The Bumbling Baker

Banana-Nutella Muffins

2012-01-19T09:53:00.000-05:00

I love banana muffins. I love Nutella. So putting the two together just makes sense to me.

The addition of Nutella makes these moist muffins special enough to serve as a casual dessert. But the bran gives them a healthier boost than your average muffin. These are perfect to take along as a snack or make a wonderful on-the-go breakfast option. And now that I'm back to work from maternity leave, quick breakfast options are absolutely essential!

Enjoy!

Banana-Nutella Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup bran

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla

6 tbsps. Nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line muffin tins with paper liners, or spray with non-stick spray.

2. Whisk together the flour, bran, baking powder and salt.

3. Stir in the mashed bananas, eggs, brown sugar, oil and vanilla.

4. Spoon 2 tbsps. of batter into each muffin tin and gently spread it out with the back of a spoon.

5. Add 1/2 tbsp. Nutella into each tin. Do not spread out.

6. Divide remaining batter among the tins, covering the Nutella. Do not spread out.

7. Bake until the tops are golden brown, about 12 - 15 minutes. Enjoy right from the oven, or allow to cool.

Eggnog Ice Cream

2012-01-07T14:21:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

I've been pretty busy over the past few weeks visiting with friends, family and celebrating the holidays, which is why I haven't posted anything new.

Also, I've never felt as sick of sweets after the holidays as I did this year. Clearly, I overdid it and now have (almost) zero interest in eating anything dessert-like.

However, I did have a nearly-full carton of eggnog sitting in my fridge, and I hated to simply pour it down the drain. Instead, I opted to make something cold and creamy to keep in the freezer until the sweet craving strikes again.

I adapted this recipe slightly from Alton Brown's Eggnog Ice Cream recipe, and this Eggnog Ice Cream recipe from Allrecipes.com (I read the reviews and used the comments to help with my final recipe). It's very easy to make and tastes delicious.

If you've got an excess of eggnog, and an ice cream maker, then this is the recipe for you! Here's another link to recipes that incorporate eggnog if you're looking for something less chilly.

Cheers!

Eggnog Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups eggnog, chilled
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, stir all of the ingredients together with a whisk.
2. Process the mixture in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Eat as is for a soft-serve style ice cream or store in an airtight container and freezer for 2 - 4 hours for a more solid ice cream.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

2011-12-20T12:15:00.000-05:00

Everyone has holiday traditions. For me, Christmas isn't Christmas without eggnog, decorating the Christmas tree, Anne Murray holiday tunes in the background, and baking.

Oh, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls.

This is my mom's recipe, and she always and only made these at Christmas. When we were little, my sisters used to help her by rolling the peanut butter mixture and dipping them in chocolate. Now that I'm older, I try to make them every year. Both of my sisters also make a batch each year.

A very similar version to this recipe is popular in the United States, called Buckeyes. Whatever they're called, these are easy to make and showcase the much-loved combo of peanut butter and chocolate. The addition of shredded coconut adds more texture and flavour. Yummy!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups icing sugar

2 tbsps. butter

1 cup coconut

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate

2 tbsps. vegetable shortening

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together except chocolate and shortening.

2. Place mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to make rolling easier.

3. Roll into balls and place in freezer to set - about 15 minutes.

4. Melt chocolate and shortening together over a double boiler.

5. Dip balls in melted chocolate, and place on a baking sheet covered in waxed paper.

6. Place tray in the freezer for one hour, then transfer balls to a covered container and return to the freezer.

Snickerdoodles

2011-12-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

What the heck is a Snickerdoodle anyway?

Before making these, I had never tried one before, which is pretty surprising considering their history and popularity. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they don't have any chocolate in them?

Essentially, Snickerdoodles are soft and chewy sugar cookies characterized by their sugar-cinnamon coating. I love sugar-cinnamon combos and these are so pillowy inside - almost like little cakes. These are so delicious with a cup of coffee and freeze really well, making them the perfect addition for company!

Enjoy!

Recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs

2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Shortbread Cookies

2011-12-08T22:00:00.004-05:00

Shortbread cookies are a holiday staple on my baking list - watching my mom bake up batches of shortbread is one of my most vivid memories and one that I try to recreate every year. I love the rich, buttery texture paired with a steaming mug of my favourite tea.

This is my mom's traditional recipe, using only four ingredients and a very straightforward process. I prefer these simple and unadorned, but my mom always added some kind of embellishment to her shortbread: cherries, sprinkles, or even chocolate kisses. Be as creative as you want with these, and don't forget to share them with those you love!

Enjoy!

Mumsie's Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup flour

3/4 cup butter, softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300F.

2. Sift together cornstarch, icing sugar and flour.

3. Blend in butter until a soft, smooth dough forms.

4. Roll dough out to ¼” thickness on a surface dusted lightly with flour. Cut out shapes with a 2” cookie cutter. (Alternatively, you can shape the dough into 1" balls and flatten slightly with a fork, or skip the fork-flattening and add sprinkles, press in a chocolate kiss or cherry, etc.)

5. Place cookies 1 1/2" apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or non-stick baking mat.

6. Bake for 9 – 12 minutes, just until the edges are starting to turn golden. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Oreo Truffles

2011-12-05T19:10:00.001-05:00

I am in love with Oreo Truffles. It's true (and sad)!

This is hands down, the easiest treat that I've ever made. With only three ingredients, and one hour to prep., freeze and dip - this is pretty much holiday baking heaven. Which is a really good thing, because these Oreo truffles are highly addictive and odds are you'll need to make another batch because you eat every last one yourself before you can share them.

What do you need? A bag of Oreos (or any Oreo-esque sandwich cookie), a package of softened cream cheese, and white candy coating (or white chocolate).

What do you have to do? Smash up the entire bag of Oreos in a food processor or in a Ziploc bag, mix in the cream cheese, roll into balls, freeze for 15 minutes, dip in warm candy coating and freeze again for 15 minutes. If you pause to eat a few as you go in between these steps I won't hold it against you.

The recipe for Oreo Truffles is very straightforward, so the only step I added in was to put the Oreo-cream cheese mixture into the fridge for 10 minutes before rolling so it would be less sticky on my fingers. Sticky fingers kind of weirds me out, so if it doesn't bother you, skip that step!

I would highly recommend doubling the recipe if you have a strong love of Oreos or truffles because you will need to make another batch. Might as well make things a little easier!

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Men (and Women!)

2011-12-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

Gingerbread guy & gal!

Ready for a snowball fight!

Every single year, I vow not to go overboard with holiday baking and EVERY single year I go overboard. How does this happen? I guess it's a combination of two things: wanting to make stuff from years past that I love, and adding in a bunch of new things that I want to try. This always results in a freezer stocked beyond capacity, happy friends and co-workers, and the need for stretchy pants come Dec. 31st. Oh well. Let the Christmas baking insanity begin!

To start the month off right, I'm sharing this wonderful recipe for gingerbread. In my opinion, Christmas just wouldn't be the same without gingerbread. The smell of cloves, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg wafting throughout my house makes me think of snowy mountaintops, roaring fires and stuffed stockings. And how hungry I am!

This recipe is slightly adapted from Martha Stewart's Gingerbread Snowflakes recipe. I used a bit less flour, a bit less molasses, and a bit more brown sugar. And because my cookie cutter was a lot smaller than the 7" cutter Martha uses (mine was about 3"), I only baked these for 8 minutes.

These cookies are slightly chewy but sturdy enough to decorate. I used the royal icing recipe included with the gingerbread snowflakes and just let my creativity flow. Some were "girl" and "boy" gingerbread, some were decked out in their winter gear, and I even made a football player for Rayzor! Just have fun with the decorating, and remember... any mistakes can be quickly hidden with a few big bites!

Happy Baking!

Classic Lemon Bars

2011-11-29T09:40:00.000-05:00

It's raining cats and dogs here today, with a record-breaking rainfall expected for Toronto. Makes it kind of tough to get into the holiday baking spirit, doesn't it?

To brighten up the day, I'm sharing this recipe for Classic Lemon Bars. These squares are tangy, sweet and rich, and pretty fool-proof. They're a staple among the church bake-sale crowd, and the kind of dessert I wouldn't have touched with a 10-foot pole as a kid. But with my new appreciation of lemon treats, these are one of my favourite things to make and eat.

There are so many variations of lemon bars out there. One of my favourite recipes is this one called Lovely Lemon Bars from The Tasty Kitchen. But I'm sharing this recipe from Julie Van Rosendaal's One Smart Cookie because I love that it's lower in fat and calories, and it still tastes authentic. Have you noticed a trend in lately in lower fat/calorie desserts? Let's just say I'm making wiggle room for Christmas. :)

Enjoy!

Classic Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

Base:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup flour

pinch salt

Topping:

1 cup sugar

2 tbsps. flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

pinch salt

1 egg

1 egg white

grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lemon (3 tbsps.)

icing sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add flour and salt and stir until well combined and crumbly.

3. Press into the bottom of an 8" x 8" pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until the edges are pale gold.

4. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add egg, egg white, lemon zest and juice and stir until well blended and smooth. Pour over the base.

5. Return to the oven for 25 - 30 minutes, until slightly golden on top and bubbly around the edges. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle with icing sugar before cutting into bars.

Makes 12 bars. 165 calories and 4.3 g of fat per bar.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

2011-11-23T15:50:00.000-05:00

Do you ever get a craving for a sweet and chocolatey tidbit and find yourself pawing through the cupboards for something, ANYTHING to satisfy your craving?

I'm not ashamed to admit that this frequently happens to me. I'm a bit more ashamed to tell you that my younger sister Mel and I once ate a whole whack of semisweet baking chocolate bars when we were kids because we had such a strong chocolate craving. Those things taste terrible!

It's these very cravings that usually lead me to bake something on the fly. Other than brownies, these chocolate chip bars are one of my favourite quick-and-easy recipes to whip up. They are so soft and chewy... it's like eating a square-shaped chocolate chip cookie. But unlike cookies, you just pour all of the batter directly into a greased pan and bake. And even better? Like chocolate chip cookies, these bars don't need much time in the oven before they're ready!

Oh, and if quick and easy isn't enough for you, this recipe is from Julie Van Rosendaal's book, One Smart Cookie. Which means that they're lower in calories and fat than other goodies. Only 155 calories and 4.5 grams of fat per bar, in fact. You could almost call them healthy! :D

So the next time you're faced with a unbeatable craving, prepare a pan of these awesome bars for some serious satisfaction!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

Ingredients:
2 tbsps. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Add egg and stir until smooth.
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and stir until almost combined. Add chocolate chips and stir until just blended.
4. Spread batter into an 8" x 8" pan that has been sprayed with with non-stick spray. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until just golden and the edges are starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Do not overbake - sometimes I only have to keep these in the oven for 17 minutes, so watch yours as each oven heats differently.
5. Cool for a few minutes in the pan before cutting into bars - makes 12 - 16 bars.

Make-Ahead Sticky Buns

2011-11-10T15:47:00.000-05:00

For the most part, I find it totally annoying when baking requires tons of time to pass before anything can be consumed. You all know what I'm talking about... doughs that need to rise for several hours, crusts that need to chill before being rolled out... even waiting for Jello to set is too much for me sometimes.
And that doesn't even include the time it takes to bake and cool!

You'll never hear that the wait isn't worthwhile from me, but I do appreciate when recipes can be made ahead of time... especially it if takes some time to make them. That's one of the reasons that I loved making these sticky buns.

Preparing the dough for this recipe was easy, and while it was rising, I got to work buttering the loaf pans, mixing the topping ingredients together, and pouring the topping in the pans. That way, when the dough had risen, it only took a few minutes to roll it out, slather the whole shebang with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, roll it up again, and cut into pieces. Within 10 minutes of rolling I had 2 loaf pans stuffed with sticky buns waiting to be baked!

I immediately put one pan in the freezer, and brought out to bake a few days later to enjoy with friends. The frozen sticky buns only needed about 30 minutes on the counter before baking. The other was quickly popped into the hot oven and I was licking sticky topping off of my fingers 40 minutes later.

The buns bake up so light and fluffy, and pull apart easily, revealing the delicious brown sugar-cinammon combo in the middle. And the topping is crazy-good - sticky, sweet and full of crunchy pecans.

This recipe was tucked deep inside my mother's old recipe binder that now belongs to my youngest sister. I can still remember my mom pulling that blue binder out from the top cupboard and flipping through years' worth of handwritten recipes that were tried-and-true. Whenever we saw that binder, we knew that something delicious was in store for us! Oddly enough, I don't ever remember my mom making these, but the recipe certainly didn't let me down.

I think that these would be a fabulous addition to a Christmas breakfast... especially because all the work would be done beforehand!

Make-Ahead Sticky Buns

Dough Ingredients:

3 ½ - 4 cups bread flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt

14 grams yeast

1 cup warm milk

1/3 cup butter

1 egg

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup butter, melted

¼ cup corn syrup

1 cup pecan halves

Filling Ingredients:

2 tbsps. butter, melted

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 ½ tsps. cinnamon

Directions:

1. For dough, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add milk, butter and egg. Using a stand mixer, beat for one minute with the paddle attachment.

2. Switch to the dough hook, and while on low speed, stir in enough of remaining flour to make a soft dough.

3. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

4. For topping, bring brown sugar and butter to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup.

5. Pour into 2 buttered loaf pans or a large casserole dish and sprinkle pecan halves on top.

6. Punch down dough and roll out into 15” x 10” rectangle. Spread with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

7. Starting at the long side, roll up tightly, pinching the seam to seal. Cut into 16 pieces and place in pans (or 15 pieces for large casserole dish). The buns can be baked immediately or covered tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated 12 – 48 hours or frozen for up to 1 week.

8. Bake uncovered at 350 F for 25 – 30 minutes, or until golden. Let stand 3 minutes in pan, then invert onto serving platter.

Owl, Pumpkin & Vampire Sugar Cookies for Halloween

2011-10-31T16:31:00.000-04:00

I vant to bite your cookie!

This is just a quick post to show you some of the Halloween sugar cookies I made this past weekend to send with Rayzor to work. They were all fun to make, but the vampire cookies were my favourite.

I used many of the tips and tricks featured at Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. If you're new to cookie decorating or if you've ever struggled with using royal icing and/or decorating sugar cookies, then this tutorial is for you!

Now I'm off to answer the door with my Lainey bug!

Happy Halloween!

