Category Archives: desserts

May 17 2011

House Cake Project – Joe’s Peanut Butter Cup Birthday Cake

Last year for Joe’s birthday, I made him this cake. The layers were a tasty combination of:

  • rainbow bit sponge
  • vanilla cream cheese frosting
  • sliced strawberries
  • cheesecake {no crust} with strawberry preserve swirl
  • vanilla cream cheese frosting
  • sliced strawberries
  • rainbow bit sponge
  • strawberry preserve glaze on top of cake

So this year, I had to think of something different for him. The sweets that I’ve always known he loves are cheesecake, stale candy (don’t ask, it’s weird, right?), and peanut butter cups. One thing I also know he doesn’t love is fondant. I’m okay with that, because a lot of people don’t really like fondant. I will even peel most of it back when eating cake. (I’ll eat some of it though, especially if it’s a tasty brand like Virgin Ice Rolled Fondant! You can get it at the Bulk Barn for about $15 per 4 lb tub.)

I decided I was going to make him a peanut butter cup cake. (Not “cupcake”…) I didn’t shape it like a peanut butter cup, instead I allowed the cake to represent the flavours of the peanut butter cup. Here’s what I did for the cake:

  • Sponge is rainbow bit (of course)
  • Frosting in between layers is a mixture of vanilla and about 3 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter.
  • Frosting on outside of cake is milk chocolate.
  • Side of cake is decorated/coated with cut up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
  • Top of cake is decorated with “blobs” of vanilla-peanut butter frosting, and topped with more peanut butter cups.

Note: With the cake flavour, because I used a chocolate frosting with MANY peanut butter cups, and because the frosting on the inside of the cake was so rich, I wanted to make sure the cake had a light flavour to help balance it out. It’s a pretty heavy cake, even with the vanilla sponge being used instead of peanut butter or chocolate.

Simple as that! Now here’s a few pictures of this tasty mess!

In all of it's peanut butter filled glory...

In all of it's peanut butter filled glory...The top :)

The tasty, tasty side... *drools*

The tasty, tasty side... *drools*

Apr 4 2011

Strawberry & Date Jam

After making apple butter so many times, I decided I wanted to try some other fruit spreads. I wish I would have known how messy this jam was going to be… So be warned: this will splatter while cooking! Luckily the taste more than makes up for the mess… :D

The dates add a thickness to the jam that makes it taste quite rich, with a sweetness that isn’t too much to handle. The lemon zest and spices add a little “something else” that you won’t find in many other jams. I love fruit spreads, and find this to be pretty unique when compared to other ones I’ve had. I enjoyed some of this jam on some whole wheat bread with goat’s milk cheese, but you could really put it on anything!

This recipe filled one 310 ml jam jar. Enjoy! :)

Strawberry & Date Jam

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups strawberries, cleaned with the tops cut off
  • 1/2 cup pitted honey dates, finely chopped
  • Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar (you can add more if you like, but I found this to make the jam pretty sweet!)
  • 2 tbsp liquid honey

Method:

  • In a deep pot (trust me, it splashes…), place all ingredients and stir over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
  • Using an immersion blender, puree the contents of the pot, and adjust the temperature to high heat.
  • It will come to a rolling boil pretty quickly, so you need to keep stirring or the bottom will burn. If you have a heavy bottom pot, use that.
  • Continue to stir the mixture for 20-25 minutes. I don’t use a thermometer, I judge it by eye. When the mixture is thick, it’s ready to come off the stove. A good way to judge the right thickness is to pull the spoon through the middle of the mixture. Once it’s at a perfect thickness, the mixture will fall back together quite slowly. Also, when you scoop some of it up on the spoon, and tip the spoon upside down, it will “glob” off of the spoon instead of pour off nicely. For me, with the quantities of ingredients I used, it was good to remove from the heat after 25 minutes exactly. Once it’s done, remove from heat and stir a few more times until it’s cooled slightly.
  • I didn’t make a recipe for preserving, and haven’t attempted to do so yet, however if stored in a sterile glass jar (old jam jars are great), or in a clean and sterile container, you can keep this in your fridge for up to 1 week. If you like, you can also freeze this for however long you’d keep jam in the freezer, but I’ve never really been a fan of freezer jam in the past. If you do preserve jams, you can preserve this and store for as long as you normally would any other jam.
Mmmmmmm!!!!!!!! It tastes best after having sat in the fridge over night... So fruity...

Mmmmmmm!!!!!!!! It tastes best after having sat in the fridge over night... So fruity...

