I am a four-season child.

By that I mean I have to live somewhere that has four distinct seasons. I can appreciate the allure of a place that is sunny and warm all year long, perhaps I might even visit said place for some rest or relaxation, but to live there permanently?

Don’t think so.

Spring is pretty. I love watching as nature wakes itself up from its long sleep, but after a few weeks I become impatient for the summer heat that means our garden’s bounty will soon be ready.

And while I love eating the fruits of that garden, in the midst of Toronto’s hazy, humid summer heat, I need to know that soon the trees will explode in colour and that I will wake up every morning to a crystal blanket of frost on our lawn.

And when the beauty of Autumn turns into the incessant rainy weather of November, I need to know that the bone-chilling cold, wake-you-up-no-matter-what, freeze-your-toes cold is around the corner. You may not like the winter but I would argue that there is very little as beautiful in life as stepping out your front door on a frigid winter morning with snow everywhere, a blue sky and brilliant sun. That’s a breathtaking sight.

The best part of that cold is the knowledge that you can seek warmth at any moment. You can run inside, kick off your boots, and curl up under your favourite blankie with a cup of hot chocolate.

Or, in my case, you can bake a cake.

In the middle of winter, I bake cakes.

Not just because I love to eat them, but also because I love to imagine crawling into them.

While it is shockingly cold outside, I can imagine myself crawling into a layer of the most beautiful, warm thing in the world made of butter and sugar and flour and spices.

And I would just nestle there, in my sweet, sweet bed, and be perfectly happy.

My companion in this lovely dream has been Lauren Chattman’s spectacular Cake Keeper Cakes: 100 Simple Recipes for Extraordinary Bundt Cakes, Pound Cakes, Snacking Cakes and Other Good-To-The-Last-Crumb Treats. Proof that beautiful things do come in small packages, this precious little book is filled with recipes for cakes that make you ask yourself, “Why don’t I bake more often?”

Simple cakes. Pleasing cakes. Cakes for people who are bakers at heart. Cakes that come together in the blink of an eye. Cakes that make you happy. Cakes you can put in a cake keeper (if you have one).

You may already be familiar with this book as it was featured in the October 2009 Food & Wine issue which highlighted the Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake. (I blogged about it here.)

I feel so lucky to have been given the chance to have this book and to write about it. Take my word for it. You’ll love it.

Everyone else may dream of heading south this cold winter, but not me. I’m dreaming of being wrapped in warm, puffy, just-baked cake.

How delicious.

Ciao!

Note: Besides the fabulous Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake, I tried the World’s Quickest Yeasted Coffee Cake on p. 39 (pictured above). Heaven!

And on the sixth day of the 12 Days of Cookbooks, I give you Mario Batali’s Holiday Food.

Published in 2000, this book has been around for almost ten years but I only discovered it earlier this year while perusing some titles on-line. I immediately snapped it up and haven’t been disappointed.

Besides being the perfect size to slip into someone’s Christmas stocking, it’s the perfect special book to have on your bookshelf when the holidays come around.

From what I can tell the recipes are a collection of ones that Mario Batali has presented on the Food Network so you can probably find most of the recipes on-line. Still, though, it’s nice to have them all collected in one place and they are fabulous recipes!

Based heavily on Italian holiday traditions, the book walks you through Christmas to New Year’s so this is the perfect time of year to buy it.

I made it my Flavour of the Month for December 2009 so I’m hoping to try many recipes, but for today, you’ll have to settle for the Gamberoni All’Acqua Pazza (Shrimp in Crazy Water). I apologize for the quality of the photo. I was basically drooling as I put the shrimp in the dish and couldn’t wait to dig in so my patience for snapping a photo was limited to say the least.

This would be a perfect dish as part of a traditional Italian Christmas Eve feast, which is usually comprised of fish and seafood only. It’s really easy to make and it’s fast so you can put it together quickly.

Besides having a lot of sweet recipes, what I especially love about the book is that there’s a heavy emphasis on fish and seafood.

It’s a gem of a little book so I hope you pick it up, if not for yourself, then for someone special!

Ciao!

Jumbo Shrimp in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Adapted from Mario Batali Holiday Food.

Serves 4.

1 pound jumbo shrimp, cleaned and deveined
olive oil
1/2 a large onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (or you can use fresh hot pepper)
2 cups tomato puree
1 cup white wine
salt to taste
roughly chopped parsley (optional)

In a saucepan, pour in enough olive oil to just cover the bottom of the pan (at least 3 or 4 tablespoons). Heat the oil.

Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic and red pepper. Saute until softened. Adjust the heat so that you don’t burn the garlic or onions.

Add the tomato puree and the white wine and simmer for 10 minutes until the mixture thickens.

Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Add the shrimp to the sauce and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked. Don’t overcook the shrimp or it will be tough.

Plate the shrimp and sauce and sprinkle with parsley if you like. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

When I first flipped through Urban Italian: Simple Recipes and True Stories from a Life in Food by Andrew Carmellini and Gwen Hyman, I of course started with the dessert section. And the recipe that made me stop was this one: Nero Cookies.

At first I smiled because I thought “mmm … chocolate cookies … word for black in Italian is nero and these cookies are so lusciously dark and black … mmm”.

Forgive me. I’m not up-to-speed on my Roman history so much these days.

Once I read the headnote to the recipe, I discovered that the cookies were named Nero Cookies because the cracks that develop in the cookies as they bake reminded the author of the ancient walls in and around Rome. Being that the cookies are dark and dense, he called them Nero Cookies after one of Rome’s most notorious emperors.

Consider me worshipful.

Hail, Cookie!

Ciao!

These are an intense and delicious version of crinkle cookies. I’m sure you can find a version of Chocolate Crinkle Cookies in many different baking books. Here’s a version that I found on-line that you might enjoy: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

I cannot believe April is more than halfway over and I have yet to even mention my Flavour of the Month: Lori Longbotham’s Luscious Lemon Desserts.

I adore Lori. I love her recipes and all her cookbooks are just so good. I count them among my most treasured books.

The warm weather has (finally) arrived here in Toronto and it’s just too beautiful outside for me not to be out there. So I’m going to keep this short.

Do you know that I have never made sugar cookies?

Isn’t that crazy!

I had bookmarked Lori’s recipe for Old-Fashioned Lemon Sugar Cookies and I just had to try them.

Something about the lemon and old-fashioned, rustic look to these cookies made me think of a pretty farmhouse in the country with flowers everywhere and budding trees and blue skies and gingham curtains for the windows and a lemonade stand out front and cute gardening clogs by the back door and a nearby pond and chicken and dumplings bubbling on the wood-burning stove. You know, back when life was simpler.

Mind you, I have no idea where this specific farmhouse is located. I’m pretty sure that I don’t own a scrap of gingham and I know, for a fact, that I would look horrid in any manner of clog. I’ve never had a lemonade stand nor have I ever had chicken and dumplings. And wood-burning stoves scare me. A little.

Never the less, a Cream Puff can dream.

And whilst she’s dreaming, she can bake these delicious cookies that have a lemon hit that gets you right where it counts: in the imagination.

Ciao!

Note: I don’t have a recipe for you, unfortunately. As regular readers will know, I don’t like reproducing recipes from cookbooks unless I have adapted them into my own recipe. But if you have a favourite sugar cookie recipe, try it out with lots of lemon peel and a hit of lemon juice. You’ll love it!

So here’s my dirty little secret: For almost all of my 20s and part of my early 30s, I regularly skipped breakfast.

And by regularly I mean, almost all the time.

So there you have it. I don’t have a particularly good reason for being such a habitual offender beyond the most basic (and perhaps saddest), which is that I simply didn’t care enough to organize myself, to make time, to plan ahead and to prepare.

You see, they don’t call breakfast the most important meal of the day because they feel like it. It is the most important meal of the day. And any meal that’s the most important does require organization, time, planning and preparation.

My lack of all of the above led to the usual laundry list of ills associated with skipping meals: mid-morning hunger, low energy, snack attacks, weight gain and sluggishness.

In place of a fulfilling breafkast, I enjoyed a parade of mid-morning snacks purchased from the nearest coffee shop. These snacks involved coffee and some sort of sweet. I rationalized this terrible habit by telling myself that it was okay since I did manage to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and I always had a decent dinner.

It is amazing to me that someone that prides herself on being a good cook and baker, someone that prides herself on her family’s culinary traditions and that someone that prides herself on having a responsible attitude towards food could possibly have been so stupid.

But I was.

I’m not exactly sure what initiated my breakfast awareness, but shortly after I turned 30, it began to sink in that breakfast was a necessity and that with a good breakfast I’d be arming myself to have a good day.

I am happy to say that now, in my mid-30s, I have breakfast almost every day. (I still have about a handful of days a year when time gets the best of me and I don’t eat anything. Never said I was perfect!)

From Monday to Friday, my breakfasts are simple, straightforward and delicious. I will eat everything from cereal with fruit, yogurt with granola, yogurt with fruit, hot cereal and toast with butter and jam. What I have really depends on how I’m feeling. There are, however, a few common denominators regardless of what I’m having:

I always have fruit in some form every morning. Whether it’s berries in my cereal or an apple after I’ve had a slice of toast, I eat fruit every morning.

I always have dairy in some form every morning. A glass of milk. A cup of yogurt. Whatever the case may be, dairy for breakfast is good.

I only eat things that I like for breakfast. No matter how “healthy” something is, if you don’t like it, trying to force yourself to eat it is usually not going to end successfully. Over the years, I have learned what foods I like to eat in the morning and those are the ones that I enjoy. I love toast with butter and jam. But rather than eat refined white bread, I enjoy a variety of wholesome breads made with grains, nuts and seeds. And yes I still put butter and jam on my bread because butter and jam are beautiful things and a life without them wouldn’t be much fun (for me).

What do I do on Saturday and Sunday, you ask? Like most people, I have more time for breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays, which means that I can be a bit more elaborate in my preparations. Also, as I believe that indulgence (in moderation) is good for the soul, Saturdays and Sundays are the days that I like to make pancakes, waffles, omelettes, breakfast pastries and french toast. I don’t have these all the time, mind you, but if I do have them it will be on the weekend.

Making time for breakfast on a daily basis has changed my life. For starters, the urge to fall asleep at 11:00 every morning has disappeared. I feel better. I don’t feel like I’m 110 years old. I’ve lost weight. I look better. I’m healthier.

So what prompted this confession? After all of the indulgences of the holidays, I found myself thinking about what I would be cooking and eating during the month of January and that of course led to much contemplation about what I would choose as my Flavour of the Month.

I found myself perusing The Overburdened Bookshelf and my eyes settled on a book called Morning Food: Breakfasts, Brunches & More for Savoring the Best Part of the Day by Margaret Fox and John Bear. Here’s a book that I’ve had for several years but never used.

I suddenly found myself imagining a month of delicious breakfasts so I knew I had to choose this book as the Flavour of the Month. For the first recipe that I tried, I chose one called Kaiserschmarren (The Empoeror’s Omelette). I’m not a huge omelette fan but I chose this one when I realized that it’s actually a cross between an omelette and a pancake that I enjoyed when I was in Austria in 2006.

During my trip, I had the chance to have dinner with Angelika of The Flying Apple and for our dessert, we tried a very traditional dish that was a pancake of sorts that’s then torn apart with forks and served with various accompaniments like stewed fruit. Angelika strongly recommended that I try it (even though I was stuffed) and I did and certainly didn’t regret it.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to try this dish at home, but this time for breakfast.

If you’re a breakfast eater, I congratulate you. If you’re a breakfast skipper, I’m not going to lecture you. I know what it’s like and believe me, you have to come to accept breakfast on your own terms. But take it from this reformed Cream Puff, you’re missing the best meal of the day!

Ciao!

Here are some recipes for this dish (can be enjoyed for breakfast or for dessert) that you might like:

http://www.thecookingadventuresofchefpaz.com/2008/01/27/kaiser-pancakes-kaiserschmarren/

http://www.austrianfood.net/2008/01/07/kaiserschmarren/

http://www.sheries-kitchen.com/recipes/german/kaiserschmarren.htm

http://www.hsn.com/wolfgang-puck-recipe-kaiserschmarren_at-2740_xa.aspx

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Kaiserschmarren

I have a serious thing for olives.

In fact, I don’t know very many people who do not, on some level, appreciate the olive.

Wait a minute.

Let me think.

Yes. It’s true. I can say that I am not (knowingly) aware of anyone in my life who does not like olives.

How can you NOT love the olive?

The fruit of the olive tree (did you know the olive was a fruit?) is a snack unto itself but then consider that you can use it to make sauces and spreads, not to mention the fact that you can add it to any dish imagineable (pasta, fish, meat … ).

And don’t even get me started on olive oil!

Okay. Before I commence a love poem to the olive, let me just say that this is the time of year that I most appreciate the olive and that’s for two reasons.

The first is Olive Ascolane (post to follow one day soon).

And the second is marinated olives.

I don’t think I can even count how many pounds of marinated olives we make at this time of year. We serve them if guests pop in to pass along Christmas wishes, we serve them during every holiday meal, we snack on them and we generally just eat them constantly.

You can’t go wrong with marinated olives for a party and there are about a million different ways to prepare them. Essentially you’re taking the olives of your choice, mixing in the flavourings of your choice and then heating them in the oven to allow the flavours to meld and be absorbed.

This particular version is an orange/oregano one that I picked up from Trish Magwood’s Dish Entertains.

I see myself making many batches.

Hope you make one, too!

Ciao!

Orange and Oregano Olives
From Trish Magwood’s Dish Entertains: Everyday Simple to Special Occasions.

3 cups mixed olives (you can use any varieties that you like, just make sure that they’re not already marinated)
1 orange, halved and sliced
1 tbsp. orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy)
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and then spread onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the olives are heated through and the orange slices begin to caramelize slightly.

Let cool and enjoy!

New month, new flavour!

This month the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month is Trish Magwood’s Dish Entertains: Everyday Simple to Special Occasions.

I’ve owned this book for quite awhile now and as is the case with most of the cookbooks I own, I’ve never tried a recipe. It’s a good thing there’s no such thing as the cookbook police checking to see if I’ve tried any recipes or not. Whew!

Anyway, if I had to describe Trish Magwood I guess I’d describe as a food businesswoman. She’s the owner of a very popular cooking school in Toronto called dish cooking studio. She also starred in a very likeable program on Food Network Canada called Dish (at least I loved it) where she’d cater parties ranging from intimate gatherings at home to picnics at the cottage. My favourite episode was an engagement party where all the food that was served was some form of dessert.

(Why don’t I ever get invited to those types of parties?)

Her cookbook features the recipes that were prominent in her television show and I couldn’t be happier as there are some really good recipes in here. And I’m hoping to finally get down to trying some of them.

There is one recipe in the book that I’ve been making ever since I saw it on her show. It’s essentially a loaf of bread that’s given an olive oil bath and then patted down with rosemary and sea salt. The loaf is baked until you have a crusty, rosemary-scented piece of heaven.

I was intrigued by the idea because it reminded me of a party hall, just outside of Toronto, that used to be very popular at one time for Italian weddings. The start of the meal was always indicated by the emergence of servers from the kitchens with loaves of Italian bread that had been drenched in olive oil and baked with salt and rosemary. No matter how much you swore that you’d avoid the bread during the wedding meal (everyone knows that bread is a killer duirng an Italian wedding meal), you just couldn’t help snatching up a piece of that bread and digging in.

This is so easy to make and it’s perfect for a family dinner or a larger gathering. It goes well with any course and it’s also a great way to use day-old bread.

Okay, people. December is here. Time to party.

Ciao!

Rosemary Bread
From Dish Entertains by Trish Magwood.

1 large loaf of good bread (Yes, I know, that’s vague but what can I say. I like to use a loaf of sourdough bread or a loaf of Italian bread like Pugliese.)
extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. finely chopped rosemary
1 tbsp. sea salt (I use coarse sea salt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare the loaf by cutting 1-inch slices but do not cut all the way down (cut about three-quarters of the way down).

Drizzle a bit of olive oil (about a teaspoon) in between each slice of bread and then drizzle a few more teaspoons over the crust of the bread, rubbing it all over with your hands.

Sprinkle the rosemary in between each slice and over the top. Sprinkle the salt over the top as well.

Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.

Serve while hot.

Enjoy!

What attracted me to Carol Field’s Italy in Small Bites was the idea of small snacks throughout the day to sustain me.

Wouldn’t that be amazing … if at any time of the day you could bite into something tasty, yet not filling?

I’ve spent most of October dreaming about what I’d try from this book and yet never getting around to it. That’s most of the month spent dreaming about snacks with almost no snacking.

Until I made these little babies.

Do you know what taralli are? Have you ever seen them in your local Italian bakery or grocery store? Ever bitten into one?

No?

You’re missing out.

I’m not sure where or when I was introduced to taralli but they have always been around. They’re not a traditional food from either of my parents’ areas of Italy, but my neighbour makes them, and the grandmothers of a lot of my friends made them and I can’t visit a bakery or grocery store in this city without seeing bins of them.

They are taralli.

So what are they?

Taralli are like a sort of breadstick shaped in a ring. They’re not quite crispy like a breadstick but they’re not soft or chewy either. Taralli can be savoury or sweet depending on what you add to that basic recipe. My favourite taralli are savoury ones dotted with fennel seeds, but I also love taralli spiced with red pepper flakes. Growing up, we would often eat sweet taralli that had been dipped in a glaze or icing.

The recipe for taralli in Field’s book caught my eye because I’ve never made them before and have always wanted to try them. And because I love them. If I can learn to make something I love, then why not!

The dough for taralli is very similar to making a pizza dough. You start with flour, yeast and water (and a bit of salt) to which you add the flavouring of choice. The taralli that I buy are almost always flavoured with fennel seeds so that’s what I used.

After allowing the dough to rise, the dough is rolled into log ropes that are then divided into three. From each segment, you make a ring.

Then, much as you do with bagels, you drop the rings into boiling water very briefly. As soon as the rings float to the top, you remove them to drain and cool down a bit.

The taralli are then baked until golden and somewhat crunchy.

