French Crêpes

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Andrea

blueberry ice cream filled crepe with yogurt and berries with lemon zest

: ham and swiss filled crepe with mustard sauce

Crêpes are like very thin pancakes that you must handle a little more gently so as not to tear them. The batter is simple, but it needs to ‘rest’ at least an hour after you mix it up. They can be used in a myriad of ways – plain with maple syrup and butter, filled with fruit and cream or even used in savoury applications — ham and asparagus with a hollandaise sauce, chicken and broccoli in a cream sauce – the possibilities are limitless. The crêpes will keep well in the fridge or freezer, stacked with parchement paper in between. Continue reading →

Swedish Birthday Cake

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Andrea

Swedish Birthday Cake

I came across this recipe from a Swedish friend of the family, Margitta. She is well-known for her culinary skills and my daughter, Emily, spent a week in Stockholm with Margitta in May, so I felt inspired to make this cake for my birthday. It is deliciously different from our North American perception of birthday cake, easy to put together, and classy in it’s presentation. It uses an odd sized pan — 12×4 inch loaf pan –I picked one up at a kitchen store for $10, but if your feeling brave, try it in your regular 9×5 loaf pan and let me know the result. It is 3 layers of strawberry/banana/whip cream in a vanilla cake, and it’s absolutely delicious. It will serve 8-10 people, so try it at your next birthday celebration – the recipient will feel extra special and everyone I served it to -and I’ve made it twice so far — loved it.

Swedish Birthday Cake

from Margitta Wendin

serves 8-10

For the cake:

3 large eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Line pan with parchment paper (holding paper to pan with a few dabs of butter). Spray parchment with non-stick cooking spray. Place pan on a baking sheet.

Beat butter and sugar until combined, then add eggs, one at a time, and mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and almond extract and mix until combined. Combine flour, salt and baking powder. Add to sugar/egg mixture alternately with cream, ending with flour. (Flour = 3 additions, cream = 2 additions). Mix until well combined.

Pour into prepared pan, bake 40 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan, and let cool on rack. When fully cooled, slice into 3 even layers using a serrated knife. Make filling and topping. Assemble. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

cake baked but not filled

slice into 3 layers with serrated knife

For the filling and topping:

500ml 35% whipping cream

1 tbsp icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup strawberries, mashed, or strawberry jam (I used freezer jam)

1 banana, grated

a few sliced strawberries or some mandarin slices for garnish

Whip cream until soft peaks form. Add icing sugar and vanilla, continue to beat until firm peaks form.

Place first layer of cake on platter and top with mashed strawberries or strawberry jam and spread with about 1/2 cup of the whipped cream. Top with second layer. Grate banana into about 1 cup of whipped cream. Mix and apply to second layer. Top with 3rd layer. Cover completely with remaining whipped cream, top with sliced berries or mandarins. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy! Excellent cake when strawberries are in peak season.

strawberry jam, banana, cake, whipped cream. Easy and delicious.

apply berries and cream to first layer

mix grated banana and whipped cream, apply to second layer

top with third layer, then apply whipped cream all over.

top with berries, finished product

layers of awesomeness

Canada Day Strawberry Shortcakes

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Andrea

Strawberry Shortcake

I think strawberry shortcake is the quintessential Canada Day ‘food’. I say ‘food’ because I don’t think it should just be dessert– it can be enjoyed all day long–breakfast, lunch, before bed, whatever! It’s Canada Day! We are celebrating, after all!! I’m including the recipe for a favourite biscuit — I think making your own shortcakes makes all the difference, and they are super easy. Don’t overwork the dough- be gentle –it’s the key to a tender and flaky biscuit. Aside from the biscuit recipe, you’re on your own with the strawberries and whip cream (use real whip cream!) – just assemble however you like. One element I added in was lemon curd. Adds a little zing to your shortcakes– I mean, if you like lemon, that is. If you are more a purist, just stick with the strawberries and cream. So get your supplies together to make these before the stores are all closed. And HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Basic Biscuits

from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan (amazing baking book, if you bake alot)
Makes 12 biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup cold whole milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. Drop in butter and using fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Using fingertips or pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into dry ingredients until mixture is pebbly. You’ll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces of everything in between – and that’s just right.

Pour the milk over the dry ingredients, grab a fork and toss and gently turn the ingredients until you’ve got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick gentle kneading – 3 or 4 turns should be enough to bring everything together.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hand or roll it until 1/2 inch high. Don’t worry if its not completely even. Light touch is more important than accuracy.

Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of this first round. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working as little as possible, pat to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer them to the sheet.

Bake the biscuits for 14 to 18 minutes, or until they are puffed and golden brown. Transfer to a serving basket.

For buttermilk biscuits:

*Replace milk with buttermilk, add ½ tsp baking soda to dry ingredients

add milk to flour/butter mixture

don’t overwork your dough!