Apr 4 2011

Strawberry Chocolate-Chip Frozen Yogurt

I feel a little strange calling this frozen yogurt, because it’s not very similar to that stuff you get at the grocery store. It’s not soft and mushy like ice cream… It’s actually closer to an Italian ice in texture, or even similar to a strawberry sorbet… Somewhat… Regardless, it’s still technically “frozen yogurt”, as there is dairy (yogurt) involved as a main ingredient. (Italian ice doesn’t have any dairy.)

This tastes pretty great, and I can imagine that in the hotter summer months ahead, it will be quite an enjoyable form of refreshment. Also, using non-fat yogurt cuts the fat almost completely! If you prefer using another liquid sweetener over honey, you can and I’m sure it will taste just as good! :) Here’s the recipe, enjoy! :)

Strawberry Chocolate-Chip Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups non-fat plain yogurt
  • 1-2 cups frozen strawberries (this varies depending on how much strawberry flavour you want!)
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp liquid honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Roughly chopped dark chocolate (I used about 4 squares of a large Lindtt dark chocolate bar)

Method:

  • In a blender (or with an immersion blender), blend all ingredients except the chopped dark chocolate. Blend until smooth.
  • Stir in the chopped dark chocolate, and then pour into a couple semi-shallow plastic dishes (I used two Glad containers, about 2 inches deep)
  • Place in the freezer, and allow to harden for about 45 minutes.
  • After 45 minutes, remove the containers and stir contents until smooth.
  • Repeat this process (freezing, and removing every 45 minutes to stir) until the desired consistency is reached.
  • The frozen yogurt can be stored in these containers, or you can scoop it back into the original yogurt container. Make sure it’s covered with a lid after the whole “freeze-then-stir” process is finished.
  • Note: You can store this for many weeks in the freezer. After it’s been frozen for a day or two, it will be rock solid. Simply allow the frozen yogurt to soften slightly on the counter for 5 minutes or so prior to serving. To serve, you can also shave pieces of the frozen yogurt off of the top in layers if it doesn’t come off in one big scoop.
mmm... There it is... ;)

mmm... There it is... ;)

Apr 4 2011

Balsamic Marinated Strawberries With Goat Cheese On A Whole Wheat Baguette

Some very good words: sweet, fruity, rich, creamy, decadent, tangy, spicy…

Some very good foods: strawberries, goat’s milk cheese, whole wheat baguette, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg…

I know it’s not quite strawberry season, so I can’t get strawberries locally, but I just couldn’t resist grabbing some on my way home today anyways. On the weekend, I had a salad that consisted of simply: strawberries, goat’s milk cheese (so smooth and creamy!), candied pecans, and lettuce. It was so good that I’ve been craving something with a goat cheese and strawberry mixture constantly since eating that salad. I usually enjoy a strawberry or raspberry balsamic vinaigrette with my salads, but wanted something more filling for my pre-dinner snack. So I decided on this! Two things I can promise you: this is simple, and this is tasty.

Balsamic Marinated Strawberries with Goat Cheese on a Whole Wheat Baguette

Ingredients:

  • Skim goat’s milk cheese (less fat and calories than regular goat’s milk cheese!)
  • Whole wheat baguette
  • 1/2 lb strawberries (this will serve quite a few people, but if it’s just for you that’s okay, the left overs can be used to make some jam! Recipe coming soon! ;) )
  • About 4 tbsp raspberry balsamic vinegar (you can use regular balsamic vinegar, however I really love the taste of this stuff… I’ll post a picture of it at the end of this post!)
  • About 1 tbsp organic raw cane sugar (or any type of sugar you like)
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg

Method:

  • Wash the strawberries, and then thinly slice them. Place in a bowl.
  • Add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir, cover, and place in the fridge for about one hour.
  • Lightly toast as many slices of the baguette that you want, and spread some of the goat’s milk cheese on each slice.
  • Place a few slices of the marinated strawberries onto each slice of the baguette, and enjoy! :)

There’s nothing more to it! So simple, so tasty… Such an interesting blend of flavours! :)

You need to taste this! It tastes like it should be bad for you... But it's soooooo good! ;)

You need to taste this! It tastes like it should be bad for you... But it's soooooo good! ;)

The balsamic vinegar I really like :)

The balsamic vinegar I really like :)

Mar 29 2011

Coconut Banana Cream Pie – Raw & Vegan

Here’s something a little interesting, and it’s (sort of) raw. I say “sort of”, because a few ingredients such as maple syrup and carob powder aren’t considered “raw” by everyone. There are “truly raw” carob powders available, however it’s not always guaranteed that the temperature was kept low enough during processing. Either way, if you eat raw foods, the carob powder and maple syrup can easily be substituted for more “raw friendly” items such as agave nectar and raw chocolate. (I’ve been interested in raw recipes in the past, and I was actually inspired recently to try out another raw recipe by an old highschool acquaintance, Elena. She’s got her own blog going on, and has some pretty cool recipes for raw food lovers!)

