Italian Ricotta and Apple Torte

Back in October, while sitting on my couch with the flu, I was surfing the internet when I stumbled upon this torte recipe. I knew I needed to try it and I did so a couple of weeks later... We devoured this easy to make cake. The grated Golden Delicious apples give the torte a lovely moist texture. This cake is delicious served on its own or with a small dollop of vanilla ice cream. A perfect autumn treat!

Ingredients:

140g salted butter

200g golden caster sugar

3 large eggs

160g plain flour

1 grated zest of lemon

250g ricotta (I used the Galbani brand)

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 small grated Golden Delicious apples (200g)

Dusting of icing sugar to serve

Preparation:

Heat oven to 190ºC.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Whisk eggs lightly and gradually add to the butter/sugar, mixing on a light speed. Do this gradually so you don’t curdle the mix.

Add the grated lemon zest, grated apples, ricotta and baking powder, mix lightly together followed by the sifted flour, don’t over beat.

Pour into tin prepared tin, smooth the top and bake for about 35-45 mins until golden.

Leave to cool in tin for 15 minutes, turn out onto wire rack to continue cooling. Once cold, dust with icing sugar.

October Monthly Round Up

LIFE LATELY: It is the beginning of autumn! Hourrah, my favourite season!!! Whenever possible I go for long walks at Parc des Evaux and Forêt Onésienne.

Autumn bench in the Parc des Evaux

Children picnicking in the Parc des Evaux

Forêt Onésienne

From the Forêt Onésienne one has gorgeous views over the River Rhône.

CAKE LOVERS: It is impossible to resist these A. Pougnier mini cakes called “Pavés Tony”. The cakes are perfect. They are a delicious génoise sponge soaked in kirsch and covered in dark chocolate. (A. Pougnier - 34, Rue St-Victor, Carouge)

WHAT I HAVE BEEN READING: As I mentioned in many of my diary posts, I have so many books on my bookshelf waiting to be read. But, as I am a passionate soul, whenever a book captures my attention, I take it home. Thus, I borrowed “Coeur Silencieux” by Anne Brecart from my local library. This Swiss author is a wonderful discovery. I finished this book in two days and can’t stop thinking about it. This will be one of those books that stay with me forever. It is a reminder of what love life is like; there are no bad decisions, just appropriate ones, made at that particular stage in our life.

Another book that will stay with me forever is “A woman in Berlin” by an anonymous author. This is probably the best book I have read this year (I will review it next month).

Another fabulous read, a very entertaining and exciting memoir of an American outlaw. I loved it enormously! “You can’t win?” by Jack Black.  I offered it to Sweetheart as a birthday gift. Jack Black has a storytelling talent that keeps us going all the way through the 470 pages. (I will review it next month).

BOUTIQUE: I discovered the Pop and Chic many years ago and it has since become one of my favourite decor shops. I especially love their top quality objects and fantasy jewels — I came here to buy a gift for Sweetheart. (Pop and Chic - 32, rue Ancienne, Carouge)

MUSEUM VISIT:  I enjoyed the exhibition “Le miroir céramique” which you can visit until 10 December 2017.

This is an exhibition of the ceramic pieces that have been selected for the 16th edition of the Carouge international ceramic competition, The ceramists have worked on an imposed theme. This year’s theme is the ceramic mirror. This subject leaves a great deal of freedom to the artists. Indeed, a mirror can be hand-held, wall-mounted, standing or pocket sized. Above all, it opens up a field of possibilities, for a mirror can be functional, certainly, but also magical, opening on to other worlds, questions, minds or souls. The works of 38 countries are represented. (Musée de Carouge - 2, Place de Sardaigne)

“NOUS et, TOUS LES AUTRES” by Nathalie BENOIT (France)

“FACETTES” by Claudia Von Boch (Switzerland)

“LE TEMPS SOUTERRAIN DE RENCONTRE” by Yun-Jung Song (France)

HAND-CRAFTED BEAUTY: Savon de Marseille Soap. Sweetheart bought me these soap bars when he was in France. I really fell in love with this soap from the brand Belle Nature which is made in France.

