Low-Carb Japanese Cheesecake

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been as present in the blogging sphere in February and March, and that is because we spent the month of February and some of March, wintering in Spain this year, and then we enjoyed some adventure. The first part of our trip was in La Carihuela in the Torremolinos neighbourhood of Malaga. We met up with friends for 6 days and soaked in the sunshine. Then, we rented a car and zipped off to my Cousin Lucy’s flat in San José where we spent three weeks, enjoying the sunshine. We had booked a couple of days in Alicante and then we zipped back to Malaga for 11 days, this time we rented a flat in the old centre of Malaga and visited with our friends and their friends, in La Carihuela. From Malaga, we flew to Istanbul, Turkey for a Viking Cruise to Greece. I will do a more detailed post on our Viking experience in the coming weeks. This was our first cruise in 38 years (our honeymoon was a cruise) ! After we landed in Athens, the culmination of our cruise, we flew to London for 4 days and then to Dublin for 3 days and arrived home for the last of winter weather on March 27. It was definitely a whirlwind trip with old friends and new friends and we hope to recreate it again in the coming year.

Unfortunately for us, Basque Cheesecake is from the Basque region in Spain, in the far north. Of course, you can find cheesecake everywhere in Spain, but is it authentic Basque Cheesecake? Basque Cheesecake is a slightly burnt, crustless cheesecake. Who needs crust on a cheesecake? I first made the crustless Basque Cheesecake in December 2022 and to be honest, I didn’t miss the crust. Yes, it does add texture but honestly, who needs (or wants) the extra calories? Plus, graham cracker crumbs of late are absolutely awful, they have a strong chemical odour which is definitely a downer for me. Next comes the Japanese Cheesecake. Japanese Cheesecake is also a crustless cheesecake but it is also a lot less dense than the Basque Cheesecake which for me is a plus. You could put a fruit couli on top for colour, but it doesn’t really need it. It’s quite lovely on its own.

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes 1 20 cm pan

Ingredients:

• unsalted butter (for greasing the pan and parchment paper)
• 150 g cream cheese
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 150 ml heavy (whipping) cream (¾ cup + 4 tsp, to be precise)
• 100 g Erythritol (for the cream cheese mixture)
• 3 large eggs
• 40 g cake flour (I used 20 g lupin flour 20 g vital wheat gluten)
• 1/4 lemon (for the zest)
• 15 ml lemon juice (from ½ large lemon)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare your springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment and then rubbing butter on the bottom and the sides. Line the bottom of the exterior with 2 layers of foil (to prevent water leaking into the cake because it will bake in a bain marie). Take a larger pan than the springform pan and fill it halfway with water. Place in the oven to warm.
2. In the top bowl of a double boiler (or make-shift bain marie) place the cream cheese, butter, heavy cream, and sugar into the bowl and simmer over low heat until everything melts and is cohesive. Separate the eggs and set the egg whites aside in the refrigerator.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the three egg yolks, one at a time until fully combined.
4. Sift the flour into the cheese mixture and whisk until fully combined. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve pressing through as much as possible, discarding the larger bits. Set aside.
5. Beat the egg whites into stiff but not dry peaks. Fold the beaten egg whites into the cheese mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Turn the heat down to 325° F. Set the cheesecake mixture into the ban marie and bake for 70-75 minutes. Lower the temperature to 300° F for an additional 10 minutes to give the top a beautiful golden colour. Turn the heat off and open the door slightly. Allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the oven. The cheesecake will shrink and become denser as it cools.

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Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

Still on our quest to lose a few nasty pounds but we (ahem, JT🤣) needed a bit of a treat so I converted this old favourite into a low-carb cookie. The flavours are bang on and they really satisfied our cravings for a treat.

Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes about 17 cookies

Ingredients:

• 260 g crunchy, natural peanut butter
• 100 g erythritol
• 1 egg
• 5 mL vanilla
• 3 g salt
• 20 g salted peanuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl except the salted peanuts. Mix with a hand mixer so that everything is well combined.
3. Portion out 25 g of the cookie dough and press into your palm to form a circle about 5 cm or 2.5 inches in diameter. Lay each cookie on the parchment-lined baking tray about 5 cm or 2.5 inches apart. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet.

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Brown Butter Banana Bread

About a week before Christmas, I had lunch with my cousin. I met her at her gorgeous new home in Don Mills. I noticed she had several overly ripe bananas sitting on her counter so I asked what she planned to do with them. She said she already had 16 in her freezer so I suggested I would take three off her hands, and thus was born the following brown butter banana bread!

Nutty brown butter with the flavour and moistness of bananas!

A Kitcheninspirations original recipe

Makes 1 loaf about 21 cm x 11 cm (~8.25 inches x 4.5 inches)

Ingredients:

• 113 g butter, melted, browned and cooled
• 150 g light brown sugar
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, combined and whisked
• 330 g ripe bananas, mashed
• 280 g all purpose flour
• 7 g baking soda
• 3 g salt
• 2 g nutmeg
• Sliced almonds for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F on the convection setting. Prepare a small loaf pan by lining it with parchment paper.
2. In the small bowl of your food processor, combine the melted, brown butter with the two sugars, process well.
3. Combine the whisked eggs with the mashed bananas and add it to the sugar mixture while processing. Set aside.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until no longer lumpy.
5. Pour it into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the almonds. Bake for 70-80 minutes or until a wooden tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a towel on the counter.

These are amazing toasted.

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Dalgona Ice Cream

Have you seen the reels of a tablespoon of instant coffee, a tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of water and they whip it until it is light and creamy like mousse (it’s pretty incredible)? That is Dalgona from Macau, a topping they put on steamed milk. Then, I saw a guy on an Instagram Reel make ice cream from whipped Carnation Evaporated Milk following a recipe from the 1940’s so I figured why not try it with the famous Dolgona Whipped Coffee. We have friends coming for brunch and they are coffee aficionados so I thought the Dalgona Ice Cream might be a nice change for them. The whipped Carnation Evaporated Milk is much lighter than regular ice cream, it’s more like a frozen mousse. I tried it with Erythritol and unfortunately, it never really dissolved so the ice cream was grainy, definitely not the texture I was looking for. As with Dalgona, it is quite coffee-forward so if you’re not in love with coffee flavour, this recipe is not for you.

It’s like eating an espresso.

A Kitcheninspirations original recipe

Makes about 2.5 litres Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 20 g instant espresso coffee
• 60 g sugar (more if you prefer a sweeter coffee)
• 30 g hot water
• 250 mL Carnation Evaporated Milk

Directions:

1. Combine the instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a small bowl and whip until pale in colour and thickened to stand on its own, similar to whipped cream. Set aside.
2. In the small bowl (2.8 litres or 3 quart) of your KitchenAid stand mixer add the Carnation Evaporated Milk and beat until thickened like whipped cream. Add the thickened coffee cream you prepared in step 1. Beat until entirely incorporated and thickened. 
3. Pour into a freezer-proof container with a tightly sealing lid, even out the mousse with an offset spatula and seal the lid on tightly. Freeze for 12 hours or until frozen like ice cream.
4. Serve by scooping out spheres of the frozen Dalgona. Serve immediately.

I wish I had made this in the heat of September.

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Balzano Apple Cake

We were having friends over just before they went away for a quick holiday and I needed a dessert. These friends love fruit-filled desserts so when I came across this interesting Italian recipe, I thought, why not? I was ready to make my Normandy Apple Tart but to be honest, it’s a lot of work (pastry, custard, apples, topping) so when I saw how easy this recipe is, it was a no-brainer. There are sooo many versions online and so many different methods but I like the method below, it works well and it’s not a lot of work. You can mix it by hand, but it just makes it easier if you use the stand mixer. 

Makes one 23 cm (9 inch) round apple cake

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 95 g Erythritol
• 125 mL milk
• 65 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 15 mL pure vanilla extract
• 60 g flour
• 8 g baking powder
• 4 g salt
• 4 McIntosh apples, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• Prepare a 23 cm springform round pan by lining it with parchment and generously buttering it all over.
• Beat the eggs and sugar until they reach the ribbon stage, and beat in the vanilla.
• Combine the melted butter with the milk, then pour the milk mixture into the batter and beat well.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together and fold them into the wet ingredients. Gently stir in the apples. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden cake tester comes out clean.
• Serve at room temperature.

The batter turns into a wonderful, velvety custard interlaced between the thinly sliced apples.

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Vanilla Almond Crunch Cake

It was my SIL’s 70th birthday last month and she came down to stay with us one night. We took her out for dinner and came home to have this celebratory cake. When I asked her what type of cake she would like for her special birthday, she asked for vanilla. You know I couldn’t just do vanilla, so I pulled out all the stops and created this masterpiece. The cake layers come from Recipe Tin Eats and while the method for this cake is slightly odd the result is pretty darn good. I’ve simplified her method and cut the recipe in half (because we prefer small desserts).

The crunch in this cake comes from a layer of almond meringue that is baked until crispy and when assembled in the cake, with a layer of buttercream and seedless raspberry jam, it results in a crunchy and chewy texture, similar to macarons. It is really wonderful.

Vanilla Almond Crunch Cake

Makes one 18 cm (7 inch) cake that may serve 8-10 people.

Ingredients for the cake:

• 150 g AP flour
• 7 g baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 58 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 125 mL milk
• 10 mL pure vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean pod
• 10 mL unflavoured oil
• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 150 g granulated sugar
• 125 mL seedless raspberry jam (for assembly)

Directions:

1. Prepare an 18 cm (7 inch) spring-form pan by lining the bottom with parchment and brushing the bottom and sides with quick-release mixture (see notes below).
2. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl and set aside.
4. Scrape out the vanilla seeds from the pod and set it aside.
5. In a microwave-proof container, melt the butter with the milk but do not boil the milk, add the oil and vanilla pod (not seeds at this point). Cool completely. Remove the vanilla pod and discard. Add the vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds and mix well to separate all of the seeds (I found a quick blitz with my immersion blender did the trick). Set aside.
6. Combine the eggs and the sugar and beat on medium speed for 7-10 minutes until light and fluffy and doubled in size.
7. Slowly add the flour on 1 or 2 speed until you have incorporated all of the dry ingredients. Scoop out a couple of spoonfuls of the batter, add it to the milk and butter mixture, and whisk well. Pour this mixture into the batter and beat for a minute or less until entirely incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap vigorously on the counter to help remove air bubbles. Bake for 30 minutes or until a wooden cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before completing the cake.

