1 Year Anniversary of our PACS love in France

One year ago J and I signed a piece of French paper to declare us a couple under French law. We had an afternoon tea and champagne gathering to celebrate. Check out these absolutely gorgeous cakes, what a spread!

When we tie the knot one day it will be even bigger and better. I’m thinking in a garden somewhere in Australia. With lots of flowers. Yes I’m a dreamer.

J sporting his moustache. He is so dapper.

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A Macaron Class in Paris For Two ❤

My J treated me to a macaron class last week and boy was it fun! Who ever know just how complicated macaron’s are to make. Well, we didn’t.

We learnt a lot and just look at that concentration on J’s face.

In other news, look at this interview with me on The Kale Project.

J and I booked tickets for Istanbul for a 3-day getaway in November. I cannot explain my excitement in words. (I can in cartwheels)

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Amazeballs Superfood Energy Balls

I’m sick of wanting a small snack to go with my coffee or afternoon tea and finding that anything I consider bying is full of refined sugars, additives and other things I cannot pronounce! I took things into my own hands and made super dooper amazeballs jam-packed with goodness, superfoods and energy.

This is how it goes:

300g of fresh dates. Despite them being quite soft, I soak them for 24 hours. This will make them easier to digest and bring out their natural sweetness too. After soaking them for 24 hours I take out the pips and add the rest of the ingredients.

Half a cup of organic cocoa nibs.

4 tablespoons of chia seeds.

half a cup of coconut.

Blend it all up.

Add half a cup of cocoa.

Roll them into bite-size balls.

Sprinkle cocoa over them to make them richer but also easier to eat!

Store them in the fridge and enjoy one each morning with your morning tea or coffee to get you going and ready for the big day ahead.

If we are going to eat chocolate we may as well do it right, do it whole, do it with real foods! Chocolate is healthy for us, it’s is the processed chocolate with milk, soy, sugar and other chemical lab made ingredients that makes it unhealthy. When it is made with raw cocoaand a natural sweetner like dates in this instance it is loaded with vitamins, nutrients, and anti-oxidants – more than green tea, red wine and blue berries! This recipe is high in magnesium,great for energy, weight loss, a protein snack before a workout, an aphrodisiac and for FEELING GOOD!

Enjoy xo,

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Gluten Free Flourless Orange and Chocolate Cake

I love making flourless gluten free cakes because I don’t feel guilty and I gobble it all up because it is moist and feels nourishing. Here is my recipe:

You’ll need:

2 oranges
1 big chunk of fresh ginger
3 eggs
1 cup of muscovado
300g almond meal
1 generous cup of raw cocoa
1tsp baking soda or raising agent
1 shot of black coffee

Place the oranges and ginger in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return to pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes (this will reduce the bitterness of the peel). Refresh under cold water. Drain. Coarsely chop oranges. Remove and discard any seeds.

Place the orange in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.

Use an electric beater to whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale. Add the orange,cocoa almond meal and baking powder and gently fold until just combined. Add the shot of coffee. This does not make the cake taste like coffee, it simply makes the cocoa taste richer and takes away the bitterness of the rind.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool.

To decorate, I covered it with cocoa and added on four macarons and a sliced fig.

It was so moist and almost tasted like a fudge cake- minus all the dairy and flour!

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Day 1: My adventures in Istanbul

After arriving in Istanbul very late last night (or should I say very early this morning) I quickly got into the swing of things this morning. This city is so alive, it’s pulsing, the vibe is wonderful.

I am as in love with this city as I was in India. Uh oh, another love affair.

What a better way to kick off my week of solo-traveling than a strong Turkish coffee?!

And breakfast of course. Their breakfast is just as I like it: savoury and not too heavy.

I walked around the lush winding streets that branch off the main street of Taksim (Istiklal Caddesi). The café scene is really on the mark, Turkish meets Europe, and they offer great simple menus.

I didn’t expect to come across so many vintage shops. The tiles make me want to have my bathroom inspired by a mosque.

Just off the main road mentioned above I came across two young fellows selling muscles stuffed with rice served with lemon juice. Words do not describe. DELICIOUS.

They were so friendly too!

If you haven’t had Turkish coffee before, here is a simple explanation: Roasted and then finely ground coffee beans are boiled in a bronze pot and served in a small cup where the beans are allowed to settle. Sugar is added to taste. This method of serving coffee is found in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey of course.

