre and more...

Here is Dorie's recipe for this Friday, It's a cheese cake made with goat cheese and many eggs giving a very spongy and soft wonderful cake. Anita loved it and kept saying how soft it was.

This cake is totally different from cheesecake and from crostata di ricotta.

Please if you want to see more versions of it visit the French Fridays with Dorie site.

As you might know I'm behind with my recipes for FFWD so here is what I made this week:

Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak (with Frites, of course)

Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli

Caramel Topped Semolina Cake

Weekend Herb Blogging #276 Banana Cake

I'm partecipating to this Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Cinzia of Cindystar.

WHB was created in October 2005 by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, you will find history here. This event has become popular in the years thanks to all bloggers participating with recipes and informative posts about new ways of cooking with herbs or unusual plant ingredients.
Since November 2008 Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once has been managing this weekly event, all recaps here.

Some years ago I went to Asuncion, Paraguay for a short week of work. I didn't get to see much but in the short walks around I could see many people, mostly older ladies, selling herbs in the streets

Many students would drink Tererè in class during the lessons and I grew more and more interested in the Guaranì herb culture.

One of the many herbs Paraguaian people uses is called Stevia and it is a natural sweetener with no calories.

''With its steviol glycoside extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets.''

The translator who helped me teach , Mr. Ferretti, was so kind to give me Stevia in different forms when I left so I got a recipe book called Stevia Sweet Recipes from which I got this recipe.

RECIPE

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons Stevia Extract Powder

4 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3 eggs separated

1 cup milk

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 bananas)

frosting as desired (I mixed some lowfat greek jogurt with cocoa and some Stevia)

filling as desired (I made a chocolate ganache)

I a bowl sift together the dry ingredients.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.

Stir together egg yolks, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and bananas. Add the dry ingredients an beat to combine. Fold in beaten egg whites.

Turn into 2 8 inches oiled and floured pans and bake in preheated oven 25 to 30 minutes until cake tests done.

Cool in pans 10 min. Turn out to finish cooling on racks.

Fill and frost.

Daring Baker's Challenge: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

I'm finally back to Daring Baker's and with a super wonderful recipe ! I made it twice already and even if my cakes are flat Andrea loves them very much !!

I filled one of them with nutella and slivered almonds and the other one with apples cinnamon and raisins. I was afraid of filling them too much but ended with unfilled cakes.

I really urge all of you to try this wonderful recipe for the Sweet Yeast Dough : it comes together so well it's a real pleasure to work with .

Thanks to Jamie of Life’s a Feast and Ria of Ria’s Collection for this wonderful challenge !

You can download a printable recipe here or follow the recipe:

Preparation time:
For the dough:
10 - 15 minutes preparation of the dough
8 – 10 minutes kneading
45 – 60 minutes first rise
10 – 15 minutes to prepare meringue, roll out, fill and shape dough
an additional 45 – 60 minutes for second rising.

Baking time: approximately 30 minutes

Equipment required:
Measuring cups for dry ingredients
Measuring cup for liquid
Measuring spoons
Cutting board and sharp knife for chopping nuts & chocolate if using
2 large mixing bowls
1 small mixing bowl
1 medium mixing bowl for beating egg whites, preferably plastic or metal
1 medium saucepan
Electric mixer or stand mixer
Wooden spoon
Rolling pin
Spatula
Clean kitchen scissors or sharp knife
Plastic wrap & clean kitchen towel
Parchment paper
2 medium-sized baking trays (or 1 large if your oven is large enough)
Cooling racks
Serving platter
Vegetable oil to grease bowl

FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE
Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter
The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake

Ingredients
For the yeast coffee cake dough:

4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour
¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar
¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) active dried yeast
¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk
¼ cup (60 ml / 2 fl. oz. water (doesn’t matter what temperature)
½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature

10 strands saffron for Ria’s version (Saffron might be hard to find and it’s expensive, so you can substitute with ½ - 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom or ground nutmeg. Or simply leave it plain like Jamie’s version)

For the meringue:

3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar

For the filling:

Jamie’s version:
1 cup (110 g / 4 oz.) chopped pecans or walnuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (170 g / 6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

Ria’s version:
1 cup (130 g / 5 oz.) chopped cashew nuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon garam masala (You can make it at home – recipe below - or buy from any Asian/Indian grocery store)
1 cup (170g / 6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips ( I used Ghirardelli)

Egg wash: 1 beaten egg
Cocoa powder (optional) and confectioner’s sugar (powdered/icing sugar) for dusting cakes

**Garam (means “hot”) masala (means “mixture”) is a blend of ground spices and is used in most Indian savory dishes. It is used in limited quantities while cooking vegetables, meats & eggs. There is no “one” recipe for it as every household has a recipe of their own. Below, I am going to share the recipe which I follow.