Ingredients for the crunchy layer:

• 50 g egg white
• 100 g sugar
• 2.5 mL almond extract
• 20 g ground almonds, toasted
• 16 g AP flour

Directions for the crunchy layer:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
2. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and beat until it is stiff and shiny. Beat in the almond extract.
3. Combine the ground almonds and flour and mix well, fold in small portions into the beaten egg whites until completely incorporated.
4. Spread a circle of the meringue the diameter of the cake on a piece of parchment and bake for 30-45 minutes at 325° F until golden and firm to the touch. Cool completely.

This is the Buttercream recipe that I always use.

• The quantity in the recipe is perfect for lightly coating the cake including a crumb coat, but if you want extra decor, I would add an extra 50 g of butter and 25 g of icing sugar. If you wish to pipe rosettes on top, separate about 125 mL buttercream and beat in 2.5 mL almond extract.

 

Assembly:

• Allow the cake to cool completely. Insert toothpicks around the cake at the height halfway point. Using a serrated knife, cut directly above the toothpicks all the way around.
• Lay the first layer of the cake on the cake stand protected with parchment paper. Heat the seedless raspberry jam so that it’s liquid and spread half of it on the cut side of the cake layer. Add the meringue layer directly on top and spread about 250 mL of the buttercream across the meringue surface evenly.
• Spread the other half of the raspberry jam over the cut side of the cake and lay it over the buttercream raspberry side down.
• Spread a thin layer of the buttercream over the entire cake and refrigerate, covered for a few hours or overnight.
• Spread the remaining buttercream over the entire surface of the cake to even it out. If you wish to pipe rosettes as decoration, please see the note under the buttercream recipe link.
• If you have excess meringue, pulse it in a spice grinder to a relatively fine powder. Decorate the cake with it as desired. Using the remaining 125 mL buttercream, dot the top of the cake with rosettes as desired. Cake may be refrigerated but I would suggest bringing it to room temperature to serve it.

Notes:

• Quick-release mixture: 2.5 mL vegetable shortening, 2.5 mL vegetable oil and 2.5 g AP flour. Mix all the ingredients together so it is homogeneous and brush onto the cake pan surface.
• If you are planning on eating the cake a day after you bake it, you may use stabilized whipped cream instead of buttercream. But if the cake needs longevity, then use buttercream.
• My Crunchy layer ended up spreading out a bit more than the diameter of the cake, so I cut off the excess and ground it up and used it as texture and decoration on the cake.
• The cake may be made in several steps over a couple of days to limit the amount of time in the kitchen at once. Day 1, bake the cake. Wrap the cake in plastic and freeze. Bake the meringue layer. Day 2, make the buttercream. Set aside at room temperature. Day 3 Assemble the cake and add the buttercream.
• I am not a professional baker and I don’t have the patience to decorate a cake with much more than what I did with this one, just sayin’.

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Chocolate Cherry Squares

My dear friend/neighbour invited us for dinner one night and I offered to bring dessert. I spotted some frozen cherries at our grocery store and picked them up thinking they would be a good ingredient for dessert in a pinch, not thinking that pinch would be sooner than later. I’ve made these squares before, without the chocolate ribbons so I wanted to update the recipe, and because, as JT said, “What could possibly be wrong with cherries and chocolate?” You be the judge.

Chocolate Cherry Squares

A Kitcheninspirations original recipe

Makes one pan 23 cm x  33 cm (9” x 13”) about 20 squares

Ingredients:

• 300 g frozen cherries, defrosted and drained
• 3 eggs separated
• 120 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 125 g caster sugar
• 250 g flour
• 25 g baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 125 mL cream
• 150 g Belgian milk chocolate
• 50 mL cream

Directions:

• Grease and flour 9” x 13” x 2” baking pan (22cm x 33cm x 5cm).
• Preheat oven to 350° F (175°C)
• Heat the cream until almost boiling and pour over the chocolate and stir until entirely melted. Allow to cool.
• Whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry (should be able to stand in a peak) – no need to wash the beater if you do it in this order, if you cream the yolks first, then you must wash the beater and dry thoroughly).
• Cream the egg yolks with butter and sugar until light and fluffy (should be a lighter shade of yellow).
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt – dry ingredients.
• Alternating dry ingredients with the milk, fold into egg yolk mixture.
• Gently fold beaten egg whites into the mixture.
• Spoon  about half of the batter into greased pan. Note the batter is quite thick, you will have to spread it into the cake pan with an offset spatula. Drizzle the milk chocolate ganache over the batter and spoon the remaining batter on top, speading evenly with the offset spatula.
• Dot with the cherries throughout (you may want to give each cherry a squeeze as you dot so ensure there are no pits!).
• Bake in preheated oven for about 20 to 30 minutes (test with a toothpick to make sure it’s done).
• Cool in the pan (don’t cut until it is entirely cool otherwise it will become ‘bacony’ or szalonás, as the Hungarians put it).

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Metaxas (Moroccan Baklava)

We had some dear friends over for a BBQ in late-August and we made homemade Moroccan lamb burgers with a wonderful spiced prune and nut couscous; I needed a Morrocan-style dessert so I chose this wonderful baklava recipe. To be honest, I wasn’t able to differentiate between Middle Eastern baklava and Morrocan baklava but rest assured, they are both delicious. This version has walnuts, pistachios and almonds with a syrup flavoured with orange and lemon rind, cloves and orange blossom water. It should have rose water in it as well, but I am not a fan so I skipped it. 

For the original recipe, please click here. Makes about 33 cm x 23 cm 5 cm (12 inches x 9 inches x 2 inches) baking pan of Metaxas.

Ingredients

• 150 g sugar
• 150 mL water
• rind of an orange (no white pith)
• rind of a lemon (no white pith)
• 5 whole cloves
• 60 mL honey
• 5 mL orange blossom water
• 100 g walnuts
• 100 g pistachios
• 100 g lightly toasted, blanched almonds
• 100 g sugar
• 2.5 g ground cinnamon
• 200 g unsalted butter, melted
• 10 commercial phyllo dough sheets, cut in half length-wise to fit your pan

Directions:

1. Combine the sugar, water, both orange and lemon rinds, cloves and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan. Bring to a slow boil then turn the heat down to simmer, uncovered for 8 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and strain to remove the spices and rinds. Stir in the honey and orange blossom water. Set aside to cool. See notes to make use of the orange and lemon rind.
2. Preheat the oven to 300° F and toast the nuts for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. Increase the oven temperature to 350° F.
3. In the small bowl of your food processor, combine the cooled nuts, sugar and cinnamon and pulse so they are relatively finely chopped with some larger pieces.
4. Line a 33 cm x 23 cm 5 cm (12 inches x 9 inches x 2 inches) pan parchment and brush generously with butter.
5. Begin by lining the bottom of the pan with one sheet of phyllo pastry and brush generously with the melted butter. Continue until you have five sheets stacked. Spread about one-third of the nut mixture over the fifth sheet evenly to the sides. Continue with the next five sheets spreading each sheet generously with the melted butter. Spread another third of the nut mixture over the tenth sheet evenly to the edges. Continue with the next five sheets as before, and spread the fifteenth sheet with the last third of the nut mixture. Finish with the last five sheets of phyllo as before, drizzling any remaining butter over the top of the last sheet.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350° F for 45 minutes. Cover with foil if the top browns too quickly. Remove the pan from the oven and cut immediately. To cut the Metaxas in the traditional diamond pattern, begin by cutting a line from one corner to the opposite corner and repeat to the last corner. Then cut parallel lines to create small diamond slices. Pour the cooled syrup over the hot Metaxas. Allow to stand overnight at room temperature before serving.

Layers of delicious nuts bathed in a luxurious syrup between crunchy sheets of phyllo.

Notes:

• Remove and separate the orange and lemon rinds and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 300° F until firm. Eat as a snack.

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Salted Caramel Crème Brûlée

JT has been playing golf a little more this year than he ever has, and he is loving it. On one such occasion, we had our dear friends back for burgers on the barbeque for dinner and this special dessert. Salted caramel is still one of those flavours that has lingered in the top ten so I wondered how it would taste combining it with Crème Brûlée. It’s actually quite lovely and worth the extra effort to make the caramel. The recipe below is an extrapolation of my single-serve recipe with salted caramel added instead of sugar. Add a light sprinkle of Malden-flaked salt onto the Brûléed sugar and you have a flavour explosion! You can thank me later.

Dig into the crunchy top with Malden Salt Flakes to get to the creamy, caramel crème brûlée.

A Kitcheninspirations original recipe

Makes 4 x 80 mL portions

Ingredients for the Salted Caramel:

• 44 mL Cream or Half and Half
• 11 mL Whole Milk
• 11 g white corn syrup
• 23 g white corn syrup
• 40 g Sugar
• 30 g Unsalted Butter
  Salt to taste (about 1g)

Directions:

1. Combine the cream, milk and 11 g of white corn syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat until just boiling. Set aside but keep warm.
2. Add the 23 g of the white corn syrup and sugar to a heavy-bottom saucepan and gently heat, without stirring, until the sugar is melted and has turned a golden brown colour. Swirl the pan around to make sure all of the sugar is melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the hot milk/cream carefully as it will bubble up. Add the butter and stir to melt. Blitz this mixture with an immersion blender until well blended. 

Ingredients for the Crème Brûlée:

• 240 mL milk or cream
• salted caramel quantity above 
• 10 mL vanilla bean paste
• 4 egg yolks
• 40-50 g sugar to brûlée
• pinch of sea salt flakes

Directions for the Crème Brûlée:

1. Preheat the oven to 275° F.
2. Combine everything but the 5-10 g of sugar for the brûlée and blitz with an immersion blender until smooth. Pour equal amounts into 100 mL bowls and set the bowls into a bain marie in a larger baking pan.
3. Bake for 40 minutes or until it is set in the centre. Allow to cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.
4. When ready to serve, sprinkle the sugar onto the top and spread by tapping and twirling the bowl evenly. Using a torch, caramelize the sugar and immediately sprinkle with a scant amount of sea salt flakes and allow to cool. Serve when the sugar has hardened.

