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Gluten Free Chocolate Glitter Cookies 6 Feb 2012 2:04 PM (13 years ago)

I never really thought about gluten and what it means to go gluten-free until recently.  It was suggested to me to go GF to help increase my overall wellbeing and I have learned many things in the short time I have been heeding this advice.  The most interesting thing is that going gluten-free is not as difficult as I thought.  There are tons of products out there that support this diet and I've had a lot of fun researching it with regards to baking.

These glitter cookies were my first attempt at GF baking.  These little nuggets are made with ground almonds and bake up to be tasty, chewy, brownie-like cookies.  Everyone loved them and they were gone almost instantly.  Give them a try - you won't miss the wheat. :)

Gunn's Cheese Onion Buns 23 Jan 2012 12:43 PM (13 years ago)

I've been wanting to make these for a long while.  Every time I read the recipe I could imagine how the the cheesey-oniony goodness would just melt in my mouth. I was not disappointed.

If you're comfortable with yeast and shaping dough  then making these buns will be a rewarding experience. Just give yourself time to complete the whole process and be prepared to amaze yourself and anyone you care to share with.  Next time I think I'll add more cheese.

The recipe comes from Gunn's in Winnipeg,  They make tons of yummy goodies and now you can too.

Gunn's Cheese Onion Buns

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups warm milk
2 tsp dry active yeast
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (approx)
4 tsp butter, melted
2 cups old Cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise

In a small bowl, dissolve 4 tsp of the sugar in warm milk.  Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl and using an electric mixer, beat eggs.  Remove 2 tbsp of the beaten egg; reserve in small airtight container in refrigerator.  Add remaining sugar to beaten eggs in bowl; beat until thick and pale yellow, about 2 minutes.  Stir in yeast mixture, oil and salt.  With wooden spoon, stir in enough flour to make a slightly sticky dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, 10 to 12 minutes.  Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over.  Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Punch down dough, turn out onto lightly floured surface.  Divide in half.  Roll each half into 12 x 8-inch (30 x 20 cm) rectangle.  Brush each with half of the melted butter, leaving a 1/2 -inch (1 cm) border uncovered; sprinkle each with half each of the cheese and poppy seeds.  Brush edges lightly with reserved beaten egg.

Starting at long side, roll up; pinch seam to seal.  Cut into 2-inch (5 cm) thick slices; place, about 2 inches (5cm) apart, on prepared pans.  Press to flatten to 1 inch (2.5 cm) thickness.  Cover with clean tea towel and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Brush lightly with reserved beaten eggs; sprinkle with onion.  Top each with 1 tsp mayonnaise.  Bake in top and bottom thirds of 375 F (190 C) oven, switching and rotating pans halfway through, until golden and buns sound hollow when tapped on bottoms, 25 to 30 minutes.  Transfer to rack, let cool.  Makes 12 large buns.

Recipe Source: The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book,  2008

Chocolate Chocolate Muffins 10 Jan 2012 11:55 AM (13 years ago)

Chocolate and more chocolate is pretty much what you'll get if you make these muffins. They remind me of the chocolate fudge muffin from Mmmuffins - dense and dark. I made them a little healthier by replacing some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat. No one knew. Don't overbake them or they'll be dry and a dry chocolate muffin is no fun at all.

Chocolate Chocolate Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with wrappers.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and baking soda. Set it aside.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together the butter and unsweetened chocolate. Stir until smooth, then remove from heat and let cool for just a minute. Add the buttermilk, egg and vanilla, whisking the mixture until everything is well combined. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing just until all the ingredients are moistened, then add the chocolate chips. Mix until the chips are evenly distributed.

Spoon batter into well-greased (or paper-lined) muffin pan, filling the cups to the top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for a couple of minutes before removing from the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool more or less completely. Makes 10 chocolate chocolate muffins.

Recipe Source: The Clueless Baker, 2001

Accidental Trifle 1 Jan 2012 12:01 PM (13 years ago)

Happy New Year!  To start things off with a bang here is the trifle I made for Christmas.  Contrary to its name, it was no accident - every component was planned out.  It was sweet, creamy delicious and massive.  I only have one glass bowl so I had to almost double it so it wouldn't look wimpy.

