2013!

Dear friends, followers, and newcomers I wish you all a very happy and successful new year! Enjoy the last hours of 2012 and have a blast whatever you´ll do. 

I have a lot of new projects for the coming year that I will share with you, so wish me luck for their fulfilment. I am so excited!

See you all next year ; )

♥ Martina ♥

P.S.: these are "pandorini" (= pandori+mini) with berries. Pandoro is a traditional Italian desert (originally from Verona) eaten during the December festivities. It is nothing but sweet yeast bread which is served with vanilla scented icing sugar to resemble the snowy peaks of the Italian Alps during the winter time. Please forgive me for not sharing the recipe this time, but I can tell you which moulds I used: these ones from SiliKoMart!

My hungry stomach moans: crrrrrrrr...umble! With pears & chocolate

Did you know that:

• There are over 3000 varieties of pears grown around the world.
• Pears are native to Asia and Europe. The first pear tree was planted in North America in 1620.
• Pears are a member of the rose family.
• In the Odyssey, Homer called the pear a "gift from the Gods."
• The Chinese considered the pear, which they call "li," to be a symbol of immortality. The destruction of a pear tree symbolized tragic or untimely death.
• In Chinese, fen li means both "to share a pear" and "to separate." Therefore, it is considered bad luck in China to share a pear because it may lead to separation of friends or lovers.
• Before tobacco was introduced in Europe, pear leaves were smoked.
• The Bartlett is the most popular variety of pear in the United States. In Europe, the Bartlett is known as the Williams. It got its American name when a Bostonian named Enoch Bartlett bought a pear orchard and, not knowing the pears already had a name, began distributing them as Bartlett pears.
• You can use them as an alternative to apples to bake a delicious crumble!

Ingredients:

for the crumble topping

225 gr. plain or wholewheat flour

75 gr. butter at room temperature

75g - 110g brown sugar

for the filling

900g of pears

chocolate chips

What to do:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Peel, chop, and place the pears into a casserole dish and spinkle over the chocolate chips then prepare the crumble topping. Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the butter. Rub the flour and butter together until it looks crumbly and the butter has been evenly dispersed through the flour. Add the sugar and mix together to ensure that everything is combined. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top of the pears using a fork to even out the distribution but don't press it down. Cook in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes until lightly golden brown. Let it cool for a while then sprinkle some powdered sugar and enjoy with a glass of chocolate milk.

♥ Martina ♥

Season´s greetings

Dear readers of the Home sweet Bakery I wish a very merry Xmas and jolly holidays!

♥Martina♥