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Best-ever Fudge Brownies

Let me begin this post by admitting that I have not had a serious Christmas baking-spree in quite a few years. People are watching their sugar intake, fat intake and intake in general and during the Christmas holidays, we tend to overeat so leaving sweets off the list seems to be a no-brainer. Plus there seems to be plenty of sweets around anyway. This year was going to be no different, I would bake a few things but not the 10-15 items I used to bake back in the day. 

When we were down in Arizona (don’t worry, it’ll all tie together in the end), we hosted quite a few dinner parties and I cooked a lot. But, in order not to have too many leftover pantry items, I decided that I wouldn’t bake sweets but these dinner parties still needed something for dessert. For one such occasion, I bought a Ghirardelli  Caramel Brownie Mix that turned out much better than I imagined, they actually tasted homemade! I can usually taste a chemical flavour in mixes but I have to admit, I haven’t purchased a mix in several decades so I had no idea how far they’ve come along. This mix was so yummy, I brought 2 packages back for a friend who isn’t a baker as a souvenir gift. Because I hadn’t done my marathon Christmas baking in so many years, I’d completely forgotten that my dear friend’s daughter i’s allergic to walnuts and…you guessed it, the mix had walnuts! What a bummer! I felt horrible that I’d forgotten her allergy; my usual Christmas baking had me focused on baking items without walnuts just for her! How could I have forgotten? I blame age, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. So fast forward to Christmas 2022, I baked my friend’s daughter these brownies to make up for my foolish mistake. They are a bit more finicky than my regular brownies, but they have the best texture that is worth the extra step. The changes I made to the recipe are listed in the notes below.

You might think this is an outdated photo, with the Christmas tree in the background, but I have the little tree out all year long!

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes 1 23 cm x 23 cm (9″ x 9″) pan

Ingredients:

• 165 g sifted all-purpose flour

• 5 g salt

• 113 g unsalted butter

• 118 g semi-sweet Belgian chocolate, coarsely chopped

• 62 g Belgian milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

• 200 g sugar, divided

• 5 mL pure vanilla extract

• 4 large eggs, room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 23 cm square pan with parchment.
2. Sift together the flour and salt, set aside.
3. Microwave the butter and two chocolates for 15-second spurts on hi, stirring and carefully watching it to make sure the chocolate doesn’t seize. Add 100 g of the sugar and stir to combine. Microwave for 1 minute on power 4, stir often, and then microwave for two 15-second spurts on high, stirring frequently. Mix in the vanilla and set aside.
4. Combine the second 100 g of sugar with the eggs in the small bowl of your stand mixer and whisk well by hand. Add half of the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture slowly, making sure you don’t scramble the eggs with the heat of the chocolate. Set aside.
5. Set the remaining egg mixture bowl onto your stand mixer and mix on high for 3 minutes or until doubled in volume and thickened. Gently fold this mixture into the chocolate mixture and when almost combined, add the sifted flour and salt and fold until combined.
6. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the centre of the oven for 23-27 minutes (the centre should just be set). Allow to cool completely and cut into squares.

Notes:

• The recipe has been changed to metric and some steps have been converted to use the microwave instead of a bain-marie.
• I used a metal 23 cm x 23 cm pan and my baking instructions have been adjusted to suit my pan and oven.
• The original recipe used bittersweet chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate but I only had semi-sweet and milk chocolate and it turned out very well.

 

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Basque Cheesecake

Back in October, we were seeing friends more than usual as we were going to spend the month of November in Arizona; there is always a feeling of urgency to see our peeps just before we go away for a significant period of time. For one such get-together, I finally baked a Basque Cheesecake! I say finally because it’s been on my list for years! I chose the Serious Eats recipe because it was in grams and easy to half as I only needed about half of the size. For the original recipe, please click here. This recipe makes one 23 cm (8 inch) cheese cake.

Ingredients:

• 450 g full-fat cream cheese, brought to 21°C

• 135 g and 15g sugar, divided

• 137.5 g egg (~3 whole eggs)

• 15 g egg yolk (~1 yolk)

• 115 g heavy cream

• 10 g all-purpose flour

• 5 g vanilla extract

• 1.5 g salt

• 2 g lemon zest, finely grated

Directions:

1. Prep the pan by lining it with 2 square sheets of parchment paper (see notes).
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and 135 g of sugar and beat with the paddle attachment, scraping the sides frequently, until there are no more lumps and the sugar has dissolved (3-4 minutes).
3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 10 second on each addition, scraping the sides of the bowl between additions.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared parchment-lined pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes to one hour.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 425° F with the oven rack in the middle.
7. Remove the cake pan from the refrigerator and set on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining 15 g of sugar over the top of the pan and bake until the cheesecake is lightly browned on top.
8. Increase the temperature to 450° and bake until the top is darker brown without burning (see notes). The cheesecake will be done when centre registers between 150° F and 155° F (65.5° C to 68° C). Or when the centre only jiggles a little bit.
9. Allow the cheesecake to cool at room temperature for at least 4 hours. To remove from the pan, use the overhang of the parchment to pull the cheesecake straight out and set on an even surface, remove the parchment carefully, prying it away gently or with a small knife. Serve at room temperature or store in the fridge for no more than 3 days, covered to avoid it drying out.

This is a super-rich cheesecake that really doesn’t need any accompaniments.

Notes:

• The easiest way to line a round pan with parchment is to thoroughly wet the parchment and wring it out. Now press it into the round pan, leaving the excess to overlap the rim of the pan. Set it in a warm oven to dry out (doesn’t have to be 100% dry, just dry enough so that the batter doesn’t stick to it). Cool completely. If you have two same-sized pans, you can insert the second one into the parchment-lined pan to push the parchment into the edges.
• Your baking temperature may need to be reduced, on my first attempt, the timing in the original recipe was off because and I burnt the cheesecake. I reduced the temperatures to suit my oven.
• You really don’t need a spring-form pan to make this cake, the parchment does all the work.

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Cranberry Crumble Bars

Canadian Thanksgiving was October 10th, about a month earlier than American Thanksgiving. We do everything pretty much the same as Americans, except that we are not as much into American football. Thanksgiving to Canadians means family getting together and enjoying the company, the food, and the gorgeous fall colours, not so much sports. This year was a quiet Thanksgiving because we usually celebrate with my cousins’ family but my cousin and her hubby were in Europe so we only had the adult kiddos over for dinner. We love cranberry like the next guy but I always seem to have a tonne left over as I did this year. So I decided to reinvent them into Liz’s dreamy Crumble Bars. JT is in charge of making the cranberry sauce and he usually only adds about half the sugar on the package recipe but since the kids were coming over, I asked him to make it a bit sweeter so he used 3/4 of the recommended sugar. The sauce was still reasonably tart which made it a perfect topping for these sweet pastry bars. I dare say, one of my favourites. So if you have cranberry sauce left over, give these a try, you won’t be disappointed.

Makes one 22 cm x 33 cm (9″ x 13″) pan

Ingredients:

• 250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 100 g sugar
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 5 mL vanilla
• 2.5 mL almond extract
• 280 g flour
• 8 g salt
• 150 mL homemade cranberry sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a 23″ x 33″ cm (9″ x 13″) pan by lining with parchment.
2. Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract.
3. Beat in the flour and salt on low speed until entirely incorporated.
4. Portion about 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom of the pan and press evenly to all sides. Bake for 20 minutes. Refrigerate the remaining pastry.
5. After you have baked the base pastry, pour the cranberry jam onto the base and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Crumble the remaining pastry onto the top, being careful not to cover it entirely.
6. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the topping is golden.
7. Allow to cool completely and cut into squares or bars.

 

Notes:

• Jellied canned cranberry sauce may be too runny to work in this recipe, you definitely want sauce with fruit in it.

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Chewy Peanut Butter Squares Revisited

This recipe has been in the family for years. My brother gave me the original cookbook in the 1970’s inscribed, “This is for me, in the long run.” It’s been made dozens and dozens of times, often around Christmas for our goody trays. This time I made them around thanksgiving because we were having my cousin’s adult kids for dinner because their parents were galavanting in Europe and they are not big pumpkin fans! Galavanting may not be right, I might be a tiny bit jealous!

Makes one pan 33 cm x 23 cm x 5 cm (13″ x 9″ x 2″) baking pan

Ingredients:

• 140 g all-purpose flour

• 6 g baking powder

• 5 g salt

• 148 g peanut butter, smooth or chunky

• 113 g butter

• 330 g firmly packed brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 15 mL vanilla

• 140 g lightly salted peanuts

• 1 cup icing sugar with enough drops of cold water to make a liquidy icing (but one that will set well)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Line a 33 cm x 23 cm x 5 cm (13″ x 9″ x 2″) baking pan with parchment

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

4. Heat the peanut butter and butter together until melted.

5. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended.

6. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in the extra peanuts.

7. Spread the batter into a prepared pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

8. Cool on a wire rack.

9. When cool, drizzle the melted chocolate over the top. Working quickly, drizzle swirls of the white icing in a crazy pattern. Allow the topping to set. Cut into 1-2″ square inch squares or rectangles. 



Chewy, peanutty deliciousness

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Raspberry Crumble Squares

A friend brought us his homemade raspberry jam a few weeks ago and because we don’t eat a lot of jam, I thought I’d make it into these gorgeous squares. The recipe originated from my friend Liz but I just swapped out the caramel for the jam and it worked out beautifully. I made this batch for some friends visiting from Arizona.

Makes one 22 cm x 33 cm (9″ x 13″) pan

Ingredients:

• 250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 100 g sugar
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 5 mL vanilla
• 2.5 mL almond extract
• 280 g flour
• 8 g salt
• 150 mL seedless raspberry jam

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 359° F. Prepare a 23″ x 33″ cm (9″ x 13″) pan by lining with parchment.
2. Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract.
3. Beat in the flour and salt on low speed until entirely incorporated.
4. Portion about 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom of the pan and press evenly to all sides. Bake for 20 minutes. Refrigerate the remaining pastry.
5. After you have baked the base pastry, pour the raspberry jam onto the base and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Crumble the remaining pastry onto the top, being careful not to cover it entirely.
6. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the topping is golden.
7. Allow to cool completely and cut into squares or bars.