There are hundreds of trifle recipes out there and no doubt you have a favourite one.  If you're new to trifle-making, this is a good recipe to try out.  The basics are there - cake, custard, whipped cream and fruit.  Total yumminess in every bite.  You can use store-bought products or homemade, whichever you prefer.  Personalize it to your tastes and prepare to wow everyone.

Accidental Trifle

1 stale or fresh layer cake or pound cake
6 cups strawberries, raspberries, blueberries (or any combination thereof)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 recipe prepared cream filling (recipe below)
2 cups 35% whipping cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup sherry (any kind), optional
1 cup raspberry or apricot jam

Cut the cake up into slices, as evenly as you can - they can be ragged or funny shaped: it doesn't matter.  Prepared fruit (wash, slice, peel do whatever must be done) and toss it with 1/4 cup of the sugar.  Prepare the cream filling and let cool.

Pour the whipping cream into a large bowl and add the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar.  Beat with an electric mixer on high speed until the cream is thick and holds a soft peak when you lift the beaters from the bowl.  Set aside.

Arrange about half of the cake slices in a layer on the bottom of your prettiest glass bowl (approximately 8-inch/20cm in diameter).  Sprinkle the cake slices with sherry, then spread with half of the jam.  Top with half of the fruit, then slather with half of the cream filling.  Cover with half of the whipped cream.

Now repeat: the rest of the cake slices, more sherry, the rest of the jam, the rest of the fruit, rest of the custard and the rest of the whipped cream.  Smooth the top of the whipped cream and decorate with a few extra berries.  Makes 8-10 servings.

Cream Filling

2 cups milk
3 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Blend together the milk, eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and flour.  Blend until smooth, then pour into a medium-sized heavy saucepan.  Cook, stirring almost constantly with a whisk, over medium-low heat until the mixture becomes smooth and thick - 5 to 8 minutes.  Do not leave this stuff alone for a second.  It will thicken suddenly and without warning.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla, whisking until smooth.  Cover the surface of the hot custard with a layer of plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming), and refrigerate for an hour or two until completely cooled.

With an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream with the 1 tbsp of sugar until stiff.  Peel the plastic wrap off the custard and beat briefly with the mixer so it is smooth and creamy.  Gently fold in the whipping cream until fully incorporated.  Now its ready to use in your trifle.

Recipe Source:  The Clueless Baker, 2001

Notes:  I made my trifle without sherry and used strawberry jam.

Gingerbread Men 24 Dec 2011 9:04 AM (13 years ago)

Making your own gingerbread is rewarding and simple to do. It's most likely better than anything you could buy at your local coffee shop or grocery. You can bake to your desired doneness - softer for dunking but firm enough to hold whatever shape you make. Yummy!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Holiday Season!

Gingerbread Men
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, melted
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger

In a large bowl, mix together the egg, molasses, sugar, melted shortening and baking soda. Beat well.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon and ginger. Add flour mixture to the egg mixture, blending well. Chill the dough for several hours or overnight.

When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets, or line them with parchment.

Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Form each portion into a nice compact ball, flouring it well. Roll out each piece on a well-floured surface to about 1/8-inch (3mm) thickness.

Using cookie cutters, cut out gingerbread people (or animals, or dumptrucks etc.). Carefully transfer people to the cookie sheets and bake for 5 to 7 minutes - until very lightly browned around the edges. Watch them closely - small shapes will bake more quickly than large ones.

Let your cookies cool for a minute or two before removing them to a rack to cool completely. Decorate with icing. Let icing set before eating (if you can wait).

Icing Paint
4 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup water
paste food colouring

In bowl, whisk sugar with water, adding up to 2 tbsp more water if necessary to make spreadable. Tint with food coluring as desired.


