Today I wanted to bake for my Mum, and I know this is something that she ‘likes’. Last Sunday we made a fig and walnut laof together but it was eaten within a day, whether that be from her work colleges or tha fact she gave half of it away to family members, there was nothing left at home for us.
Recently we also cleaned out my whole pantry and now all the spices and herbs are in new, larger jars with labels so on Sunday when we were cooking she got out her favourite loaf spices, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The cinnamon and nutmeg are better than anything you buy from a shop as my Yiayia buys the whole sticks and then grinds them herself for us. It is a bit rougher than normal packet bought spices, but it is so much nicer to work with as t has such a strong frangrant smell.
I also discovered recently that when using nuts in loafs or cakes they taste a lot better if your roast them beforehand as it gives them a harder texture and keeps them firm while you cook. I do usually put a nut crust on the top of my loaves but felt for this loaf it was not necessary as it is not trying to be a fancy banana bread or pistachio, cranberry and pear loaf, for example, it is just a simple afternoon tea loaf which should be enjoyed with coffee.
So this afternoon once Mum came home from work, I prepared her coffee using my new favourite machine, a stovetop espresso, which I learnt to love every morning in Italy. The one I have is ceramic though and so pretty and cute. So I made her a coffee, with frothed milk from our espresso machine (it is not so good, hence the reason I didn’t use the espresso extraction instead), warmed up a slice of my loaf, which I put in the oven with a piece of butter on top so it would melt throgh, and then served it all to her while she relaxed after work, reading her book.
She liked it! Ah, what a relief. But this also leads to another repercussion, tomorrow there will be half of what I made left as it will get distributed to her friends. Inevitable, I have learnt to live with it, and am just happy it can be enjoyed.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your new foodblog!! Much better then the old one!!
This nut & fig bread looks outstanding!! Yummie too!
Thanks so much Sophie, yes I have put a bit more effort into this site and have big plans for it. Many new recipes and reviews to come…hopefully I get over the flu soon though.