Until now I have only prepared upside-down cake with pineapple. We really like it. Just after baking it has a sweet, crunchy caramel layer, and the next day it is deliciously wet from the pineapple juice. Too much leftover fruit, which I didn't want to throw away, meant that I took a risk and prepared an upside-down cake with gooseberries, currants and apricots.

The idea was great, the fruit was used up and the cake was really delicious. Acidulous fruit and sweet cake was a great combination. Upside-down is a nice idea, because there is no risk the juice from the delicious cake will result in a sad layer. In my home it wouldn't be wasted for sure, but I (like any other hostess I guess) don't like a sad layer surprise in the oven.

Ingredients (20cm cake tin)
150g of butter
150g of sugar
2 eggs
200g of flour
150ml of natural yoghurt
1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Fruit (gooseberries, apricots and currants) and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar for sprinkling in the cake tin

I like to eat light vegetable soup in the summer. Not necessarily when the summer shows its cold face though. Vegetable soup is excellent also on a hot day. It is a swift dish and tastes great. In my home today for the main dish there was... more soup and everyone was happy. Fortunately, we like vegetables, and I will think about another idea for dinner... tomorrow. Maybe it will be colder.

Ingredients:
1 small green courgette
0.5kg of green beans
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 stems of celery
2 tablespoons of butter
0.5l of vegetable stock
1 tin of coconut milk
3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
salt and pepper

When it is hot outside, baking cakes and cookies should be forbidden. However, if it sizzles for a few days and I have to prepare a dessert, I think about cold cheesecake. I don't like big cold cheesecakes prepared in a cake tin. I prefer small cheesecakes prepared in a baking tin for muffins, which when decorated with fruit look like small jewels on a plate. They look more glamorous.

Today I prepared my small refreshing cheesecakes with bilberries and raspberries. They are a beautiful colour. You absolutely must add peppermint leaves to make small works of art.

Ingredients (for 6 cheesecakes.)
200g of mascarpone cheese
200g of raspberries
200g of bilberries
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
4 teaspoons of gelatine
60g of oat cookies
2 tablespoons of butter

I heard a beautiful saying once: cooking is a way of showing love. Not without reason it is said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. It works also for women. A man in the kitchen is sexy, even if he makes a mess.

This year I have used strawberries for all kinds of dishes. I don't remember a year when I ate so many strawberries. When I'm fed up with them, I remind myself that I will have to wait until June next year for more fruit, and then I buy another basket.

Today I would like to share with you the recipe for easy starters which could be the beginning of a romantic evening. You need only strawberries, cheese (I used goat cheese, but blue cheese would be excellent), pistachios, balsamic vinegar and a few basil leaves.

Ingredients:
10 big strawberries
2 slices of goat cheese
2 tablespoons of balsamic
a fistful of pistachios
leaves of basil
salt and lemon pepper

Do you remember the cake with the apple halves and vanilla fromage frais? I'm sure you do. This cake was very popular a few months ago and every housewife prepared it. Today I would like to share with you the recipe for a new approach to this easy and yummy dessert. Instead of apples I used peaches and raspberries. I prepared lemon icing and sprinkled the cake with chopped pistachios. We liked this new version of the cake. Prepare it in your own kitchen. Remember to use hard peaches, so they do not split apart while baking.

Ingredients (20×20cm cake tin)
dough
6 peaches
250g of flour
175g of butter
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla essence
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg
100g of vanilla fromage frails
icing
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
8 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 fistfuls of chopped pistachios