So here’s my tasty recipe for a coconut banana cream pie! This recipe makes 4 small servings. It’s a very rich and decadent pie that’s slightly higher in calories, so I suggest keeping the servings small. Enjoy! :)

Coconut Banana Cream Pie – Raw & Vegan

Ingredients:

Base

  • 1/2 cup pitted honey dates, soaked for about 5 minutes.
  • 1/2 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 cup walnut butter (home-made is best!)
  • 1/4 cup carob powder (tastes similar to cocoa powder, but a little sweeter)

Filling

  • 1 banana (I used a frozen banana, it may be a better idea to use one that’s not frozen though, as it causes the coconut butter to harden…)
  • 1/2 cup coconut butter (to make: blend/process 1 cup flaked coconut for 5-10 minutes until a liquid forms. It may be slightly grainy still. Pour into a jar/cup, and allow to harden slightly for about 15 minutes. It will be creamy and smooth in texture. This does not need to be refrigerated.)
  • 2 tbsp almond butter (again, home-made is best, but store-bought is alright too)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (real, not that artificial stuff!)
  • 1/4 cup almond milk

Chocolate Sauce

  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp almond milk
  • 4 tbsp coconut butter
  • 1 tbsp carob powder

Method:

  • For the base, stir all ingredients together in a bowl until mixed well. Press into the bottom of a plastic wrap lined bowl, and freeze for 30-60 minutes.
  • For the filling: using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, mix all filling ingredients together. Pour the mixture on top of the semi-frozen base, and return to the freezer for another 20-30 minutes.
  • For the chocolate sauce: mix all ingredients together, and drizzle over the finished pie prior to serving!
  • To serve: Simply remove the pie from the bowl by pulling the plastic wrap carefully, and cut into four slices. Serve with chocolate sauce drizzled on top, and enjoy! :) If the pie is too hard, allow to soften for a few minutes before serving.
Here's the pie! :)

Here's the pie! :)

And now for a "fancy picture" :)

And now for a "fancy picture" :)

Mar 29 2011

Whole Wheat Lemon Almond Biscotti

Mmm biscotti… So good… So perfect with a cup of tea… I have a few biscotti recipes that I really enjoy, and this is another one to add to that list! :) These are also pretty healthy, containing no butter, no egg yolks, and no white sugar/flour.

Whole Wheat Lemon Almond Biscotti

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 50 ml ground almonds
  • 50 ml organic cane sugar
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/2 cup almonds, skin on, roughly chopped
  • 4 egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

  • Pre heat oven to 300 F (or 285 F – 290 F if using a convection oven), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Combine all dry ingredients together.
  • Add all wet to dry.
  • Mix together just until a dough forms.
  • Pat into an oval/log shape, about 3/4 of an inch thick.
  • Bake for about 35 minutes (check at 30 minutes that it’s not burnt, as all ovens are different).
  • Remove from oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
  • Cut the log diagonally into sticks, about 3/4 of an inch wide.
  • Flip the sticks over onto their sides (cut sides are facing down and up now), and bake for 10 minutes.
  • Flip the sticks again, and bake for another 10 minutes until the biscotti are dried out.
  • Allow to cool, and enjoy! :)
mmm... Biscotti... :)

mmm... Biscotti... :)

I really wish you could smell this... Lightly scented with lemon and almonds... Just beautiful...

I really wish you could smell this... Lightly scented with lemon and almonds... Just beautiful...

Dec 13 2010

Eggnog Scones

A while ago, I made some lemon vanilla scones. I am a huge fan of scones, so it’s a bit of a shock that I haven’t tried to introduce eggnog into a recipe for them. So this evening, I went to my tested recipe for the lemon vanilla scones, and made a few changes to it in order to get that festive eggnog flavour! {Nope, there’s no rum in these. Not that kind of “festive”. ;) }

The basic recipe is pretty much the same, but I did cut it in half. I’ll post the updated version right here! {I know, I’m so nice, eh? } As with the eggnog pancakes in my previous post, the eggnog flavour isn’t overwhelming. It’s more of an… enhancement to the original flavour of the food. ;)

