Claudia&Julia's Blog

You're probably wondering first: Where's the fruit? I asked myself the same the first time I saw this dessert. A cobbler is a dessert with a base of caramelized fruit covered by a layer of cookie dough or shortcrust pastry and baked. This dessert has nothing to do with the classic cobbler, but that's what they call it.

Back in the Second World War, two Canadian officers were staying at a hotel in the northeast of England, where they handed the recipe for a pudding to the hotel's owner; and it makes sense what they tell us about its origin being Canadian rather than English, since the batter is more like that of an American muffin than that of a delicate, spongy English cake. I'm talking about the delicious sticky toffee pudding.

You don't think a pressure cooker is only for steaming vegetables, do you? Because far from that, the pressure cooker lets you cook meats until they're tender and excellent in record time, lets you make stews with a fabulous blend of flavors, you can steam fish for a very healthy option, you can make delicious cakes (yes — cakes turn out great in a steam cooker!), and you can also make delicious flans like the one we bring you today, the coconut flan recipe. Among many other things, of course.

The coca de forner or baker's coca is a flat, elongated bread very typical in Catalonia that was originally made with plain bread dough, brushed with olive oil, topped with pine nuts and sugar, and sprinkled with anise as it came out of the oven. Simple and very effective.

Did you know homemade cookies can last up to a month in perfect condition if you store them properly? That is, as long as you don't get distracted and the little ones (or some older kid in the house... ahem!) don't play mouse and eat them first.

Baking cookies is one of my favorite pleasures. It's easy and also quick, since the dough requires very little mixing and the baking takes little time (about 15 minutes). Kids enjoy it too, you make sure to eat quality ingredients and, if you make them in batches, you have reserves for days.

The days are coming when our kitchen will be in full swing, and it’s one of those times when knowing a simple recipe that can sort out a Christmas dessert or breakfast is welcomed with open arms.

Are you thinking about the Christmas menu? Well, these cheese and grape tartlets with Pedro Ximénez sauce make an excellent appetizer: they are easy and the combination of flavors from all the cheeses is sensational.

I don't know about you, but I can't think of a better combination than chocolate and walnuts. And if to this mix, which is already delicious, we add a good homemade pastry base, then we have... the best chocolate, walnut and shortcrust tart in the world!

With this chocolate and yolk bundt cake we declare the season of oven-baked treats and delicious cakes at home open. Bundts are something children are passionate about, because they marvel at their shape and silhouette, and they make a stunning impression if you're going to give one as a gift or have guests at home.

Don't you love easy, showy recipes that make us look like real cooking pros with very little effort? I do. I adore them. Any recipe with minimal effort and maximum wow factor goes straight into the stash to be tried. And if I like it, it gets added to my cookbook ipso facto. That's what the ruffle milk pie recipe is like, pastel de leche arrugado or galatopita. The latter is the original name of the creation, of Greek origin, and it's to die for.

It's autumn, and it's the season for chestnuts, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins; it seems like we’re starting to crave baking pies, tarts, cakes, and pastries with apples and pears. In a way we want to turn on the oven to fill our home with those intoxicating scents of butter, cinnamon, and sugar. If only we could keep that smell in a glass jar and open it every now and then!

These butter cookies are made with our cookie press — what do you think? A churrera is very similar to a cookie press in its operation: a tube with a plunger that pushes the dough through a die. A little bit of force and not much mystery.