marble loaf cake

Last week we were a house full of sickness. First Joe, then me, then Maxwell. It was Maxwell's first cold, but he fought it like a champ. By Sunday we were all feeling sort of better. I even whipped up this easy-to-make marble loaf cake as an afternoon snack. Then this morning I woke up with a sore throat! Ugh, how unfair.  Well, at least there's leftover cake.

This cake stays moist for a few days if wrapped tightly, so it's a great make-ahead treat. And it's not too sweet—which means it's perfectly fine to eat a slice for breakfast...at least that's what I told myself.

You can find the recipe here. 

unintentional milk chocolate ice cream

I haven't made homemade ice cream in ages, so I was excited to dust off my ice cream machine and get it running again. I kept things simple and settled on chocolate chip ice cream. For the base vanilla ice cream, I used Jeni's cookbook. I thought that having big chocolate chips throughout the ice cream might be a bit much, so I melted the milk chocolate with a few tablespoons of heavy cream to make it liquid, and drizzled it into the ice cream as it was churning. The result was, well, not what I had planned. Instead of vanilla ice cream speckled with chocolate, I got milk chocolate ice cream.

I realize now that I should have let the ice cream churn until it was almost completely frozen before drizzling in the chocolate. That way it would have been cold enough to freeze the chocolate into little bits. Oh well, this ice cream still hit the spot!

Jeni's recipes never seem to disappoint. You can see a few of my favourite recipes from the book here, here and here.

picnic time

My long weekend was filled with overdue cleaning, errands and catching up on sleep. Not super exciting, but we did make sure to spend one sunny afternoon at the park having a relaxing picnic. Once we laid out the blanket, I brought out the yummy eats: devilled eggs, a fat muffuletta sandwich (influenced from when Seema blogged about the deliciousness that is the muffuletta) and some rice krispie treats.

For the muffuletta, I loosely followed this recipe. What resulted was a mega-flavourful sandwich explosion! 

Layers of meat (sweet soppresata salami, capicola and mortadela), cheese (provolone) and a sweet/salty/spicy mixture made of giardiniera, olives, roasted peppers and capers. It's a serious sandwich that's for sure. I'll definitely be making this bad boy again.

Instead of regular rice krispie treats, I made a white chocolate cake batter version—basically a cake mix infused rice krispie treat. They were a sweet addition to a great summer picnic.

white chocolate cake batter rice krispie treats

5 tbsp butter
6 C rice krispie cereal
5 C marshmallows (more or less depending on how gooey you want them)
1/2 C dry cake mix (I used rainbow chip)
1 1/2 C white chocolate, chopped
rainbow sprinkles

1. Melt the butter and add the marshmallows, stirring constantly until melted. Stir in cake mix.

2. Add in the cereal and stir until evenly coated.

3. Press into a baking pan (8 x 11) and set aside.

4. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Spread over the treats. Scatter sprinkles over the top and let cool.

apricot galette

When I saw these fresh apricots at the farmer's market last week I knew I wanted to transform them into a classic apricot galette.

A galette is so much easier to put together than a pie and tastes just as yummy. Here's mine right before it went into the oven:

And freshly baked:

For the pastry:
1C flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
3 oz. unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1/4 C cold water

1. Stir flour, sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add in the butter and toss so that it gets coated with the flour. Using your fingers, pinch the butter and flour together so that the butter is evenly distributed with the flour (you can also use a pastry cutter for this).

2. Add in the water and gently mix with a fork until the dough looks ragged. Gather the dough into a loose ball and place on your work surface. Use the heels of your hands to gently knead the dough until it just comes together. There should be pieces of butter throughout the dough. Do NOT overwork it and work fast so the butter doesn't melt. Form into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap.

3. Let the dough rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. After, roll it into a 12-inch circle about 1/4 to 1/8-inch thick. Place on a piece of parchment paper and let rest for another 20 minutes in the fridge.

For the filling:
about 10 small, ripe apricots, sliced
4 tbsp sugar, divided
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp melted butter
1 tbsp demerara sugar (regular sugar works too)

1. Take pastry out of the fridge. Mix 1 tbsp of sugar with the flour and sprinkle evenly over the pastry, leaving about a 1 1/2-inch border.

2. Arrange the apricots on top. Sprinkle with the remaining 3 tbsp of sugar (apricots, no matter how ripe, seem to get a bit more tart when baked).

3. Fold pastry over the edges of the apricots. Brush the pastry with the melted butter and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Chill the galette while the oven heats up.

4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Back for about 40 minutes or until the crust is golden. Let the galette cool for at least 20 minutes so that the juices settle.

solo sweet

Sorry for the impromptu hiatus. I'll be back next week, but for now here's a special indulgent treat from Nadège—the C3: a dome of caramel mousse filled with coconut mousse, chocolate cremeaux and a chocolate fleur de sel biscuit. Perfectly light and airy. No need to share.