I say somewhat because the taralli that I’ve eaten have always had this interesting texture. It’s a cross between something crispy and something flexible. I know that sounds odd, but trust me, if you try one you’ll understand what I mean.

I was very proud of my taralli. While they don’t compare to the homemade taralli that I’ve had from those who are true experts, they were good for a first try and rather easy to make.

As with most worthy snacks, they prove that homemade is usually best.

I’m having so much fun with Field’s book (and my daytime snack imaginings) that I’m not ready to say goodbye to it yet. I’m keeping it around for the November Flavour of the Month.

And now back to my snacks …

Ciao!

Here are some interesting posts about taralli as well as recipes for taralli that you might want to read or try:

Various taralli recipes
Inside a Pugliese Taralli Maker
Taralli
Street Food from Napoli: Taralli

It’s hard to believe that half of October has already passed and I have yet to talk about my Flavour of the Month for October 2008: Carol Field’s Italy in Small Bites.

I’m a big fan of Carol Field. I have a number of her cookbooks and have always had great success with them. To me, she’s one of those cookbook authors who just knows how to write a good recipe.

Italy in Small Bites is among my favourite Italian-themed cookbooks.

I chose this book for two reasons. First of all, ever since returning from my summer vacation, Italy is never far from my mind. And secondly, since Italy is never far from my mind, I seem to have zeroed in on Field’s book quite a bit since being back.

The basis of the book is an exploration of Italian snacks (hence the “small bites”). By snack, I refer to the concept of “merenda“. In Italy, la merenda is a mid-afternoon snack that tides you over until dinner, which is usually later in the evening (8:00 or 9:00 p.m. and sometimes even later). In my family, we would have merenda around 4:00 or 5:00 and it would almost always be something simple like a slice of bread drizzled with olive oil and sea salt, some coffee and cookies or a plate of fruit. Regardless of what our merenda consisted of, it would always be something small. Merenda is never a huge meal.

Italy in Small Bites is essentially a tour through Italy with glimpses of the incredible variety of foods that would be served at merenda. Now I should point out that Italians approach merende (the plural of merenda) in a multitude of differing ways. The snacks found in this book are not exclusively for mid-afternoon. As with all things involving Italian food, the variety is astounding.

There was one recipe in the book that I’ve had bookmarked for a long time, but that I’ve never tried and that’s a recipe for Farinata. In its simplest form, farinata is a think pancake made of chickpea flour thickened with water and usually olive oil. It’s baked until it’s golden and crispy. While farinata is very famous in the region of Liguria, there are numerous variations on the idea of the chickpea pancake throughout Italy.

I love anything made of chickpeas so it follows that I would adore anything made with chickpea flour. Like the very best “snacks”, this is an easy one to make and the end result is a crispy, slightly salty gift to the mouth that yields the essence of chickpea as soon as you bite into it. And it’s all delivered with a hug of rosemary and olive oil.

It was so good, it was almost as good as being in Italy with my family.

Hope you try it.

Ciao!

Note: I made the the recipe from Carol Field’s book but you can find recipes for farinata everywhere. Here are a few samples of some great versions of farinata:

Farinata from Food & Wine

Farinata with Onions and Black Pepper from Ilva of Lucullian Delights

Farinata from Italian Cooking & Living

Farinata with Sage, Olives and Onion from Epicurious

It seems impossible but today is in fact the last day of summer.

As I’ve been telling so many people lately, I feel like I just blink and suddenly two or three months pass me by.

And to tell the truth, I still feel like I’m not fully back home, as though I’m straddling my time in Italy and my time since I’ve been back in Toronto. I feel a bit like I’m neither here nor there.

It’s unusual for me to be so reluctant to say goodbye to summer. It’s not my favourite season and the end of summer signals the beginning of my true seasonal love: the fall.

But these days my mind keeps replaying the three incredible weeks I spent in Italy and I’m just not ready to let go.

On my last night in Rome, I called my mother to go over my arrival time and flight information. I’m sure she sensed my reluctance to leave. Before we ended our conversation, she asked me to go out and have one last ice cream and to make it a lemon gelato, just for her (lemon gelato being her absolute favourite).

I stepped out into the hot Roman night and immediately veered off the beaten tourist path. I passed by countless gelaterias but couldn’t settle on which one to make the last one that I would visit before heading home.

And then quite by chance, I happened upon Il Gelato di San Crispino, a gelateria that I’d hoped to visit during my time in Rome but that had, up until that point, eluded me.

Without hesitating, I walked right in and ordered what is without question the very best lemon ice cream I have ever tasted.

It was so vibrant and so crisp that I felt like I was eating the most refreshing, cold lemon imagineable.

As I ate my gelato, leaning against the side of just another old, fading, beautiful Roman building, I silently thanked my mother for the best Roman goodbye that I could imagine.

Ciao!

Note: If you make it to Rome, you must visit Il Gelato di San Crispino, widely considered to be among Rome’s best gelaterias. The recipe for the lemon gelato that I made (pictured above) is from Olives & Oranges by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox. If you’d like to try making lemon gelato at home, here are some great recipes:

http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/recipes/lemongelato.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_2058527_make-lemon-gelato.html

http://italianfood.about.com/od/gelatoandsherbet/r/blr0306.htm

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1620/lemon+gelato

Saturday August 2, 2008; 3:37 p.m.

That is the exact time that my vacation started. That is the time of the last e-mail I sent (to Lis, for the record). Right after that e-mail, I turned off my computer, and shortly thereafter left for the airport.

And so began three weeks of computer-free living in Italy, surrounded by my aunts, uncles and cousins.

It was bliss.

It’s difficult for me to describe the feeling of returning to Italy to my father’s family. It’s beautiful and warm and reassuring and healing and exciting and emotional and fun and nerve-wracking and stressful and transforming all in one.

My father was the second last of six children. And when I’m there, my aunts and my uncle surround me in a way that makes me feel like my father is always with me. Always, I am amazed at how much they look like him, how much they sound like him, how much they make me remember him.

For me, it’s like being in a cocoon and when my vacation is over, I emerge renewed and restored by the energy and caring of my relatives. Of course, add to the mix the fact that it’s Italy.

Gorgeous, sexy, stunning, breathtaking Italy.

Since I’ve been back people have been asking me for photos but the truth is I took very few pictures while I was there. I had no desire to operate anything more technically challenging then a fork and knife (both of which I operated quite a bit thank you very much).

For three weeks, almost no camera, no computer, no cell phone.

I love my blog and I love the Daring Bakers. Both of these entities have found a significant place in my life. But I would be lying if I didn’t say that it was nice to put the pause button on blogging.

So while I was away, I filled my free time with lots of observation.

I observed all the food that was put in front of me. I tasted everything. I smelled everything. I listened to the sound of everything cooking. I touched the fruits and vegetables and cheeses that touched my plate.

Best of all, I spent as much time as I could with my aunts. While I have spent very little time with them in the grand scheme, still, they are a major force in my life. They have become the standards to which I aspire. They are the most incredible women and everyday I feel blessed that they are a part of my life.

And I miss them terribly.

It was a small blessing then, that upon my return from vacation, I found a copy of a book called Olives & Oranges waiting for me.

Written by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox, it’s a book dedicated to the food of the Mediterranean. This beautiful book has been a great source of comfort over the past weeks. That’s why I chose it as the Flavour of the Month for September 2008.

For the first recipe, I couldn’t resist trying the Plum Galette. Just outside of an aunt’s house in Italy, there is a beautiful purple plum tree. Everyday I walked by that tree and stared in awe at its branches, absolutely laden with plums.

But they weren’t ready. Everyday I knew that I’d be leaving without tasting one of those plums this year. So as soon as I got back, I went to the farmer’s market and bought myself a basket of gorgeous purple plums. Some of them I’ve baked into this lovely tart.

And I imagine myself sitting under my aunt’s tree, staring up at those plums.

Ciao!

Plum Galette
My version of the galette in Olives & Oranges written by Sara Jenkins & Mindy Fox.

I did not adapt this recipe in any way so I’m not going to share it with you here. However, if you’ve ever made a fruit tart or a fruit galette, then you shouldn’t have any problems recreating this recipe. Alternatively, I suggest you buy the book!

For the galette dough: It starts with a basic tart dough or pâte brisée. This is an excellent pâte brisée so I highly recommend using this one if you don’t want to buy the book. Instead of dividing the dough into two disks, gather it into one large disk and refrigerate it for about half an hour.

For the filling: While the dough is refrigerating, take about two pounds of plums or any other fruit you like. If using a stone fruit like plums, then simply cut them in half. If using peaches then cut the fruit into slices. Toss the fruit with a bit of lemon juice and a few tablespoons of sugar.

Assembling the galette: Once the dough has chilled, roll it out into a 13-inch circle. Arrange your fruit in the centre leaving a border. Fold the edges of the border over the fruit and then brush the border with egg wash. Sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar for caramelization.

Baking the galette: Start off by baking your galette for about 25 minutes at a high temperature (I recommend 425 degrees C.). Then lower your temperature to 375 degrees C and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until your galette crust is golden and the fruit filling has released a lot of juice and has thickened. Let the galette cool on a rack before serving.

Happy August, my friends!

This is a short post to let you know that I’m heading to Italy to visit my family for three weeks! I will be gone for almost all of August.

While I am Canadian in every sense, I cannot deny the bond I feel with the country where my parents were born. As beautiful as Canada is, there is something deeply satisfying and comforting going back to Italy and knowing that it’s the place where my history lies.

I will miss you! Take care and be sure to enjoy as much cooking and baking as you can while I’m away. I expect to have tonnes of posts to catch up on.

For the Flavour of the Month, I leave you with the same cookbook that I chose last month just because I loved it so much.

And to whet your sweet tooth, I leave you with this glorious Rose and Orange-Scented Honey-Nut Tart.

Un grande bacio! A big kiss!

Ciao!

One of my favourite ways to unwind at the end of the week is to stop by my local big-box bookstore on the way home from work.

Once there, I have a strict routine that I follow each and every time. First, I peruse the food section of the magazine rack. From there I make my way to the discounted cookbooks table and from there I travel to the epicentre of my world: the cookbook section.

Now it should be noted that I rarely buy cookbooks at my local big-box bookstore because Toronto has one of the very best cookbook stores anywhere, aptly named The Cookbook Store.

Still, though, I do enjoy my Friday after-work relaxation sessions and it was during one of these sessions that I picked up a cookbook that I fell instantly in love with: Jeanne Kelley’s Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes From a Modern Kitchen Garden.

I’m not quite sure what it was that drew me in. I don’t know if it was the brilliant cover photo of a pair of hands holding blue eggs (blue eggs!) and yellow tomatoes. I don’t know if it was the gingham design on the book’s spine (Cream Puff looooooooooooves gingham)! I don’t know if it was the size and weight of the book (something so comforting about the book’s heftiness).

I don’t know what it was.

All I know is that I marched to the cash register and happily handed over my money so that I could take this little piece of cookbook heaven home with me.

To say that I fell in love with this book is to put it mildly. The best way that I can sum up my feelings is that in my wildest dreams, were I ever to write a cookbook, this book is exactly how I would want it to look and feel and the recipes are exactly the kind of recipes I wish I could write.

All manner of beautiful photographs sit beside recipes that are a dream to me: Curried Yellow Split Pea Soup with Mint Yogurt, Green Been, Corn and Farro Salad, Broiled Iberico Cheese, Serrano Ham and Romesco Tartines, Alsatian Bacon and Onion Pizza, Albacore Kebabs with Charmoula and Moroccan Chicken Skewers.

Want more?

Okay.

How about Stuffed Turkey Breast with Achiote, Poblano Chiles and Feta Cheese? Or how about Spiced Lamb with Mint, Date and Apple Pear Relish? Rose and Orange-Scented Honey-Nut Tart? Any takers?

A sizeable cookbook, the paper is thick and glossy and the fonts used are so very pretty! The palette of colours used in the book’s design are warm and inviting, just like the very best of kitchen gardens.

There’s even a section on how to keep your own chickens.

Such a beautiful, beautiful cookbook.

Prior to purchasing it I had no idea who Jeanne Kelley was and wherever she may be in the world, I’d like to thank her for her vision in creating such a book.

It’s truly a thing of beauty.

Ciao!

Ricotta, Honey and Pecan Tartine
Inspired by Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes From a Modern Kitchen Garden by Jeanne Kelley.

Note: In case you hadn’t figured it out this book is my choice for Flavour of the Month for July 2008. A tartine is an open-faced sandwich. There is a recipe in the book for Whole Grain Tartines with Ricotta, Walnuts, Cherries, Honey and Mint. This is my pared down version (serves 2) of that recipe.

two 1 to 1-1/2-inch thick slices of good bread, grilled or toasted (I used a fabulous sourdough but you can use whatever you like)
1/2 cup ricotta
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. chopped mint

Divide the ricotta in half and spread half on one slice of bread and the other half of the ricotta on the second slice of bread.

In a small bowl, mix the pecans and the honey and then divide it equally amongst the two slices of bread, covering the ricotta with the pecan and honey mixture.

Sprinkle both tartines with mint.

Enjoy!

Mamma mia! What happened? June was supposed to be all Italian and then it whizzed by faster than a Roman teenager on a Vespa!

Not that I can complain all that much, mind you. I’ve spent the month enjoying many wonderful meals and best of all, over the past ten days or so, I’ve also been enjoying the fruits of our vegetable garden.

Yes, I’d say Italian June has been quite tasty.

But such a tasty month should end with a lovely little sweet, I think. While I firmly believe my mother’s amaretti are the best, I could not resist trying the amaretti in Maxine Clark’s Easy Italian.

They’re amaretti, but with a bit of a twist in that the recipe calls for pine nuts to be included in the cookie dough.

I’m a relatively new convert to the religion of the pine nut. It was not part of the nut family that I grew up with, which consisted mainly of almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts. I remember tasting the pine nut for the first time and being strangley captivated by it’s butteriness.

As with my mother’s amaretti, these little beauties are very easy to make and are a very pleasant way to end a meal and to bid farewell to what has been a tasty month.

May July be just as sweet!

Ciao!

Amaretti with Pine Nuts
From Easy Italian: Simple Recipes for Every Occasion by Maxine Clark.

Note: Unfortunately I did not have enough pine nuts to use in the cookie dough so I only sprinkled them on top. I used blanched almonds for the entire dough. You can use a pastry bag to pipe out the cookies or you can just use a spoon and carefully spoon drops of the dough onto baking sheets.

2 cups whole blanched almonds
1/2 cup sugar
3 large egg whites
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. orange extract (optional)
a handful of pine nuts (for sprinkling)
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

In either a blender or food processor, grind the almonds with about a tablespoon of sugar until they are very fine.

In a bowl, beat the egg whites (with a mixer or by hand) until they are foamy. Begin adding the remaining sugar, a little at a time, and continue beating the egg whites until they are very stiff (stiff peaks form).

Gently fold in the nuts and then add the almond and orange extract (be careful not to overmix so that you don’t deflate the mixture).

Using a tablespoon, carefully spoon rounds of dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Leave a few inches between each cookie.

Sprinkle some of the pine nuts over each cookie and bake for about 30 minutes. The cookies will be firm and lightly golden when they’re done.

Let cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and serving.

Enjoy!

I have decided that June is going to be an Italian month.

So that would be Giugno.

I have no particular reason for this decision other than the fact that a little over a month ago I purchased this delightful little book by Maxine Clark and fell in love with it.

Seriously in love. In fact I’ve been taking it to bed with me every night for the past week!

One of the recipes that intrigued me as soon as I saw it was one for Devil’s Potatoes. It’s a dish of boiled potatoes drenched in olive oil and flecked with evil hot red chili peppers.

We eat a lot of boiled potatoes with olive oil and salt. In the summer, my mother will often throw in a bit of mint, which is delicious. At this time of year, it’s hard to find red chili peppers that are truly hot. The ones in the supermarket barely pass the spicy test in my family (we are pros when it comes to spicy food). I find we have better luck with jalapenos until we’re able to pick the hot red peppers from our garden (hopefully in another month or so).

I added chopped parsley and mint to the jalapenos, drenched the potatoes in lots of gorgeous extra virgin olive oil and added some sea salt as a final touch.

Delicious!

Enjoy Italian June … I mean Giugno.

Ciao!

Potatoes with Mint, Parsley and Jalapenos
Adapted from Easy Italian: Simple Recipe for Every Occasion by Maxine Clark.

Note: This dish will serve 4 people.

4 large potatoes, boiled with the skins on until cooked through
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or more depending on your tastes)
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tbsp. chopped mint
1 jalapeno, finely chopped (if you don’t like spicy food then you should seed the jalapeno)
sea salt to taste

Let the boiled potatoes cool for a few minutes before peeling off the skins. Slice the potatoes into thick rounds (at least half an inch) and place rounds in a bowl.

Pour the olive oil over the potatoes. We like our potatoes to be drenched in olive oil so we may use as much as half a cup. How much you use is up to you.

Scatter the chopped mint, parsley and jalapeno over the potatoes. With your hands or with a large spoon, mix thoroughly.

Add salt to taste and serve.

Enjoy!

I’ve had Paris on my mind of late.

I suspect part of it is that I recently finished reading this lovely book. Not to mention that I kept seeing this other pretty little tome pop up all over the food blog world (who wouldn’t want to go to Paris after seeing that?).

But part of it also the desire for a bit of escape.

It’s been a tough month and as is often my way, I look to my cookbooks for relief.

This month, my eyes fell on Paris Boulangerie-Patisserie. I’ve had this book for quite awhile and, from time to time, have perused its pages wondering wistfully when I will be able to visit Lenôtre and Dalloyau, among others.

Perhaps soon.

In the meantime, though, I have set my mind to baking.

I am of the belief that the truly simple things are the ones that do your heart good. And while there are those that would argue that butter and sugar may not be the most heart-friendly things in the world, I believe that something that comes out of the warmth of your oven does far more good than bad, no matter what.

I saw a recipe for these lovely jam squares and my heart immediately said, “Make them!”

Faites-les!

Ciao!

Jam Squares
Adapted from Paris Boulangerie-Patisserie by Linda Dannenberg.

