Champagne Cupcakes with a Blueberry Twist

So, here we go, it’s the last day of 2013 – a year full of events and journeys, tears and joy, emotions and unexpected outcomes.

I’m not gonna have a big party but I wanted to prepare something I had never done before. Generally, I am no big fan of sparkling wines or of anything else fizzy, as a matter of fact. I like my alcohol strong and aged and champagne is just a little too ostentatious for me. However, lately I have been experimenting with various types of alcohol when baking, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try my hand at sparkling wine as well. So found a really simple recipe for champagne cupcakes here and then modified it with some blueberry jam to give it some twits. You may leave the blueberry jam out if you don’t like it, or, alternatively, substitute it with strawberry jam if you prefer.

2013 recap and a Chocolate Banana Cake

You know, 2013 has been the best, the most amazing year of my life so far. Sadly, it is about to end in a horrible, awful way. Because people should never give promises they can’t or are not willing to keep. That’s why I’ve been feeling really sad lately – it’s a shame for such a wonderful year to end like this, no?

I’ve been told that whenever you’re sad, chocolate always helps. I’m not sure if this is really true, I believe that nature, water, sun and sex are the best remedies but chocolate certainly doesn’t hurt. That’s why I simply had to make something with chocolate. Lots of it. To boost my mood. And bananas. Because I was going bananas (geddit?). Anyways, more on that later, let me firs tell you about my year.

Шарени шоколадови бисквитки

Наближават празниците. Всъщност, ако броим онзиденшния Никулден, направо си дойдоха. На мен обаче ми е малко трудно да се настроя в такова време на положителна вълна – навън е сиво, мрачно, безумно студено, бездомни кучета обикалят на глутници, по центъра на всеки ъгъл има полиция, коледната лудница дебне зад ъгъла, а аз пак не знам на кого какво да подаря…

В такива моменти имам нужда от нещо цветно и ярко, което да ми върне хубавото настроение. Ако пък има и шоколад и кафява захар в него, направо няма начин да не успее. Има нещо в кафявата захар и сладките, приготвени с нея, което ги отличава от всичко, където има използвана бяла захар. Бялата захар е някак си безлична и безвкусна, докато кафявата има свой собствен характер, аромат и леко карамелен вкус. В рецептата, за която ще ви разкажа днес, именно кафявата захар придава отличителния вкус на тези бисквитки – важно е да се спази пропорцията на 2:1 в полза на кафявата захар, иначе вкусът няма да е същият.

Winter Pumpkin Soup

So I had a pumpkin left over from Halloween. Wonderful, perfect, very handsome pumpkin, which served well with the help of a black ribbon and eyes all the way through the scary holiday. The question was, of course, what to do with it once I replaced the Halloween  decorations with Christmas ones. I wasn't in the mood for the conventional pumpkin pies or muffins, so I decided to make a soup.

I admit it, I sort of combined three recipes and added things of my own, such as the butter (I LOVE butter!). The result was an easy to make, creamy, tasty vegetarian soup. I added a little twist by roasting in a frying pan for a couple of minutes a handful of pumpkin seeds, which I then sprinkled on top when I served it – the crunchiness of the seeds was a pleasant contrast to the creamy softness of the soup – a pleasure for the palate.

Blue Cheese Pear Muffins

At home we love cheese. Actually, we absolutely adore cheese! All kinds of cheese – Bulgarian white and yellow, English mild or mature cheddar, Leicester, Gloucestershire, French Fromage Bleu, Italian Grana Padano and Peccorino…and so on and so forth. Sometimes when we’re not really hungry, I just slice 2-3 types of cheese on a plate together with seasonal fruit – apples, pears, oranges. It makes a wonderfully light dinner, best enjoyed with white wine or rosé.

Speaking of seasonal fruit, the best aspect of your parents living in the country and having a house in a village is the opportunity to enjoy freshly picked, absolutely organic and totally delicious fruit and vegetables. The last thing I managed to lay my hands on was a bag of pears from the region of Harmanli, where my parents live. The climate there is quite dry, which makes it perfect for grapes and pears and other types of fruit which are supposed to be very sweet.