They look like jewels.

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Pear Tart Tatin

Although Tart Tatin recipes have been featured on this blog a few times (here, here and here), I figured, why not again with different fruit? This time we’re baking Pear Tart Tatin! Dreamy caramel, soft pears and crispy pastry, what more can you want? I borrowed this recipe from Martha Stewart with some minor adjustments. I usually worry that the fruit lets out too much liquid and it won’t be super caramel-y but I needn’t have worried on this one, the pears cook on the stove and finish in the oven. It’s a bit of standing around but you can make it in advance and just serve it at room temperature. 

This tart was perfectly caramelized. What a wonderful dessert.

Makes 1 tart about 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour, for rolling
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 450 g package), thawed in the refrigerator
• 100 g sugar
• 8 mL cider vinegar
• 30 mL water
• 30 g unsalted butter
• Pinch of salt
• 4 firm, ripe pears, each peeled, halved, cored, and cut into 6 wedges
• Pinch of cardamon

Directions:

1. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll out the puff pastry to a 30 cm square and cut into a circle. Refrigerate until required.
2. In a 30 cm cast iron skillet, combine the sugar, vinegar and water and heat on medium-low heat until golden (about 15 minutes). Stir in the butter and the salt. Add the pears in a decorative pattern and cook in the caramel uncovered for 30-40 minutes (until pears are firm but soft). Sprinkle the cardamon over the pears.
3. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 375° F. When the pears are ready, add the prepared puff pastry, pushing down the edges to form a “fence”.
4. Bake covered, for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes until the pastry is golden and crispy.
5. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a decorative plate.

Cooking the pears for an extended period of time made the caramelization absolutely perfect.

Notes:

• My pears were rather firm so I extended the stove-top-time about 15-20 minutes from Martha’s time. This also allowed the liquid to evaporate so that the sauce is pure, dreamy caramel.
• I prefer to use all-butter puff pastry.

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Pantry Clean Out Peanut Butter Cookies

We’re coming up to our last few weeks in Spain and I’m thinking about how to use up all the groceries we bought. I probably shouldn’t have bought a pack of sugar (about 350 g) but it was only about €0.50 so I’m not going to kill myself but I will give an honest go of using some of it. Peanut butter is not a common ingredient in Spain (most likely all of Europe) and is therefore expensive (€6.00 for a 500 g jar) but JT loves the stuff, so we splurged. We’ll be away for about 9 days of the last 18 days in Spain so I wanted to start on my pantry cleanup sooner than later.

I didn’t want to buy another package of butter so I needed a recipe that did not use it. Fortunately, this one is an old favourite, slightly modified to incorporate pantry ingredients. The 30 g portions make a decent size cookie but not large by any stretch of the imagination. The butter is not beaten into the peanut butter (mainly because I didn’t have a mixer) just mixed in well, without too much exertion which makes it an easy cookie recipe. I’ll be definitely keeping this one in my repertoire.

Delicious cookies with just the right amount of chewiness.

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 19 cookies about 30 g each

Ingredients:

• 250 g crunchy peanut butter (natural, no salt or sugar added)
• 2 eggs
• 80 g flour
• 165 g sugar
• 3 g salt
• 50 dark chocolate with sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Combine the peanut butter and eggs and mix well.
3. Combine the flour, sugar and salt and mix well.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.
5. Portion out 30 g balls and flatten slightly with your palm. Dot the chocolate pieces onto each one evenly.
6. Bake for 8-12 minutes at 350° F.

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Vanilla Porter Beer-amisu

I haven’t made Tiramisu in ages and when I saw my friend Lauraine’s Beeramisu pop up on her socials I was sold! Plus I needed a dessert to bring with us to a dinner party at a friend’s place. Our friends are not big coffee lovers but they love beer so I knew this would be perfect immediately! I didn’t have a chocolate porter but I did have some Vanilla Porter that I knew would work. None of us like a super-rich or sweet dessert so I cut some sugar and eggs down a bit and I still got two desserts out of this recipe. Thank you, Lorraine, for the recipe and inspiration.

Vanilla Porter Beer-amisu

For the original recipe, please click here.

This recipe makes one loaf pan about 9 cm wide x 20 cm long x 6 cm tall AND an 18 cm diametre round pan.

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 75 g sugar
• 360 g mascarpone, placed at room temperature for an hour
• 400 mL whipping cream
• 5 mL vanilla 
• 150 mL vanilla porter or stout beer, chilled
• 28 sponge fingers (around 230g/8.1ozs)
• 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions:

• Combine the egg yolks with the sugar in a double boiler and whisk until the sugar has melted and the eggs have thickened about 10 minutes. Allow to completely cool.
• Meanwhile, whip the cream and vanilla until soft peaks form, not stiff peaks
• When the egg mixture has cooled, whisk the mascarpone into the egg mixture until smooth and creamy. Fold in the whipped cream.
• Prepare your pans by lining them with plastic wrap. Dip each sponge finger into the porter quickly (you don’t want it soaked). 
• Place a smooth layer of the mascarpone on the bottom of each pan then begin lining the bottom with the dipped sponge fingers until the bottom layer has been filled. Add another layer of the mascarpone and repeat with the sponge fingers. I got two layers in each vessel. Pull up the plastic wrap and fold it over so the Beer-amisu doesn’t dry out in the fridge. Allow to rest in the fridge for 2 days.
• When ready to serve, open the plastic wrap and tip the container onto a serving dish so that the top is the bottom and the bottom is the top. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Serve in slices.

This is the unromantic shot in the pans. I’m going to freeze the round one for future use.

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Liz’s Biscoff Cookies

I know I can always count on my friend, Liz, over at That Skinny Chick Can Bake and I can tell you that this recipe did not disappoint! I must admit that I did find the Biscoff a wee bit odd (I can’t imagine smearing it on toast) but it did give the cookies a fabulous background flavour. I am sure glad that I initiated my freeze the cookies raw and bake as required to avoid overindulging because these cookies are very easy to overindulge. I had to make a couple of small alterations as well as turning the recipe into metric because that is how I like to bake. Thank you, Liz, for another wonderful addition to my cookie repertoire!

For Liz’s original recipe, please click here.

Makes about 60 cookies, depending on size.

Ingredients: 

• 400 g flour
• 10 g baking soda
• 5 g baking powder
• 3 g salt
• 215 g cup sugar
• 115 g brown sugar
• 300 g Biscoff Spread (crunchy or creamy)
• 113 g shortening
• 113 g butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 200 g Skor bits
• 200 g dark Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line baking sheets with parchment.
2. Using a mixer, combine sugar, brown sugar, Biscoff, shortening, and butter and mix until well combined. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. 
3. Mix in baking soda, baking powder, then salt. Mix in flour just till incorporated, then stir in toffee chunks.
4. Roll about 1 1/2-2 tablespoons of dough into balls, then place on prepared pans, about 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely on wire cooling racks.

Notes:

• These cookies freeze very well. Freeze before baking on a large sheet and then put them into a ziplock bag. Bake from frozen for 10 minutes in a preheated 350° F oven..

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Prize Butter Tarts

This is the second year in a row that we have’t escaped to Arizona (you know why). But fortunately, November wasn’t too bad this year, meaning we had a lot of sunny days. I can definitely live with that. December has been quite the opposite, mostly we have grey, dull, dreary days. Some days with snow. These are the type of days you don’t even want to get out of bed. At least, I don’t.  But eventually, you have to shop for groceries and you drag yourself out of bed. 

On one such occasion, I found myself in the baked goods aisle at our local No Frills an aisle I do not frequent. I picked up a packet of ordinary grocery store butter tarts. Why? Why? It was the lack of sunlight, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I snapped out of it and decided to come home and bake a batch. This Five Roses recipe has been my goto recipe for 40 years. 

A delicious Canadian tradition.

Original recipe is from page 135 of Five Roses, A Guide to Good Cooking, 25th Edition (Revised 1983), Published by Lake of the Wood Mills Ltd.

Makes 12 large butter tarts

Ingredients:

• 200 g brown sugar
• 100 mL melted butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 30 mL milk
• 15 mL vanilla
• 50 g walnut pieces
• 12 large tart pastry (muffin cup size)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment (in case the filling overflows).
2. Add everything but the walnuts and the pastry to the bowl of a food processor. Process until well combined.
3. Fill each tart with a few of the walnut pieces and add about 15 mL of the tart filling to each tart pastry, filling only about 2/3 full (these will bubble up during baking quite a bit). Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden.
4. Allow to cool completely before serving.

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Butterscotch Blondies

I saw this recipe on Celia’s Instagram account and was instantly curious. I have an old blondie recipe that is completely different so I was intrigued by Celia’s recipe that creamed the butter instead of melting it, I wondered what kind of textural differences are there? To my absolute delight, I loved Celia’s recipe, it makes more of a fudgy cookie bar than a crispy, chewy blondie as my ancient recipe does but I loved the addition of the chocolate chips. Even though there is an entire cup of brown sugar, it is not as sickly sweet as my recipe is which really surprised me. Although this recipe takes a bit of planning (bringing the butter to room temperature), it is worth it. It makes a nice treat on a chilly winter’s day.

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes one 23 cm x 23 cm (9 inch x 9 inch) pan

Ingredients:

• 300 g AP) flour
• 5 g baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 250 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 215 g brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 125 mL milk (I used hazelnut almond milk, because I had it)
• 10 mL pure vanilla extract
• 360 g mixed chocolate chips (I use Belgium dark and milk)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300° F.  Prepare a 23 cm x 23 cm (9 inch x 9 inch) pan by lining with parchment paper.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
3. Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy then beat in the egg, milk and vanilla.
4. Mix in the flour and then fold in the chocolate chips. This makes a rather stiff batter.
5. Turn into the prepared pan and spread evenly to the corners and sides with a stiff spatula.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.
7. When completely cooled, cut into desired bars or squares with a clean, sharp knife.