4 or 5 sticks (25 g) Cinnamon Sticks (break a stick and open the scroll)
3 ½ tablespoons (25 g / less than an ounce) Cloves, whole
100 g. (3.5 oz.) Fennel seeds
4 tablespoons (25 g / less than an ounce) Cumin seeds
1 ½ tablespoons (10 g / less than half an ounce) Peppercorns
25 g (less than half an ounce) Green Cardamom pods

In a small pan on medium heat, roast each spice individually (it hardly takes a minute) until you get a nice aroma. Make sure you stir it throughout so that it doesn’t burn. As soon as each spice is roasted, transfer it to a bowl to cool slightly. Once they are all roasted, grind into a fine powder by using a coffee grinder, or pestle & mortar. Store in an airtight container and use as needed.

Directions:

Prepare the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. Ria’s version: add the 10 saffron threads to the warmed liquid and allow to steep off of the heat for 10 minutes. This will give the mixture a distinct aroma and flavor and a yellowish-orange hue.

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Prepare your filling:In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the filling if using. You can add the chopped nuts to this if you like, but I find it easier to sprinkle on both the nuts and the chocolate separately.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:
In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cakes:

Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue (ex: half of the cinnamon-sugar followed by half the chopped nuts and half of the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate).

Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.

Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.

Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheets onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool.

Just before serving, dust the tops of the coffee cakes with confectioner’s sugar as well as cocoa powder if using chocolate in the filling. These are best eaten fresh, the same day or the next day.

Additional Information:

The recipe calls for active dried yeast. An excellent source for yeast conversions and substitutes ishttp://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19314/re-yeast-conversion-fresh-dry-and...

Or

http://www.foodsubs.com/LeavenYeast.html

The Cake Slice : Chocolate Cream Pound Cake

It is so long I'm not blogging I'm not sure to remember how to !

I can't wait for my job to finish because I do not have much time for anything apart from blogging.

Well anyhow I managed to bake this simple loaf pan pound cake from 'Cake Keeper Cakes' by Lauren Chattman.

As Carlo was found intolerant to lactose I'm triyng to reduce it whenever I can and I'm using rice oil instead of butter . I didn't substitute the cream though...

We enjoied the result I got a velvety dark crumb, maybe a bit 'elastic' but probably it was my fault. I think it was a fairly easy and fast cake to bake.

Please visit the The Cake Slice blogroll

Recipe

60 g cocoa powder
55 ml double cream
150 g plain flour
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
100 g unsalted butter, softened (I used rice oil)
335 g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
Heat the oven to 160C. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and dust with flour.
Sift the cocoa powder into a heatproof bowl. Place the cream in a microwavable bowl and heat for 30-60 seconds until just boiling. Pour the hot cream over the cocoa and stir and mash with a spoon to make a thick paste. Set aside to cool.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bow once or twice as necessary. Beat in the cocoa powder paste until well combined (it will look grainy but this is fine).
With the mixer on medium-low speed add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla (the batter should now be smooth and glossy).
Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, a third at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition. Add the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the cake until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Invert it onto a wire rack and then turn it right side up on the rack to cool completely. Slice and serve.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Makes one 9x5 inch loaf cake .

The Cake Slice : Cranberry Cake and a late Cinnamon Pudding Cake

Lately I've been working much more and posting less, or better not posting at all.

This doesn't mean I'm not baking so here you go for December and November The Cake Slice cakes.

I cannot tell you how this Cranberry /Wildberries tastes because it just came out from the oven ! But it looks and smells terrific ! I wish I hadn't let the top brown so much ...

