food & photography
Some days are meant to be relaxed and peaceful. And that is when you need some comfort food as well to soothe your body and soul. I have many recipes which fall into my big list of comfort foods. It’s even hard to remember all of them right away. It’s like that my body craves for one of them specifically at the certain point of time, depending on my mood. …
With this post I would officially be signing off with the summer bounty of stone fruits. It was the last of the stash of sweet and puckery plums which I had tucked away in my freezer. I had been wanting to make ice pops, the perfect treat to reminisce the summer and surely the apt way to bid adieu to all the wonderful stone fruits which summer has to offer.
This year, rains have left us little early and it has become hot and humid again. My basil plant has been ever so growing lately, flourishing heavily like never before. Plum & Basil popsicles seemed to be the right choice for these hot and sunny days. These are the kind of pops which you would have liked probably growing up than being as a kid. They are so puckery and tantalizing! They reminded me of the Plum Sorbet which I had made last year. They almost taste like a palate cleanser.
And look at their color! Vibrant red color ice pops, they look quite sultry! Pardon my cheeky language, but truly speaking, this is what I felt, when I first saw the color. And you’d believe that they have the similar character too, only after you take the first bite. Again sweet and sour at the same time and tantalizing your taste buds.
I’ve seemingly started loving gluten free recipes as much as I adore the classic flour based cakes and bakes. And the lighter and fresher after feel is an added bonus. I have been avoiding the refined flour in my cooking from past few weeks. Whole grains and nut meals have recently replaced the refined flour completely. Every now and then I come across a beautiful recipe, mind starts working on ways to substitute refined flour with some better alternatives. 
Here weather has started to change and few rain showers have started making way for summer fruits to say goodbye soon. Now peaches, plums and cherries will soon be invisible. And to tap the opportunity to cook/bake with them to as maximum as possible, I decided to bake something with plums. Few days back, I baked this olive oil wholegrain stone fruit cake, so I didn’t want to repeat the theme, and started thinking of ways to use fruits as filling or toppings rather than easy way of bunging them into the cake batter. 
I had this lovely Italian gluten free almond cake recipe from Nigellissima. It’s a very light wonderful meringue based olive oil and almond cake recipe which alone is a treat in itself. Nigella Lawson’s recipes have always worked as charm to me, without any single disappointment till date. And this one came out really beautiful. 
I adapted the recipe to my taste slightly and replaced the almond flakes topping with the almond meal. I topped the cake with more decadent white chocolate whipped ganache. And how could I forget my obedient ingredient Plum! I picked this amazing idea of roasting them with fragrant rosemary from Ottolenghi’s. I really love the therapeutic aroma of rosemary in my sweet bakes. It feels so summery and fresh! 
So, here two of my favorite cookbooks meet together to make this ever so wonderful and yummiest concoction, A gluten free almond cake topped with white chocolate ganache and rosemary roasted plums. 
