Mac Attack #17: Fruits & Spices

I'm obsessed with baking macarons., even though I have not posted my recipe yet, but I will do that within the next week.
Recently I discovered Mac Attack, of course I had to become a member, and the first challenge was: fruits and spices, so I made a brain storming. I had no idea which flavours I should use. I don't know much about spices or how to pair them.
Of course, everyone know the combination of apple and cinnamon, but that was just too boring, so is anything with vanilla. I was thinking about an avocado cream. Also, I don't wanted to use ginger with something like orange or lemon, I just wanted something more special... I wanted to use sesame / tahina but I really didn't know what to pair with.

I ended up choosing pineapple and curry. Probably not that special, too.

Florentine Cookies

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I must admit, I only know the florentine cookies from the supermarket, probably Swiss brand "Wernli". And even these, I had them very rarely and the last time I ate florentine cookies, I can't remember it. Some years ago.

I think this was really an easy challenge. There were some confusions about some ingredients and how to substitute them (this is just what I expected, this just happens when a Swiss uses preferably non-european recipes), as we don't have dark corn syrup (nor bright) here. People suggested to do some syrup with sugar, but I chose maple syrup. People wrote this wasn't a good substitute as it would be too sweet, but I reduced the sugar, or better: I didn't really use some.
Also, I have no idea what quick oats are and google couldn't really help me out, but I used "fine" oats.

I made half of the recipe, unsandwiched, but I only got about 15 cookies, not 2 1/2 dozen!

Also, it was the first time I made something out of oats, and it's even the first time I bought them. I often read about oats in cookies, but I really didn't know how good that was and how crispy the cookies get!
I added almonds and used dark chocolate, but for more, scroll down!
And, they are quite healthy!

Joconde Imprimé

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.
This was going to be my first challenge at the Daring Kitchen, and, I must admit, at first, I really thought that I wasn't going to make this one. But then, I took a closer look at the recipe and wanted to give it a try.

Now, that it became that good, I know, I will definitely do this one again.
I want to try more flavours. Maybe something more classical with flavours like hazelnut, vanilla, coffee, chocolates, and something with different fruits like banana, orange, lemon cherry, or even more exotic fruits like mango & co! There are just too much possibilities. But this one was so good, I don't know if I'd manage to get away from the rhubarb/raspberry/blueberry fillings.

It was so delicious, I love desserts with fruits! A friend of mine said it's "the best cake she has ever eaten".

my new cook-bake-blog!

Dear readers,

This is my first blog!
I spent HOURS on doing the fu..... design and I hope I don't ever have to touch it again.

So... I love cooking and baking, and I love photography. I always take tons of pictures of good looking food. So I started to document cooking and baking procedures.

This is what I want to do here. Share pictures and recipes of cooked meals and baked goods!

I probably wouldn't have made a blog if I wasn't a member of the Daring Kitchen. It just somehow felt necessary, and now I finally made it

So, if you want and if you are interested, become my reader and share the your blogs with me, too!
I love blogs about cooking and baking!
I would also appreciate if you share your thoughts and comments or ideas on my posts, recipes and pictures!


So long,

Lea