Molasses Pumpkin Loaf with Candied Ginger

I found a little pie pumpkin (not pumpkin pie) in my cold room from last summer's harvest. After roasting it and making pumpkin puree I checked my pantry for more inspiration. With lots of raisins and candied ginger in stock I turned to my favourite cookbook, Chef Google. A quick search online yielded an interesting recipe from Suburbia Unwrapped. With a few tweaks to her recipe it was ready for the oven.

I am using spelt flour but all purpose would work equally well. If your raisins have dried out a bit, like mine were, plump them in very hot water for 15 minutes before adding to the batter. Be sure to drain them well first.

Molasses Pumpkin Loaf with Candied Ginger

Wet Ingredients
 3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/2 c. fancy molasses
1 1/2 c. pumpkin purée

Dry Ingredients
3 1/2 c. spelt flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground nutmet
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. raisins
1/2 c. coarsely chopped candied ginger

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Prepare two loaf pans by lightly oiling or buttering the insides.

Add all of the wet ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer. Fitted with the whisk attachment beat until foamy and all are well combined.

Add all of the dry ingredients to a separate bowl. Whisk to fully incorporate all the ingredients.

Now switch to using the paddle attachment with your stand mixer. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on medium low until incorporated. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix again until incorporated. Add raisins and candied ginger and mix.

Pour the batter into two prepared loaf pans. Bake at 350 F for approximately 50 minutes. Gently touch the top of the loaf. If it springs back after gentle pressure it is cooked.

Remove from the oven and let rest in the pans for five or ten minutes. Run a table knife around the sides of the cake in the pan and then invert the pan on a cooling rack. Cool about 15 minutes before slicing (if you can wait that long). Thickly slice and serve. This loaf freezes well. After fully cooled, slice and package in freezer bags. Will keep up to three months.

Lemon Ricotta and Almond Flourless Cake

Imagine a life without lemons. No spritz over butter fried sole. No squeeze on a parsley and tomato salad. No marinade on that spatchcocked chicken. No candied rinds. No zest. No slices garnishing your roasted fish. And no lemonade.

It is believed that lemons originated in India over 2500 years ago. From there they travelled around the world and became a culinary necessity. There are over 200 cultivars in America alone. Some are better in arid climates, other in humid, some for lemon oil and others for sweetness, fewer seeds, more seeds and so on. Surprisingly lemons are hand picked. There is no machine that can pick a lemon. They are picked green and cannot be wet. As they cure the colour changes to yellow, the skin thins and the fruit becomes juicier.

Lemon Ricotta and Almond Flourless Cake 

This rich, dense and moist lemony cake is almost a cheesecake. Homemade ricotta and ground almonds are bound together with eggs and flavoured with a generous amount of lemon zest. The cake benefits from a couple of days of rest before serving. Lightly dust with powdered sugar and you have a dessert worthy of any dinner party.

 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened 
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/4 c. lemon zest
4 eggs, separated and at room temperature
2 1/2 c. almond meal
10 1/2 oz. ricotta
Flaked almonds, to decorated
Icing sugar, for dusting

Heat oven to 325 F. Generously butter the bottom and sides of an 8 inch round springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the butter, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon zest in an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then gradually add the egg yolks, one at a time, continuing to beat until fully combined. Add the almond meal and beat to combine. Fold ricotta through the almond meal mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar to the egg whites mixture and whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold a third of the egg whites into the cake mixture. Repeat with the rest of the egg whites.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin, smooth the tops with a spatula, decorate the cake with almond flakes, and bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked and firm to touch. Turn off, open oven door and leave pan in the oven to cool. Allow to cool completely in the cake pan overnight. Dust with icing sugar to serve. (Adapted from Donna Hay)

Far Breton inspired by David Liebovitz

My sweet tooth is getting the better of me as I watch bloggers make preparations for American Thanksgiving. I am not in my own kitchen at the moment which makes throwing something together more of a challenge. When I came across Far Breton on David Liebovitz's blog I was immediately intrigued. David is an American chef living in Paris and has written several cookbooks.

Not only does it look rather healthy with all the protein from eggs but the small amounts of flour and sugar are doable in my friends' kitchen which is almost devoid of anything resembling an unhealthy ingredient. There are tiny bags of flour and sugar and that's all I need.

