Just cakes....

Plum tart with almonds

Starting from the first half of August, in the shops and on stands appear the first domestic plums. In September there are so many of them that I have a problem deciding which kind I should choose. Small and big, round and more ovate, violet, red and yellow. You can eat them fresh or make a lot of preserves (jams, plum stew, stewed fruits, pickles, liqueurs, plum brandy). Our favorite are big and round greengage plums, or slightly firm violet plums.

Plums have a lot of valuable attributes. They regulate digestion and protect us from free radicals. Dried plums are more valuable regarding vitamin and fiber content, but they have five times more calories than fresh fruits.

Plums have quite a lot B vitamins, so for a long time they have been well regarded for having a soothing effect on the nervous system and improving our frame of mind. That's why you simply have to make a plum cake. Either now or when the dreary autumn days arrive. Their benign impact on the nerves could be a good excuse for putting another piece of cake on your plate.

I don't like complicated cookery. In this recipe you will find a lot of ingredients, but even so, preparing this delicious cake is very simple.

Ingredients:

Dough:

250g of flour

half a teaspoon of baking powder

8g of vanilla sugar

3 tablespoons of sugar

150ml of 18% cream

150g of butter

Filling:

600g of plums

1 egg white

3 tablespoons of minced almonds

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

200g of plum stew

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Crumble topping:

50g of butter

3-4 tablespoons of flour

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

8g of vanilla sugar

1 egg yolk

the complete recipe is here

Chocolate cake with plums

The first cake I ever dared to bake by myself was a chocolate cake. I have since baked it many times, always using the same recipe, and many times I have spoiled it at the beginning of preparation. It is necessary to cool down the chocolate mixture before adding the rest of the ingredients. On a hot summer day this process is very long, so I accelerated it by putting the pot with the mixture into some cold water in the kitchen sink. Many times, by mistake, I turned on the tap and poured water onto the cooling mixture. In hindsight these situations were amusing, but at the time it wasn't funny.

This chocolate cake is excellent without any additives. You can enrich it with your favourite nuts or butter icing. Today I added some plums to the top of the cake. It was great and its sweet chocolate-plum aroma lingered long in my home.

Ingredients (25cm cake tin):
200g of flour
150g of butter
3 tablespoons of cocoa
120g of brown sugar
15ml of almond milk
100g of dark chocolate
1 egg
1 teaspoon of baking powder
plums

the complete recipe is here

Sweet beginning of the autumn pumpkin tart

There are some products which are housewives' allies. In my opinion, courgette, French pastry, beetroots and cheese belong to this group. I always have them in my fridge, because they allow me to prepare any dish in a crisis situation. Today they were joined by the pumpkin. Usually, I use pumpkin to make crumpets, salads or soups. Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a sweet version of a dish with pumpkin. I made it by following Jamie Oliver's recipe.

So, I invite you to a good, because it is sweet, beginning of the autumn, with the pumpkin the queen of the autumn vegetables in the lead role. This shortbread tart with a creamy pumpkin stuffing has a beautiful autumnal colour and a slight taste of caramel. It should really be a decoration for the Sunday table and is an interesting proposal for a Halloween party.

Ingredients (25cm cake tin)
dough
200g of flour
35g of caster sugar
100g of butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon of milk
pumpkin stuffing
400g of peeled pumpkin
400ml of milk
150g of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
2 eggs

the complete recipe is here

On seeing all this discussion I really enjoyed to have a cake like this.

BANOFFE - MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY CAKE

This year, mischievous nature tried to upset my daughter's birthday plans. Spending your birthday in bed with a thermometer isn't an excellent idea even for an adult. For a teenager it is a drama comparable to cancelled holidays. My daughter told me that you are thirteen only once. And she was right. Literally and figuratively.

I wanted to sugar the pill for her on this day and cheer her up for a bit, so I prepared a caramel cake with bananas banoffee in the form of a small birthday cake. My sweet magic and the dinner from her favourite restaurant worked, and in the end her birthday was quite nice.

Ingredients (17cm cake tin):
150g of biscuits
75g of butter
200ml of 30% sweet cream
250g of mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 bananas
300g of fudge
1 teaspoon of dark cocoa

for interested the complete recipe is here

The easiest cake recipe that I learned over the years was my mother's special orange cake. One day at home while I wanted to surprise my mom by recreating her magic, I searched on the net and I found this really amazing orange recipe which helped me recreating my mother's magic in my flavors. Orange cakes are the best for people who are focusing on a healthy lifestyle and want to satisfy their citrusy craving.Read about the recipe on Living Foodz website.