I used maple leaf shaped cutter, but use what you have.

bake until golden

lemon curd, if using

split biscuit and dollop with lemon curd,then assemble as usual

truly Canadian.

Chocolate Cappuccino Ice Cream Sandwiches – gluten free

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Andrea

ice cream sandwiches, various sizes

the little ice cream sandwiches are great for little people like Audrey

I’ve been eager to make some ice cream sandwiches to have on hand in the freezer. (not for me, for others! I hate cookies and ice cream- wink wink). I wanted to have a chocolate/brownie-type cookie for the outside, and I had cappuccino frozen yogurt in the freezer, so I thought it would be a perfect marriage. These cookies are gluten-free, for my gluten-intolerant friends. They taste fabulous, like brownies but in cookie form. I haven’t tried this recipe with regular flour…I would probably decrease to one egg if I was going to try it with regular all-purpose white flour (and take out the xantham gum). Obviously, the combination of cookies and ice cream is endless, but I have to say – these cookies, which are double chocolate with pecans, filled with a a thick layer of President’s Choice Frozen Cappuccino yogurt were or-friggin-gasmic, to say the least. So, give them a try, or at least get inspired to make your own combination. I baked my cookies on a cool day so I didn’t heat up the kitchen. Assemble, wrap and freeze sandwiches individually, and give them at least an hour or two to set up so they aren’t too squishy. What an awesome summer dessert for a bbq or just an amazing snack to pull out of the freezer for the kids or company! It will elevate you up to ‘rock star’ status for sure. 😉

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies (gluten free)

adapted from A Baking Life

makes about 4 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies (24 sandwiches)

2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour

1 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp xantham gum

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened

I cup brown sugar

1 cup white granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with silpats, silicone or parchment paper.

In separate bowl, whisk together first 6 ingredients – (flour through to salt). Set aside.

In large bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars, until well blended and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides of bowl until well incorporated. Add vanilla and mix. Add the flour mixture in a few additions until well combined. Using a spatula, fold in pecans and chocolate chips.

Place balls of dough on cookie sheet, flattening slightly. I used a 1 inch cookie scoop, which produced a 2 1/2 inch cookie. You decide if you want dainty small ice cream sandwiches or large ones, or somewhere in between. I found the 2 1/2 inch cookie produced a nice sized sandwich, quite satisfying without being too heavy. This size required 8 minutes of baking, after which I flattened the cookies down with a pie lifter (see picture) and then baked for an additional 4 minutes and they were perfect. So about 12 minutes baking time total. Crispy with a chewy center. Adjust your time depending on the size of your cookies.

mix dry ingredients together, set aside.

mix together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla

fold in choc chips and pecans after mixing flour mixture into batter

1 inch scoop yields a 2 1/2 inch cookie

flatten cookies after 8 minutes of baking, then bake additional 4 minutes

small (2 inch) sandwich - everyone can have one of these!

Anderson gave it 2 thumbs up

3 inch, 2 1/2 inch, 2 inch ice cream sandwiches

Easy and Delightful Apple Cake

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Andrea

apple cake

I love this cake recipe. Aside from it being from my favourite cookbook author, it’s quick to put together, the ingredients are simple and the result is just great. It’s more like a bunch of delicious cooked apple chunks held together with a bit of moist, rum and vanilla flavoured awesome cake batter. A beginner baker should have no trouble with this, and an experienced baker will appreciate how effortless it is. It’s good the first day, but better the second, third and fourth. This cake is very moist so I just cover it loosely with a tea towel — it’s got a lot of moisture so covering with plastic wrap will encourage mould. (If it lasts that long). This cake is great for afternoon tea, breakfast on the run or for dessert with a dollop of whip cream or ice cream. It will become part of your regular baking recipes, guaranteed.

*Also, I have marked this as “gluten free” – this recipe isn’t but it translates perfectly to a gluten free cake by using the same amount of all-purpose GF flour with 1/2 tsp of xantham gum. I’ve made it many times this way, and it’s awesome.

Apple Cake

from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 large apples (if you can, choose 4 different kinds)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan (I have also used a regular non-stick 9 inch cake pan with good results) and put it on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl.

Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1- to 2-inch chunks. (pretty big chunks)

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until they’re foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half the flour and when it is incorporated, add half the melted butter, followed by the rest of the flour and the remaining butter, mixing gently after each addition so that you have a smooth, rather thick batter. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the apples, turning the fruit so that it’s coated with batter. Scrape the mix into the pan and poke it around a little with the spatula so that it’s evenish.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean; the cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for five minutes.

Carefully run a blunt knife around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the springform pan. (Open the springform slowly, and before it’s fully opened, make sure there aren’t any apples stuck to it.) Allow the cake to cool until it is just slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the bottom of the springform pan, wait until the cake is almost cooled, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving dish.