Mocha Marble Birthday Cupcakes!

Out of everything I bake, I’m probably most known (by my friends and family, at least) for my cupcakes. I bake them a lot. I’m actually shocked that this is the first cupcake recipe I have on the blog. I’ve been seriously slacking in the cupcake department and for that, I apologize.

It was my best friend Krystyn’s birthday this weekend. Naturally, I offered to make cupcakes and when I asked her what kind she wanted, she replied with, “Vanilla!!! Or espresso ;)” (that is a direct quote).

I pondered the possibilities for a bit and finally decided on marble cupcakes, to have the best of both the vanilla and espresso worlds. I topped them off with a vanilla buttercream as she’s also a huge sucker for anything “vanilla or buttercreamy goodness” (also a direct quote). Don’t you just love her already?

Clearly, we are friends for a reason.

Anyways, I sifted through my stack of cupcake cookbooks and decided to make a variation of the marble cupcakes in Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book. And they turned out beautifully.

P.S. If you’re in the market for a cupcake book, I definitely suggest investing in Martha’s. It’s my fav. And Krystyn is actually the one who purchased it for me for MY birthday last year. See? Meant to be best friends.

P.P.S. Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman is also an amazing book. Second favourite, for sure.

Mocha Marble Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Marble Cupcake recipe)

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1¾ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/4 cup boiling water

Icing

1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups icing sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners (I used brown ones with white polka dots).

Stir together cake flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. Combine milk and cream in another bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk mixture, and beating until combined.

To make the chocolate espresso batter, measure out 1 cup batter, and transfer to another bowl. Combine cocoa, espresso and the boiling water in a bowl. Stir into reserved 1 cup batter.

Fill prepared cups with alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter, filling each three-quarters full. Run the tip of a paring knife or wooden skewer through batter in a figure-eight motion to make swirls. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until tops are golden and a cake tester (or a toothpick) inserted in centers comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To make the buttercream, mix the butter and the vanilla together and then slowly beat in the icing sugar. You can use food colouring to make it any colour you’d like; I left it white to go with the color scheme of the papers and the cake, but reserved a bit at the end and made it purple to write Happy Birthday on a bunch of them.

Makes 18-20 cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, lovely <3

Pumpkin Double Whammy!

So, my pumpkin obsession got a little bit intensified over the weekend when I discovered that numerous vendors at the farmer’s market have lovely selections of sugar pumpkins! I’ve been searching for cooking pumpkins for awhile now and I’m so stoked that I can finally buy them from local farmers at the market. The vendor I bought them from last weekend even assured me that she’d be selling them until Christmas…needless to say, I’m a little excited.

Today, I have a double dose of pumpkin for you! 1 savoury dish and 1 sweet. I made a pumpkin soup and a gluten-free version of one of my favourite pumpkin breads :)

Curried Roasted Pumpkin Soup
(Adapted from Joy McCarthy’s Roasted Pumpkin Curry Soup)
This soup is so yummy and incredibly good for you. I’m kind of in love with it.

Ingredients:

1 small sugar pumpkin, seeds and stringy bits removed and cut into large chunks
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp freshly chopped ginger
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tsp curry powder
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Drizzle pumpkin chunks with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 40-60 minutes. When pumpkin is fork-tender, remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Let cool and remove flesh from skins. Set aside.

Melt coconut oil in a large pot on the stove on medium-high heat. Add onions and celery and cook until brown, stirring frequently. Once veggies have browned, add garlic, ginger, pumpkin, salt and pepper.

Add enough water to just cover the vegetables. Stir occasionally and skim off any foam that appears on the surface with a ladle. Once the soup has come to a boil, turn the heat down to low heat and let simmer. Sprinkle in the curry powder and stir. Allow the soup to simmer for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

After letting it simmer for 15 minutes or so, remove pot from heat. With a hand-blender (or food processor), blend the soup until no chunks remain. You may need to add more water during this step if the soup is too thick.

Add any additional salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy!


Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Spice Bread
(Adapted from Joy the Baker’s Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread)
This bread is really crumbly and moist…and also very sweet. It’s more like cake. I think I might even love it more than the original.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
2½ tbsp water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour one loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well, finding any stray flour bits to mix in.

Pour the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Serve warm.

Comfort Food: Beef Stew & Biscuits

Today, it was just plain yucky outside. After I braved the roads first thing in the morning to hit the gym, I quickly decided to spend the rest of the day indoors. On cold, snowy days like today, all I want to do is curl up on my couch with a mug of tea and some good movies.

