Summer fruits are the star in my Very Berry Crisp, a Bijouxs Basics Recipe from the Little Jewels Kitchen. Continue reading Bijoux’s Basics: Very Berry Crisp
Category: Snacks
Marsala Olive Oil Cake
Bijouxs has lots of love for Olive Oil cakes. Baking got me through the days of cooking confinement. Thank goodness that is all behind us. I bring you Marsala Olive Oil Cake, another Little Jewel from the Kitchen.
OLIVE OIL CAKE
Marsala Olive Oil Cake is a version of the the now famous olive oil cake, Torta di Olio, from Maialino Restaurent in NYC. I posted my citrus take on that cake here. I love to see recipes get passed around, and changed, as happens many times with most of us who cook. Just a little more of this and less of that. I saw this cake by Chef Camilla Marcus, via Eye Swoon and adapted it. Just what I needed another olive oil cake recipe! One reason I love these sturdy olive oil cakes it that they are not a bit fussy and one-bowl wonders. I chose Marsala for the fotified wine, I feel Marsala is under utilized for baking. Marsala was a popular cooking wine back when I started my food education.
RECIPE ARCHIVE
This cake is a recipe I photographed during the dark days of the confinement. I was able to get some groceries delivered so I kept calm and cooked. Was it really two years ago? I built quite an archive during that period, with about 20 more recipes that are waiting to be shared. “Cooking can keep a person who tries sane” this truth from John Irving.
So, let’s keep cooking with Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.
Small Batch Coconut Cake
Just the two of us…and we are hungry for a little Coconut Cake (think your favorite Lemon Bread). To the rescue–Small Batch Coconut Cake, this cake is diminutive in size but big on flavor, another Little Jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.
BREAD OR CAKE?
OK, what is the difference between a bread and a cake? I have always been confused. Yes, there is a difference, simply put it has to do with the leavening agents used. This post on Food 52 breaks it all down. Confusingly, classic Lemon Bread is really more like a cake baked in a loaf pan. So this recipe can be either cake or bread, which ever you like.
SMALL BATCH BAKING
All that confusion aside, simple sweet loaf cakes are my favorite. Mini loaves are easy to share with friends, take to parties, and of course are just enough for the two of us. Lemon Bread is the classic that bears repeating so, enter Small Batch Coconut Cake, a tropical take on the favorite.
COCONUT CAKE
Simple pantry ingredients make this cake. A sweet glaze is poured into the hot cake that creates a tender, flavorful cake. This recipe makes a perfect size cake for small households.
Enjoy another Little Jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.
Ojai Pixie Bars
I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day, what can make me feel this way? Ojai Pixie tangerines of course.
Ojai Pixie Bars, a sunny little jewel for the season. When winter’s dark days begin to end, that’s when the sunshine appears. This is also when the one-of-a-kind Ojai Pixie Tangerines appear.
I have been raving about these little jewels on the blog, it’s time to try them for your self. Continue reading Ojai Pixie Bars
Victoria Tray Cake
While going through my cookbook collection I remembered a recipe for a “sheet” cake by Nigel Slater that I had wanted to try. Off work for a day I made Nigel’s Victoria Cake, with of course some minor revisions. A simple, straightforward cake easy to prepare–Victoria Tray Cake, a little jewel from the kitchen.
COOK VS CHEF
The past 10 years of my blog, Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen, I have honed my skills in food photography and cookbook design, working solo to create a brand of food style and books I am proud to call my own. I am not a chef, however I am a skilled, experienced cook, specializing in home cooking as a private chef for clients and my own family. I adore Nigel Slater’s Cookbooks and his writing. So honest and talented he has influenced many recipe ideas into my work as a private chef, and also cooking in my home for family and friends.
CLASSIC CAKE
The Victoria Tray Cake comes from this book, which I highly recommend. This is the kind of cookbook you pick up from time to time and read more from his seasonal kitchen diary, loaded with recipes. What a marvelous idea to begin a kitchen journal. I have my little jewel collection file with hundreds of my favorite recipes, many of which I have shared with you on the blog. At this time, 490 recipes are all free on my website so grab them while you can.
I love simple baking as my skills lean towards cooking, which for me is a much more flexible kitchen experience. This cake therefore is very simple. A sheet cake that is prepared with on hand pantry ingredients and utilizes frozen fruit, perfect. Great for snacking, packing for lunches or alongside a cup of afternoon tea.
Victoria Tray Cake-another little jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.
