Property spotlight: Frigiliana

Up until now, all the locations that we’ve featured on our Property Spotlight series have been in England, Scotland or Wales. Today, we’re going a bit further afield and taking you to Frigiliana in Southern Spain.

Frigiliana is located just over 30 miles from Málaga airport. Flights from the UK (inc. Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow) are cheap and frequent and take between 2½ and 3½ hours depending on the airport from which you fly.

I love the idea of having a tiny studio bolthole to get away to for a few days. This one has a stunning outlook and is in a really hidden spot. It’s currently under construction, so the buyer will be purchasing it ‘off plan’, so to speak. This means that they’d have their own choice of tiles, paint colours, fixtures & fittings etc from the outset. However, from my not terribly thorough online research, I’ve quickly discovered that the permitted usage of such an “Apero de Labranza” as a dwelling is nebulous to say the least… so buyer beware on this possibly ‘too cheap to be true’ option.

Property #2 is another type of Spanish dwelling – a cortijo – which is a traditional rural ‘farmhouse’ type building. I love the rustic feel with its rough walls and beamed ceilings, but it has a lovely little swimming pool… more of a plunge pool… perfect for those hot Spanish summer days!

The third property is a luxury villa with all the mod-cons a holidaying family (or families… plural) could need. Ample bedrooms & bathrooms, huge kitchen, gym, large pool, terrace and built-in bar… all topped off with great views of the mountains and sea!

€89,000 – Apero, between Frigiliana and Torrox

Located between the two villages of Frigiliana and Torrox. This countryside apero is currently still under construction but will presented to the buyers fully finished. The benefit of this is that a buyer is able to choose their own tiles and paint finishes.

• The property will be presented finished
• Small private swimming pool
• Large private land of 1,938m2
• Studio layout

€225,000 – Cortijo, El Acebuchal

A rustic countryside cortijo located in the lower area of El Acebuchal, a small rural hamlet located inland, 8km from the village of Frigilana.

• Private pool
• Gated entrance
• 3 Bedrooms (2 double, 1 single)
• Wood-burning fire
• Beamed ceilings
• A/C in lounge
• Rustic kitchen with modern appliances
• Good condition throughout
• Countryside views

€1,250,000 – New build villa, between Nerja and Frigiliana

• 5 bedrooms
• 4 bathrooms
• gym
• private pool
• private terrace with outside bar
• 1,108m2

Cakes & Bakes: San Sebastian cheesecake

This week, I wanted to cook something quick and simple as we’re busy with renovations, Christmas preparations and the upcoming tax deadline. I also wanted to make something comforting and indulgent – drab, wet, windy winters aren’t my favourite. San Sebastian cheesecake fitted the bill!

Also called Basque cheesecake by some, this recipe is the brainchild of Santiago Rivera, owner of La Viña restaurant in the Basque town of San Sebastian – where the cake gets its name(s). Dozens of the restaurant’s patrons have photographed and shared images of the cheesecake on Trip Advisor! From what I could tell, the restaurant bakes upwards of two dozen cakes at a time. It currently sells for 5€ per slice… that’s a whole lotta lolly just from cheesecake! In fact, the now-famous dessert is so sought after, you can pre-order a whole or half cake to take away.

Don’t let the burnt parchment paper and dark brown cake top deceive you – this cake is absolutely divine. It tastes like the love child of a crème brûlée and bonfire toffee; all smooth and creamy on the inside and fragrant caramel on the outside.

I must confess this recipe may well have toppled that long-standing favourite, Gordon Ramsay’s baked vanilla cheesecake, from its top spot!

The recipe is included in the cook book, Basque Country written by Marti Buckley. Click here to save it to Pinterest.

