• Guava Soufflé

    Valentine’s day is almost around the corner and this recipe is a favorite in my home when I need some delicious and impressive dessert for last minute guests. So, I ‘m sharing this yummy (and gluten-free) dessert with you to impress your special love. This recipe is inspired by a delicious soufflé I had years ago in Sao Paulo restaurant Carlota, owned by Chef Carla Pernambuco. If you don’t like guava, be creative and use any kind of fruit jam or even chocolate (semisweet chips melted). Makes about 6 small or 4 medium sized ramekins. You’ll need: 1 cup guava paste (melted with 3-4 tablespoons of water on a saucepan)…

  • Ricotta Pie

    I still remember the first time I tasted Ricotta Pie. I was at one of my best friend’s house studying, and her mother, Tia Telma, a Paulista of Italian descent, brought us this fresh and hot out-of-the-oven deliciousness as our afternoon snack. It was so good that this pie was forever marked in my mind. Recently, in a fit of nostalgia and sweet cravings, I asked Tia Thelma for this recipe, but she didn’t even remember she used to make this pie for us!  Haha! After endless search on the internet, I found a recipe that didn’t really look the same to Tia Thelma’s but luckily for me it tastes exactly the…

  • Banana Bread with Coconut Brown Sugar Topping

    Banana bread is one of my favorite quick and easy cakes to make when I’m going to have friends over for coffee, brunch or just when I have a bunch of over-ripe bananas. Last week my husband came home with a bag of ripe bananas that the supermarket next door was selling for $2.  So what could I do but bake 3 loaves of banana bread (and still have leftover bananas for banana pancakes for breakfast. Yummy!). Though I usually make my banana bread from scratch, I had bought a box of  Chiquita Banana Bread mix a while back, and this was a perfect opportunity to test it. All you will…