Note: The original recipe for these squares is called Carrés aux Framboises (Raspberry Squares). I had to do some work on the dough part of this recipe as I could not get it to come together nicely for me. But after a few tweaks, I ended up with a gorgeous dough that’s a cross between a pie dough and a shortbread dough. You can use any sort of jam to fill the squares.

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sliced blanched or natural almonds (the original recipe uses blanched almonds but I used sliced, natural almonds as I preferred the texture)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2-1/2 sticks (1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
a glass of ice water (you may need it to moisten the dough)
1 to 1-1/2 cups of thick jam (whatever jam you prefer)
1 large egg, lightly beaten with a tablespoon of water (this is for the egg wash)
coarse sugar (optional)

Place 1 cup of the flour and the 1/2 cup of the almonds in the bowl of the food processor. Process until the almonds are finely chopped and you have a powdery mixture.

Add the remainder of the flour and the sugar to your mixture and pulse several times to combine.

Add the beaten egg, vanilla extract and the softened butter and pulse 15 to 20 times (or until your dough comes together around the blade). If your dough doesn’t come together, drizzle in a few tablespoons of ice water. The dough should come together nicely and should not be powdery or floury.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and gather into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for half an hour.

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. The original recipe calls for a 10-1/2 x 15-1/2-inch jelly roll pan but you can use any size you have. If you have smaller pans, then make two sets of squares.

When the dough has chilled, divide it in half and roll out the first half into a rectangle that is about an eighth of an inch thick (you can make it slightly thicker). Carefully transfer your rectangle of dough to your lined baking sheet.

Spread the jam over the rolled out dough, leaving a two-inch border all the way around.

Roll out the second half of the dough to a slightly smaller size. Lightly brush egg wash over the border on the first half of the dough and then top with the second piece of rolled out dough. Working from one end, fold the bottom part of the dough up over the top half. Then press down with a fork all the way around to seal the border to ensure that the jam doesn’t escape.

Brush the top of the dough with more egg wash and prick with a fork to create some holes to allow the steam to escape. Sprinkle on coarse sugar if you like.

Bake for 35 minutes. The dough should be golden and baked through.

Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool before slicing into squares.

Enjoy!

And just like that, the full force of spring hits us.

We went from chilly, rainy weather to “where did I put my flip flops” weather in the blink of an eye.

This morning I woke to the sound of birds singing and my Italian neighbours, two doors down, discussing the layout of this year’s garden (they’re very loud talkers …).

Wanting to take advantage of the beautiful weather, I decided to take an early-morning walk through the neighbourhood. Almost every house I passed had bags of old leaves and garden waste lined up at the curb, beside neatly stacked piles of trimmed twigs and branches.

A few people I passed were getting an early start on some home improvement projects.

One man was methodically sweeping his driveway clean.

The bocce court at one of our local parks has been cleaned and is ready to go.

I smiled.

Spring has sprung!

Ciao!

Note: On Saturdays, we usually don’t have a big breakfast. Instead we like to have a nice lunch, usually right at noon, that will tide us over until the evening when we most often go out. While it may seem that baked pasta is a dish for the fall or winter, this is a quick one that I made for a recent Saturday lunch. It’s simple with some very classic flavours. The original recipe calls for ziti but I used tortiglioni instead.

Baked Tortiglioni with Cream and Pancetta
Adapted from On Top of Spaghetti … by Johanne Killeen and George Germon.

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 to 2 slices pancetta (about half an inch thick), chopped up into tiny pieces
1-1/4 cups heavy cream (35% cream)
1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggianio, grated
1/2 cup Pecorinio Romano, grated
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 pound dried pasta (I used tortiglioni)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil and add the pancetta. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the pancetta is golden. Be careful not burn. Remove the pancetta to a plate and reserve the oil and fat in the skillet.

When the water is boiling and you’ve salted it, add the pasta and cook for 6 minutes. Meanwile, heat the oven to 500 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the cream, salt and pepper. Stir in the pancetta and a tablespoon or two of the oil/fat left in the skillet (flavour flavour flavour!)

Once the pasta has cooked for 6 minutes, drain and immediately add to the cream mixture. Stir well to ensure that the pasta is coated in the cream and cheese.

Pour the mixture into a deep baking dish and bake in the oven for 12 minutes. The pasta should be golden on top and the cream should be bubbling. If it’s not, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.

Remove the pasta from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

“On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball,
When somebody sneezed.”

I really struggled to pick a cookbook from The Overburdened Bookshelf to feature as the Flavour of the Month for April 2008.

As much as I love my baking, I wanted to focus on something other than sweets. The gardening bug is starting to get to me but while it is spring, we are still at least a month or so away from even considering going out into the garden. It will be awhile before we’re harvesting any local vegetables or fruits so I didn’t want to pick a cookbook that focused on fresh goods from the garden.

Stumped, I perused my stacks of cookbooks again and again until I finally decided on a book written by Johanne Killeen and George German called On Top of Spaghetti… .

Killeen and Germon are the famous chef/husand and wife team behind the restaurant Al Forno in Rhode Island. The couple has been featured on television and in print and their restaurant is quite famous (note to self: must visit one day).

I bought their cookbook last year and kept promising myself that I’d try some of the recipes. We’re big pasta eaters and while we have a fairly steady repertoire of pasta recipes, it’s always nice to augment the usual with something new. As well, I’ve been promising myself that I would spend more time making homemade pasta.

I’m lucky to belong to a family of master pasta makers. On both sides of my family, there is no shortage of skills when it comes to creating great pasta dough. I stand by Mama Cream Puff’s pasta recipe and firmly believe that my mom is a true master and I’m not just saying that because she’s my mom.

Having chosen the book, I decided to dive right in and head straight to the chapter on fresh pasta. Using my mother’s pasta recipe as a basis, I decided to try making ravioli for the first time on my own (no help from my mammina).

I thought it best that I try a fairly straightforward filling so I went with a filling of ricotta, egg, Parmigiano Reggiano and a touch of nutmeg.

Here’s a little photo essay of my journey into ravioli land:

Like most Italians, we have a hand cranked pasta maker that we used for years. However, about a year ago we invested in the pasta attachments for our Kitchen Aid mixer and haven’t looked back!

Using my mother’s recipe as a guide, I prepared the dough and then rolled out the pasta sheets to the second last level of thinness on the pasta roller. I then laid out my pasta sheets to await their destiny.

After making a simple filling of ricotta, beaten egg, salt, Parmigiano Reggiano and a touch of nutmeg, I mounded spoonfuls of filling at equal intervals on each pasta sheet.

I carefully folded one half of the pasta sheet over the mounded filling and then pressed down in between each mound to remove any trapped air and to secure the filling. Before folding the dough over, I dampened the edges of the dough with a bit of water to help the dough stick together.

Using a decorative roller, I trimmed the edges of the folded pasta sheets.

I then used the roller to cut out the individual ravioli.

I prepared a very basic tomato sauce, which I used to adorn my ravioli after boiling them. I was so anxious about the boiling process and keeping an eye on my ravioli to ensure that they didn’t open that I didn’t take any photos. At that point, I then became so eager to try the fruits of my labour that I didn’t bother with any photos of the finished product.

They were good.

They weren’t as good as Mama Cream Puff’s, but they were good. And I know she was proud of me.

Now I don’t want anyone fretting. There will be lots of sweet things on this blog during the month of April including some long overdue cookbook reviews. But there’s also going to be a lot of pasta.

Carbs, here I come!

Ciao!

For a pretty darn good pasta recipe, click here.

For the filling: Mix together 1 cup of ricotta with 1 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, beat in one lightly beaten egg, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg (optional). Set aside until you’re ready to use as a filling.

One cannot choose a cookbook as the Flavour of the Month and then allow the whole month to pass without saying even one thing about said cookbook.

That just won’t do.

Especially when one has chosen such a special, pretty little cookbook as the Flavour of the Month for March 2008.

As often happens in life, while searching for one thing, I came across another even better thing. As I scoured www.amazon.com for a certain book I was looking for, I hit upon Maria Bruscino Sanchez’s Sweet Maria’s Italian Cookie Tray and what a delightful find it was!

This slim little volume should not fool you, though. It carries more baking wisdom in its little pocket than many books three or four times the size carry. And it’s full full full of the kinds of recipes that you find handwritten on old pieces of paper tucked away in kitchen drawers. Except in this book the recipes actually have identifiable measurements like cups and tablespoons as opposed to “a handful of this” or “two fingers worth of that”.

I didn’t know who Maria Bruscino Sanchez was when I bought the book so I looked her up and found out that she’s a baker with a business of the same name located in Connecticut. Sanchez is the author of three other cookbooks that I was unable to locate because they’re exceptonally hard to find! On a whim, I decided to e-mail her and lo and behold she sent me a lovely e-mail in response informing me that all four of her books will be available in a bound volume in the fall of 2008.

Yes! The cookbook monster is appeased.

In the meantime, I’ve been keeping this book close at hand to leaf through during the few quiet moments that I’ve had over the past month or so. And while I didn’t have time to try a recipe, Mama Cream Puff came to the rescue and made the very first recipe in the book: anginetti.

I asked her to make these because they reminded me very much of a simple lemon cookie that my grandmother would often make. The recipe consists of eggs, milk, lemon extract, sugar, vegetable oil, flour and baking powder. The baked cookies are topped with a glaze of icing sugar, lemon extract and water.

Simple.

And delicious.

Ah, the joys of accidental stumbles! You just never know what treasure you’ll find.

A wonderful weekend to all!

Ciao!

I don’t have a Magazine Mondays post for you this week but I do have another example of what a great cookbook Maxine Clark’s Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers is.

This time it’s a pretty chocolate marble cake.

Some cakes look pretty in pink. But some look even prettier in marble.

I never tire of trying out marble cake recipes just for the simple of pleasure of marbling batter, yet another example of how artistic and fun baking can be.

I wish all of you a wonderful, chocolate-filled week!

Ciao!

Marbled Butter Cake
Adapted from Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers by Maxine Clark.

Note: This recipe doesn’t yield a huge cake but can easily serve 8. It’s very buttery and will keep nicely at room temperature either in an airtight container or well-wrapped.

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
icing sugar for decoration

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a standard-sized bundt cake pan or kugelhopf mold (if you have one).

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the beaten egg and continue to mix until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the vanilla extract and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the sifted ingredients to the batter and mix on low speed until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Remove half the batter and place in another bowl. To the batter that’s still in the mixer bowl, add the cocoa powder. Mix until well combined.

Take your prepared cake pan and dollop spoonfuls of the vanilla batter into the bottom of the pan. Then take the chocolate batter and dollop spoonfuls over the vanilla batter. Repeat until all the batter has been used.

Take a knife and dip it into the batter, all the way to the bottom of the pan. Gently begin swirling the batter with the knife, working your way all around the pan.

Bake the cake on the middle rack for 50 minutes, checking to see if it’s done with a cake tester or toothpick. If it’s done, the tester will come out clean after piercing the cake. The cake will also spring back if you touch it lightly. If it’s not done, bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan before unmolding it. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Enjoy!

There was a time in my life when I devoured books (no pun intended). But the long haul of university essays followed by a career where I spend a good part of my day reading and writing resulted in a long break in my pursuit of leisurely reading. Recently, though, I’ve felt the inner call again. That voice that whispers, “Pick up that book. Go look for that old novel you always meant to read. Go spend some time in the library.”

It reminds me of the days when if you wanted to find me, you just had to look for the nearest book. I would read them the way I breathed the air. I couldn’t get enough of them.

This past December, I rediscovered a bit of that reading magic when I read a book that had been sitting, abandoned, on my bookshelf for quite some time. I began reading Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian, and fell instantly in love.

Kostova’s novel is about a young girl who, through a series of letters and discussions with her father, uncovers an incredible link to Dracula.

Yep. Christmas reading at its finest! While it may seem highly incongruous that one would read such a book during the holiday season, I tell you I couldn’t put it down.

While the heart of the story is enthralling and suspenseful, the novel also focusses on the magic of history and storytelling.

At around the same time that I was reading the book, I was flipping through Maxine Clark’s Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers which as you know is my Flavour of the Month. And wouldn’t you know, I came across a recipe for Dracula’s Delight. It’s an incredible concoction consisting of a layer of cranberry compote topped by a rich and dark chocolate mousse.

It was every bit as sinful and luxurious as it looks.

I must say. Between the novel and the recipe, Dracula seems most sweet. Darkly so, but sweet nevertheless.

Ciao!

Note: I didn’t make any adaptations to the recipe so I’m not going to share it with you. But you can easily try it at home by making a cranberry compote or cranberry sauce and topping it with your favourite recipe for chocolate mousse.

Well, February certainly isn’t shy.

She has announced herself with much snow and bluster around these parts, anyway. But I don’t mind. The weather has given all of us the perfect reason to hunker down and indulge in hot chocolate and cookbooks.

As I perused The Overburdened Bookshelf for a book to feature as the Flavour of the Month, my eye kept coming back to a recent addition to the bookshelf, Maxine Clark’s Chocolate: Deliciously Indulgent Recipes for Chocolate Lovers.

I bought this book because when I opened it, the very first picture I saw made my mouth water. I immediately snapped it shut and marched to the checkout counter.

Picky shopper, I am not.

Anyway, the experience has given me an idea about the month of February. What if, for the entire month, all my posts were chocolate-related? Can it be done?

Let’s just see, shall we …

Ciao!

January, it’s been fun!

While I haven’t done all that much baking or cooking, I have been enjoying the lovely bean (thanks to my Flavour of the Month) and generally enjoying the first month of 2008. But January, it’s time for us to part ways.

Before you go, I wanted to send you off with one last tasty treat from Judith Barrett’s Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy. These little gems are called White Bean and Onion Fritters.

Until we meet again, January …

Ciao!

White Bean and Onion Fritters
From Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett.

Note: Depending on the size of your bean patties, you should get anywhere from 8 to 16 fritters.

1 cup dried cannellini beans (soaked overnight)
3 tbsp. olive oil, plus more for frying
1 small onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Place the beans in a large pot and cover with 6 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer beans uncovered for about an hour. The beans should be tender.

Drain the beans and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the beans are broken down and you have a puree. Place the puree in a large bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and then add the onion. Saute until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes or so. Remove the onions from the heat and add to the puree. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the all-purpose flour to the mixture. Stir everything together until you have a smooth mixture.

In the same skillet, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle some flour on your hands and begin forming the puree into balls the size of golf balls. Don’t worry if it’s sticky.

Place the balls of puree in the flour and lightly coat them, all the while pressing down to form a patty (about half an inch thick).

Heat the olive oil and when hot, begin adding the patties. Cook them for about 5 minutes on each side. Resist the temptation to move them constantly as they fry. After each batch, you will have to add some more olive oil to the pan.

Once cooked, place the fritters on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb any excess oil. Sprinkle with a bit more salt and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Talk about coming down from a high! I want to thank everyone for all of your incredible comments and support after my post about the cupcakes I baked for my coworker’s wedding. It was quite an experience and I’m looking forward to where it leads.

As exciting as it was, it was also exhausting. I spent most of Sunday and Monday trying to absorb it all. I couldn’t even begin to think about going back into the kitchen.

But now that it’s all sunk in, it’s time to get back to cooking. For the January 2008 Flavour of the Month, I chose the book Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett as my focus for the month.

When I looked at The Overburdened Bookshelf for this month’s choice, I knew that I wanted this month to be about comfort. I feel the urge for dishes that are slow-cooked and dense. I want to eat foods that stick to your ribs and help keep the cold at bay. I also wanted to finally showcase some recipes from what is a lovely book. As someone who once worked in publishing, I am mightily impressed by books that not only help you to produce beautiful food, but that are works of art in and of themselves. From the cover to the paper to the way the book is printed, it’s an extremely attractive piece of work.

For my first recipe, I couldn’t resist the siren call of chickpeas. I adore chickpeas. Growing up, one of my mother’s quickest and best side dishes on a weeknight was a simple salad of chickpeas and chopped red onions dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Such a versatile food, you can do a million things with chickpeas from adding them to pasta or soup, making dips with them or roasting them for a snack.

I chose to try a recipe for a Whipped Chickpea and Potato Spread. Like my mother’s salad, this was almost ridiculously easy to put together and it vanished in minutes. And while I am not one to focus on the health benefits of food (we’re all adults … we all know what’s good for us), chickpeas are incredibly nutritious which makes this dip all the more attractive.

Enjoy the month of beans!

Ciao!

Whipped Chickpea and Potato Spread
Adapted slightly from Fagioli: The Bean Cuisine of Italy by Judith Barrett.

Note: This makes about 2 cups of spread. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

1 cup chickpeas (you can use canned or you can use dried chickpeas that have been soaked overnight)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 dried bay leaf
1 medium-sized potato, cut into quarters
one small piece of onion, finely chopped (the truth is you can use as much onion as you like …)
extra virgin olive oil (about half a cup)
salt and pepper to taste

Place the chickpeas, the garlic clove and the bay leaf in a pot and add 5 to 6 cups water. Bring to a boil.

If using chickpeas that were soaked overnight, simmer for one hour. If using canned chickpeas, you can proceed right away to the next step.

Once the chickpeas are tender (after having cooked for an hour if you used dried chickpeas), add the potato and cook for another 20 minutes or until the potato is tender.

Drain the mixture and let sit for about half an hour to cool a bit.

Discard the bay leaf and put everything else (including the chopped onion) into the bowl of a food processor. Process the mixture for about a minute to mash it up.

With the processor running, begin adding the olive oil through the feed tube. Continue adding until the mixture is creamy.

Add salt and pepper to taste and blend to combine.

Spoon the mixture into a bowl and drizzle with a bit of olive oil before serving.

Enjoy!

I love Christmas!

Only 23 days to go.

Just 23 short days to Rudolph and Santa and the tree and the gifts and the food and the weight gain.

I love it!!!

And how will the Cream Puff be spending the next 23 days?

The next few days will be spent trying to finish a major project at work.

Following that, the Cream Puff will be spending a handful of well-deserved days soaking up some sun and Christmas shopping in a warmer climate.

Upon returning, the remaining eight or nine days will be spent baking, eating, shopping, baking, spending time with family and friends, baking, drinking, baking, blogging, baking and baking.

I love it!!!

