Author: Lynn

A Surprise Birthday Cake

~ Lynn ~ 1 Comment

I recently changed departments at work. My old department would collect a dollar from every employee on Friday’s and use the money to buy birthday cakes from Premiere Moisson. My new department does not. The switch from a cake department to a non-cake department hasn’t been easy. I often find myself craving a piece of Opera cake. Or chocolate mousse raspberry cake, which I will try to reproduce at home one day.

I have therefore decided to introduce cake to my new coworkers. Today is my bosses birthday, and I will be bringing a birthday cake to the office tomorrow to celebrate. I checked with Genevieve, and she thinks the department will sing Happy Birthday to her. I won’t, but since I’m making the cake I think that’s ok.


I decided to go with a classic, chocolate cake with chocolate icing, to be sure that everyone will like it. I used the same recipe as the last birthday cake I made, mostly because I didn’t have time to look for a new recipe. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t any drama though! I decided to make the cake in a 9 by 3 inch spring form pan instead of baking it in two separate pans. My goal was to limit the domming effect that led to the lopsidedness last time. Bad idea.  About two minutes after I put the cake in the oven, it smelled like something was burning. At first I thought maybe some of the milk from the icing (recipe below) had landed on one of my stove burners. I looked but everything seemed fine. Then I opened the oven. The pan was leaking. Thankfully it was a slow leak and some of the batter had landed directly on the element so the smell of burning alerted me to the impending disaster. I pulled the cake out of the oven, poured the batter into two regular 9 inch pans, set the timer and walked away. Thirty minutes later the timer went off. I opened the oven and discovered two completely uncooked cakes. I had turned the oven off when I pulled the springform pan out and never turned it back on again. So I turned on the oven, reset the timer and tried to bake the cake for the third time.

Third time is the charm!

I won’ t repost the recipe for the cake, as you can find it here, and the only change I made was to soak it in a little Kahlua.

I will however post the buttercream recipe. The buttercream is divine. The recommended to me by Janice, who has the answer to all of my baking questions. She described it as tasting like chocolate milk, but I think its more like hot chocolate. It’s a pastry cream based buttercream, and is incredibly easy to make. If you’ve never made a pastry cream before, be careful not to curdle the eggs.

Chocolate Buttercream

Yields about 4 cups.

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 lb butter (4 sticks)
  • 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted

Directions

  1. In a large bowl mix egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and cocoa together with a wooden spoon.
  2. Bring milk and 1 1/2 cup sugar to boil in a large sauce pot over medium high heat.
  3. Once boiled, add a small amount of milk to the egg mixture, stir to combine. This will temper the eggs to avoid curdling. Slowly add the rest of the milk mixture, whisking constantly.
  4. Return milk and egg mixture to sauce pot over medium heat. Mix constantly but slowly for 2-4 minutes, until you see large bubbles come up. At that point mix quickly for 45 seconds to 1 minute. The pastry cream should have increased in volume and become quite thick.
  5. Whisk the pastry cream with an electric mixer for 5 to 10 minutes to cool.
  6. Once cooled, add the butter 1 tbsp at a time, thoroughly incorporating after each addition.
  7. Add the melted chocolate, whisk till well combined.

I’ll try to get a picture of a slice at the office tomorrow.

Ready; Set; Challenge!

~ Lynn ~ Leave a comment

Today was day 2 of the Defi Bien Dans Ma Peau (which I guess would translate to the Comfortable In My Skin Challenge, but it sounds better in French).  The challenge was put together by LaJulie, a nutritional coach who offers private sessions or group activities like this one or the 30 Day Sugar Free Challenge. It sounds scary, but Julie loves food and has made it her mission to teach people how to eat healthy but still get the joy that food can bring.

I did the 30 Day Challenge last November, and by the end of it I felt great. But the holidays and a tough winter health wise have led me back to my old ways. Time for a new challenge!

The Defi Bien Dans Ma Peau is a 6 week challenge. 27 of us will be saying no to refined sugars, white bread and pastas. We’ll also be doing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. It’s not all bad though, this time Julie is letting us have coffee (just one though), and the occasional glass of organic wine. On top of that there are weekly meetings where we will learn about a variety of topics including digestion, fitness and even an organic wine tasting! The meetings are also a chance to share with others how the challenge is going. I enjoy the group activity, its like a sugar-holics support group.You can follow our progress on Julie’s blog.