Recipe Sources: The Clueless Baker, 2001 & Canadianliving.com

Mini Panettone Cookies 19 Dec 2011 6:13 AM (13 years ago)

The Holiday Season is here and with it comes all the smells and flavours we associate with this time of the year.  I don't think you can go into a grocery store without seeing boxes of Panettone stacked like a mountain.  If you like this seasonal bread then you'll enjoy these cookies flavoured with fennel, almond and orange.

The cookies are very petite and the batter is thin-ish so when you make them try to put even amounts of the cherries, nuts and raisins in each so they end up being roughly the same size.

Mini Panettone Cookies

1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp anise extract (or 1/2 tsp fennel seeds or anise seeds, crushed)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda, baking powder and salt
1/4 cup chopped candied red cherries
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or toasted slivered almonds

Icing

1 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp salted butter, softened
4 tsp milk

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and egg until fluffy; beat in orange rind, and almond and anise extracts.  In separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture.  Stir in cherries, raisins and nuts.

Drop by rounded 1 tsp about 2 inches apart, onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Bake in 350F oven until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.  Transfer to racks, let cool.

Icing: In small bowl, beat icing sugar, butter and milk until smooth.  Using piping bag fitted with plain tip or resealable plastic bag with corner tip cut off, pipe icing decoratively over cookies. (Or spread with knife.)  Makes about 60 cookies.

Recipe Source: Canadian Living Holiday Celebrations, 2009

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies 12 Dec 2011 10:24 AM (13 years ago)

Peanut butter cookies are one of my favourite cookies.  They're easy, fast and always taste delicious.  Add some chocolate chips and they become out of this world.

This recipe completely uses whole wheat flour.  Sometimes too much whole wheat can make baked goods heavy and loose its light texture.  In these cookies there is no fear of that - no one will know!  The texture is chewy and I baked mine a little longer so the edges were crispy and the centre soft.  If you want, the recipe can be made with all-purpose flour or a mixture of both.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375F.

In large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, peanut butter, granulated and brown sugars and the egg until creamy ans thoroughly mixed.  Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and blend  very well.

Now make the cookies: by hand, roll the dough into 1-inch (2 cm) balls, place them on an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches (5 cm) between them to allow for spreading.  For the classic peanut butter cookie look, flatten each ball of dough with a fork, pressing lightly to make a criss-cross pattern.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies have puffed slightly and are lightly browned on the bottom.  Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

Recipe Source: The Clueless Baker, 2001

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies 5 Dec 2011 5:12 PM (13 years ago)

I've made chocolate chip cookies countless times and am always interested in new versions of this classic.  I haven't really had a go-to recipe until I came across this one from Bite Me by sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat.

For starters, these cookies are larger than most cookies and do not flatten out to become thin discs.  They are solid, dunkable and chewy - just how I like my cookies.  I've made them a lot and they've never disappointed.  Impress your family and friends and whip up a batch today!









Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 1/2 milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.

In an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar and sugar on medium speed until well blended.  Beat in vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and fluffy.  On low speed, add flour mixture and chocolate chips, mixing just until flour disappears.

Drop dough by 1/4 cup at a time, 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack.

Yield: 20-24 large cookies.

Recipe Source: Bite Me, 2009 by Julie Albert & Lisa Gnat

Naughty Biscotti 2 Dec 2011 12:58 PM (13 years ago)

I've been a fan of the Podleski sisters ever since they released Looneyspoons in 1996. I have all four of their cookbooks and their latest, The Looneyspoons Collection, was given to me a few weeks ago as a gift. It contains their greatest recipe hits updated and some brand new ones. It's a beautiful book to go through and I do think there is something for everyone in it.

If you're familiar with Janet and Greta then you know they give their recipes quirky and humorous names. Naughty Biscotti is their version of a lemon, cranberry and pistachio biscotti that does not disappoint. They are chock full of bright flavour and colour. They're a breeze to put together and, as they say in the recipe, the longer you bake them the crisipier they get. I followed the recipe as is and was very happy with the end result. The are delicious and nutritious. Can't argue with a cookie that has oat bran in it. :)

Naughty Biscotti

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 1/2 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Preheeat oven to 350F. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine flour, oat bran, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together both sugars and butter on medium speed of electric mixer for 1 minute. Add eggs, egg white, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat again until well blended. Using a wooden spoon, add flour mixture to sugar mixture and stir just until blended. Dough will be thick. Add cranberries and pistachios and mix well.