There really was only choice for Flavour of the Month for December 2007: Georgeanne Brennan’s Christmas Sweets. I bought this book as soon as it was published this past September and I’ve been waiting impatiently to try some of the recipes.

Let’s see what treats it holds.

Happy December!

Ciao!

November is a hard month for me.

Ever since I was a child I’ve also felt that November is a creepy month. Maybe it’s the lingering Halloween effect or just the fact that it’s dark so early in the day.

The cheery fall weather of October begins to move determinedly towards winter. You can pretend it’s not going to happen but you just know that the first snowfall isn’t far away.

November is the month that I lost my father. That, in and of itself, makes it challenging to get through.

While I’m usually a social creature, during November I find that I mostly just want to rush home after work and curl up on the couch. The only respite I seek from this routine is baking.

It just feels good to bake in November. It’s soothing and comforting and right.

Looking at The Overburdened Bookshelf, there were hundreds of cookbooks to choose from (where did all these cookbooks come from???) for the November 2007 Flavour of the Month. I thought of some of the newer cookbooks like Indulge or Demolition Desserts. And then I considered some of the older books Trattoria Cooking. In the end, I settled on one of my very favourites: The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.

Like an old friend, this book is open and welcoming. Thorough, easy-to-use, appropriate for both the beginner and the more experienced baker, this cookbook covers every aspect of baking imagineable from breads to cookies to cakes.

I’ve turned to this book so many times whenever I want to bake something that is deeply comforting. To me, the book celebrates one of the fundamental joys of baking: bringing warmth into your kitchen.

Here’s to a November of warmth, light and baking!

Ciao!

Technorati tags: oatmeal, cookies

I sometimes find myself looking at the calendar in astonishment after I realize how quickly the months slip by. Is it really two months until Christmas?

And is October really almost over (already) without my having written once about my Flavour of the Month, Father Giuseppe Orsini’s Italian Baking Secrets?

Of course I’ve mentioned this cookbook a few times already, but I have yet to actually tell you about it.

Who is Father Giuseppe Orsini? Based on what I can gather from the biographical information in the book, he’s a Roman Catholic priest who has an enormous passion for baking and in particular for Italian baking.

Italian Baking Secrets is a collection of all those handwritten recipes you find stashed away in tins or tucked into books. The book is straightforward and charming in its simplicity. While there are some bread recipes towards the beginning of the book that required multiple steps, most of the recipes are ones that I could imagine my grandmothers making. Just a few ingredients and there you go, the perfect cake or the perfect cookie to dunk in your coffee.

I bought the book after seeing it on a shelf at Toronto’s The Cookbook Store. I didn’t take any time to read through it I just picked it up and walked immediately to the cash register.

Had I actually spent some time looking through the book, I would have noticed a few inconsistencies. For some reason there are a few recipes that are repeated in different sections of the book. And the measurement units used for ingredients are not always consistent. But these minor peculiarities somehow add to the book’s overall effect. It really is like those handwritten recipes scribbled onto bits of paper!

One of the recipes in the book that caught my eye was a recipe for cookies called crumiri. If I close my eyes, I can almost see my little self sitting at a table at my aunt’s house in Italy having breakfast. Our breakfasts in Italy, especially as children, didn’t consist of oatmeal or cereal, but rather huge mugs of hot milk coloured with espresso. Those mugs were accompanied by cookies or bread onto which we would spread butter and homemade jam.

That was breakfast.

My favourite, of course, were the cookies. I remember they’d come in these colourful bags and I would love to read the story of the cookies printed on each package. For some reason, the ones I remember the most are the crumiri.

In my memory, they are golden and crumbly with a not-too-sweet flavour. They taste of vanilla too. But most of all, I remember their shape and texture. The adults around me would say that they are shaped like horseshoes but to me they look like little boomerangs with ridges on them.

In my memory, I wonder what would happen if I actually threw one across the room. Would it boomerang back? But of course I would never do this as I can just imagine the stern look on the face of my aunt …

Memory is an incredible thing. In the wake of my 34th birthday, I laugh at how often my friends and I will joke that our memories are “going”. I will forget grocery lists, what I told my brother yesterday, that 10:00 meeting and my keys.

And yet, I will see a recipe for a cookie and remember the exact texture of that very same cookie when I ate one years and years ago.

I can still remember the taste.

Hard on the heels of that memory, is the realization that I suppose it doesn’t really matter that I sometimes forget the grocery list.

But to forget the memory of my little self eating cookies and slurping warm milk under my aunt’s watchful eye, somehow, that would be unbearable.

Ciao!

Crumiri
From Italian Baking Secrets by Father Giuseppe Orsini.

1-3/4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar (I like to use vanilla sugar)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla or almond extract (if you’re not using vanilla sugar)
2/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes. The mixture should be very light in colour.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition.

Mix together the flour, salt and cornmeal and add slowly to the butter mixture, with the motor running on low speed. As soon as the flour mixture is added, add the extract (if using).

The cookie dough will be thick. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip (3/4 of an inch to an inch in width).

Pipe the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets in whatever design you like. The cookies shouldn’t be longer than 3 or 4 inches and should be spaced 2 inches apart.

Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, anywhere from 12 to 14 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: crumiri

While I would never describe myself as being very organized, I do pride myself on doing a reasonably good job of keeping track of food blog events that I want to participate in.

Well, you know what they say … pride before the fall.

I was very disappointed to realize that I had missed the deadline for World Bread Day hosted by the talented and generous Zorra of Kochtopf. I’ve become very fond of Zorra and her blog and have also come to appreciate an event based on one of the staples of the human diet: bread.

For some reason I’d listed October 21st as the deadline in my calendar, but after seeing all these posts pop up, I thought I’d better double check. Here’s hoping that late is much better than never!

As some of you may have noticed, I’ve chosen Father Giuseppe Orsini’s book, Italian Baking Secrets, as the October 2007 Flavour of the Month. I bought this book about 5 seconds after having laid eyes on it for the first time. The cover of the book, featuring a plate of perfect cannoli, drew me in. And when I saw that it had been written by an Italian priest, how could I not buy it?!

I mean with cannoli and God on your side, you can’t possibly go wrong.

The book was a delightful surprise. I’ve made a few recipes from it already and as soon as I laid my eyes on the recipe for Walnut Bread, I knew that I’d have to make it. World Bread Day became the perfect opportunity.

At around this time last year, I was slowly discovering how much I loved to make bread. I was immersed in my Art of Bread course at George Brown College and was learning the technique of good bread baking. I was learning about yeast, that incredible living thing. I was learning about kneading, that incredible gesture. And I was loving it all.

Since that class, I’m happy to say that I’ve baked bread often. While I haven’t baked as much bread as I would like, the idea of baking bread comes to me often and I am happy for this. Bread is hugely important in our life. Virtually no meal takes place without bread. Growing up, we couldn’t begin dinner until the bread and wine were on the table. And even now to look at the table and not see bread suggests a feeling of incompleteness.

I’m especially happy that I’ve discovered a love of bread baking because there is something so satisfying about producing a loaf of the stuff. My love of baking runs deep. A cake, a pie or a sheet of cookies are all pleasing. But there is something deeply and intensely soothing about baking bread.

It’s a beautiful act.

I took part in the beautiful act with this walnut bread. It was very easy to make, taking about 4 hours from start to finish. I began with a simple dough made of yeast, water, honey, olive oil, flour, salt and finely chopped walnuts.

After an initial rise of 1 hour, I shaped the dough into a ring and crowned it with perfect walnut halves.

Another 1-hour rise and the ring was ready to be baked. After a little over an hour in the oven, I removed a beautifully browned walnut bread that had a crisp exterior and a very nutty interior. The beauty of this bread is that it could be enoyed as a savoury or as a sweet bread.

I’d like to thank Zorra for hosting World Bread Day, 2007!

Ciao!

Technorati tags: world bread day, bread

As much as I love the fall, I inevitably find myself shaking my head at this time of year as I find it harder and harder to believe that it actually is the fall.

True, the leaves are slowly changing colour and the nights are noticeably cooler, but the days are still warm and for the most part sunny. Where it’s hardest to believe that fall is here is the garden.

There are still tomatoes ripening on the vine and we still have peppers waiting to be picked. The herbs are going strong and our celery plants are a sight to behold!

Are you sure it’s still not summer???

I think part of the reason why it’s still so hard to believe that it’s fall is that I seem to have fallen in love with a little cookbook that just happened to be the Flavour of the Month for August and September 2007: Viana La Place’s My Italian Garden.

There are a few authors whose cookbooks I will buy simply because their names appear on the cover. Tish Boyle and Dorie Greenspan are probably foremeost among this group. But I would have to say that Viana La Place is now also a member of that club. Her cookbooks are lovely and I’m happy to say that I own many others: La Bella Cucina, Unplugged Kitchen, and Desserts and Sweet Snacks.

Her latest cookbook continues in the tradition of her previous books in that the emphasis is on simple ingredients of the highest quality prepared in ways that highlight the beauty of the ingredients. If you don’t have a food processor or any of the other electronic gadgets that seem to accompany the modern kitchen, that’s not a problem.

This book is the story of La Place’s garden from a barren piece of earth in her yard to a well-organized piece of cultivated land that is a constant source of inspiration. What I especially love is that La Place built the garden herself. She learned from her mistakes and wasn’t afraid to document some of them in her book.

And while there are no photographs, the book is filled with pretty sketches that give it an almost romantic feel. La Place very clearly evokes how much peace the garden gives her and how much she loves it.

Of course, the recipes are the centrepiece. The book is divided into four chapters based on the four seasons beginning with summer and ending with spring. The organization of the book is a reminder that gardens can produce in many different ways regardless of the season. It helps,
mind you, that La Place lives in San Francisco where the climate is milder. We certainly don’t get very much from our garden in the middle of winter. However, many of the ingredients used in the recipes for the fall or winter are readily available in colder climates so that shouldn’t be a deterrent to trying those recipes.

In the end, I just loved how this book felt. It was like reading a novel about a very personal mission to build something beautiful. And it had the added bonus of recipes and lots of them.

I tried several recipes from the book but the one I want to highlight is this very simple, yet satisfying pasta. The original recipe from the book calls for the zest of Meyer lemons but I substituted regular lemon zest and the dish was wonderful.

Whether you have a garden already or are dreaming of having one day, I cannot recommend Viana La Place’s My Italian Garden more highly. It’s what garden dreams are made of!

Ciao!

Pasta with Basil and Lemon
Adapted from My Italian Garden by Viana La Place.

Note: This recipe will serve 2 to 3 people quite generously.

6 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (you may need some extra olive oil if the pasta appears too dry)
2 cloves garlic, minced
a handful of basil leaves, cleaned and torn into pieces
freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. lemon zest, finely grated
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
salt to taste
spaghettini pasta for 2 to 3 people (or whatever pasta you like)

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil and garlic over a very low flame.

After 2 to 3 minutes, you should begin to smell the garlic but be very careful not to burn it. Add the basil leaves and lemon zest and stir for a few minutes.

Add freshly ground pepper to taste.

As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the pan with the basil and lemon.

Sprinkle on the Parmigiano and toss to coat. Taste the pasta for seasoning and adjust accordingly. If the pasta is too dry for your liking, add some olive oil.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: pasta, viana la place

My apologies for the lack of posts around here.

It’s not that the Cream Puff has abandoned you or anything. It’s just that in all the recent heat and steam we’ve been experiencing lately, I’ve barely been able to muster the energy to lift a glass of iced tea to my lips.

Yes, it’s been that hot. Yes, it’s been that steamy. So much so that I suspect I may lose my title as honourary Southern Belle based on my inability to deal with it all.

What can I say? I’m a Northern girl at heart. I needs me my ice and snow!

But more than the steamy summer, I haven’t posted of late because, to be quite honest, I’ve had a bit of trouble letting go.

It was hard to let go of July and Lori Longbotham’s Luscious Berry Desserts (my Flavour of the Month for July).

It was hard to let go of sitting under the canopy in the yard as opposed to sitting in the basement in front of a computer.

It was just hard to let go.

And yet, in so many ways, July was about letting go. I hate to be the bearer of bad news to all you summer-lovers, but July’s end means that we’ve let go of the heart of summer. Sure most of August stretches before us and yes summer isn’t technically over until September. But you know once those school bells start ringing, it’s au revoir summer!

On a more personal level, July was the month that I let go of a lot of deadweight in the form of paper. I am embarrassed by the sheaves and sheaves of paper that I have been hoarding away in virtually every corner of my house. In the form of magazines, books, loose papers, they were everywhere! The arrival of my uncle from Italy and the impending arrival of two houseguests in the form of my Aunt D and my sweet cousin A from San Jose meant that it was time to take a serious look in all the cupboards and spooky places that I normally prefer not to look.

Food magazines galore.

Recipes galore.

Newspaper clippings of recipes galore.

All of it over every inch of this house. In every drawer, in every closet, in every cupboard, in every corner.

And the shame of it all is that in most cases, I’d barely even looked at any of these items in years. Case-in-point: last summer when we had the house painted, I packed away a stack of magazines and recipes in a large storage bin and shoehorned it into the closet.

“I’ll go through those as soon as the painting is done.”

Uh huh.

More than a year later, those very magazines and recipes in that very large storage bin remained buried at the bottom of the closet under a million other things.

Unlike other times, where I’ve merely paid lipservice to the act of truly cleaning and simply shuffled some papers here and stacked some more magazines there, it was time to truly take stock.

Why do I keep all these magazines? And why do I have all these loose bits of paper with recipes printed on them flying around my house? What is this all about?

As I sifted through the endless pile, I kept thinking to myself that I couldn’t possibly throw this recipe out or recycle that magazine. This is the 2002 issue of so-and-so that has that perfect recipe for watchamacallit that when I finally get around to making it will be the best thing ever.

And this faded piece of newsprint from 1992 has a recipe for baked you-knows that I’m going to make for whatshername’s party and wow everyone.

Oh, yes and there’s that post-it note with the recipe for that dish on it. It’s written in that horribly faded red ink and I’m probably going to have to hire an Egyptologist to decipher the hieroglyphics otherwise known as the instructions but that’s okay. When I finally do I’m going to cook up the dish of the century!

And so on. And so on. And so on.

A hundred best-chocolate-cakes ever. A thousand mouth-watering sugar cookies. A million mind-blowing apple pies. They were all there. Spread across my house like a trail of breadcrumbs.

And without thinking about it, I picked up all the bits of paper and put them in the recycling bin. I gathered all the magazines and brought them to work for my coworkers.

In one massive act of cleansing, I bid adieu to years worth of printed recipes and magazines.

Just like that. I let them all go.

Crazy of me? Perhaps.

But I think it’s more to do with the fact that it finally occurred to me that the best chocolate cake I will ever make is the one that I actually make. The imagination is delicious, but reality is even moreso.

It occurred to me that it was time to squelch the insecure little baker in me that keeps telling me I can bake a better this or a better that and just get down to the act of baking.

I let it all go.

I just let it all go. And I don’t regret it one bit.

Ciao!

Blueberry Cheesecake
From Luscious Berry Desserts by Lori Longbotham.

Note: My Flavour of the Month for August 2007 is Viana La Place’s lovely My Italian Garden. But before I get to that pretty little book, I had to say one last goodbye to Luscious Berry Desserts. Glory in the season’s most beautiful blueberries with this incredible cheesecake!

For the crust:

2 cups shortbread crumbs (about 20 to 25 shortbread cookies finely crushed)
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Combine the shortbread crumbs and the butter in a bowl and mix well.

Pack the crumbs into the pan, making sure to spread them about a quarter of the way up the sides of the pan. Place the crust in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

For the filling:

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups ripe blueberries

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine the cream cheese and the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at medium speed until smooth and fluffy (4 to 5 minutes).

Beat the eggs and the yolk in one at a time making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add the heavy cream, the lemon zest and juice, the flour, vanilla and the salt. Mix well.

Using a rubber spatula, carefully mix in the blueberries.

Pour the filling into the prepared pan. Place the pan in the oven for 15 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 200 degrees F. and bake for an hour. Once done, turn off the oven and open the door slightly. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, refrigerate the cheesecake overnight (or for about 8 hours) before serving.

Serve the cheesecake with a fruit sauce like raspberry curd.

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: cheesecake, blueberries

The glory of strawberry season is profound, yet so fleeting!

Just as quickly as the lovely red berries make an appearance, they’re gone, leaving behind a deep longing that will last for another year.

Several years ago, I began cultivating a strawberry plant in our backyard garden. Happily, that one plant has now multiplied into at least ten plants that provide us with some luscious berries indeed.

Ontario strawberries are truly delicious and I feel lucky to live in a region that produces so many beautiful strawberries. No matter how many I eat, I always feel like I haven’t eaten enough. And once they’re gone, I inevitably find myself staring disappointedly at those monster strawberries in plastic containers that you find at the grocery store. They may be huge, but they don’t have any of the flavour of a freshly picked strawberry.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to buy a container of the very last of the strawberries from the farmer’s market that I attend every Wednesday during the summer. I knew immediately that I would be making the Strawberry Sunburst Tart from Lori Longbotham’s Luscious Berry Desserts.

The picture of this dessert was one of the reasons why I bought the book!

Imagine, if you will, a giant shortbread cookie shapped like a starburst. On top of this cookie imagine spreading a luscious cream made of raspberry curd and whipped cream. And then imagine dotting the cream with some perfect strawberries.

If you can imagine all of this than you can imagine that you have before you one of the
very best summer desserts I have ever made! I didn’t adapt the recipe at all so I’m not going to share it here. However, I’ve provided some ideas on how you can recreate the dessert if you don’t own the book.

To you I say, enjoy the tart!

To the strawberries I say, until next year!

Ciao!

Strawberry Sunburst Tart

For the crust, you can use the recipe for your favourite shortbread or try the recipe for the shortbread base located here. It’s similar to the recipe in Luscious Berry Desserts.

For the cream base, you can mix a few cups of whipped heavy cream with raspberry curd, or you can puree some fresh strawberries, strain them and mix the puree in with the whipped cream. Spread your cream over the shortbread base (once it’s baked and cooled).

Decorate the cream with 10 to 15 perfect strawberries that have been hulled. Use any leftover cream to pipe a pretty design in between the strawberries.

