Merry Go Round

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women as they link hands around the world and tell you a little about their lives and art.

We are group of 10 women from all over the world, we have got together in what would constitute an example of peaceful idea exchange and diplomacy, and agreed to come to our blogs once a month and share a bit more about ourselves.
We choose a question and all of us have to answer it in our blogs. It will be very interesting to read what each of us has to say, taking in account how much our lives and crafts differ.



And this month something simple, a recipe... typical from our country or our kitchen... something easy and quick to make without being a chef!

I'm Argentinean and our cuisine is a mixture of italian and spanish cuisine with a local touch. This has to do with the fact that 70% of us argentineans have grandparents or great grandparents whom came from those countries or others around Europe. Something local and very typical would be an "asado" a huge BBQ where half a cow gets roasted.. "empanadas", "humitas" and other dishes ussually including meat are the typical thing. But they are a bit complicated to make and explain in a blog... so I thought i'd share with you a very easy recipe which is very often used in my kitchen... handy, easy and quick... and delish!...even though it ise not typical from neither the dutch nor the argentinean cuisine...as a matter of fact, it ressembles the Zwartswald german cake (must be my mom's german gen!)

"Torta de chocolate" or chocolate cake...

This is the cake I always make for birthdays. My mom has been using this recipe for ages...


2 coffee mugs of flour
1 cup (same cup) of sugar
6 table spoons of cacao
1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate
2 teaspoons of rising powder (or none if you are using self rising flour)
2 eggs
1 cup (the same you used above!) of milk
100gr of unsalted butter

Super easy now:

Put all the dry elements (sugar, cacao, rising powder, bicarbonate, flour) in a bowl.
On the side, melt the butter in the microwave (melt but don't cook!). Add the milk and the eggs. Mix together.
Now slowly, start adding the liquids to the dry bowl, mixing as you go. The more you mix (by hand or with a machine) the more air in the preparation...so the "fluffier" the cake will be.

Prepare your cake baking mould (baking paper or butter and flour around the walls of the tin), and put the cake in the oven for 25minutes in a moderate temperature (180C). At that time, and because all ovens are different really, do the "knife" test: introduce a clean knife in the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done, otherwise... back to the oven.

Once the cake is cold, cut it in half and add whatever you want. My husband's favorite: home made strawberry jam, halfed strawberries from our own garden and whipped cream (if there are no children, a bit of rhum soaks the bottom half of the cake). Close the cake, add some chocolate on top... and eat!!




And last, but not least, I would like to give a nice big welcome to out three new women in this merry-go-round: Wren, Jenny and Nikki. Hope you all have fun!!!

If you wish to read the entries from the other women in this group, here are the links!

Jenny at Jenny Karlsson design

Nikki at Beaded Zen
Wendren at Wren
Sara at Sara's Texture Crafts

Charlotte at Fancy Picnic

Lily at Lily Pang Art

Agathe at Le Bar du Vent

Fabienne at Easterya

Andreanna at Glamasaurus

Ruth at Birdland Creations