One-Eyed Monster Cake Pops for Halloween

2011-10-27T13:27:00.000-04:00

I've finally ventured into the world of cake pops, although somewhat reluctantly. Bakerella is the queen of the cake pop, and after seeing her mind-blowing creations, I quickly realized that I would never be able to achieve that level of perfection and shouldn't even try.

Then I made an ugly mess of a whole pile of completely edible chocolate cupcakes, and couldn't bear to eat them all in one sitting or throw them out. So, I added a bit of vanilla frosting, rolled them into balls, and popped them in the freezer for my first attempt at cake pops.

Now what to do with them?

Halloween is quickly approaching, so I went with a one-eyed monster kind of pop. To say these are a bit rough is an understatement, but that's what makes them so authentically monstrous, right? Right?

Anyways, I dipped each pop in coloured candy melts (I used Wilton's gel colours to get this teal) and then let dry. For texture, some of them were sprinkled with Skor pieces, dried, and then re-dipped to give a bumpy appearance.

For the rest, I either dipped the pops for a smooth finish, or drizzled the melted candy overtop with a spoon. For the eyes, I dipped half of a white candy wafer into some of the teal-coloured candy melts and then painted the iris on with black food colouring. I also made mouths using the same method, but would recommend a different medium, as black food colouring has a bit of a bitter aftertaste.

There are loads of bloggers out there with tips and tricks for making cake pops, but my favourites were from Needful Things, The Crafty Penguin, and The Kitchn. I bought the candy sticks, food colouring and candy wafers from Bulk Barn.

I found the following tips the most useful:
- Melt the candy coating in a double boiler, and add a tiny bit of vegetable shortening to make the consistency more runny. This makes it much easier to coat the pop without it falling off the stick.
- Dip the candy stick in a bit of chocolate before sticking it into the cake ball - this helps it stay put when dipping.
- I pierced holes with a skewer into a piece of styrofoam to make a homemade cake pop stand, but a colander with large holes would also work. This is a great way to let the pops dry.

So, if ~~you~~ your kids are looking for something super-easy and fun to make this Halloween, give these a go. It's pretty spooky how quickly they disappear!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

2011-10-24T15:57:00.000-04:00

A very tasty surprise in the middle...

These are now my all-time favourite muffins. Imagine warm, spicy pumpkin pie hugging a big old hunk of cream cheese frosting... and you get these muffins. I'm almost afraid that they're really cupcakes in disguise - they're that good.

The only tricky issue with these is that the recipe calls for the cream cheese and sugar to be mixed, rolled and placed in the freezer for a few hours, which I did (in fact, I kept it in overnight). But to be honest, I'm sure you could just substitute the frozen stuff for some at room-temperature. Instead of scooping it off the frozen log, just plop a dollop of the freshly made cream-cheese mixture in the batter as you go.

I'm now convinced that the ONLY way to eat muffins is to add the cream cheese in the middle. I'll bet it would be awesome with carrot or chocolate chunk muffins. Maybe I should try these next?

Enjoy!

Recipe found at The Girl Who Ate Everything. Is there ANYTHING she makes that doesn't look delicious? I'm blaming her for my weight gain... :)

Chocolate-Caramel Cookie Bars

2011-10-18T10:10:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been craving salty-sweet desserts. I totally blame it on Starbucks' Salted Caramel Mocha, which has been my coffee shop addiction for the past few weeks. It's soooo good!

While searching for Thanksgiving ideas I discovered this recipe at Martha Stewart and couldn't wait to try it. Chocolate and caramel atop a shortbread biscuit and sprinkled with salt might sound crazy to some but it's heavenly to me.

In case you haven't already noticed, Martha Stewart is my home-arts crush. She's pretty much my hero. Well, except for that whole going-to-jail thing, of course. I always find great stuff on the website and I'm a shameless subscriber to the magazine.

But I have to admit, sometimes Martha makes things overly complicated. For example, creating the caramel needed in this recipe. If you read the reviews/comments on the website you'll notice that many readers share other methods for caramelizing sugar that are WAY easier. I watched this video and also this tutorial from Gordon Ramsay. Just keep a close eye on the pan (so that means no walking away or multi-tasking) and keep swirling and the magic will happen.

The chocolate-caramel is very sweet, and the shortbread crust is buttery and rich, so the salt is essential to the bars for balance. Otherwise, it would be a complete sugar overload, and the more subtle flavours would be overpowered.

The trickiness of the caramel aside, these are pretty easy to make. And they go great with a cup of coffee!

Recipe here. Enjoy!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

2011-10-11T13:35:00.000-04:00

Scanning baking blogs is a pretty dangerous past-time for my waistline, especially when I come across a recipe like Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes from The Girl Who Ate Everything. Crunchy Oreo cookies paired with rich cheesecake? Sign me up!

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's original recipe with two major exceptions: I halved my recipe and omitted the sour cream (I didn't have any in my fridge!) These are EXCEPTIONALLY easy to make and are best left in the fridge overnight after baking. The satisfying crunch of the Oreo on the bottom takes this dessert to a whole new level... I dare you to try to eat just one. :)

The saying, "too much of a good thing" does not apply to these cheesecakes!

Cookies & Cream Cheesecakes

20 Oreos, 12 left whole and 8 coarsely chopped
8 ozs. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275°. Line standard muffin pans with liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each liner.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed using an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time. Beat in salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, 20 - 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight).

Makes 12

Baptism Cake

2011-09-30T19:42:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday was my little girl's baptism - I can't believe that she's almost 6 months old already! Time certainly is flying by. She was absolutely adorable in her white satin ensemble and simply ate up being the little princess. To celebrate, Rayzor and I hosted a small lunch for our close family and I volunteered to make the cake.

I knew that I wanted to do something with pink frosting, and with a white-coloured cake. Other than that, my vision for the cake was non-existent. Using my trusty friend Google, I found many beautiful baptism cakes, but they were a bit too, well, religious-looking. I wanted to make something simple and beautiful to reflect the miracle that is my baby Lainey!

When I came upon this tutorial for piping buttercream roses, I knew that I found what I was looking for. Simple, yet elegant, this cake was the perfect match for the occasion. Isn't her cake gorgeous? I won't even pretend that mine looks anything like hers. For one, you'll notice in my photos that only the top of the cake was covered in roses... this was the result of not doubling the strawberry frosting recipe and running out! Luckily I didn't start on the sides only to find out that I had none left. Making these roses is super easy and will leave your guests very impressed with your decorating talent!

For the cake itself, I baked two round cakes, using Martha Stewart's Basic Yellow Cake recipe. It was good, but would've been better if I baked it for only 32 minutes instead of 35. For the filling and roses I whipped up a batch of strawberry frosting via Sprinkles Cupcakes. I should've doubled the recipe to cover the cake with roses and do the filling, but that was my fault. The frosting itself was sweet and buttery, and had the slightest hint of strawberry flavour. This is a great recipe for making frosting pink without adding food colouring, by the way.

I can't wait to try this frosting and decorating technique again soon. If you're looking for an elegant way to dress up a birthday, wedding shower, baptism or baby shower cake, then I think this would be perfect. Enjoy!

Toffee-Studded Brownies

2011-09-22T10:00:00.003-04:00

Salty & Sweet!

Is there anything better than dense, fudgy brownies? Well, yes, actually. Dense, fudge brownies studded with chocolate chips and buttery, salty toffee pieces! If you're a salty/sweet person, then these will definitely brighten your day. The best part? They take 30 minutes, start to finish, to whip up!

I'd love to say more, but my mother always told me it's impolite to speak with my mouth full! :)

Toffee-Studded Brownies

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant coffee granules dissolved in 2 tsps. water (or 3 tsps. of percolated coffee)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
5 tbsps. semi-sweet chocolate chips*
5 tbsps. toffee pieces** You could also substitute 2 - 3 finely chopped Skor candy bars in lieu of the chocolate chips and toffee pieces.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 8"x 8" pan with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar until well combined.
3. Add egg, egg whites, vanilla and coffee and stir until thoroughly blended and smooth.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and stir by hand until just combined.
5. Spread batter into pan and sprinkle top with chocolate chips and toffee pieces.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, until edges just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan, but center is still slightly soft. Do not overbake! Let cool - makes 12 - 16 brownies.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-09-12T14:30:00.000-04:00

Perfectly chewy and addictive!

I've been taking a lot of flak from my two sisters about the lack of "good" (aka chocolate) desserts on the blog lately, so I thought I'd share this amazing recipe for chocolate chip cookies made with browned butter.

I first had these cookies this summer at a BBQ and as soon as I bit into one I knew that these were not your ordinary chocolate chip cookies. There was a certain rich nuttiness to the flavour that I couldn't identify (or resist) so I just had to know the secret. The baker, Jill, was thrilled to share that the mystery ingredient was browned butter.

Browned butter, quite simply put, is butter that is cooked until it turns a light brown colour. The butter takes on a wonderful nutty aroma and tiny flecks of browned bits float among the golden liquid. It's so fabulous that EVERY LAST DROP should be scraped out so none is missed!

Browning the butter is not hard, but it does require the baker to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn and become inedible. Oh, and you can't just substitute browned butter in your favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe like I did or else you get dry and crumby cookies and are guaranteed to be in a bad mood the rest of the day.

Follow the recipe or risk disappointment!

As you can see below, the photo on the left shows the dry cookie (not following the recipe!) while the one on the right features the soft, chewy, delectable browned butter beauties. This bumble was certainly not my finest baking experiment.

One other unique component to this recipe is the method. Instead of just mixing the ingredients together this recipe requires adequate time to whisk the ingredients together and then resting them several times before the dough can be shaped into cookies and baked. It might seem like an unnecessary step, but as I learned with my previous bumble - don't mess with something that works. I'm more than happy now to give the dough extra minutes to ensure these cookies turn out perfectly!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 32 cookies

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ cup unsalted butter

½ cup granulated sugar

¾ cups packed brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsps. vanilla

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking mats.

2. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

3. Heat ½ cup butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Combine cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 – 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using a heatproof spatula, transfer the butter to a large heatproof bowl. Stirring the remaining butter until completely melted.

4. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to the butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the eggs and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat this process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.

5. Using a rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips, giving the dough a final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

6. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dough and arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

7. Bake cookies 1 tray at time until they are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 8 – 10 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack before serving.

Lemon Pudding

2011-09-05T09:11:00.000-04:00

I love the fresh taste of lemons. There is something just so simple yet perfect about that burst of flavour in my mouth that I wish I could capture it and enjoy it a thousand times over... without the calories, of course. And doesn't that bright yellow colour just make you happy?

I made this yummy pudding a few weekends ago to accompany a VERY heavy dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. Because it's a pudding, there is still a denseness there, but the light flavour and creaminess allowed this to be a palate-cleanser. This is wonderful on its own, or paired with a few fresh berries and short bread cookies.

Enjoy this soon to keep that summer feeling alive!

Lemon Pudding

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups milk
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
Pinch salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Whisk the sugar and the cornstarch together in a medium saucepan. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the egg yolks, zest, and salt and cook, stirring frequently at first and constantly towards the end, over medium heat until thickened enough to thickly coat the back of a spoon.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter. Pour through a strainer into a large serving bowl or 4 individual serving dishes.

3. Let cool to room temperature. Chill, loosely covered, for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days, or until set and thoroughly chilled. Serve chilled.

S'mores Rice Cereal Treats

2011-08-29T09:15:00.002-04:00

A perfect ~~two~~ one-bite treat!

Rice cereal treats are one of my all-time favourite snacks. I love the crunch of the cereal coated in sweet, sticky, marshmallows, and can easily eat an entire row without pause. Heck, I've been known to consume half of the mixture before it even gets into the pan by the spoonful. I've got issues, I know.

If there's anything that could make this dessert better, it's adding in graham crackers and chocolate chips to create a S'mores version. I love all things S'mores, as this post explains. So when I came across the recipe via The Tasty Kitchen blog, I knew that I would be trying it out.

This is a pretty straight-forward recipe: melt butter and marshmallows, add cereal and mix, then add graham crackers and mix. The only change I made was to press the chocolate chips into the tops of the treats while they were still warm because I found that the chips melted into a big mess otherwise.

I also wanted to make individual bites without having to cut the treats into bars, so I pressed mine into a mini-cupcake pan instead. Besides, everyone knows that tiny treats are non-caloric, right? :)

Enjoy!

Coconut Cream Pie

2011-08-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

Creamy and coco-nutty!

If cream pies were a family, then vanilla, lemon, lime, peanut butter, and Boston Cream would be long-distance relatives that I haven't met. On the other hand, chocolate and banana cream would be cousins that I see at yearly get-togethers, while coconut cream would be my grandma - comforting, dependable and something I always look forward to.

The best coconut cream pie that I can remember eating as a kid was from Louis' Restaurant in Chesterville, Ontario. My mom and I would always get a slice and share it, as my other sisters didn't really care for it. Mom and I'd ooh and ahh over that pie... savouring each creamy bite sandwiched between the flaky crust and the crunchy toasted coconut.

Growing up, we'd usually buy the on-sale McCain frozen cream pies. But a couple of years ago I pleaded with my mom to make a coconut cream pie from scratch. Together we found a recipe and made the pie, and it was pretty good. But I've since added a few tweaks to the recipe to come up with MY favourite coconut cream pie recipe.

For starters, I prefer a graham cracker crust versus a pre-baked pie shell, so I switched that up. Also, the original recipe that I used called for milk and cream, but I substituted coconut milk for the regular milk to boost the coconut flavour. I think these changes make a huge difference, but the pie would certainly still be delicious if you chose to go old-school.

This is a wonderfully delicious dessert to bring your family closer together!

Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup coffee cream

3 tbsps. all purpose flour

1 tbsp. cornstarch

2 egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 cup flaked coconut, divided

Whipped cream (recipe)

Pre-baked pie shell (graham cracker crust recipe)

Directions:

1. Scald coconut milk and cream (heat until bubbles form at the edges of the pot) in the top of a double boiler, over simmering water.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, and sugar.

3. Add the flour mixture to the milk and cook for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. The mixture should be thick and smooth.

4. Lightly whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl and continue whisking while slowly pouring ¼ cup hot milk mixture over the yolks (doing this slowly while whisking will prevent the yolks from cooking).

5. Return the yolk mixture to the double boiler and cook for one minute longer.

6. Remove from heat and add ½ cup coconut and vanilla, stirring just to combine.

7. Pour mixture into the pre-baked pie shell and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Top with whipped cream.