My first two days went pretty well. I caved and had an earl grey tea this morning, but I think it was more out of habit than a need for caffeine. Julie emphasizes not overcooking food, otherwise its nutrients and enzymes will be destroyed. I came across this recipe on Epicurious and thought it would be a great first dinner. It was pretty tasty. Those of you who know me will realize that is saying a lot, as I don’t often eat seafood and almost never put dressing on my salad.

Asian Noodle Dinner Salad

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 tsp coconut sugar
  • 2 tbsp grated ginger
  • zest of one lemon
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 3 oz cooked shrimp
  • 1/2 cup tomato, cut
  • 1 scallion, chopped
  • 1 small head brocoli, cut into small florets and cooked
  • soba noodles (about 4 oz per person according to the recipe, but I have no idea how to measure 4 oz of noodles)

Directions

  1. Make dressing. Put the first 9 ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until well combined.
  2. Use 2 tbps of dressing to marinate the shrimp for 10 minutes.
  3. Start cooking soba noodles according to package directions. Unlike traditional wheat based pasta, its important to rinse the noodles in cold water once they are cooked.
  4. Once marinated, pan fry shrimp 2 to 3 minutes a side. (I used coconut oil to fry the shrimp)
  5. Toss the noodles, veggies, shrimp and remaining dressing together.
  6. Enjoy!

This dish was great the night I made it, but the leftovers I had for lunch were somehow not as good. Next time I’ll leave some of the salad undressed until I’m ready to eat the leftovers. I’m new to the world of salad dressing, I’m allowed to make rookie mistakes.

Healthy Granola Bars

~ Lynn ~ 1 Comment

I have been trying to master the granola bar for a few weeks now, but so far every batch has had its issues. Batch number 1, too hard. Batch number 2, too soft. Both batches were very tasty though (probably due to an unhealthy dose of butter). Today I decided to try batch number 3.  Martha Stewarts Cookie of the Day a couple of days ago was actually a health bar, which sounded pretty close to what I wanted . It also had the added bonus of giving me a way to use up the leftover pitted dates I had in the freezer. I thought the consistency in batch number 3 was the best, but my brother said they were more like a power bar than a granola bar.

We both thought they tasted..well.. lets just say they tasted healthy.

I changed the combination of nuts and dried fruit and used a combination of oatmeal and quinoa flakes, but otherwise made the recipe as instructed.

Health Bars

  • 1 cup pitted pressed dates
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
  • 1 cup almonds
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • 1/3 cup dried blueberries
  • 1/3 cup dried apricots
  • 3 tbsp ground flax
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a large saucepan cover dates with water and bring to a simmer, mixing often. The water and dates will combine to form a paste.
  3. Add oatmeal, quinoa flakes, nuts, dried fruit, flax and cinnamon to pot. Stir until well combined.
  4. Press mixture into a greased 8 inch square baking pan.
  5. Bake for 25 minutes, until edges are golden.
  6. Allow to cool completely then cut into squares.

Although I realize these are very good for me and will make an excellent mid morning snack, I don’t think I’ll be making them again. The hunt for the perfect granola bar recipe continues.

Spicy Chickpea Tomato Soup, a Magazine Monday Production

~ Lynn ~ 2 Comments

I’ve been reading food blogs (kind of obsessively) for a while now. I’ve stumbled across (and drooled over) posts from the Daring Bakers, the Tuesdays with Dorie people, and of course Dorie herself, oh and David too. I started reading them during my first sugar-free challenge as a way to vicariously satisfy my sweet tooth. Reading the descriptions of the foods and seeing all the beautiful pictures (see Tartelette) I felt like I was actually tasting all of the wonderful creations.

After a discussion of mojito cupcakes, my baking buddy cousin sent me this link with what she called the best looking recipe she’s found. The recipe sounds delicious (and is still on my list of things to make). So I decided to check out the rest of the blog. It turns out the author is one of the founders of the Daring Bakers, and she’s also come up with something called Magazine Mondays. Magazine Mondays were created as a way to go through all those magazine recipes we’ve got bookmarked but never actually get around to making. Every monday (well in theory every monday), you pick a recipe from the pile and tell the world about it.

