Cassis (Black Currants) and Lemon Cake

One of our absolute beloved, fresh and spongy super quick cake!  

The source of this recipe is a popular recipe which we got in Spain and we adapted it reducing the oil and the sugar only for personal taste. We use Greek plain yogurt + fresh lemon instead of yogurt with lemon taste. In Spain this cake is also called “bizcocho 1 2 3 “.

We prepare if you are traveling into holidays apartments (yes, we I carried the empty tin with us) for a fast breakfast and a snack for our road trips.

For the easiest version you may use the container of your yogurt as the measure of 1 cup.

See also the Spanish version on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgdaD_EJX-E&ab_channel=Elrinc%C3%B3ndelpancasero

The combination of cassis and lemon gives to this cake a very strong and refreshing flavour.

We tried also these great variations:

• Limes instead of lemons
• Black berries, blueberries or “josta berries” instead of cassis
• Skip the berries and convert this cake into a lemon cake

Black Currants and Lemon Cake

• Servings: about 12
• Time: 1h + cooling time
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients

Batter:

• 1 cup yogurt (any yogurt but for us Greek plain yogurt is the best)
• ½ cup oil (original recipe: 1 cup)
• 1 ½ cups sugar (original recipe 2 cups)
• 3 (if you use the size of the container of the yogurt instead of “cup”) or 4 eggs (if using the official “cup”)
• 1 lemon, zest grated
• 1 lemon, juice
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (1 envelope)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (1 envelope)

Fruits:

• 1 cup black currents (cassis)  or other berries

Topping (optional)

• Sugar pearls

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and line you mold (about 30 cm of length) with baking or aluminum foil.
2. In a big bowl combine all the ingredients for the batter.
3. Fold under the berries.
4. Pour the dough into your prepared mold and add the topping.
5. Cook for 50-60 minutes at 180°C/350°F or until done (toothpick test)
6. Let cool down and serve.

Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/  

Gran Canaria: Roque Nublo. Mood: Looking Down to the Sunny South

 

Before starting our hiking to the natural monument of the Roque Nublo, we stopped for a while wondering the light spectacle of the sun playing with the clouds. It was late in the afternoon and some rays found their way under the clouds. The golden light unlighted the South while on the top the clouds were playing with the wind.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Gran Canaria: Roque Nublo. Mood: Reaching the Clouds

 

We were lucky to enjoy a second hiking to the Roque Nublo this time just before the sunset with a cap of dark clouds after letting behind us the sunny southern part of the island.  Strong winds and a the end light rain made this hike more adventurous and the landscape dreamy!

In the next days I will present you some of the pictures taken in this short hour, but intensive hour!

Gran Canaria: Roque Nublo

A few days of holidays and vacations need to enjoyed as much as possible and for us this means let everything behind us, take a break from our jobs explore, explore and explore.

This time the wing blew us to Gran Canaria, only a week, but a very intensive week spent on traveling around with our rental car, make a few short hiking tours, sit at the sun enjoying a coffee or a meal and visiting Las Palmas as well as other cities and villages.

We rented a flat in near Santa Brigida as this is a quite central place from where we had the possibility to reach all places of the island in a reasonable time, have dinner on the way or in Las Palmas and be home for a resting sleep.

The first day we planned to reach the Roque Nublo by the roads GC-15 and  GC-600 and follow on of the trail to the natural Monument of the Roque Nublo  and later to a small lake in the south.

After a night of rain, we found the best weather and a T-Shirt was more then enough even in January! The water in a big puddle inspired us to an unusual picture of this iconic place and holes in the rock made a great frame for the Roque Nublo.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Click  on the trail to see details and enter Wikiloc

 

Post submission for  the weekly photo challenge: “silence”

Tenerife: La Cueva del Viento

 

The “Cueva del Viento” is a cave in municipality of Icod de los Vinos in the north east of Tenerife. This is Europe’s largest lava tube and is considered to be the 5th largest in the world after four of Hawaii’s volcanic wonders. Its underground passageways form tunnels spanning over 17 Km (10 miles). 

