Pumpkin Cake with Browned Butter Streusel for the Virtual Pumpkin Party / Bolo de Abóbora com Streusel de "Beurre Noisette" para a Festa Virtual da Abóbora.

It's Virtual Pumpkin Party Day again and I so love to cook with pumpkin, that I couldn't miss this day for anything in the world!

Last year I created this fabulous Pumpkin and Coconut Caramel Flan to celebrate the day but, this year, as I have so many things up to my sleeve, I decided to make a recipe from one of my favourite books at the moment!

This cake is any "pumpkin lovers" dream as it's moist, full of spicy and autumnal flavours and totally perfect for these autumnal days.!

The recipe s from Brian Hart Hoffman "Bake from Scratch" cook book and it's a real delight.

I have to say that the browned butter streusel topping is just to die for so, in case you want to give this gorgeous and delicious cake a go, here is the recipe and..., just in case you want to have a look and check all the fabulous bloggers that are celebrating this day and all the fantastic delights they cooked, check Sara's blog and enjoy the pumpkin feast.

Happy Virtual Pumpkin Party Day!!

Cranberry and Pecan no-knead Bread for the World Bread Day / Pão "sem amassar" de Arandos e Pecã para o Dia Mundial do Pão.

It's World Bread Day and, of course, as a huge bread lover, I have to celebrate the day!

As long as I live, I'll always be amazed with the simplicity of the most ancient form of prepared food. The simplest ingredients combined and kneaded in order to feed people all over the World in its most pure, humble and simplistic way.

This year, after changing my mind time over time and recipe after recipe, I decided to make this simple yet super delicious and crusty no-knead bread.

No-knead breads are amazing. You just have to handle the dough as little as possible, let it rise for a long time and you'll have the most delicious crusty bread with an outstanding soft interior. Plus! Slow breads are most healthy and recommended right? So, hurray to slow breads and slow living!

The recipe is from Brian Hart Hoffman gorgeous "Bake from Scratch" book, from which, I've already made this Babka, this Focaccia and this amazing Cake.

For this bread, the book gives you a main, no-knead bread recipe, followed by a few flavoured options. I opted for this cranberry and pecan flavoured bread and it turned out so deliciously good that I'm tempted to try all the flavour variations soon.

Today, the bread reigns and, if you want to have a look at the breads I baked for World Bread Day in previous years, you can have a look here (2016), here (2015) and here (2014).

Meanwhile, be happy and give some love to your bread!

Babka with Chocolate filling / Babka com recheio de Chocolate.

Second recipe challenge of the month and Deborah asked us to make a Babka for her fabulous Rainydaybites Cook Book Club.

I love Babka, simple and enriched doughs and everything related to kneading and shaping doughs so, to be able to make this recipe was a real pleasure.

The only difficulty was the choice for the filling as there's a few options to choose from but, to make the "chocolate lovers" of the house happy, of course, I had to choose the chocolate filling.

The recipe, is another one from the gorgeous Brian Hart Hoffman "Bake from Scratch" book and it worked perfectly well and without any hiccups.

This Babka, with a soft and delightful dough, drenched with a simple syrup and oozing (literally oozing) with melted chocolate, was a hit and the requests to make it again are more than many.

I'm leaving you the complete recipe in case you want to make the two loaves, instead of making only one and regretting it after, like I did.

Focaccia with Burrata, Prosciutto and Rocket / Focaccia com queijo Burrata, Presunto e Rúcula.

Beautiful and absolutely delicious Focaccia for Deborah's and her Rainydaybites Cook Book Club.

The chosen book for September is, as I wrote here, Brian Hart Hoffman "Bake from Scratch" and apart from the monthly recipe challenges, I honestly can't decide what to bake because everything looks so good, that I just want to cook my way throughout the book...

One thing is for sure, this Focaccia was the first recipe I marked down to try as soon as I had a flick through the book and my instinct was right because it's the most delicious Focaccia I made until today.

Easy peasy to make, crispy on the outside, fluffy and perfectly structured on the inside and a superb array of ingredients on top...

Just Perfect!!

Citrus Cake with Citrus Frosting and Candied Oranges and Lemons / Bolo de Citrinos com frosting de Citrinos e Laranjas e Limões Confitados.

After being unable to take part on Deborah's Rainydaybites Cook Book Club for the last two months, this month I couldn't miss it at all. Specially being this month chosen book, a baking book.

The book Deborah choose for September is the Brian Hart Hoffman "Bake from Scratch" book. A book full of mouthwatering cakes, cookies, breads, sweet breads and a lot more.

As the first recipe challenge, Deborah chose this citrus cake and, although here at home everybody else are chocolate lovers, me, I'm the total crazy citrus lover and so, this cake was right up to my taste.

I have to say that even the chocolate lovers of the house loved it and the cake went down a storm with all of them so, success!!

The original cake is a 4 layers cake and the frosting is made with cream cheese. I halved the recipe and made a 2 layers cake and used mascarpone cheese to make the cake.

I'm leaving you the original and complete recipe but, feel free to halve it as I did.