Due to various circumstances and my own laziness I haven’t managed to try out a recipe in February. Actually I only made one cake beginning of February, back in my old kitchen for a friends birthday. The next day I boxed all my kitchen appliances and moved them in the basement of the new place. They are stuck down there ever since. This week finally my work surface for the kitchen arrived, it is a large and very heavy piece of handpicked slate. Anyhow, we are making baby steps towards a finished house, there is still a lot of bits and pieces to be done and craftspeople are often unreliable or hard to get hold of. Sometimes I believe I’d rather get an audience with the pope than an appointment with some of those craftspeople. But I will quit the whining and tell you something about a very fabulous place I have explored during our last visit in Dublin in November. After a stroll in Iveagh Gardens, one of the hidden gems of the City, we needed a sweet treat to brighten up the grey, rainy day. I stumbled over this place on Twitter that I was dying to try, even though it looked like an office building in the pictures. We made our way through the backstreet and he gave me this “are you sure we are on the right track” kind of look. I have to admit I was a little weirded out by the street too, but then we took a turn in to one of the most beautiful courtyards I have ever seen. They have very pretty mosaics with everyday items on the walls and a bunch of private corners. The place is really small, maximum 8 to 10 tables, but very warm and welcoming, so is the staff. As the front completely consists of glass we could easily see that it was very busy. The lad behind the counter waved us in and kindly informed us that they’ll have some spot for us in a couple of minutes if we want to wait outside. Wait? Outside? In the cold? This place better be good, I thought to myself. I gave him a smile, nodded and  just a few seconds later we were equipped with the menu and some hot-water bottles in one of the snugly corners in the courtyard. The Orange Cake was sold out (boohoo), so the waitress recommended “an absolute lovely Victoria Sponge” and I went for the mixed cake platter that had a little piece of everything on top. All very delicious! Being good marketeers they had their own book right on the cash desk, so I had no other choice as to inspect and buy it. It is rather small but offers a good range of recipes and it looks just fab with its cool graphics. After cashing out we took the other entry point to the courtyard, through a paper craft shop. How cool is that? If I only hadn’t spend all of my shopping budget…

I have yet tried the Orange Cake only but it was one of the best cakes I ever made. It is very moist and so fluffy I’m gonna die. You only need 7 ingredients and it can be varied very easily. This time I am not going to share the recipe, I can just recommend to buy the book: http://www.thecakecafe.ie/