Divide dough in half. Using lightly floured or greased hands, shape each half into an 8 x 3 x 1/4-inch loaf and place on prepared cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Add a bit more flour if dough is too sticky.

Bake on middle oven rack for 20 minutes. Remove loaves from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 275F. Transfer loaves to a cutting board. Using a very sharp knife cut each loaf crosswise on a diagonal into 9 slices. (You'll have some scraps from the end pieces, so go ahead and eat them. Everyone knows scraps have zero calories.) Place slices, cut-side down, on same cookie sheet. Return to oven and bake for 8 minutes. Turn biscotti over and bake for 8 more minutes. Cool completely on wire rack. Biscotti will harden as they cool.

Note: If you prefer super-hard biscotti, increase baking time from 8 minutes to 10 minutes per side.

Recipe Source: The Looneyspoons Collection, Janet & Greta Podleski, 2011

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream 25 Nov 2011 12:19 PM (13 years ago)

I made cupcakes yesterday after a very long time. They were for a birthday and I decided to jazz them up by using origami paper for the liners which worked perfectly. The little bit of extra flair upped the oomph factor and made for a seriously pretty platter.

Baklava 12 May 2011 9:36 AM (13 years ago)

I love baklava and have eaten a lot of it. I've tried it with all different types and nuts, shapes and flavours. They ones I have enjoyed the most have been made by friends - crispy and moist but certainly not dry.

Baklava 12 May 2011 9:21 AM (13 years ago)

4 cups finely chopped walnuts

Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling 18 Mar 2011 12:55 PM (14 years ago)

I've made Whoopie pies in the past and don't remember them striking me as a super-duper-I-have-to-make-these-again kind of treat. Recently, a friend sent me this recipe on two separate occasions so I gave them a go since she was visiting today.

Cinnamon Swirl Breakfast Bread 28 Feb 2011 3:08 PM (14 years ago)

I bought Bite Me ages ago at Indigo. I didn't set out to do this but as I flipped through it I was hooked by the recipes, humour and, most importantly, the bold graphics. If you own this book, you know what I mean. :)

Cranberry Upside-Downer 25 Oct 2010 2:58 PM (14 years ago)

I thought that making a cranberry upside-down cake in October would be fitting since Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving during this month and its cranberry season pretty much from now until Christmas. I like making these cakes - always hoping while holding the hot pan that it will flip out nicely.

Chocolate Gingerbread Pretzels 11 Oct 2010 3:32 PM (14 years ago)

Recently I have been asked when I'll start baking or blogging again. I haven't really stopped baking but blogging did take a backseat to life. I did miss it but, when posting became more of a chore than a fun pastime, it was time for a break.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins 23 Oct 2009 1:15 PM (15 years ago)

It is cold and dreary here today. The leaves have almost all but fallen off because of the wind and rain but at least its Friday.

I made these muffins a while ago and wish I actually had one right now so I could eat it. Today is the perfect day for a spicy pumpkin muffin and a hot drink to warm up with. As I typed the recipe, I realized the cream cheese concoction is actually a spread not an icing as I've demonstrated in the picture. I was wondering why it made so little and was not very sweet. Just goes to show - read the recipe!

Have a great weekend!

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Spiced Pecan Tart 3 Oct 2009 4:48 PM (15 years ago)

Fall is in the air and that means Thanksgiving is around the corner for us Canadians. I usually make pumpkin pie for dessert and most likely will again this year but if you're looking for something new try this Spiced Pecan Tart. It's easy, delicious and gives you a great reason to use your tart pan.

The tart consists of a pat-in pastry (no rolling required) and a spicy pecan filling that can be made with or without the addition of bourbon. What I like about making tarts is that they're generally smaller than pies thus requiring less ingredients and they're simpler to pull together. If you feel daunted by pies and crusts, tarts may be for you and they do look very impressive when served. This tart filling is just the right combination of gooey and firm with lots of crunch pecans to balance it out.

