Baklava

25 de Noviembre
Día Internacional de lucha contra la violencia de género

En apoyo de quienes sufren malos tratos,
para que puedan decir basta
y probar la dulzura de una vida basada en el respeto

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Uno de nuestros dulces favoritos en casa, sin duda. Nos evoca recuerdos intensos de Berlín, Atenas, Estambul, Sarajevo y Mostar, ...

Y es fácil de preparar en casa. Fácil no significa rápido, claro. Y si queremos preparar nuestro baklava de manera artesanal debemos atrevernos, en primer lugar, a preparar nuestra masa filo en casa. Es un reto... pero ¿quién ha dicho miedo?

Baklava

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I'm late, terribly late... for the Daring Baker's June challenge: Erica, from Erica’s Edibles, invited us all to prepare Baklava from scratch, including a homemade phyllo pastry. I tried first with my phyllo and prepared a  pastilla out of a recipe from Sefarad cuisine (or morocain pastella, which in fact was originally made in Andalusia and then adopted in Morocco cuisine).

But family and professional life get crazy sometimes. Too many happenings -happy happenings- along with those not-so-easy days in which an unexpected call from the school  takes you and a child of yours to the hospital urgency services... That's life!

But I did it, I prepared a 2 kilos and a half sheet of baklava, which will not last a week in the fridge, including donations to friends.

Yeasted coffeecake

Not fancy, but tasty ... and that's already something!

The Daring Bakers propose this month a challenge for a yeasted coffeecake:  Jamie of Life’s a Feast and Ria of Ria’s Collection are thrilled to invite you to bake along with them this month!

"Mets la main à la pâte! It’s time to roll up your sleeves and put your hands wrist deep in some smooth, silky dough and create something oh-so sweet!"

And so I did. Yeah, I know, beauty is not everything in life... but... appereance is somehow important. That's why my braid went to my parents'



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and the wreath stayed at home for tea-time, as you may understand! My kids told It was more like a white lava volcano than a coffeecake.

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Algunas tartas buenas

Hace poco mi hija menor ha cumplido 8 años

Y creo que ha sido el primer cumpleaños al que ella le ha dado significado vital. Es feliz, siente sus 8 años, vive ilusionada su "mayor edad".

En casa, los peques tienen dos tartas: una para celebrar con la familia y otra para celebrar en el cole.

Este año, la tarta para celebrar en familia me ha permitido sacar partido a la técnica de bizcochos "imprimidos". ¿Recordais? El Daring Baker propuso en el mes de enero esta técnica: bizcochos "dibujados" que encierran deliciosos mousses. Mi primer intento fue una tarta de mousse de fresa. Cuando la vió, mi hija escogió inmediatamente para su cumpleaños una tarta similar, pero con mousse de chocolate. 

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Joconde imprimé: Daring Baker January 2011

Yes, We Can!

I doubted I could cope with my first Daring Baker Challenge... As time passed by and the final days were closer, I was more and more scared... When I saw all the pretty jocondes people was able to make!

Astheroshe, from the blog Accro, asked all Daring Bakers to prepare a Biscuit Joconde Imprimé or Entremet. It is quite an easy confection if you only are an artist in the Kitchen. Not my case. So this was THE real challenge. Can you make a sponge cake? Yes, We Can. Can you make a mousse type filling? Yes, We Can. Can you make it fancy and smart? Yes, We Can. Can you set up this Joconde Imprimé or Entremet? Let's see...

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I am not very good at piping and decorating. In fact I am terrible: I've got shaking hands, no precission and small imagination for these type of things. My family birthday cakes are usually rich and good at the inside with rather a poor presentation. But this challenge made me reflect on my own desire to learn.