Apple cupcakes...

Starting this new year with one of my favorite (and who knew it will become one!) form of baking - cupcakes :) I simply can't resist a soft, sweet "mini cake", especially when they're still warm, straight from the oven  - and on the side, a must of strong coffee (or tea). Is it only me who gets that "illusion" of being "good" when finishing only 1 cupcake instead of 1 big slice of cake? Cupcakes are very handy - you have your "cake" divided into small "portions"... but then again - I can barely end on one... Oh well, life is too short to deny yourself everything, including a little sweet treat from time to time ;)

How to make it...

Best savory dishes of 2014...

I can't really say that I bake more than I cook savory dishes in my kitchen. I'd like to think that I do both equally often, I definitely enjoy both the same! :) Baking is that little bit easier for me, as I can include my two little girls in the process, whereas with cooking for example dinner, it's not that simple - as sharp knives, hot stoves, graters, raw meat etc. are usually involved. There were good few dishes I have discovered in the passing year, I'm using the word discover here, as about some of the dishes I haven't even heard before! I hope you'll like my little "sum up" and here it is:

Anula's Best Cakes of 2014...

December, especially the very end of the month always makes me think about the year that passed. I usually make "sum ups" of the best dish/cake/meal I had/discovered in each month of the passing year (2012 sum up & 2013 sum up), but seeing as 2014 was especially interesting and diverse in my kitchen I decided to divide the year into categories, I simply couldn't decide on one dish/cake only form each month! The Best cakes of 2014 is the first category I wanted to share with you. The second one, coming in few days time, will be all about savory dishes.
So to start with summing up of the year 2014 this is the list of 12 cakes that I think were "the star" of each month in my kitchen:

Smoked salmon roulade...

There's really not a lot of fish out there or seafood in general that I don't like, but I was never so kean on smoked salmon. when I used to live in Poland it was quite tricky to get a good quality one, one that's really smoked and not just covered in something that's imitating real smoking process. That has changed when I moved to Ireland. Living on an island now, literally few miles from the Ocean I have one of the best fish and the freshest one, here at my doorstep. Smoked salmon - as this is the star of my post today. I really start loving the stuff and enjoy it on many ways. One of my Baby J (who's 4 years old now) favorite way of eating smoked salmon is simply on buttered toast, just like that. I usually put mine on a toast covered already in some scrambled eggs. But I was challenged to think of some new, interesting but easy at the same time, way of eating smoked salmon.

This is a recipe I created specially for Quinlan's Kerryfish using their organic smoked salmon. It IS good! When thinking what will I make I didn't want to over complicate it, nor I wanted to "kill" the taste of the fish with another strong ingredient. Seeing as my favorite way of eating smoked salmon is with eggs, here's a result - smoked salmon roulade made using a kind of egg pancake, but to put some creaminess inside, and a little bit of a "kick" and different texture - you'll find cream cheese and a small "kick", as well as some crunch from the gherkins.

How to make it...