Monday Moodboard "What do you love about Summer?"

Hello folks!

It's Summer finally! And that's the season I love most of all!

What do I love about Summer?
First of all that's warm weather with a lot of sun and blue sky. I like to meet my friends and enjoy nice evenings on open terraces drinking something cold....
I love summer coz I celebrate my birthday in the end of June. For me that's one of three very important days (beside my birthday there are also New Year Eve and International Women Day). When I was a child it was kinda hard to invite all my friends for my birthday as usually most of them where going to summerhouses.
I love summer coz you wear lovely dresses and skirts and don't need to look like a cabbage (we have cold winters and sometimes you need to wear few layers of clothes)
Unfortunatelly I don't live near a sea but we have few lakes around the town and sometimes go to a lake to swimm and have a bbq :)
I like to start my summer in spring and finish it in autumn by go to some warm countries thus I have a feeling that my summer lasts longer than just three months :)
I like to watch how summer changes its color by flowers...Each and every month has different color coz have different flowers...
I love summer berries pies - they are light and tasty and very fresh.
Summer is also a time when we make some homemade stuff like jams or salads that you keep in the fridge and then open during the winter to enjoy all that tasty berries and vegetables that summer gives you :)
Oh and of course Ice Cream! Impossible to enjoy summer without an ice cream :)

And what do you love about Summer?

Nature photography by butenasPhotography

Monogrammed Hot Pink Wide Brim Sun Hat by TripleACreations

Poppies photograph by BeatriceLechtanski

Simple and delicious Pear, Chocolate and Hazelnuts Cake for International Women's day

Hello folks!

Not all people celebrate Intrenational Women's Day but here in Russia we do! And for some foreigners it can look as a pretty crazy event :) Flowers that you can buy on an each and every corner (just be aware about the high price). Men are looking for gifts and also thinking about what to bring to women they work with and sometimes it's pretty tricky as there can be more women than men (like in a department where I work). Women think what they'll wear to the office coz they will celebrate this day for sure. People celebrate this day not only in restaurants but at home as well and cook nice food and of course bake (or buy) a cake.

So today I brought you a very simple recipe. Guys believe me even a man can bake this cake coz it's easy! And I hope that your man will bake it as a nice sweet gift for you. :)

So here we are with Pear, Chocolate and Hazelnuts Cake. If you have any question - just ask.

Ingredients
1 large pear
125 gr of  crushed hazelnuts (you can use your favorite nuts. I use almonds sometimes)
200 gr of flour
1 teaspoon of a baking powder
175 gr of butter
100 gr of sugar
2 eggs
100 gr of black chocolate
10 g of vanilla sugar
Flour and butter for form greasing




Preparation

Preheat the oven to 160C.
Remove the skin and the core from the pear, cut into cubes.  Chopp the chocolate.  

In a bowl mix the flour with the baking powder, vanilla sugar and add the softened butter. Knead the butter with the flour by a fork till combine. Then add the sugar, the eggs and mix it.

Add the cutted pear, the chopped chocolate and the crushed hazelnuts into dough and mix it.  

Grease the form with the butter and powder it by the flour. Pour the dough into the form and  bake 50-60 minutes.

Turn the cake out on to a rack to cool (about 15-20 minutes), then take the cake out of the form and allow to cool completely. It's even better to allow to stand it the night thus it won't crumble when cutting.

And don't forget to enjoy!

Yorkshire Tea Loaf

Hello folks!
It's still holidays here in Russia and as we have some free time I decided to cook a nice cake - Yorkshire tea loaf. But I have to confess - I changed the original recipe a bit so here you'll see my version :)
And please read carefully as you need to prepare fruits a night before you'll cook the cake!



300 ml very strong tea Earl Greay (as I'm not in England and not able to get Yorkshire tea) - I used 5 tea spoons on 300 ml water.
200 gr dry Cornelian cherries (instead of dry cherries)
250 gr dry raisins
50 ml single malt whisky
200 gr brown sugar
225 gr flour
100 gr walnuts (there are no walnuts in the original recipe)
1 tea spoon baking powder
1 tea spoon ixed spices (cloves, anise, cardamon, nutmeg, allspice tree, cinnamon)
2 eggs

1. Make a very strong tea, filter and pour hot tea into raisins and cornekian cherries (that liquid completely covered dried fruits), in 15 minutes to add wisky, mix and leave for the night.

2. In the morning add sugar, walnuts, eggs into dried fruits (not to merge not absorbed tea) and mix.
 
  3. Mix a flour with a baking powder, then mix with spices. Add into a bowl with dried fruits and mix properly. It should be stiff viscous paste. Then pour out dough in a form and bake about an hour at a temperature of 160 C. Get from an oven, let to cool and take out from a form.