Overall, a super tart! Now all I have to work on is taking a decent picture of a slice!
Recipe: Spiced Pecan Tart

Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies 21 Sep 2009 6:10 AM (15 years ago)

Making cookies is a special thing. Making the cookies into sandwiches is even more special. Who wouldn't be happy to see a plate of homemade coffee flavoured chocolate cookies with a creamy ganache filling ready to be devoured?

These cookies are very easy to pull together and have a solid chewy texture. They also have the perfect density to be sandwiched - they don't crumble or break apart and hold the ganache in place.

If you don't want to use ganache I think a coffee flavoured buttercream would work but would make the overall cookie a bit sweeter. Regardless, anyone you make these cookies for will definitely be impressed.

Sorry for the choppy post - I'm feeling rusty today!

Recipe: Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies

Oatmeal Coconut Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches 26 Aug 2009 9:52 AM (15 years ago)

I love ice cream sandwiches and have spent many years eating the typical rectangular chocolate ones with vanilla ice cream. (Who doesn't love those?) If you're looking to up the ante by trying to make your own, these oatmeal coconut cookies are perfect.

What you end up with is a very large, thin and chewy cookie that is perfect for filling with ice cream. After they have completely chilled, the cookies do not break or crumble and hold the ice cream perfectly. They are easy to bite through and the finished product is quite substantial - 2 whole cookies and a half cup of ice cream can really fill you up! If they're too big for you, just make smaller cookies and adjust the baking time accordingly. Let the ice cream soften a bit before filling. This process may get a bit messy, but its worth it.

The recipe calls for rum raisin ice cream but I substituted Breyers Dark Chocolate Velvet instead. The deep chocolately flavour went wonderfully with the coconut for a truly decadent treat. After trying all three of the new Breyers flavours, I think my favorite is the Banana Cream Pie with the Chocolate Cheesecake in second place and the Chocolate Velvet not far behind. Really though, I just love ice cream and these three did not disappoint. Try them out and see which one you like the best and if you're a resident of Canada you can enter to win some neat prizes if you create your own Breyers Moment. Check out the prizes here and the rules here.

Recipe: Oatmeal Coconut Cookie Ice-Cream Sandwiches

Chipster Topped Brownies 14 Aug 2009 3:56 AM (15 years ago)

The summer is passing me by at a surprisingly fast clip. After spending some relaxing family time in White Rock, I've come home to find I only have 3 weeks of fun left!

I made these chipster brownies some time ago. They consists of a very moist and chewy brownie topped with chocolate chip cookie dough. If you like these two treats then you'll love these. I enjoyed the brownie a lot. They were solid, dense and satisfying. I did have some trouble spreading the cookie dough over the brownie layer so there were some gaps where the brownie batter poked through. I also think the cookie batter baked a tad too much and got crispier than I would have liked. Certainly, you can make these brownies sans cookie dough and still have sweet satisfaction.

I topped the brownies with Breyers Chocolate Cheesecake ice cream to make it extra special. This rich ice cream blends chocolate and cheesecake to produce a decadent, creamy and tangy treat. The cheesecake part is very subtle and there are no actual cheesecake chunks in the mix. I would say it runs a very close second to the Banana Cream Pie!

Recipe: Chipster Topped Brownies

Daring Bakers July Challenge - Milan Cookies 27 Jul 2009 9:27 AM (15 years ago)

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This month participants were given the option of making one or two types of cookies. I only made the Milans and not the marshmallow ones.

I don't do a lot of piped cookies so I was happy to give these a try. The batter was easy to put together but there was a lot of it so I was piping for a long time. I also found the the instructions to pipe 1-inch lengths a little crazy. The cookies were very tiny so I ended up completing the rest by piping about 4-inch lengths and putting two side by side so they'd be a little wider. This worked and eventually I finished.