The cave (or better the caves) had been formed by the hot lava from the Pico Viejo volcano eruption about 27.000 years ago. As the lava flows and comes into contact with the air, the surface of the flow cools and hardens, forming an outer layer while the lava continues to flow through it until the flow stops, thereby forming the volcanic tube.

To visit this place you have to join an organised tour which will bring you to the place and you will have a chance to explore a small part of the tunnel. The tunnel itself remains closed and to preserve the delicate ecosysteme only a small part is open to the public. All reservations are made online!

We tried to capture some impressions of this place with the camera and with lightroom presets I’ve made the dark parts of the picture become more visible. I hope you will enjoy them!

After the the transfer by minibus and parking we enjoyed a short walk along old trays. Our guide (we got a great French speeking guide) explained us the difference between the different lave surfaces: the smooth one  pahoehoe and the rough (painful to walk on) A’a lava.  Places with A’a lava are known as “malpais”  (for example the Malpais de Güimar) as this places cannot be used for agriculture.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The tunnels of the Cueva del Viento

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Here an official video of the cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW2anlp3ASU

Source : Information brochure from the website http://www.cuevadelviento.net/

More about the “Cueva del Viento”:

https://laciudaddeldrago.wordpress.com/httpwww-cuevadelviento-org/  (español)

http://www.todotenerife.es/en/article/show/4846/04-cueva-del-viento

Click to access REIN.pdf

Click to access MartinOromiHernandez1986.pdf

Tenerife: Los Reyes Magos at Los Cristianos (Adeje)

 

 

Christmas time does not finish on the 25th of December! For the Spanish and in general the Latin tradition the “3 Kings Day” is very much celebrated and it’s a day filled with joy!

This day is celebrated on the eve of 5h of January (not the 6th) and we were very lucky to assist at this festival in the South of Tenerife, in Los Cristianos! While in Santa Cruz de Tenerife the Kings arrives by air (elicopter) in the big stadium, in Los Cristianos they arrive with the ship!

Everybody, especially the children is highly excited and all way at the port and along the streets. Music and a lot of people actin follow the Kings. A real feast of Joy!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Tenerife: Tagana to Anaga

We stated this year with a few days holiday on a great island as Tenerife, an island with different climates, beaches and a volcanic landscape.  The days we spent on the island were well loaded with highlights and all this now seams to be a dream.

I don’t want to forget this experience and I’m happy to share what I saw and felt in this amazing place.

We bought the flight, booked our overnight stays and prepared the program (or better the options) ahead.

A great discovery was the highly recommended app of Wikiloc! With this tool hiking was incredible attractive and we discovered an infinity of options.  All you need a good Smarphone and place (with WIFI) to load the maps and the trail ahead while during hiking the GPS will sufficient and you will not need the internet.

The fist trail we followed (by Nacho 1951) was a great hit; I really recommend to follow his trails if you are on Teneriffe. He is a great expert and a good guide!

Trail: https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=10941597

Coming from the south we reached the Anaga after about 30 minutes drive through an enchanted forest and spectacular views!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We parked in picturesque village called Taganana with a beautiful old church an a wonderful “dragon tree“.

The walk starts in Taganana from the central of “Plaza Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves”; we walked along historical trails from where we enjoyed the spectacular views and we reached the incredible beautiful laurel forest (“laurisilva”).

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We shortened the trail going back to Taganana by car, so that we had some more time to explore the north coast passing from Benijo whith the black sand beach and having a look to the village of Draguillo.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=10941597

Walking Around, Cordoba (Spain)

Walking around in Cordoba you can discover a lot of cute places.

 

 

By the River, Cordoba (Spain)

Only two hours by train we arrived in Cordoba the hearth of culture during the Arab occupation. The river, with its Arab mills, the bringe with its tower (a museum), the arch and the Mosquita are really worth to visit, even by temperature around 40°C.

 

Paseos de los Recoletos, Madrid (Spain)

Some pics on a main road: Paseo de los Recoletos in Madrid.

We were surprised how quite it was near this wide road, did everybody leave the city for a refreshing place at the beach?