Prunes are not as popular in North America as they are in France. I mean, usually they are only served in seniors' care homes, right? I like prunes and when they are soaked in Cognac it raises them to a higher level of deliciousness. I can only hope that by the time I am ready for a seniors' care home they hire proper chefs and make a breakfast like this.

Far is an unusual name for a dish and it refers to a flan. This recipe is much like a crepe batter so this is almost a prune flan but I like the name Far Breton much better. This is also a great recipe if you are preparing breakfast on an already busy day, like American Thanksgiving or Christmas, or if you manage a B & B.

The prunes are steamed in the liquor and soaked overnight. They are better if nice and soft. The batter is made and rests in the refrigerator overnight. I just leave it in the blender jar so I can whiz it again before pouring into the pan. All that is left to do is bake. You still need to rise early because it takes about 45 minutes to properly bake.

I like using a glass pan for dishes like this. I find it gives nicer browning. However, it will hold the heat longer and bake more quickly. I set my oven timer for 40 minutes and it was perfect. Because it's a custard a test for doneness is to insert a knife and if it comes out clean, it is ready.

Far Breton

• about 2 cups pitted prunes
• 1/3 cup Armagnac, Cognac, brandy or dark rum
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup flour

Additional softened butter and flour for preparing the baking dish

In a small saucepan, warm the prunes with the liquor over moderate heat, stirring them a few times while cooking, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Cover, and remove from heat and let cool. The prunes can be done a day or two before using.

To make the custard, put the milk, eggs, yolks, sugar, melted butter, vanilla, salt, and flour in a blender. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate the custard for at least four hours, or overnight.

To bake the Far Breton, preheat the oven to 400 F.

Generously butter the bottom and sides of a rectangular baking dish 10-12 inches  in length.  Dust with flour and tap out the excess. Arrange prunes in the bottom of the baking dish.

Pour the chilled custard over the prunes and bake until the top is gently browned, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely, then slice into bars.

Far Breton can be made up to three days before serving and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Rhubarb Johnny Cake

Cooking proved to be a bit of a challenge for me today. In addition to this rhubarb cake I was testing a recipe for a turkey burger. Do not walk away from a heating pan. Fortunately the little bit of oil that was in it did not burst into flame but the smoke alarm was telling my neighbours all about my moment of carelessness in the kithcen.

After I cut the rhubarb and tossed it with the sugar and ginger, I realized that I had no butter in the house. It is Sunday morning and I had to wait for an hour before a store opened. Thus there was a bit of juice in the bowl. I added it to the final batter. 

I used regular cornmeal in this recipe and it worked just fine. I might search out corn flour and try it again. Either way, it would be an excellent breakfast or dessert dish. I also forgot to add the sour cream and vanilla. It really wasn't a day I should have been following a recipe. But then again it is always nice to find a recipe that can handle a few mistakes and still turn out nicely.

This is naturally gluten free and is not loaded with sugar. Any summer fruit would work equally as well as rhubarb.

Rhubarb Johnny Cake
 
2 cups rhubarb
2 tablespoons sugar 
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ginger or cardamom
1 cup corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 350° Grease a 9” cake pan.
Gently toss the fruit with 2 tablespoons of sugar and the spice of your choice. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the corn flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat 1/2 cup sugar with the butter until creamy. Beat in the eggs, sour cream and vanilla.
Add the corn flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just enough to combine. Pour the batter into the cake pan and spread into an even layer.

Arrange the fruit on top of the batter. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool and then sprinkle the raw sugar over the top.
Slice and serve with Whipped Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream. Serves 8.

Recipe from Cheryl Paff of Black-Eyed Suzie's Upstate 

Saskatoon Berry Madeleines

The day after I made these madeleines I took them to the school where I was the substitute teacher. These 6 children on the Colony were my tasting panel. "What is the secret ingredient?" I asked. Well, they said saskatoons and lemons, which of course, I told them were no secret at all. Those were the bold flavours. They could not taste anything unusual or different. They loved these. That is my proof that the lentil flour was a success in this recipe.