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Plum Cake

I was laying in bed one morning, waiting for the alarm to come on, looking through all the events of the day on my iPhone when my dear friend Barb (Profiteroles and Ponytails, blog on hiatus) text me this plum cake recipe. She had made it with peaches and was quite impressed and thought I might like it too. I really appreciate recommendations like this because as it happened, I was on the lookout for a dessert for friends coming for a patio dinner that Saturday, perfect timing! It turns out, the recipe is excellent with plums. They totally caramelized and sweetened up, it was a hug transformation as the raw plums were quite tart. I converted the recipe to metric measures but you can find the original imperical measures here.

The recipe has 200 grams of sugar which seems like a lot, but our plums were quite tart so they really helped balance the large amount of sugar. 

Truth be told, I forgot to take a photo until it was too late. Guests took half home.

Makes 1 23 cm cake (9 inch)

Ingredients:

• 145 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 125 mL whole milk, at room temperature
• 5 mL vanilla extract
• 60 g almond flour
• 3 g lemon zest
• 170 g all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 g salt
• 8-10 plums, cut in half

Ingredients for the topping:

• 30 g granulated sugar
• 3 g cinnamon
• 30 g unsalted butter, cut into 0.5 cm cubes

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375° F. Prepare a 23 cm (9 inch) springform pan by buttering all the sides and bottom, add a circle of parchment to the bottom.
2. Combine the butter, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, almond flour and lemon zest in the large bowl of your food processor. Process until smooth. 
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the smooth batter and process only until combined. 
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly in the pan. Add the plums, cut-side up, pressing down slightly, in a circular pattern until the pan is filled with the plums.
5. Bake for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
6. At 45 minutes, sprinkle the sugar mixture over the cake, making sure to get some onto each plum. Dot with the butter. Return to the oven and continue to bake for an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes our clean. Allow to cool completely in the pan.
7. To remove from the pan, loosen the sides with a sharp knife and spring the cake from the pan. Serve at room temperature.

Notes:

• I added the lemon zest. Also the original recipe used some whole wheat flour which I didn’t have. 
• The plums release a lot of liquid so my baking took a lot longer than expected, keep testing with the toothpick for doneness. The timing above is what the recipe called for, I baked my cake for an additional 40 minutes after I added the topping.

 

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Chewy Lemon, Coconut Squares revisted

I posted this recipe about 9 years ago so I felt it was time for an update and repost. Lemony desserts are a favourite here so whenever I have an extra lemon or two rolling around the kitchen, a lemony dessert makes an appearance.

Even though these squares are two layers, they come together quickly. The shortbread crust is tender and the coconutty custard topping is lemony and chewy. One could say they’re a match made in heaven!

Chewy Lemon Squares with Coconut

From Company’s Coming Squares by Jean Pare.

Makes 1 pan 23 cm x 23 cm (9×9 inch)

Ingredients, base:

• 200 g all purpose flour
• 50 g granulated sugar
• 114 g butter, cold

Directions, base:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Crumble flour, sugar and butter until mealy (you can save time and pulse this in a food processor, metal blades)
3. Press into ungreased 23 cm x 23 cm (9×9 inch) pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Ingredients, topping:

• 2 eggs
• 60 mL lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 20 g all purpose flour
• 2 g baking powder
• 75 g flaked, unsweetened coconut
• 2 g salt
• 5 mL lemon essence

Directions, topping:

1. Beat eggs slightly. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.
2. Spread over par-baked shortbread base. Bake at 350° F for additional 30 minutes, until set in the centre and golden in colour.
3. Cool and cut into squares, or bars.

The carmelized coconut on the top makes it moreishly chewy where the end pieces with more edges are coveted!

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Loaded Double Belgian Chocolate Cookies

Loaded Double Belgian Chocolate Cookies

Makes about 40 cookies using a 4.5 cm ice cream scoop

Ingredients:

• 227 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 200 g brown sugar
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 10 mL pure vanilla extract
• 360 g all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 150 g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into chunks (chocolate chips work too)
• 150 g milk chocolate chips
• 50 g Skore bits
• 100 g of dried, unsweetened cranberries or dried cherries

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated, add the vanilla.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together and add to the butter mixture to form a batter.
3. Fold in the inclusions (reserving a small amount to add after the cookies come out of the oven for presentation, if desired).
4. Bake in a pre-heated 350° F oven for 12-15 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden at the bottom.
5. Add the remaining inclusions, if desired and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Notes:

• I used a 4.5 cm releasing ice cream scoop, if you use the slightly smaller one, you will likely get about 60 cookies.
• To help with portion control, I generally freeze the raw batter in scoops on a cookie sheet and bake as needed, 1 to 2 at a time (it drives JT crazy but he is grateful for the portion control).

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Low Carb Icy Squares

At the beginning of December, we had close friends come over for a lunch outside, it was still pretty warm with the heater and electric blankets plus we lucked into a super warm December afternoon. JT made his famous Bœuf Bourguignon and I made these Low Carb Icy Squares; they literally melt in your mouth. My friend recently lost 50 lbs on a keto diet and she wanted a little treat but didn’t want to overindulge and these fit the bill perfectly.

The paper cups are necessary because without them these little flavour bombs will melt all over your hands

Low Carb Icy Squares

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes 36 little squares (each square is about 5 grams of net carbs)

Ingredients:

• 480 ml heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 90 g butter
• 1 tbsp espresso powder
• 2 tbsp erythritol
• 90 g dark chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa solids, chopped
• 25 g milk chocolate, chopped
• Gold sea salt

Directions:

1. Boil the whipping cream and vanilla in a heavy-bottomed saucepan for one minute and then reduce the temperature to a simmer until the cream is reduced to about half of the amount (about 20-30 minutes). Stir occasionally.
2. Reduce the heat even further and add the espresso powder, erythritol and butter and stir until smooth (make sure the erythritol melts completely).
3. Place both chocolates into a bowl and pour the reduced cream over it and stir until melted.
4. Pour the chocolate cream into a parchment-lined 20 cm square (8 inch square) baking pan (squared-off sides is preferred) and allow to cool in the refrigerator for a few hours. When ready to serve, sprinkle with gold sea salt and cut into 36 equal squares. Serve in tiny paper muffin cups.
5. Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for 2-3 weeks.

Notes:

• The original recipe did not call for the erythritol but because I added the espresso powder, it made it a bit bitter so I had to add it along with the milk chocolate, you could try omitting them both for a  2 g net carb dessert.
• The better quality ingredients you use, the better the taste and in this recipe, it is worth it to splurge.

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Gluten-Free Reduced-Sugar Orange Olive Oil Cake

Way back in November, 2019, I made a version of this cake in Arizona. It seems a life-time ago. We don’t know when we will be able to travel again so it’s nice to have some food memories to be nostalgic about. I made this for an outdoor brunch last July for a gluten-intolerant friend.

Gluten-Free Reduced-Sugar Orange Olive Oil Cake

Makes one 23 cm (9 inch) cake

Please click here for the original recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 100 g coconut sugar, divided
• 80 mL EVOO
• 5 mL vanilla
• Zest of 2 oranges
• Juice of 2 oranges, divided
• 150 g all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Icing sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F
2. Spray a 23 cm pan with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment paper.
3. Combine the eggs and 95 g coconut sugar and beat until light, fluffy and smooth.
4. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and vanilla while beating.
5. Add all of the zest and 45 mL of the freshly squeezed orange juice and beat until well combined.
6. In a separate bowl combine the gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well.
7. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat only until combined.
8. Pour into the prepared 23 cm pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick tests clean. Allow to cool.
9. Meanwhile, combine the remaining juice and sugar and bring to a boil until the sugar has melted into the juice. Cool and add the Grand Marnier.
10. Turn out the cooled cake onto a decorative plate and slowly spoon the orange juice mixture onto the cake allowing it to be absorbed.
11. Decorate with sprinkled icing sugar just before serving.

The lovely syrup makes this cake lusciously moist.

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Ginger Spice Cakes Revisted

I am not a huge pumpkin fan. There I said it. I was around 19 years old when I first tried pumpkin pie and I just never got into it. Don’t get me started on the pumpkin spice craze! So pumpkin type desserts are never high on my list during the holidays. We had our Thanksgiving on October 12 and I wanted a dessert I could make in smaller portions (because, let’s not kid ourselves, stretchy pants can only stretch so far!) so I made this spice cake in very shallow muffin cups. If someone was still hungry, they could have two, and believe it or not, they did!

Our awning and natural gas heater have had some good use as the temperatures become more fall-like. Unfortunately, the combination of the heat and sun has dried out the awning; at one point after a good rainfall, as we were pushing the water off the awning, a fist went through it. I was able to glue the small hole together with a glue gun, but now we were aware that the awning is precariously brittle. Too bad that fat raccoon never got the memo. Sometime during the night, an 18 kg (40 lb) beast was climbing across said awning and unfortunately fell through it, causing a 50 cm (20 inches) hole. Poor thing must have broken its neck on the fall because I, unfortunately, found him dead as a doornail the next morning. We’ve never had to dispose of any dead animals before so I called the information number of the city. After a 20 minute conversation, which resulted with NO HELP what-so-ever, we decided to discard him ourselves (the city was backlogged 20 days for pickup so they suggested we dispose of him in our next garbage collection which happened to be 2 weeks from the date!) I found a company online who came out and did the dirty deed for us. JT was perfectly willing to do it, but I didn’t want him to, plus we had nowhere to dump the guy. UGH! A good bleach washing of the deck and 24 hours drying time in the sun, and no one was the wiser.

We lucked out for weather that weekend, as the temperatures progressively became warmer and warmer and Saturday October 12 turned out to be around 25° C (77° F)! The evening cooled off a bit, but our natural gas heater did the trick to keep us warm. We had the dinner with two, socially distanced friends and the evening was wonderful. I was so relieved it was warm enough for an outdoor dinner because our COVID numbers are on the rise again and I’m just not comfortable entertaining indoors.

These cakes are a remake from a blog post from 2010.

