Guinness cake

(Click here for the catalan version)

This is another Irish classic, discovered these last weeks. Guinness stout, is not only an irish souvenir, but also a crucial ingredient of its gastronomy. Guinness is widely extendend thoroghlly irish life, it has its own places in all pubs, in all stores and in all kitchen and fridge all over the country. Its darkness and depth in flavour bcome the perfect ingredient for sauces, breads.... and cakes!

I have made this recipe twice since I arrived here, and I am already sure it'll be a star dessert for all the special occasions, yet to come. It never, absolutely never, disappoints!

The stout gives the cake a fluffy texture with a dark, almost black, colour, which is perfect for the cream cheese of the top.  The original recipe is from Nigella Lawson, but I have made some changes, realated mainly to the amount of butter and sugar. In spite of these revisions, the cake still has the sponge texture of the original recipe. 

Guinness cake

- 250ml Guinnesss stout
- 125g butter
- 2 eggs
- 125g natural yogurt
- 2 tsp bicarbonat soda
- 250g white sugar
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
- 275g plain flour
- pinch of salt

Cream cheese frosting

- 250g cream cheese

- 150g icing sugar

Firstly, preheat the oven to 180º. Meanwhile, put the guinness into a large saucepan with the butter, until it is completely melted. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and stir until combined. Let it cool.

Now, whisk the eggs with the yogurt and pour it to the guinness and melted butter. Start adding the flour with the bicarbonat soda and salt and mix it until completely combined. Pour the batter into a greased tin and bake for 40 minutes. Leave to cool completely before frosing.

For the topping, whip the cream cheese until smooth and sieve over the icing sugar. Beat both until combined. Ice the top of the cake as if it resembles the top of the Guinness pint.

Bulgur wheat with butternut squash

(Click here for the catalan version)

As you can see from the recently posted recipes, I am immersed in autumn and its seasonal ingredients, and the fact is that I am really discovering new recipes which go strightaway to my must-be-cooked list. This bulgur recipe with butternut squash is an exemple. Don't know if you have ever tried Bulgur, in my case, this is the second time I use it and I am completely in love with it. Have you ever smelt the multicereal babie's porridge? It smells as delicious as Bulgur, and I am quite sure there is bulgur in its recipe. 

Bulgur has a touch of sweetness (in fact, it is commonly eaten with sugar and milk, in India) and I am sure it can be a good ingredient for some desserts. I promise I'll try. However, today's recipe is a good plate for these autumn days, its colour, as well as the bulgur smell, will provide your kitchen and body a warm scent.

Panellets (Catalan sweets)

(Click here for the catalan version)

Panellets are a traditional sweet from the Catalan countries. They are typically eaten during these days of october, specially the 31st of october and the day after, when we celebrate the "castanyada", which would be the equivalent of All Saints night or Halloween, Magosto or the celtic (also celebrated here in Ireland) samhain.  It seems they were made to be eaten for the All Saints night, when everybody joined to pray for their died relatives and friends. It used to be a cold night, so they prepared high calorie meals to fight against the low temperatures.

Panellets, as well as chestnuts and sweet potatoes, were the main protagonists of the day. Nowadays, Halloween has also arrived to Catalan countries, and it is a cultural fight to avoid the disappearance of the typical "castanyada". If you visit Barcelona these days, you will find some women selling roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes on the corners of the main streets. It is a wonderful time there, despite the high temperatures they are having, because the smell of the burning wood fills the streets of the city. And yes, I loved autumn in Barcelona.

Sweet poatatoes with caramelized onion & feta cheese

(Catalan version here)

Autumn has arrived, at least in Ireland, not in Catalonia, though, as it seems for the weather. But autumn is here for us, with the rainy days (less than expected, though) and still quite soft temperatures. And above all, its seasonal products which can be found everywhere, next to Halloween costumes. 

However, what I love most of the autumn season are the smells, the burning wood smell and the baked sweet potatoes one, at home. I  loved that burning wood smell when I was in my town, when the cold weather arrived and the day was becoming shorter. I thought I wouldn't be able to feel that feeling again, but it seems it is a quite common smell here in Ireland, too! 