This is the result of organic, handcrafted and traditional soap making. It is incredibly gentle and can be used on all skin types, especially sensitive skin and can be used on the face and body. The result is pure luxury - it is gentle on my skin and the smell is amazing. 

APERITIF TIME: Is there a better place to have an end-of-day aperitif than at a friend's place? With a view of the Mont Salève!…On the balcony we sipped a cool rosé, ate homemade “pâté” and enjoyed lots of laughter.

RESTAURANT: Spaghetti D’ORO Pizzeria, a gorgeous place where you feel like an Italian. Giant pizzas made in a wood fired oven, a great atmosphere and the address for great Italian specialties: fresh pasta, lasagne and more. You can also order your pizzas as a takeaway. (Spaghetti d’oro Pizzaria - 56, rue de Carouge)

Diavolo Pizza

You can also order your pizzas as a takeaway

Capricciosa Pizza

St-Pierre Cathedral in the Old Town beautifully illuminated in the evening…

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED: We blew the candles out and drank bubbly for Sweetheart’s birthday. Actually, I made the same cake as the one I did for my birthday, but the topping is different: I used fresh exotic fruits...

Beautiful autumn flowers... Love these warm colours!!

So what’s next? I am planning a long weekend trip…not sure yet if it will come off…let’s keep our fingers crossed.

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin (2016)

My thoughts: I borrowed this book from my local library in September.

This novel was an excellent surprise. I loved both the very detailed and meticulous description of the jet-set of the 50s and 60s and the exquisite, funny dialogues. This novel is not a true story, even though many of the facts it recounts are real. I think this is a very feminine book, written by a woman for us women.

This is the story of the great fortunes and great families of the 50s and 60s that made New York shine. It is mainly focused on a small circle of women (swans) who became acquainted with Truman Capote. Among these “swans”, ladies of high society, is Babe Paley. She was an editor at Vogue and embodied the elegance of the era. She was the wife of the founder of CBS.

Babe Paley is perfect; always beautiful, always well dressed, always organised. Behind this sequin-studded life, in reality hides an empty existence based on appearances. In this community, people get married for a prestigious name, money and beautiful houses. There are many “new rich” who are ready to do anything to be part of the famous families: Astor, Vanderbilt, Whitney, etc...

So, that small circle of women friends, nicknamed the Swans, befriend Truman Capote. Babe Paley, little by little, enters into a platonic relationship with Truman. Through her contact with Truman she finds a little thrill in her empty, lonely life. We follow the story of platonic love between these two fragile beings, all the way to their sad ends. Babe is serious, Truman is futile, she is married, he is gay, she is reserved, he is exuberant.

Along the way, we learn of dirty tricks, pettiness and deception, gossip, in short, a world where solid values ​​have little place.

Lemon Curd Biscuits

In May, when I saw this recipe on Monica’s blog “Playing with Flour” I bookmarked it immediately. At the end of the day when I got home, I made it. My kitchen smelled incredibly good. That same evening, I took these photos. If you are fond of slightly crunchy biscuits with a strong flavour of lemon, I recommend these beauties. They are very easy to make and are a wonderful lemon curd biscuit to eat or, why not, to offer. They were a huge success, that is why I am planning to make some as a Christmas gift.

For the lemon curd:

1 large egg

30g unsalted butter

50g caster sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon (40g)

Preparation:

Place egg, butter, sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl set above a pan of simmering water. Stir and cook, allowing butter to melt, continuing until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes, the consistency should be like soft jelly. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a separate bowl. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the surface of the curd and let cool (you can do this a day ahead). You will use a portion for the biscuits and save the rest for another use.

For biscuits (I made 16 biscuits each weighing 24 g):

100g salted butter, softened

40g granulated sugar

40g light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon

40g lemon curd

175g flour

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 190C.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon zest together (using a handheld mixer) until soft and creamy.  Stir in 40g of the homemade lemon curd.  

