Easter baking - Cake thirty-six

Easter Gingerbread Cookies 

Easter is a happy time for baking! It’s another period of the year, like Christmas, I’m really fond of as I am kind of officially authorized to devote myself full time to cake making. I can bake from morning to evening, completely forgetting there’s life going on outside my kitchen! I may look like a robot set on the ‘baking’ mode which cannot be turned off until the whole programme has been fully and satisfactorily carried out. And it’s partly true.... My mind goes crazy and works very fast at different levels organizing all the work: one side the recipes which are a must have in my family, - Sicilian Cassata, Chocolate Eggs, Lollipops and Bunnies of all sizes, a basket with chocolate eggs, hangings for the Easter Tree, Hot Cross Buns, cakes or cookies in the shape of bunnies and breads in typical Easter shapes - and on the other side the new entries since I like to experiment something new every year - this year it was the time of some Easter Gingerbread Cookies and Bunnies Shortbread Cookies. The Cheese Panettone has only recently become part of our Easter lunch. Am I not tired in the end? Of course I am! But .....  all in all it doesn’t matter that much..... 

Song: For no one

Close your eyes and listen to this song, don’t you feel a bit better now? 

see recipe: http://time-for-cake-making.blogspot.it/2014/05/cake-thirty-six-easter-gingerbread.html

Cake thirty-five

Harjeet Coffee Cake

I got this recipe from a friend I met in London when I was working as a shop assistant in Oxford St. I was in my early twenties and it was summertime. She was an Indian girl, with long, straight black hair, a Sikh who was born and living in England. We immediately became friends; it was not much because we were the same age, it was mainly we shared the same ideas and dreams, as I’d call them now, but at that time it was more like fighting against old prejudices and behaviour codes. It was a time when I was studying Japanese and was fascinated by Eastern cultures and philosophy. I had already got a Japanese friend, I had met a few years before in London, and we’re still good friends! It was my first hand experience of a multicultural society and I was thrilled at the idea of friends sharing same ideas although coming from different backgrounds. I’m not changed much though... I dare say... which I don’t know whether to consider it positive or not..... I learnt to see my problems under another perspective and realised I was quite lucky in my family! My parents, my father in particular, loved travelling; when he was a boy, he was dreaming to become a sailor to see the world, but then he saw the war, WW2 , and all his dreams were gone!  The war had destroyed his youth but made his love for family and friendship bondings even greater. He was ever so happy to have guests and happier if they were foreigners. So to cut it short, Harjeet, this Indian friend of mine, came to my place and met my family, my father and his little coffee pot. This is the cake she thought he’d love. 

Song: Sgt Pepper

It was twenty or more years ago....

see recipe: http://time-for-cake-making.blogspot.it/2014/05/cake-thirty-five-harjeet-coffee-cake.html

Cake thirty-four

Black Sand Castle

Ever made a sand castle on the beach? I’m sure we all have, both when we were little children and  later in our life when we had children. I find it simply intriguing the way you can combine water and sand and set your imagination free. I love it! It didn’t matter whether my castle wasn’t that big or if the castle next to mine looked perfect even after a few hours, while mine had been soon destroyed by a sudden wave....  it was my attempt to give shape to the so many castles I had imagined when listening to or reading fairy tales. Maybe ‘cause I live in a region full of Medieval castles, or maybe ‘cause I’m still a child myself inside. I’ve always been fascinated by castles, secret passages and high surrounding walls which hid huge parks although I’ve never seen a castle as a dark and macabre place as in the gothic tradition, but more like a happy place. I know this sounds quite anachronistic and it’s only what we read in fairy tales....! But I like to see it like that! 

