Alba in bookland: Recipes

Today I'm bringing you a brand new bookish recipe, inspired by the lovely book Moonlight over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan. In this fun love story, we meet Harriet Knight, who apparently bakes the best chocolate chip cookies. Reading about her adventures, I couldn't stop thinking about her cookies, as everyone in the story loved them. So I decided to try my hand at baking my own cookies.

After a bit of research on the Internet, I found a very interesting article in Buzzfeed, in which they compare famous recipes so I picked the winning recipe and they were a roaring success. Best cookies I've ever backed! Thanks Harriet for the inspiration!

Ingredients:

- 2 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon kosher salt

- 5 ounces 55 percent chocolate, cut into chip-sized pieces (about 1 1/4 cups)

- 5 ounces 70 to 72 percent chocolate, cut into chip-sized pieces (about 1 1/4 cups)

- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, preferably molasses sugar

- 3/4 cup granulated sugar

- 2 large eggs

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2) Sift the flour and baking soda into a medium bowl. Stir in the salt.

3) In the bowl, beat half the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for a few minutes, until the mixture is light and creamy.

4) Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Mix in the chocolate.

5) Shape dough into balls. Arrange cookies on the pans, leaving about two inches between them, because the dough will spread.

6) Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are no longer shiny, switching the position and rotating pans halfway through baking.

7) Cool cookies on the pans on cooling racks for about two minutes to firm them up a bit, then transfer to the racks to cool completely.

About the book:

Moonlight over Manhattan is a very magical and wintery story and one I enjoyed immensely. Perfect to escape for a few hours and forget about everything else. Even better with a hot chocolate and something sweet to go with, like a chocolate chip cookie or two?

Title: Moonlinght over Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love #6)

Author: Sarah Morgan

Published: October 5th 2017 by HQ

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: She'll risk everything for her own Christmas miracle…

Determined to conquer a lifetime of shyness, Harriet Knight challenges herself to do one thing a day in December that scares her, including celebrating Christmas without her family. But when dog walker Harriet meets her newest client, exuberant spaniel Madi, she adds an extra challenge to her list—dealing with Madi's temporary dog sitter, gruff doctor Ethan Black, and their very unexpected chemistry.

Ethan thought he was used to chaos, until he met Madi—how can one tiny dog cause such mayhem? To Ethan, the solution is simple—he will pay Harriet to share his New York apartment and provide twenty-four-hour care. But there's nothing simple about how Harriet makes him feel.

Ethan's kisses make Harriet shine brighter than the stars over moonlit Manhattan. But when his dog-sitting duties are over and Harriet returns to her own home, will she dare to take the biggest challenge of all—letting Ethan know he has her heart for life, not just for Christmas?

Read my review here

I haven't done a Bookish Recipe in a while, but while I was reading the fantastic The Lemon Tree Café by Cathy Bramley, I felt inspired to bake again. In this story there is a lot of delicious food, especially cake, which reminded me of my mum's lemon cake. She is a great baker and this is her signature cake (I don't even know how many times I brought this cake to school for fairs and celebrations) so I asked her for the recipe and tried my hand at it.

It turned out quite delicious, even if I have to say, not as delicious as my mum's (probably because I left it in the oven a few minutes too much or maybe because she has a special touch, who knows?) but I definitely recommend this recipe. It's quick, easy and you get a light and fluffy lemony sponge. Perfect for when life gives you lemons 😉

Ingredients:

- 4 eggs

- 1 lemon yogurt (125 g)

- 1/2 cup oil

- 1 1/2 cups flour

- 1 cup sugar

- 10 g baking powder

- finely grated zest 1 lemon

1) Heat oven to 200º C and lightly oil a 18cm round x 5cm deep cake tin.

2) Mix the eggs with the yogurt and the oil. Add the sugar and mix again.

3) Add the flour, baking powder and lemon zest. You can also add a couple of spoons of lemon juice to make it more lemony.

4) Briefly and gently stir with a spoon so everything is just combined, without overmixing.

5) Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the top. Turn oven to 180º C and bake for 40 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

6) Dust with icing sugar.

