Strawberry Swirl Bread

I've been enjoying strawberries since the start of Spring and it seems I can't get enough. I love them with cream or sea salt, and of course with Nutella. I also made a swirl bread from puree and have the slices with strawberry jam.

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Strawberry Crepe Layer Cake

This crepe layer cake is my lame attempt at making an ombré cake. I was itching to make something with different shades of the same color but was not in the mood to heat up the oven to bake a cake or cupcakes. I thought crepe layer cake would be a better choice and besides I really love crepes. I wasn't successful in making distinct color hues of dark pink to the lightest but the crepe cake is still so delicious. There's an added step of dividing the batter and custard filling into 4 equal portions then adding food dye but it wasn't that difficult nor time consuming. 

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The Daring Bakers: Le Fraisier

le Fraisier: 2 thin layers of genoise, a layer of strawberries, 

a layer of pastry cream, 

topped with almond paste decorated with circles of strawberry coulis 

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make Fresh Fraisiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.


You can download the recipe from here.

I love the cake a lot; the pastry cream is rich but seems so light and everything goes well together with the wonderful fresh strawberries, of course. Thanks Jana for a delectable and extremely gratifying challenge.

The inspiration for the design is as usual from my favorite baking book ADVANCED BREAD AND PASTRY by Michel Suas.

Red, White and Blue Pasta Salad

red, white, and blue pasta salad

This light and delicious "red, white, and blue" pasta salad which is perfect for the coming 4th of July picnic or meal is a breeze to assemble. I used store bought Italian dressing and canned white chicken breasts which I think is better than homemade because they're soft, juicy, and surprisingly flavorful. I love the crunch of the red peppers and the blueberries add a bit more sweetness to this refreshing pasta salad.

Red, White, and Blue Pasta Salad

1 pound cooked farfalle, cold or at room temperature

½ cup prepared Balsamic Italian dressing, plus more to taste

1 cup diced sweet red bell pepper

1 cup diced canned cooked chicken breast

1 cup diced or sliced celery

1 cup diced sharp Provolone

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

salt to taste

crumbled fresh (salty) farmer's white cheese or blue cheese

• In a large bowl, toss all ingredients except salt and farmer's cheese. Taste and adjust dressing and salt. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Transfer into a serving bowl and garnish top with crumbled farmer's cheese before serving.

And for dessert, why not blueberry Jello with strawberry sauce, cream, and fresh blueberries? It's easy to make but oh so yummy. Adding in fresh blueberries to the Jello makes it even better.

strawberry puree (with sugar), blueberry Jello,

fresh blueberries, and cream