Nadège Patisserie

780 Queen St. W

triple chocolate chunk cookies

These are triple chocolate chunk cookies. And they were just what I needed this past weekend.

1 C flour
1/2 C Dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 C butter, room temp
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 oz. milk chocolate, chopped
3 oz. white chocolate, chopped

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients. Set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugars in a stand mixer until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg. Mix until combined.

3. Slowly add in dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks by hand.

4. Drop heaping tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Slightly flatten the tops of each dough mound. Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes.

baked brownies

The infamous Baked brownie has made its round all over the interweb these past few years and with the overwhelming success of their peanut butter cookies last week, I decided to give this popular recipe a try.
These rich brownies were definitely decadent. More fudgy than cakey, I recommend cutting them small and having a tall ice-cold glass of milk handy or you may go into chocolate overload. I'm partial to the crackly corner piece, slightly chilled, eaten in silence. 

You can find the recipe here or buy the cookbook, here. 

peanut butter milk chocolate chunk cookies

Peanut butter is one of those things that I rarely crave, but when I was trying to think of a new cookie to make, peanut butter somehow made its way into my head. I decided on these peanut butter milk chocolate chunk cookies from the Baked cookbook that promised to be chewy and full of flavour. I ate three as soon as they had cooled, so that means they were real good.

You can find the recipe here.

banana layer cake

This cake is one the best things that I’ve baked in a long time. Two super moist banana cake layers sandwiched with fluffy cream cheese frosting, then topped with even more of that luscious frosting. 

I’ve been eating this straight outta the fridge. A nice, cold slab to end my day. Perfect.

The recipe is actually so simple that I made this cake on a weeknight (a very, very rare occurrence over here). And you only have to dirty two bowls, one for the cake batter and one for the frosting.

for the cake: makes two 9-inch round cakes
2 C cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C buttermilk, divided into two additions
1 tsp vanilla
3 very ripe bananas, mashed

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or by hand), mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined. Add in the butter, sugar, half of the buttermilk and the bananas. Mix for one minute.

2. Add in the eggs, remaining buttermilk and vanilla. Mix again for one minute.

3. Line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Grease the pans. Divide the batter evenly into the pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

for the frosting:
1 pkg cream cheese, room temp
1/4 C butter, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1 C icing sugar, sifted (or more)

1. Using a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add butter and vanilla and beat until combined.

2. Add in sifted icing sugar until the frosting reaches the consistency and sweetness that you like. For me that was about a cup.

ultimate butter tarts

Butter tarts are one of the few sweets that I find really irresistible. Buttery, flaky crust filled with a gooey filling—it could be the hottest day on earth and I could be stuffed to the brim, and I'd still eat one. 

And although mine are never picture perfect, they do taste mighty fine. 

For the pastry: makes 12
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 C cold shortening/lard, cubed
1 egg
1 tsp white vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
ice water, about 1/3 C

1. In a food processor, mix flour salt and sugar. Add in shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. 

2. Beat the egg and the vinegar in a measuring cup. In the same cup, add in enough ice water to make a total of 1/2 C of liquid. With the food processor running, pour in the egg/water mixture. The dough should form a ball.

3. Form the dough into a disk and chill for an hour. When chilled, roll until 3/8-inch thick. Cut out six-inch circles and form in a muffin tin. Chill until ready to use.

Filling:
1 C unsalted butter, soft
1 C brown sugar
1 C corn syrup
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 C raisins

1. Beat butter until fluffy. Add in sugar and beat until light. Add corn syrup and beat until combined. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice and beat until thoroughly mixed.

2. Divide the raisins evenly among the tarts. Spoon in filling. 

3. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 and continue to bake for 22-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is dark brown and set. Let the tarts cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely.

going nuts

I made a batch of salty-sweet candied mixed nuts recently for mid-day snacking and tossing into lunchtime salads. Sometimes I only use almonds (I always have them kicking around), but this time combined almonds, cashews and pecans.

1 1/2 C mixed nuts
1/3 C sugar
4 tbsp water
fleur de sel, maldon salt or coarse salt

1. Place nuts, water and sugar in a pan over medium-high heat, stirring often. After about 10 minutes, the water will evaporate and the sugar and nuts will begin to crystalize.

2. Lower the heat and continue to stir. The crystalized sugar will melt and turn golden brown. Continue cooking and coating the nuts with the sticky syrup.

3. When the nuts are coated and a deep amber colour, sprinkle them with salt and tip them onto a plate or parchment paper and let them cool completely. 

caramel cake

This caramel cake recipe comes from an old issue of the now defunct Gourmet magazine. It's easy to make and combines a deliciously moist buttermilk cake with a sticky caramel glaze. If you want to forgo the caramel, the cake itself is a perfect base cake for just about any type of frosting or filling—think sliced peaches and fresh whipped cream or a fluffy vanilla buttercream.