I was also craving comfort food. Mind you, I tend to crave comfort food on a regular basis. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I live in Alberta and we get snow for most of the year and therefore all I want is to hibernate and eat yummy and hearty meals year-round. Or it could also be due to the fact that I grew up eating the most delicious and comforting dishes as my mother is an insanely awesome cook.

Nevertheless, today I wanted stew. Beef stew. I had never made it before but I figured it couldn’t be that difficult.

Thankfully, it wasn’t. I also made biscuits. And they may just be the best biscuits I’ve ever made. AND they were super easy. I actually googled, “easy buttermilk biscuits” because I really didn’t feel like rolling out and cutting dough, and I stumbled upon a great recipe that’s quick and easy, and amazingly delicious.

Beef Stew
(Adapted from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry’s Stew-Pendous Beef Stew)
The longer you can cook this, the better. The meat really needs a good 2 hours to get fully tender and delicious. A slow cooker would make it even better. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting for one…

Ingredients:

olive oil
1-1½ pounds beef (I used eye of round), cut into 1 to 1½ inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 an onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence (or any mix of herbs you’d like – I made up my own)
3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch pieces
2 large carrots, diced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup frozen green peas

Directions:

Pat beef dry with paper towels. Sprinkle beef lightly all over with seasoning salt. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot (preferably non-stick) over medium-high heat. Add half the beef cubes and cook, turning occasionally, until all sides are lightly browned. Remove from pot and keep warm. Repeat with another drizzle of olive oil and remaining beef cubes. Set browned beef aside.

Add onions, celery, and garlic to same pot (you may add a bit more olive oil or ¼ cup beef broth to pot if necessary to prevent sticking). Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Return beef cubes to pot and stir in herbs de Provence (or your herbs of choice). Add beef broth, tomato paste, vinegar, bay leaves, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour, 15 minutes. (Make sure it is a low simmer and that mixture is not boiling or it will burn.)

Stir in potatoes and carrots. Cover and simmer for 30 more minutes. Mix cornstarch with 2 tbsp warm water until smooth. Add to stew. Mix well and continue to cook until stew is bubbly and has thickened. Stir in peas and cook just until they are heated through, about 2 minutes.


P.S. These are the biscuits I made. They’re seriously awesome. So awesome, in fact, that there were none left over – Matt made sure of that.

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie

I did a show a little while back called, Perfect Pie. In it, my character was known for making amazing pies and pastries. Because of this, I made it my own little personal mission to learn how to make great pies – especially pastry from scratch.

I’m very picky about pies. I love fruit pies but I hate it when they’re too sweet. I especially hate it when apple pies are too sweet. My mom makes an AMAZING apple crumble pie and I have always been a little nervous to try to make one myself in fear that it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as hers.

Sarah and I were at the farmer’s market on Saturday and I noticed that one of the vendors (specializing in gluten-free items) had gluten-free pie dough. I decided to buy some along with some fresh granny smith apples and embark on a gluten-free apple crumble pie adventure! If it was bad, I could always cheat and blame the dough, right?


Thankfully, it wasn’t. It actually turned out really good. So good, in fact, that I wasn’t able to snap a picture of the final product before it was devoured by my family. So yeah. It was good.

I will also definitely do a post in the future about my own pie dough as I do have a killer (and very not-gluten-free) recipe, but for now, enjoy this wheat-free alternative :)

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie
Pie is another thing I don’t tend to have a set recipe for…I’m always adding more of this or that to suit it to my tastes. This recipe is kind of just a guideline.

Ingredients:

1 gluten-free pie crust (bottom crust only)

Filling:
6-8 coarsely chopped & peeled granny smith apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp rice flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat-free rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

Directions:

Topping: In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon. Using pastry blender (or your fingers), cut in butter until crumbly; set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie dough to a generous 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness; fit into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Trim to leave 3/4-inch (2 cm) overhang; fold under and crimp edge. Set aside.

Filling: In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss to combine. Scrape into pie shell. Sprinkle with topping.

Bake at 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F; bake for about 50 minutes or until filling is bubbly and thickened. Let cool on rack.

Sinful Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Brownies

Sometimes, I get a little experimental in the kitchen. Sometimes, the results are delicious, whereas other times, it can get disastrous. However, that’s what experimenting is for, right? And what better way to do it than with food!