I think it’s a great idea, and so I’m hoping on the bandwagon.

My first Magazine Monday Recipe is from the November 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Living. The switch from hot to kinda of coolish weather last week had me craving soup, so I made one of Martha’s.

Spicy Chickpea Tomato Soup

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups chickpeas cooked (or 1 can)
  • 1 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes, including the juice
  • 1/2 cup drained jarred roasted peppers
  • 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • sour cream or yogurt for serving
  • chives or parsley for garnish

Directions

  1. In a food processor pulse garlic, chili, coriander and salt into a paste.
  2. Heat oil in a medium-sized pot and add garlic paste. Cook until softened.
  3. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers and broth. Simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool slightly
  4. Using an immersion blender puree soup.
  5. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and garnish with chives or parley.

I omitted the caraway seeds Martha calls for just because I don’t have any.

And I used chives from my “garden”.

They came back all by themselves this spring! (I took the picture at night to hide the horrible view from my balcony, I need to move!)

This is a very quick and easy soup. I actually found it tasted better the next day, the flavours seemed to have blended together a little more, probably because of the short cooking time. The peppers give the soup a little something extra, a very nice touch. The only issue I had was with the texture, maybe I didn’t puree it enough but I found the soup a little clumpy. I would definitely make this again.

Enjoy!

It’s here! It’s here!

~ Lynn ~ Leave a comment

My first issue of Food and Wine has finally arrived! (Well, first after ones that were stolen by either neighbours or perhaps the mailman, but we won’t get into that now).

I was going to go for a jog, but it looks like it might rain, and Food and Wine is here, so I’m just going to curl up with it and enjoy.

What to make first?

Update! There is a whole section on food travel in Canada, and there are several Montreal mentions! I love this magazine.

Do you know the Muffin Man?

~ Lynn ~ Leave a comment

The Muffin Man? Who lives on Dury Lane?

I love that scene from Shrek.

I finally got my hands on some coconut sugar (thanks Frank & Bi!). The sugar is pretty sweet, with an interesting flavour, almost maple like. Because it’s not as sweet as regular sugar, I decided the first time I use it would be in something that doesn’t need to be too sweet. You got it; muffins! Specifically banana muffins.

I have had incidents where I forgot to add sugar to banana muffins. The texture was way too chewy and the tops were kind of soft, but since the banana’s are very sweet the taste was still good. So when it came to my coconut sugar muffins, I figured 1/4 a cup of sugar would be plenty. The muffins came out perfect. They were just sweet enough, they had a lovely fluffy texture inside, and a nice crispy top. Just how I like them!

Banana Muffins

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup oatmeal
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tbsp melted butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, eggs, butter and vanilla.
  3. Make a hole in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients in.
  4. Fold together. The batter will be a little clumpy looking. Do not beat, or you’ll end up with tough muffins.
  5. Pour into greased muffin tin and bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Enjoy!

A Lopsided Birthday cake

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It’s Frank’s birthday! Yay! Ok, it was his birthday a week ago, but we are celebrating tonight with a feast of beer can chicken and other things which I can’t remember at the moment. What’s for dessert you ask? Chocolate cake with mascarpone icing, topped with some berries. Frank is a man who loves dessert, and I hope this cake doesn’t disappoint.

The chocolate cake is one that I’ve made a few times now, and it is always great. It’s a moist, rich cake, that is very easy to make. I’ve seen the recipe in a couple of places now, so I’m not sure who to credit. Anna Olson has a version on the Food Network Canada site, and Epicurious also has a very similar recipe. The ingredients are the same, only the size of the pan and baking times change. The original recipes call for buttermilk, which I almost never have on hand so I used a combination of milk and plain yogurt.

The cakes bake up pretty domed, and I didn’t trim the tops to level either one of them. When I was done icing the cake I realized the cake was quite lopsided. I’m going with the theory that its whats on the inside that counts.

