6 months

minibeanie's half a year old! :) On Saturday, we met up with a couple of friends with small Finnish-Chinese babies. minibeanie's the eldest at 6 months, followed by Oscar at 4 months and Emil at 2.5 months. It's often said (and so true at that) that once you have a baby, your entire social life changes. Suddenly, all you ever meet are families with children - the closer in age to yours the better ;) That's because you know you won't bore each other with stories of breastfeeding, poop & how baby is/is not sleeping through the night. A friendly and sympathetic ear is guaranteed. And you needn't feel guilty when the little one cries or fusses because you know that your friends understand. Isn't everyone on the same boat? ;)

From right to left: Emil, Oscar & minibeanie.

Here's the recipe for the semolina cake (Finnish- mannakakku) that I made for the little gathering.

• 5dl semolina (tummia manna)
• 100g butter
• 2dl sugar
• 2dl plain yoghurt
• 1dl cream
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1tbsp baking powder
• 2tsp vanilla sugar
• whole blanched almonds for decoration
• 2/3dl dark syrup
• whipped cream OR vanilla sauce

Preheat oven to 220C. Melt butter. Mix all dry ingredients. Have all liquids at room temperature and mix together. Stir in liquids into dry ingredients. Pour into a greased pan. Decorate with blanched almonds and bake for around 30min.

Remove from oven and while the cake is still hot, pour the dark syrup over it. Enjoy with whipped cream or vanilla sauce.
[For a healthier version, use vegetable oil to replace butter & lite cream)


minibeanie is 6 months & 1 day old