I have a friend staying with me this week. Her name is Sarah. She is gorgeous, crazy talented, continuously bouncy but unfortunately unable to digest gluten. Therefore, I’ve taken this as an opportunity to stretch my gluten-free baking muscles and start experimenting with different flours!

It’s almost pathetic how excited I get over this stuff…

Anyways, tonight I was craving chocolate. Good, dark, rich chocolate. So, I found a nice dark chocolate brownie recipe, threw some certified wheat-free oats into my Magic Bullet to make a fine oat flour and went a little crazy. And the results were…sinful.

(I also think it’s interesting that I’ve now made brownies for this blog more times in the past 2 weeks than I have in my entire life. Just sayin’.)

Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Brownies
(Adapted from Joy the Baker’s Dark Chocolate Brownies)
I halved the original recipe and used a loaf pan just in case the brownies turned out awful, but since they didn’t, you should probably double it and use a full square cake pan.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons oil
6 ounces pure unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Place oil and chopped chocolate in a medium sized heat proof bowl. Melt chocolate either in the microwave (keep a good eye on it!!) or in a double boiler (Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, being sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the boiling water. Stir until chocolate and oil are completely melted & mixed. Use pot holders to remove the bowl from over the boiling water). Let mixture sit for a few minutes.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until pale and thick. Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk until completely incorporated. Add the flour mixture all at once and whisk to incorporate. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.


These are super rich and super delicious. You might need some milk.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Quick Bread

I love homemade bread. Unfortunately, I kind of suck at making it. I’ve made both yeasted and quick breads and they always seem to have this uncanny habit of either not cooking all the way through (gummy on the inside, burnt on the outside) or just tasting like crap. Needless to say, I’ve been frustrated.

I even made bread yesterday and was going to blog about it…but it sucked. A lot.

However, today something magical happened. I toyed around with a new quick bread recipe and it actually turned out alright! Scratch that – BETTER than alright. It’s so yummy, in fact, that I’ve had to move it into the downstairs fridge to avoid from eating the whole thing.

I’m kind of in love with this recipe now. And this bread. Today, after countless homemade bread fails, I finally had a bread win!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Quick Bread
(Adapted from Eating Well’s Honey Oat Quick Bread)
The buttermilk in this recipe gives it a really nice, almost biscuit-like quality. It’s brown and crumbly on the outsides, and soft and moist on the inside. However, make sure you cut big slices – it’s almost too crumbly for thin ones.

Ingredients:

1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oats
1 1/3 cups whole-wheat bread flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk

additional flour
additional oats (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray (or the oil of your choice). Sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour into the pan and tip the pan back and forth to coat the sides and bottom with it.

Thoroughly stir together oats, flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk the egg, yogurt, oil, sugar and buttermilk in a medium bowl until well blended.
Add the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined (don’t over mix). Scrape the batter into the pan, spreading evenly to the edges. Sprinkle oats over the top.

Bake the loaf for about 40 to 50 minutes (until well browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). Let stand in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around and under the loaf to loosen it and turn it out onto the rack. Let cool until barely warm, about 45 minutes.

*Note: Because there aren’t any preservatives and such in the bread, it will keep longer if you store it in the refrigerator.


ENJOY! It makes great toast…or you can just have it plain with butter. That’s what happened to most of mine.

Chicken Soup

I love homemade soups. In fact, aside from desserts involving pumpkin, soup is kind of my culinary obsession right now. Making soup from scratch is much easier than people think and generally better for you – especially if you make your own stock – as you can control what goes into it (most importantly: the amount of salt). You just need the time…however, it’s a perfect way to make use of a lazy Sunday. Plus, your house will smell amazing.

I’m also a little obsessed with making my own stock. It’s so ridiculously simple and a great way to use up the parts of vegetables and meat that normally get thrown out. You can also make a whole bunch and freeze it, then just use it as you need it.

Today, I made chicken stock. I had roasted a chicken on the weekend and kept the bones and leftover meat in order to make a yummy chicken soup. My mom makes a mean turkey soup (usually after big family dinners) as a way to use up leftover meat and bones, and it’s one of my very favourite dishes she makes. It’s full of flavour and LOTS of dill.

What can I say? We’re Ukrainian.

Chicken Stock
I don’t really have a specific recipe for stock, as I kind of just like to throw in whatever I have, but here’s a basic guideline.