Ginger Spice Cakes Revisted

Makes about 24 mini spice cakes (60 mL (1/4 cup) muffin pans or 12 standard muffin-sized spice cakes

For the original recipe, please click here

Ingredients:

• 75 g unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 200 g all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 160 mL boiling water
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 85 g packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 large egg (if halving the recipe, use a small egg)
• 160 mL un-sulfured molasses
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
• Crystallized ginger, thinly sliced lengthwise, for garnish
• Chocolate Ganache

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 60 mL (1/4 cup) muffin pan by generously buttering and flouring it*, tapping out excess flour, set aside.
2. Carefully stir together the baking soda and boiling water (this will bubble up, so be careful), set aside to cool.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt, set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, and beat until combined. Add the molasses, fresh ginger, and reserved baking soda mixture; beat until combined. (The batter will look curdled but will come together once the flour is added.) Add the flour mixture, and beat until well combined.
5. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups, filling each about halfway. Bake, rotating pan halfway through until a cake tester inserted in the centre of a cake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack to cool completely. Place a piece of parchment under the wire rack while cooling
6. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of Chocolate Ganache over each cake, allowing some drip down the sides. Garnish with a small chunk of crystallized ginger. Cakes may refrigerated, in air-tight containers, for up to 3 days; we suggest you bring them to room temperature before serving.

Silicon Muffin Cups 60 mL or 1/4 cup size.

Notes:

• You may wish to save time and just spray the muffin pans with non-stick spray but I warn you, half of your cakes will stick to the pan. Buttering and flouring is the only way to go.
• These have a very rich molasses flavour, which we like but some will find it too strong.
• I made a semi-sweet chocolate ganache for these cakes and it was just the right foil for the rich, sticky cake.

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Hummingbird Cake

For special occasion desserts, I like to pop over to my long-time blogging-friend Liz, Skinny Chick Can Bake. Liz has the most beautifully presented desserts that I have seen from a home cook. Most of Liz’s recipes are also unfamiliar to me as I grew up in a European household. A dear friend was turning 70 in September and I wanted to make a special dessert to celebrate the occasion and this beauty did not disappoint. It has a lovely banana flavour but the pineapple isn’t flavour-forward other than providing some added moisture. It reminded me of banana bread but it was much moister than the standard quickbread. And that cream cheese frosting is one that dreams are made of.

Hummingbird Cake

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes one 20 cm cake, about 16 servings

Ingredients for the cake:

• 400 g flour
• 300 g sugar
• 6 g cinnamon
• 6 g salt
• 5 baking soda
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 375 mL vegetable oil
• 7 vanilla extract
• 540 g mashed bananas (use ripe bananas)
• 228 g crushed pineapple, drained (about 1/2 a container)
• 120 g chopped pecans, toasted for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees

Ingredients for the Frosting:

• 500 g cream cheese, room temperature
• 40 g butter, room temperature
• 10 mL vanilla
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 500 g icing sugar, sifted
• Pecans, for garnish

Directions:

1. Begin by preheating the oven to 350° F and prepare three 20 cm round cake pans by lining with parchment paper and spraying with a non-stick spray.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl, set aside.
3. Combine the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, mashed bananas and crushed pineapple and fold into the flour to make a smooth batter. Pour evenly into the three prepared baking pans.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
5. Meanwhile, cream the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and beat well until incorporated. Add the sugar a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently until all of the sugar has been incorporated.
6. When the cakes are thoroughly cool, cut the dome off the top is there was one. Lay the first cake on a serving platting protected by parchment (in short rectangles so that they are easy to remove). Spread a thin layer of the icing over the first layer, place the next cake on top and spread again, add the final layer to the top. Crumb-coat the entire cake in a thin layer and refrigerate for 2 hours to set. When the frosting is firm, finish the cake with the remaining frosting or as desired.
7. Decorate the cake with more pecans that have been toasted.

Notes:

• Although the cake has a whopping 300 g of sugar, it is not excessively sweet, it’s the frosting that takes it over the top! I won’t kid you, it is sweet but not as sweet as it was in the original recipe.
• I reduced the butter to about one-quarter of the original recipe, it still made a super-rich frosting.
• Neither our friends nor we like super-sweet desserts so I opted to reduce the sugar from 6 cups to 4 cups in the frosting and added the juice of half a lemon to help cut it even more. The resulting frosting was still sweet but it didn’t make your teeth tingle. If you prefer an even less sweet frosting, I suggest you reduce the cream cheese by one quarter so that you require less the icing sugar thicken it up. As it was, 4 cups of icing sugar to 500 g cream cheese and 40 grams of butter made a light fluffy frosting but it needed refrigeration to keep stiff. It was a hot and humid day when I served this cake and my version of frosting didn’t melt but it wasn’t as stiff as frosting usually is.
• I baked the three layers in a 20 cm (8-inch) round pans because I did not have 9-inch pans as Liz’s recipe calls for (hence the slightly longer baking time as they turned out somewhat thicker.
• The original cake had coconut but I omitted it because our friends do not like coconut.

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Chocolate-Cherry Brownies

In late August we had friends over for a wonderful outdoor dinner and I asked if they wouldn’t mind bringing dessert. I usually like to control the entire event, but summer is a lot more casual and dining al fresco has added more of a casual flavour to our entertaining, so I thought, why not. My friend made these chocolate brownies (with raspberry instead of cherry) from Donna Hay and I must say they were totally swoon-worthy. So rich and chocolatey and the preserves just added a lovely moist texture. I did not have raspberry jam but I did have a good handful of frozen cherries so I popped them into a pan with a drizzle of water and a spoon of sugar and cooked them, then I puréed them with my stick blender and further cooked them down to just less than 125 mL.

Just dollop the preserves on top and swirl a knife through to make this marble-like pattern.

Makes 1 23 cm square pan. Original recipe by Donna Hay

Ingredients:

• 114 g butter
• 125 g unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 375 g sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 5 mL vanilla extract
• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 125 mL cherry preserves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 23 cm square pan with parchment and butter or spray with non-stick spray.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat.
3. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the flour and stir in.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Dot with spoonfuls of cherry preserves on top. Run a knife through to make a marbled pattern.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick still has a few moist crumbs attached when extracted. Allow to cool completely in the pan and cut into even squares, I got 16.

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Vanilla Bean Gelato

We have been eating a lot more ice cream this year than any other year. In fact, I bet if I added up all the gelato and ice cream we have eaten since May, it will exceed my lifetime consumption! In one summer! JT has never been a big fan but for some reason, this year he is ravenous for it! I generally don’t like to keep ice cream or gelato in my freezer because it literally calls my name at all hours. Anyway, it doesn’t count if you eat it directly out of the container, standing up with the freezer door open. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Vanilla Bean Gelato

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes about 550 mL gelato

Ingredients:

• 250 mL 2% milk
• 250 mL 35% cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 65 g sugar
• 16 g cornstarch
• 10 g skim milk powder
• 5 mL vanilla bean paste

Directions:

1. Begin by mixing the milk and cream together. Reserve 65 mL of the milk mixture and make a slurry with the cornstarch, mixing until the starch is dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
2. Combine remainder of the milk in a medium-sized saucepan with the egg yolk, sugar and the milk powder and heat slowly until it almost comes to a boil making sure the sugar and milk powder have completely dissolved.
3. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and continue to cook on medium-low heat for 3 minutes, stirring continuously until thickened.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the cream to a bowl to chill overnight in the refrigerator.
5. The day you wish to make the gelato, fold in the vanilla bean paste until thoroughly incorporated.
6. Freeze the gelato according to directions on your ice cream maker.

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French Apple Cake

Several of our friends have July birthdays, as do I. We were invited to brunch (outdoors, of course) in early July and I offered to bake the birthday cake. This particular friend is not a traditional cake lover, no super-sweet icing or frosting for this guy, so I decided to find a nice European cake recipe with fruit, because they are always a hit!

This French Apple cake is made with rum and butter and is so delectable and moist, even though it has only 1 apple! I will definitely make this cake again for the non-cake lovers!

Super moist cake with little bits of apple and the lovely flavour of buttered rum.

For the original recipe, please click here. Note that I converted the recipe to metric measures and modified it a bit.

Makes 1 23 cm (9-inch) cake

Ingredients:

• 114 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 130 g granulated sugar
• 5 mL vanilla extract
• 45 mL dark rum
• 15 mL milk
• 2 large eggs
• Zest of one lemon
• 140 g AP flour
• 3 g baking powder
• 3 g salt
• 150 g baking apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1 cm cubes
• Sanding sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a 23 cm (9 inch) round pan by lining the bottom with parchment and buttering the sides.
2. Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla, rum and milk and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
4. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the butter batter and mix until combined.
5. Fold in the apples.
6. Pour into the prepared pan and dust with the sanding sugar. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool the cake on a wire rack. When cool, run a thin knife along the sides to loosen and turn onto a plate. Flip right side up (sugar-side up).
8. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature sprinkled with powdered sugar with whipped cream or Crême Fraiche.

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Lemon Olive Oil Tart

We have been watching America’s Test Kitchen to help us fall asleep, taking our minds off the news and the ugly reality of late. This recipe was on Season 20 and I was taken right away. We love lemon and this one definitely ticks a lot of boxes, it’s not sickly sweet and it IS sooooo lemony. If you like lemon, I urge you to make this tasty treat. Note that I did not love their pastry recipe so I substituted my tried and true Viennese Pastry recipe.

I decided to brulée the top just as my favourite French Bistro does with their Tarte au Citron (which incidentally takes two days to make!)

Please click here for the original recipe from America’s Test Kitchen.

Makes about six 8 cm pastry shells with a total of 300 mL lemon curd filling

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 145 g all-purpose flour
• 60 g sugar
• 2 g salt
• 114 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ tsp pure vanilla
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

Pastry Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Put all ingredients into a food processor and process JUST until the dough sticks together (over-processing will cause tough pastry). Divide into six even discs and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Lightly flour your board and roll out the pastry to fit your preferred pan (I used 8 cm round pans). Dock the bottom with a fork several times.
4. Blind bake the crust 30 minutes or until golden. You may need to reshape the pastry, mine got all puffy and misshapen because I didn’t refrigerate long enough and it was a super hot day.

