Annie Recommends: A Padaria Portuguesa

After almost a year without writing in my blog, the little writing bug has come back. I'm not entirely sure why I stopped - sometimes I don't know what to write about, or I'm just too lazy, or I simply can't find the time to sit down and write about what I want because of university. But here I am again. And I'm bringing you something I don't think I have ever done before - a recommendation.

Trust me, if I take the time to write you this is because I bloody well love this place! It's called 'A Padaria Portuguesa' and you can find it almost anywhere in Lisbon. It's a cute café with a rustic vibe to it, extremely cozy. They serve salads, sandwhiches, every kind of bread and they have a multitude of cakes to choose from.

The first time I went there was to try their brigadeiro cake (probably a poor translation for 'bolo de brigadeiro'), my mouth is already watering. It was so delicious.

More recently I went in there to try their new 'tarte de morango' (again, I don't really know how to translate that haha). I always ask for an orange juice but you could take advantage of their deal of a cake + a coffee for 2€.

If you ever visit Lisbon and don't know where to grab a bite, don't forget my recommendation, you won't regret it!

Happy Friday! x

19th Birthday!

Eep, first post this month, ouch! Busy, busy, busy.

Sooo, it was my 19th birthday this Monday, the 28th! It was one of my best birthdays so far, I loved everything and I'm going to tell you all about it! Read on.

I decided to go to uni instead of staying home because my parents had stuff to do and my friends were too busy in their polytechnic institutes so I would be left all alone the majority of the day and that's no fun.

My classes always start at 10am and finish at 4pm so most of the days I take lunch with me instead of spending money there, it's more economic. My lunch that day was lasagna, my favourite! And as for dessert, I had chocolate pudding with cream, also my favourite! Nomnom.

When I got there, everything was normal because no one knew it was my birthday and I always find it stupid to just blunty tell it to everyone I talk to. But then my friends arrived and they basically told the whole world about it, haha. They sang happy birthday at least 6 times and they made me laugh so much that my cheeks started to hurt. They also bought a muffin as a pretend cake and put a candle on it, I thought that only happened in movies.

When I got back home in the afternoon, I only had time for a touch up and a quick check-in online as my best friends appeared shortly afterwards for our dinner. They all brought lovely presents with them which I might make a few posts about here.

We went out to dinner to a place called 'Duarte dos Frangos' which probably has the best roasted chicken in our city. The employees were really nice and understanding, they even wished me a happy birthday. They didn't mind me taking my birthday cake with me so after dinner my friends and family sang happy birthday (once again) and I blew the candles.

The cake was baked by my wonderful mother and it tasted as good as it looks. Chocolate cake with cream and strawberries, yes please!

After dinner we went for a walk but it didn't last long because we all had work/school the following day.

I think it was my favourite birthday because I was surrounded by love everywhere and it was the first time celebrating my birthday in university.

I hope your Monday was just as good!

Happy Thursday! x

Bruschetta

My younger brother loves cooking and he does so for us from time to time. Usually it's desserts but this time he decided to try something new.

 

It's called 'bruschetta' and it contains grated cheese, onions, tomato, sausage, oregano and bread. It's absolutely delicious, tastes like pizza! And it's really quick to cook too. A good option when you need something fast to eat.

Happy monday! x

Torta de Laranja - Recipe

My mum is a pro at baking cakes or any type of yummy desserts so it was only fair to share at least one of her best recipes with you. She told me this is a regional sweet of our city and I don't know if you can translate the name so I will just type it in Portuguese. Also, I'm going to use our weight measurements, you'll have to convert them to your own; if you try to make it yourself, let me know in the comments how it went. And if you make a post about it, leave the link and I'll check it out!

Torta de Laranja

• 500g of sugar;
• 50g of flour;
• 10 eggs;
• 2 small oranges OR 1 big orange (you're going to need the peel + the juice);
• 10g of baking powder;
• 25g of butter (to grease);
• Parchment paper for baking.

Start by grating the orange peel. Only remove the orange coloured part, which is the zest. The white layer underneath is the pith and is very bitter. After a few grating strokes on a given edge, just rotate the orange around until you have the teaspoon you need. If you use 2 oranges, do this process with both of them.

Afterwards juice the orange using a plain juicer to coax all the juice out. Again, do this with both oranges if you use 2.

In a bowl, mix up the flour, the sugar and the baking powder.

After you blend them together, add the eggs. Don't put them all in at the same time - add 2, blend them in, add another 2, blend them in, etc until you have done that with all of the 10 eggs.

When everything is nicely mixed, you can finally add the orange juice and the peel and blend them in. Whilst doing so, you should already have the butter melting in a frying pan with the minimum temperature.

After all of that is done, grease your baking pan with the melted butter. Grab your parchment baking paper and put it on your baking pan, that is already greased. Grease the parchment paper with the butter and then lay the mixture on it slowly and well-proportioned.

 Put it on the oven for 25 minutes precisely and on minimum temperature.

When it's ready, add sugar on top of it.

And now comes the hard part, I'd say. Take more of your parchment baking paper and place it on your table. Grab the baking pan with the "torta" in it and flip it nicely into the paper so that the part with the sugar is now facing down.

 Start rolling the paper upwards so you get the right shape, just like the photo, and roll it until the end.

Before moving on, you really need to let it cool down so it doesn't break when you move it back into the baking pan.

When you feel that it is ready, place it on the baking pan and remove the parchment paper. Add more sugar on top if you want and voilá, your "torta de laranja" is ready!

You can cut it into little slices for a better presentation. Yummy!

I'm sorry if my explanation isn't the best, somethings are difficult to translate into English. But if you still decide to try this recipe, do let me know :)

Happy wednesday! x