Overall, I think the cookies tasted okay. They were crispy at the edges and chewy in the middle. Piping the batter was unpredictable - some cookies spread into wacky shapes. The ganache was perfect as ganache usually is. Even though they weren't my favourite, they all got eaten. What did help redeem them was pairing them with luscious Breyers Banana Cream Pie ice cream. I had added some coconut extract to the cookies so they were 'tropical' which went perfectly with the banana, vanilla, and graham cracker flavours.

To see how the other Daring Bakers fared with their cookies, check out the Daring Kitchen. Thanks to Harbinger for providing the ice cream.

Blondie Cupcakes 22 Jul 2009 6:16 AM (15 years ago)

Cupcakes are all the rage these days. It's no wonder that Martha Stewart has come out with a cookbook with 175 recipes dedicated to them. Up until now, I have never owned one of her cookbooks but Cupcakes seems to be a great fit for me.

The first thing that I noticed is that there is a beautiful colour picture for every single cupcake in the book. This is awesome. The recipes themselves seem straightforward and of course, they can be dressed up with a multitude of frostings, fillings and other visually interesting embellishments.

For my first cupcake, I made the Blondie Cupcakes which is a twist on the traditional blondie bar. After mixing up the batter the cupcakes are baked for 30 minutes. The thing to remember is that the batter is dense and not fluffy. There is a fine line to walk here between the cupcake being golden and chewy and burnt and hard. Half an hour is more than normal cupcakes are baked so check carefully and use paper liners. This will make removal extremely easy.

The cupcake itself is very nice. It is solid and substantial. They may have seemed hard on the outside but they were chewy on the inside. Store them in a container to keep them moist and enjoy. Thank you to Random House for providing me with this book.

Recipe: Blondie Cupcakes

Sweet Cherry Custard Tart 15 Jul 2009 3:30 PM (15 years ago)

After finally using my tart pan for the Bakewell Tart, I looked for some recipes that would allow me to use it again. Since it is cherry season here in Ontario, I chose this custard tart to show off this juicy fruit rather than just eat them all from the bowl.

The first thing I needed was a cherry pitter which I finally found at Kitchen Stuff Plus. Pitting cherries is serious business...after I was done my hands were blood red! I'm guessing that the messier you get, the better the cherries.

I made this tart two times. The first was with cherries purchased from the grocery store. While the cherries were sweet, they were firm and not juicy but still made a good tart. The second tart, pictured to the left, was made with cherries from the local Farmer's Market. You can see how the cherry juice seeped into the custard making it more cohesive than the first tart. I also baked the second tart for five minutes less giving me a firm, yet moist vanilla custard.

Overall, this tart was a undisputed hit. The tart dough is forgiving if you tear it, and the preparation is not daunting at all. Pitting the cherries probably took longer than mixing up the filling. If you're looking for something to make with cherries, keep this tart in mind - it's toothsome and fresh!

Recipe: Sweet Cherry Custard Tart

Raspberry Streusel Muffins & Oatmeal Raisin Muffins 7 Jul 2009 4:52 AM (15 years ago)

I've got a backlog of muffins waiting to posted about. Here's a quick write-up about two of them.

Raspberry Streusel Muffins are exactly what they sound like. Fresh raspberries incorporated into a cakey batter and topped with almond streusel. I did not have slivered almonds so I used ground almonds in the stresuel which was fine though the muffin ended up lacking visual interest. This muffin would be equally great with blueberries. The only issue I had was that the raspberries ended up mainly at the bottom of the muffin despite the higher oven temperature. If any of you have tips on how to keep fresh fruit distributed evenly throughout, I would appreciate them. Overall, a very nice muffin perfect for beginner bakers and sharing with others.

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins require a bit more prep work. A portion of the oats are ground for this muffin and combined with regular oats to make a hearty, spicy muffin. They're pretty healthy and if you don't like nuts or raisins, either can be omitted or increased to your liking. Remember to not overbake them or they'll be dry. They take a little bit more effort but can still be pulled together in about 15 minutes.



Recipes: Raspberry Streusel Muffins & Oatmeal Raisin Muffins