Dalia's Kitchen: sweet

My little brother's bday & a decadent Cheesecake Brownie...

My Salty Banoffee Pie and an exciting trip ahead...

Image by Sukaina Rajabali

It's back to school for everyone including myself, and even though I had an incredible holiday, Dubai is where the heart is ;) There are many exciting things lined up for the next few months, and I will divulge as they are happening inshAllah. It's also one of those decision-making times, as I can't do it all at once, so I'm a little anxious but also extremely excited about everything...

It will also be an important year for my little munchkin. Phares will be going to a new nursery full time starting next week. I think I'm more nervous than he is about it, so I'm spending every waking minute with him. All I want to do is squeeze and squash him all day. God bless you my life, God bless you.

Having said that, I am off to Paris for work next week. And so I am already dreading leaving my little family as I have never left the munchkins for that long. I'm just getting emotional writing about getting on that plane. And not to sound preferential, as I evidently love Baby J so very much, but she is just three months old and will not notice me being away as much as Phares will. These days, when I call home during the day and he utters the words "Mami come home" I drop everything like a silly goose and get back to the house (the perks of being self employed). But it's not something I can do next week so I will have to build some thicker skin until then, and make sure daddy Phiras gives the little ones extra hugs and smooches from me.

But of course, there is an absolutely wonderful side to this Paris trip, or else trust me I would not be going... I will be on a book tour, hosting cooking demos at the prestigious Maison & Objets fair! It's so very, very exciting and kind of a big deal for me. As mentioned, I grew up in Paris and being part of this world renowned fair is simply amazing for me. I will of course cover the events on the blog, and post images via Instagram as well. So stay tuned ;)

It has been a little while since I posted a recipe on the blog, so I thought my coming home post should be grand and absolutely decadent. And this Salty Banoffee Pie truly is just that... You can ask anyone who has had it at my dinner parties; it's always a star! It was also consumed with utmost joy at the photo shoot for the book with Sukaina, and every time I take a bite of it I talk to myself about how good this is. Hope I have convinced you to have a try, trust me - you will make it more than once.

Much love,

D xx

Recipe is in my cookbook "Food, Love and Life from Dalia's Kitchen"

(Please note 1st edition print typo: the measurement of icing sugar and whipping cream are mixed up.

4 cups of whipping cream to 1 cup of icing sugar)

A New Life & Dainty Yoghurt Crumble Muffins

I seem to always have a reason why I haven’t posted a recent recipe these days or updated the blog. But I do not think there could be a better reason for my silence than this :)

Last Saturday the familia and I had lunch at one of our regular spots, and somehow, Phiras, my niece and I got food poisoned. So last week, the food bug got the best of me. It would not have been such an issue, had it not prompted me to give birth to my little munchkin earlier than expected.

I just returned home from City Hospital, and finally had my beautiful daughter, Joanna, on Monday May 6th. Hamdellah.

She is such a cutie, so tiny… I actually forgot how small newborns were. She is significantly smaller than her brother was when he was born, which makes me that much more protective over her.

Baby Joujou, as we call her, carries my sister's name. Since we were little girls we had made a promise to each other that if we ever had daughters one day, we would name them after one another. Joujou, my sister did call her daughter Dalia, and so now I did the same. The name has so much meaning to me, as my sister truly is my other half. I hope one day, my little Joujou can be just like her auntie, a strong, independent and beautiful woman who can take on the world, no matter what comes her way. InshAllah always.

It’s a funny feeling being a mommy for the second time. Phares is my life, and for some kind of reason I thought I would take a little time to get close to baby Joujou. But in an instant, I had this overwhelming connection. It’s not due to the love I felt that moment, but more because I already know what crazy love is coming my way. This little bundle of joy will be my entire life. No matter how cheesy this sounds, but I cannot help but say that the love you feel for your child is such a beautiful, intense and ever growing addiction.

Yes, I am obviously extremely emotional and utterly in love with my new baby girl, what can I say. But it seems Phiras has fallen even harder than me, he is already head over heels for his little lady. Just look at the snapshot of them hours after she was born.

May God bless you inshAllah. My darlings Baby Joujou, big brother Phares and Daddy Phiras, I love you all so incredibly much.

To give this post some food blog value, I will leave you with the latest episode from my cooking web series. Divine Yoghurt Muffins (in Arabic but subtitled in English as always)

Much love,

D xx

For the complete recipe visit: http://www.daliaskitchen.com/2011/09/blueberry-yoghurt-crumble-muffins.html

Crepes with Sour Strawberries

Image by ITP Publishing

As expected, I have been running around town since I returned to Dubai a few days ago. Things pile up when you go away for a month, and even more so when you run a few bakeries. But I don't mind at all, I was quite excited to do the school run again after that long and gorgeous holiday.

Having said that, I still didn't get the chance to upload my images, but I promise I will do so as soon as I can. In the mean time I will leave you with the sweet ending to the French menu I started sharing in earlier posts. Crepes with Sour Strawberries, a true delight!

Having grown up in Paris, where every corner has a crepes stand, you get used to eating them quite often. For breakfast with a little marmalade or lunch and dinner with cheese, mushroom and a fried egg or loads of other yummy toppings. So I can literally have these thin, delicate and buttery bits of dough any time of day.. And these sour berries give it such a summery feel. Perfect for steaming Dubai these days ;)

For any of you who are in Dubai and have little ones, Kitsch Cupcakes is holding "My little Cupcake" workshop at Burjuman over the weekend. It's free of charge and allows your munchkins to decorate their own cupcakes. I'll be there with my little Phares and hope to see some of you lovely mommies there too.

Off to dinner at Roberto's in DIFC to catch up with friends I haven't seen in a while.

Much love, D xx

Serves 4 – 6

Prep & Cook Time: 25 minutes

· 2 eggs

· 2 cups flour

· 3 cups milk

· 2 tbsp white sugar

· 1/3 cup melted butter

· 1 tsp salt

· 1 pack fresh strawberries, remove steam, cut in small pieces

· 2 tbsp lemon juice

· icing sugar to dust

1. Mix the strawberries with lemon juice and set aside.

2. Using a whisk, cream the egg, sugar and salt. Add the flour and milk alternatively.

3. Finish by incorporating the melted butter.

4. Heat a nonstick pan on medium heat. Melt a small knob of butter, then pour one generous soup scoop of crepes batter and fry for a minute or so on each side.

5. Top with the berries and a generous sprinkle of icing sugar. Delightful!

As featured in Harper's Bazaar Arabia September 2012