Ingredients for the curd:

• 70 g sugar
• 10 g AP flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
• lemon zest of one lemon
• 130 mL lemon juice
• 40 mL extra-virgin olive oil

Directions for the curd:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a small, heavy-bottom pan and cook on low heat until it is 160F, and just slightly thickened.
2. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a velvety finish. Refrigerate with an oiled parchment placed on top to prevent a skin.
3. Pour into the prepared, hot shells and bake for 8-12 minutes until the centre jiggles a bit.
4. Allow to cool completely before serving.
5. Sprinkle with sugar and brulée the top, just as you would with crème brulée.

Notes:

• Fresh lemon juice is essential for a clean, lemony flavour.
• ATK felt that the olive oil helps the lemony flavour shine better than butter.

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Tuiles of Sevilla (Chocolate Tejas Dulces de Sevilla)

We have been doing a lot of entertaining since our return from Arizona. I love feeding my friends, it really does make me happy. A few weekends ago we had a marathon weekend entertaining on Friday, Saturday, Sunday AND Tuesday! Fortunately, I was able to plan ahead and make a few things for a couple of the dinner parties considering both friends had gluten-free requirements. First, I made a batch of the original recipe with almonds then I recalled that my dear friend’s hubby is a nut-hater (the food kind) so I created a chocolate version of the recipe. It was wonderful. I served them with coffee.

The snow just doesn’t want to stop.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Tuiles of Sevilla (Tejas Dulces de Sevilla)

A KitchenInspirations Original Recipe

Makes 25 cm x 30 cm (10″ x 12″) sheet, cut to make cookies of various sizes

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 95 g sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• 30 mL unflavoured oil
• 50 g Gluten Free flour (I used this mix)
• 15 g cocoa powder
• 80 g milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 250° F.
2. Beat the egg with the sugar until it reaches the ribbon stage, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and oil.
3. Sift the gluten-free flour with the cocoa powder and salt together then fold into the egg mixture.
4. Pour the entire batter onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and spread out until it is quite thin (about 3-4 mm (about 1/8-3/16 inch) works out to about 25 cm x 30 cm (10″ x 12″). Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the batter and gently push into the batter.
5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until evenly baked, turn the pan once about halfway.
6. While still warm, move parchment onto a cutting board and cut into uneven shapes with a pizza cutter or break into natural shapes after it cools. Transfer parchment to a cooling rack and allow to cool. Cookies will firm up as they cool.
7. Once cooled, store in an airtight container for about a week, but they won’t last that long!

Notes:

• I use an offset spatula to spread the batter onto the parchment paper.
• This recipe will work well with store-bought gluten flour too.

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Orange Olive Oil Cake

We rented a different house this year in Arizona and the kitchen was much better equipped so I had a lot more fun with it. Needless to say, we entertained a lot; three sets of friends came down from Toronto and of course, our two sets of friends in Encantarra were repeated guests. I’m guessing I was the first one to give the kitchen a good workout, even the BBQ had not been used in the two years the house had been rented!

I made this cake the first week we were in Arizona. I found the recipe in a very outdated Phoenix magazine. The recipe was created by a 14-year-old boy. I loved the use of olive oil in it, plus I just adore orange cake. I modified the recipe a bit so that it better reminded me of a cake my dear Mom used to make.

This recipe originated in the Phoenix magazine, May 2015 but I couldn’t find it online. I’ve converted it to metric and made some alterations.

Makes one 23 cm cake

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 155 g sugar, divided
• 80 mL EVOO
• 5 mL vanilla
• Zest of 2 oranges
• Juice of 2 oranges, divided
• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 50 mL Grand Marnier
• Icing sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F
2. Spray a 23 cm pan with non-stick spray
3. Combine the eggs and 135 g sugar and beat until light, fluffy and smooth.
4. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and vanilla.
5. Add all of the zest and 45 mL of the freshly squeezed orange juice and beat until well combined.
6. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well.
7. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat only until combined.
8. Pour into the prepared 23 cm pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick tests clean. Allow to cool.
9. Meanwhile, combine the remaining juice and sugar and bring to a boil until the sugar has melted into the juice. Cool and add the Grand Marnier.
10. Turn out the cooled cake onto a decorative plate and slowly spoon the orange juice mixture onto the cake allowing it to be absorbed.
11. Decorate with icing sugar.

This is a highly flavoured and scented cake that is kept moist by a delicious orangy syrup.

Would you care for a slice?

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Gluten-Free Reese’s Peanut Butter Squares

As you know, we spent just over a month in Arizona again, and our friends house-sat for us. I made these tasty treats for dessert the night before we left, they absolutely loved them. The cornflakes replaced the graham crackers and we didn’t even miss them. I have made these treats a few times since then.

I often get my dessert inspiration from my dear friend Liz, that Skinny Chick Can Bake; this tasty treat came from her but I modified it to be gluten free. Although I’ve never tasted the original version, I can tell you hands down that this one is a real winner! If you like peanut butter and chocolate, give this super easy, tasty treat a go.

Gluten-Free Reese’s Peanut Butter Squares

Makes one 20 cm pan

Please click here for the original recipe.

Ingredients:

• 45 mL butter, melted
• 120 g corn flakes, pulsed to a powder
• 170 g icing sugar
• 195 g natural peanut butter
• 6 g sea salt
• 190 g semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 15 g butter or vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Combine everything but the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in the large container of your food processor and process until smooth and comes together.
2. Press into a 20 cm square pan lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile add the chocolate chips and butter or vegetable oil to a microwaveable bowl and melt, stirring intermittently.
4. Cool slightly and pour over chilled peanut butter pan, spread evenly. Refrigerate for an hour before slicing.
5. Slice with a warm, dry knife, wiping between slices.

The winter light is quite evident here, but don’t allow that to dissuade you, these are very yummy.

The cornflakes add an incredible texture that make these taste just like Reese’s Peanut Butter Tarts, only better!

Notes:

• I’ve used a variety of natural peanut butters (no sugar or salt) to make these, including crunchy, with no substantial difference to the outcome of this recipe.
• To make this recipe vegan, try melted coconut oil. Although I have not tried using melted coconut oil, I’m certain it would work because there is not much in the recipe.
• Once the recipe initially sets, you can bring the bars to room temperature to serve.
• Try using other nut butters (such as Hazelnuts) to up the ante!

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Chocolate and Almond Biscotti

It’s been a busy year and I’ve seen spending a lot of time in front of my computer. I don’t mind doing that type of work, but I do miss cooking and with that, getting my advanced blog posts ready to publish. In fact, I am nowhere near the advanced the blog posts I should be, in preparation for our yearly sojourn to Arizona. I have four posts ready to go but I should have 10! That makes me nervous because I may not have time to post while we are in Arizona; we have three separate group friends coming down for 5-7 days each! That means a lot of sightseeing and daily adventures and less cooking and recipe developing.

You can definitely see the winter light creeping in.

I modified and made this little recipe because during one coffee break JT mentioned that he would love to have a little biscotti to nibble on while we sit and enjoy our coffees. I like making biscotti because they are easy and are not overly finicky. This recipe came together quickly and more or less in one bowl.

Chocolate Chip and Almond Biscotti

For the original recipe, please click here.

Makes about 20 biscotti but it depends on how thickly you form and cut the logs

Ingredients:

• 57 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 225 g brown sugar
• 10 mL pure vanilla extract
• 5 mL almond extract
• 275 g all-purpose flour
• 75 g almond flour
• 20 g baking powder
• pinch salt
• 165 g chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time and best until entirely incorporated. Add the extracts and beat.
4. Whisk together the dry ingredients (omit the chocolate chips) and blend into the butter mixture.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Form into two even logs and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Slice diagonally into 10 slices each and lay flat on the same parchment-line baking sheet and bake again for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool completely before serving.

Notes:

• I shaped my logs too wide, next time I shall make them more slender and have twice the number of biscotti.
• Biscotti store well in an airtight container but if it will take you more than a week to consume, I would freeze them until required. Defrost at room temperature.
• I didn’t have whole almonds but this would have been lovely having a few whole almonds folded into the batter.

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Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Avocado Frosting

This unusual cake was a contribution of a dear neighbour we had over recently for a dinner party. We were so blown away with the use of quinoa that we had to give it a try ourselves. The recipe is super easy and oh-so-chocolatey! The original recipe isn’t vegan or dairy-free but I did substitute melted coconut oil for the butter and lactose-free milk for the milk. For Vegan, you could use soaked chia seeds for the eggs. Let me know how it turns out if you try the vegan version.

Be ready to hand out the recipe, this cake is that good. I was pleasantly surprised with the frosting, very rich and chocolatey; the mild avocado flavour was not off-putting (unless you hate avocados).

Care for a slice?

Chocolate Quinoa Cake

For the original recipe, click here.

Makes a double layer 20 cm cake

Ingredients:

• 300 g cooked quinoa (135 g or 3/4 cup dry yields about 300 g cooked)
• 120 mL whole milk
• 4 eggs
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 170 g unsalted butter, melted
• 140 g coconut sugar
• 90 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 20cm round baking pans with parchment and spray with non-stick spray.
2. Add all of the wet ingredients, quinoa, eggs, vanilla, milk with sugar, salt and cocoa to your large food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add the baking powder snd blend until combined.
3. Turn into prepared pans in equal portions and bake for 30 minutes-or until a cake tester comes out cleanly.
4. Cool. Turn out of pans and frost with the frosting below.

Chocolate Avocado frosting

Click here for the original recipe.

Makes about 250 mL, plenty to frost the cake above

Ingredients:

• 2 very ripe avocados
• 45 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 90-120 mL pure maple syrup
• Splash of pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients into the cup of your immersion blender and blend repeatedly until entirely smooth.
2. Frost cake as soon as it has cooled. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Notes:

• If you blend all of the cake ingredients together for too long, you’ll get a brownie-like texture.

• Flegg (vegan egg substitute) is ground flaxseed with water mixed until gelatinous.

• For the frosting, I used 90 mL Maple syrup and it was sweet enough.

• The original recipe suggests the icing will discolour if made too soon before serving but we didn’t think leaving it for a couple of days impacted the colour to a great degree after all it’s pretty chocolate-brown anyway!
• Avocados must be super ripe to get the creamy texture of a buttercream. You may use frozen avocados.
• The second time I made this recipe I used coconut oil instead of butter and it was lovely.