A madeleine is a small French butter cake. They are almost like a little cupcake. They can be mixed up in advance, cooked in just a few minutes and are a sure crowd pleaser for any party. They are very 'fashion forward'. Simple, rich and flavourful desserts are in vogue. I had fresh out of the oven madeleines with a chocolate dipping sauce at a very chi chi restaurant last month. I loved the warm and fresh little cakes. It felt decadent and did not break my budget.

Saskatoon berries are a favourite on the Canadian prairies and northern plains of the United States. They are so unique that they have been added to the Slow Food Ark of Taste. The Ark honours foods and food preparation styles that are unique to an area and something we would never want to lose.

The saskatoons have a unique flavour reminescent of blueberries but less sweet and a 'je ne sais quois' that is impossible to describe. Needless to say they are a strong favourite and a coveted experience for anyone visiting the region. The berry is dry and lends itself to baking in batters.

Canadian Lentils has a recipe challenge until April 7.  Pop on over to view all the interesting recipes and 'like' mine so I have a better chance to win some prizes. This is my entry in the Dessert category. I am incorporating the lentils in the flour ingredients. This is my final entry for this contest. I have been cooking with and eating lentils for the past month, and you know what, I like them. I had no idea how many adaptations I could make to incorporate lentils into my recipes.

Green lentils grind easily in a blender to produce a cornmeal textured flour. I have a VitaMix blender and it ground a cup of lentils in less than a minute. Sieve it if you would like a finer flour.

I can see many applications for this flour.

Lentils are naturally gluten-free.  They add a raft of nutrients and dietary fibre. The flavour of green lentils is peppery and works well in many recipes.

This recipe is almost gluten free! These are best served right out of the oven. Rich and delicious. The tart lemon glaze is perfect to compliment the rich and intense flavour of saskatoon berries.

Saskatoon Berry Madeleines

3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup lentil flour, sieved
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
zest of one lemon
2/3 cup saskatoon berries
3/4 cup melted butter, cooled to room temperature plus more to grease pans
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
water

Brush madeleine pan with melted butter. Dust with flour and tap out excess. Refrigerate. I tried both all purpose flour and lentil flour for dusting the pan and I prefer the lentil flour. It is easiest to use a sieve and dust it over the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip eggs, sugar and salt for 5 minutes until frothy.

Whisk flour with baking powder. Fold egg mixture into flour with spatula.

Add lemon zest to cooled butter and slowly pour butter into batter while gently folding the batter. Fold just until all butter is incorporated.

Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours. These were in the refrigerator overnight.

To bake, preheat oven to 425F. Fill indentations in madeleine pan about 3/4 full, approximately 1 large tablespoon. Don't spread out the batter. Just leave it in a clump. I found that a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop was the perfect size.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until cakes feel set. While cakes are baking make the glaze by stirring together icing sugar, lemon juice and enough water to make it smooth.

Remove from oven. Carefully loosen each cake with a table knife while still hot. Cool for a couple of minutes and empty pan onto a cooling rack. The berries can stick to the pan so be gentle. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, dip each cake into the glaze. I only dipped the bottom side but you can do both sides if you wish.  Scrape off excess glaze. Place on rack to cool and let glaze set.

Best served immediately. Can be kept in a container up to 3 days. Do not freeze with the glaze. The glaze will melt.

Persimmon Bourbon Pecan Cake

Persimmons are intriguing. They are exotic and ugly at the same time. Well, they are beautiful but before you can eat them or use them, they must sit and ripen until they look like they should be thrown to the pigs. Imagine my delight when I saw them on sale 50% off because they were becoming over-ripe. Perfect.

I am by no means an expert on persimmons and my very trusted source David Lebovitz explains the differences nicely in his blog. My bag of half price persimmons contained one hachiya and two fuyu. I just combined them for this recipe.

You can certainly substitute flours, oils and sugars in this recipe. Just a note, however, cane sugar is much sweeter than beet sugar. I would increase the sugar to 1 cup if you are using beet sugar. And if alcohol is not in your diet, substitute with apple juice.

I bought these little silicon baking cups a while back and have never used them. Today I tried them with this dough. No greasing the mould, just fill full and bake. They come out of the mould with a little twist. Worked great. However there wasn't as much carmelization leaving a paler exterior.

This cake is delicious the day it is made but leaving it sit for a day or two allows the flavours and the moistness of the persimmons to develop.