Ingredients:

bones/carcass of 1 roasted chicken, meat removed
2 unpeeled onions, coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, coarsely chopped
2 unpeeled carrots, coarsely chopped
1 head of garlic (unpeeled), separated into cloves
6-8 sprigs of parsley
2 sprigs of thyme (or a tsp or so of dried thyme)
2 bay leaves
10-15 whole peppercorns

Directions:

In a stock pot, combine chicken, onions, celery, carrot, parsley, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns. Pour in 14 cups of water; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, skimming occasionally, for about 3-4 hours.

Use a slotted spoon to discard the majority of the chicken & vegetables. Strain stock through cheesecloth-lined sieve (or just a regular old strainer) into large bowl, pressing remaining vegetables to extract liquid. Refrigerate until fat congeals on surface, about 8 hours. Lift off fat and discard. Use as needed.

The stock can also be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Dillicious Ukrainian Chicken Soup
My spin on my mother's great soup.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil
half a medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 medium carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 quarts chicken stock
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
LOTS of fresh dill

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cooked egg noodles (optional)

Directions:

Coat a soup pot with oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots, celery and a tbsp or 2 of dill. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock (and more dill) and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the chicken (and more dill) and simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper (and any other spices you want – dill is nice).

Add noodles to serve (I don’t put the noodles to cook directly in the soup as they soak up a lot of the broth).

Enjoy!!


P.S. To accompany the soup, I also made these biscuits. They’re pretty much to die for. You should go make some. Now.

Vegan Baking Adventures with Jess

Vegan baking used to frighten me. I couldn’t imagine how any dessert could even come close to tasting good with the absence of butter. I love butter. I love it more than most things in life.


However, a very close friend of mine eats vegan. Her name is Jess. She is beautiful, talented, ridiculously energetic and a great vegan cook. But sadly, she does not have an oven in her house.

So, I kindly offered up my own kitchen today in exchange for a vegan baking lesson. And let’s just say that the results were surprisingly delicious.

There were some crazy shenanigans along the way…but that’s bound to happen when the two of us get together in the kitchen.

We made vegan brownies and (mostly) vegan pumpkin cookies.

And I gained an entirely new appreciation for coconut oil. I might start cheating on butter.

Vegan Tofu Brownies

Tofu is great because it absorbs flavours so well. It also gave the brownies a nice moist texture. P.S. You can make this recipe gluten-free by eliminating the carob chips.

Ingredients:

1 12 oz (300 g) package soft tofu
½ cup water
½ cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup spelt flour
½ cup carob chips


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 inch square baking pan (once again, we had to use a circle pan…I really need to eat that casserole).

Blend tofu in a blender or food processor to smooth (I used my Magic Bullet). Whisk tofu in a large bowl with water, oil and vanilla.

Add cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda and flour to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle chips on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Cool, cut and serve.


Supposed-to-be-Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

We had big plans for these vegan pumpkin cookies until we realized we had no flax seeds (to act as an egg substitute). Therefore, we just used real eggs…so these cookies are dairy-free, but not animal-product-free.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil, softened
1 cup pumpkin puree
1½ cups sugar
½ cup flax seed, blended (or 2 eggs)
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups oat flour (we used 1 cup each of oat, spelt and whole wheat flours)
1 cup rolled oats
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix coconut oil, pumpkin puree, sugar, flax seed/eggs and vanilla in a large bowl.

Add flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. (We added the remaining carob chips to the cookies as well)

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.

*Note: These cookies are pretty fluffy…we’re going to work with the recipe some more to perhaps make muffins with it. They would be great muffins.

DELICIOUS!!

Doodles that Snicker

Snickerdoodles. I probably love the name of these cookies more than the actual cookie itself. Though, I do love these little disks of cinnamon heaven quite a bit. And so do a lot of people.

Seriously. I’ve made these cookies for many casts of many shows I’ve done over the years and with each occasion, I’ve had instant friends. INSTANT, I tell you. People just love ‘em.

The secret is…well, there is no secret, they’re actually pretty easy. So, here’s the recipe.

Want people to love you? Make these cookies.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

cinnamon & sugar (for rolling)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and cinnamon.

Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.


Mix additional cinnamon and sugar in a separate small bowl (about a 1 tablespoon sugar to 1 teaspoon cinnamon ratio). Roll dough into small balls and then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. (You can also put the cinnamon and sugar in a paper bag and shake the ball of dough in it. That’s how I used to do it when I was little – it’s more fun.)

Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.


Let them cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.


My boyfriend loves these too. They never last in my house.

Pumpkin Spice Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

I love cake. It is probably my favourite dessert of all time. I could eat cake every day. In fact, it’s not uncommon that I do…

(*Note: I also work out like an animal to make up for my cake obsession. Otherwise, I would most likely weigh 300 lbs. And as hilarious as that would be on my 5’2” frame, it’s really not the look I’m going for.)

I also love pumpkin. And spice. So, I combined the three into a magnificent Pumpkin Spice Cake. With cream cheese icing. Because cream cheese icing is a must with spicy cakes.

I also added pecans. Just ‘cus. They’re delicious.

Pumpkin Spice Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting
(Adapted from Martha’s Pumpkin Spice Cake recipe)

Ingredients:

CAKE
2 ½ cups flour (I used 1 ½ cups cake & pastry flour, 1 cup all-purpose)
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

FROSTING
1 8-oz bar of cream cheese, softened
1 cup icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

butter (for the pan)
pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan (I used a circle cake pan as my square one is still filled with casserole).

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin-pie spice. In a large bowl, whisk oil, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin puree until combined.

Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix gently until smooth.

Turn batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan, and cool completely, right side up, on a rack.

Make the cream cheese frosting. Mix the cream cheese with the vanilla and then add the icing sugar. Mix until smooth (you can add more or less icing sugar depending on how thick you want the icing).

Ice entire cooled cake with cream cheese frosting.

I made a small well in the top of the cake and lined it with pecans and then put chopped pecans in the middle – mainly because I had a huge bag of pecans in my cupboard I needed to get rid of. You can garnish this cake with whatever you like however, or just have it plain. It’s yummy either way!

A Classic: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ahhh…chocolate chip cookies. There really is no other dessert as nostalgic and heart-warming as chocolate chip cookies. As a baker, they are a staple in my “recipe repertoire” and I’ve experimented with many different recipes over the years but these are probably my favourite. Mind you, I am, and always will be, a fan of the famous Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but these are a little bit more unique and suited to my own personal tastes.

I like a good chocolate chip cookie that is browned on the outsides, soft in the middle and not cakey. The addition of dark chocolate chips and sea salt make this recipe just a bit more sophisticated too.

They’re pretty yummy…so, I suggest you go make some. Right now. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a big bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg, syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add the baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients, mix, and then add the flour and stir until almost combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir just until blended.

Drop spoonfuls of dough on a non-stick cookie sheet (or line one with aluminium foil – that’s what I always do). Sprinkle the tops with coarse sea salt. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Sea salt is kind of my secret ingredient in nearly all my baking. I truly believe that it makes a significant difference in the taste. I will also always splurge on good vanilla – none of that “vanillin” stuff or artificial vanilla extract.


You can also alter this recipe by adding nuts or other types of chips. Sometimes, I like to use half milk chocolate and half dark (or semi-sweet). Play around with it – make it your own!

Peanut Butter Brownies

I don’t bake brownies very often. In fact, despite the fact that I really love them, they are probably one of the desserts I’ve baked the least. However, I thought I would give this peanut butter brownie recipe a try to bring for dessert for a family dinner tonight and after a series of minor kinks, I think they turned out alright. I like the peanut butter and chocolate balance, however they are fairly cakey. There was no oil in the recipe so I think when I try them out again, I’ll replace the butter with oil. Otherwise, they’re pretty yummy – especially if you like chocolate and peanut butter.

I’ll also use a legit square cake pan next time. My only one is currently filled with vegetarian casserole in my freezer so I used 2 loaf pans instead…and wax paper, cus I was out of parchment.

Peanut Butter Swirly Brownies
(Adapted from my November 2010 Canadian Living magazine)

Ingredients

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (I used 3 oz bittersweet and 2 oz dark)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Directions

In large bowl, beat 1/4 cup of the peanut butter, the butter and sugar; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla. Beat in chocolate.

Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Spread in parchment paper–lined 8-inch (2 L) square metal cake pan.

By spoonfuls, drop remaining peanut butter over top. Run knife through batter to swirl; smooth top. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven until tester inserted in centre comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack. Cut into squares.


Make sure you have a big glass of milk for these!!