RECIPE

December’s Cake: Cranberry Cake

(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Makes one 10 inch round cake

For the Streusel
1 cup sliced almonds (I used pinenuts)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp light brown sugar

For the Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries (Iused frozen berries)
Method – Streusel
Heat the oven to 300F. Grease a 10inch round springform pan.
Combine the butter, almonds and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Work the mixture between your fingers to form large crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Method – Cake
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until the mixture is lightened and increased in volume, about 5 minutes.
With the mixer on low speed, add the butter in a slow stream. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for another 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.
Gently but thoroughly fold in the flour mixture, half a cup at a time. Then stir in the cranberries.
Scrape the butter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the streusel over the batter. Bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1hour 10minutes.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the cake from the pan bottom onto the wire rack. Cool completely before cutting into wedges and serving.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Then comes the Cinnamon Pudding Cake I'm sure I did somthing wrong with it and the cake looked loke the moon... but it wasn't bad maybe not the best but not bad at all !

RECIPE

November’s Cake: Cinnamon Pudding Cake

(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Makes one 8 inch square pudding cake

For the Caramel Topping

1 cup plus 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar
¾ cup water

1 tbsp unsalted butter
½ tsp salt

For the Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method – Topping

Heat the oven to 350F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8 inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

1) Combine the brown sugar, water, butter and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally, then set aside to cool.

Method – Cake

1) Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sakt in a medium mixing bowl.

2) Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3) With the mixer on medium-low speed, add a third of the flour mixture to the bowl. Add half of the milk and the vanilla. Add another third of the flour, followed by the remaining milk and the rest of the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.

4) Scrape the batter onto the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Pour the topping over the batter (the pan will be very full). Carefully transfer the pan to the oven and bake until set, 45 to 50 minutes.

5) Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, invert it onto a large rimmed serving platter and serve warm.

6) Let any leftover cake cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 3 days.

The Cake Slice : Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

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This month The CXake Slice Group is starting a new book from which we chose this cake as our first cake.

As a pose to a few others I baked with the group this is a very simple and fast cake to make, and it's very good too ! Please visit the other bakers as well.

Recipe:

October’s Cake: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients

1¾ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground cloves

Pinch nutmeg

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1¼ cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Method

Heat the oven to 350F. Coat the inside of a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and

dust with flour.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg in a

medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on

medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or

twice as necessary.

With the mixer on medium low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of

the bowl after each addition. Stir in the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Stir in the milk.

Turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour mixture, ½ cup at a time, scraping down the sides

of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the

cake until it is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 55

minutes to 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack and then

turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely.

Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator,

wrapped in plastic for up to 1 week.

Double Apple Bundt Cake

This week Lynne of Honey Muffin chose Double Apple Bundt Cake

I usually follow the recipes as closely as I can but lately with the new job I have very little time and no time for making apple butter ( that isn't available in Italy) so I substituted with a cup of blended peaches, as I was changing the recipe I omitted the nuts and substituted dried strawberries for raisins... the result was a wonderfully moist ad flavourful cake that will appear often on our table ! Please visit Lynne for the recipe and the other bakers here

TWD : Peach Upside Downer

Ciao a tutti ! This week Sabrina of Superfluous chose Cranberry Upside Downer but Cranberries are a very rare fruit around here so I settled for peaches which were a more summery alternative Dorie offered. I even had a few (someone stole the others!!) raspberries to make the cake even more cute. I must say this cake was greatly welcomed even by my pickiest taster Carlo (who decided he will be a restaurant critic in his bright future !) and as aways my problem is how not to eat all the leftovers.

Visit Sabrina for the recipe and all my twd colleaugues for more variations !

The Cake Slice : Key West Cake with Mango Mousse and Ginger Lime Cream

The cake selected for July's baking was Key West Cake with Mango Mousse and Ginger Lime Cream from Sky High Irresistible Layer Cakes.

The base for the cake was a simple Genoise filled with a Mango mousse made with mango pureed with some sugar, gelatine ( in Italy we find very easily sheets of gelatine which I never know well how to convert so I'm afraid I used a little too much), and whipped cream ,which I diminished because I wanted the mango to be very present. The whole cake is then frosted with a whipped cream enriched by a wonderful ginger lime curd.

I loved the two flavours together and even wished they would come out more !!!

Please visit The Cake Slice for more cakes and here you will find the recipe.

TWD : Lot's of Ways Banana Cake

Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities decided on this cake which was great for my inlaws ' party.

I filled and frosted the cake with the chocolate whipped cream and it was much loved by all the guests.

I'm sure this recipe would be great even by itself or filled with some jam or marmelade.

Please visit Kimberly for the recipe and the other bakers for more ways.