Persimmon Bourbon Pecan Cake

3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 cup persimmon puree
2 large free range eggs
1 teaspoon pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon Indonesian Korintje Cassia Cinnamon
 1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups organic white flour
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Measure sugar, oil and persimmon puree into a large mixing bowl. Beat with whip attachment until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat again. In another bowl blend the remainder of the ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix only until blended.

Pour into prepared baking pans. Bake at 350F until done. A toothpick inserted will come out clean when the cake is done. The length of time depends upon the size of the pan. A 10 inch pan will take about 30 minutes to bake.

Fresh Peach Cake

 

Peaches are in season. It wait all year for fresh fruit from British Columbia. Mostly I eat it fresh out of hand but I had sour cream in the refrigerator. This is not your store bought type of sour cream. I had real sour cream. I have real fresh cream from the farm and I became so busy that I forgot about it. The thing about real unpasteurized cream is that it makes good sour cream if you happen to forget about it in the back of your fridge. I could not let it go to waste.

The peaches and pecans beckoned for a dollop of bourbon whipped cream. Add just a splash with a little powdered sugar after beating the cream to stiff peak stage. Makes a great breakfast. The rest will be packaged individually and stowed in the freezer for my school lunches.

Fresh Peach Cake            adapted from Ina Garten      Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups organic white flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 large, ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar for 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan. Top with half of the peaches, then sprinkle with two-thirds of the sugar mixture. Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the remaining peaches on top, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans.

Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Triple Lemon Layer Cake

It is Valentines Day this week and everything should be red and hearts. But here I am with a lemon layer cake! Just think of lemons as puckery food!

Lemon on lemon on lemon. How can it get any better? This is the ultimate cake for the lemon lover. Follow it step by step for your Lemon Dream. I candied lemon peel to use as a garnish but I didn't feel it was showy enough so I bought a yellow rose to add as a garnish with the candied peel. I like the look.

Triple Lemon Layer Cake

For cake

2 1/3 c. cake flour            550 mL

2 3/4 tsp. baking powder      13 mL

1/4 tsp. salt                           1 mL

1 3/4 c. sugar                   430 mL

2 tbsp. grated lemon zest      30 mL

3/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature       180 mL

1 c. whole milk, room temperature                 250 mL

5 large egg whites, room temperature

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar                           1 mL

For filling

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened            45 mL

1 c. sugar                                               250 mL

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2/3 c. fresh lemon juice                            160 mL

1 tsp. grated lemon zest                              5 mL

For frosting

1 c. unsalted butter, softened                       250 mL

2 tbsp. grated lemon zest                               30 mL

3 1/2 c. sifted confections sugar                   875 mL

3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice                                  45 mL

Make the lemon curd first so it can chill. Beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in eggs and yolks. Beat 1 minute more, then stir in lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled but don’t worry.

Cook in a double boiler until thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest. Press plastic wrap on surface of the lemon curd to prevent a skin from forming and chill thoroughly.

Make cake by preheating oven to 350F(180C) and place a rack in the middle of oven. Butter and flour two 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pans. Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Pulse 1/4 of the sugar with lemon zest in food processor.

In large bowl, beat butter and lemon sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add remaining sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in 1/4 of the milk just until blended. On low speed, add flour mixture alternatively with milk in three batches, scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat until just blended.

In another bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer until whites are foamy and add cream of tartar. Continue to beat until the whites form stiff peaks. Add one quarter of the whites to batter and gently fold in with a rubber spatula. Continue to fold in the whites one quarter at a time, being careful not to deflate the mixture.

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centres comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Loosen edges of cake along sides of pan and invert onto a rack. Flip right side up and let cool completely.

Carefully remove cake from pans and cut horizontally, using a long serrated knife.

Place one layer on serving plate, cut side up and spread a generous 1/3 cup of lemon curd (160 mL) filling on it. Add each layer in the same manner until the final layer is placed and do not top with filling.

Make frosting

In a medium bowl, beat butter and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar in batches until light and fluffy. Add lemon juice and beat for one minute.