Well, the renovation is complete. What should have taken 4-6 weeks ended up almost 5 months! This was a better experience than the first; our contractor was younger and had excellent communication skills which made the process much smoother. Basically, we took about 1/3 of our master bedroom and added an ensuite and walk-in closet and we also updated the main bathroom. We contracted the cabinet maker to make the built-ins on the wall across from the bed. JT and I installed the crown moulding. The master bath has all the amenities: fog-free mirror, heated floor, heated towel rack, flush-mount rain shower and so on. I am still on the hunt for a carpet for the bedroom. Here is a short video of the project.

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Peach Tarte Tatin

You know you have a winning dessert when the same friends ask you to bring the same dessert you brought to their home the last time. This is that dessert. It really ticks all of the boxes, local, delicious, fresh peaches, crispy and chewy puff pastry and last but not least, smooth sweet caramel. You just can’t go wrong!

Peach Tarte Tatin

For the original recipe, please click here.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 6 to 8 large, firm-fleshed peaches, we used Ontario Peaches
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 75 grams butter, cubed
• pinch of cinnamon
• 30 mL cognac
• pinch of salt
• 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry, about 250 g (store-bought is fine), defrosted in the refrigerator 

Directions:

1. A day or so before you wish to serve this dessert, peel the peaches and remove the stone and cut them in half. Sprinkle lightly with lemon juice and place on a paper-lined cooling rack, cover with a clean kitchen towel and store in the refrigerator to allow to dehydrate a bit.
2. In a cast iron or non-stick pan, add the sugar and cook over medium-low heat until caramelized. DO NOT STIR but you may swish the sugar in the pan as it begins to turn golden to cook more evenly.
3. Add the butter and swirl until melted and combined with the sugar, add the pinch of cinnamon salt and the cognac and continue to swirl to combine.
4. Turn the heat to low and add the apples in a circular pattern keeping in mind that the part you can see is actually the bottom of the tarte.
5. Cook the peaches for about 8 minutes on medium-low. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375° F.
6. While the peached are cooking stove-top, untouched, cut the defrosted pastry in a slightly larger circle than the pan and put into the freezer for 5 minutes.
7. Remove the pan with the peaches from the heat, and top with the pastry, tucking in the sides all the way around.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
9. Turn out, upside-down onto a serving platter and serve warm.

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Dulce de Leche Butter Squares

At the time I wrote this post, the last week of June, we were still not finished our renovation. Someone mentioned it might be because of my treats. Whatever the reason, it is rather frustrating. A trade might come in for a few hours and then leave. I can see other things that can be done in the meantime, but it’s usually just one thing at a time. Our last reno was the same, so I guess it is “normal”. Still frustrating.

In the meantime, I am scouring the web for new recipes and this one stood out for me. My friend Liz of That Skinny Chick that can Bake is my GoTo for outrageous treats. Her blog is filled with decadent sweets, beautifully presented and photographed. As I was cruising through her beautiful blog, I came across her Caramel Butter Squares and WHAM! I knew what my next treat would be. Plus I had a jar of Argentinian Dulce de Leche in my pantry, it was a done deal.

I converted Liz’s recipe to metric measures because I find it much easier. The Dulce de Leche caramelizes in some parts and is a bit runny in others. It really is dreamy. We will see how the guys like it.

Douce de Leche Butter Squares

For original recipe, please click here.

Ingredients:

• 227 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 100 g sugar
• 100 g powdered sugar
• 15 mL vanilla
• 280 g flour
• 8 g salt
• 230 g Dolce de Leche sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Prepare a 23″ x 23″ cm (9″ x 9″) pan by lining with parchment and spraying with non-stick spray.
2. Cream the butter with the sugars until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.
3. Beat in the flour and salt on low speed until entirely incorporated.
4. Portion about 1/2 of the flour mixture into the bottom of the pan and press evenly to all sides. Bake for 20 minutes. Refrigerate the remaining pastry.
5. After you have baked the base pastry, pour in the Dolce de Leche sauce and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Crumble the remaining pastry onto the top, being careful not to cover entirely.
6. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the topping is golden.
7. Allow to cool completely and cut into squares or bars.

Notes:

• Liz’s recipe calls for an 8″ square pan, but I had quite a bit of pastry left over so I upped it to 9″. In fact, the second time I made this, I used a 9″ x 13″ pan and it was excellent.
• You may use premium caramel sauce, as Liz’s recipe does.
• You may also use 300 mL caramelized sweetened condensed milk. Learn how to make caramel from sweetened condensed milk here.
• Liz also has a recipe that includes chocolate chips.

For these squares, I used Caramelized Sweetened Condensed Milk. They were pretty darned tasty.

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Portuguese Custard Tarts

It seems that our contractor and subs are all foodies this time around! From our first gen Slovanian contactor to the Greek plumber, Costa Rican electrician and Croatian cabinetmaker they all LOVE food! In fact, our cabinetmaker has more food pics on his phone than I do!

This food-centric group plays into my baking very well! In fact, to reciprocate, our contractor, Marko brought us Portuguese Custard Tarts as a gift and they were awesome! I knew on first bite that I had to make them. What makes them awesome is the flaky, crispy, yet chewy pastry. It’s a laminated pastry, like a croissant but much easier to make. Although they require a little planning ahead, they are totally worth it. Do yourself and your family and make this recipe, you won’t regret it.

Portuguese Custard Tarts

Makes 32 mini custard tarts

For the original recipe and an excellent video, please click here.

Updated in July 2023.

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 200 g AP unbleached flour (I had to add a bit more flour in March 2020)
• pinch of salt
• 135 mL water
• 120 g butter, softened, divided into thirds

Directions for the pastry:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, salt and water and knead until it begins to come away from the bowl. It is a shaggy dough.
2. Remove dough from the bowl and flour generously (it is very sticky). Form into a square as best as you can (it is a very wet dough). Cover with plastic wrap and rest it for 10-15 minutes.
3. On a generously floured surface, roll the dough out to 40 cm  40 cm square. Brush off any excess flour from the top. Gently spread the 1/3 of the softened butter on 2/3 of the dough to about 3 cm from the edge. Fold the unbuttered third over the buttered middle and fold the other side over that (exactly like you would working croissant dough).
4. Turn the dough 90° and roll out again to a 40 cm square, generously flouring as needed. Brush off excess flour and repeat buttering the dough with 1/3 of the butter the same way and fold the same way as previously.
5. Roll out the dough a third time to 40 cm square and butter with the last third of the butter, the entire surface leaving about 3 cm all the way around the edge. Roll the dough tightly from one end to the other, cut the roll into two and wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Ingredients for the custard:

• 20 g AP unbleached flour
• 25 mL milk
• 125 mL milk (two separate quantities of milk)
• 87 mL water
• 120 g granulated sugar
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 4 eggs yolks

Directions:

1. Combine the flour with 25 mL milk and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
2. Heat 125 mL milk until almost boiling. Slowly pour into the flour and milk slurry and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
3. In a small, heavy bottom saucepan, combine the water, sugar and cinnamon stick. Without stirring, heat until the sugar has melted and it has reached 225° F. Remove the cinnamon stick carefully. Pour into the milk-flour slurry until and whisk until smooth. Whisk this mixture for about 10 minutes to cool significantly.
4. Whisk the egg yolks together and whisk them into the cooled slurry. Strain through a fine seive. This mixture keeps refrigerated for 1 day until the pastry has rested in the refrigerator.

Making the tarts:

1. Preheat the oven to 450° F or the highest temperature your oven will go. The trick is to bake these super hot for a short time.
2. Lightly butter mini muffin tins.
3. Slice the rolled dough in about 1.5 cm slices and place each one into a buttered muffin cavity. With slightly wet fingers, push the dough up into the sides of the tin making sure the bottom doesn’t become too thin. Place the pan into the freezer for 10 minutes, if the kitchen is warm. Fill 3/4 full with the custard mixture.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until the custard tops become blistered slightly and the crust has baked to a crisp pastry.
5. Cool and serve.

Notes:

• I have also made these tarts using store-bought puff pastry and although they are good, they are not the same as homemade laminated pastry. If you have the patience, do the homemade version, it is better.

 

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Orange & Almond Scented Madeleines

Spring has been avoiding us in Toronto. We have had a few nice days of sunshine and relative warmth but for the most part it’s been rainy and unseasonably cold. It is depressing. If it weren’t for the gorgeous greenery exploding in anticipation of summer, you would think it is November.

I haven’t baked madeleines in a very long time and I thought the orange flavour would mentally transport us to more summer-like weather and JT loves orange and chocolate. Sadly, they were not a big hit with the construction crew but that made JT happy because he was able to keep them for himself (it’s been a bit of struggle keeping JT from munching on the treats that I’ve made for the crew, wink wink). These baked up beautifully and without that strange little bump in the centre, which is a win for me.

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly grated orange zest (about 2 small oranges)
• 128 g all-purpose flour
• 48 g almond flour (finely ground blanched almonds)
• 145 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, divided
• 80 g semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. With about 30 g of the butter, generously butter the Madeleine moulds and put it into the freezer.
3. Melt the remainder of the butter in the microwave or small saucepan. Set aside to cool.
4. Put about 2 tbsp of the melted butter in a frying pan and toast the almond flour (carefully, this burns quickly). Set aside to cool.
5. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the whole eggs with the granulated sugar until the mixture is thick and pale and forms a ribbon when the beaters are lifted (15-20 minutes).
6. Beat in the toasted almond flour and mix well so no lumps remain.
7. Beat in the almond and orange extracts and the zest.
8. Sift in the flour in 4 batches over the mixture, folding it in gently after each addition.
9. Put about 250 mL of the batter into the cooled melted butter and incorporate well.
10. Gently fold this butter-batter mixture into the remaining batter.
11. Spoon the batter into twenty-four buttered Madeleine moulds and bake the Madeleines in the lower third of a preheated 375°F oven for 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
12. Turn the Madeleines out on a rack, let them cool.
13. Once cooled, dip into the chocolate if using right away, if not, Madeleines freeze well.

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