African Cup Of Nations and Ofcourse something Sweet !

I don't know how many of you followed the biggest sport event of the year in Africa, but since the past 3 weeks the whole continent has been glued to the tele for the 29th African Cup Of Nations , also known as AfCon , CAN - Cup of African Nations , CAF - Confederation of African Football ....
The tournament is Africa's equivalent of the European Championships or even the World Cup football. It is held every two years instead of every four and 16 teams competed with each other to lift the cup. Professional African players who play their trade for European clubs like Chelsea , Man U , Liverpool , Arsenal .... all flew down and played for their respective countries. This year the cup was held in Ghana! All of us were eagerly waiting for this event which kicked off on 20th January. Fortunately for us Ghana being the host nation, we got to see a lot of the matches in Accra's Ohene Djan Stadium. Sadly the Ghanaian team - "The Black Stars" did not reach the finals and secured only the 3rd spot.

Yesterday the 10th of Feb, was the final between the reigning champions of 2006 Egypt vs Cameroon. Above you can see both the teams singing their national anthems, Egypt on the left in the red and white uniform , and Cameroon on the right in the green and red. Egypt took the cup again this year, beating Cameroon to 1-0, a goal which was scored 13 minutes from time by Mohamed Aboutrika, making them the champions for 2 consecutive years. And also the recipient of the cup 6 times over, the most any African country has ever won.The entire event was sponsored by MTN and organized by FIFA , and if u see in the snap below, we have the man himself - The president of FIFA - Sepp Blatter sitting next to the Ghanaian president John Kufuor (ok its not a very clear image but i think u can still see them). Frankly i couldn't believe i was sitting in Ghana, watching this event as they had done such a wonderful job organizing and hosting it. We saw some some excellent football from star players and experienced adrenaline rushes each time a goal was scored. Imagine the noise 45,000 fanatic fans can make. For me it was a first time experience and I've only seen cricket matches in the stadium. Read more about the game here, they also published my pictures :)

And if you're wondering why don't i have the snaps of Egypt holding the cup and that of the closing ceremony ? Its because silly me left the extra battery in the car boot and the battery in my camera ran out at half time ! How i hate myself when something like that happens.

And my sweet fix for this post is another very simple fruit, custard pastry. This was something i was craving for the past couple of days, and being very busy this whole week it was just the perfect thing.

• Puff pastry
• Mixed berries - Strawberry , Blueberry , Blackberry(which ever u can find, just make sure they are fresh)
  
• 1 egg yolk custard *
  
• icing sugar

K i know u are probably doubting my cooking skills at this point , but trust me the simplest of things are usually the tastiest .
*Make your 1 egg yolk custard by heating about 200 ml of cream. In a bowl whisk together 150 gms of caster sugar, pure vanilla extract, 1 egg yolk and a tsp of cornflour, till well incorporated. Pour over the warm cream whisking well and bring it all back to a boil and simmer gently till think enough.
In the non stick baking tray lay the rectangular puff pastry and spread the custard all over.

Slice the strawberries and lay them all over the custard. Fold over the puff pastry, enveloping all the custard and berries around the 4 corners. You don't have to be very neat. The slightly uneven edges look gr8 once it is baked. Dust the whole thing generously with icing sugar and bake in a hot oven until the pastry has risen and turned a lovely golden brown colour. I like mine to be crispier and a little darker in colour. But feel free to make it as you like. Change the shape, change the fruits ... everything goes ! Best served warm with some good quality vanilla ice cream.