My Perfect Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Unlike the majority of the world, the down-under Australia is having Spring now... with strawberries, blueberries, lemons and flowers that are in season... but why am I baking an apple pie? Why are we savouring an autumn delicacy during Spring?

Hmmm... I baked this because my son was craving for an apple pie and he asked me to bake one with less sugar for him! LOL! See! These are the things that I do for my little man.

Fortunately, Granny Smith apples are abundant throughout the year and also usually inexpensive in all seasons.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed baking this apple pie because from this bake, I have found a perfect Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie recipe!

Happy that I have found...
My Perfect Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie 

Cottony Soft Triple-Layer Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Light Cocoa Cream Frosting - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Whenever I published and recommended my ultra soft chiffon cake recipes (listed at here), I often received messages and comments on how to frost the cake and decorate it into a birthday cake. Hmmm...

Well, you see... Unlike most chiffon cakes, my ultra soft chiffon cakes are extra soft and fragile! Hey... I don't name them ultra soft for nothing! LOL! Therefore, we usually eat our ultra soft chiffon cakes on their own without any frosting because any frosting applied on the fragile cake will weigh the cake down and might cause the cake to lose its structure eventually. What to do???

I must admit that I have not been answer all questions lately. To be honest, I'm really tired. I find myself in this situation that answering questions such as "Why is my bake not ok?" or "Can I substitute this with that?"or "Where can I buy this or that?" or "Can you convert this to that?" are time-wasting and consuming as I would rather spend my time with my family. It's not that I don't want to help. I just can't! Sorry!

The least I can do is to continue sharing my prized recipes. If you want to bake a cottony soft triple-layer chocolate chiffon cake for any occasions, I can show you how to bake it and frost it with a light cocoa cream. A low-sugar frosting that is lighter than buttercream and easier to whip than the plain whipped cream.

My Impressive Triple-Layer Chocolate Chiffon Cake
with Light Cocoa Cream Frosting

Italian Blueberry Crostata made with Less Sugar Homemade Blueberry Jam - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Have you noticed? Some of the foods that I cooked and baked are inspired by our travel. These are the foods that we tasted, loved and missed.

The current blueberry season has reminded me a lot of the Italian Blueberry Crostata that we had and loved in Italy. According to Wikipedia at here, crostata is an Italian baked tart or pie that was traditionally baked with friable buttery dough but now, it is mostly made with shortcrust pastry. So, this means that it is completely normal for a crostata to be crumbly, fragile and break apart easily!

Is crostata a torta, galette, tart or pie? A crostata is not a torta. The Italian "torta" means cake in Italian and is often mistaken to be a tart. Galette is the French name to describe a free-form tart which is similar to the Italian crostata. Some might say that crostata is a jam tart or a pie but unlike most typical jam tart or pie, a crostata is typically free-form without shaping it onto a baking pan or dish and is made with inconsistent chunky filling.

Can you believe that we have tried so many different versions of blueberry crostata in Italy? The one that we like the most is actually the most rustic and fragile type! It doesn't look pretty or delicately crafted. It was like a messy slice of tart with bits and pieces of pastry breaking off from a generous layer of chunky blueberry jam. My son and I didn't really care how sloppy the tart looked and how messy we looked when we savoured the crostata. We just pinched, licked and enjoyed till the very last crumb of it.

Since last year after our Italy trip, I have been telling my son that I must bake an Italian blueberry crostata just like the one that we bought from Mercato Centrale Firenze. Then, it was cricket cricket because I was busy looking for a job, adjusting to a new job and busy again with running... Guilty guilty!

Well, finally...

This is my version of Italian Blueberry Crostata. It is made with a generous layer of chunky blueberry jam that is not too sweet and its buttery pastry is like a hybrid of 80% shortcrust pastry and 20% cake. Tender and crumbly just like what we had and loved in Italy...

My Italian Blueberry Crostata
that is made with Homemade Less Sugar Blueberry Jam

Super Easy Almond Scones - Just mix, scoop and bake!

Love baking scones but hate the hassle of rolling and cutting the dough? Plus cleaning of the flour-dusted area? Sianz...

I asked myself... Is there an easier and fuss-free way of shaping scones? Yes!

Then, I realised that I can bake scones that are like the American drop biscuits. So, I mixed a thick fluffy mixture, scooped-and-drooped it, then baked it into scones!

Ta-dah!
Within minutes, I mixed, scooped and baked these yummy Almond Scones!