Cats are everywhere. I was told that they don’t get rid of them because they kill all the rats. Cats kill the rats. That rhymes.

I walked past this family and asked to take a photo of them because I thought they looked so wonderful. They then invited me for tea (called chai) and home-made walnut baklava. What an experience!

It may be full of sugar but hell, we only live once!

Turkish men dancing in the street.

Pickles as a side dish with my kebab for dinner.

And to finish off my night before catching my z’s, some more tea!

Tomorrow I have another big day, so keep tuned! 🙂

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Flourless Chocolate Nib Cupcakes with Raspberry Hearts

I am so delighted, this recipe is going to be posted on the Loving Earth website. If you don’t know Loving Earth then you really should look at their site, and of course try their products.

Just because there is chocolate in this cake, does not mean you can’t eat it! In any case, this flourless version is low in both carbs and fat, so it’s free of sin and full of taste! To put the raspberry on the cake, the Loving Earth raw cocoa nibs are full of nutrients, antioxidents and magnesium to make this cake a borderline superfood! They also give these cupcakes a richness and slight crunchy texture.

The next great thing is that even those who have a super sweet tooth love these. My J is the kind of person that could eat a kilo of m&m’s in one sitting, so making these really is a healthy alternative. Could be a great lunch box treat too!

Ingredients:

• 50g (1/2 cup) organic cocoa powder
• 5 tbsps of Loving Earth cocoa nibs
• 80ml (1/3 cup) hot coffee
• 2 tsp boiling water
• 1 x 100g pkt almond meal
• 100g dessicated coconut
• 100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar (infused with vanilla beans- as in picture)
• 3 eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 180°C. Put the cupcake patties in a muffin tray.

Combine the cocoa powder and hot water in a medium bowl.  Put in the cocoa nibs. Add the coffee and hot water to the cocoa mixture and stir until combined.This will soften the cocoa nibs slightly.

Add almond meal, coconut, sugar and egg yolks to cocoa mixture, and stir until well combined.

Use an electric beater to whisk egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Use a metal spoon to fold a spoonful of egg whites into cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg whites until just combined.

Spoon half of the mixture into patties, put in the raspberry heart, then spoon in the second half of the mixture. Bake for around 12 minutes or until a skewer comes out dry.

If you wish to do an icing, here is how I did it:

200g of chocolate
100g crème fraîche

melt both the chocolate and the crème fraîche. Pour them in the same bowl and mix until combined. After a few hours in the fridge, using an electric beater, mix until light and fluffy. Using an icing bag, ice the cupcakes and put a raspberry on each cupcake. I suggest making the icing the day before and beating it just before icing.

and VOILA!

I just got back from a week in Budapest and tonight I am off to Istanbul. Very excited! More food and life adventures to come.

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Almond Meal Banana and Blueberry Muffins

This moist butter cake base is perfect for your afternoon tea hit.
What you’ll need:

• 250g butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 1 cup of almond meal
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1 cup of frozen or fresh blueberries

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, bananas, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

I buy very ripe bananas in bulk, skin them and freeze them for baking and smoothie purposes. I find this is really practical.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating to combine. Add half the flour and almond meal. Stir to combine. Add half the milk. Stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and almond meal and milk.

Spread mixture into prepared patties.

Bake for around 12 or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

For the second half of the mixture I put in a cup of granola. This gives muffins such a lovely hearty texture. I think of it as a breakfast muffin.

The blueberries you can put in as you please.

I had a bit of icing left over from my last cupcake fiesta so I iced four of the muffins because J has such a sweet tooth!

There is nothing better than storing cakes, muffins, cupcakes or tartes in this charming stand. I love it! And the flies can’t get in.

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Vanilla Berry Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate icing

Yesterday I was in the mood to bake. I have some wonderful vanilla that I got in Kerela, India, and I felt like making a classic flavour.

Here is my recipe: (for 12 cupcakes, 11 if you, like me, eat one fresh out of the oven)

-130g soft butter
– 2 vanilla beans
– 130g sugar (I use a dark non-bleached sugar I find it makes the mixture more fluffy and the flavour more caramalized)
– 2 eggs
– 80 ml milk
– 95g self raising flour
– 95g almond meal
– 10g raising agent

For the icing:
– 200g milk chocolate for cooking
– 100g cream
– 3 tablespoons of either nutella or chesnut cream

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Beat the sugar and the eggs until the mixture is light and fluffy. Slowly add in the melted butter.