It’s best to serve this tart immediately.

Technorati tags: strawberries, tarts

… in a sea of blueberries!

And I can’t imagine a better place to be.

I’m off to Montreal for a few days but I leave you with this incredible blueberry tart. I hope it helps get you through the weekend.

Naturally, it’s from Lori Longbotham’s must-have cookbook: Luscious Berry Desserts.

Bon weekend!

Ciao!

… the Flavour of the Month for July 2007 … Lori Longbotham’s Luscious Berry Desserts!

Applause! Clap … clap … clap!

First of all, let me wish all of my American friends a very happy Fourth of July!

After a lovely long weekend wherein we Canadians celebrated our country’s 140th birthday on July 1st, it’s high time to get to the business of July. This promises to be another busy month as there’s so much fresh food everywhere!

I have so many ideas and recipes I want to try I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the month for that matter!

You can be sure that many of these creations will be originating from Luscious Berry Desserts. When I bought the cookbook last year, I knew immediately that I would be featuring it as a Flavour of the Month as soon as berry season was once again upon us in Ontario.

For those of you that don’t know, Lori Longbotham is a chef and a writer with a number of excellent cookbooks to her credit. While I don’t own all of them, Luscious Lemon Desserts, Lemon Zest and Luscious Chocolate Desserts all grace The Overburdened Bookshelf. I love everything about Lori’s books from the creative recipes to the beautiful photography.

Luscious Berry Desserts is no exception.

So please join me this month as we glory in berries galore!

And to whet your apetites … how about a little Blueberry Lime Cake?!

Ciao!

[Note: will post the recipe in a few days!]

I love The Simpsons.

Love them!

I am one of those people who shares the belief that there are lines from Simpsons episodes that can be applied to virtually every event in life.

One of my very favourite Simpsons episodes happens to be “Lisa the Vegetarian” from the series’ seventh season. And for me, the best part of the episode is the little song and dance that Bart and Homer perform where they repeatedly sing, “You can’t win friends with salad!” to a very distraught Lisa.

Homer … Bart … you are so wrong!

When my “sister” Lis told me that she was planning an event, I didn’t even need to know what it was about. I already knew that I would be participating.

I mean that’s just what sisters do!

But when I found out that the theme was salad, I knew I’d be winning over a lot of friends! I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not eat salad. Without exception, salad appears on our table almost every day of the year.

We end every meal with salad. To be sure we’re not talking about overly involved salads. It’s usually lettuce drizzled with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar with a bit of salt sprinkled on. Occasionally we’ll splurge with a good quality balsamic. In the summer, our salad options expand exponentially. Cucumber and tomato salads will make an appearance. We may have salads with several different types of lettuce, mostly from our garden. But without fail, they are always saved for last.

I’ve heard many different ideas about why it is that Italians eat salad last. The most common one being that salad is a palate cleanser that prepares the way for what comes next, whether that be a cheese course or dessert. In our family what came next was almost always fruit, and my father explained to me a few times that the salad cleaned your mouth for the fruit.

Whatever the reason, I’ve always thought that ending a meal with salad is a nice, light way to put an exlamation mark on the act of eating. Having said that, I don’t put a lot of effort into salad. To me, the best salad is one with excellent lettuce, bathed in good olive oil and vinegar. That’s pretty much it.

But for my sister Lis and her partner in this event, Kelly of Sass and Veracity, I will most definitely go that extra mile. So I made not one, not two, but three extravant salads for their Salad Stravaganza!

We begin with a lovely salad of roast potatoes, green beans and cherry tomatoes. The recipe for this salad comes from an Bon Appétit magazine from earlier this year. The salad is lovely especially with a meal that includes some sort of roast meat or fish. The warm potatoes soak up the dressing and the beans and tomatoes add crunch and colour.

For the next two salads, I turned to Tracy Stern’s lovely Tea Party, which of course has been my Flavour of the Month for May and June. There’s a lovely salad in Stern’s book that consists of Bibb lettuce, green apple and avocado.

The salad is bathed in a Sesame-Green Tea Vinaigrette. While I chose the same elements for the make up of my salad, I used a dressing of my own creation, that I use often at home when I want a dressing that’s a bit more special than the good ol’ standby of olive oil and vinegar.

I love to make a dressing of champagne vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, shallot, sea salt, black pepper and the zest and juice of half a lemon. Here’s the recipe:

1 shallot, minced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
juice and zest of half a lemon
3 tbsp. Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Whisk together the shallot, mustard, zest and lemon juice and vinegar in a bowl. Let sit for five minutes.

Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Season to taste and use immediately.

For the final salad, I decided to try another recipe from Stern’s book after I came across a pasta salad with chickpeas and roasted red pepper. I added red onion and artichoke hearts to the salad and I’m happy to say that it was a winner!

Best of all I got to take the leftovers to work as a healthy lunch.

250 g. fusilli pasta
handful of basil, minced
a few sprigs of mint, minced
1/2 a red onion, finely chopped
2 red peppers, roasted, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed
1 cup artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Cook the fusilli according to the directions on the package. Once cooked, let the pasta cool for about 10 minutes before putting the salad together.

Add the basil, mint, red onion, red peppers, chickpeas, artichoke hearts and lemon zest. Mix well.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and the garlic. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking all the time. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the dressing on the pasta salad and mix well and serve.

The pasta salad will keep in the refrigerator for several days.

Ciao!

Technorati tags: salad, salad stravaganza

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the greatest benefit of blogging is the chance to meet so many wonderful people.

Shortly after I began blogging I had the good fortune to meet Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Sensual Gourmet. Intelligent, warm, witty, sexy, sweet, beautiful - these are all adjectives that could very easily apply to Jasmine.

But the one adjective that is most popular with me is generous.

A little over a month ago, I was moaning and complaining to Jasmine about how difficult it was to find certain ingredients in Toronto. As great a city as it is, in terms of baking products and equipment, Toronto can be a very small pond.

I was in search of organic lavender and was finding it very difficult to source in this great city of ours. I had no luck locating it and ended up extremely frustrated by the blank stares and silly questions I got in response to my queries for this product.

I happened to tell Jasmine about it and she immediately offered to send me as much lavender as I wanted from a local supplier (in her neck of the woods).

It’s taken me awhile, but Jasmine I’m finally thanking you in the most public way I can imagine.

To express my gratitude, I’ve made you this very special Lavender Cake from Tracy Stern’s Tea Party.

Thank you for being such a sweetheart!

Ciao!

Lavender Cake
Adapted from Tea Party by Tracy Stern.

Note: Stern adds lemon to this cake in her book but I’ve changed it to orange. This recipe yields two 8-inch loaves.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sliced almonds (blanched)
1-1/2 cups sugar
grated zest of 1 orange
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 large eggs
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. dried lavender buds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch loaf pans.

In a bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt). Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the almonds and 2 tbsp. of the sugar. Process until the almonds are ground. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter, remaining sugar and orange zest. Mix on medium high speed until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Add the orange juice and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk alternately. Begin and end with the dry ingredients in three additions. Be sure to add the dry ingredients on low speed. Mix well after each addition of dry ingredients and buttermilk.

After adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk, add the almond mixture and the lavender buds and mix until just combined.

Spread the batter in the prepared pans and be sure to even it off.

Bake the cakes for 50 minutes to an hour, or until they are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Then unmold the cakes and let them continue cooling on a wire rack.

Serve as is or dusted with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: lavender, lavender cake

When I was a very little girl, I had a fascination with the airport. My parents would take me to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and park on the top level so that I could watch the planes take off. Maybe it’s because our house is so close to the airport, but I always loved looking up into the sky and watching the planes fly by.

Now that I’m older, airports still have a strange pull. I love the idea of departing; going somewhere else. Somewhere new. And yet it’s always a bit sad and not just when you return from a vacation. There’s an inherenet loneliness to airports. So many people, so many faces that you’ll rush by in a second and never see again.

It’s bittersweet.

On Tuesday, I brought my mother to the airport for her flight to Italy and as soon as I set foot in the terminal, that feeling of wanting to be somewhere else washed over me.

As we stood in the slowly moving line, amongst so many people getting ready to visit Italy, I kept hearing snippets of conversations. People talked about how long they’d been in Canada and who they were going back to visit. People talked about what part of Italy they were from and where they were born. They talked about how long it had been since their last visit and how long they would stay.

And for most of them, I could tell that there was a sense of eagerness not just for travel, but to return to what is their spiritual home, if not their real home.

For my mother, it’s a return to my father. My mother’s family is all in Canada yet my father’s family is all in Italy. So she goes there to stay with her sisters-in-law and her brothers-in-law. She goes there to soak in the place where my father was born. She goes to our little itty bitty house there that has been slowly and painstakingly repaired.

When my mother had finally checked in, I walked her to the Gate and saw her off. Her last words to me were, “Take care of my little tomato plants.”

In the middle of an airport, it all comes back to what really counts … tomato plants and a trip to somewhere else.

Safe passage to travellers everywhere.

Ciao!

Rose Meringues
Adapted from Tea Party by Tracy Stern.

Note: I’ve never made pavlova before so I consider this to be the first step on my way to that most noble of desserts. Basically you’re looking at a 1/4 of sugar per egg white. It sounds like a lot but surprisingly the meringues do not end up overly sweet. If you don’t have rosewater, use another flavouring like vanilla extract. You can bake the meringues several days ahead and store them in an airtight container. It’s best to make the strawberry cream the same day that you serve these. Don’t assemble these until just before serving.

I made these because they reminded me of being in a plane looking at the clouds.

For the meringues:

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. rosewater (optional)

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and the rosewater together gradually adding the sugar until you have a very stiff mixture. The egg whites should hold stiff peaks when you pull the whisk out.

With a tablespoon, drop the mixture onto the baking sheets in large mounds (about 2 inches in size). Be careful not to crowd the mounds together. (You can also use a piping bag to do this).

Bake for an hour, or until the meringues have dried and are not sticky to the touch. They will be slightly golden on top and around the edges. Be careful not to burn them.

Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.

For the strawberry cream:

1 cup heavy cream
1 pint strawberries or other berries
1 tbsp. icing sugar
1 tsp. rosewater

In a blender, combine one third of the strawberries with the icing sugar and rosewater. Blend until smooth.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the whipping cream until very thick and stiff.

Fold the strawberry mixture into the whipped cream.

To assemble:

Once the meringues have cooled, spoon a generous dollop of the strawberry cream onto each meringue. Top with the remaining sliced strawberries and serve.

Technorati tags: meringues, rosewater, strawberries

I’d like to thank everyone for all the kind words and comments you’ve left about the redesign of my blog.

This was a big step for me and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous as to how the new design would be received. There are still a few little issues to be worked out. I want to customize my sidebar a bit further and add some content including the Daring Bakers logo and links, but all in all I’m thrilled!

Now that the redesign is out of the way, it’s time to get back to the serious business of blogging. As many of you know at the beginning of the month I announced that my Flavour of the Month for May 2007 would be the lovely Tea Party by Tracy Stern. A busy schedule and the blog move meant that I haven’t been able to share very much from this book. As a result, this will continue to be the Flavour of the Month for June 2007. There are just too many incredible recipes for me to share with you in the few days left in May.

I have a lot of other news including an account of a wonderful lunch that I had with my own baking heroine, Dorie Greenspan. But until then, I leave you with what is perhaps one of the most recognizeable elements of afternoon tea: tea sandwiches.

There’s something irresistible to me about those perfect, tiny little concoctions that go so well with a cup of tea. I’ve had many variations of tea sandwiches, some good and some not-so-good. Stern has at least a handful of intriguing versions of the perfect tea sandwich. For this post, I decided to focus on two because they both include elements that I love.

The first is the cucumber tea sandwich. I adore cucumbers. During the summer, when it’s just far too hot and humid to cook elaborate meals for dinner (not that we often cook elaborate meals for dinner mind you), the humble tomato and cucumber salad is present on the table almost every night. Especially delicious because the cucumbers are from our very own garden, there’s very little else that I can think of that’s as refreshing as a cucumber.

In Tea Party, Stern has a pretty version of these sandwiches that feature cucumber slices on top of buttered bread garnished with mint leaves. For my version, I decided to forego the mint leaves and make a flavoured butter instead. I bought some lovely chives, which I processed with softened butter in the food processor. I used a scalloped cookie cutter to cut slices of basic white sandwich bread into 2-1/2 inch circles. I spread the chive butter on the rounds of bread and then topped them with thinly sliced cucumber. For a pretty touch I garnished my little sandwiches with chopped chives.

While the greenish tinge to the chive butter might put some people off, I loved the way these little sandwiches looked and I loved the way they tasted even more. The bite of the chives was a nice foil to the freshness of the cucumber.

I chose to try a second tea sandwich from Stern’s book because they featured blue cheese, which I adore. I’m slightly ashamed to admit this but I have been known to polish off huge hunks of blue cheese all by lonesome. I love me my cheese!

Tea Party includes a recipe for Blue Cheese, Walnut, and Pear Tea Sandwiches. While I’m not a huge fan of the pear, I thought I’d give the combination a try. The sandwich begins with a sturdy whole-grain bread that’s spread with a mixture of softened cream cheese and crumbled blue cheese. A sprinkling of chopped walnuts is followed by thin slices of pear. I topped the pear with a second slice of bread, trimmed the ends and cut the sandwiches into rectangles. I garnished with a bit of cheese and a walnut.

These tea sandwiches were delicious! The sweetness of the pear was a perfect match for the tanginess of the blue cheese and the walnut added a nice buttery crunch.

I know I recommend a lot of cookbooks, but if you’re in the market for a cookbook about tea, I highly recommend Stern’s book. These tea sandwiches were delicious and they’re only the tip of the tea iceberg!

Ciao!

Chive Butter

Note: Flavoured butters are so easy to make and they’re a wonderful way to add a twist to a multitude of dishes and foods. I like to make up large batches of flavoured butter, roll the butter into logs and then freeze them. This way I have pretty little butter logs to pull out whenever I entertain. Simply slice the logs into rounds and allow them to soften slightly before serving. This chive butter is excellent in sandwiches. I especially love it spread on corn on the cob!

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup chives, roughly chopped

Place the butter and the chives in the bowl of a food processor.

Process until the mixture is smooth.

Use the chive butter immediately or refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it. If you’re going to spreading the butter, let it soften again before using.

The chive butter can be frozen for two weeks.

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: tea, tea sandwich, tea party

I would be lying if I didn’t say that the tea party holds a very special charm for me.

As with so many little girls, I loved "hosting" pretend tea parties and insisted that all my dolls and stuffed toys attend. Once I was grown, my very first experience hosting an event on my own was a tea party that I held in the backyard for a handful of dear friends. I became addicted to the defunct (but soon to be revived) Victoria magazine, which always featured the beauty of the art of taking tea. And one day, I will make it to London where I will have a proper tea at one (or more) of the city’s best establishments.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t until very recently that I actually began to learn a bit more about tea. As a child, my experience of tea was limited to Italian chamomile and Tetley tea bags. But a burgeoning love of the beverage has led me to slowly begin learning a bit more about it. Tea originates from the bush known as Camellia sinensis. Tea can be divided into four basic types including black tea, oolong tea, green tea and white tea. In recent years, green and white teas have increased in popularity due to the numerous health benefits associated with them. Used to drinking black tea, I’ve come to love green tea and more recently white tea. I’m also a big fan of herbal teas, which are usually herbal infusions.

While I wish I could tell you a lot more about tea, I’m only just learning myself, although the history of this beverage is more than fascinating. If you’re interested in reading about the history of tea I recommend Liquid Jade:  The Story of Tea from East to West by Beatrice Hohenegger or The Empire of Tea by Alan and Iris Macfarlane, both very interesting reads.

This month, though, I’m particularly interested in the taking of tea. That’s why, when given the opportunity to review Tracy Stern’s gorgeous book Tea Party, I just couldn’t resist. What I particularly love about this book is the presentation of the tea party in many different forms. Tea is not just for the afternoon. The book is divided into menus for twenty themed parties ranging from the traditional afternoon tea to a Moroccan Valentine’s Day dinner to a Russian tea. There’s even a menu for a gentleman’s tea! I just can’t wait to spend the month of May exploring this book and I’m especially excited because I think a tea party is the perfect way to celebrate Mother’s Day.

To begin my look at the book I started at the beginning with a tea party planned around a New Year’s Day brunch. Stern’s menu for the occasion includes bibb lettuce, avocado, and green apple salad; steamed white and green asparagus with herbed goat cheese sauce; mini spinach quiches and vanilla tea-infused sponge cake. It’s the sponge cake that got me.

The original recipe is a very basic sponge cake recipe consisting of eggs, sugar and flour. The cake is flavoured by the addition of brewed vanilla tea leaves. This cake sounded so intriguing! While I didn’t have any vanilla tea on hand, I did have a variety of loose chai teas. I adore chai teas, especially in winter when their spiciness seems perfect for the season.

I decided to use a tea called Chai Indienne from one of my very favourite tea purveyors. Distinctly Tea is a charming tea shop based in Stratford, Ontario, home of the famous Stratford Festival. The Chai Indienne is a black tea with warm and spicy notes, but not too spicy. I brewed some of the tea and then let the tea leaves cool. Once cooled, I began mixing my batter.

This particular sponge cake has a very interesting preparation method. The eggs are separated and the yolks are mixed with the sugar in a pot over very low heat. I’m guessing this technique helps to dissolve the sugar quickly in the warming yolks. As the original recipe indicates you have to be very careful not to let the yolks get too hot or they will cook.

After heating the yolks and sugar, I removed the mixture from the heat and added the chai tea leaves. I immediately felt the urge to add cinnamon, which I did, and I also added a few drops of vanilla extract for good measure. I left the mixture alone for about five minutes so that the yolks could cool completely and the tea could infuse.

While the yolk mixture rested, I whipped the egg whites to stiff peaks. I added the flour (self-rising flour) to the yolks and then carefully folded in the whites. I decided to bake little Bundt cakes rather than one larger cake. The batter had a lovely golden tinge thanks to the tea and the cinnamon and I just couldn’t wait to see the end result.