8. Toast remaining coconut under broiler and sprinkle on top of the whipped cream. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Rice Pudding

2011-08-15T09:10:00.002-04:00

As I get older I'm always startled to discover that my taste in desserts has changed so much from that of my childhood. Now I'm particularly fond of lemon, caramel and vanilla desserts. But when I was a kid, there was only three types of desserts I was interested in: chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream and chocolate chip cookies.

In fact, rice pudding seemed incredibly repulsive to me, mostly because I associated it with tapioca pudding and it had raisins in it (I hated raisins).

But for some reason, my mom was cooking up a batch of it a few years ago, and when I reluctantly gave it a try, I was surprised by how yummy it was.

Rice pudding, when prepared correctly, is creamy without being gummy, subtly flavoured with vanilla and cinnamon, with just a few raisins studded throughout. To achieve this I prefer Basmati rice and stop cooking the mixture while it's still a bit creamy so that it has some room to thicken up without being a pile of glue.

If you haven't been a fan of rice pudding before, don't totally write it off. While chocolate is fabulous, there is room for some vanilla now and again!

Rice Pudding
(Note: this recipe makes 2 large portions, but is easily doubled)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup white rice (I prefer Basmati)
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins

Directions:
1. Combine milk, rice and salt in a saucepan, and bring to a boil on high heat.
2. Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom.
3. Add sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and raisins and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. The pudding is ready when the rice is tender, the pudding has thickened, but is still somewhat creamy. Remove from heat and allow to cool before refrigerating.

Peach Pie

2011-08-08T09:10:00.002-04:00

Peach pie is definitely not something I grew up with... in our house it was usually apple, cherry or pumpkin with the occasional raisin pie (gross!) for my dad. A few years ago I tried my hand at making peach pie and was very disappointed. I love peaches, but the pie was very bland.

It's peach season right now, so Ray and I've been buying the 3-litre containers each week. We've grilled peaches, had them in salads and have been enjoying them as a bedtime snack. There are tons of desserts that I could've made with peaches, but the chance to redeem my previous blah peach pie was too tempting.

So what did I think this time around? Well, let's start with the positives:

- The crust recipe below is one that I've adapted from the Joy of Cooking and has never let me down. It's easy, I can make it in my KitchenAid mixer, and I don't have to refrigerate it before rolling (I make sure all of the ingredients are cold... yes, even the flour and salt!)

- The filling itself was alright. Instead of using ground nutmeg I grated a tiny bit of fresh in with the peaches. If you do decide to use fresh nutmeg, a little goes a loooong way - trust me. Don't go too crazy or your pie will be inedible. The cinnamon and brown sugar were my adaptations and I think they worked well.

And the negative... well, I should've used juicier peaches. In order to get 5 cups worth I used some that weren't as ripe as the others and this resulted in crunchier and less flavourful bites throughout.

Overall, I thought it was.... meh. Would I make it again? I want to say no... but I still feel like I've missed something! Maybe someone has a better recipe for the filling they would share?

Peach Pie (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

Crust (makes a 9" double-crust pie)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup chilled shortening, cut into small pieces
2 tbsps. chilled butter, cut into small pieces
4 tablespoons ice water

Directions:
1. Sift flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Cut half of the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, or work it in lightly with the tips of your fingers until it has the consistency of cornmeal.
2. Cut the remaining shortening and butter into the flour mixture until the dough is coarse and pea-sized.
3. Sprinkle the dough with ice water and blend lightly with a fork, allowing the moisture to spread.
4. If needed to hold the ingredients together, slowly add 1 tsp. - 1 tbsp. of ice water.
5. When the dough can be gathered into a ball, stop handling.
6. Divide dough into 2 balls, and roll each ball out with a rolling pin, until it is about 1" wider than the pie plate.
7. Press one of the dough disks into the bottom of the pie plate.

Filling
5 cups peeled, sliced peaches
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Place the peeled and sliced peaches in a large bowl.
3. Combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg together, and sprinkle over the peaches.
4. Stir the peaches gently until they are well coated, and pour into the unbaked pie shell.
5. Cover the peaches with the remaining dough disk, and crimp the edges with a fork. Cut several slits in the top of the crust to allow the steam to escape. (Alternatively, you can make a lattice crust, as I did).
6. Bake for 10 minutes, and then reduce heat to 350 F and bake the pie for 35 - 45 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Once cooked, allow to cool for at least 2 hours to allow everything to set.
(I also sprinkled a mixture of 3 tsps. sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon on top of the crust for added flavour right before baking).

Blueberry Cobbler

2011-08-01T08:45:00.000-04:00

I'm so happy to be back! I've been stretching my "baking legs" these past few weeks by whipping up batches of recipes that I've been wanting to try for a while. This blueberry cobbler is a result of a mish-mash of recipes coming together... a raspberry pie filling recipe combined with a cherry cobbler recipe and with blueberries as the substitute. The result? A soft, cakey cobbler with a juicy blueberry bottom, and tasty cinnamon-sugar topping. This truly is comfort food at its best!

August is blueberry season in Ontario, so to say that they are bountiful and inexpensive is an understatement. Besides the beautiful colour, blueberries are quite sweet, so they don't require a lot of sugar to bring out or enhance their flavour. And there's nothing quite like a plump blueberry bursting in your mouth when you take a huge bite!

I made this recipe in 4 small cast iron ramekins, but it could easily be made in a 8x8" square pan. Just be sure to butter or spray the bottom and sides of the pans well for easy eating and clean-up.

The beauty of this cobbler recipe is that substituting the fruit with whatever you have on hand or is in season is easy, but be careful with the amount of sugar you use. I'm of the opinion that it is better to use less and have a dessert that is more tart than sweet, so I tend to use less if I can. Also, juicier fruits may require more cornstarch to thicken the mixture.

This is the perfect dessert for an informal BBQ or Sunday night dinner. But don't forget the vanilla ice cream!

Blueberry Cobbler

Cobbler Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 tsps. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

3 tbsps. cold butter, cut in small pieces

½ cup cold milk

Filling Ingredients:

4 cups blueberries

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

Topping Ingredients:

2 tsps. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. Spray or butter bottom and sides of 4 ramekins or an 8x8" casserole dish.

3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir 3 cups of blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice, water and sugar together until well combined and thickened, about 5 minutes.

4. Stir in 1 cup uncooked blueberries until combined, and distribute evenly into the bottom of the ramekins or casserole.

5. While preparing the cobbler, place ramekins or casserole into the oven and cook for 5 - 8 minutes, or until mixture is bubbling.

6. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.

7. Cut butter into the mixture until crumbly.

8. Add milk to the mixture at once and stir only until combined. The mixture should be very thick.

9. Remove the casserole from the oven, and drop spoonfuls of the mixture over the hot blueberries.

10. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the topping, and sprinkle evenly over the cobbler topping.

11. If using the ramekins, bake uncovered for 15 minutes (20 – 25 minutes for the casserole dish), or until the topping has risen and browned.

12. Allow to cool for 20 - 30 minutes, and then serve warm.

The Bumbling Baker Returns...

2011-07-25T14:30:00.000-04:00

... with a brand-new recipe on August 1st! Check out the About Me section to find out more about why I'm returning.

It feels good to be back!

Farewell, Friends

2010-01-02T15:36:00.002-05:00

After much deliberation, I have decided that I will no longer be updating The Bumbling Baker.

When I started this blog two years ago, my passion for baking was fuelled partially by my Mom's long-distance interest and encouragement, and grew as I spread my creativity and goodies among my friends, family and colleagues.

In November, my Mom passed away, and to be honest, baking is just too hard for me right now - I'm always reminded of her, and it's kind of a downer to know that I can't share the experience with her.

I've had a wonderful time learning from, and sharing with all of the fabulous baking bloggers I've met, and am so grateful to all of my readers who've commented on my posts, or emailed me, or linked to my blog. Your suggestions and thanks have made the experience worthwhile, and for that reason, I can't just delete the blog.

I'm hoping that one day I'll get my baking mojo back, and be able to post again.

Until that day, farewell my friends, and all the best to you in the New Year.

-dlb

S'mores Cookies

2009-11-30T19:30:00.000-05:00

Do you realize how hard it is to try to photograph delicious, delicious cookies right after they're baked? It's really hard. All I want to do is eat three right off the baking sheet, and if I did that everytime, well, there wouldn't be any photos to post. Oh, and all of my taste buds would be scorched completely from ingesting molten cookie.

OK, on to the reason we're all here: S'mores Cookies. By now you know of my love for all things S'mores: I've made the delectable S'mores Bars and S'mores Cupcakes, both of which are delish.

But these cookies are amazing. AMAZING. I honestly bow down to the baker who came up with them, even though they are a bit time-consuming (you have to stop 8 minutes into the baking process to add the Hershey's bars and marshmallows). The end result is worth it. Trust me.

Make these and swoon, my friends. And don't worry too much about burning the roof of your mouth with hot cookies - I can tell you from experience it only lasts a few days. :)

The ingredients:

The cookies, before they were baked, and the marshmallows and chocolate pieces were added halfway through:

The end result:

Recipe Here - you'll never be the same again... :)

Chocolate-Banana Bread Pudding

2009-10-27T21:00:00.006-04:00

I'm supposed to be studying for a job interview I have this week, so I'm going to be brief in today's write-up and just give you the facts about this dessert:

1. If you need to use up leftover bananas, this is a great way to do it.
2. Chocolate and bananas are a match made in heaven.
3. I used to think that bread pudding was the same thing as blood pudding. I'm really glad I figured out the difference.
4. Like all of the recipes I love, this is easy to make.
5. This is really good warm, cold, with whipped cream or without. So basically, it's really good.

Enjoy... and wish me luck! :)

The ingredients:

Cooking the bananas in yummy, yummy butter:

Baked and smelling divine:

Topped with a dollop (okay, scoopful) of whipped cream:

Recipe found at Cucina.com

Peach-Blueberry Crisp

2009-10-18T16:30:00.011-04:00

After a long hiatus following my wedding and honeymoon, I'm back and baking up a storm!

This delicious crisp was made way back in August, when peaches and blueberries were bountiful (and cheap!) in Ontario, and just begging to be combined in a recipe. Luckily, I took the time to photograph this one, because it really turned out well.

I adapted this recipe from Andri Tscharner's Peach-Blackberry Crisp, and replaced the blackberries with blueberries, but you could use the original ingredients and I'm sure it would taste and look just as great.

I love how the flavours of the blueberries and peaches blend so beautifully with the simple crisp in this recipe, and the resulting wine colour of the baked fruit is just stunning.

If you enjoy simple, hearty dessert recipes, then this one is for you. With a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, this is one recipe that served cold, will stifle the sweltering days of summer, and served warm, will cut the crispness (crisp - crispness, get it?) of fall.

The ingredients:

Beautiful medley of fresh fruit:

Baked and steaming:

Summer's bounty:

Peach-Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:
4 large fresh peaches, skinned, stoned and sliced
½ pint fresh blueberries
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon zest

Topping:
½ cup quick oats
¼ cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. cold butter
1 tbsp. canola oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F degrees.

2. Spray an 8-inch square, glass baking dish with cooking spray.

3. Arrange peaches in the dish and scatter blueberries on top.

4. Stir sugar and cornstarch together and sprinkle over fruit.

5. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the fruit filling.

6. Mix the topping ingredients together, and sprinkle over fruit.

7. Before baking, place baking dish on a cookie sheet or a piece of foil in the oven, to avoid overflow onto the oven floor.

8. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until filling is bubbling and crust is slightly golden.

Ice Cream Pie

2009-08-25T19:37:00.010-04:00

It's been way too long since I last posted, and I do not have any good excuses, so I'm doing the only thing I can think of to win your favour - I'm offering you this simple but spectacularly delicious Ice Cream Pie recipe.

Feel free to use the ice cream flavour of your choice, and go nuts with the toppings if you want. This recipe is all about freedom and creativity!

I will admit that there is absolutely nothing homemade about this dessert, but trust me - everyone who tries it will rave. It's great for a hot day, or a big cookout, or when you're feeling a little - ahem - hormonal. :)

Enjoy!

The ingredients:

Chocolate sauce layer:

Followed by melty ice cream:

Drizzled in yummy caramel sauce:

The thing of dreams (and busted seams!):

Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

1 chocolate pie shell

1 pint ice cream, softened (any flavour you like!)

1 container Cool Whip, thawed

1/4 cup caramel sauce

1/4 cup chocolate sauce

1/2 package Oreos, crushed

Directions:

1. Spread the chocolate sauce evenly on the inside of the chocolate pie shell.

2. Spoon the softened ice cream on top of the chocolate sauce, evening it out with a spatula, until it's about an inch and a half from the top of the crust.

3. Drizzle the caramel sauce evenly on top of the ice cream.

4. Spoon the whipped topping on top of the caramel sauce layer, covering the whole pie with a thick layer.

5. Sprinkle the top of the pie with crushed Oreos.

6. Freeze immediately for at least 2 hours.

7. Allow to thaw for a few minutes before cutting.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

2009-08-07T18:38:00.006-04:00

When I was a kid, I remember attending a beach party at school where all the students dressed up in shorts, sandals and sunglasses, laid on beach towels in the gym, and ate popsicles while listening to the Beach Boys. Of course we were only pretending that it was summer, as the party took place in the dead of winter, with several feet of hard-packed snow on the other side of the wall, and the radiators seemingly hissing along to "California Girls" as they kept the room a toasty 25 degrees.

I'm sad to report that this is what our Toronto summer has felt like this year - imaginary. With temperatures ranging from 20 - 26 degrees, it's hardly been a scorcher, which is why I decided to use some creativity to recall the Augusts of my youth.

These pink lemonade cupcakes certainly do the trick. I adapted a pink lemonade cupcake recipe that I found on the Internet via Cast Sugar. The cake is moist with a slight tang, and the frosting is not overly sweet due to the addition of several tablespoons of pink lemonade concentrate to the mixture. The pink colour is fun, and adding lemon candies (tart or sweet - your choice) and other embellishments will perk your mood right up - at any time of year.

Enjoy!

The ingredients:

The batter, before the pink food colouring is added:

The batter after the food coloring is mixed in:

Baked and cooling and delightfully pink:

Frosting:

Smells (and tastes) like summer!:

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1/3 cup thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate
1/4 cup buttermilk
Pink food coloring (can use gel, or use red liquid food coloring, but only a few drops)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with liners (makes 12 cupcakes).
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites and lemonade concentrate.
4. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until just smooth.

5. Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink.
6. Scoop batter into liners (fill about three-fourths full).

7. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.

8. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Lemonade Buttercream Frosting:
2 & 3/4 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt
3 - 5 tbsps. pink lemonade concentrate

Pink food coloring

Directions:

1. Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemonade concentrate, and a few drops of food coloring to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined.

2. Turn the speed to med-high until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink.

3. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

4. Use lemon candies or other edible decorations to embellish the frosted cupcakes.

Coconut Cream Cheese Cake

2009-07-20T14:30:00.002-04:00

I've just got to say - I love coconut. I think that I could eat it on just about anything. Well, maybe not spaghetti, but you get the idea. I like it a lot.

I originally saw this recipe on Abby Sweets (I seem to be getting most of my inspiration from there lately), and knew I had to try it. I must admit, I was not disappointed.

If you're like me, and you really enjoy coconut, you'll love this moist, dense, coconutty cake. It's really easy to make, and the tropical flavour makes it a great summer treat.

Enjoy!

The ingredients:

Baked cake:

Frosted and sprinkled with coconut:

Coconutty Perfection!:

Coconut Cream Cheese Cake (adapted from Abby Sweets)

Cake:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

6 large eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups flaked, sweetened coconut

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Beat butter, shortening and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until creamy.

2. Gradually add sugar, beating for about 2 - 5 minutes.

3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition, just until yellow disappears.

4. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended.

5. Stir in coconut abd vanilla.

6. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt or tube pan.

7. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 10 - 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.

8. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10-15 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Frosting:

Vanilla Frosting
1 1/2 cups flaked, sweetened coconut (toasted optional)

Directions:

1. Frost the entire cake with vanilla frosting.

2. Sprinkle cake with coconut and press into frosting where needed.

Chipster Brownies

2009-07-06T19:38:00.006-04:00

As a librarian, I'm always trying to put things into categories. Most things fit quite nicely under one heading or another - just check out my labels section on the left side of the screen.

But then there are recipes like this one that refuse to be categorized. One layer is a brownie, and one is a cookie, and both are delicious together. So is it a cookie? A brownie? A Crownie?

One thing is for sure - these are good.

I saw this a while back on Abby Sweets and was intrigued because cookies and brownies are comfort foods, and merging the two could only result in something amazing. I substituted macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips for the chocolate chips, and used a low-fat brownie recipe that I loved for the base.

The only downfall? Essentially cookies and brownies are two entirely different baked goods, so there is quite a hefty list of ingredients, and this recipe does take some time to make.

But the results are well worth it - just make sure you don't overbake these squares, because if there is one thing that will ruin a batch of cookies or a pan of brownies, it's overbaking.

If you like to be unique, or if you enjoy cookies and brownies a whole heck of a lot, then this recipe is for you.

Just don't bring these to a function with librarians.

The ingredients:

The brownie layer:

Baked!:

Brookies?:

Chipster Brownies

Brownie Layer:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant coffee granules dissolved in 2 tsps. water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8"x 8" pan with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar until well combined.
3. Add egg, egg whites, vanilla and coffee and stir until thoroughly blended and smooth.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
5. Add mixture to the eggs and stir by hand until just combined.
6. Spread brownie batter evenly into pan.

Cookie Layer:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the egg and the yolk, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.
3. Beat in the vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.
5. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing only until they disappear into the dough.
6. Stirring by hand, add the chocolate chips and nuts.
7. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter, and using a spatula, lightly spread it over the batter so that it's even.
8. Bake for 40 - 55 minutes, or until the cookie top is a golden brown, somewhat firm to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate.
9. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
10. When the squares are completely cool, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto the cooling rack, and then turn right side up onto a cutting board.
11. Cut into bars, or use a round cookie cutter to make "cookies".

Summer BBQ Cupcakes

2009-06-25T12:58:00.008-04:00

We had a BBQ at work last week and because I wanted to make cupcakes disguised as typical BBQ foods, I cheated a bit and used a box mix and canned frosting. I know - baking sacrilege, but whatever.

What I came up with was corn on the cob, watermelon and popsicles!

The corn on the cob idea came from the book, Hello Cupcake, which has dozens of other really great cupcake ideas. To make these, I used vanilla frosting, yellow food colouring, 3 Starburst candies for the pats of butter (I think they were pina colada-flavoured), a variety of yellow and white Jelly Belly jelly beans for the corn kernels, granulated sugar as salt, and poppy seeds as pepper.

The watermelon idea was inspired by a quick Google search for summer cupcakes. To make these, I used vanilla frosting in white, green and pink, and for watermelon seeds, I used mini chocolate chips.

Finally, the popsicles were my own creation (that I know of, anyways). I asked around at work to see what other people were bringing in to the BBQ, and chose popsicles. To make these, I used vanilla frosting, arrowroot cookies (I squared off one end with a knife), and red and blue decorating sugars. Then I stuck a popsicle stick in each, and VOILA!

Admittedly, these aren't my best work - the frosting was waaaaaaaayyyy too soft, so the jelly beans slid around alot, and I took these photos AFTER I spent 45 minutes commuting on a bus and subway to get to work.

Still, they were fun to make, and pretty easy, so if you're looking for a fun summer dessert, these might be for you!

Cantaloupe Cream Pie

2009-05-20T08:08:00.019-04:00

Yes, you read that correctly. CANTALOUPE Cream Pie.

Sounds weird, right? I know. Even Rayzor, who is open to trying new things, had to admit that he'd never order it at a restaurant if he saw it on the menu. But actually, it's pretty tasty.

Like most of the stuff I bake, I made a recipe with cantaloupe in it because I was trying to use up a cantaloupe that I had. You may remember that I've used cantaloupe when baking in the past (Cantaloupe Cupcakes), but I wanted to try something different this time.

After doing a quick Google search for cantaloupe dessert recipes, I found this recipe for Cantaloupe Cream Pie, which also featured a photo and many comments and reviews. Among the comments, several people had suggested using a very ripe cantaloupe (which I had), and using less sugar as they felt the filling was too sweet. Also, some argued that the cheese-based topping used in the original recipe was too overpowering for the cantaloupe custard.

Armed with these tips, I decided to halve the sugar in the cantaloupe filling, replace the cheese-based topping with fresh whipped cream and use butter instead of the suggested margarine. These changes worked marvelously.

The flavour of the cantaloupe custard filling is subtle and not overly sweet. The whipped cream on top offsets the denseness of the crust and filling, and melts in your mouth. Overall, a delightful dessert that will not overpower your tastebuds!

What I also should have swapped was the crust. I probably overworked it, as it came out sort of tough. At the best of times I'm not the most delicate handler of crusts, which need to be treated very gently. When I make this pie again (and yes, I will make it again!), I will use a graham cracker based crust because it's easy to whip up and adds a bit of sweetness.

I've listed my version down below (including a graham cracker crust), so if you try it out, let me know what you think!

I have to agree with the original author of this recipe - it will work well in the summer, and Cantaloupe Cream Pie is definitely not something you see everyday. Now you won't have to worry about bringing the same thing as your great-aunt to the family barbeque this summer!

By the way... THIS IS MY 100TH POST! :)

The ingredients:

The baked crust, filled with cooling, cantaloupe custard:

Voila! Whipped cream completes this pie!:

Cantaloupe Cream Pie

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar and stir in melted butter until the mixture comes together in an even crumbly texture.
3. Press into a 9-inch (23 cm) square fluted tart pan and bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:
4 cups cantaloupe - peeled, seeded and pureed
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
3 egg yolks
3 tbsps. water
1 tbsp. unsalted butter (if using salted butter, omit the 1/4 tsp. salt)

Directions:
1. Place the cantaloupe in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt.
3. Stir the sugar and flour mixture into the cantaloupe.
4. Add the butter to the cantaloupe, stirring well.
5. Cook the cantaloupe mixture until it comes to a low boil and begins to thicken.
6. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and water together.
7. To prevent the yolks from curdling, gradually whisk in small amounts of the cantaloupe mixture.
8. Pour the yolk mixture back into pan and continue cooking for 2 minutes more, whisking constantly.
9. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Once cooled slightly, pour into the pre-baked, cooled pie shell. Allow to cool completely (about 2 hours in the fridge) before adding whipped cream.

Whipped Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
3 tbsps. icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
1. Combine cream, icing sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electic mixer.
2. Beat until soft peaks form.
3. Using a spatula, spread the whipped cream over the cooled, cantaloupe custard, covering completely.

Butter Tarts

2009-05-08T13:25:00.001-04:00

There is a very good reason why this post isn't labelled "Margarine Tarts", or "Oil Tarts" or "Lard Tarts". Well, two good reasons, actually.

One - I didn't use margarine, oil or lard.
Two - Butter is absolutely neccessary to this recipe. As in, the tart dough would not hold together if chilled butter wasn't used.

But besides the whole not being a big gloopy mess issue, there's the fact that even IF the other things worked, these tarts would not be nearly as delicious.

Butter, simply put, makes EVERYTHING better.

I've been meaning to bake butter tarts for some time, but never came across a recipe that appealed to me. Then one day, while riding the subway, I picked up a copy of the free Metro paper and read the article "Canadiana in a pastry cup", which contained the recipe for Peggy Morris' Amazing Butter Tarts, from Anita Stewart's cookbook, Canada.

The only change I made to the recipe was to substitute the walnuts for pecans and to use half the salt because I was using salted butter. But I don't think it would've mattered. These butter tarts were hands-down, the best butter tarts I've ever eaten.

The filling is obviously tasty, as is pretty much every butter tart filling that I've ever tried. But what truly makes these tarts AMAZING is the crust.

The shells baked up incredibly light and flaky (comparable to a croissant), and the addition of sugar made them much tastier than other butter tarts that I've tried.

Not to mention that they were easy to make. Still, as with any pastry, make sure that you don't over handle the dough, and that your water and butter are COLD. This really does make all the difference in the world. Let me tell you, living in Canada provides easy access to cold. :)

Bake up a batch of these today, and butter up Mom for Mother's Day!

The ingredients:

Yummy BUTTER tart shells:

Filled, but not baked:

Flaky, delicious, BUTTERY perfection:

Peggy Morris' Amazing Butter Tarts - Recipe HERE.

S'mores Bars

2009-04-20T10:15:00.003-04:00

These. Are. AWESOME.

Anything else I write here will not do these squares justice.

I absolutely insist that you go out today, buy the ingredients, whip these up, (they are quick and easy - 40 minutes TOPS from start to finish) let them cool, and cut a big, honkin' slice for yourself. Make sure your phone is off the hook, then take a big bite, and embrace the goodness that is melted marshmallow and chocolate. A glass of milk alongside is optional, but strongly recommended.

And if you can't get enough of s'mores stuff, check out my S'mores Cupcakes recipe.

Really - there's no need to thank me (It might be tough with a mouth full of marshmallows)!

The ingredients:

Oooey-gooey good:

A close-up that will be taunting me in my dreams:

Give me, give me, s'mores, give me smores, give me, give me s'mores:

S'mores Bars (by Anna Olson)

Recipe HERE.

Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

2009-04-12T15:45:00.001-04:00

First of all, these cookies were Rayzor's pick. I don't typically enjoy gingerbread that much, and while a huge fan of chocolate, I was skeptical that these cookies were going to be worth my time and energy (the ingredient list is HUGE).

But I put my trust in Martha Stewart, and baked up a batch of these for my beloved.

My first impression when biting into one was that the gingerbread taste wasn't too overpowering, which was helped by the gentle cocoa flavour and random chocolate chunks scattered throughout. But I couldn't help but feel that the chocolate was there to complement the ginger, instead of the other way around.

If you like gingerbread cookies, you'll probably enjoy these. The cookies are soft and chewy, and really quite good. But if you're a chocoholic looking for a quick fix, beware: these cookies take some time to make, and the chocolate is quite subtle.

What was Rayzor's impression? I think he was a bit disappointed. He was hoping that they would be similar to a ginger chews cookie recipe that one of his friends made a long time ago. And unlike most of the stuff I bake, alot of these cookies went into the garbage as we couldn't finish them before they started to get tough.

While these cookies are a bit of an acquired taste, they are worthwhile making. Just ensure that you have someone to share them with!

The ingredients:

Rolling the cookies in sugar:

Sugar and spice and chocolate is nice!:

Recipe HERE.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-04-05T18:18:00.008-04:00

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Did you miss me?

A whole whack of computer problems in March kept me from posting here, but not from baking! I promise that I'll be posting at least once a week from here on in. And I'm glad to return with such an EASY recipe!

One of my colleagues has a gluten and dairy intolerance, but still loves sweets. Every time we have a staff function, I feel so guilty bringing stuff that she can't eat. So, for another co-worker's good-bye party, I opted for these gluten-free peanut butter cookies.

Unlike other peanut butter cookies that I've tried, these are thin, crispy and very sweet. They are just as easy to make - in fact, it only requires four ingredients, and one of them is entirely optional.

I found this recipe from allrecipes.com, and adjusted it slightly. I usually use all-natural peanut butter, but in this case I didn't, so if you're not using an unsweetened, all-natural peanut butter, make sure that you only use 1 1/2 cups of sugar, or else you'll be visiting your dentist.

My colleague really liked these cookies, as did all of the other gluten-loving party-goers, so if you're looking for something quick, easy and tasty for someone with a gluten intolerance, this is it.

Just make sure they aren't allergic to nuts.

Enjoy!

The ingredients:

Got milk?

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups all-natural peanut butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.
3. Combine peanut butter, eggs, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, and mix until smooth.
4. If using chocolate chips, mix in by hand.
5. Using a tablespoon, drop dough onto a cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.
7. Allow cookies to cool on sheets for 5 minutes before removing.

Baking Powder Biscuits

2009-02-26T11:00:00.008-05:00

It was a cold, January night when I decided to cook up a batch of the hearty and delicious Tex Mex casserole you see above. As the smell of simmering meat and vegetables filled my kitchen, it dawned on me that freshly made bread would be the perfect match. The only problem? Dinner was going to be ready in less than an hour.

And that's where these baking powder biscuits came in.

These are so easy and quick to make, you absolutely won't believe it. The dough takes minutes to prepare, and only minutes to bake. In fact, you could have the whole thing made - from gathering the ingredients, making the dough, cutting the biscuits, buttering them up and then baking them - in less than 45 minutes.

These are simple and don't compete with the main attraction - your stew, casserole or soup. And they're really easy to make! Oh, and quick, too! Did I mention that already? :)

Enjoy!