San Sebastian cheesecake

Santiago Rivera

Print recipe Pin recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 50

Course Dessert

Cuisine Spanish

Servings 8

Ingredients

200 g/7oz caster sugar
600 g/21 oz cream cheese at room temperature
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
300 ml/10½fl oz double cream
20 g/¾oz plain flour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6
Grease an 8-inch (23cm) springform tin and grease line it with parchment paper, leaving 2-3 inches (5-7.5cm) overhanging the top of the tin. (You can cut a circle to fit the base and then cut a band of paper to fit neatly around the sides, but the more rustic and simple method is to press an entire sheet into the pan, pleating the paper where it begins to crease.)
In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the caster sugar and cream cheese until smooth. (I did this by hand with a wooden spoon)
Add the salt and combine
In a medium-size measuring jug, lightly whisk the eggs and pour - little by little - into the cheese & sugar mixture stirring throughout until completely combined
Whisk in the cream
Sift the flour over the mixture and gently fold it in
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes, or until caramelised and almost burned-looking on top. This can really vary oven to oven, so it helps to have your eye on the cheesecake from 50 minutes forward. The centre will still be quite jiggly, but the cheesecake is ready
Allow to cool completely in its tin on a wire rack, remove the outer part of the springform and gently peel away the parchment paper
Slice and serve at room temperature

Serve a slice with a little glass of sweet sherry such as Pedro Ximenez

Keyword baked cheesecake, cheesecake

Bidasoa folk art pot

It’s always nice to pick up a piece of pottery by a company of which we’ve not previously been aware. This was the case with this gorgeous lidded pot that we bought at the local flea market last week. It was produced by Bidasoa who were founded in 1934 and are one of the premier porcelain manufacturers in Spain.

We think this particular piece dates from the 1960s era. It’s just gut instinct – there isn’t another example of this particular pattern in any of our reference books, or indeed the internet that we’ve managed to find – quite amazing really.

We absolutely love the folk art design featuring trees, flowers, stag, fox, goose, hare – and hunters on foot & horseback. If we didn’t already know that it was Spanish, we’d say it had to be Scandinavian. Perhaps the artist responsible is Scandinavian, but we haven’t identified who designed it as yet.

We were curious as to what other products Bidasoa produced so we’ve been trawling the web. It’s a mixed bag, but in amongst their wares is ‘Block’ dining ware produced in 1969 – an under-rated classic design we’d say – particularly in the black and white colourways (entitled ‘Noche’ and ‘Blanca’. We’ve just been saying that if we’d seen it at the recent Tibor Reich exhibition in Manchester it wouldn’t have looked out of place. So Bidasoa is now something we’ll keep an eye out for – always good to keep learning!

Bidasoa Block ‘Noche’ coffee set for sale on One Kings Lane | Bidasoa Block ‘Noche’ coffee set for sale on Etsy

Spanish sing-a-long

"Spanish sing-a-long" blog post banner

vintage Spanish sing-a-long boxed set of records and song book

In our most recent e-mailout, we featured this somewhat eclectic mix if items seen below.

collection of recent antique and vintage finds including Spanish music boxed set

Amongst them was this fabulous record set… Escuchar y cantar or “Listen & sing”.

detail of cover of vintage 1950s Spanish song book & record box set contents of vintage 1950s Spanish song book & record box set

It’s a sing-a-long teaching aid for learning traditional Spanish songs, helping with pronunciation etc.

illustraion of Mexican bean wearing a sombrero

It comprises a set of records and an accompanying booklet written by Raymond N Jacovetti.

vintage illustration of identical red birds looking through telescopes

It was printed in New York by Holt, Rinehart & Winston and published in 1965.

vintahe illustration of little girl and old woman holding crooks looking for their sheep

The most striking feature is the gorgeous illustrations that the booklet is packed with.

vintage illustration of the heads of a man and several women with him holding a red heart above his favourite

They’re by someone called Mac Shepard.

vintage illustration of a little girl with a rocking horse

We’ve never come across his work before, but we were immediate converts.

He’s got his own distinctive style, but if we were going to compare him to anyone it would be Bill Charmatz who we’re big fans of… click here to check out the Flickr group we started.

vintage illustration of four mules

We’re now on the hunt for more examples of Mr Shepard’s artwork!

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: Spanish