This recipe makes 8 small scones. Enjoy! I sure did. :)

Eggnog Scones

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp granulated (white) sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp each baking soda and salt
  • 1/4 cup butter, crumbled (cool)
  • 1/2 egg (room temperature. To get half of an egg, just whisk the egg in a bowl, and then remove about 1 tbsp of the egg. You’ll have a little more than half of an egg in the recipe, but that’s alright.) **Note: Keep the extra tbsp of the egg for the pre-baking glaze!!!
  • 1/2 vanilla bean pod seeds (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
  • 1/2 cup light eggnog
  • 1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg (more if you like nutmeg)

Method:

  • Pre heat oven to 400 F.
  • Lay parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
  • Mix all dry ingredients well in a large bowl.
  • Add butter, and mix with your hands until crumbly. You don’t need to smooth out all of the butter, instead you want to make sure it has a texture like sand with clumps in it. (Yummy image…)
  • Add the egg, eggnog, and vanilla, and stir well until mixture becomes a firm dough.
  • Knead on heavily floured surface with floured hands until firm (about 2-3 minutes), sprinkling flour onto the dough if the mix is too sticky.
  • Knead the dough into a ball, and flatten slightly. About 1 1/2 inch thickness is great. Slice across the middle horizontally with a large knife, then across the middle vertically, then cut each quarter in half. You should have eight pieces. If you don’t, well then… You may not know how to count. O.o
  • Place the pieces about 1 cm apart on the lined cookie sheet. Brush the tops lightly with a bit of the reserved egg, and sprinkle a little bit of nutmeg over each piece.
  • Bake for 18-20 minutes, until tops are lightly cracked, and are firm when tops are tapped. When you stick a toothpick in, it should come out clean. (you may want to check the bottom of one of the scones to make sure it is not burnt. The bottoms should barely be darker than the top.)
  • Allow to cool.
  • Can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge in plastic wrap or baggies for up to 1 week. Can be kept in the freezer, in foil and plastic bags for 1-2 months. If freezing, simply microwave scone at 20 second intervals until thawed.
  • Eat them as they are, or add an eggnog glaze! (See below!)

Eggnog Glaze

Ingredients:

  • 4 tbsp icing sugar
  • 4 tbsp eggnog
  • pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon
  • Note: you can adjust the quantities of each ingredient to suit you. If you like a thicker glaze, add more icing sugar. A thinner glaze requires more eggnog (or less sugar). For more of an intense flavour, increase the spices.

Method:

  • Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, and drizzle over cooled scones. Allow to set for a few minutes in the fridge, or eat while still wet and sticky! :)
Lightly spiced eggnog scones. Sooooo tasty! :)

Lightly spiced eggnog scones. Sooooo tasty! :)

 

I love the texture of scones! :)

I love the texture of scones! :)

Dec 12 2010

Peanut Butter & Banana Maple Bran Muffins

I can’t believe how tasty these muffins are! They aren’t too sweet, and they’ve got the perfect blend of banana, maple and peanut butter. :) The husband and I both enjoyed these! There’s not much more to say about them, so here’s the recipe! This recipe makes 6 muffins. Enjoy! :)

Peanut Butter & Banana Maple Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 wheat bran
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed
  • 1 egg
  • seeds scraped from 1/2 of a vanilla bean pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter maple syrup (1/4 cup each of peanut butter and maple syrup, mixed until combined. Great over pancakes! ;) )
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Method:

  • Pre heat your oven to 375 F, and line a muffin tin with 6 paper muffin cups. (I used large-sized ones.)
  • Mix all wet ingredients, plus the sugar, in a bowl.
  • Sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
  • Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix together just until combined.
  • Spoon batter into the lined muffin cups, and bake for about 15 minutes. (Check the muffins at 10 minutes with a tooth pick poked into the middle of the muffin. If there’s any wet batter on the tooth pick, cook the muffins a bit longer. All ovens are different, so use your judgement here!)
  • Optional: sprinkle some cinnamon sugar (equal parts white sugar and ground cinnamon) on top of each muffin, along with some crushed walnut chunks.
  • Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes before removing them from the tin.
I should call this the "Elvis Muffin" :)

I should call this the "Elvis Muffin" :)

Nov 7 2010

Rocky Road Bars

While grocery shopping this weekend, I saw a HUGE box of rocky road bars as I was leaving… It took all of the willpower in the universe to not turn around and purchase these…

All weekend, I couldn’t get these off of my mind. I decided to make something similar to a rocky road bar, but a little healthier. I must stress “a little”, because these still possess some of the chocolaty goodness that graces the original rocky road bar. If you’re watching your calories, you probably won’t want to make them will probably give in and make them, because they taste so good!!!