After about 35 minutes in the oven, I ended up with six beautiful little cakes. Once cooled, I cut into one of them and I could see the flecks of tea leaves dispersed throughout the cakes. Biting into one, I experienced the familiar comfort of a good old sponge cake combined with the unique flavour of chai.

If the rest of May is going to taste this good, it’s just going to be one big tea party!

Ciao!

Mini Chai Sponge Cakes

Adapted from Tea Party by Tracy Stern.

Note:  The original recipe calls for vanilla tea leaves but I found this worked very well with what I had on hand, which was chai tea. The flour called for in the recipe is self-rising flour. I used Brodie Self-Rising Cake & Pastry Flour. I baked the cakes in a bundt pan that yields six mini bundt cakes. But you can bake this in a standard 10-inch Bundt pan. If baking in a large pan, bake for 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. brewed chai tea leaves (if the leaves are larger, chop them into very fine pieces)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup self-rising flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a mini bundt pan.
2. Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a pan and the whites in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.
3. Over very low heat, combine the yolks and the sugar and whisk until the sugar is completely incorporated and has dissolved. Continue whisking for a minute or two until the egg yolks have become very pale in colour and increased in volume. Be very careful not to get the yolks too hot or they will cook.
4. Remove the yolk mixture from the heat and add the tea leaves, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mix and let sit while you whip the egg whites.
5. Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form (4 to 5 minutes).
6. Sift the flour into the egg yolk mixture and combine. The mixture may be stiff but don’t worry about it.
7. Add one-third of the egg whites to the yolk and flour mixture and stir until combined.
8. Add the remaining egg whites and fold them into the lightened batter.
9. Once done, spoon the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. If using a mini-Bundt pan, bake your cakes for 30 minutes and then check for doneness by inserting a cake tester into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cakes are done. If not, bake for an additional 5 minutes and test again.
10. Once the cakes are baked, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Unmold the bundt cakes and let cool completely.
11. Serve with tea and enjoy!

Technorati tags:  chai tea, sponge cake, tea party, tea

During the winter, I wrote a post about rice pudding and how I find it one of the most comforting dishes imaginable. A mere spoonful of rice pudding will cure whatever ails me and I suspect that it’s the same for so many other who enjoy this dish.

For this reason, as I looked through Jamie Oliver’s beautiful cookbook, Jamie’s Italy, I could not help but be drawn to the recipe for Torta di Riso. Imagine a rice pudding or risotto baked in a tart shell and you will begin to see what Torta di Riso is. I’ve seen recipes for rice cakes as dessert before, but I’d never seen a recipe for rice baked in a tart shell. And of course I knew right away that I’d have to try it.

What I did not know, nor could I have foreseen, was how quickly April would fly by! While I had initially resolved to try so many recipes for Jamie’s Italy, the fact is I’ve only been able to try a handful. But no matter. That handful has more than convinced me of the beauty and worthiness of this cookbook.

Never mind the gorgeous photos, the book is filled with recipes that sing of Italy and all that is great about Italian food. While many of the recipes were not possible for me to try as at this time of year we simply don’t have access to the fresh fruits and vegetables the recipes called for, I already have a list as long as my arm of dishes that I look forward to trying in the summer when we are overwhelmed by fresh produce from our gardens.

I remember watching Jamie Oliver’s first programs on The Food Network. It’s interesting to see how this chef has grown and matured. Jamie’s Italy is a very clear sign of that growth. While many would look at the recipes and call them simple or plain, I believe that he has succeeded in capturing the essence of some of the best dishes representing the various regions he visited.

Italian food is so varied that it’s impossible to encapsulate regional cooking in one book. But with Jamie’s Italy, Oliver features some of the most beautiful and worthy dishes out there. And of course the photos are tremendous. It’s not just the food that stars in the photography, but it’s also the people.

I wanted to end April, and my focus on Jamie’s Italy as the Flavour of the Month, on a very high note and I’m happy to say that the Torta di Riso accomplishes that. Like so many of Jamie’s recipes this one is open to improvisation. Essentially you’re making a sweet risotto that you partially cook and then pour into a par-baked tart shell. After baking until firm, you end up with a very unique Italian treat - a firm rice filling in a buttery crust.

I followed this recipe to the letter and did not make any variations so I won’t post the recipe. However, I invite you to pick up a copy of Jamie’s Italy and see firsthand that no matter where you are, Italy is close at hand.

Ciao!

Technorati tags:torta di riso, jamie oliver

Jamie Oliver is driving me batty! In a totally good way.

As much fun as I’ve been having reading Jamie’s Italy, I’m frustrated by the fact that there are so many recipes I won’t be able to try until the bounty of summer fruits and vegetables begins to find its way into our kitchen.

My mouth is positively watering over dishes like eggplant parmigiana that has me longing for the beautiful purple eggplant from our garden. Unfortunately those won’t be here until August and September so I’ll just  have to bide my time.

But I’m such an impatient Cream Puff! Sigh.

To comfort myself, I decided instead to give myself a little present courtesy of Mr. Oliver. Who doesn’t like unwrapping a gift? The drama, the expectation, the excitement as you slowly reveal what’s hidden inside. As soon as I saw Jamie’s recipe for wild mushrooms roasted in a parchment paper sac, I knew I’d have to give it a try. Especially since I’m always looking for new side dishes to serve with meals.

I love mushrooms and was intrigued by the idea of roasting them in a paper packet. Usually we eat our mushrooms sauteed or grilled. Jamie’s recipe calls for wild mushrooms which are combined with a variety of herbs and prosciutto in a parchment sac. A splash of wine is the final touch before the mushrooms go into the oven.

I used a variety of cremini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms for my attempt at the recipe. I brushed off any dirt and kept the mushrooms whole, except for any that were particularly large, which I cut in half. I combined the mushrooms in a bowl and drizzled on lots of extra virgin olive oil. I added sea salt, black pepper and fresh rosemary. While my paper packet wasn’t nearly as neat-looking as Jamie’s, it certainly did the trick. Just before popping it in the oven, I added a splash of cognac to the mushrooms because I’ve always believed (don’t know why) that mushrooms and cognac go very well together.

After about fifteen minutes in the oven, my parchment packet had puffed up a bit (the hot air is trapped in the sac) and I eagerly opened it up to find a gorgeous melange of mushrooms that were cooked perfectly. The aroma of rosemary and the faint hint of cognac made the dish taste as wonderfully as it looked.

I do believe I’ve found something to keep my mind of eggplant parmigiana … for now.

Ciao!

Roasted Mushrooms with Cognac

Adapted from Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver.

Note:  Parchment paper is available in baking shops and also in the baking section of most grocery stores. In addition (or instead of), you can also use thyme and sage to flavour the mushrooms. 

This recipe will serve 4.

• 1 pound of mixed mushrooms (cremini, oyster, shiitake), cleaned with larger mushrooms cut in half
• 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp. rosemary, chopped
• 2 tbsp. cognac
• chopped parsley for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine your mushrooms in a bowl and add the olive oil, making sure that the mushrooms are evenly coated.
3. Add the salt, pepper and rosemary and mix well.
4. Take one sheet of parchment paper (it should be roughly 18 x 22 inches in size) and place it on a counter.
5. Pile the mushroom mixture in the centre of the parchment, flattening the mushrooms slightly so that they’re not mounded too high in the centre. Drizzle on the cognac.
6. Cover the mushrooms with another sheet of parchment of equal size.
7. Fold all the ends of the parchment up and in so that a tight seal forms on all sides.
8. Slide the parchment package onto a baking sheet and then place in the oven.
9. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove. Open the package (carefully as a lot of steam will be released).
10. Taste the mushrooms and adjust seasoning.
11. Place the mushrooms in a bowl and sprinkle on the parsley before serving.
12. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  mushrooms, jamie oliver, jamie’s italy

I’ve heard rumours that the Easter Bunny has been seen hopping around our neighbourhood.

Perhaps.

What I do know, is that it’s Good Friday and that means fish and seafood in our household. I’m often asked why it is that we eat fish on Good Friday and to be honest, I don’t know the precise answer although I suspect it has much to do with this being the day that, in the religious context, Jesus was crucified. For as long as I can remember, Fridays were reserved for fish. It was a nice way to end the week, especially in preparation for the very large (and meat-filled) lunch we’d usually have on Sundays.

While we do enjoy our fish on Good Friday, it’s not quite the same as the celebration on Christmas Eve. Good Friday has a more sombre tone to it and the food we eat tends to be simple. Usually, my mother will make a pasta sauce with skate and a few mussels and clams thrown in at the end. But for this Good Friday, I wanted to try something new.

Flipping through Jamie’s Italy, I came across a recipe for spaghetti with shrimp and arugula. The picture made me stop. I love shrimp and pasta and the sight of the two of them with colourful bits of arugula had my mouth watering.

Preparation for the pasta was quite easy. Instead of using dried chili flakes, I decided to use fresh red chile peppers. The recipe calls for sundried tomato puree, which I didn’t have. So I improvised and made my own by soaking a handful of sundried tomatoes in boiling water for about twenty minutes. I drained them and put the softened tomatoes in the bowl of the food processor. I added a few cloves of garlic and processed them until everything was finely chopped. Then, with the processor running, I poured in about a quarter cup of olive oil through the food tube. I ended up with a dark red puree that had a very concentrated tomato taste.

While the spaghetti boiled, I sauteed garlic and the red chile peppers in olive oil. I added the shrimp and then some white wine and the sundried tomato puree. Once the spaghetti was cooked, I added the pasta to the pan with the sauce and shrimp. I added lemon juice and arugula and then mixed until all the spaghetti was coated in the fragrant sauce. Before serving, I sprinkled the spaghetti with a bit of lemon zest for colour and flavour.

What a delicious plate of pasta! On this sombre Good Friday, we had a bit of sunshine inside.

Ciao!

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Arugula

Adapted from Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver.

Note:  I used spaghetti as in the original recipe, but you could try this with any long pasta. While the original recipe indicates that it will serve 4, you could probably stretch it to serve 6.

• 1 lb. spaghetti (I used fresh spaghetti)
• 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red chile pepper, finely chopped
• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 tbsp. sundried tomato puree
• juice and zest of one lemon
• 1 cup arugula leaves, roughly chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook your spaghetti in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Cook according to package directions. While your spaghetti is cooking, prepare the sauce.
2. In a large pan, heat the olive oil and then add the garlic and chile pepper. Saute for about 20 seconds, don’t let the garlic burn.
3. Add the shrimp and cook for about a minute, until the shrimp have turned a pinkish/orange colour on both sides.
4. Add the white wine and the sundried tomato puree. Cook for a few minutes over high heat, until the sauce has reduced a bit.
5. Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain the pasta and then add it to the pan. Add the lemon juice and the arugula and begin mixing the pasta until it is completely coated in sauce and the arugula has begun to wilt.
6. Plate the pasta and sprinkle a bit of lemon zest on top before serving.
7. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  pasta , spaghetti, shrimp, arugula, jamie oliver

Hello, April!

I see you’ve brought a new Flavour of the Month with you:  Jamie’s Italy. I received a copy of this book to review and as soon as I picked up, I knew I’d like it. Who wouldn’t want to be sitting in Italy with a plate of pasta and a glass of wine?

I never get tired of cookbooks on Italian cuisine. I’m not sure if it’s the promise of Italy that they hold or the fact that the food just looks so good. Either way, I look forward to travelling through Italy with Mr. Jaime Oliver this month.

And while I expect you will bring some flowers, April, that’s fine. I’ve got my pasta e ceci to comfort me!

Ciao!

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta with Chickpeas)

Adapted from Jamie’s Italy by Jamie Oliver.

Note:  Pasta e ceci is one of those recipes that can be adapted to suit any tastes. You can make it as thick our as soupy as you like. Feel free to add whatever herbs you like. If you’ve got fresh rosemary or basil on hand, they are an excellent addition to the soup. This soup will serve 4.

• 2 to 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. hot pepper flakes
• 1 sprig rosemary or 1 tbsp. dried rosemary
• 1-1/2 cups chickpeans (use canned chickpeas that have been drained and rinsed)
• 2-1/2 cups chicken stock or water
• 1 cup dried pasta (I like to use tubetti which is a tiny tubular pasta)
• 3 tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmigiano Reggiano to taste

1. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil with the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, hot pepper flakes and rosemary. Cook over very low heat until the vegetables are soft and translucent (about 10 to 15 minutes). Be careful not to burn the vegetables.
2. Once the vegetables are soft, add the chickpeas and the chicken stock or water. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring often.
3. Remove half the chickpeas and place in a bowl. Set aside.
4. With an immersion blender or in a blender or food processor, process the liquid and chickpeas in the stockpot until you have a smooth and creamy mixture.
5. Return the remaining chickpeas to the pot and add the pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Let cook until the pasta is ready (about 10 minutes). If the soup gets too thick, add some water.
7. Once the pasta is done, stir in the parsley and taste again for salt and pepper. Adjust the seasoning accordingly.
8. Serve the pasta e ceci with lots of grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
9. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  pasta, chickpeas, pasta e ceci, jamie oliver, jamie’s italy

Goodbye March!

You were a busy month. You whizzed right by me with almost no opportunity for me to bake. But it’s time for you to go now. April is knocking at the door and I see she’s bringing flour and eggs and baking pans.

But before you go, March, I wanted to thank you for bringing Beth Hensperger’s Bread for Breakfast with you. What an incredible book! Small, but worth every penny. Every recipe I tried was a pleasure and it’s so obvious that Ms. Hensperger is a lover of bread an an excellent teacher.

I had to try one more recipe, before I could let you take this book from me. Because dried apricots have always reminded me of little gems, I decided to try the Apricot, White Chocolate and Walnut Scones. Sure enough, out of the oven, the tiny pieces of apricot glimmered like jewels, surrounded by melty rings of white chocolate.

How I enjoyed these scones! Diets be damned, I piled them all high with butter and jam and made sure to lick my fingers when I was done.

So long, March. See you next year!

Ciao!

Technorati tags:  scones, dried apricots, beth hensperger, bread for breakfast

Beth Hensperger’s Bread for Breakfast has been the gift that keeps on giving in the Cream Puff household this month. I can’t believe this lovely cookbook sat on my shelf for years without being touched! What the heck was I waiting for?

Besides the Orange Bread that I made earlier in the month, I’ve made a number of other recipes including some incredible Glazed Orange Rolls and an unbelievable Oatmeal Cinnamon Swirl Bread. Each of these recipes has been easy to follow and with my recent experience with bread baking both in class and at home, I feel more and more confident trying bread recipes. Not that you need a lot of experience to try Hensperger’s recipes as they are simple and straightforward and use a lot of really wholesome ingredients, which is nice when you’re making baked goods for breakfast.

Yes. Even the Cream Puff likes to think of nutrition every once and a while.

The Oatmeal Cinnamon Swirl Bread involved making a very basic bread dough that had oatmeal in it. After an initial rise, the bread goes into the refrigerator to continue rising slowly overnight. In the morning, the dough is divided and rolled into two rectangles. A lovely filling of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon is spread over the dough and then both rectangles are rolled up to create the swirl pattern in the middle.

The bread baked up so beautifully in the oven! It was hard to resist the urge to just tear the hot bread apart and devour it. But I managed to do that long enough so that my family would have a chance to try the bread. It was incredible!

I didn’t change the recipe at all so I won’t post that one, but if you’re interested you really should take a look at the book as I can’t imagine a better book on simple breads for the home baker.

Spurred on by my success and with a massive craving for macadamia nuts, I decided to try a recipe for Giant Macadamia Rolls.

They were so good tried them several times and had the opportunity to tweak the recipe a bit. Like most of the other breads in the book the recipe involves putting together a basic dough recipe and giving it time to rise. The star of the show here is the macadamia filling. The original recipe calls for a brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, macadamia nut and raisin filling.

I added a bit of nutmeg for more depth in the flavour of the filling. The other change I made is to the glaze, which I found needed a bit more orange flavour so I added lots of orange zest.

Whether you’re experienced with bread or not, I really do hope you try this one.

Ciao!

Macadamia Nut Rolls with Orange Glaze

Adapted from Bread for Breakfast by Beth Hensperger.

Note:  You can easily enjoy these for breakfast all that’s required is that you get up earlier than usual but it’s worth it. If you prefer, you can use lemon juice and lemon zest in the glaze. Also, try these with walnuts! These rolls are best served warm, but you can also serve them at room temperature. Wrap any uneaten rolls in plastic wrap and refrigerate. You can reheat them before eating.

For the rolls:

• 2 tbsp. active dry yeast
• pinch of sugar
• 1 cup warm water (warm to the touch)
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk (also warm to the touch)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 6-1/2 to 7 cups all purpose flour (preferably unbleached)
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Combine the yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and stir. Let sit for about 10 minutes until foamy.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, brown sugar, eggs, salt and 3 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed until combined (about 2 minutes).
3. Add the yeast mixture and the butter to the batter and mix on low speed for another 2 minutes.
4. With the mixer on low speed, begin adding the rest of the flour, a half cup at a time. You want to add enough flour so that a ball of dough that does not stick to the sides of the bowl forms. As soon as this happens, your dough is ready. I found that 6 to 6-1/2 cups of flour is usually enough.
5. Remove the dough from the mixer and place it on a floured work surface.
6. Knead the dough by hind until you can form a ball that is relatively smooth. If the dough is sticky, continue kneading and adding any remaining flour a little bit at a time (but do not add more than the 7 cups).
7. Once the dough is ready, place it in a greased bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place to rise for about an hour and a half (or until the dough has roughly doubled in size).