The ingredients:

Cutting the biscuits:

On the baking sheet:

Getting all buttered up:

Warm, baked biscuits.... MMM!:

Baking Powder Biscuits (adapted from KitchenAid: Best Loved Recipes - Appetizers, Entrees, Desserts and More)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
4 tsps. baking powder
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsps. butter, melted

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk flour, salt and baking powder together.
3. Cut shortening into 4 or 5 pieces and drop into the bowl.
4. Using a low speed, mix for about 1 minute.
5. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl.
6. Add the milk and mix on a low speed until the dough starts to cling to the beater. Avoid overbeating.
7. Turn the dough onto lightly floured board.
8. Knead the dough lightly until smooth, about 20 seconds.
9. Pat or roll the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
10. Cut out 12 rounds with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.
11. Place the biscuits on greased baking sheets (or use a Silpat).
12. Brush each biscuit with melted butter.
13. Bake for12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are golden.
14. Remove and serve immediately.

Lovebug Cupcakes

2009-02-08T20:34:00.006-05:00

Wondering what to get that special someone this Valentine's Day?

Why not give them something homemade... something from the heart - like these Lovebug Cupcakes!

To get started, all you need is a dozen cupcakes - they can be any flavour, made from scratch or from a box mix - and some stuff to decorate them with.

I opted to make a Red Velvet recipe because I love the colour red and it's pretty much synonymous with Valentine's Day. Plus, I'd been dying to try it forever! Sadly, I was a bit disappointed with the taste... for some reason, I'd been expecting the cupcake to taste just like a Devil's Food cake, but red! Still, these cupcakes are good, but they're really more of a vanilla cupcake that's dyed red. Adding the chocolate kiss in the middle certainly perks things up, though!

I'm not 100% sure how I came up with the idea for the decoration. I did a few Google searches for "Valentine's Cupcakes" and saw all kinds of different stuff that looked cool, but that didn't really inspire me. And then I checked out some of my favourite baking bloggers and saw their amazing Valentine's cupcakes and knew I couldn't compete. So then I just sort of brainstormed things that spoke "Valentine's Day" to me, and somehow I came up with lovebugs.

Basically, these are cupcakes covered with chocolate ganache, and then decorated with melted chocolate wafers and red licorice. They're a bit time consuming, but if I can make them, so can you!

So, let's get started. Here's what you'll need to decorate:

-12 baked and cooled cupcakes (the Red Velvet recipe that I used is at the end of the post)
-Chocolate ganache (recipe also at the bottom of the post)

-White chocolate wafers (about 1 cup)
-Black and red food colouring (I used gel colouring)

-Red licorice whips

Here's a step-by-step on how to put them together!

1. Dip the top of each baked and cooled cupcake in the chocolate ganache. Allow the excess ganache to drip off, and place the cupcakes in the freezer to help it set.

2. On a piece of paper, trace 24 small heart shapes.

3. Cover the piece of paper with a piece of parchment paper and set aside.

4. Microwave 1/4 cup of white chocolate wafers in a microwave-safe bowl in 10 second increments. After 10 seconds, stir the wafers and return to the microwave for another 10 seconds, or until the chocolate is melted.

5. Add black food colouring to the chocolate and stir until blended. Place the coloured chocolate into a small sandwich bag, seal closed, and snip off a small tip at the end with a pair of scissors.

6. Using the black-coloured chocolate, randomly pipe small dots inside each of the heart shapes on the parchment paper.

7. Microwave 1/2 cup of white chocolate wafers, following the same process as Step 4.

8. Add red food colouring to the chocolate and stir until blended. Add the chocolate to a sandwich bag, as in Step 5. Snip a larger hole at the end of the bag that the first.

9. Pipe the red chocolate along the outline of each heart. Then pipe a dollop of red chocolate in the centre of the heart, and using a toothpick, fan the chocolate out so that it covers the dots and fills in the shape.

10. Trim some of the licorice whips into 24 one-inch sections and 12 into half-inch sections, using a small knife.

11. Cut 12 white cholate wafers in half, and on each half, paint a dot in the centre of the smooth side using black food colouring applied with a toothpick.

12. To assemble the cupcakes, place two of the heart shapes onto the cupcake, leaving space for the lovebug's face. The heart shapes will become the wings, and should have the black dots facing upwards.

13. Next, place the white chocolate wafers on the lovebug's face to become the eyes.

14. Using a piece of the half-inch licorice, form a mouth in front of the eyes.

15. Finally, use a toothpick to make two small holes behind the eyes and in front of the wings. Place a piece of the one-inch licorice into each hole to become the antennae.

And there you go! Lovebugs for your loved one this Valentine's Day! Enjoy!

XOXOXOXOXOXO..... ;)

Ingredients for the Red Velvet cupcakes:

Bright red batter!:

Adding the chocolate kiss:

Stuff to decorate with:

Piping the heart-shaped wings:

A love bug about to consume it's favourite food.... chocolate kisses!:

Red Velvet Cupcakes (adapted from Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softenend

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp. red gel food colouring

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 tbsps. cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. white vinegar

12 chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners (this recipe will yield batter enough to make 18 cupcakes, but for the purposes of the decorations, I only made 12).

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together on high speed until light and fluffly.

4. Add the eggs and food colouring to the butter mixture and beat on medium speed until well creamed.

5. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

6. At low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, vanilla and vinegar. Begin and end with the flour mixture.

7. Divide the batter between the prepared molds, filling each about 1/4 full.

8. Bake the cupcakes for 1o minutes, and then remove from the oven.

9. Gently press one chocolate kiss candy into each cupcake mold, and then add enough batter to fill the mold about 3/4 full.

10. Return the muffin tin to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

11. Cool the muffin tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pans to cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

3 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsps. butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

Directions:

1. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the cream, butter and corn syrup over high heat.

3. Stir the cream mixture until the butter melts, and continue to heat until just before the boiling point (bubbles will form around the pan's rim).

4. Slowly pour the scalded liquid over the melted chocolate, whisking constantly until smooth.

5. Allow the ganache to cool and thicken at room temperature before dipping the cupcakes.

Making Whoopie (Pies!)

2009-02-03T18:38:00.001-05:00

Whoopie pies, people. Whoopie PIES. Geez. Don't think I don't know what you were thinking!

Anyways, Rayzor and I have safely moved into our new house and mostly unpacked. Which means one thing... time to test out our fabulous new kitchen!

I love this new kitchen. LOVE IT. Here's why:

Having a double oven means that Rayzor and I can actually cook and bake together. Like, at the same time. Crazy, huh?

I'm also thrilled with the kitchen island, as it means lots and lots of counter space to bake on!

So, onto the other thing... you know, the reason you read this blog? Yeah, the baking... right.

While Rayzor was out watching the Super Bowl Sunday night, I flipped through one of my new cookbooks (thanks, Sherm!), Martha Stewart's Cookies for ideas. I settled on her Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies because of the peanut butter/chocolate combo, and I chose correctly!

Before trying the fruits of my labour, I'd never had a whoopie pie before. I'm sorry I haven't!

These cookies are soft, pillowy chocolate cakes, and the peanut butter frosting inside is sooo yummy! The peanut butter isn't too heavy, and complements the chocolate cookie perfectly.

These cookies are what I imagine clouds taste like in heaven. MMMMMMMMM!

The ingredients:

The batter, before baking:

Baked and cooling:

Yummy peanut butter filling:Take a cookie, add a tablespoon of frosting...:Add another cookie on top and smush together...:Voila! You just made a whoopie pie!:Ah.... heaven!:For sharing... or at least pretending to for your blog:

Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Cookies:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cocoa powder

1 tbsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt (IF using UNSALTED butter)

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

2 tsps. vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Line baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (if using unsalted butter).

4. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.

5. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and beat until well combined.

6. On low speed, slowly add dry ingredients, mixing until combined.

7. Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter onto baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.

8. Bake until set, about 8 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. When the top of a cookie is gently touched, it should feel soft but not wet.

9. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack.

Filling:

1 1/2 cup natural, peanut butter (I used chunky, but I don't think it matters)

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Directions:

1. With an electric mixer, beat peanut butter and butter on high speed until smooth.

2. Reduce speed to low, and add icing sugar, mixing until combined.

3. Raise speed to high, and mix until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes.

4. Assemble the cookies by spreading 1 heaping tablespoon of filling on the flat side of one cookie.

5. Sandwich the frosted cookie with another unfrosted cookie.

6. Repeat with remaining cookies, and refrigerate in single layers in airtight containers for up to 3 days.

Cheesecake Brownies

2009-01-19T09:22:00.010-05:00

Alright, alright. I know it's been over three weeks since I last posted, and I'm really sorry!

Here's what's been going on...

First, my computer stopped working. As in, it had no power and would not run. So while I could type up posts at work, I couldn't add photos, and let's face it, without taste, smell, touch, sound OR sight, how on earth are you supposed to enjoy my baking?!?

Next, I lost several sets of photos of stuff I baked over the holidays. Delicious stuff too, I might add. I made Peanut Butter Cups, Chocolate and Vanilla Cream Cheese Wafer cookies, Nutella Biscotti... the list was lengthy, and all of the photos are gone. Not to worry - I loved all of these recipes, and am planning on making them again, so they may see the light of day on this site yet.

Finally, Rayzor and I have been packing and furniture shopping like mad to prepare for the move into our new house at the end of the month. Which means that in addition to Rayzor has packed away all of my cookbooks, and most of my supplies.

I can hear you (Sherm), saying, "Excuses, excuses! I check this stupid site everyday and there's nothing new!" If it helps at all, I should be back on my baking schedule by Feb. 1, when I'm all moved in to my new house and bigger and better kitchen.

So why, you might ask, am I posting a recipe for Cheesecake Brownies today when I just ranted for four paragraphs about how I don't have time/space/equipment to bake?

Well, one of my colleagues is retiring at the end of January, and months ago I offered to bake something for her party. Two things, actually, but the other will debut here next week.

The thing is, I kinda sorta forgot that I was moving two days after her party and would be up to my ears in boxes. Oh, and that Rayzor had packed everything away. So I opted to bake stuff that could be frozen until needed, and searched the web for a new recipe.

I love, love, LOVE cheesecake brownies, and although my favourite recipe is tucked away in a cardboard box somewhere, I tried these brownies, with a few adaptations, of course, and was very happy with the results.

This recipe combines two amazing baked goods in one: brownies AND cheesecake. I opted to substitute some milk chocolate chips for the semisweet chocolate, and this resulted in a lighter brownie. I'm using the term "lighter" quite loosely here - if you're on a New Year's diet, there's absolutely nothing "light" about these brownies in terms of caloric intake.

But compared to a more traditional cheesecake brownie, these really let the cheesecake shine through, as the milk chocolate doesn't compete with the cheesecake the way dark does. Oh, and I adore tiny desserts, so instead of the traditional cake pan, I used a mini-cupcake tin to get these itty-bitty, marbelized brownies.

These are easy to make, rich and indulgent, and pretty much the surest way to bid adieu to your skinny jeans.

Enjoy! :)

The ingredients:

Melting the chocolate and butter together:

The first layer of brownie batter...:

Followed by the cheesecake layer...:

Spread a bit more brownie batter on top and then swirl together!:

You'd better start looking for your sweatpants!:

Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie Layer:
1/2 cup salted butter, cut into pieces (if using unsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp. salt with the flour)
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 ozs. (one package) cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Spray a mini-cupcake pan, or small cake pan with non-stick spray.

3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly.

4. Remove the chocolate/butter mixture from heat, and pour into a large bowl.

5. Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract with a wooden spoon, mixing well.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, to the chocolate, beating well after each addition.

7. Stir in the flour and beat until the batter is smooth and glossy.

8. Remove 1/2 cup of the brownie batter and set aside. Divide the remainding brownie batter evenly among the cups of the mini-cupcake tin.
9. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.

10. Add the sugar, vanilla and egg and blend until creamy and smooth.

11. Spread the cream cheese filling over the brownie layer, dividing the mixture evenly among the cupcake cups.

12. Spoon small dollops of the reserved brownie batter evenly on top of the cream cheese filling.

13. Using the tip of a knife, swirl the two batters around a bit, so that slight marbleing occurs, but not so much that the two batter mix into one.

14. Bake for 25 minutes or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan.

15. Place brownies on a wire rack to cool.

Dunked Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2008-12-15T12:30:00.001-05:00

Oh happy day! Dunked Chocolate Chunk Cookies are here!

If you're wondering if you've seen this cookie recipe before, you're right! I posted it way back in February and have made them several times since then. But these are the special "holiday" version!

To jazz up these ooey, gooey, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, replace the chocolate chips with chunks for more chocolatey goodness, and then dunk them in white chocolate and add edible decorations!

It's a simple way to make delicious cookies taste more.... DELICIOUSER!! :P

Enjoy!

The ingredients:

Before being baked:

Dunked and delicious!:

White Chocolate Coating

Ingredients:

1 cup white baking chocolate pieces

1 1/2 tbsps. vegetable shortening

Edible decorations

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the chocolate and shortening.

2. Heat and stir over medium-low heat until melted.

3. Cool slightly.

4. Dip half of each cookie into the chocolate coating and sprinkle with edible decorations.

5. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and let stand for 30 minutes or until set.

Tangerine Meltaways

2008-12-11T08:00:00.003-05:00

As a child, Mumsie (that's my mom) would share her fondest Christmas memories with my sisters and I. We used to love hearing these stories and relished how "old-fashioned" they were - like how my mother prized a pair of store-bought corduroy pants that she received one year instead of the usual home-made pattern dress.

One of her favourite aspects of Christmas was opening her stocking and enjoying the goodies inside - small candies and confections, nuts, and usually an orange.

Being a child of the '80s, I simply could not comprehend how or why an orange could be seen as a special Christmas gift. Oranges were things that we had everyday! Give me some of those Cadbury Snowmen - now those are worth waiting all year for!

Now that I'm an adult, I appreciate what that orange meant to my mother - it was a simple gift but one that signified luxury and hope for the days to come.

Of course, my mother might have just really loved oranges, but I prefer my theory.

Nevertheless, as a result of these tales, I've come to associate the taste and scent of oranges with Christmas as much as holiday baking or Santa and his hard-working elves. Which leads me to this recipe. The oranges, I mean. Not Santa. No Santas were harmed in the making of this recipe! Or elves! Anyways, you get the idea.

I originally saw this recipe in Anna Olson's Sugar several months ago but never got around to trying it out. While searching for new recipes to try this Christmas, I saw it again, and knowing that tangerines were in season, I gave it a shot.