Add the milk, flour, almond meal and the raising agent, then finally the vanilla.

Fill up 3/4 of the cupcake liners to give the batter space to rise. Add either a raspberry or a few blueberries in each cupcake.

Put your little babies in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, or until slightly golden.

To prepare the icing, do it either the day before or the morning before baking the cupcakes.

Boil the cream and pour it over the chocolate (which should be broken into small pieces). Mix well until there are no lumps. Add the 3 spoons of nutella or chesnut cream then put it in the fridge to set.

Before icing the cupcakes, beat the mixture so that it becomes light and fluffy.

You will need some kind of icing bottle to control the movement and to make it look pretty. Bleekcups have everything you need.

Start icing, starting from the middle of the cupcake and with a constant movement otherwise you will break the flow.

For half of the batch I added coconut as the decoration.

And the other half fresh blueberries.

Next time I make cupcakes I am going to buy this product from Bleekcup’s and spray them with glitter!

SO DELISH, everybody ate them in less than 3 minutes! 🙂 xxx

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Enfin, c’est vendredi!

J’adore les semaine ou tout se passe bien. On a eu de la chance d’être invité à Montargis le weekend prochain pour deux nuits. On ira dans une petite maison charmante.

Envie d’en voir plus?

Merci à Meg pour cette photo.

Samedi dernier nous avons fait un brunch. Chez nous, on est super fan.

Et bien sûr, le dimanche on a mangé des cupcakes…

J’ai enfin sorti mes super tasses Limoges…

Chez nous c’est bien cosy!

Ma chère copine m’a offert des sunflowers!

Mercredi soir nous avons invité des amis à la maison pour fêter leur fiançailles. C’est un couple adorable, le couple parfait. J’ai fait un banana cake! Miam.

Il ne faut jamais oublier le champagne pour un évènement pareil!

Le gâteau décoré!

Vous cherchez des accessoires gourmands pour vos inspirations festives? Bleekcup’s est une boutique en ligne qui vous propose des accessoires gourmands pour vos inspirations festives. Enfin, j’ai trouvé un magasin qui me propose tout ce qu’il me faut pour faire des jolis cupcakes, avec des décorations comestibles! C’est des quatre coins du monde que Bleekcup’s importe ses produits astucieux, jolis et ludiques qui vous accompagneront dans la décoration de vos gâteaux ou autres pâtisseries et dans la réalisation de vos évènements en tout genre.

Vous avez un anniversaire bientôt? Faite votre commande, vous n’allez pas le regretter!

Je viens d’acheter ce sac.

On a parlé d’Oh la la livia ici.

Bref, c’était une super semaine!

The weekends are what we live for

The apartment is finished, so we celebrated. Going to the market, cooking up a summer feast, drinking champagne and cassis- kir– with good company, what could be better?

We went to the marché des batignolles for our fresh food.

I made a flourless chocolate cake with almond meal, unrefined sugar, organic cocoa nibs, vanilla from India and I whipped up a cream cheese filling. It was so moist and not in the least heavy because there is no flour in this recipe!

The crème de cassis was sourced from Bourgogne. I went with my parents last year. It makes the best kir royales! (see here for details on this trip to Bourgogne). Crème de cassis is one of the specialities of this area. And just look at that gorgeous bottle!

Two of my favourite girls ever.

It was a weekend of celebrations. Sunday we celebrated J’s little sister’s birthday. Her and her best friend are so precious.

The whole family was there. It was a big and loud lunch, like most French social events.

Cheese. Remember, this is France. J’s family are such cheese lovers. No meal is followed without a platter of these goodies.

I will do a post about wines in France soon, but I’m sure you have heard of the wine region Bordeaux. It’s one of the most famous regions and their wines sell all over the globe. The red we had on Sunday was from 1994. A good vintage one.

Now that is what I call a good baguette. Crusty on the outside, not too fluffy, moist in the inside. I could ramble on forever about good baguettes. I’ll stop myself here!

No birthday is a birthday without candles and singing! J’s very talented father made Choux à la crème.

Oh, and just to add the cherry on top, and in the name of good clichés, out came those French bubbles! Mmmmm.

In other news, feel free to read my article on Pondicherry on Girlosophy.

My photos from India were also published, which I am so thrilled about.

Gay pride was all out and happening in Paris last Saturday, click here for photos and more!

Et voilà!

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