Song: Yellow Submarine

Leave the real world behind you...

see recipe: http://time-for-cake-making.blogspot.it/2014/03/cake-thirty-four-black-sand-castle.html

Cake thirty-three

Night & Day

Night or day? Dark or light, black or white? If you close your eyes and set your mind free, do you have the same mind associations as me? Do night and day correspond to the same stereotypes? For many of us they may do, if we share the same background, live in the same geographical area, say Southern Europe, but what if you live in Northern Europe or by the Equator? What are your free associations? Me? I’d continue with dream and daydream, relaxing and working, sleeping and coffee, home and workplace, soft pillow and wooden chair, silence and chatting, stars and sunshine, freedom and duty....If you had to choose between day and night, which is your favourite time? Mine is night, it means home to me, a place where I feel safe, the meeting point of my family, a place where I can shut all worries outside the door and be sure I am myself. I simply feel alright and don’t need to do so special things, I only let go of everything.

song: A Hard Day's Night
Home is home!

see recipe: http://time-for-cake-making.blogspot.it/2014/02/cake-thirty-three-night-day.html

Cake thirty-two

Xmas Cookies

Every year I wait for Xmas time to come, yes, I do feel like a child in a way, maybe because I have nice memories from my childhood. My family was quite small, it was just my mum, my dad and I, but my mum’s sister and her husband were always with us. They had no children and they considered me their daughter. My mum used to decorate the house, my dad made the nativity and Xmas tree. The table for Xmas Eve dinner looked gorgeous and very elegant, like a table of a five- star hotel, since my mum looked after all the details. But it was never pompous. There was a kind of ritual I still cherish, before dinner we all gathered around the Nativity, which wasn’t in the same room as the Xmas tree and we sang a few songs waiting for Father Xmas, I called it Father Xmas and not Santa Claus, to arrive. Suddenly the bell rang and my father went to open the door. It was just a matter of minutes, but they seemed hours to me.. At last he shouted - it’s Father Xmas, he’s brought a lot of gifts, do come and see! So I rushed to the sitting room and ... there it was, the Xmas tree all surrounded by big and small packets! I stood open-mouthed in astonishment... I can still remember how excited I felt...

What was inside the packet wasn’t that relevant, it was the  atmosphere and the waiting that mattered! Once my mum’s brother and sister came from Sicily and for that occasion my dad had put up a huge Xmas tree that touched the ceiling. It was like an event for me, I wouldn’t have been alone waiting for the bell to ring, my little cousin was there too. You may not guess how mad he went when he saw all the gifts under the tree! We often like to recall that moment, nice memories to share. 

At that time I didn’t realize the time my parents took to make all the preparations. It was simply natural...

So when Xmas is approaching, it’s something I cannot help, I get into the same state of mind. I do my best to continue this tradition of joyful and almost timeless atmosphere.. It’s like a tribute to my parents and my aunt Lucia who've dedicated their lives to me. 

song: Any time at all

All I had to do was call and my father and aunt were there

also visit : http://time-for-cake-making.blogspot.it/2014/01/cake-thirty-two-xmas-cookies.html

Cake seventeen - 2013

Xmas Fruit Cake 

I’m definitely a Xmas lover, I love the days before Xmas when you make all the preparations - Xmas tree, Nativity, house decorations and last but not least cakes and cookies. I also like cooking for Xmas Eve and day but cakes are my favourite! I start mid-November baking the Xmas Fruitcake as it tastes better if yoy store it for some weeks. I like the smell of candied fruit and raisins which fills the house and makes me dream of small and cosy Tea Rooms in Devon or Cornwall. Yes! One of my dreams is to have a small Tea Room and bake a few cakes a day. 

I’m able to leave all the rest behind when it’s Xmas time. My kids say I get obsessed by Xmas baking which could be true, I must admit.. but they all love it in the end... and have their favourite recipes to be prepared. When you love something, you simply do it, without considering how tired you get and how long it takes!

song: Because 

There's no real reason for love

Cake nineteen - 2013 edition

Santa's House 

This is the house I've made with some help from my children for this Christmas. It takes about three days and we need a lot of patience and care in the details. But it's now part of our Christmas tradition. 

Every year we like to change it a little bit: this year we've experimented a new material for the house logs, different shutters, a bigger wreath on the facade and we've closed the front door. Don't forget to give a look at the sleigh and the reindeers... They're my favourite! There are the reins too...

Song: Happy Christmas 

A Merry Christmas to all of us