Reading this month’s Martha I came across a recipe for Pistachio cupcakes with raspberries which is kind of the inspiration for this recipe. Now Martha and I have a love-hate relationship. I like the styling, tips and “idea” of her recipes but her actual recipes can sometimes ‘lack’ some vital ingredients. Cupcakes with no baking powder? How’s that supposed to work? Not great coming from the biggest domestic Goddess. I thought she would have enough assistants to proof read the recipes. Anyhow I took the recipe added stuff, took stuff out, mixed around and basically came up with my own recipe. That’s how recipe writing works. Take an exisitng recipe and add your own flavour.

I was at OFF this Monday, a big food festival in Normandy checking out the new generation chefs and some heavyweights too. Take a look at Khookie for the whole story.

Raspberry & pistachio mignardise

250g ground almonds
3 eggs
120g butter, melted
120g flour
2 tsp baking powder
180g sugar
100g pistachio, chopped plus 25g for decoration
150g fresh raspberries (save a few for the decoration)
Vanilla ice cream
Raspberry coulis or 300g fresh raspberries (heat with a little water, add sugar to taste and pass through sieve).

Preheat oven to 180°c. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and ground almonds. Beat in the eggs and melted butter. Add the pistachios and mix. Carefully fold in the raspberries. Bake for 20 minutes.
Leave cakes to cool slightly before serving (you can serve them cold too). Top with ice cream, hot raspberry coulis, fresh raspberries and chopped pistachios.

Tags: hot love, martha stewart, mignardise, OFF, Recipe writing

“When the going gets tough, the tough gets going!” Everyone has some phrase or another for times which are trying. I’ve been hearing a lot of them recently. And I think the saying above is great way of handling things. So I went on a bit of a mission this weekend. Sleeping was definetly not on the menu. Discovering new things, places and lots of dancing (I love dancing = instant happiness for me). On Saturday I came across a new blog which described an exhibition in Paris I just had to go to. I instantly rang to make a reservation, crossing my fingers they would have some spaces free.

Keep reading…

Tags: café ephermere, DMBLGIT award, E is for excellent award, gallery

The lovely Fanny from Foodbeam sent me an email a couple of weeks ago, asking whether I could participate in the Menu for Hope IV event. Menu for hope is an annual fundraising event masterminded by chez Pim raising money for the UN World Food Programme feed the hungry.

Each year, food bloggers from all over the world join forces to host the Menu for Hope online raffle, offering an array of delectable culinary prizes. For every US$10, the donor receive a virtual raffle ticket toward a prize of their choice. This year, the prizes include once in a lifetime experiences such as touring the elBulli laboratory with Ferran Adrià , dining on a historic British meal prepared by Heston Blumenthal, or joining Harold McGee on a lunch date to satisfy a lifetime’s worth of cooking curiosity. You can also tag along with your favorite blogger on a tour of their favorite markets, restaurants, or even receive a care package fashioned especially for you from your favorite bloggers themselves. All you need is $10 and a bit of luck.

Wanting to do my own bit I’ve submitted two prizes for the raffle… Keep reading…

Drum roll, please…here are the absolutely fantastic chocotastic entries for the Stop the Traffik chocolate competition. And what a range there has been. Each entry has had me licking my lips and going yum yum. Thanks to everyone who participated I’m truly impressed with all the effort everyone has made. If I’ve forgotten your entry or made an error, please let me know.

So start drooling over your keyboards (click on each image for the whole entry) and send me your votes to rkhooks@gmail.com by Tuesday 16th October.

P.S. Only one entry per person. I know you guys want to win the goodie bag

Tags: chocoholics, Competition, Stop the Traffik