Awesometastic Chicken Curry

So, I really didn’t expect to be posting on this blog everyday…or posting many “normal” recipes however I made a chicken curry today that was so good, I figured it needed to be shared. My boyfriend, Matt, raved about it and after some serious curry fails in the past, it feels good to make something awesome for a change.

Plus, he’s a super harsh critic when it comes to my cooking. If he thinks it’s good, it usually is.

So, without further ado, the recipe for Stephanie’s Awesometastic Chicken Curry!

Ingredients

vegetable or canola oil
½ a medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, chopped (green, yellow or any combo of the 3 would work too)
3 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 tbsp curry paste (I use Patak’s Mild Curry Paste)
2-3 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into 1-inch pieces
5 tomatoes, diced (I used roma tomatoes because that’s all I had, but a can of diced tomatoes would work fine too)
¼ cup whipping cream
1 tsp coriander
pinch or 2 of hot red pepper flakes

basmati rice, for serving


Directions

Heat up vegetable oil (about 2 tbsp) in a deep frying pan on medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and pepper and fry until onion is soft and golden. Stir in curry paste and add chicken. Cook until meat is sealed, about 3 minutes.

Add tomatoes and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.

Add cream, coriander and red pepper flakes and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until meat is cooked. Feel free to add other spices or more pepper flakes to taste. I also eyeballed the cream, so you could add more of that too if you want a creamier curry.

Serve with basmati rice. Naan bread would be good too.

This made enough for Matt and I, plus 2 servings of leftovers.


I know this recipe isn’t anywhere near vegetarian or vegan, but you could make it so by substituting the chicken with a can of chickpeas and using a dairy-free creamer or coconut milk.

I promise I’ll be back posting some new dessert recipes ASAP!! Look at me, less than a week in and I’ve already seriously strayed from my original intent…some dessert blogger I am.

Quinoa Breakfast

In case you didn’t know, I love breakfast. It is undeniably my most favourite meal of the day. I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t eat breakfast. I love everything from eggs and toast to pancakes and waffles…I even love breakfast for dinner, which was and still is a staple at my parents’ house. I grew up with it and sometimes, there is nothing I love more than cereal for dinner. Or crepes and wine…if I’m feeling indulgent.

Anyways, when I discovered the website, Simply Breakfast, I fell in love with the simple, rustic and beautiful photos of the blogger’s daily breakfasts. She has inspired me to embark on a similar project…sharing yummy breakfast recipes!

Today: breakfast quinoa w/ blackberries and coffee.



Recipe:
(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Breakfast Quinoa Recipe)

Breakfast Quinoa

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
handful fresh blackberries

Directions:

Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until three-quarters of the milk has been absorbed (about 15 minutes).

Stir in syrup and cinnamon. Cook, covered, until almost all the milk has been absorbed (about 8 minutes).

Serve with berries and any additional fix-ins you desire (milk, sugar, cinnamon etc.)

*Note: This makes too much for one person, so I refrigerate the left-overs and heat up single servings throughout the week.

Quinoa is an amazing little grain and a staple in vegetarian diets as it contains a balanced set of amino acids making it a complete protein. It’s also gluten-free :). It makes a really nice substitute for oatmeal in the morning or even rice or couscous as a side dish. Go out and get some!! You’ll be happy you did.

Healthy Lunch!

So, when I’m not baking desserts and having cheesecake for breakfast, I tend to eat quite healthy. You could call me a “health nut”. My dad does.

I’m also kind of eating vegetarian right now…not for health reasons or because I love cows or anything, it’s actually more of budget thing. Meat is expensive. I also don’t agree with the way much of our meat is raised and slaughtered these days so I like to buy from local farmers and butchers which tends to be even more expensive.

Therefore, I don’t eat a lot of meat. Unless I go out. Thankfully, my boyfriend likes tofu, so I’ve made it a little project for myself to come up with nutritious and delicious meat-free dishes that we’ll both enjoy.

Today, I had salad for lunch…mainly to make up for the cheesecake breakfast. But also because I just love salad. It’s super versatile! (Note: An old co-worker and good friend of mine, Sara, has a health food blog of her own and has a great post about spicing up salads here.)

One of my favourite things to put on salad is roasted chickpeas. They’re so yummy! Just rinse and drain a can of chickpeas, coat them in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them in the oven at 400 degrees for about half an hour, depending on how crispy you like them. I added them to some mixed greens with tomatoes, cucumber and feta cheese. Top with the dressing of your choice, and you have a delicious protein and fiber-packed salad lunch!!