For the filling:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts and raisins (if using) in a bowl.
2. Turn the risen dough out onto a work surface and roll into a rectangle that is roughly 14 by 20 inches.
3. Brush the dough with the melted butter.
4. Sprinkle the sugar and nut mixture over the dough, being sure to leave a one-inch border all the way around.
5. Starting at one long end, roll the dough up jelly roll style. Using a sharp knife, slice the roll into 16 or 18 equal rounds, depending on how thick you want your rolls.
6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and divide the rounds between the baking sheets. Make sure the rolls aren’t too close together.
7. Cover the trays loosely with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for an additional 45 minutes.
8. About 20 minutes before the rolls are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
9. Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through baking. When the rolls are done, they will be golden on the bottom and on the top. If you cut one open, it should be completely baked through.
10. Remove from the oven and prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:

• 5 tbsp. butter, softened
• 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1/4 cup orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
• 2 tsp. orange zest, finely grated

1. In the bowl of the electric mixer, combine all the ingredients and mix until you have a smooth glaze that isn’t too thick or too runny. If it’s too thick, thin with a bit of milk or orange juice. If too thin, then thicken with a bit more icing sugar.
2. Once the rolls are out of the oven, let them cool for about 10 minutes then spread some glaze over each roll.
3. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  bread, macadamia nuts

I blame Mary.

I was doing alright. I was dealing with the fact that work has kept me out of the kitchen and away from my beloved baking. I was coping.

And then I saw Mary’s Almond Apple Bars and broke down. And it wasn’t graceful either. It was a temper tantrum worthy of any five-year-old anywhere.

"I want my baking!!!"

You see nothing gets to me more than baked goods with apples in them. For me, they are the epitome of comfort. To this day, my mother’s warm freshly baked apple pie is my very favourite baked thing in the world. So to see Mary’s delicious Almond Apple Bars was more than I could take.

I didn’t get home from work until past 11:00. I was exhausted, delirious, bleary-eyed and battling a headache that I’d had all-day long. And yet into the kitchen I went with my copy of Bread for Breakfast, my Flavour of the Month, which I flipped open to the recipe for Oatmeal Applesauce Bread.

What could possibly make you feel better than oatmeal and applesauce married in a beautiful, golden loaf? It took me about ten minutes to put this bread together. I threw in some orange for good measure.

And in the early hours of the morning, as I watched butter melt on a warm slice of this beautiful bread, I felt a little bit better.

Ciao!

Orange Oatmeal Applesauce Bread

Adapted from Bread for Breakfast by Beth Hensperger.

Note:  Bake this loaf in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. I use homemade applesauce when I make this bread but store-bought is fine. Just make sure that it’s unsweetened or your bread will be too sweet. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of chopped dried apples to be added but you don’t need them. I’ve been wanting to try the bread with dried apricots but haven’t had the chance. This bread has a lovely crumb filling and topping that is worth the extra effort.

• 1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tbsp. orange zest
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1-1/4 cups applesauce (unsweetened)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup pecans
• 4 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. orange zest

1. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients (applesauce, oil, eggs and buttermilk).
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Don’t over mix. Let the batter sit while you make the crumb filling and topping.
6. By hand or in a food processor, chop the pecans until they are very fine. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and orange zest and mix well.
7. Spread half the batter in your prepared pan. Sprinkle half the crumb topping over the batter. Spread the remaining batter over the crumb topping and finish the cake by sprinkling the rest of the crumb topping over the batter.
8. Bake the bread for 55 minutes and check for doneness by inserting a cake tester or toothpick in the centre of the bread. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. If not, bake for an additional 5 minutes and test again. In my oven this cake took 55 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  oatmeal, applesauce, bread

I’ve often heard people say that their least favourite months of the year are November and February. Myself, I’ve always had a challenge with March. Granted there are some highlights like my mother’s birthday and the gentle promise of spring, but overall, for me it’s always a bit of a tricky month to get through.

When it came time to choose the Flavour of the Month, I knew that it would have to be somthing comforting. Almost immediately my eyes fell on Beth Hensperger’s Bread for Breakfast. This charming book has sat on my bookshelf for quite some time, unused and neglected. I took the book down and within a few moment, I knew that I’d found the cookbook that I wanted to focus on in March.

Beth Hensperger is an accomplished writer and cookbook author. She’s probably best known for her cookbook The Bread Bible, which won a James Beard Award. I own several of Hensperger’s cookbooks and have always enjoyed them. While I haven’t tried a lot of recipes, the ones that I have tried have always been successful.

I chose this particular cookbook because it’s full of the sort of recipes I imagine myself enjoying on lazy mornings when I have lots of time to sit and enjoy my coffee. Since March is typically a month where I almost never have the time to do this, I figured I might as well live vicariously through Hensperger’s book.

Unbelievably, it’s already March 12th so I suppose it’s time to get down to business. I’ve mentioned before how I often have trouble eating all the bananas I buy and I found myself in a similar position with some oranges. I’d bought some last week with the intention of enjoying one every day but suddenly found myself with a basket full of uneaten oranges. Flipping through Bread for Breakfast, I found myself drawn to a recipe for Orange Bread. Not only would I be able to use some of the beautiful oranges I bought, but I’d get to knead bread dough, always a blissful experience.

This particular bread is an excellent one, especially for someone who is just starting out baking bread. While the dough can easily be made in a mixer, it can just as easily be made by hand. The ingredients are few (yeast, flour, milk, orange juice and zest, melted butter and egg) and the time it takes to make the bread is relatively short. After letting the yeast bloom for about ten minutes, another ten or fifteen minutes of mixing results in a lovely dough. An initial rise of one and a half hours is followed by the shaping of the dough. The recipe doesn’t require bread pans, you can simply shape the dough into two round loaves. Another forty five minutes of rising time is followed by about forty minutes in the oven.

The end result is two wonderfully fragrant and golden loaves. We especially loved the bread toasted with butter and jam. Because I only tried this recipe once, I won’t post the recipe since I didn’t adapt it in any way, but I’m already looking forward to trying many of the other recipes in Bread for Breakfast.

Work has kept me out of the kitchen for too long. This beautiful Orange Bread was the perfect welcome back!

Ciao!

Technorati tags:  bread, orange

The Flavour of the Month for February 2006

A new month means a new flavour to enjoy. I said farewell to Patricia Wells’ Trattoria and hello to Matt Kramer’s A Passion for Piedmont. I can hardly believe that it’s already been a year since the Olympics in Torino. I had such fun learning about the cuisine of Piedmont (Piemonte), in preparation for the Olympics. During my studies, I came across Matt Kramer’s incredible cookbook. How I wished that I could have discovered it sooner! I’ve decided to mark the one-year anniversary of the Olympics by returning to Piedmont, so to speak, and taking a closer look at Kramer’s cookbook. I hope you’ll join me on this little voyage!

Some Recipes

I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy some more recipes from my fellow bloggers so I just thought I’d share them with you. Give them a try, you’ll love them!

• Ilva’s Sweet Focaccia:  Try it warm from the oven smeared with Nutella!
• Béa’s Gougères: So good!
• Anita’s Cupcakes of Love:  Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
• Nicole’s Farfalle with Pistachio Cream Sauce:  I could eat this pasta forever!
• Maura’s Winemaker’s Grape Cake:  I love you, Maura! One day I’m going to secretly publish a cookbook with all your recipes … oh … wait … did I just say that out loud???

Some News

Here’s all the news that’s fit to print:

• The third annual Menu for Hope was a resounding success! We raised $60,952.12, an incredible accomplishment! I’d like to thank everyone that extended their generosity during the holiday season. I’m happy to say that my fellow Canadian blogger, Sara of I Like to Cook, was the winner of the prize that I donated. Congratulations, Sara!
• In honour of the season, Gabrielle Lichterman, Editor-in-Chief of Four Weeks Magazine, asked me to join a few other bloggers in providing a special recipe for Valentine’s Day. I came up with a luscious Double Chocolate Tiramisu’ for Two. Check it out!
• Last March, I featured a cookbook by Paulette Mitchell as my Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month. The book is called A Beautiful Bowl of Soup and it was a delightful read. As a bonus, I discovered a number of incredible soups that have become a part of my family’s regular repertoire. I was absolutely thrilled when I received an e-mail from Paulette, on Christmas Day no less, introducing herself. Paulette is an incredibly warm person who is doing exactly what she should be doing:  writing cookbooks. She’s amazing! If you have the chance to look at any of her cookbooks, I highly recommend that you do so. But even better, how about if you had the chance to meet Paulette?! As it turns out, she also travels to Italy and gives guided tours as part of the programs at the wonderful La Divina Cucina cooking school. Paulette will be in Florence, Italy for two weeks in May 2007, where she will be joining Judy Witts Francini. There are still some spaces available for this wonderful opportunity so if any one out there is looking for the chance of a lifetime, this is it! You can read all the details here. I’d like to thank Paulette so much for providing me with this information and for saying hello in the first place!
• A wonderfully charming reader, DM, sent me an e-mail about a program to catalogue all of your cookbooks! It’s called Delicious Library. Check it out. Thanks, DM!
• For all the Nutella lovers out there, don’t forget World Nutella Day. It’s Wednesday February 6th and is being hosted by Sara of Ms. Adventures in Italy and Shelly of At Home in Rome.
• My sweetie Meeta of What’s For Lunch Honey? is hosting Monthly Mingle #7. The theme is Sweet Love and the deadline is February 8th.

I hope your February is full of lots of chocolate and lots of love!

Ciao!

The nominees for the 2006 Food Blog Awards have been released and to my great surprise, I have been nominated for the Best Food Blog - Writing category!

When I started this blog in December 2005, I did it so that I could have a place to share my passion for baking and cooking. And I also did it so that I could use some of those cookbooks that keep appearing on The Overburdened Bookshelf.

I have no idea how they get there.

Really.

As I celebrated a year of blogging, I was thinking about how lucky I’ve been to first and foremost have met so many wonderful people, a few of whom I’ve been able to meet in person. Add to that the fact that I’ve tried so many new recipes and learned so much … well … I thought I couldn’t possibly be more fortunate.

But to be nominated, and then to make the top five in a category with such talented and worthy writers, well it’s just too much! From the bottom of my heart I thank you!

And I also urge you to go and vote. The polls are open until January 9th. There are so many talented nominees and the choice will be difficult. But please do cast your ballot for your favourites!

I’m so happy after this good news that I can share this beautiful cake with all of you. This is an orange and lemon cake from Patricia Wells’ book, Trattoria. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Patricia Wells, she’s a prolific writer who has been a food critic and restaurant reviewer. She is a highly decorated cookbook author who counts a Julia Child/IACP Award and a James Beard Foundation Award among her accomplishments. Besides Trattoria, she has written numerous cookbooks including several all the food of Provence. As if that’s not brilliant enough, Patricia teaches cooking classes in Paris! My dream is to be able to attend on of those classes one day.

One day!

Patricia’s books have an ease to them that is inviting and appealing to a home cook like myself. It’s easy to feel yourself in an Italian trattoria or in a Provencal kitchen while flipping through one of her books. Her recipes are clear and authentic, and I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed.

I received Trattoria as a Christmas gift in 2005, and I realized recently that I had yet to really take an in depth look at the book. While on my trip in December, as the time to leave neared, I found myself beginning to yearn for the simple yet robust food of home. I enjoyed all that I ate while in Europe (believe me I did), but I was ready to come back to some good solid pasta! Without much hesitation, I chose Trattoria to be the Flavour of the Month for January 2007 as it contained so many of the soul-nourishing recipes I seem to be  yearning for these days. Now while I would normally begin my exploration of a Flavour of the Month at the beginning of the book, I found myself drawn to the section on Desserts.

Me? Drawn to desserts? Shocking, isn’t it?!

One particular sweet kept tempting me and it took the form of Patricia’s Fragrant Orange and Lemon Cake (Torta di Arancio e Limone). There are no photographs in Trattoria, yet the description of this cake, so full of zest and citrus juice, had me envisioning what the final product would look like even before I tried it. I could already smell the heady aroma of this cake coming out of the oven. And something about the combination of orange and lemon, at this time of year, just felt so right. Besides the fact that it hasn’t been the coldest of winters (yet), it feels so virtuous to be eating a cake full of vitamin-packed citrus. Why it practically cancels out all the butter!

I said practically.

Beyond the health benefits of this cake (minimal though they may be), I love filling the kitchen with oranges and lemons, especially around the holidays. They lend such a festive air to the table so baking this cake made me feel like the best part of the holidays … the part where you bake and rest and enjoy time with your friends and family … could continue even though the holidays themselves are over.

I wish you all a wonderful January and I hope that if you have the chance, you will try this lovely cake and that it will warm your kitchens wherever you are.

Ciao!

Orange and Lemon Cake

Adapted from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. grated lemon zest
• 2 tbsp. grated orange zest
• juice of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 orange
• a few drops of orange oil (optional)
• 3/4 cup milk (preferably whole)
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup vanilla sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar (if you don’t have vanilla sugar, just use 1-1/2 cups regular granulated sugar)
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and butter and flour a 9- or 10-inch cake pan or springform pan. If you use a 9-inch pan, make sure it has sides that are at least 3 inches high or your cake batter may overflow.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Once sifted, add the orange and lemon zests and mix well. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, using the paddle attachment on medium speed, combine the butter and sugar and mix for 2 to 3 minutes until the butter is light in colour and appears fluffy.
4. Combine the lemon juice, orange juice and milk and stir.
5. Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture, one at a time, on medium speed, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
6. Begin adding the dry ingredients, in three additions, and then alternating with the milk/juice mixture. You should begin with the dry ingredients and end with the dry ingredients.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes to an hour. Check the cake after 50 minutes by inserting a toothpick or cake tester into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, continue baking the cake. In my oven the cake took an hour so the baking time may vary based on your oven.
8. Once done, remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, unmold the cake and dust with icing sugar before serving.
9. Enjoy!

Note:  The original recipe calls for 1-1/2 cups of vanilla sugar, but that would have completely exhausted my supply so I cut that down to a 3/4 cup of vanilla sugar and then used a 3/4 cup of regular granulated sugar. You can use 1-1/2 cups of regular granulated sugar and add vanilla extract for the vanilla flavour. If you want to make your own vanilla sugar, simply take a few pods of vanilla and place them in a container. Cover the pods with sugar and leave them for a week or two so that the sugar absorbs the aroma of the vanilla. Each time you use some sugar, be sure to replenish the supply in the jar. And any time you use a vanilla pod, don’t throw it away. Dry it off and then add it to your jar of sugar.

I also used orange oil in this recipe because I love the intense orange flavour that it imparts. You do not have to use orange oil. The zest and juice is fine.

Technorati tags:  food blog awards, patricia wells, oranges, lemons, cake

Now that I’ve had a few days to recover from the jet lag, I’m ready to turn my attention to the impending Christmas festivities. Berlin, Prague and Vienna are still floating around in my mind, but I’m also beginning to anticipate the eating fest that will begin very shortly.

When I first posted about my trip, one of the concerns I had was how I would react to missing out on much of the preparations for Christmas, especially the baking. In my absence, the decorations went up and my mother, the little baking tank that she is, singlehandedly prepared almost all of the traditional sweets that we enjoy at this time of year.

To my surprise, I didn’t mind missing out on this experience at all. I’m not saying I would do it every year, but somehow not being around for much of the pre-Christmas stress has made me focus that much more on what the holiday really means. It doesn’t really matter if I don’t bake 30 different kinds of cookies. The point is that I’ll be with my family and we’ll be enjoying some good food and drink, and hopefully many laughs.

And that’s good enough for me.

With so little time left before Christmas, I decided that I would choose one cookie to bake. Only one. It didn’t take very long for me to choose which one either:  White Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies with Lemon. Originally from Tish Boyle’s The Good Cookie, these little gems have entered into the family repertoire of Christmas cookies. They are easy and delicious and look divine on a cookie tray. Plus you get to squish your thumb into them before baking them, which brings me to my next point.

I have a serious thing for thumbprint cookies. I don’t know what it is, but something about pushing my thumb into dough and then filling the indentation just makes me tingle! One of my favourite Ina Garten recipes is for Jam Thumbprint Cookies and I can’t get enough of those either. These particular thumbprint cookies are filled with luscious white chocolate. I’ve adapted them to include lots of lemon zest and occasionally, even some coconut extract. How could you possibly resist?

So stick out those thumbs, massage them, exercise them, get them ready. For the mighty thumb is the key to one of the best Christmas cookies you’ll ever try!

Ciao!

White Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies with Lemon

Adapted from The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle.

• 1-1/2 cup unsalted pistachios, shelled
• 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. coconut extract (optional)
• 1 tbsp. lemon zest, finely grated or chopped
• 8 or 9 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Process the pistachios in a food processor until very finely ground, but not oily or pasty. This should take about 30 seconds or so.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Add 1/4 cup of the ground pistachios and mix on medium speed for another 2 minutes.
5. Add the egg yolks, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
6. Add the vanilla extract, coconut extract (if using) and the lemon zest. Beat for another minute until combined.
7. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and salt and mix until just incorporated.
8. In a large, shallow bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.
9. Take a piece of dough, roughly 1 inch in size and roll into a ball. Dip the ball in the egg whites and then roll the ball of dough in the remaining ground pistachios. Place on a cookie sheet (about an inch apart) and with your thumb, make an indentation in the dough (being careful not to go all the way to the bottom of the dough).
10. Repeat with the remaining dough. You should get anywhere from 60 to 70 cookies depending on the size of the balls of dough.
11. Bake the cookies in the centre of the oven (one sheet at a time) for 11 to 13 minutes. They’re done when the cookies have spread a bit, the nuts are lightly golden and the bottoms are also golden. Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.
12. Once the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. As soon as the chocolate has melted, stir it and add the vegetable oil and stir again until smooth.
13. With a teaspoon, fill each cookie with some chocolate. If you have any chocolate left, drizzle it over the cookies. Let the chocolate set for at least an hour.
14. These cookies should be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.
15. Enjoy!

Technorati tags: thumbprint cookies, pistachios, white chocolate, Christmas

December has arrived with a vengeance here in Toronto. The relatively warm weather we’d been experiencing is gone and in its place we have the beginnings of winter. I don’t mind. I love the snow and the cold and how it makes us all want to run into the kitchen and bake.

December 1st, for me, usually signals the beginning of weeks of preparation for Christmas. I will wholeheartedly admit that I am a Christmas person. I love it all. The carols, the baking, too much family, the food, the shopping … I welcome it with open arms.

This year, however, things will be different. My impending trip means that I will miss much of the preparations for Christmas. I won’t be putting up the tree. I won’t be hanging the lights. And while I will be doing some baking, it won’t be nearly as much as I usually do.

And strangely enough, I’m okay with that.