Frost cake

Up to a few hours ahead, spread thin layer of frosting on cake. Chill about 1/2 hour. Spread remaining frosting decoratively over the top and sides of cake. Scatter with bits of lemon zest and silver dragees, or garnish as you like. (Adapted from Fine Cooking)

Cooking Class Monday - Layer Cake Tips

Layer cakes conjure images of towering red velvet or chocolate birthday cakes. The art of scratch cooking seems to have gone by the wayside as we celebrate our special occasions with a slab cake from the grocery store. There is something about a layer cake that makes a person smile. It is a birthday, a retirement or a wedding. Make one for your next special occasion. 

Be creative with garnishing. Using an ingredient already in the cake is classic. Here I have candied lemon slices and chopped pecans.

Be sure to properly prepare your cake pans by first buttering and then dusting them with flour. Shake out excess flour. I also line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper for easier removal of baked cake.

Mark to slice cake in half for four layer cake.

After baking, if your layers are not all the same, trim them to make them even. For a four layer cake, bake two cakes and cut each in half horizontally. Place toothpicks as markers so you can cut the cake in two equally.

You can bake your cake layers in advance and triple wrap in plastic, freeze and they will keep for weeks. Create fillings. Lemon or orange curd keep especially well in the fridge, for a week or longer. Some frostings keep well, especially cream cheese frosting. Most finished cakes will keep well in a fridge for at least a day.

Crumb coat. Waxed paper protects cake plate.

Before frosting cake, place strips of waxed paper under it to keep the cake plate clean. Slip these papers out when finished decorating.

An offset spatula works well for applying filling and icing.

Apply a crumb coat first. This is a thin layer of icing to keep the crumbs from messing up the final icing layer. Let the crumb coat dry for half an hour before applying decorative layer of icing. I like to ice sides first and then the top. Be sure your icing is not too stiff or it will be more difficult to apply. Thin by adding water a few drops at a time and whipping.

Pumpkin Butter Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I had 4 cooking classes last week so have not been blogging.  It was a fun week though!  Teens 'n Moms made Layered Taco Salad in a Homemade Tortilla Bowl and a Sukiyaki.  Both relatively easy one dish meals that they can repeat at home.

Then it was a Men's Class and we cooked 'en papillote'.  Men are very calm and straight forward in the kitchen.  We tested the Mozarella and Basil Tomato Martinis that would be served at the next class.

Then I had two nights with a Taste Tour to Italy.  That was more of a tasting menu with about a dozen dishes ranging from Cinghiale Sugo (Wild boar stew) and Risotto Milanese, Duck Breast with Pomegranate Chile Sauce, Sweet Potato Gnocchi, caponata, pannacotta and lots more.  Needless to say, I have spent the day cleaning in my kitchen!  And probably will spend tomorrow finishing the job.

Tonight I am off to be a judge in a Chili Cook Off.  I am hoping I can take some pictures.

I have sour cream left over from another gig and pumpkin butter in my pantry.  So they went together in this little coffee cake that I am taking to the office for my friends there.  Click here for my recipe for pumpkin butter.

Pumpkin Butter Sour Cream Coffee Cake

½ cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup pumpkin butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped dried fruits

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 ½ tsp cinnamon

3 Tbs butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×9” pan by lightly greasing it.
In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.

Add the sour cream, pumpkin butter, eggs and vanilla to the bowl and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
Gently add the dry ingredients to the cake batter.


Mix into a smooth batter.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry filling ingredients while the butter is melting.
Pour the butter in and stir until you get a crumbly mixture.


Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle half of the filling over the batter.
Repeat the process with the other half of the batter and filling.


Bake on the middle rack in your oven for 50-60 minutes until the middle has baked all the way through and a skewer comes out clean.
Slice and serve warm or at room temperature. (keeps well for several days)

Candied Miniature Carrots

My garden took second seat to the Farmer's Market this summer.  That almost does not seem right, does it.  I did use herbs from my little garden in the salads and dips I made for the market, but mostly the garden was for my own use.

I planted the carrots and did not thin the planting.  Now that it is fall, it is time to dig up everything.  To my delight I had a lot of these tiny little carrots!  I have always wanted to make candied carrots for decorating carrot cupcakes iced with cream cheese frosting.

Each carrot is between 1 and 2 inches long.  I washed and cleaned them and then I painstakingly peeled each little one.  I think I have about 3 dozen.