Brown irish soda bread

(Click here for the Catalan version)

It's been already four weeks since we landed in Ireland. Now, after having found an appartment for us I feel like returning to the kitchen, to the oven and to the blog. After leaving the country with just two bags, I now find myself without any of the kitchen gadgets I used to have in Barcelona, without my camara tripod and other valuous stuff... But things are going to get better with some time and pacience, so I decided to go on with everyhing I have now. 

One of the things of having a new kitchen is to discover how it works, specially the oven... so these days I'm trying to bake as much as I can to familiarize myself with it. The first recipe coming out of the oven was this irish soda bread. 

During my first days here, in the hostel we were staying, it was quite common to find this bread between the options of the included breakfast. As soon as I taste it, I realize it was not a plain bread, but a kind of cake, as it had sugar in it. The bread I made was sugar free, but you can also add some sugar, butter or some raisins, as well. 

Irish soda bread

- 220g white flour
- 220g whole wheat flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
- 440ml buttermilk.


Preheat the oven to 190º. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda and salt. With the help of an spatula or spoon, start adding the buttermilk and mixing it together. Try not no add all the buttermilk at once so we could incorporate it if the dough needs it. Once combined, transfer it to a floured surface and knead just to make a round. Place the round on your baking sheet and, wiht a scissors, cut a X on the surface.

Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Stracciatella Ice cream

(Click here for the Catalan version)

I am already returned from my holidays in Galicia, after leaving my old flat and my old kitchen for a new shared flat in front of the Sagarada Família and a new kitchen with almost no kitchen gadgets. When packing my things to move I decided to bring all my kitchen stuff to my town and now I haven't almost any of them in the new flat, so I have been avoiding my return to the blog and the kitchen for a while.

We are already at the middle of the summer here in Barcelona, and it is starting being unbearable because of the high temperatures we have. With this situation, and due to not feeling like going out of the flat, I decided to use the ice cream maker I had in the closet. I bought it two months ago, before moving and before holidays, and I used it with a vanilla ice cream recipe, as well as with a delicious and refreshing lemon sorbet, which I couldn't take any photos.

This stracciatella flavour ice cream is a good way to fight against this hot days! I totally recommend to have an ice cream maker if you would like to make home made ice creams; it is quite cheap and the ice creams are delicious and very soft if you use inverted sugar syrup or honey.

Stracciatella ice cream

- 300ml cream
- 250ml skim milk
- 90g granulated sugar
- 2,5 tbp inverted sugar
- dark chocolate chopped

Whip the cream with the sugar until it is fluffy but it is not necessary to whip it completely. Add the milk and the inverted sugar syrup and mix it carefully until well combined.  Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker following its instructions. Add the chopped chocolate at the end of the process.

Honey and lemon chicken

This is going to be an exhausting month. But, at last, some changes are approaching here, starting with the fact that we are leaving this flat. It has always been difficult for me to leave houses, to move, and above all, to close mental drawers despite of being excited because we are finally moving on. I have left flats with great people and memories lived there, I have left flats leaving big friendships and relationships behind, and now, I leave this flat, in the center of Barcelona, in the middle of the Eixampe, just a pair of streets from Casa Batlló and la Pedrera, just five minutes from Plaça Catalunya. This centenary flat with typical and beautiful hydralic floor which has been my place during all these months.

 It is said that we should often do something for the first time; this month I am going to be lots of things for the last time. But moving, despite of being exhausting, can also bring some other great consecuences, such as farewell dinners. This recipe is the one I used for the first of these dinners.

It is an easy recipe, as always. The honey and lemon juice give the plate a mediterranean character and a wonderful smell in the kitchen. You only have to turn on the oven, in one hour, you'll be enjoying this plate. 

Honey and lemon chicken

- Chicken pieces. 

- 3 tbsp honey.

- two lemon juice

- 2 garlic cloves

- one onion, chopped. 

- potatoes cut into chunks

- rosemary and thyme

- salt and pepper

- olive oil.

Heat the honey in the microwave till liquefied, add the lemon juice and combine. Lay the chicken in a roasting tin, with salt and pepper and a generous splash of olive oil, try not to pile them up so they all can be cooked perfectly. Drizzle the chicken with the lemon juice and the honey to coat evenly all the ingredients. Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for some hours, to integrate all the flavours. 

Preheat the oven to 200º . Before baking it, add the potatoes and onion to the chicken. Roast for 1 hour, turning over the chicken, until it is cooked and golden brown.