About the book:

The Lemon Tree Café is a charming and heart-warming story that will make you laugh but that will surprise you too. Definitely the perfect read for a crispy weekend, to be enjoyed with a good Italian coffee and a big piece of lemon cake.

Title: The Lemon Tree Café

Author: Cathy Bramley

Published: August 24th 2017 by Corgi

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: The Lemon Tree Cafe was originally published as a four-part serial. This is the complete story in one package.

When Rosie Featherstone finds herself unexpectedly jobless, the offer to help her beloved Italian grandmother out at the Lemon Tree Cafe – a little slice of Italy nestled in the rolling hills of Derbyshire – feels like the perfect way to keep busy.

Surrounded by the rich scent of espresso, delicious biscotti and juicy village gossip, Rosie soon finds herself falling for her new way of life. But she is haunted by a terrible secret, one that even the appearance of a handsome new face can't quite help her move on from.

Then disaster looms and the cafe’s fortunes are threatened... and Rosie discovers that her nonna has been hiding a dark past of her own. With surprises, betrayal and more than one secret brewing, can she find a way to save the Lemon Tree Cafe and help both herself and Nonna achieve the happy endings they deserve?

Read my review here

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This time the recipe is inspired by the book Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan. This book is the third on her latest series, From Manhattan With Love, and is a cute and sweet story set in New York during Christmas. What else can you ask for?

The main character, Eva, is a food blogger and creates the most delicious recipes. But when she first meets Lucas, she decides to cook a cheese soufflé for him. It sounded so good that I couldn't resist trying it myself and the result was amazing. Here's how I made my soufflé following this easy recipe:

Ingredients:

4 large eggs (3 whole eggs + one egg white)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Comté, Gruyère, or Parmesan cheese, or blend of all three
6 tablespoons (1 3/4 ounces) flour
3 1/2 tablespoons (1 3/4 ounces) butter
1 1/2 cup (12 ounces) milk
Salt, pepper, nutmeg or cayenne to taste
Unsalted butter, for the soufflé molds

Extra Parmesan cheese, for the soufflé molds

1) Butter your soufflé dish (I used four small molds but you can use one big one) and sprinkle lightly with a little extra Parmesan cheese. Set aside. Move an oven rack to the bottom of the oven and turn your oven on to the broil setting.

2) Separate the eggs into white and yolks. Put the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large clean bowl. Discard one yolk (you can refrigerate it for later use). Set the eggs aside.

Grate the cheese: Grate all the cheese into a bowl and set aside.

3) Make a béchamel sauce (white sauce). Melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan then whisk in the flour and cook for several minutes, until it is thick and slightly toasted (don't let the color darken past a pale golden color, though). Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until it thickens. Remove from the heat.

4) Cool the béchamel: Scrape the béchamel into a large bowl. Let it cool just slightly, so that it's warm to the touch. Then, stir the egg yolks into it.

5) Stir the grated cheese in with the béchamel and egg yolks. Taste and add salt, pepper, and nutmeg or cayenne to taste.

6) Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold a spoonful of stiff egg whites into the batter, incorporating them thoroughly. The batter should lighten by one shade.

7) Fold in the rest of the egg whites. Spread them through the batter using a stiff spatula, running the spatula straight down the bottom of the bowl, then flipping the batter over. The egg whites should be all mixed in, but there ought be some lumps of stiff egg white still visible.

8) Scrape the batter into the prepared mold. The batter should fill the mold about halfway. Place in the oven on the bottom rack and broil for 3 minutes. Without opening the oven door turn the heat down to 400°F (200ºC) and continue baking for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly, place an empty baking sheet on the top rack of the oven to help shield the top.

9) Eat immediately and enjoy!

About the book:

Title: Miracle on 5th Avenue (From Manhattan with Love #3)

Author: Sarah Morgan

Published: October 20th 2016 by Mira

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Sometimes love needs a Christmas Miracle…

Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she’s given an opportunity to housesit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan?

What she didn’t expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous–and mysterious–owner. Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife’s death looming, he’s isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn’t appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…

This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist?