These cookies are surprising easy to make, and have a more delicate butter flavour than other butter cookies, such as shortbread. However, they didn't exactly "melt away" in the same way that a shortbread does either. What makes these cookies really pop is the tangerine zest in the cookie and the glaze. The citrus flavour absolutely sings in your mouth and gently cleanses the palate after munching on other sugary goodies.

Two things that I would recommend before baking, however:

1. After you form your dough into logs and wrap them in plastic wrap, place them in empty paper towel rolls to keep their round shape while they chill. I learned this handy tip from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook, and have found it invaluable. Please note, however, that I did not have any around when I made these, so they're a bit misshapen.

2. Before glazing the cookies, place a sheet beneath the cooling rack to catch the excess glaze! There is NOTHING worse than having glaze drip all over your countertop and congeal into a huge sticky mess! Not like I know what that's like or anything.... :)

Enjoy!

The ingredients:

The sugaring process:

The sugared dough:

The cookies sliced and ready to be baked:

The glaze:

Cooled and glazed cookies (dripping onto waxed paper!):

Extreme close-up:

Tangerine Meltaways

Cookies:

3/4 cup salted butter, room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

2 tbsps. tangerine zest

3 tbsps. tangerine juice

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 3/4 all-purpose flour

2 tbsps. cornstarch

3 tbsps. granulated sugar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and icing sugar together until smooth.

2. Stir in tangerine zest, juice and vanilla, and blend well.

3. In a medium bowl, mix flour and cornstarch.

4. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture.

5. Shape the dough into two logs and wrap with plastic wrap.

6. Stuff each log into an empty paper towel tube and refrigerate for at least one hour.

7. Preheat oven to 325F.

8. Roll each log in 1 1/2 tbsps. of granulated sugar to coat.

9. Slice the logs into 1/4 inch rounds and place on a baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper, or a Silpat.

10. Bake cookies for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the bottoms are slightly golden.

11. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool.

Glaze:

2 tbsps. tangerine juice

6 tbsps. icing sugar

1 tbsps. butter, melted

Directions:

1. Whisk together juice, icing sugar and melted butter until smooth.

2. Place a sheet of waxed paper beneath the cooling rack and cookies prior to glazing.

3. Pour the glaze over the cookies to cover, and allow to dry for at least one hour.

Chocolava Cookies

2008-12-10T08:00:00.009-05:00

These cookies are Rayzor's favourite - they're soft, chewy and have an intense chocolate flavour - making them incredibly addictive. Every time I make these, they seem to disappear overnight!

This recipe is adapted from Julie Van Rosendaal's One Smart Cookie, which is a fabulous lower-fat cookbook and one of my absolute favourites. This cookie may be known to you by other names - I've heard them called Crinkles, Crackles, and even I have nicknamed them "Zebra Cookies" because of the black and white stripes.

Besides being really tasty, these Chocolava cookies are great because they only require one bowl and aren't fussy. Kids will love rolling these cookies and covering them in the icing sugar, and then watching them split open after baking. Oh, and dunking them in milk while they're still warm!

They also store really well, and are a nice way to dress up a Christmas goodie plate. Well, if they make it to the Christmas goodie plate, that is. :) Enjoy!

The ingredients:

The crumbly mixture (after the butter has been added):

Ready for dipping:

Dipped:

Flattened:

Baked Zebra Cookies! (Oops... I mean, Chocolava Cookies):

Chocolava Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
5 tbsps. icing sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder and salt with a whisk.
3. Stir in butter unti lthe mixture is well combined and crumbly.
4. Add egg whites and vanilla and stir by hand just until the dough comes together.
5. Place the icing sugar into a shallow dish.
6. Roll the dough into 1 1/2" balls and coat the balls in icing sugar.
7. Place cookies 2" apart on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with nonstick spray, or is covered in parchment paper (or use a Silpat!)
8. Using a spoon, flatten the cookies a bit.
9. Bake cookies for 12 - 14 minutes, until just set around the edges - the cookies should be soft in the middle.
10. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

White Chocolate Truffles

2008-12-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

Christmas to me is all about celebrating traditions with family and friends, and I can't think of a better way to do that than by baking something with someone you love. These truffles in particular, are a great recipe to try with children since they're easy to make and don't require baking. These also freeze well and make a lovely gift.

This is a recipe that I adapted a bit from Julie Van Rosendaal's One Smart Cookie. Use your imagination for decorating these little balls - use the crushed candy canes as I did, or try rolling them in icing sugar, sprinkles, coloured sugar or crushed nuts. Be creative and have fun!

The ingredients:

The truffles rolled, and awaiting candy cane sprinkles:

White Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped white chocolate

4 oz. light cream cheese, softenend

2 cups icing sugar

3 large candy canes, crushed finely

Directions:
1. Place chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave for one minute, until almost melted.

2. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool slightly.

3. Beat cream cheese until smooth.

4. Add chocolate and beat again until smooth.

5. Add one cup of the icing sugar and stir until well blended.

6. Add remaining icing sugar and stir until a soft dough forms.

7. Chill in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes until firm.

8. Place the candy canes in a sandwich bag and crush with a rolling pin.

9. Place the crushed candly canes into a shallow dish.

10. Remove the chocolate mixture from the refrigerator and shape into 1" balls.

11. Roll in the candy canes to coat, place on a sheet of waxed paper and freeze.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Cupcakes

2008-12-08T08:00:00.007-05:00

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows...

This classic Christmas song was the inspiration for these reindeer cupcakes. Using Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcake recipe (click here), I baked 24 cupcakes and decorated them using chocolate frosting, pretzels and a variety of other candies.

Before I began, I checked Google images for other reindeer-themed cupcakes, and was somewhat disappointed. Most of the examples I found were, well... kind of ugly. While these aren't perfect, I think they turned out well, and I'm pleased that I was able to make them out of totally edible items, without resorting to fondant.

So get your apron on and your creative juices flowing, and whip up some of these adorable Christmas cupcakes before the big guy in red arrives!

The ingredients:

Piping the chocolate eyes:
Santa's favourite reindeer:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Cupcakes

Ingredients:
24 baked chocolate cupcakes
Chocolate frosting
Pretzel Twists
24 amaretti cookies (or any other tan, circular cookie)
24 Swedish Berries (or any other red, circular candy)
10 white chocolate wafers
48 milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Using an offset spatula, frost each of the cupcakes with the chocolate frosting.
2. Place the white chocolate wafers in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat for 1 minute, stirring the chocolate every 20 seconds, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
3. Allow the white chocolate wafers to cool for a few minutes, and then scoop into a plastic sandwich bag and seal closed.
4. Using scissors, snip a very small piece from the tip of the sandwich bag and pipe 48 small circles onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.
5. Place a chocolate chip in the centre of each white chocolate circle and press into place.
6. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and chill the chocolates for 5 minutes.
7. Place an amaretti cookie in the middle of each cupcake, about 2 cm from the bottom and press firmly in place.
8. Above each cookie, press two eyes into place.
9. Scoop some of the remaining chocolate frosting into a sandwich bag, and snip a very small piece from the tip of the bag.
10. Pipe a chocolate frosting mouth onto the cookie, and add a dollop of frosting at the top of the cookie.
11. Press a Swedish Berry onto the dollop of frosting to secure it.
12. Using a small paring knife, cut the pretzel twists so they look like antlers.
13. Affix two antlers into the top of each cupcake.

Apple Pie

2008-11-23T09:00:00.007-05:00

Today's post will begin with a few confessions:

1. I haven't posted in such a long time because I had no time for baking or posting - Rayzor and I were busy buying a house! We don't move in until the end of January, but it has a HUGE kitchen, so look forward to many more baking escapades in 2009!
OK, so that was more of an excuse than confession, but whatever.

2. I actually made this pie for Canadian Thanksgiving (which was way back in October), but am posting it in time for American Thanksgiving. This is very shameful, I know. My mother has been harassing me about it for weeks.

3. Before this apple pie, I had never made a pie from scratch. EVER. I had made homemade fillings, but was always a user of pre-made pie crusts (those of the pastry kind, at least. I've always made my own graham-cracker crusts). Why? Well, this is the most embarrassing part -
I WAS AFRAID.

Yes, that's right. I was actually SCARED of making pie crust. I had just heard too many horror stories of things going wrong, so I avoided the whole issue by baking other things.

But here's the thing - Thanksgiving pretty much requires a pie of some sort, so I finally had to confront my fear and face it. And that's what I did. And you know what? IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Here are the three things you need to know about making pie crust:
1. Make sure the butter, shortening and ice water are very, very, very cold.
2. Don't overmix at the butter stage - wait until you add the water to mix well.
3. Cover the edges of your pie crust so they don't burn.

Yep, it's that easy. The filling is time-consuming with all the cutting, paring, coring, etc., but it's simple. Baking the pie is easy. And trust me, EATING the pie is easy. All you have to do to make it happen is take a deep breath and get started on the crust.

Oh, and then enjoy the freedom of never to cruise the frozen pie crust aisle at your grocery store again!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

The ingredients for the crust:

Stuff to make the filling:

The apples, dotted with butter:

Ready to be baked:

Heaven!:

Apple Pie

Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsps. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

5 tbsps. cold vegetable shortening

8 - 12 tbsps. ice water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt together.

2. Add the butter and shortening to the bowl. Cut them in with a pastry cutter or knife and avoid overmixing them.

3. Add the ice water. Mix until the dough holds together, adding a bit more water if necessary.

4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it together and then divide in half.

5. Flatten each half into a disk, wrap in saran wrap, and chill for at least half an hour.

6. Preheat oven to 425 F.

Filling:

8 medium sized apples (I used McIntosh)

2 tbsps. butter

1/3 cup of sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Peel, core and slice the apples, trying to keep them even in size.

2. Mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl.

3. Stir in the apples, making sure they are well coated with the sugar mixture.

4. Remove one of the dough disks from the refrigerator, and using a rolling pin, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until a circle forms (about 12" in diameter).

5. Put the circle in a 9" pie plate, trimming any extra dough from the edges with a knife.

6. Add the filling on top of the rolled out dough, and dot with butter.

7. Roll out the second dough disk like the first, and cover the apples.

8. Using your thumb and forefinger, pinch the edges of the dough together to form a seal.

9. Using a sharp knife, cut several slits into the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.

10. Cover the edges of the pie with a 3" strip of aluminum foil to prevent too much browning. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.

11. Bake the pie for 45 - 55 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the juices bubble through the slits in the crust.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes (for Halloween!)

2008-10-31T17:59:00.006-04:00

Here it is, folks (admittedly, really late) - the alternative to making chocolate, decorated cupcakes for Halloween - pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream-cheese frosting!

This was a nice change for me, and helped ease my over-loaded, chocolate-laden sweet tooth (I ate about a million mini-Crunchies). I love, love, love maple syrup, and mixing it with cream cheese made this frosting taste soooo good!

The recipe for both the cupcakes and frosting can be found here. The only changes I made to the recipe was omitting the applesauce (I just increased the pumpkin 1/4 cup), and adding a tbsp. more of the maple syrup. While I'm a huge fan of maple syrup, and it was indeed tasty, I think that if I were to make this recipe again, I would substitute maple extract, as the syrup made the frosting a bit runny.

The ingredients:

The cupcakes, baked and cooling:The finished product - scarily good!:If these cupcakes aren't your thing, and you like your Halloween gross and not cute, then perhaps you'd like to make this Kitty Litter Cake. I made this for our Halloween party at work, but sadly there are no photos of the preparation, only the result. This cake is really quite tasty, but looks are deceiving in this case, and many of my co-workers were hesitant to try it! It's fun and easy to make though, and will get lots of buzz at a Halloween party (recipe here).

Nasty looking, but quite tasty!:

Finally, here are some photos of the pumpkins I carved today (both lit and unlit):

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

S'mores Cupcakes

2008-10-26T18:03:00.001-04:00

Ah, s'mores - the ultimate camping snack. There's just something so messy, so completely satisfying, about sinking your teeth into a crunchy graham cracker and revealing the melted chocolate and marshmallow inside. It makes me want to go camping all year round!

But it's getting cold outside, and I'm totally out of vacation days, so I decided to put all the goodness of s'mores into a compact package - the cupcake.

These are tasty treats, my friends, REALLY tasty treats. In fact, I'm willing to bet the house I don't have, that you will not be able to eat only one.

The cake recipe that I used (click here) I found one day while idly looking around the Martha Stewart site. What appealed to me was the use of a chocolate batter (many s'mores cupcake recipes seem to be more of a vanilla cupcake that's designed to mimic the graham cracker), and the inclusion of a graham cracker crust at the bottom of the cupcake. What took this recipe over the top was the sprinkling of dark chocolate over the crust before adding the cupcake batter, and more of the crust and chocolate on TOP of the batter before baking.

This cupcake is just soooo good! The graham cracker crust is sweet and crunchy, and the dark chocolate melts into the softness of the actual cupcake. But then you add the final mouthful to the scenario - marshmallow frosting - and it's eyes-rolling-into-the-back-of-your-head amazing!

The frosting recipe I used (click here) was very good, but a tad too sweet for my tastes, and didn't really let the marshmallow flavour shine through. Still, it was very tasty, and complemented the cupcake well.

When I make these cupcakes again, I will do a few things differently.
First, although I will make the cupcake according to the recipe I used, I think I will double the graham cracker crust mixture, and spread more of it on the top of each cupcake to mimic an actual S'mores.

Second, instead of making a marshmallow frosting for the top, I think I'll just pipe the marshmallow fluff directly into the interior of the cupcake, and omit the frosting, for a more authentic-looking (and tasting!) S'mores snack.

MMMMMMMMMMM! S'mores............... I think I need to go and make some of these right now!

Honey Oatmeal Bread (Step-by-Step or Should I Say, Photo-By-Photo?)

2008-10-19T19:15:00.006-04:00

Does the thought of baking your own bread make you break out in hives and run screaming for the hills? Or want to hide under the covers or eat obscene amounts of ice cream from the tub while watching old Full House re-runs (wasn't Uncle Jesse the cutest...)?

If you answered yes, you're not alone. Baking bread can be tricky, and it takes awhile, but you can do it, and you'll wow the socks off anyone - even yourself. Oh, and then you get to eat it, of course. And eating delicious, homemade bread is the greatest reward.

So, let's get started. To make things easier, I've included the recipe at the end of this post, but have changed things up a bit by adding photographs of each step so you know what to look for. This bread is absolutely smack-tacular - it's soft and fluffy, slighly sweet (as a result of the honey), has a crisp and slightly crunchy topping, is healthy for you, and works well for sandwiches, toast, stuffing or even bread pudding!

