I probably say this every year: No matter what I try to do during the Valentine season, the clichés are simply unavoidable. Whether it is the heart-shaped cake mold, the red roses or pink and red confetti hearts; it’s all part of the standard, romantic expression of love. So, let’s lean into the clichés one more time, as I show you how to make this show-stopping Soufflé with Rose Red Wine Reduction for your V-date. This recipe will make a small portion that is enough to fill a 3-inch soufflé ramekin. But if you want a bigger soufflé, feel free to double the quantities of the soufflé ingredien ..read more

It’s not a very Merry Christmas this year; not with the genocide in Gaza and all the other sadness in other parts of the world. Even when I was shooting this cake, I noticed that I was unable to use any bright or colorful props. I hope there will be enough love and mercy to make it stop. This will never be forgotten Before I start talking about this recipe I need to give credit to Natalia from Lieblings Desserts for being the source of the recipe! Of course I didn’t dare to just copy and paste it as-is and in fact when I looked at her final cake it really reminded me of a tree bark in some w ..read more

With that’s happening in Palestine at the moment, no body is in the mood to celebrate Halloween this year. But every now and then we owe ourselves just a little breather from all the heartbreak and pain. This recipe came in much later than I had intended but you can still enjoy making it for what is the left of today or this week. Ingredients for the muffins: 3/4 cup cake flour 1/4 cup granulated white sugar 3 Tbsp milk 2 Tbsp oil 1 egg 1 Tbsp activated charcoal powder 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Pinch of salt For the frosting: 1/2 cup butter 1 cup powdered sugar 1 Tbsp m ..read more

So, it’s been a while… I believe that something happens to me in some seasonal way around this time every year. Apart from my allergies and the fact that I have been struggling to create new content, I am fine Speaking of allergies, this recipe contains a cinnamon & vanilla infused honey, which is known to keep spring allergies at bay. My recent obsession with Earl Grey tea has also led me to include it in my list of ingredients for this epic, buttery and aromatic cake. Ingredients: 115g butter 190g granulated white sugar 2 eggs 125ml hot milk 1 tea bag of Earl Grey tea 180g AP flour 1 ..read more

Ramadan Kareem everyone! First of all, I must say that I am finally relieved to see less chocolate ruining the classic Middle Eastern flavor profile of Ramadan desserts this year. In the light of that honor, here’s my recipe for Ramadan themed blondies. I added some ghee and semolina to the traditional blondie ingredients for a unique, Basboosa-inspired texture and a signature Middle Eastern flair. Ingredients: 200g butter, melted 2 Tbsp ghee (40g) 100g brown sugar 125g granulated white sugar 2 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 200g all-purpose flour 100g semolina 1/2   ..read more

It has been quite a while since I’ve last written anything here, but there was a lot going on since the Christmas holidays and sadly, one of the main catalysts behind this blog has passed away 41 days ago. He was always whipping my ass to write consistently to you all and not to forget that I am a blogger and not just an Instagrammer. May your soul rest in peace; best friend brother and mentor. On a brighter note, I am very excited to bring you this authentic Pesto recipe. I have done some research and discovered some interesting facts about this very special pasta sauce. The word “pesto” in ..read more

There was a time when I had the time to knead my very own Udon noodles at home, from scratch. It requires quite a bit of elbow grease despite the simple list of just three ingredients. Yaki Udon literally means ‘grilled udon noodles’, so the recipe is pretty flexible and you can use whatever vegetables you find in your fridge for it. The younger and more original sibling of this dish is Yaki Soba and it is the most famous stir-fried noodle dish in Japan. One of the very visually entertaining aspects of this dish is that once you sprinkle the Katsuobushi flakes onto the hot noodles just before ..read more

Most Egyptians would never imagine that okra is popular in Japan. The common way of eating okra in the Middle East is usually as a part of a tomatoey, saucy stew; which completely removes the slimy element from the vegetable. I always thought that Middle Eastern people would not be too fond of the slime that comes out of the okra when it’s cooked, but if you think of Molokheya (Jews Mallow soup) or Weika (okra salad from upper Egypt) you would understand that we too have slime-lovers in our midst. By the way, the okra and Molokheya slime is called mucilage.. and I personally fucking love it ..read more

The season of festivities has begun and while I may be the Christmas Grinch of my family, I still enjoy a good Christmas recipe. This pudding is not really a pudding and I have no idea why they call it that. It’s a lot more cake than pudding but it is steamed in a water bath for 4 hours on a slow simmer, which is the only resemblance it may share with pudding. Here in Egypt and the Middle East, there can be plenty of issues in baking a traditional Christmas pudding. The first issue would be finding suet. And even if you did find it it could be considered a non-Halal fat product if it contains ..read more

Halloween is back! This year we are a lot more able to enjoy it than the & deathly Halloween of 2020. I received a lovely gift from Hygiene Egypt this month: Hokkaido Pumpkins! These Japanese pumpkins have a sweet, bright orange flesh. They are rich, creamy and carry vivid notes of chestnut in their flavor. You can cook them and eat them with their vibrant skin on, too. I really couldn’t let any of them go to waste, so I came up with a recipe that will also use the pumpkin seeds. My Pumpkin Bat-chip Cookies are bound to roll some heads this Halloween season. I had bought these little suga ..read more