Read my review here

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This time the recipe is inspired by Harry Potter again. Earlier this year I made Hagrid's Rock Cakes and they were a roaring success so I decided to try my hand at Pumpkin Pasties as Halloween is fast approaching!

As you know, Harry loves pumpkin pasties and after trying this recipe, I'm a convert too. This is delicious! I decided to go for a salty filling and I think it was the best decision. Also, I found this free printable for the the boxes here, I think it looks really cute. This is how I made them:

Ingredients:

Pastry crust:

- 1 1/4 cups flour

- 1 tbsp sugar

- 5 tbsp butter (70 g)

- 3 tbsp shortening (40 g)

- 4-6 tbsp ice water

Filling:

- 1/2 medium pumpkin roasted

- 4 tbsp butter

- 1 clove garlic

- 1/2 cup cheese

- salt and pepper

1) To make the pastry crust: Mix flour, sugar and salt. Add chunks of butter and shortening into the mixture and cut them into it, with a food processor or using two knives. Have a look at this video to see how to do it with knives and also, if you prefer a sweet version, you can also follow the recipe on the video.

2) Transfer it into a mixing bowl and add 4 tbsp of ice water. Toss with a spatula until combined. Add more water if the dough is still dry.

3) Form a ball of dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge for at least one hour.

4) While the dough is in the fridge, roast the pumpkin. Mash the hot pumpkin with the butter and stir in the grated garlic and the grated cheese. Season it too.

5) Pre-heat oven to 200º. Roll the pie dough to 1 inch thick and cut 7 inches circles (18 cm). Another option is to cut the dough with a cutter in the shape of a pumpkin (that's what I did).

6) Spoon the pumpkin mixture in the middle of the circles/pumpkins. If you have circles, fold them to form half moons. If you have pumpkins just put another pumpkin on top. Seal the edges with a fork.

7) Cut slivers on top and rub the yolk of an egg if you want a golden finish.

8) Place in a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy! These are probably my new favourite autumn dish and I'm sure I'll be making more this weekend to celebrate Halloween!

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This time the recipe is inspired by the book How to Find Your (First) Husband by Rosie Blake. This story is completely bonkers and I couldn't have loved it more. It is everything a summer read should be and more. With an amazing setting, lovable character, an hilarious plot and turtles thrown into the mix, this is the book you cannot miss this summer. Laughs and good vibes guaranteed!

In the story, Isobel travels to Tioman Island, in Malaysia, following her first crush and there, she has quite a lot of adventures. She also enjoys the local cuisine, especially Egg Foo Young, similar to an omelette with lots of tasty things inside. So I decided to transport myself to Malaysia and try my hand at making Egg Foo Young. I followed more or less this recipe and the result was pretty good:

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

6 eggs

Half a chicken breast (cooked and shredded)

2 mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/2 cup shredded baby bok choy

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced on an angle

1 small red pepper, very thinly sliced

One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 large clove garlic, grated or made into a paste

Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 thin slice of ginger

1) Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the chicken, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bok choy, carrots, scallions, pepper, grated ginger and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

2) Drop about 1/2 cup of the mixture onto the griddle for each "pancake". Cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

3) Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch with a splash of chicken stock to dissolve. Combine the remaining stock, the cornstarch mixture, soy sauce, hot sauce and sliced ginger in a small saucepan. Boil until it thickens a bit, about 3 minutes. Discard the sliced ginger.

4) Put 2 pancakes on each plate, top with the gravy and enjoy!

About the book:

Title: How To Find Your (First) Husband

Author: Rosie Blake

Published: June 2nd by Corvus

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: It's a beautiful day in 1994 and the turn-out in the school playground is fantastic. Isobel is eight years old and marrying Andrew Parker, the boy of her dreams. Life is perfect. Then the ceremony is over, and a week later so is the marriage. Twenty years on and Isobel is dressed as a prawn handing out promotional fliers outside an L.A. fish market. Her career is going nowhere and her love life leaves a lot to be desired. Nothing Isobel hoped for has gone to plan. Then, she catches sight of Andrew, her first husband, in the background of a TV news item and wonders: if she can track down Andrew, will she recapture the happiness that she felt all those years ago? Isobel travels the globe to find her first husband, via Cornwall, Devon and a remote Malaysian island, but is he really what she is looking for?

