Home made goodness……..Part 1

 

After three weeks of silence, I’m back. Blame it on my busted motherboard and graphics card. Lost all my data (damn you technology). But now that I’m back online there are two treats that I have to, have to share with you.

Easter conjures up images of marzipan eggs, bunnies and chocolate nuggets (sigh)…. Well, my first discovery comes from Bangalore, in the form of Fiona Smith. She goes under the name of ‘fijo’ and now let me walk you through her Easter specialties  and then take you on the dessert trip of your life.

Fiona is a complete self-taught patissier and trust me when I say, she has mastered desserts, chocolates and cakes to an art form.  For starters, she makes her marzipan out of blanched almonds (patience thy name is Fiona). It has to be the smoothest marzipan, I have ever eaten and ensconced in dark chocolate, it is truly salvation. There are also twists in her marzipan based eggs, go for the dark chocolate with a hint of orange. Very unusual.

But she also makes chocolate Easter eggs, like Chocolate Truffle - a light filling of chocolate ganache (blend of chocolate, butter, cream) with a dash of Kahlua or Cointreau. (doesn’t your mouth just water). Or the Chocolate Praline Egg - dark chocolate eggs with a crunchy filling of roasted hazelnuts and almonds and caramelized sugar.

Now if you have a constant craving for sugar, fijo has a fix for anything that you desire. I will put my hand on my heart and implore you to order a batch of her chocolate chip cookies. The cookie just groans with the chips and they are they are the right consistency between chewy and snappy. Chomp on them as is or nuke them in the microwave for 15 seconds, crumble over ice-cream. Most fulfilling feeling ever.

Now if brownies are your Achilles heel, the dark chocolate brownies are what you need to go after. Each piece is huge, so maybe you savor half a piece at a time (who am I fooling here). The brownies are a little crusty on the outside, which surprises you when you bite in,’coz its so moist and chewy. Micro for 30 seconds, so you release the dark cocoa aroma and add a dollop of ice-cream, yummy..

Fiona also has a wide repertoire of cakes. Her pound cake has been a favorite for years. Also ask for her lemon sponge. If you are looking at season specific cakes, don’t look any further. The Easter Simnel cake that I’ve had thanks to fijo, has not been matched by any other so far. For Christmas, not only do you get the rich and sumptuous rich fruit and rich plum cake, you will absolutely reach nirvana with the mince-meat pies. The filling has been matured for a year and has the right mix of candied peel, dry fruit, spices and alcohol (hic).The crust puts all other shortbread to shame.

And finally, phew, pies, tarts (try the coffee tart) and mousse are her forte. I personally love the three mousse cups, but the list is endless here, so best to call and check with Fiona herself. High on experimentation, she will be coming out with her new menu for May shortly. You can call her on +91 98860 17450. (Remember it is a Bangalore number). She takes orders pretty much year round for her chocolates and cakes, so you will not be disappointed.

Do try her out and let me know what you think. Hey and check, if Fiona has any of her stock of Coffee Liqueur ready for sale. Bonne Appetite.