The only caveat? You need to have a very good stand mixer, like a KitchenAid mixer, to perform this recipe. Why? Because the mixing bread dough takes a lot out of your mixer, and if you use one that doesn't have enough power, it will burn your motor out. And then you'll need a new one. And then you'll curse my name and my unborn children.

So - use the proper equipment. Bread can be kneaded by hand, but this isn't the best recipe for that purpose. There are millions of good bread recipes available online, so check them out if you still want to proceed, but don't have the proper tool.

OK - have mixer? Add ingredients. Make sure you follow the recipe. EXACTLY. I can't emphasise that enough. And make sure you have a few hours around the house to allow the bread to rise. Go fold laundry. Have a bath. Read a magazine... anything. Just give yourself the time to make it and you're set!!!

Here we go!

The ingredients:

Step 1: The flour, oats, salt and yeast in the mixer bowl:

Step 2: Mixing the flour mixer, using the dough hook, on Speed 2:

Step 3: Heating the butter, honey and water until all melty:

Step 4: Adding the warm liquid to the mixing flour mixture:

Step 5: Adding the eggs:

Greasing the bowl for the dough:

Step 6: Adding the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time:

Step 8: The dough in a warmed, greased bowl...:

And turned once, to completely grease all sides:

Step 9: The dough, covered and rising on the stovetop (turn your oven to 350F to give it a warm place to "grow"):

Step 10: The dough, after it's been punched down...

And then divided in half:Step 11: Rolling out the dough...:

Rolling the dough into a log...:

Pinching the ends shut to create a seal:

Step 12: The loaf goes into it's greased pan:

Step 13: The loaves are covered and allowed to rise for another hour...:

Until doubled in size:

Step 15: Brushing the loaves with the egg wash...:

And sprinkling with oats:

Ready to go into the oven:

Baked and smelling delicious:

Sliced and splendid!

Honey Oatmeal Bread (adapted from KitchenAid Stand Mixer Cookbook)

Dough:

5 - 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 teaspoons salt
2 packages active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsps. when measuring from the jar)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs

Egg Wash:
1 tablespoon water
1 egg white

2 - 4 tbsps. oats

Directions:
1. Place oats, salt, yeast and 5 cups of the flour in the mixer bowl.
2. Using the dough hook attachment, mix the flour mixture for 30 seconds on Speed 2.
3. In a small saucepan, combine water, honey, and butter, and heat until butter is melted (approximately 120 - 130F).
4. While still mixing the flour on Speed 2, slowly add the warm liquid to flour mixture, mixing for about 1 minute.
5. Add the eggs and mix for 1 minute.
6. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 3 minutes.
7. Knead on Speed 2 for 7-10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.
8. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.
9. Cover the dough and allow it to rise in warm place, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
10. Punch the dough down and divide it in half.
11. Shape each half into a loaf by rolling it out into a large rectangle, rolling it up and pinching the ends to form a seal.
12. Place each loaf, seal side down, into a greased 8 1/2x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch bread or loaf pan.
13. Cover the loaves and let them rise in warm place till doubled in size, about an hour.
14. Combine the tbsp.of water with the egg white and mix well.
15. Brush the top of each loaf with the egg wash mixture, and sprinkle with a few tbsps. of oats.
16. Bake at 375 F for 40 - 45 minutes.
17. Remove the loaves from pans and cool on wire racks.

Halloween Cupcakes (or what started it all!)

2008-10-15T07:25:00.006-04:00

Around this time last year, I finally admitted to myself that I was going to be one of those compulsive home-baking people, and just embraced the fact that I loved baking and then eating what I baked, and occasionally, sharing the baked stuff with others.

While shopping in the U.S. at Hobby Lobby (Americans are so lucky - they have the best stores!) I was first introduced to the huge assortment of cake decorating tools and absolutely fell in love with all things cupcake-related.

Because Halloween was right around the corner when I bought all my cupcake stuff (liners, decorating tips, sprinkles, cupcake boxes, well, you get the idea), I went to the Wilton cupcake site to get some inspiration for my first attempt. Wilton offers great step-by-step instructions that make it easy for the beginning decorator to get started.

The results?

Dirt Cupcakes (which you've seen before here):

Mummies (vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting):

Mini-Draculas (chocolate cupcakes and chocolate frosting):

Unfortunately, these photos are kind of small as I had to borrow them from my Facebook account (I can't find the originals).

At first I felt that the design I selected was fairly creative (yeah, yeah, I know... I got it off the Wilton website... how original is that?), but this year, while googling 'halloween cupcakes', I discovered that I wasn't the only one who was inspired...

I dare you! Go to http://www.google.com/ select "Images" and type in 'halloween cupcakes'. Search.

Report what you find! :)

Sugar Cookies for Autumn

2008-10-05T18:20:00.001-04:00

I used to love Martha Stewart's sugar cookie recipe (see here), but I'll never make it again. Here's why: I found this recipe. And it's a million times easier to make, and takes less time to prepare. Oh - and the cookies taste better.

Sorry, Martha! I still love you, but sometimes a girl just has to move on.

Moving on...

I found these cookie cutters at Winners a few weeks back and was itching to try them out. I have no idea how I happened upon the Fancy Flours website, but I did and I'm grateful. These cookies do NOT spread (a problem with many sugar cookie doughs) and don't need to chill for a long time. And they taste great! Did I mention that already?

I made about 100 cookies and covered some with sprinkles before baking, some with a cinnamon-sugar mixture (1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 2 tsps. of ground cinnamon), and left the rest plain, to be decorated with royal icing (recipe here) once they had cooled.

For my second attempt at making sugar cookies, I thought these turned out pretty great! The last time I was somewhat disappointed with how overcooked many of my cookies were, and I wasn't exactly satisfied with my decorating job. This time, though, I learned from past mistakes and let my creativity flow.

For some of the cookies, like the acorns and squirrels, I covered them in the cinnamon-sugar before baking (which, by the way, tasted AWESOME):

Others, I dotted on sprinkles and other fun decorations before baking, and piped icing to finalize the design once the cookies had cooled:

And for the others, I went crazy with the royal icing:

Besides using a better recipe for the cookies, when using the royal icing I did the following:

1. Divided the icing into small, zippered sandwich bags;

2. Added a bit of food colouring to each bag, closed them, and then smushed the colour all around in the bag to blend it;

3. Snipped a tiny hole in the corner of each bag when I was ready to use it, and piped the STIFF icing on the cookies to act as a dam before I "flooded" each cookie;

4. Added a bit of water to each icing bag once the "damming" process was completed, and used the runnier icing for flooding.

***For a step-by-step tutorial on icing sugar cookies with royal icing, check out My Sweet & Saucy's great guide here.

I sent that lucky Rayzor with a plateful of these cookies for his co-workers, and brought a plateful in to mine as well. Everyone "oohed and aahed" over the designs, and I was quite flattered to learn that one of Rayzor's colleagues was disappointed that he brought in "store-bought" cookies (before she tried one, I might add).

But the most important lesson I learned as a result of this experiment was the discovery that it's good to break out of your creative rut (in my case, sticking to Martha Stewart recipes) and the realization that while practice makes perfect, it doesn't hurt to just go wild with your creative streak when it strikes you.

Oh, and that red sprinkles will stain your teeth pink. :)

The ingredients:

The results!:

Coffee Cupcakes

2008-09-30T10:30:00.001-04:00

Like coffee? Love cupcakes? Put the two together and rejoice - the coffee cupcake is here!

This recipe was originally posted by my favourite cupcake lady, Cassie, over at How To Eat A Cupcake, and was my first attempt at making Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Thankfully, it was successful, and now I love, love, LOVE Swiss Meringue Buttercream! Well, at least the coffee-flavoured version...

Anyways.

These cupcakes are so incredibly moist and chocolatey. The coffee flavour of the cupcake is very subtle, and enhances the chocolate flavour nicely without overpowering the overall taste, which is a good thing considering that the frosting packs the coffee-flavour punch.

I was so pleased with the result of this recipe! Everything tasted really great, and I loved the clean, simple look of the finished cupcake. And topping the whole thing off with a delicious chocolate-covered espresso bean will put a smile on your face and a bit more skip in your step!

The ingredients:
Topped with a chocolate-covered espresso bean:Minis!:

Zucchini Muffins (and Bread!)

2008-09-24T08:05:00.000-04:00

Stephanie over at Stephanie's Kitchen, is one of my favourite bloggers, and she posted a recipe for Zucchini Bread (recipe here) a while back that I had been dying to try. I was hooked when I read that she used a sugar-cinnamon topping, and I knew that it would be the perfect recipe to use in my cute daisy-shaped cupcake pan that I received for my birthday!

However, having begged my colleague D.G. to give me a zucchini from his garden to make the recipe, I had to bake him a gift, too. So I made him a zucchini bread, which I foolishly forgot to photograph.

The muffins that resulted from this recipe were terrific. They were very moist and the sugar-cinnamon topping gave them a slight crunch. A perfect way to start the day! Thanks, Stephanie!

My Notes:

-I baked the muffins for 22 minutes at 350F and after 15 minutes of baking, checked for doneness every few minutes.

-To make the cinnamon-sugar topping, I mixed 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1 tbsp. cinnamon in a small bowl. In a different bowl, I melted 1/4 cup of unsalted butter, and dipped the top of each baked muffin in the melted butter, and then the cinnamon-sugar. Easy!

The ingredients: The daisy cupcake pan:

Voila!

Crammed Oatmeal Cookies

2008-09-18T20:30:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, a librarian became "The Bumbling Baker" and created a blog about her baking escapades and experiments. While conducting research for the project, she found a recipe for Everyone's Favorite Cookies, and much to her amazement and delight, she discovered that she too, was a convert.

Then she tweaked and fiddled with the recipe, and stumbled upon what will now and forever be known as 'Crammed Oatmeal Cookies'. Nothing (including the size of her waistline) would ever be the same again...

Sometimes the best stuff comes about by accident, and these cookies were no exception. While camping a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to find macadamia nuts at a bulk food store near our campsite, and I bought a few cupfuls. Unsalted macadamia nuts are very difficult to find in Toronto, and they are super-expensive, so when I find them, I buy them.

I thought that the nuts would pair nicely with dried cranberries, so I bought some of those too. All I had to do was figure out what to put them in. And that's when it hit me - cookies!

I decided to adapt the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip recipe, replace the semisweet chocolate chips with white chocolate chips, and add the cranberries and chopped nuts. And in case you were wondering - No, I didn't cook these over the open fire! I waited until I got home. I'm the BUMBLING baker... not the Backwoods Baker. Yet. Anyways...........

The result was a cookie crammed with texture and flavour. The oats and cranberries give the cookie it's chewiness, while the nuts add a subtle flavour and big crunch. The white chocolate is rich and decadent, making this cookie more la-di-da than lunchbox. But don't take my word for it.... Go make some! Well, after you finish reading the story...

... After the last batch of cookies came out of the oven, The Bumbling Baker bit into one of the warm cookies and chewed in delight. Dusting her hands off, she opened a plastic container to store the cookies, and began to place them inside. But as she was moving the cookies, one of them broke, so she ate the damaged pieces. And then one of them was uneven, so she ate that too. And then she just ate one to even out the numbers.

One by one, the "imperfect" specimens were weeded out, until a few remained that were worthy of consumption. She placed these perfect cookies on a plate, poured a glass of milk, and then spent the remainder of the evening watching reruns of the Cosby Show wearing her rattiest flannel pyjamas. And The Bumbling Baker lived happily ever after...

Well, until she got on the scale the next morning.

The ingredients:

Baked cookies taunting me:

Crammed Oatmeal Cookies

1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat, or spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat margarine/butter and brown sugar until well combined - it should have the consistency of wet sand.
3. Add egg whites and vanilla and beat mixture until smooth.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt.
5. Add dry ingredients to the sugar mixture and stir by hand until almost combined.
6. Add the white chocolate chips, cranberries and macadamia nuts, and stir until just blended.
7. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets about 2" apart.
8. Flatten each cookie a little with the back of a spoon.
9. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until pale golden around the edges but soft in the middle. DO NOT OVERBAKE!!
10. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Peachy Keen Cupcakes

2008-09-07T18:31:00.001-04:00

It's peach season here in Ontario, and with baskets of ripe, juicy peaches available for a few bucks, making a peach dessert seems like a no-brainer. Well, unless you hate peaches, of course.
But for the sake of this post, let's pretend that EVERYONE likes peaches, OK?

The basis for my recipe was adapted from this recipe, via the cupcake haven, Cupcakes Take The Cake. I made mini-cupcakes, and added the sour peach ring candies to the top for decoration (and more peachiness!), but as much as I tried to love these cupcakes in all their adorable-ness, I just couldn't. For some reason, they were kind of bland, the cupcake was a bit gummy (although totally cooked), and I didn't feel that the peach flavour really stood out. Well, with the exception of the candies, which were the tastiest part of the whole dessert.

This recipe wasn't exactly a bumble, but it wasn't a success, either. I named this recipe "Peachy Keen" mostly because I tried my darndest to make something delicious, but just ended up with a cute package and little substance.

My one saving grace? I also whipped up a batch of my mini-Coconut Lime cupcakes (recipe here) which were SUPERB with their thick layer of buttercream and toasted coconut topping and tangy lime cake underneath. I almost felt bad for the peach cupcakes - once you ate a coco-lime cuppy, you didn't want to eat anything else!

NOTE: There are no photos of the ingredients because my camera wasn't working at the time of baking. And by not working, I mean the batteries were dead. :)
The photos you see below I took with my camera at work, after I bought new batteries. And my co-workers were the lucky recipients of these goodies.

Keen but not that Peachy:
The REAL star of the show - Mini Coconut Lime Cupcakes:

Peachy Keen Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup milk
1 fresh peach, pitted, peeled and pureed (use your blender, food processor, or a fork)

Frosting:
1/2 fresh peach, pitted, peeled and pureed
1 1/2 tbsps. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
24 sour peach ring candies

Directions:

Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line mini muffin tins with paper liners.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth.
4. Gradually add sugar to butter and beat for 2 minutes more.
5. Add eggs and extracts to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition.
6. Stir in half the dry ingredients, then half the milk, in three parts; repeat and mix until well-combined, ending with the flour.
7. Stir in pureed peach and pour batter into muffin liners, filling until the top.
8. Bake cupcakes for 15 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 9. Cool in tins for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Directions:

Frosting:
1. Beat butter and ¾ cup powdered sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.
2. Blend in 1½ tablespoons peach puree and the extract, beating for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
3. Gradually add remaining sugar, adding more peach puree if a thinner consistency is desired.
4. Frost cupcakes and top each with a sour peach ring candy.