Read my book review here

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This time, the recipe is inspired by the book The Wedding Date by Jennifer Joyce. This is a fun and cute story that will put a smile on your face, with lots of laughs, quite a big web of lies with hilarious consequences, a good pinch of romance and best friends who are worth their weight in gold.

In the story, Delilah works at a biscuit factory (which, apparently, is not that much fun) and I loved reading all about biscuits and the recipes they all came up with for a campaign at the factory. So I decided to try my hand at making Millionaire's Shortbread for the first time. I decided to go for a my own recipe for gooey salted caramel and the result was really tasty. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients for the shortbread base:
- 100g softened, salted butter
- 50g caster sugar
- 150g plain flour

Ingredients for the gooey salted caramel:

- 200g sugar

- 90g butter

- 120ml heavy cream

- 1 tsp salt

Ingredients for the chocolate topping:
- 200g dark chocolate

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C and let's start with the shortbread. With a wooden spoon, combine the butter with the sugar in a large bowl until it forms a paste. Add the flour and gently mix it all together. Use your hands to work the mix.

2. Press this out flat with your hands so that it fills your lined tin, then bake for 10–15 minutes or until it is just blushing golden brown at the edges. Leave to cool in the tin.

3. While it’s baking, let's start with the caramel. Put the sugar into a saucepan on a medium-high heat, whisking it until the sugar has dissolved. When it's golden light, add the butter carefully, whisk until it's well combined and then add the cream. Keep whisking until it boils again. Keep it going for 1 minute and then take it out of the heat and add the salt.

4. When ready, pour your caramel onto your biscuit base and spread it over the top. To even out the surface, pick up your tin and drop it onto the countertop with a bang. Leave this to cool for at least an hour (or overnight) before adding the chocolate topping.

5. Break the chocolate into a microwaveable bowl. Zap your chunks in a microwave on full power for 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between (or melt over a bowl of simmering water).

6. Pour it onto your cooled caramel surface and spread gently with a knife. Again, to even the surface, pick it up and drop it onto your countertop, or give it a shake in the tin. Leave it to set for another hour, before slicing into squares.

The resulting caramel was a bit runny but after a couple of hours in the fridge, it got better. I really liked the taste of it though. Definitely a recipe to make again soon. Perfect for chocolate lovers! Enjoy!

Title: The Wedding Date

Author: Jennifer Joyce

Published: March 28th 2016 by Carina UK

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Delilah James, singleton and smoothie-addict, has six months to find a date for her oldest friend’s wedding. Oh, and to prove to her ex, best man Ben, that she has totally moved on since he dumped her out-of-the-blue nine months, eight days and seventeen hours ago…

So, with her two BFFs playing Cupid, Delilah launches herself into the high-tech, fast-paced and frankly terrifying world of dating. Luckily there’s the hot new guy at work, Adam Sinclair, to practice her flirting on – even if, as a colleague, he’s strictly off-limits!

Yet time’s running out and date after disastrous date forces Delilah to tell a little white lie – and invent a fake boyfriend! But will her secret crush on Adam ruin everything? Does she even care about Ben anymore? And is it too late to untangle her web of lies and take a real date to the wedding…?

Check out my review here.

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This time, the recipe is inspired by the book The Plumberry School of Comfort Food by Cathy Bramley. This story is full of love, joy and heart but also sadness and raw emotions. A story that will steal your hearts for sure.

In the story, Verity and the gang open a culinary school with lots of original and fun courses. And as usual, Cathy Bramley has added some recipes at the end of the book. This time is all about comfort food and I decided to try Mozzarella in Carozza, an Italian savoury treat. This recipe is from Francesca, Cathy's editor and it's fantastic:

Ingredients for 3 sandwiches:

- 6 slices of white bread

- A ball of mozzarella, cut in thick slices

- Anchovy fillets (optional)

- 125 ml milk

- 3 or 4 tbsp of flour

- 1 egg, beaten

- Salt and pepper

- Vegetable oil for frying

1) Pour the milk into a bowl, the flour into another and the beaten egg with the salt and pepper into a third one. Make the sandwiches: put the slices of mozzarella on a slice of white bread, leaving one centimetre on the edges uncovered. Add the anchovies if you are using them (we love anchovies, so I added a couple of small fillets on each sandwich) and then put the other slice of bread on top. Squash a bit the edges so it's sealed.

