Give me the day of the dead over Christmas anytime.
My cooking reflects my desire for warm summer nights imagined in Spain while the sound of the sea mingled with orange blossoms waft and echo across the sky.
So for Birthdays I make things with a Spanish twist, like chocolate skull lollypops and almond cake with chocolate ganache.
1.bake a almond sponge cake.cool (use fresh ground almond flour whenever possible)
2.trim edges and thinly slice into three layers
3.make a warm apricot glaze and coat between each layer (use apricot jam heated till runny)
4.spread melted chocolate over top layer (chocolate chips)
5.hand roll marzipan until soft and pliable, roll into a thin layer, cover cake, trim excess. (almond paste)
6.heat heavy cream to simmer (2 parts cream to 1 part chocolate ratio)
7.pour cream over chocolate chips, let sit till soft and stir until smooth
7.pour liquid ganache through a sieve over cake (cake should be on a screen) let cool
8.make a candy garnish.
