'Tis the season to be merry and eat chocolate! And what about making your own beautiful chocolate bark for the holidays? It is quite easy as it happens and there are endless possibilities with festive toppings.

As the last recipe I will share on the blog for 2018, I present you a delicious dark and blond chocolate Christmas bark with meringue on top.

​There is something quite wonderful about baking delicious things around the holidays. This is not only about the pleasure we take in sharing and eating these little treats but also about the wonderful scent it creates at home.
And believe me, every time I bake these delicious Christmas treats, I wish I could encapsulate the smell into a little jar and open it every now and then to be reminded of this lovely time of year.

Despite apple desserts being some of my favourites, I realised I have not shared many of those types of recipes with you here. This season being perfect for apples, I thought it was time to rectify this.
There are so many delicious varieties available at the moment and each has its own type: sweet, acid, firm, juicy, crispy, pink or red fleshed, there is a lot to choose from!
Obviously, choosing a type of apple also depends of what use you want to make of it: is it just for eating on its own or adding to a delicious dessert? Some can serve both purposes but some others might only be delicious as cooking apples for example.
My favourite for baking is of the Cox variety. I love its flavour and how easy it is to cook with. It is sweet enough that I never need to add sugar to it, especially when I make apple puree (also known as applesauce) to include in some of my favourite desserts: apple tart and apple shortcrust turnovers.

What I love about Autumn is that some of my favourite ingredients are in season: leek, endives, celeriac, pears, apples, rosemary and hazelnuts. And one that I add to our grocery basket almost every week this season: butternut squash.
I really like the nuttiness and sweetness of this vegetable. My favourite way to cook it is to first peel it, then cube it, toss it with olive oil and spread it on a baking tray for roasting. It is perfect when tender and lightly caramelised on the edges. When cooked this way, it can easily be added to a pot of soup with seasoning, stock and whatever ingredients would go well with it. I have used it before in this miso soup with chestnuts and also not roasted in a simple butternut soup with blue cheese and walnut toppings.  
Among many recipe ideas, there is something else you can add it to: a delicious quiche.

The last time I was in France, all I kept hearing about was le gâteau nantais. As it happens, every patisserie I walked into had gâteau nantais for sale, in its full size or mini versions. Then, my mother also had one in the fridge and one of my cousins told me all about making one recently.
I was obviously really intrigued and felt I had to taste this cake sooner than later. And when I did taste it, I immediately knew I would have to share the recipe here because this cake is just really delicious and you should really try it if you like this type of desserts. 

​You say Summer, heat and sunshine and I say iced tea.
This is the one refreshing drink I really enjoy having when the weather is hot. And water of course, but that really just makes sense, right?
I love it unsweetened. Just plain cold brew tea served in a tall glass with plenty of ice cubes and a few slices of lemon. The perfect Summer thirst-quenching drink in my book.
I am also partial to a sweet version when it is nicely made and not full of artificial flavours.