2) Put a saucepan with oil on the fire and once it's hot, it's ready to start frying. Slightly dip a sandwich into the milk, then into the flour and finally, a quick dip on the egg. Fry it until it's golden on both side (2 or 3 minutes per side).

3) Put the sandwiche on a plate with kitchen towels to absorb the excess oil. And repeat for the other sandwiches. Eat them while they are still hot so they are all gooey inside.

I really liked this recipe. The mozzarella had completely melted and the anchovies gave it the perfect salty kick. After only one sandwich, I was already full. Really comforting food. Thanks to Cathy and Francesca for this fantastic recipe!

About the book:

Title: The Plumberry School of Comfort Food

Author: Cathy Bramley

Published: June 30th 2016 by Corgi

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: The Plumberry School of Comfort Food was originally published as a four-part serial. This is the complete story in one package.

Verity Bloom hasn't been interested in cooking anything more complicated than the perfect fish finger sandwich, ever since she lost her best friend and baking companion two years ago.

But an opportunity to help a friend lands her right back in the heart of the kitchen. The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is due to open in a few weeks' time and needs the kind of great ideas that only Verity could cook up. And with new friendships bubbling and a sprinkling of romance in the mix, Verity finally begins to feel like she's home.

But when tragedy strikes at the very heart of the cookery school, can Verity find the magic ingredient for Plumberry while still writing her own recipe for happiness?

Read my review here

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This week's recipe is inspired by the book Wickham Hall by Cathy Bramley. A real tale of friendship, love and family, Wickham Hall is a heart-warming novel that you cannot miss.

At the end of the book Cathy has included some fantastic recipes related to the story and when I saw the Banana Bread recipe I couldn't resist. I have to admit first that I hate bananas. So I had never been brave enough to try banana bread. But everyone assured me that it was delicious even if you didn't like bananas. So here's my first experience with banana bread:

1) Preheat oven to 170º C and line the base and sides of a loaf tin (20cm x 12cm) with baking paper.

2) Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, and then mix the self-raising flour and walnuts. I'm not a bit fan of walnuts so I leave them out.

3) Peel the bananas and mass them. Fold them and the dark chocolate chunks into the mixture, with care. Don't overmix.

4) Scoop the batter into the tin and bake for about one hour and ten minutes. It should be golden on top and when you insert a skewer it should come clean by then. But if not, don't be afraid to leave it a bit more (I left it at least 8 minutes more covered with foil to prevent it from burning)

5) Enjoy with tea!

So, the banana bread was a real success. You could taste a bit of the banana (I actually don't mind how they taste, what annoys me is the texture) and with the chocolate it was delicious. Then someone on twitter recommended to try it warm and with Nutella. Best advice ever. I'm sure I'll be making it again soon!

About the book

Title: Wickham Hall

Author: Cathy Bramley
Published: January 14th 2016 by Corgi
Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: Wickham Hall was originally published as a four-part serial. This is the complete story in one package.

Holly Swift has just landed the job of her dreams: events co-ordinator at Wickham Hall, the beautiful manor home that sits proudly at the heart of the village where she grew up. Not only does she get to organise for a living and work in stunning surroundings, but it will also put a bit of distance between Holly and her problems at home.

As Holly falls in love with the busy world of Wickham Hall - from family weddings to summer festivals, firework displays and Christmas grottos - she also finds a place in her heart for her friendly (if unusual) colleagues.

But life isn’t as easily organised as an event at Wickham Hall (and even those have their complications…). Can Holly learn to let go and live in the moment? After all, that’s when the magic happens…

Read my review

As you know, tomorrow is Harry Potter Book Night, so I have been planning a little Harry Potter Party. I already shared with you some of the decorations I have made and today I wanted to share a recipe that will be the perfect dessert: Chocolate Rock Cakes.

