Mowielicious

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies With Orange Buttercream

 

What is it with so many birthdays in September?

Two people. Every day. All of this week.

I guess it says a lot about the long, dark, cold winter months, and the festive season circa 9 months ago.

So it was Bruce's Birthday too, and apart from his favourite chocolate caramel cake, he also loves whoopie pies, so that's what I made: red velvet whoopie pies with orange buttercream.

 

 

Since the launch of my portfolio site, I've been quite busy with a steady stream of new jobs and clients, which I've been so grateful for. And remember when I was talking about balance a few weeks ago? Well, my life seems to be recalibrating itself quite well since then and I'm feeling very Zen - in harmony with everything around me and exactly where I need to be at this point in my life. 

 

 

In other news, I got to meet Australian chef Bill Granger the other night at a dinner party he was hosting for the launch of his new book. For me, Bill has been one of the most inspiring chefs when it comes to cooking and baking, with his quick and easy recipes and his flair for keeping things simple yet sophisticated, it was such a pleasure to finally get to meet him. He said he's been living in London for the past 12 months and is looking to open one of his gorgeous restaurants here, probably around Marylebone, and I can't wait for that. When I was in Sydney I spent most of my time at Bill's. His ricotta hotcakes are worth the price of the ticket from London. And don't get me started on the photography in his books...

I have to confess though that I do buy cookbooks for their photography. Is that bad? Do you do that? I just feel like it's not worth buying if the photos are bad or if there isn't a photo for every recipe, no matter how great the recipes are. What do you think? And what are some of your favourite cookbooks?

 

 

 

Guest Post by Giulia from Juls' Kitchen: Tuscan Zuccotto

I've just come back from Montréal and all I want to do is book another holiday.

I'm sure you all remember when I guest posted on Giulia's blog a few months ago. Well, this week Giulia is guest posting here on Mowielicious with beautiful photos that are making me long to travel to Tuscany. I called on Giulia's help before I flew to Montréal so that I could have a post ready to publish when I got back and she was gracious enough to create this stunning post for me, and all of you, to enjoy.

My normal posting schedule will resume next week. Hope you're all well and thanks for all your recommendations on what to see & do in Montréal - they were really very helpful. Full Montréal post soon.

For now, over to you Giulia:

Wait, wait a second. Oh my God, I’m a guest blogger at Mowielicious! Sparkling eyes and smiles were my companions for days after Mowie asked me to do a guest post for his blog. Little Juls is growing up, I was thinking, I must overdo myself to choose something really amazing for Mowie and his readers. Obviously it was supposed to be a dessert, I wanted it to be a dessert, as it was about to appear in the glossy window of one of the sweetest blogs in the world!

But, to be completely Juls’ style, it was supposed to be Tuscan, I wanted it to be Tuscan, as recently I finally understood that I am a Tuscan country girl to the core, and I wanted to celebrate it! The best choice was Zuccotto, a bright scarlet dessert.

Zuccotto is a Tuscan semifreddo dessert, typical of the city of Florence. Its origins are related to one of the most clever and influential women of the XVI century, Caterina De' Medici, a woman belonging to the most important family of Florence, who later became queen of France. Caterina introduced many innovations into the French court, as the division between sweet and savoury dishes during a lunch, forks and panties for ladies!

A few notes about this dessert. Reading the recipe, it could seem a quite long and difficult procedure, but it is actually very simple, it only requires attention and dedication, and obviously a bit of your precious time, but I assure you that you won’t be disappointed with the result.

Its core ingredient, along with Pan di Spagna (an Italian sponge cake made without yeast) is the Italian Meringue, the best ingredient to give a soft and airy texture to a dessert. It requires the use of a sugar thermometer. The recipe calls for alchermes to brush the sponge cake: alchermes is an Italian liqueur made by infusing neutral spirits with sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla. Its most striking characteristic is its scarlet colour. If you don’t happen to have alchermes, you can substitute it with rum, grappa, brandy or any liqueur you prefer, even with coffee.