Chocolate Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup strong fresh-brewed coffee
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mascarpone Icing

  • 250 g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
  • 250 ml whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup icing sugar (or to taste)

Topping

  • Fruit of your choice

Directions

Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 325.
  2. Combine dry ingredients (including sugar) in a medium bowl.
  3. In another bowl, beat coffee, buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla together.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in 3 batches, mix until well combined.
  5. Pour into two 9 in pans, bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Icing

  1. Add 1/4 cup of the whipping cream and 1 tbsp of icing sugar to the mascarpone. Beat until the mascarpone is smooth.
  2. Combine the remaining cream and icing sugar and whip until firm.
  3. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone.

Assembly

Once the cakes have cooled completely, spread half the icing on one cake. Top with some fruits. Place other cake on top, and spread the remaining cream on that cake. Top with more fruit.

Enjoy!

Pizza Pizza

~ Lynn ~ Leave a comment

The summer-like weather this weekend is making me crave fresh summer veggies, but there are no fresh veggies out there at the moment. It’s like the weather is teasing me. I managed to find plum tomatoes and zucchini that looked pretty good, although who knows where they came from. What to do with them? Pizza of course. I’ve never made my own pizza dough before, but Martha makes it sound pretty easy. I made a quarter of the recipe, since 4 pizzas is probably a little too much for me.

Pizza Dough

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp dry active yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Toppings

  • 1 leak, sliced (white and light green parts only)
  • 1 tbsp butter or olive oil
  • 50 g goat cheese
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 zucchini, sliced
  • 3 plum tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup parmesan
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Dough

1. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl (including yeast)

2. Add water and olive oil

3. Mix ingredients together until they form a ball ( there will be some flour-ey bits that won’t combine)

4. Turn dough out onto a light floured surface, with your hands push all ingredients into a well-formed ball.

5. Knead the dough for 1 or 2 minutes

6. Lightly oil the bowl, and return the dough to it. Cover and let sit for 2 hours, until dough has doubled in size.

7. After the 2 hours are done, punch down the dough. (Punching down dough is very good for stress reduction)

8. Roll out dough until about 1 cm thick.

9. Transfer to a baking sheet.

Toppings

1. While the dough is rising, saute the leaks in the butter or oil. Let cool.

2. Once the dough is rolled out, spread the goat cheese on the dough leaving a one inch edge.

3. Spread sautéed leaks on the dough.

4. Sprinkle oregano.

5. Place the tomato and zucchini on the pizza.

7. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parmesan.

8. Preheat oven to 450.

9. Bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes.

10. Enjoy!


Things I learned while making this pizza: 1, Pizza dough is very easy to make. 2, My oven needs to be cleaned. 3, My smoke detectors don’t work.

My Initiation Into Egyptian Shortbread

~ Lynn ~ 4 Comments

I think my mom might finally actually trust my baking abilities. This Easter I have been assigned the task of making “my father’s cookies” as my mom likes to call them. To everyone else they are Egyptian shortbread cookies, traditionally (at least in my family) stuffed with a date filling.

When I was a kid I hated the date filling, it looks like chocolate but it’s not chocolate. That’s very upsetting to a child. To appease my anger, my mom also started making nut filled cookies just for me. The problem? All of the cookies looked exactly the same. Biting into a date filled cookie when I was expecting walnuts was also very upsetting. Now that I’m a little older (ok, a lot older) I’ve learned to appreciate dates, so I made both versions of the cookies.

My personal touches? Two different shape for easy identification, and almonds instead of walnuts due to some recent face swelling experiences after eating walnuts.

out these, but I think I did a pretty good job. I used too much dough in the first few cookies while trying to figure out how to properly shape them, but still managed to get over 50 cookies from the recipe. It turns out the secret is to really press the dough into your palm before putting the filling in. That way the dough can easily be wrapped around the filling to make the crescent shape.

It’s important to have a good filling to dough ratio. You may have noticed there is no sugar in the dough, so all of the sweetness comes from the filling and the icing sugar on top.

I  used vanilla instead of rose-water, because rose-water isn’t something I keep in the house. If you do want to make the cookies with rose-water keep in mind that it has a very unique flavour.  A whole tablespoon can be over powering to those who aren’t used to the flavour, it makes the cookies a little perfume-y. I think flavouring the cookies with orange rind would also be very tasty. That’s an experiment for another day.