Work in the flour to make dough.  Use a teaspoon to place small scoops of the dough onto the baking sheet.  Flatten each slightly.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until biscuits are golden.  Transfer biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: The biscuits taste best the day they’re made. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Caribbean Pineapple Cake

The pineapple cake was my favourite when I was a child. Mum used to make this cake very often; it didn’t last the day…

At the end of May, during a bank holiday, I decided to make pineapple cake. But this time, I wanted to try a Caribbean recipe. It is identical to Mum’s recipe, but you add spices, rum and lime.

Believe me, we enjoyed this Caribbean pineapple cake - very light, not too sweet, and delicately flavoured with lime, vanilla cinnamon and nutmeg. If you are attracted by exotic flavours, you will adore it.

Recipe from « Le livre de recettes de Tatie Maryse »

Ingredients:

200g half-salted butter, softened

250 g cane sugar (I used 200g)

100 g cane sugar for the caramel

200 g flour

6 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 can of pineapple (with 10 slices, and keep 200 ml of the pineapple syrup)

1 lime

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Nutmeg (freshly grated)

1 vanilla bean

2 tbsp of old rum

20 ml of old rum (for the syrup)

* 23 cm mould

Preparation:

Make the caramel with 100g of sugar and 40 ml of water added to 5 ml of lime juice.

Cover the mould with caramel in a uniform manner.

Drain the pineapple slices and keep the syrup.

Place the previously drained pineapple slices on the caramelised mould.

Now, start to prepare the dough. Mix the butter and sugar until you get a whitish frothy mixture.

Stir in the flour with the baking powder. Mix.

Stir in the egg yolks and mix again.

Add cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, vanilla bean seeds and the freshly grated zest of half a lime and 2 tbsp of old rum. Mix well.

In a bowl, whisk the whites.

Then, gently add the whites to the dough.

Pour the dough into the cooled pre-caramelised mould to bake in an oven preheated to 180ºC for 45 minutes.

Pineapple syrup and old rum preparation

In a saucepan pour 200 ml of pineapple syrup (from draining the pineapple slices) with 20 ml of old rum and let it boil for 2-3 minutes.

Unmould the cake while it is still warm - as soon as it is removed from the oven. Sprinkle it immediately with the syrup and rum mixture then let it soak quietly.

Note: eat at room temperature.

If you make this cake for children do not put rum in the syrup.

The cases that haunt us by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker (2000)

Of the many horrendous crimes that have been committed over the years, certain criminal cases seem to have lives of their own. Despite the passage of time, they continue their hold on our collective imagination, and our collective fears. For some reason, each of these cases and the stories surrounding them touches something deep in the human condition, whether it be the personalities involved, the senseless depravity of the crime, the nagging and persistent doubts about whether justice was actually done, or the tantalising fact that no none was caught…

 “Each of these cases we’ll be examining in this book has been extremely controversial, and in each case that controversy has continued. And each of these cases contains some universal truth at its base to which we can all relate. Taken together, they present a panorama of human behaviour under extreme stress and an inevitable commentary on good and evil, innocence and guilt, expectation and surprise.”

Author: John Douglas is known throughout the worldwide law enforcement community for his unsurpassed expertise in the realm of criminal personality profiling and modern investigative analysis. Mark Olshaker is an acclaimed novelist specialised in thrillers. Both men live in the Washington, D.C. area.

My thoughts: This is a very good book and an exhaustive look into some of the most notorious criminal cases. This book has a scientific approach (based on both psychological analysis and investigative work). The storyteller is engaging.

I was very young when I first heard of Jack the Ripper and I thought it was a tale akin to stories of monsters and witches. It possessed all the classic elements: a man emerging from the shadows wearing a cape, attacking woman and then vanishing without a trace, spreading fear in the city, a hunt put in place to catch him without success…It was much later, though, in my late teens, that I learnt, sadly, that it was a story about real crimes. While I was a student in London, I never went to the Whitechapel area (I cannot explain why…).  Brick Lane, a historic street in this district, is now a popular place for great Indian food. I recently went for some excellent Indian/Pakistani food there and strolled the infamous streets…

There has been much speculation, with somebody claiming to have discovered Ripper’s true identity on a regular basis. A multitude of books have been written about him, groups of Ripper amateur investigators have been created, films based on the case have been made, and so on. 

