Cafe Fernando

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Nothing cheers me up more than a thick slice of homemade cake on a Monday morning breakfast. I try to bake a fresh loaf every Sunday for the following week. Of course, it never lasts until the weekend.

A favorite of mine is this lemon poppy seed cake. Golden brown and slightly crusty on the outside, soft as a feather inside. I like to brush the top with rose jam.

Rose jam on top of a lemon cake, you ask? I know, I know… It is the strangest combination, but I can’t help it. And I certainly do not recommend, unless you are into weird combinations. Apricot or peach jam would be a much safer choice.

Now I have to find a recipe to put those ripe bananas sitting on my counter for ages into good use.

Read more >>

Peach Crumble

Vanilla and star anise can transform any dessert into a spectacular experience. The sweet, spicy, licorice-like notes of star anise goes extremely well with peaches.

And then the vanilla pod… This dessert will not be the same without it.

So, you came home from work and have no energy to cook, let alone bake a dessert on top. Well, it is not that hard if you have this recipe at hand. In fact, if you happen to have a stash of streusel topping in your freezer, preparation takes only 5 minutes. And if you’re going to bake individual servings, baking time is 30 minutes.

Read more >>

Sour Cherry Frangipane Tart

Another fruit I am trying to eat as much as possible these days is sour cherries. The frozen stuff that I use throughout winter never comes close to these delicate berries. In addition to preserving some of them to enjoy for a couple more months and the occasional sour cherry sherbet, another recipe I am quite fond of is an adaptation of the Cherry Frangipane Galette from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

Instead of the tiresome process of preparing puff pastry, and because of the fact that there are twelve(!) discs of sweet tart dough ready to be used in my freezer, I baked a tart instead of a galette.

Read more >>