wishing you a safe and happy holidays with your nearested and dearest.

let’s face it. i’m not one of those people who can bounce out of bed to make it to the tennis courts on time. i’m more of a person who will bounce out of bed to make sure i have enough buttermilk for small stack of pancakes in order to feed a bunch of people who want to make it to the tennis courts on time.

and so, with visiting friends who were tightening strings on the rackets, eager to be the first on the court on a saturday morning (i know, who are these crazy people!?) i managed to convince them that a mini breakfast was required before we were to attempt a game of anything. “lots of vitamin giving fruit” i promised. “and low in fat!” i showed them while shaking the carton of buttermilk.

as i quickly melted the butter and poured it into the batter mr protennis was quick to ask “what’s that?” i repied “that is necessary”. once the blueberries and then the strawberries and apricots joined steaming hot pancakes followed closely by the syrup our plates were things of beauty. from now on all pancakes must be eaten with plump fruits. the berries add a tartness and the apricots a nice mellow to the syrup. buttery and tangy is what these pancakes are like. bill granger’s recipe can easily be halved, as i did for a mini breakfast.
the game? i lost and was demoted to drinks girl and in doubles the girls lost 6:3.

my second attempt at chocolate cake in one day.

i’m usually alright with cakes and stuff, but this morning a flourless chocolate cake which called for 2 blocks of 85% chocolate and 150g of almond meal turned into a disaster. think crumbly, dry and bleh. it may be rescued and turned into a cheesecake creation if i can be bothered. this evening when i attempted a regular chocolate butter cake it didn’t rise.

and now after a few glasses of wine (and a lovely roast chicken which i’ll post about in a few days) i realise that when i moved into our new place, i purchased new bakeware which was slightly different to my mother’s cake tins. my round springform tin is much bigger. aaah lateral thinking.

so this very flat cake was named chocolate blueberry shortcake by a very forgiving and kind friend. we like her very much (thanks saada!). amazing the difference a bit of cream and blueberries makes. and i’ve just realised that even though i love layer cake, one layer of cake is sometimes just what a girl needs on a friday night. and also a belly ache laugh and a glass of wine.

back for a bit. thanks for still reading.

been a little off with the food recently, but today there will be cake and playing with my new toy: a lomo action sampler!

does one need another bakery?

apparently so.

lüneburger has been at its qvb location for months now and i never knew. quick to recitfy there was an order of two soft pretzels and a plum and ricotta danish. now must go back to try the landbrot, a typical german rye loaf which was my favourite bread as a kid. oh boy, it looks like this could turn into world bread week around here.