I love this African label. ZUVAA, a new community for African Fashion – Founded in 2013 by US-based entrepreneur Kelechi Anyadiegwu, ZUVAA is a new online store that showcases African inspired fashion from all over the world. Zuvaa comes from the Shona language of Zimbabwe and means ‘sunshine.’ ‘Zuvaa’ represents the vibrant and positive spirit of the continent of Africa and how you let your personal light shine.
Credit: New African Woman Magazine
Happy Thursday! No worries cause Friday is the next day!!
Chic (currently Chic featuring Nile Rodgers) is an American band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” (1977), “Everybody Dance” (1977), “Le Freak” (1978), “I Want Your Love” (1978), “Good Times” (1979), and “My Forbidden Lover” (1979). The group regarded themselves as a rock band for the disco movement “that made good on hippie peace, love and freedom”. In October 2013, Chic was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the eighth time.
Want to practice your new baking skills? Try this go-to recipe for homemade outrageously irresistible brownies. Dollops of peanut butter filling are spooned onto brownie batter; pulling a knife back and forth through both results in a marbleized look.
Yields: 9 large or 16 small squares
Ingredients
Batter:
8 tablespoon(s) (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan
2 ounce(s) good-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounce(s) good-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
3/4 cup(s) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
Filling:
4 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup(s) confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup(s) smooth peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining (not overhang).
2. Make batter: Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Let cool slightly. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. Whisk granulated sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.
4. Make filling: Stir together butter, confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
5. Pour one-third of batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Drop dollops of peanut butter filling (about 1 tablespoon each) on top of batter, spacing about 1 inch apart. Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan. Drop dollops of remaining filling on top. Gently swirl peanut butter filling into batter with a butter knife, running the knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers.
6. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
LOVE TO DANCE? WATCH TOQUES AFRO HOUSE BWG DANCERS BRING IT! Coming from African Music TV is a dance video featuring Angola’s Toques Afro House BWG Yadjaiva, which was released at the top of the year and is garnering quite a number of views. So if you love to dance, watch the Yadjaiva dancers — who demonstrate great choreography as well as equally smart attire — present Africa’s most-popular dances, such as kukere, kuduro, and azonto, to a titillating high-tempo rhythm.Check out Toques Afro House BWG Yadjaiva here. Enjoy!
Credit: Face2face Africa
The Alexander McQueen resort 2015 collection features clean lines and structure while pulling some inspiration from vintage kimonos and men’s wear fabrics. Love it. Enjoy!
Credit: Style Pantry
Flan can be terribly intimidating – chocolate cake topped with flan takes it to another level of intimidation! But this Chocolate Caramel Turtle Flan really could not be any easier and is pretty foolproof.
Ingredients
For the cake:
1 cup dulce de leche
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 whole egg
3/4 cup flour
1 cup cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
For the flan:
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
4 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
Cake toppings:
1 cup dulce de leche
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and position oven rack to the middle. Generously butter a 10-inch Bundt pan and sprinkle with flour or use Baker's Joy cooking spray. Tip the pan and tap out excess flour. Warm the dulce de leche a little bit to soften it and pour it over the bottom of pan to coat evenly.
2. For the cake: In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light in color. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cocoa. With the mixer on medium-low, beat in about 1/2 of flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of buttermilk. Repeat. Scrape bowl, then raise the speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute. Pour batter into the Bundt pan and spread evenly.
3. For the flan: In a blender combine the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk, the eggs and both extracts. Blend until smooth.
4. Slowly pour the flan mixture over cake batter. Pull out the oven rack, set the cake into larger pan, then set both pans on rack. Pour 6 cups of hot water around the cake. Carefully slide the pans into the oven and bake for about 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the water bath and cool at room temperature for 1 hour.
5. Refrigerate cake for several hours or overnight. Carefully run a thin bladed knife around the edge of the cake to free the edges. Invert a rimmed serving platter or large plate over the cake pan, grasp the two tightly together, then turn them upside down. Gently jiggle the pan back and forth and let the cake release and drop.
6. Drizzle the reserved cup of dulce de leche over the cake and sprinkle with pecans. Slice and serve.
Classic Tina and I love it!!
Happy Saturday!! In this stupendous dessert, fudgy peanut butter brownies get topped with bananas caramelized in dulce de leche and served with scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and peanut brittle. Enjoy!
Ingredients
BROWNIES
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup natural peanut butter
BANANA SPLITS
1 cup dulce de leche
4 firm but ripe bananas, split lengthwise and halved crosswise
Vanilla ice cream, lightly sweetened whipped cream and crushed peanut brittle, for serving
Directions
1. MAKE THE BANANA SPLITS Preheat the oven to 325°. Line the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, with the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a saucepan, stir the chocolate and butter over very low heat until melted; let cool slightly. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the sour cream and vanilla. Whisk in the dry ingredients, then the melted chocolate mixture. Transfer 2 tablespoons of the batter to a small bowl and stir in the peanut butter.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan and dollop the peanut butter over the top. Swirl in the peanut butter, but don’t overmix. Bake the brownies for 45 minutes, or until risen and the top is lightly cracked and glossy; the brownies will still be jiggly. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool, then refrigerate until the brownies are chilled, at least 2 hours. Cut into 18 rectangles.
4. In a large skillet, melt the dulce de leche over moderate heat. Add the bananas and cook, turning occasionally, until heated through, about 3 minutes. Set 8 brownies on individual plates and top with the bananas and dulce de leche. Spoon the ice cream and whipped cream alongside, top with the crushed peanut brittle and serve.
An amazing story and I had to share it.
Most of the football pictures I’ve taken in Brazil are pretty self explanatory… there’s a kick around going on somewhere in Rio and not too much more to add. But this one troubles me a bit. The story behind it isn’t a good one. The mother of the family, Claudia da Silva Ferreira, was shot in March by police who thought she was an armed drug dealer during a shoot-out. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She later died in shocking circumstances, falling from the police van on the way to hospital. I visited their home a couple of weeks after it happened with a colleague who was interviewing Claudia’s husband and this was taken as we were leaving and the kids began playing again… a brief moment of normality at a tragic time for the family. 
(Credit: Interview and words by Angelica Melo /…
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Egos & Buffaloes 