September Monthly Round Up

LIFE LATELY: In early September, I went for a long stroll around Lake Geneva. I can’t express enough how much nature enriches my life. I adore writing posts about landscapes and strolls and I will continue to write about /photograph such things.

Villa Bartholoni at the Mon Repos Park overlooking Lake Geneva

Promenade du Lac by Lake Geneva

Fountain in the Jardin Anglais

Lake Geneva public beach in Eaux-Vives (Baby Plage). During the summer I loved taking a dip in the lake and sunbathing here. Swimming in this vivid water where the surrounding mountains are reflected is magical. This beach, composed of small pebbles, is an invitation to relax in the heart of Geneva.

That bank holiday weekend, the beach was empty, except for this courageous baby who came to wet his feet and this young man who came to sunbathe.

The Statue of La Bise by the sculptor Alfred Henri König, located on the Quai Gustave-Ador in Eaux-Vives.

BEAUTY PRODUCTS: I have renewed my stock of lipsticks; I picked up these two shades at The Body Shop “Matte Lip Liquid Lipstick Mauritius Dahlia 017” and “Matte Lip Liquid Lipstick Hahiti Hibiscus”.

I am fond of this season’s hottest lip colour trend. The creamy Matte Lip Liquid provides intense colour and a soft matte finish. The liquid lipstick is long-lasting, lightweight and lusciously soft.

PASTRY SHOP: Boulangerie des Bains (65, Rue des Bains). I am ashamed to say it, but I went past this bakery several times without ever stopping... it is while reading the newspaper that I learnt that Pierre and Jean (the pastry chefs) had twice won the prestigious Swiss Bakery Trophy which is the largest and most important contest of the bakery/confectionery industry in Switzerland.

I went there to pick up some cakes, I chose Blue (cherry almond mousse) and Red (fruit of the woods mousse) for our dessert at home. What a beautiful discovery!!!

BOOKS: When I need to unwind after a stressful day, I love to go to my local library to check their new book acquisitions and book releases. That day, I borrowed two books “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” by Mordecai Richler and “The Swans of Fifth Avenue” by Melanie Hausser (I will review this book soon).

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: I re-read a fantastic book on the Tsar’s Family and Grigori Rasputi “Rasputin’s Daughter” by Robert Alexander. I really liked this book (first read in 2006) which I find has extraordinary depth and suspense. If you are a big fan of historical fiction and historical novels, you will love this book. This novel takes us into those turbulent days in the wake of the Russian Revolution, the strong relationship of the Romanovs with Rasputin, Rasputin’s family life and his final days. This is a captivating narrative about intrigue and conspiracy that reveals the shocking truth of Maria’s father’s end and the identity of those who participated in it.

RESTAURANTS: With lots of “escapades”, restaurant reviews have been a little forgotten these past months. But I had a few yummy meals in some lovely restaurants. I especially liked “Wine & Beef Fusterie”, a trendy restaurant in the heart of Geneva. As someone who is incredibly passionate about brasserie food, this was a perfect choice for an end of summer night out.

Before dinner at “Wine & Beef”, while waiting for Sweetheart, I went for an aperitif at “Thimothy Oulton & Lounge” which has an “oh so British” style and feel. Valter, the manager, spoiled me with lots of attention (a great welcome) and, while sipping a Cosmopolitan long drink I read a few pages of The Swans of Fifth Avenue! “Thimothy Oulton & Lounge” (42, rue du Rhône) is the perfect place to end a wonderful evening date with live music…

GENEVA BY NIGHT: That day the Jet d’Eau was dressed in pink in solidarity with breast cancer sufferers.

So what’s next? It is Sweetheart’s birthday soon and I’m looking forward to it. Apart from that, I actually don’t have anything else planned... at least at the time I am writing this post!!