As Easy as Pie

"As Easy as Pie"

I never quite understood this saying until recently when I attempted my first lemon meringue pie. It really was one of the simplest treats I have ever baked. This effortless tart requires minimal ingredients and is just simply delicious!

This recipe just has to be shared:

Ingredients:

• 1 Packet Tennis Biscuits (crushed)
• 2-3 Tbsp Margarine (melted)
• 1 Tin Condensed Milk
• 1/2 Cup of Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Cup of Castor Sugar
• 3 Eggs

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 C
• Crush the biscuits and melt the margarine
• Mix the tennis biscuits and margarine together and press down into a greased pie plate
• Place it into the oven for a few minutes to toast the base
• Mix the condensed milk, lemon juice and egg yolks together
• Pour the mixture into the pie shell
• Stiffly whick the egg whites and gradually add the castor sugar slowly as you are whisking the egg whites
• Spread the meringue mixture over the condensed milk filling and form into peaks
• Bake at 180 C until nice and golden brown (20-30 minutes)

It's as simple as that! The perfect tea time treat!

 

Happy Baking!  

 

The Velvet Cake Co

In the words of Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat cake."

I cannot think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning than cake tasting. This past weekend, Kelly Hartmann from Lovely Pretty and I went cake tasting at Velvet Cake Co with our two Land girls. It was a treat to say the least (excuse the pun).
 

 

Cake must be one of the most satisfying things to eat, yet ladies are often left riddled with guilt after consuming their slice of heaven. Despite the fear of guilt, we embraced the calories this weekend at Velvet Cake Co and lucky for us, it was so good that it denied any guilt from creeping in.

 

Kelly, a friend of mine, who is also a wedding blogger and coordinator, decided it would be a great idea for the two of us to go to Velvet Cake Co and blog about it from two different perspectives - a foodie perspective (cue Relish) and a wedding perspective (cue Lovely Pretty) (you can find her post about our day from Thursday). Obviously I jumped straight on board with the idea and here are a few reasons why:

1. Firstly, the sweet tooth in me does not know how to say no
2. Secondly, I know how delicious the cakes at Velvet Cake Co are
3. Thirdly, do we really need a reason to eat cake?

After frantically searching for time in our busy schedules, we finally diarised our cake tasting expedition a whole month in advance and then eagerly waited in anticipation for the day to arrive. At the quaint coffee shop and cakery (if there is such a word), we were greeted by an enthusiastic staff member who was a great host the entire morning. He provided us with generous cake slices, good banter, limitless water and great photography skills. We were truly impressed and felt very at home. The cherry on top was when he offered to carry us and our "cake babies" to the car.

 

We immediately inspected the menu - after admiring the wall art of one of the biggest rainbow cakes ever - and decided to choose an assortment of cakes to share, as we realised what a difficult decision choosing a slice of cake can be (yes, first world problems).

We eventually chose The Coco Chanel Cake, The Milktart Cheesecake, The Hummingbird Cake and The Caramel Popcorn Cheesecake. The Carrot Cake really had my eye, but against my better judgement I refrained from choosing this delectable cake covered in cream cheese icing as I have had it before and felt I needed to broaden my horizons.

The Short & Sweet of Each Cake:

The Chocolate Coco Chanel Cake  

Moist. Rich. Chocolatey. Lindt Ball.

Milktart Cheesecake

Creamy. Tasty. Cinnamony. Yummy.
 

 

The Hummingbird Cake

Cream-cheese. Flavourful. Soft. Delicious.
 

 

The Caramel Popcorn Cheesecake

Moreish. Smooth. Phenomenal. Unique.

 

 

The Velvet Cake Co opened its first cake-to-go emporium in Belville in 2014 and opened their second shop in Loop Street in 2015. Their promise to you is : Innovation. Variety. Celebration. WOW experience. They believe that everyday is worth a celebration and they strive to provide a "magical and jaw-dropping cake experience" which they most certainly did for us!!

 



The Italian Adventure

Italy.

What comes to mind?

Probably something along the lines of... PIZZA. PASTA. BREAD. ICE-CREAM. 

Yes, the stereotype is true... Italians LOVE pasta
Yes, the stereotype is true... Italians LOVE pizza.
Yes, the stereotype is true... Italians LOVE ice-cream.

I kid you not, Tim Noakes would be no fan of Italy. Pasta is consumed in large amounts every single day and no matter how cold it is, it is NEVER too cold for ice-cream. Italians are believed to be the highest consumers of ice-cream worldwide and after my 2-week trip in Italy, I know why - nothing beats an Italian Gelateria.

 

My Italian Foodie adventure was delicious, to say the least and my A type blood group was more than happy with the staple diet of carbs and lack of meat. One would think that after two weeks in Italy, I would be thrilled to be back to eating the South African variety of food but alas, I spent my first two weeks back in Cape Town preparing and consuming my favourite Italian meals.

There are 2 Italian Dishes (besides the obvious PIZZA) which became my Italian Staple:

1. The Amatriciana Pasta Dish (something that SA needs to bring on board their menus ASAP) 
2. The Aubergine Parmigiana  (a vegetarian's dream)

The Amatriciana is a smoky, tomato based pasta dish which is an Italian classic. Find a recipe here.

The Parmigiana is a cheesy, aubergine dish which can be served as a main or a side. Find a recipe here.

These two meals were the family favourite during our stay in Italy. Both dishes offer a rich, tomato base and cheesy flavour. YUM.

So now dinner is covered, but dessert? Well, Ice Cream of course. There is definitely no shortage of this delicious treat in Italy. Every street is lined with Gelateria's and this is no exaggeration. The Italians are spoilt for choice and within each Gelateria, the flavour selection seems infinite. My favourite was definitely the Coffee and Chocolate Hazelnut, while my little sister opted for Nutella ever single time.
 

I was lucky enough to stumble across the World's Best Ice-cream in San Gimignano, Tuscany. Gelateria Dondoli won first place at the Ice Cream World Championships from 2006 - 2009 and this was most certainly well-deserved. It was hands down the best ice-cream experience ever. The flavours were rich and the texture was exceptionally creamy.

 

I truly embraced the ice-cream eating culture in Italy and loved every second of it. According to a study done on an elderly group, the one thing they wish they had done more of in their life was eat more ice cream. Something the Italians are definitely doing right.

Life is short . Eat Dessert first!