Blueberry & Blackberry Galette

2008-08-22T10:00:00.001-04:00

Got some time this weekend? Make this!

What I love about this galette is that it's absolutely bursting with colour and flavour, and looks beautiful served right off the parchment paper. The rustic quality of this dessert is homey and comforting, but it will wow even the toughest of chi-chi critics. I particularly love that the crust is not as rich as a typical pie crust, but is more of a danish-type pastry. Oh, that, and the fact that the filling is SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!

I adapted this recipe from magazine Cooking Light's July 2008 edition (titled Blueberry and Blackberry Galette with Cornmeal Crust), and should inclue the editors notes:

"The rich, buttery pastry dough is easy and forgiving. Simply roll it out onto parchment paper with a lightly floured rolling pin, and then use the parchment to transfer it to a baking sheet."

Without further adieu, go get some fresh berries, set aside a few hours, and then settle in with a deep dish of this gorgeous galette. Smother it with a scoop (or two!) of frozen yogurt, or ice cream or whipped cream... or all three, you naughty snacker, you! ;)

The ingredients:

Ready to be baked:

Baked and bursting with berry goodness:

Blueberry & Blackberry Galette

Pastry:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk

Filling:
4 cups blueberries
2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsps. all-purpose flour
2 tbsps. lemon juice
2 tbsps. fat-free milk
1 large egg white
1 1/2 tbsps. granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir together.
2. Add butter to mixture and mix with an electric mixer briefly, until it resembles coarse meal.
3. With the mixer on, slowly add buttermilk and mix just until the dough forms into a bal.
4. Gently press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350F.
6. Unwrap and place dough on a sheet of parchment paper.
7. Roll dough into a 15-inch circl, and place dough and parchment on a baking sheet.
8. To prepare filling, combine berries, sugar, flour and lemon juice in a medium bowl, and toss gently to thoroughly coat.
9. Arrange berry mixture in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-inch border.
10. Fold edges of dough toward the center, pressing gently to seal (dough will only partially coer berry mixture).
11. Combine fat-free milk and egg white in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
12. Brush dough with milk mixture; sprinkle sugar evenly over dough.
13. Bake for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown (my galette took 1 hour and 15 minutes).
14. Let stand for 30 minutes, and then cut into wedges.

Yield: 10 servings (1 serving is a wedge)

Calories: 306; Fat: 9.7g; Protein: 4.3g; Fiber: 3.7g; Carb: 52.2g; Chol: 24mg; Iron: 1.7mg; Sodium: 138mg; Calc: 33mg.

Cranberry-White Chocolate Muffins

2008-08-20T14:19:00.001-04:00

A few months ago (OK, OK, it was in May), my Aunt Lucille, who is a frequent reader of this blog(Hi, Aunt Lucille!!), requested that a cranberry muffin recipe be featured here.
As some of you may remember, I've made Cranberry-Zucchini muffins before, but I wanted to try another cranberry muffin recipe to please my aunt, and well, to get rid of all the extra frozen cranberries I had hogging valuable (and limited) space in my freezer.

After perusing my Joy of Cooking cookbook, I adapted the recipe below to create a truly decadent muffin recipe. Be advised that this is definitely NOT a breakfast muffin - the richness of the butter and white chocolate chips make this at the very least, a snack muffin, if not an all-out dessert.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cranberry-White Chocolate Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

2 tsps. baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

3. Whisk flour, salt, sugar and baking powder together in a medium-sized bowl.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs.

5. Add the butter and milk to the eggs and beat until well blended.

6. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.

7. Gently fold the cranberries and chocolate chips into the mixture by hand.

8. Divide the mixture in the muffin pan and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

9. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

60-Minute Dinner Rolls

2008-08-18T14:19:00.001-04:00

There is something so satisfying about making and baking your own bread or rolls. It's not just that the smell permeates your entire house (which is indeed drool-inducing), but the sense of comfort that infuses your soul that's so powerful.

The first time I baked bread I was 11 years old at a 4H Club meeting in Myrna McLean's weathered kitchen along with about 10 other pre-teen girls. Although I spent most of my time there trying to appear cool (which was pretty hard considering I was sporting a fuzzy afro and wore Northern Reflections t-shirts, but whatever), a little part of me was interested in baking and even then, I felt a twinge of awareness that bread-making offered something that I didn't know the name for, but understood, nonetheless.

Fast forward 17 years later, and I can't help but be transported to that warm, lineoleum-floored kitchen when the smell of bread reaches my nostrils. And even more importantly, I can still remember Mrs. McLean's very sage advice:

1. Make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature before you start;
2. After you heat the milk/sugar/butter mixture, make sure that it's not hot, not cold, but LUKEWARM when you add it to the yeast mixture - forgetting or ignoring this step will result in bread that does not rise;
3. Make sure that your dough rises someplace warm. I usually place it on top of my preheated stove (NOT ON THE ELEMENT, THOUGH!) with the dish towel completely covering the top, and make sure that the A/C is off when it's rising, to avoid any unwanted drafts.

The recipe below has been adapted from KitchenAid's Instructions and Recipes booklet (which accompanied my KitchenAid Bowl Lift Stand Mixer). Be advised that if you're planning on making this recipe, and you don't have a KitchenAid mixer (which should always be set to low when mixing dough, by the way), it's best not to use any other brand of electric mixer, unless it specifically states that it can handle bread dough-making, as it will totally burn your motor out.
Instead, you'll have to mix it yourself by hand, and knead it out on a floured surface... just like we did back in 4H in 1991. :)

The ingredients:

Cooling on a wire rack, and making my mouth water:

Sixty-Minute Rolls

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsps. salt

3 tbsps. butter or margarine

3 packages of dry active yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water (105F - 115F)

5 - 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, stir milk, sugar, salt and butter together.

2. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool until lukewarm.

3. Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl.

4. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 1/2 cups flour to yeast mixture, and using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute.

5. With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix about 1 1/2 minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl.

6. Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or utnil dough is smooth and elastic - the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.

7. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top.

8. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel, and let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 15 minutes.

9. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and divide dough into 24 equal pieces.

10. Form each piece into a ball, and place in a greased muffin pan.
11. Using kitchen shears or a pizza cutter (a knife will also do), cut each ball in half, then in quarters, and replace in the muffin pan.

12. Cover the muffin pan with the dish towel, and let the dough rise in a slightly warm oven (90F) for about 15 minutes.

13. Bake at 425F for 12 minutes, or until rolls are golden brown.

14. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

Lemon Cheesecake

2008-08-10T14:19:00.003-04:00

I honestly ask you - is there anything richer, more decadent, more roll-your-eyes-in-the-back-of-your-head delicious than cheesecake?

This lemon cheesecake is AMAZING. It melds the richness of the cheese with the tartness of lemons into something better than wonderful, and is now, officially, my favourite cheesecake EVER. Add the sugared lemon zest garnish, and you've created something that not only tastes incredible, but looks incredible, too. You could leave out the glaze and the sugared lemon zest, but it won't be as cool. Trust me, none of your friends will believe that you made this!

Like most cheesecakes, this is a make ahead recipe, especially because it takes several hours for the cheesecake to chill and deepen in flavour, and for the zest to dry out before sugaring. But it's worth it - and it's even worth working out for a whole week to burn off the calories!

NOTE: The sugared lemon zest is adapted from Anna Olson's Sugar and the crust, cheesecake filling and glaze are adapted from this recipe.

The ingredients:

The lemon zest, candied and drying:

"Sugaring" the zest:

A closer look:

Voila!:
Lemon Cheesecake
Sugared Lemon Zest
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 lemons
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Slice off the top and tail of the lemons. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zest of the lemons into thin strips.
2. Julienne (slice thinly lengthwise) the peel segments.
3. Blanch the peel in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes and drain (this will cook out the bitterness).
4. Return zest to pot with 1 cup sugar and 1 cup boiling water and simmer until zest appears translucent, about 15 minutes.
5. Drain well (reserve the syrup for the glaze) and spread zest onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, allowing to dry for 4 - 6 hours.
6. Toss zest with remaining 1/4 cup sugar to coat. Zest will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
7. Decorate glazed cheesecake with candied lemon zest.

Cheesecake Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsps. sugar
3 tbsps. melted butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and butter.
3. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9" springform pan.
4. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

Cheesecake Filling:
3 packages of cream cheese (8 oz. each), room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 tbsps. flour
2 tbsps. lemon juice (1 medium-sized lemon will suffice for the juice and rind)
1 tbsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 egg white

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Combine cheese, sugar, flour, lemon juice, rind and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix at medium speed until well blended.
3. Add the whole eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Beat in the egg white.
5. Pour the mixture over the baked crust.
6. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 250F and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Remove the cake, allow it to cool for about an hour, then remove the springform portion and chill the cake for at least 8 hours, but preferably overnight.

Lemon Glaze:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsps. reserved syrup from the candied lemon zest - feel free to add more to sweeten further

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk the lemon juice and cornstarch together.
2. Cook for 2 - 5 minutes, until mixture thickens somewhat.
3. Remove pan from heat and stir in the reserved syrup.
4. Allow the glaze to cool, and when lukewarm, brush over the top and sides of the chilled cheesecake with a pastry brush.

Baby Shower Cupcakes

2008-07-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

One of Rayzor's colleagues had a baby shower a few weeks ago (she's now the proud mother of a baby boy!) at work and he asked if I'd be able to make him some cupcakes to bring to the shower.

I also packaged up a few for her to take home to enjoy, and since I didn't know if she was having a boy or girl, I simply frosted some of the cupcakes blue, and some pink. I got the idea for the crying baby here, and the happy baby from the Wilton site.

To decorate, I used silver dragee balls for the pink and blue frosted cupcakes, and tinted the remaining frosting black, tan and green for the hair, eyes, mouth, skin, nose and pacifier. The 'ring' part of the pacifier was a life saver.

All in all, I think they turned out pretty well, with the exception of the pink frosting which was a bit soft and totally fell flat once it was piled up (see bottom photo for evidence). But it really wasn't that big of a bumble - I simply popped the rest of the frosting into the fridge to firm up.

For cupcake recipe, click here.
For frosting recipe, click here.

Don't cry!:

All better...:

This one looks alright...:

Gosh, what a mess! At least it tasted good:

Sugar Cookies

2008-07-20T15:24:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen someone else do something and think, "Gosh, that's simple. Anyone could do that. I could do that!" And then you try it yourself and realize that not only is it not easy, but you actually really suck at it? And then you chastise yourself for getting too big for your britches and mull over the giant slice of humble pie that you've been served? And then after all that, all you can think about is pie?

That's sort of what happened to me when I attempted to make these sugar cookies to use as party favours for Sherm's bridal shower. Well, except that I didn't really end up thinking about pie, but whatever.

This sugar cookie recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, and I've made them before successfully. One of the great things about sugar cookies is that they freeze really well or can be kept in an airtight container, layered between sheets of waxed or parchment paper, at room temperature for up to 3 days. Also, this recipe, while somewhat time intensive, is fairly straightforward. The hard part was the decorating.

One of my favourite blogs, My Sweet & Saucy, features an awesome step-by-step tutorial for decorating sugar cookies, and all of the decorated cookies that I've seen her make are incredible. So foolishly, I thought that I could just read the tutorial, fill my piping bag and miracles would unfold. Except, that's not what happened.

While the cookies didn't turn out terribly, I really wasn't satisfied with my decorating. Since I didn't have meringue powder, I used a royal icing from the Joy of Baking website. I can't really blame anyone other than myself, since I knew that the icing was really a bit too stiff and I didn't thin it out at all. Therefore, the icing didn't flood properly, so several cookies had a slightly bumpy finish.

The cookies tasted alright, and the decorating job wasn't HORRIBLE, I know, but I was still unsatisfied with the results, even wrapped in little cellophane bags and tied with pink ribbons.

If I could give some advice to someone baking and decorating sugar cookies for the first time, it would be this:
1. Read all instructions carefully and follow them!
2. Don't expect the cookies to look perfect, at least, not without some practise.
3. Don't become over-confident, or you'll be eating a slice of humble pie!

MMMM.... pie....

Ingredients for cookies: Dough, divided and wrapped in plastic wrap waiting to be refrigerated:
Rolled out dough:
Cutting out the heart shapes... I prefered the whole heart shapes as opposed to cookies with a smaller shape cut out of the middle because they seemed to overbake easily and were harder to decorate: Baked and cooling on a wire rack:
Decorated with Sherm's favourite colour... PINK!:

Sugar Cookies

1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Directions:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
2. Add eggs, vanilla and salt; mix on medium-high speed until combined.
3. With mixer on low speed, add flour in two batches, mixing until just incorporated.
4. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and pat into flattened rectangles; wrap each in plastic.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.
6. Preheat the oven to 350F, with racks in the upper and lower thirds.
7. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one rectangle of dough to a scant 1/4 thickness.
9. Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Transfer shapes to prepared sheets, placing about 2 inches apart, using a small, offset spatula.
10. Chill in freezer or refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes.
11. Set scraps aside.
12. Repeat process with remaining rectangle of dough.
13. Gather all of the scraps and roll out again. Chill 15 minutes; cut out more shapes, and place on sheets.
14. If using sanding sugar or sprinkles, decorate cookies before baking.
15. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are golden around the edges and slightly firm to the touch, about 15 minutes.
16. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
17. Decorate with royal icing, if using, and to picing with sanding sugar or sprinkles if appropriate.

Vanilla Cupcakes

2008-07-20T13:42:00.000-04:00

Along with the chocolate cupcakes (more details and recipe link here) that I made for Sherm's bridal shower, I baked up a batch of these vanilla cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.

I really love how easy it is to make these cupcakes, but they are a bit dense, so if you're looking for a lighter cupcake or simply enjoy baking-related debates, check out Chockylit's posts on vanilla cupcakes for some hints and suggestions.

Want a change from chocolate cupcakes? Try these out and enjoy them today!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes, baked and cooling:

Inside... so soft!:

Decorated with 'M's (Sherm's first-name initial) and looking fabulous at the party:

Vanilla Cupcakes

3 cups cake flour
2 tsps. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk
8 large egg whites

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffly, 3 - 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Beat in the vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
6. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy.
7. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. DO NOT OVERBEAT.
8. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites.
9. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter.
10. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 - 25 minutes.
11. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto the rack; then reinvert and let them cool completely, top sides up.
12. Frost the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and chocolate decorations.