Gingerbread dough leftovers!

So in order to make the little Christmas tree, I baked gingerbread biscuits.
I didn't use all the dough of course, so this is what I did.

I mixed in my dough dried cranberries and chopped chocolate and baked large chewy cookies!

These stars I used for the tree.

These are my cookies! Soooo tasty!

Perfect combination of spices, dark chocolate, brown sugar and sour cranberries!!!

Gingerbread house.

Gingerbread houses are not a very common tradition in Greece. Yet you start to see them in pastry shops all over the city.
I always wanted to make my own. This year I thought I should try it.
Unfortunately I do not have much time, so I ended up buying a prebaked house from IKEA and all I did was make the Christmas tree.

I glued the house parts together with caramel. For the fence I used small pretzels and for the tree I baked gingerbread stars and used plain confectioner's sugar frosting, which dries to very hard.
Then I dusted everything with sugar to make it snowy.

If I find the time, I will make more decorations!

Caramel Banana Chocolate moist cake!

Since it was my birthday on Monday, I decided to bake something myself and bring to my co-workers, instead of buying treats from a pastry shop.
So I chose a cake that goes well with our morning coffee: Chocolate cake with banana and caramel!!!!!!

I used a simple recipe for cocoa cake, but substituded the cocoa with bitter chocolate to even out the sweetness of the bananas and the caramel.

I made a very easy caramel, pelting brown sugar and butter in a pan. I poured the caramel in a baking pan and while still warm I put on top slices of banana. I prepared the batter and poured it on top and baked it. Then I inverted it oa a serving platter.

The bananas are supposed to be visible! The small cakes (for G.) are cute and the bananas are visible, but the large cake (for the office) didn't turn out like that, because the bananas sunk...

The cake was very moist because of the caramel and the melted chocolate!!!!

34+1 roses!

Good morning!

I mentioned something about 35 roses earlier. Well, it was 34 red and 1 white to be exact!

!

B Day!

Well, I turned 35 yesterday...
I didn't feel like doing anything, so my dear G. opened a bottle of wine, got me 35 roses, made a couple dips, baked a baguette and also made a chocolate mousse!!!

Nice!

Satin ribbon.

I think I have already mentioned that double sided tape is my favourite thing. I had some ribbons around and thought to my self that I should combine the two!
I used an empty tin of Ioanna's food and covered it!

Then I taped the back of the ribbons.

I arranged the ribbons in the order I wanted the colours to show.

I taped them on the tin.

Then I flipped the edges inside and covered them with ribbon.

This is the result:

Cute, right? I also did one in Christmas colours!

 

Birthday around the corner.

So my birthday is a couple of days away.
I realized that I am not in the mood for anything this year. It's on Monday, which is a working day, plus there is no time right now to make any kind of preparations for a gathering. But mainly I just don't feel like it...

Yesterday I was looking at some old birthday pictures and I found the best birthday cake I have ever made (in my humble opinion!!).

The cake was chocolate and the filling was chocolate buttercream.
I covered the cake with sugar paste, which was white tinted with brown and a little bit of yellow. Also I tinted some with a little red to achieve this intense pink colour for the bow and stars (Wilton paste colours).
The leopard details were painted using a thin brush and a very simple rather thin icing, just like you would do if you were painting on paper.
I was very proud of my work!!!

Sunday afternoon.

After spending the weekend doing things around the house (cleaning, dusting, ironing, cooking, etc.,) my husband and I just sat in our living room and had a cup of coffee.
Yes, this means that he is helping around the house!!

We had traditional Greek style coffee, accompanied by little bites of “touloumbakia” and mini croissants filled with chocolate and dipped in syrup.

Touloumbakia is a Greek dessert that comes in two sizes, bite size and large single portions. It is a pastry that is deep fried and dipped in syrup. Crunchy on the outside and soft and syrupy on the inside!!! 

OMG! Major sugar dose!(yes yes a lot of calories...). They both vanished in seconds.

These desserts are very sweet, this coffee is rather bitter, even if you drink it sweetened and therefore complement each other perfectly!

PDF Tutorials. I like this blog!

I usually spend a lot of time on line checking out Food and DIY websites and blogs. 

This is a blog that I really like and I try to check it as often as I can. There are many many tutorials and very pretty pictures!

Check this link:

www.cakejournal.com

Also this is the link for the tutorials:

http://cakejournal.com/archives/how-to-get-cakejournals-tutorials-on-pdf-for-free#more-5790

I am definitely going to try and make something!

Simple breakfast.

When I say that adding style in everything is fun, I mean that I try to do or present everything in a stylish way.

A simple breakfast such as this, some freshly squeezed orange juice and a ham and cheese toast, can be presented stylishly, even though you are not having it in some restaurant, but in your living room in front of the TV.

I used a large rectangle white plate and cut my toast in half. 

Isn’t it more appealing? It even seems more appetizing (to me at least)!

These are little details that make me feel good!

My little helper!

Ioanna is helping me in my baking attempts!

Cream cheese frosting, attempt nr. 2.

Remember some time ago, when I tried to make cream cheese frosting? Well, it was a disaster.
So I tried to do it again.

I baked plain butter cinnamon cupcakes. This time the frosting held a little better. But I still  want it more firm. The taste of course was perfect!!!

December!

Good morning!

I wish you a happy December!

This is probably my favorite month.
1. My birthday is in a couple of weeks.
2. Christmas is just around the corner.
3. New Year's Eve.
4. Christmas decorations.
5. Christmas cooking.
6. Family lunches and dinners.
7. Festive mood at work.
8. Getting together with friends.
9. Many excuses for shopping.
10. Us three (my little family) in front of our Christmas tree!

(the one thing I do not like at all is that I usually end up gaining a little weight....Oh, well!)