Rhubarb is first

After all that rain and darkness it has been very pleasant to get some fresh Rhubarb from the garden. It is such a pretty plant. I baked one of my favourite cakes with it: Rhubarb Crumb Cake. I like it because it tastes great and is very fast to put together. You can use different fruit as well, but I recommend tart fruit like currants, gooseberries or sour cherries.

Rhubarb Crumb Cake – The Recipe

Preheat oven to 350F. Using a stand mixer or a food processor mix the following ingredients together:

200g soft butter, 175g sugar, 1 Pck Vanilla Sugar or 1tsp vanilla, 1 Egg, 400g flour and 2 tsp baking powder

until there are pea-sized crumbs throughout.When you squeeze the dough it will come together. Fill the bottom of  a 10″ springform or a round baking pan with about 2/3 of the dough. Press dough into the pan.

Peel 750g Rhubarb and cut into bite sized pieces. Distribute Rhubarb evenly on top of the dough. Take the rest of the dough by the handfuls, squeeze it slightly and let the crumbs drop onto the fruit.

Bake for 45 – 55 minutes until golden brown.

Random Thoughts on Being Famous

Yesterday I was at a dance competition and it went really well. I have to admit it is a feeling like no other going from stage-fright to exhilaration within the span of a few minutes. A personal highlight for me was when the audience started to whistle and yell in appreciation. It felt wonderful. I can see that you could get quite addicted to that kind of rush.

But then being famous has its downsides: your loss of privacy for example. A few years ago we were sitting at a restaurant at the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Close to us was a young women wearing a hood, a baseball cap and large sunglasses. I kept looking at her thinking she must be someone famous. Sadly, I never found out.

The thing is, a celebrity is only special to you when you know him or her. One day my husband flew from Brazil to the US sitting next to a women who people kept asking for autographs. When the plane had an emergency landing she stood up and in order to soothe everyone’s nerves she started to sing. It turned out she was a famous Brazilian opera singer.

Tonight we are going out. I am going to wear my hoodie, hat and extra large sunglasses. Maybe someone is going to ask for my autograph.

Things change around here

Last weekend was party time! My oldest daughter turned 11 and had her friends over on Sunday. The party was a great success and breaking with tradition there was no cake being served. Instead we went out and bought fancy Goblets and made Ice-cream Sundaes. We had chocolate and vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream, strawberries, bananas, mini chocolate chips, M&Ms, caramel and chocolate sauce and small Italian waffles. They all could chose what they wanted. It was a lot of fun and much less work than a cake!

For her actual birthday she wanted Lemon Tart. This is the recipe ( makes 2 small 8inch or 1 large tart 11inch)

I love to use the baking pans with removable bottom.

Combine 1 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 cups of flour for the crust. Chill for 1/2 an hour.

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl mix 2 cups of sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/3 cup of flour, 1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel, 6 Tbsp lemon juice and 4 large eggs. Whisk just until the ingredients are mixed well, try not to make it foamy.

Press dough into baking pan. Pour lemon mixture onto crust. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the lower third of the oven. You want a nicely baked crust, but a light filling. Cover it with aluminum foil if it browns too much.

Let cool, remove from pan and dust with powdered sugar.