When Harry first arrives at Hogwarts, lovely Hagrid invites him to his hut for tea and cakes. So Harry and Ron head over there on their first Friday and find themselves on a tricky situation... Hagrid's Rock Cakes almost break their teeth! But they pretend to enjoy them as they listen to him talk. Do not worry, these rock cakes will not break your teeth. They are hard outside but soft and yummy inside!

I had a search online for the perfect Rock Cake recipe. Most called for dried fruit but I'm not a bit fan. So when I saw that one of my favourite bloggers, Helen Redfern, had a recipe for Chocolate Rock Cakes, I knew I had found the perfect one. If you haven't checked Helen's blog, then you are missing out. She bakes the most delicious treats inspired by the books she reads, and her photos are amazing. Anyway, here's the link to her recipe which a lovely letter to Hagrid and here's how I made them:

1) Pre-heat oven to 190 and prepare a tray with a baking sheet. Mix the flour (I only had all purpose flour, so I added a tsp of baking powder), salt and sugar and stir.

2) Add the butter (I took it out of the fridge a couple of hours before starting so it was soft and easy to mix). Mix everything with your fingers until you have a crumble type mixture. Don't over do it or it'll be dry. Add the chocolate chunks or chips if you prefer.

3) Make a well in the centre and add the egg, a splash of milk and the vanilla extract. Whisk it a bit and then combine everything with your hands. I didn't need to add any more milk, but if your dough is a bit dry you can add more.

4) Make balls and put them on the tray with the baking sheet. I wanted rather big cakes so I divided it into 10 balls. Bake them. The recipe calls for 15 minutes or until golden. I baked mine for 18 minutes.

5) Once you think they are golden enough, take them out and let them cool. And enjoy!

Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This week's recipe is inspired by the book How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake. I absolutely loved this one. It is one of the best festive books I've read in a while and it's full of laughters, food, romance and crazy geese, what else can you ask for?

In the book, Eve is a total disaster in the kitchen so she has to relay on her best friend, Daisy, to cook for her. Daisy makes this delicious chocolate biscuit cake and when I saw that Rosie had added the recipe for it, I decided to try it myself as it sounded so yummy!

1) Melt the dark chocolate, syrup and butter in a a glass bowl on top of boiling water. When it's smooth, take it off the heat.

2) Break up the digestive biscuits (here Rosie suggests to put them in a carrier bag and use a rolling pin to bash them, I tried without the carrier bag and it was not a good idea... but well it worked).

3) Add the biscuits to the mixture and put o a baking tray. Let it rest on the fridge.

4) Once it's set, melt the white chocolate and pour it on top of the mixture. Then add the decorations, Rosie suggests Maltesers, but in the supermarket I went, they didn't have any. So I opted for smarties.

5) Put back in the fridge to set. Before serving it, take it out the fridge for a while. Otherwise, it'll be difficult to cut it (true fact) and enjoy!

It's a really sweet cake. My nieces (and I) loved it! Thanks Rosie for sharing this fab recipe!

About the book:

Title: How To Stuff Up Christmas

Author: Rosie Blake
Published: November 5th 2015 by Corvus
Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: 'Tis the season to be jolly. Unless you've found an intimate picture of another woman on your fiance's phone...

Eve is heartbroken after discovering her fiance is cheating on her. Being surrounded by the joys of Christmas is more than Eve can bear, so she chooses to avoid the festivities by spending Christmas alone on a houseboat in Pangbourne. Eve gets an unexpected seasonal surprise when handsome local vet Greg comes to her rescue one day, and continues to visit Eve's boat on a mission to transform her from Kitchen Disaster Zone to Culinary Queen.

But where does Greg keep disappearing to? What does Eve's best friend Daisy know that she isn't telling? And why is there an angry goose stalking Eve's boat?

A hilarious and heart-warming novel about Christmas, catastrophes and cooking, containing exclusive Christmas recipes, from the talented Rosie Blake.

Read my review of How to Stuff Up Christmas here