One weekend, one batter, two cakes and two excursions

Weekends are great and we always make sure to spend as much time as possible outdoors. Now with autumn back into town, we can spend the whole day outside. The heat of the summer is gone and hiding from the sun during the day became unnecessary, instead people flock to the streets enjoying the sun, while having a snack, refreshing drink or an afternoon tea in one of the favorite bars or cafe

Saturday was booked with a zoo visit, something which was quite impossible during the summer months. There is a routine we are having when going to the zoo. We will walk there through the small streets of Barcelona, stopping in one of the hundred cafes or bars either on the way there or back, having something small or big for a bite, enjoying the hustle of the big city, building some memories. Every time we are out in the city, we would discover something new, another charming street, bar or restaurant, another small plaza or amazing building and of course I would stop at every corner to take a picture of our new discovery, while my husband would wonder how many of them I can make....

Sunday was filled with a walk through "Collserola" park, something we love to do on Sundays. Also here we are having a certain "tradition" we follow, our usual route through the woods with an magnificent view on Sant Cugat, with a little picnic in between, ending the route with a small football match at Pi de´n Xandri tree, before we head back home. Same as in Barcelona I always would discover something new which needs to be photograph and even so we went this route hundreds time already there is always a new bush to be discovered, a new flower which blooms or a different angle to make another picture of Sant Cugat....
My favorite cake for such occasions would be definitely my easy peasy sugar cake, which can be done with different flavors, fruits or berries.  The cake is moist fruity and just perfect to be eaten with hands, no need for fancy plates or cutlery. The best part of this cake recipe is of course the preparation and the variety. It takes literally 10 min to prepare the batter and 20-30 to have it baked. Today I am giving you two different flavors I made over the weekend. One for my friend, which I made while we were talking about our plans for weekend... she dropped quickly by to pickup some things she needed as she got visit from her family and I thought it would be a lovely surprise if she could bring a fresh homemade cake with her for them. This one was made with different kind of berries and vanilla. I like this version as it is fresh, fruity and somehow decadent of all the vanilla I put in...who does not like berries and vanilla... for me a perfect combination. For our excursion in Collserola I made a autumn version apples and cinnamon, also a combination which never fails and somehow super fitting into the autumn breathed forest...

Vanilla sugar cake with berries

• 3 eggs (ca. 160 g)
• 160 g white sugar
• 160 g melted butter
• 160 g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• frozen or fresh berries

Preheat the oven to 180C. In a bowl whisk together (hand whisk will work perfectly) eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add butter mix briefly. Sift in flour and baking powder, whisk till all dry ingredients are incorporated, no need to whisk too much, just till everything comes together and you get a smooth, runny and shiny batter. Pour the batter into your baking dish and top it with frozen or fresh berries. Bake for 25-30 minutes (make the wooden stick test). Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve...

For the apple cake version 

exchange

• white sugar with brown sugar
• vanilla with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• berries with 1-2 apples (cut in small cubes and sprinkled with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon) 

Enjoy!