Jamie Oliver's Winter Pudding Bombe

And finally we have it! This is what my panettone was intended for! Enjoy the video!

Panettone: Success!

Golden sultana raisins and candied orange peel make for a pretty awesome bread.

Just a mini update to say that my panettone turned out deliciously! I really wasn't much of a baker or cook before I moved to Portugal and this is only my second attempt at doing a yeast bread. Its a whole lot easier than it looks. The secret to it? Patience and time.

This is the perfect thing to make if you're snowed in (or in my case, rained in!). Be brave and try it out! Linky link to recipe is right here!

Fruitcake...Italian style (or "How I Dropped The Bombe")

Its Christmas time again. My second Christmas outside of the Motherland (the US seems much more like a Fatherland for reasons but I digress)...



Our Christmas tree is once again decorated in red and gold. The lights and garland are on. We have more decorations than last year, including ones my parents sent. The presents are under the tree and I am finally getting to my holiday baking tonight (I am, what I have coined, a "midnight baker". I'm at my most creative and energetic late at night. I've always been that way.)

My mister and I enjoy watching Jamie Oliver and we recently watched one of the Christmas episodes. Besides wanting to make EVERYTHING, I'm determined to make his Winter Pudding Bombe (recipe here! The show made it look so much more amazing than this one picture. If you're interested it was "Jamie Oliver's Best Ever Christmas" - 22 gloriously delicious minutes into the show.)


Photo © David Loftus. From JamieOliver.com

SO! This evening we set out to the supermarket. I could swear I saw panettone one of them. After searching the bakery section to no avail, I decided I'll make the bombe with Bolo Rei (King's Cake) instead. After all, I don't really know the difference except that real Italian panettone is bigger and doesn't have the crystallized fruits that a King's Cake has. But the mister said I should just make the panettone myself. Why not!

With that said, I have some serious baking to get on with. Wish me luck. I'll be spending the morning doing this.

Lets just get right back into it!

My mister brought these home from work yesterday morning. We can't figure out what type of flower they are but they are a bit orchid-y/tulip-y.


Color-wise, they are more of the phalaenopsis orchid persuasion. They grow in rocks up at the castle. Coming from a Siberian type of climate, I think its really strange that they are growing so well in a somewhat cold season. Back at home, everything would be long dead and barren by now.
(^Not my hometown but it certainly looks like it!)
Call me crazy but I miss the snow.