The first step is to blanch them in salted water.  This is necessary so that the cell structure will change and accept the sugar in replacement for the water in the carrot.  But you don't want to cook them either.  This is truly 'cooking by braille'.  I guessed at a short blanching time and drained them and then shocked them in ice water.

I made a heavy sugar syrup of water and sugar.  I boiled the miniature carrots in this syrup for two or three minutes and turned off the heat.  I let them sit in the sugar syrup for 2 days.  After 2 days, I added another 1/2 cup of sugar and heated them again.  When the new sugar was dissolved and the syrup was bubbling, I turned off the heat and let them sit in the sugar syrup for 3 days.  During this time the water in the carrots is being replaced with sugar through osmosis.

After this, I warmed them so the sugar syrup was thin.  I removed the little carrots and dried them on a cake rack for one day.  Now they are arranged in layers separated by parchment paper in an airtight container.  I will keep them in my cold room until I use them in two weeks for my cupcakes at the market.

Everyone is asking how they taste!  That did not even cross my mind!  I was only thinking of appearances.  So I just ate one.  It tastes faintly of carrot in a jellied candy kind of way.  The green part was just as candied as the orange part.  Very pleasant.

Haskap Jam

Okay, so I have been holding out on you.  I made this last July but I was not sure if this post would be interesting.  Especially since most of you will have no access to haskaps aka  Blue Honeysuckle.  Haskaps are relatively new to the Canadian prairies and are very well suited to our climate.  This is also known as the edible Blue Honeysuckle.  The season is early,  June to be exact.  I had never heard of this berry until I started visiting my favourite U-Pick, Treasure Valley Markets near Cadillac, Saskatchewan.

These berries are originally from Russia.  The University of Saskatchewan is studying the adaptability of this berry to our area.  The soil conditions and climate are ideal.

And yes, in Cadillac, the streets are named after models of cars!  Isn't that wild!

Linda of Treasure Valley Markets gave me a bag of frozen haskaps and challenged me to come up with a few recipes.  I had great success.  I made four different recipes and quickly went back for more.

But I have now been adapting my first tries and starting over.  I made haskap jam without pectin.  Last time I made a tiny batch and used liquid pectin.  It seems that haskaps have a lot of natural pectin and I had no problem getting this jam to set up.  In fact, I think I boiled it a little too long and have a very firm jam.  Remember the recipe for jams and jellies?  Fruit, sugar, pectin and acid.  I have not tried this without lemon juice, but there may be enough acid in the haskaps to make a good jam.

This jam is so intensely flavoured that a little goes a long way.  In fact, I prefer to use it in a recipe rather than on toast.

Haskap Jam

2 cups frozen haskaps
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Mix the haskaps with the sugar and bring to a boil.  Add the lemon juice.  Continue to boil until it has reached the jam stage.  Skim off any scum that forms.  Test your jam on a plate that has been chilled in the freezer.  Put a half teaspoon of jam on the cold plate and let it cool down for awhile.  If the mixture does not run when you tip the plate, it is thick enough.

So I know that you are scratching your collective heads and thinking, what the heck is a haskap?  What does it taste like?  They are an odd shaped berry and look almost like a lima bean.  They are very tart and must have sugar added.  But once cooked and sweetened, my gosh, they are the most flavourful and amazing berry I have ever tasted.  The common descriptor is to say they are a raspberry, blackberry, saskatoon and blueberry rolled into one.  In my sense of taste, they are a very intense raspberry/blackberry.  I would use it like I would use a raspberry.

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake

I am subbing in schools now!  It is a little business where I have to build up my clientele!  Who woulda thought.  I have to cajole the teachers into 'picking me'!  I am subbing for the Art and Sewing teacher at the high school tomorrow and I thought this little cake might make a splash in the staff room.  It smells so delicious!  I might have to steal a piece for my breakfast.  I will just stick a few of my business cards in it as decoration!


Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for greasing bundt pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can; not pie filling)
3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

For glaze:
2 T butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 T cream or milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour bundt pan. Combine together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.

Beat butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, then add eggs and beat 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and add flour and pumpkin mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is just smooth.

Spoon batter into pan. Shake a few times to be sure to remove any bumps then bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 15 minutes, then invert rack over cake and reinvert cake onto rack. Cool 10 minutes more.

