Mowielicious

Guest Post By Liz Of Zested: Campari-Citrus Sorbet

 

Last week I guest posted my Meringue Ice Cream Cake over on Zested. This week, Liz is posting here with her gorgeous Campari-Citrus Sorbet.

Liz's photography is stunning, very sexy, and as if straight out of a glossy magazine. I'd always followed Liz's blog, but I fell in love when I saw her Sage Brunch Biscuits With Strawberries, Bacon & Honey Crème Fraiche. She also recently shot some gorgeous photos for her cousin's wedding and has also only recently joined The Kitchn as a contributor, where you can see this same sorbet in popsicle form. 

Please join me in giving Liz a very warm welcome to Mowielicious as I hand over to her:

 

Every summer seems to have its signature drink for lovely boozy evenings on our back patio, where dinner guests wash down grilled treats with cold beverages. This summer, it’s Campari, the Italian aperitif with a distinctive scarlet color and bitter-sweet bite.

 

It’s an acquired taste (and addictive once acquired). I first sipped Campari ages ago in a sun-filled Italian piazza, and while I felt so sophisticated, I wasn’t yet smitten. It wasn’t until a friend took my drink and dropped in a sweet slice of orange that I went a little Campari crazy.

 

This is where the sorbet comes in. For years I’ve wanted an ice cream maker, and the vision of citrus-Campari sorbet drove me to buy one. Why did I wait so long? Within minutes, my little Cusinart was turning out bowls of frozen bliss.

 

I thought the orange was perfect – frosty, fruity, with a little extra something – until I tried the grapefruit. It’s a palate-cleansing vision in pink, perfect for Campari lovers.

For an extra touch inspired by Martha Stewart, I froze a few in hollowed-out oranges to look like the fruit itself, topped off with a clove and fresh basil sprigs. It’s an extra step, and requires a bit more freezing time, but the adorable sorbet fruit would be an awesome end to a classy summer dinner party.

My Guest Post On Zested: Meringue Ice Cream Cake With Summer Berries

This week I'm guest posting on Liz's beautiful blog, Zested. To those of you that don't know Liz yet, get ready to be dazzled by her stunning & inspiring photography. 

I dug into my Oma's old recipe books to create something special for Liz: a Meringue Ice Cream Cake With Summer Berries. And the best bit about this cake is that you don't even need an ice cream machine to make it - it's that easy!

Head on over to Zested to see my full blog post.

Dark Cherry Crumble Cake With Cinnamon

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I'm still on a high from last week's Food Blogger Connect - I can't believe it's all over and a week has passed since then. The best part for me was meeting new people - I've definitely made some friends for life. Not surprising really as we didn't call it Food Bloggers 'Connect' for nothing.

Thank you to everyone that emailed with questions about lighting, photography and food styling, I've replied to everyone and I hope you find my tips and tricks useful. If anyone has any other questions (about anything), please feel free to email me.

It's finally cherry season here in London and I adore cherries. Cherries and strawberries - I really couldn't say which I like more (oh, such beautiful torture!). Stone fruit that's perfectly ripe and in season is one of the many simple pleasures in life.

I've been meaning to visit a Pick Your Own Farm to actually pick some cherries for this recipe (my basket never seems to fill up as one goes in my mouth and one goes in my basket, two in my mouth, one my basket... you get the picture), but because of our cold weather this year, everything is slightly delayed, so no joy there. And besides, most of it only really starts in July - the best month in England for picking your own fruit.

I was in Brighton last week and found some gorgeous textured pieces of wood that I thought I absolutely had to use as a background for my photos. I bought some little paint testers over the weekend and painted each side a different colour, so expect them to make an appearance soon in cream, blue and, of course, pink. Today's wood is natural, and I love it just the way it is - probably my favourite. Ah, the life of a food blogger and our obsession with props.

Speaking of which, have any of you been to The Lacquer Chest on Kensington Church Street? It is prop heaven: five floors of props arranged by type, colour and style. You'll find everything you ever needed for styling your food.

BUT.

Unfortunately it's only on a rental basis and the prices are quite high. I do urge you to go anyway and have a look, even if you don't get anything, it's such a fun way of getting inspiration (and obviously torturing yourself at the same time).

Finally, to everyone on Facebook, I just wanted to highlight the fact that I've added the new Facebook 'Like' button at the end of each post, for those of you that said you'd sometimes rather click that than leave a comment. Personally, I think it's a great idea and hope more blogs start using it too.

Let me know what you think.

For this week's post, I baked one of my Oma's classics and her personal favourite - Dark Cherry Crumble Cake. It's gorgeous served hot, straight out of the oven, or cold, with hot custard, vanilla yoghurt, or ice cream. I added cinnamon to the crumble mixture for extra depth and sprinkled sugar on to the cherries to keep them moist. And unlike most crumbles that dry out quickly, this one stays perfectly moist for a week if stored in an airtight container and kept in the fridge.