After letting the cake cool, you pour the glossy caramel glaze over the top.

I love this cake. It's so simple, but so good.

back in the day

A few months back I impulsively (as always) picked up The Back in the Day Cookbook. It was during a time when I was dreaming about a vacation to the deep south. Visions of peach cobbler, fried chicken and sweet tea were floating through my mind on a daily basis. Well, that vacation hasn't happened (yet), but I'm still hopeful that one day it will. And when it does the Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia will definitely be on my must stop list. 

Recently I tried out their chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's actually similar to the NYT cookies in that they are finished with a good sprinkle of fleur de sel, but these were more up my alley in terms of texture: crisp, chewy and buttery good!

strawberry hand pies

The thing about strawberries is that they usually only last a few days in the fridge before turning soft and bruised. After strawberry picking over the weekend, I ate more berries than I could count and froze a bunch for later use. The remaining strawberries were transformed into individual hand pies. I experimented with a couple different shapes just for fun.

I use this trusty dough recipe and for the filling I just sliced up some berries, added in sugar to taste and about 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. The tops were brushed with some egg yolk and sprinkled with sugar before baking at 400 degrees until golden. These pies do bleed while baking since the berries are super juicy and some may even burst open, but I don't mind. I like to serve them warm, served with a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream (I use this recipe).

berry good

I started to panic when I realized that strawberry season was almost over and I had none in my freezer for emergency smoothies. So last Sunday, Joe and I braved the heat and drove to Lindley's Farm in Ancaster to pick some berries. We were lucky because they let us know that this was probably the last week for pick-your-own strawberries. 

The best thing about these sweet little jewels isn't only that their grown here in Ontario—but they're also pesticide free! Lindley's has started pick-you-own raspberries this week too. I couldn't bear to be in under the sun any longer, but grabbed a half pint of red raspberries and black raspberries (sometimes called "black caps") at their roadside market. 

Lindley's Farm

900 Fiddler's Green Road

Ancaster

nyt chocolate chip cookies

This chocolate chip cookie recipe comes from The Essential New York Times Cookbook and uses techniques developed by Jacques Torres. The unique thing about this recipe is that the cookie dough needs to rest in the fridge for at least 24 hours or ideally 36 hours. This "aging" of the dough is what's supposed to develop the flavour and create crisp-edged cookies with chewy middles. 

Unfortunately, this recipe was just ok for me. The taste was good and I liked the sprinkling of salt on the top, but the cookies ended up too cakey for my liking. Plus, I need that crisp outer edge and these just didn't have that (even though the recipe said they would). 

butter tart squares

I usually make these butter tart squares when I'm too lazy to make actual butter tarts. You get the same gooey deliciousness with half the work. 

base:
1/2 C cold butter, cut into cubes
1/4 C sugar
pinch of salt
1 C flour

1. Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add salt and flour and mix until just combined (don't over mix, there should be chunks of butter and flour).

2. Press into a greased 8x8-inch pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Let cool completely.

filling:
1/4 C soft butter
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 C corn syrup
1 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/3 C raisins (optional)

1. Using a stand mixer, bet sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add in vanilla and corn syrup, then flour, salt and baking powder.

2. Sprinkle raisins over the cooled crust. Pour filling over raisins evenly. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until just set. If the middle puffs a bit, don't worry, it'll go down when cooled. Cool completely before serving.

funnel cakes!

These homemade funnel cakes are one of my favourite desserts. You really can't go wrong with fried dough topped with powdered sugar, sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

1 1/2 C flour
1 1/4 C milk
1 egg
4 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
icing sugar for dusting
vegetable oil for frying
toppings: sliced fruit, berries, whipped cream, ice cream

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk milk, egg and sugar together. Add flour mixture to egg mixture until there are no lumps (but do not over mix). Test consistency: it should be thin enough to run through a funnel, but not watery.

2. Heat oil to 370 degrees. Place batter in a funnel and cover the opening with your finger. Hold the funnel about an inch from the oil and remove your finger to allow the batter to flow into the oil. Swirl and spiral the funnel to make a circular pattern. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Remove from oil and drain on paper towel or rack. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

lemon cream ice cream

This lemon cream ice cream is tart, tangy, sweet and creamy. It reminds me of hot summer days, Parisian lemon tarts and freshly-squeezed lemonade. First ice cream of the year!

The recipe comes from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, but you can also find the recipe here.

macaroons (not macarons)

These coconut macaroons may not be as elegant as French macarons (and actually aren't at all similar other than their name), but they're much easier to make and a fast way to ease a craving for something sweet. I drizzled some with milk chocolate, some with white chocolate, and left some au natural.

2 1/2 C shredded coconut
1/3 C sugar
2 egg whites
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp almond extract
pinch of salt

1. Combine all of the ingredients. Using an ice cream scoop, make mounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

2. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 325 degrees or until lightly golden. Allow to cool on the baking sheet before drizzling with melted chocolate.