To make glaze, heat butter until melted. Stir in sifted powdered sugar. Mix in cream or milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until desired consistency. Drizzle over cake while it is on a wire rack so excess falls through.

Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes at 350F.  Let cool and then drizzle with glaze.

Peach Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting for Fresh Friday

This is my entry this week for Fresh Friday with La Bella Vita.  Peaches are in season and I rarely take the time to make something with them.  I usually just eat them out of hand.  I made this for another birthday at the office!  I am taking these peach cupcakes and some chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate glaze.  I have posted the recipe for cream cheese frosting here.  The fresh peach cupcakes were a huge hit.  My chocolate cupcakes were so-so.

Peach Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 18 mini cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp  baking powder
1/2 tsp  ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups  granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp grated orange zest
3/4 cup milk
2 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced and cut into thirds

1. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.

2. In a large bowl, using an stand mixer, beat together sugar and butter until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and orange zest, beating well. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of milk, beating until smooth. Fold in peaches or nectarines.

3. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated over for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.

Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Hummingbird Cake

It is my Aunt Agnes' 80th birthday this weekend.  She is a very special aunt and spent a lot of time with me as a young girl.  My own mother was not well so she was always there to step in and help us.  

Her children are planning a tea.  This is a very small town Saskatchewan thing to do.  I love it!  I will be able to visit with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles at the same time without driving all over.  


As a birthday present I am baking a cake.  Can you think of a better birthday gift?  And, can you ever have too many birthday cakes?

My inspiration for this cake comes from my house sit experience in Tennessee last year.  It is a very Southern cake.  They love their layer cakes in the South.  I heard about this cake but had never tasted it and I really wanted to try it.

 

Hummingbird Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 can (8oz) crushed pineapple, well drained
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups chopped firm ripe banana

 Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together into mixing bowl several times. Add eggs and salad oil to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple and 1 cup pecans. Stir in the bananas. Spoon the batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes,or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Combine cream cheese and butter; cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.
Frost the tops of all 3 layers, stack and then frost sides. Sprinkle top evenly with the 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans.

Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

I almost opted out of this challenge for a couple of reasons.  I have been making a lot of ice cream lately.  And secondly, how would I ever eat all of this.  But it was looking like so much fun that I had to join in.  It is Roxanne's birthday, so I will take this to the office and share it.

I haven't made a jelly roll, or Swiss roll as it is called in this recipe, since I taught grade nine home economics.  This should be fun.  Also, I have kumquat ice cream in the freezer from an earlier time and I will use it.  I made a simple ice cream custard using my favourite recipe.  I had lots of chocolate mousse left over from the last challenge so I took it out of the freezer and added it to the custard after it had thickened.  After processing this chocolate custard in my ice cream maker, I chopped up all the chocolate pavlovas I had in the freezer and folded these crispy bits into my chocolate ice cream.  Then I put it in the freezer until I was ready to make the bombe.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita's world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.


The Swiss rolls

6 medium sized eggs
1 cup berry sugar + extra for rolling
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 tablespoons of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 tablespoons boiling water
a little oil for brushing the pans

For the filling
2 cups whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped to use seeds only (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 tablespoons caster sugar, berry sugar, superfine sugar or powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven at 400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches ) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat until very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.
3. Sift the cocoa powder with the flour.
4. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
5. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
6. Place a pan in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.
7. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.
8. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.
9. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.
10. Repeat the same for the next cake as well.
11. Grind together the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod and sugar in a food processor until nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just add the sugar and extract to the cream.
12. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat until very thick.
13. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes.
14. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine).
15. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until needed, seam side down.

Chocolate Ancho Chili Flourless Cake

I made this cake last week.  There were a couple of people with lots of stress in their lives and a birthday, so I brought this as a birthday cake.  I had already purchased some amazing chocolate online at Chocolat-Chocolat in Montreal.  I received it in about 4 or 5 days.  I bought 6 kg of superior grade chocolate.  Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but it has a two year shelf life and I have a cold room.

At some point I will do a chocolate tasting class and I am all set.

And as an ulterior motive, it will begin to introduce my colleagues to my cooking.  I am using only the best of ingredients - a Dutch process cocoa powder and a 70% dark chocolate couverture.