With traditional rocky road bars, you’ll enjoy two key parts: 

  1. the base: which is usually made of some graham cracker crumbs (or the whole cracker broken into bits), butter, chocolate, nuts, and coconut. The base can also be a cake or brownie. There are so many variations out there of this!
  2. the topping: which is a tasty mixture of marshmallows, nuts, and coconut, topped with however much chocolate you desire. Again, there are many variations of what these bars have, or look like, but this seems to be the general combination I’ve seen.

I wanted a few extra flavours mixed into this recipe, so decided to make my own spin on it! This is chewy, gooey, a little crunchy, sweet, smooth, and very rich in flavour… It makes me feel like I’m eating an indulgent “adult” version of a rocky road bar, but is definitely something I would have enjoyed as a kid!

This recipe makes 6 servings. Enjoy! :)

Rocky Road Bars

Ingredients – Base: 

  • 1/2 cup almonds and walnuts roughly chopped in the blender/food processor
  • 1/2 cup pitted dates, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup flaked coconut
  • 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg
  • 1 tbsp warm water
  • 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Ingredients – Topping:

  • 36 mini marshmallows (6 per serving)
  • 1 peanut butter cup (mmm, Reese’s!)
  • milk chocolate for melting (Aero bars work really well for this… We had a bunch of mini bars left after Halloween!)

Method:

  • Pre heat oven to 350 F, and line a muffin tin with 6 paper muffin cups.
  • In a bowl, mix all of the base ingredients except the peanut butter. It should be a paste that’s a bit rough/dry.
  • Press the base (in equal amounts) into the bottoms of each muffin cup. It should be as flat as possible.
  • Spread the peanut butter (in equal amounts) over each of the six filled muffin cups.
  • Bake for 10 minutes.
  • Allow to cool.
  • For the topping: once cool, press 6 mini marshmallows into each base. You may need a little bit of peanut butter on each marshmallow to make sure they stick. I used molasses. Then, melt your chocolate, and put a glob of it (or drizzle nicely) over the marshmallows, and allow to fall over the sides as it will. At this point, if you want, you can add some chopped peanuts. Or, take the peanut butter cup, and cut it into 6 equal pie shapes. Then, place a little “pie” on the tops of each bar.
  • Allow to cool completely in the fridge before serving. The chocolate will harden, and hold the marshmallows and “peanut butter “pie” in place. The base will also be more firm once cooled completely.
Mmmm... Rocky Road Bar.... :D

Mmmm... Rocky Road Bar.... :D

Oct 29 2010

Ginger Lemon Muffins With A Lemon Glaze

These muffins have no flour, eggs, butter, or oil!!!!!

I’ve been getting into using almond flour instead of regular flour, so for these muffins I’ve used ground almonds and oats as the “flour”, and other ingredients to help bind the muffins together. They turn out moist, with a great texture. They’ve also got quite the spicy kick to them with the quantity of ginger used. To make these even healthier, you can omit the lemon glaze. (However, I do suggest keeping it… ;) ) Enjoy! :)

This recipe makes 6 muffins.

Ginger Lemon Muffins with a Lemon Glaze

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup almond flour + 1/2 cup oat flour (place 1 cup of almonds and 1/2 cup of rolled oats in the blender. Blend until fine crumbs are formed.)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup grated coconut
  • Pinch each of ground nutmeg and cinnamon
  • finely grated zest of one small lemon
  • 2 tbsp finely minced candied ginger
  • 1 tbsp molasses
  • 1/2 cup pitted honey dates, soaked in about 2 tbsp hot water for 5 minutes. Drain all water except 1 tsp.
  • 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

  • Pre heat oven to 375 F.
  • Line a muffin tin with 6 paper liners.
  • Add all dry ingredients into a bowl, and mix.
  • Add the wet ingredients (molasses, yogurt, vanilla extract) into the bowl with the soaked dates and mix well.
  • Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir just until blended. The batter will be thick.
  • Divide the batter equally between the muffin cups. They won’t rise too high, so you can fill the cups almost to the top.
  • Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes, checking at 25 minutes to make sure they are not burnt.
  • Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for five minutes for adding the glaze. (See below for glaze)

Lemon Glaze:

  • For the lemon glaze, simply mix together 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice with 3 heaping tbsp of icing sugar. Drizzle the glaze over the muffins, and allow to cool before eating.
ginger lemon muffin :)

ginger lemon muffin :)