Easter celebrations

Once every few years,  Easter weekend is special to us, because my middle daughter and I celebrate our birthday as well. When Easter is late, I celebrate mine. When Easter is early, like this year, we celebrate hers.  

I was up at six on Saturday morning, to put up the bunting and add the finishing touches to a cake,  which I baked the day before. I chose a wheat free, low fat Easter cake from the book Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell, of which I changed the recipe a little. I used saffron to colour the icing and beetroot to colour the cake.

To get the speckled effect, I used a mixture of cocoa and vanilla essence, which I flicked at the cake with a tooth brush. My kitchen and I were covered in tiny chocolate specks, but most important: the cake looked better than I hoped for.   

In today's post,  photo's of our Easter breakfast table and Afternoon birthday tea. The vintage table cloths were incredibly lucky charity shop finds (almost missed them).  The colours are bright and sunny, and perfect for Easter. The embroidery on one of them is exceptionally beautiful. It makes me wonder if there are still women who make tablecloths like this, or is it a pastime of a bygone era?

Wishing you a Happy Easter. Have fun!

Love,

Madelief x

Homemade

When browsing through my photo's, I came upon a few colourful ones taken in Bath gardens in Bakewell, a small but beautiful town in Derbyshire (UK). I thought I would share them with you. Bakewell has one of the most colourful communal gardens I have ever seen.

The town is famous for it's Bakewell tart. A real delicacy,  consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell beneath layers of jam, fragipane and a topping of lemon icing and toasted almonds. I used the recipe from, I believe the first Great British Bake off book, but you can also find it on the internet.  It's really tasty and very addictive.
  
In this post I would like to thank my friend Ilse, who made me the fabulous vintage roses style tea cosy. A warm thank you to Jenny as well, who sent me some amazing vintage textiles and an absolutely beautiful handmade bag. Which is a real eye catcher. Dear Ilse and Jenny, thank you so much. A big kiss to both of you.

If you like today's photo's and would like to see more, please have a look at Jenny's blog The Custards. Jenny makes the most fabulous things out of vintage linens, has a love for gardening and all things colourful and vintage. It's one of my favourite blogs.

I want to thank  you too for your kind suggestions on what  to plant in my garden this year. They are very useful!

Wishing you a happy week ahead.

Love,

Madelief x

A big kiss to my daughter M. Love the anemones! And to Carolyn for sending me the sweet snowman.

Raspberry chocolate cheesecake

It's been an exceptionally beautiful autumn in Rotterdam so far. I spent part of last Sunday on a terrace in a park nearby and today is one of those days when I think I should actually do the same. It's too fine a day to sit inside writing a blogpost. So, I will keep it short.

Before I go I will share a delicious cheesecake recipe with you. The bake really is part brownie with a cheesecake topping and raspberries. Heavy, yes, but mouth watering. The cheesecake raspberry topping gives the bake the extra twist that makes it special.

What you need is:

* 200 gr. good quality dark chocolate
* 200 gr. butter, softened
* 400 gr caster sugar
* 5 eggs
* 110 gr. flour
* 400 gr. cream cheese
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 140 gr raspberries

a rectangular cake tin 20 x 30 cm, covered in baking parchment

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease the tin. 

Place the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted. Set aside to cool slightly. Cream the butter and 250g of the caster sugar until pale, then add 3 of the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the melted chocolate, then fold in the flour. Spread three-quarters of the mixture into the lined tin.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, remaining sugar and eggs and the vanilla extract until smooth. Spread over the chocolate base. Spoon the remaining chocolate mixture over the cream cheese layer and use a fork to swirl the chocolate. Push the raspberries into the top and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.

Leave to cool. Cut into squares before serving.

* * * * * * * *

The brownies are a perfect autumn bake. I used some of my latest vintage finds for the photo shoot: a brown coffee pot and matching sugar bowl from the 1970s, two coffee cups from the same period, an elegant teacup with red and golden details from the fifties and a set of green glass tea plates from the 1930s. The last set being a favourite! Love the colour of the glass, the pattern.....I think it was waiting in the thrift shop for me to be found.

Did you find anything special lately?

Next week my giveaway of the book Besondere Frauen und ihre Gaerten by Gallwey publishers will be online. If you are interested, stay tuned.

Have a lovely week!

Madelief x