I took my camera to the office but between the stress of having people taste my cooking and their ravenous appetites, I didn't get any pictures!  The real whipped cream really impressed them.  As well, I took some nice plates and my good flatware.  With all that money spent on good chocolate, there was no way we were going to eat these on paper plates with plastic forks.

Chocolate Ancho Chili Flourless Cake                     Emeril Lagasse

1 cup unsalted butter
8 ounces dark chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.  Line the bottom with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter over medium low heat.  Remove from the heat and mix in the cocoa powder, ancho chili powder and salt.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar until thick and pale yellow in colour.  Fold the chocolate mixture into the yolks and mix well.

In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until thick.  Whisking, add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar gradually and continue to beat to form a light meringue.  In several additions, fold into the chocolate mixture, being careful not to deflate the meringue.  Gently pour into the prepared pan and bake until the edges are set but the centre is still moist and a few crumbs stick to a tester, about 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Run a thin, sharp knive around the edge of the cake.  Remove the pan sides and gently lift away the cake.  Invert onto a cake plate, remove the bottom and peel away the parchment.

In a bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer until frothy.  Add the confectioner's sugar and cinnamon and continue to beat until the cream holds soft peaks.

To serve, slice the cake with a portion of the sweetened whipped cream.  Garnish with cocoa powder and serve.

Holiday Bundt Cake

This week's Tuesday's With Dorie recipe is a Bundt cake.  The recipe was chosen by Britin of The Nitty Britty.   I have never ever made a Bundt cake!



The pan cost me $32.  That was the costliest part of this project.  I purchased a traditional pan so I would be able to use it all year round.  As opposed to those fancy shapes that would be limiting.




The recipe All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake is a rather uninspiring name for a very tasty dessert. Nutmeg, ginger, pumpkin, apple, cranberries, pecans are the dominating flavours.   Rather than using canned pumpkin puree, I roasted a pie pumpkin and purreed it.  They are in season, after all.  It will also add more flavour.  This could be served for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

But I don't know if it is me, or my pan or the recipe but I made the cake twice and both times it did not release from the pan.  The first time, I made it with finely chopped pineapple and added dried cranberries.  It was delicious but I couldn't taste the dried cranberries.  The fresh ones were like bursts of beautiful tartness.  With the second cake, I used the finely chopped apple, as in the recipe.  I buttered and floured the pan both times.  So now I have two broken cakes that I cannot serve to guests!  I would say that the recipe is wrong in suggesting to only cool for 10 - 15 minutes before removing from the pan.  I would leave it to completely cool in the pan before removing.

All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake    adapted from Baking-From My Home to Yours


2 c     all purpose flour
2 t      baking powder
1/2 t   baking soda
2 t      ground cinnamon
1/4 t   freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 1/2 t grated fresh ginger (or 1 t ground ginger)
1 1/4 sticks ( 1/2 c + 2T ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c     sugar
1/2 c  packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 t      pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 c roasted pumpkin puree
1 large apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped or grated
1 c     cranberries, halved or coarsely chopped
1/2 c  dried cranberries, chopped and hydrated in 1/4 c boiling water for 10 minutes
1 c     pecans, coarsely chopped
confectioners' sugar for dusting


Centre a rack in the oven and preheat to 350F.  Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan. 


Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and ground ginger, if using it. 


Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a had mixer and a large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, and beat for 1 minute after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the pumpkin, chopped apple and grated ginger, if using it.  Don't worry if the mixture looks curdled.  Still on low speed, add dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.  With a rubber spatula, stir in the cranberries, dried cranberries and pecans.  Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the rubber spatula.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.  Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding, then cool to room temperature on the rack.


Just before bringing to the table, dust with confectioners' sugar or drizzle with maple syrup icing.


Maple Icing


To 6 tablespoon of confectioners' sugar add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.  Add more maple syrup, as necessary, to make an icing that runs nicely off the tip of a spoon.  Drizzle the icing over the cake.  Let sit for a few minutes to set before serving.


Serving Suggestions


If wrapped well, this will keep at room temperature for 5 days.  It serves best the second day, after flavours have had a chance to mingle.  By the 5th day, it could be sliced thinly and toasted for breakfast. This can be frozen up to 2 months.  Try it toasted for breakfast smothered in butter and maple syrup or served fresh with whipped cream or ice cream.