Up until recently, the idea of relinquishing some of the control I like to exercise over these sorts of events would have seemed unimaginable to me. But lately I’ve been feeling that controlling the events isn’t nearly as much fun as experiencing them. So I’m letting go. And it feels really good.

And since I’m letting go, I’m going to share a very special cookie with you, in the hopes that since I won’t have chance to bake this cookie that often this month, you will. And it’s all part of my entry for the Festive Food Fair hosted by Anna of Morsels and Musings.

The original recipe comes from the 1995 issue of the Canadian Living Holiday Baking Magazine. Canadian Living is a food and lifestyle magazine that is uniquely Canadian. While I can’t say I read the publication on a regular basis, I do look forward to the holiday issue. In the 1995 issue, I came across a recipe for Apricot Crescents, or as they are often referred to, Rugalahs or Rugelach. The dough for these pastries is made with cream cheese, butter, sugar and flour. The pastries are typically filled with jam, nuts and sometimes raisins. I like to use apricot jam and a mixture of finely ground walnuts, cinnamon and sugar. Once baked, these pastries are incredibly flaky and the filling of jam and nuts is delicious.

This is one of my most treasured recipes. I hope it brings you much goodness this holiday season.

Ciao!

Apricot Walnut Crescents

Adapted from the 1995 issue of Canadian Living Holiday Baking.

• 1 pckg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2-1/2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• coarse sugar (for garnish)

1. In an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese and butter, on medium speed, until smooth.
2. Add the sugar and flour and mix until a dough forms.
3. Scoop the dough onto a floured surface and work briefly with your hands until it forms a ball of dough.
4. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Refrigerate for an hour.

For the filling:

• 1 cup walnuts, finely ground
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup apricot jam (or any other jam of your choice)
• 1 to 2 tbsp. hot water

1. In a bowl, combine the walnuts, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, combine the jam and the hot water and stir to loosen the jam.

To assemble the crescents:

1. Remove a ball of dough from the refrigerator.
2. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough into a 10 to 12-inch circle. Don’t roll it too thin.
3. Spread 1/4 of the jam over the circle of dough. Sprinkle 1/4 of the walnut/sugar mixture over the jam.
4. With a sharp knife, divide the circle into 12 wedges.
5. Starting from the outside edge, roll each wedge up towards the centre, forming a crescent.
6. Place each crescent on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Repeat with the other 3 balls of dough. In total you should have 48 crescents.
8. Refrigerate the crescents for 20 minutes. While they’re in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
9. After 20 minutes, brush the crescents with the egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crescents are golden. Don’t worry if some of the filling oozes out.
11. Enjoy!

Note:  These cookies are also my entry for Anna of Morsel and Musings‘ event:  Festive Food Fair. Anna very kindly invited me to participate by blogging about festive food that we like to serve during the holiday season. These rugalahs would definitely qualify. Thank you, Anna, for the invitation!

Technorati tags:  apricot, rugalahs, festive food fair

Based on your responses to my last post, it seems that banana bread and banana cake are blogger favourites! Now that I know what you like, allow me to suggest an accompaniment to your bananas:  rum.

I’m fairly late to the world of rum admirers. To be honest, until I started baking this butter cake with rum glaze, I’d rarely tried rum. But it’s fair to say that I am now a huge fan. And I have gone on to discover that just as coconut goes well with chocolate, rum goes very well with bananas.

While I managed to use most of our overripe bananas for the mini banana cupcakes that I made, I still had some in the fruit basket, waiting to meet their fate. But instead of making more banana cupcakes, I turned to one of the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavours of the Month for November 2006:  More From ACE Bakery. Linda Haynes’ book includes a recipe for banana fritters that she and her family would enjoy while on vacation. I had all the ingredients, but I thought I’d go a step further by adding both rum and coconut to my fritters.

Wow! I would gladly start each day with these fritters. Crispy on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside. They ooze banana and the hint of coconut and rum is just right.

I must thank Linda Haynes for sending me a copy of More From ACE Bakery. It’s been lots of fun discovering this book and also finally trying some of the bread recipes from her first book, The ACE Bakery Cookbook. While the bread reciopes are rather involved, once you read through them a few times, you’ll see that they’re actually quite simple. There are a lot of steps involved, to be sure, but they’re not hard and anyone with even minimal baking experience should be able to produce some pretty nice bread.

Because the cookbooks contain so much more than just bread recipes, I think they’re very useful. If you’re looking for some new cookbooks to add to your collection or if you’re looking for gift ideas for the baker you know and love, you might want to consider these ones.

Well, that’s it. November is over. Come back tomorrow to see what the Flavour of the Month for December is!

Ciao!

Banana Fritters with Rum and Coconut

Adapted from More From ACE Bakery by Linda Haynes.

• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tbsp. coconut extract (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. dark rum
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• vegetable oil for frying
• sugar (for garnish)
• 1 or 2 limes, cut into quarters (for garnish)

1. In a bowl, combine the sugar, baking powder, all-purpose flour, raisins, cinnamon and salt.
2. In another bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, the coconut extract (if using), the vanilla extract and the rum. Mix well.
3. Add the sugar mixture and mix well.
4. In a frying pan, heat enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Once hot, drop in tablespoonfuls of the batter. Fry for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
5. Once cooked, remove the fritters to a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Serve the fritters with the quartered limes. Squeeze the lime juice on the fritters before eating.
7. Enjoy!

Note:  You should get anywhere from 15 to 20 fritters depending on size. These should be eaten right away.

Technorati tags:  bananas, fritters, rum, coconut, ace bakery

I am seriously behind with my posts about baking class. I promise I’ll catch up soon, but I’m just having too much fun baking and blogging about bread! Several weeks ago, in bread class, we were scheduled to make challah. Unfortunately, work commitments meant that I had to miss that class and I was more than disappointed. I love challah, and I especially love using it for bread puddings and French toast.

It was a stroke of luck then when I noticed that Linda Haynes had included a recipe for challah in her new cookbook, More from ACE Bakery. Excited and eager, I set about making challah for the very first time.

The process began with a starter (called a pâte fermentée), which I made the night before I planned to bake the challah. The starter consisted of water, yeast (traditional dry yeast), hard white flour and fine sea salt. Unlike other bread recipes where the yeast has to be developed before adding it to the flour and other ingredients, Haynes’ recipe for starter calls for everything to be combined in a mixer for a few minutes and then allowed to rest for 15 minutes. I was under the impression that only instant yeast could be added to flour in this way, but I guess I’m wrong. After the starter rested for 15 minutes, I kneaded it for an additional few minutes before placing it in a greased bowl to rise in the refrigerator overnight.

The following morning I found a starter that had more than doubled in size and had lovely bubbles and holes all over it. That was a clear sign that it had been fermenting. All those little bubbles represented the gas being created throughout the fermentation process.

To make the challah, I added water, yeast, hard white flour, semolina flour, egg yolks, honey, butter and sea salt to the starter. I mixed everything in the mixer using the dough hook and within minutes, I had a beautiful dough that was smooth and heavy. Once again, I let it rise for a few hours in a greased and covered bowl. At that point, I was ready to form my challah.

Haynes advises that if you’re intimidated of the entire braiding process, you can easily form your challah into rounded loaves. But looking at the braiding illustrations, I felt reasonably confident that I could manage.

I divided my challah dough into 5 equal pieces, which I then rolled into strands. I lined the strands up and joined them at one end. I then moved two strands slightly to the left and the other three slight to the right. Over, across, over, across, repeat, repeat, repeat. I actually ended up with a decent braid! But my one mistake is that I rolled my strands a bit too long. As I braided the strands and struggled to move them out of the way, I inadvertently begin laying them over the edges of the counter. As I did this, the weight of the dough began to pull the strands downward, which meant they were getting longer and longer! Instead  of a neat, compact braid, I ended up with a rather longish and skinny one.

I would have gone ahead and baked it that way except I was worried it wouldn’t fit on the baking sheet so I did the logical thing (to me, anyway) and I turned my braid into a braided ring. I brushed the top with egg wash and let the dough rest to rise again for about 30 minutes. Another brush with egg wash and into the oven it went. About 30 minutes later I had a golden, eggy ring of pretty good challah if I may say so myself!

The only problem I had with the recipe was the honey. I don’t think I’ve ever seen challah recipes that call for honey so I was intrigued to see it on the ingredients list. But when I tasted the challah, I found that it tasted predominantly of honey which overwhelmed the buttery egginess that I enjoy in challah. Haynes’ recipe calls for wildflower or acacia honey and I used wildflower because that’s what I had on hand. If I made the bread again, I would omit the honey.

However, one thing bread class has taught me is that many breads require both a sugar as well as a salt. Yeast feasts on sugar so I’m guessing that if I omit the honey, I’ll have to replace it with another type of sugar. Clearly I need to research this further and just keep trying my hand at challah.

It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it!

Ciao!

Technorati tags:  bread, challah

I am officially declaring November "The Month of Bread." Now that I have one bread course under my belt and will soon be completing my second bread course at George Brown College’s Culinary School, I really have no excuses for not putting my newly learned schools to good use.

In a further bit of excellent timing, the generous and talented Linda Haynes, owner of Toronto’s ACE Bakery, kindly sent me a copy of her second cookbook:  More from ACE Bakery. In 2003, when Linda published her first book called The ACE Bakery Cookbook, I greedily snapped it up. Even then I was a big fan of ACE’s bread, due mainly to the fact that I’d been enjoying it for years. The ACE Bakery facilities are conveniently located very close to my family’s shoe company. Easy access means lots and lots of ACE bread and believe me no one around here is complaining.

So here we are. It’s November. For the first time I’m featuring two cookbooks as the Flavours of the Month for November 2006. And it’s all about the bread.

I must tell you that I’ve been enjoying my bread classes immensely. The feeling of creating and kneading dough is endlessly pleasing and satisfying. And now that I have a better understanding of how the combination of yeast and flour works, I want to learn more and more.

It’s my wish that you’ll join me on this journey in the hopes that we’ll all learn just a bit more about baking bread. Of course being a Cream Puff, you can expect the usual assortment of sweets from me as well.

To kick things off, I decided to try my hand at focaccia. While I haven’t done any research on the difference between focaccia and pizza, my understanding is that focaccia tends to be breadier and thicker than your average pizza crust. To be honest, I don’t make focaccia often because I’ve never had much success. It usually ends up looking at tasting very  much like a pizza crust that’s risen a bit more.

But in another example of worlds colliding, Linda’s recipe for focaccia (from The ACE Bakery Cookbook) brought to mind an interesting lesson from one of my bread classes. While I’ve been a bit slow to update you on what I’ve learned in bread class (I’ll catch up on those posts I promise), you should know that recently we practiced making bread with what the instructor referred to as a "sponge." It’s a combination of yeast, flour and water that’s allowed to proof or ferment until it doubles or triples in size. This sponge is then used to make bread.

In The ACE Bakery Cookbook, Linda Haynes uses a "biga" or "starter" to make focaccia. Her biga is made with active dry yeast, warm water and unbleached hard white flour. Once mixed, the biga must ferment for 12 to 14 hours, which of course means that you have to plan ahead. But believe me the results are worth it!

I made the biga on a Saturday night and then picked up the recipe on Sunday morning. Before working with the biga, I mixed flour, water and olive oil and allowed it to rest for about 30 minutes. The recipe refers to this process as "autolyse," which means that you’re giving this part of the dough time for the gluten to develop. In bread class, we’ve never taken this step when using a "sponge" or starter. But because it was relatively easy and because the end result was so good, I will definitely try it again at home.

Once the dough rested, I mixed it with more yeast and water, the biga and salt. After allowing the focaccia dough to rise for a few hours, I shaped it, bathed it in olive oil and let it rise again for an hour or so. A sprinkling of sea salt and the addition of rosemary were the final steps before my focaccia went into the oven.

The fragrance alone made this entire process worth it. But the end result was fabulous. A firm crust, a light and tender interior, the flavour of olive oil mixed with sea salt and rosemary … it was beautiful and I was so proud of my accomplishment! I cannot wait for the weekend so that I can try this recipe again.

For the time being, I’m not going to post the focaccia recipe. I’m not comfortable doing so because to be honest, I did not adapt the recipe in any way. For my first time, I wanted to follow the instructions in detail. As I try it more and more, I have no doubts that I’ll adjust the recipe to further suit my tastes. So while there’s no recipe for now, please feel free to send me any questions you have about this particular focaccia.

It seems incredible that a simple focaccia baked on a quiet Sunday afternoon could bring so much pleasure. But it did. A warm kitchen … a beautiful offering from the oven … the simple things truly do make the difference.

Ciao!

Technorati tags:  bread, focaccia, ace bakery

The tricks and treats are done. Plenty of mini pumpkins, princesses, ghosts and goblins came to my door this evening, one cuter than the next! And now that the candy is all gone, it’s hard to believe that October comes to an end this evening.

My favourite month of the year, it arrives with so much expectation and I find that as I get older, it passes by faster and faster. Was it a good month? I would say yes. Certainly it was busy and even a tad stressful at times. But overall, it has been a month to fully welcome the Fall with apple pies, chestnuts, falling leaves and warm, cozy sweaters.

I will admit, however, that October was helped along by Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book. I chose to feature it as the Flavour of the Month for October 2006 because as soon as I received my copy, I couldn’t put it down.

I tried my hand at recipes in each major section of the cookbook including pound cakes and cheesecakes. I tried recipes that were very straightforward and even a few that were quite involved. Through it all, I was not disappointed even once. This is a cookbook to cherish for years. If you have the chance, I certainly hope that you’ll pick up a copy and at least look through it. Like me, I think you’ll fall for it pretty quickly.

Because of the chilly nights we’ve been experiencing, I decided to end October with a recipe from The Cake Book that would take a bit of the chill off:  a chocolate torte with walnuts and Cognac. While I’m not the biggest Cognac fan around, this torte was almost impossible to resist. Dense, chocolaty, nutty and smooth, the warmth of the Cognac was the perfect touch.

So as I sit here, enjoying a slice of this moist and sumptuous torte, I wish you a Happy Halloween! See you in November …

Ciao!

Chocolate Torte with Walnuts and Cognac

Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

For the torte:

• 8 ounces dark chocolate (I used a 70% dark chocolate)
• 1/4 cup Cognac
• 2 tbsp. hot water
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup icing sugar
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. natural cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the parchment paper and the sides of the pan.
3. In a blender or food processor, combine the walnuts and icing sugar. Process until the walnuts are finely chopped and the the mixture is powdery. Set aside.
4. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the Cognac and hot water. Once melted, stir until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Sift and set aside.
6. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and 1/2 cup of the sugar until light and creamy (2 to 3 minutes).
7. With the mixer on medium speed, add the egg yolks, one at a time. Scrape down the side of the bowl to ensure that the batter is well-mixed.
8. Add the vanilla extract and the chocolate mixture and combine for a minute or two until smooth.
9. In another bowl, with a whisk or with an electric mixer and the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until slightly foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form.
10. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
11. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate batter.
12. Fold 1/3 of the walnut/icing sugar mixture into the chocolate batter.
13. Fold the remaining egg whites and walnut/icing sugar mixture into the batter. Work carefully so as not to deflate the batter too much.
14. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
15. Bake for 40 minutes. Test the cake with a cake tester. When you insert it in the middle of the cake, it should come out fairly clean, with a few crumbs clinging to the tester.
16. Once the cake is done, let it cool on a wire rack. After an hour or so, carefully loosen the ring from the pan.
17. Once the cake is completely cook, you can brush it with the cognac syrup if you choose.

For the syrup:

• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. Cognac

1. Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small pan. Stir to ensure that the sugar is dissolved and then remove from the heat.
2. Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the Cognac. You can add more Cognac if you like.
3. If you choose, brush the cooled syrup over the cooled cake.

For the final assembly:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• cocoa powder for dusting

1. Whip the cream in an electric mixer until stiff.
2. Dollop the cream on the cake and then dust lightly with cocoa powder.
3. Enjoy!

Note:  This is a fairly involved cake, but it’s worth the effort. Once the torte is done, you can brush it with a cognac syrup or a simple syrup, but you don’t have to.

Technorati tags:  torte, chocolate, walnuts, Cognac, tish boyle, the cake book

October’s trip through Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book has been most enjoyable. I’ve rarely come across a cookbook where virtually every recipe begs to be tried as soon as possible. The fun intensified when I discovered that my dear friends Kate of Pie in the Sky, Mary of Alpineberry and Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody all owned a copy of this fabulous book.

I immediately recalled the informal, cross-post event that Alanna of A Veggie Venture and I hatched with the cookbook Once Upon a Tart. Why not try the same thing with The Cake Book?

I was thrilled when Kate, Mary and Peabody all (enthusiastically) agreed to take part. After some negotiating, it was decided that the recipe we would all try was one for a Pumpkin Cheesecake. It being the season for pumpkins and cheesecakes being delicious, we figured this was a good choice.

Now as I’ve mentioned before, I have an unusual relationship with pumpkins, and all squash in general. I love them, but they’re not very popular in my family as they’re simply not a food that we’re used to or that we grew up eating. Certainly, we’ll try any dish with squash in it (try everything at least once!). But I can’t say we have any particular inclination towards them.

This cheesecake may change that. While not very sweet, it has to be one of the creamiest cheesecakes I have ever tasted. While the cheesecake is very clearly a pale orange colour thanks thanks to the pureed pumpkin, the actual pumpkin flavour is subtle and tinged with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. I didn’t make the crust that the recipe calls for as I realized that I didn’t have any candied ginger. Instead I made a very basic graham cracker crust with a bit of cinnamon added in.

As I’m not out of the woods yet in terms of my busy days, I won’t be posting the recipe at the moment. I’ll update this post as soon as I can with my adaptation of the cheesecake. But if you want to see how it’s properly done in the meantime, please visit Kate, Mary and Peabody. They have put my efforts to shame and they have most certainly done Tish Boyle proud.

Ladies … you rock!

Ciao!

Creamy Pumpkiny Cheesecake

Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

For the crust:

• 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar (depending on how sweet you like your crust)
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, combine all the crust ingredients. Mix well.
3. Pat the graham mixture evenly over the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
4. Bake for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

For the cheesecake:

• 1-1/4 cups pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/4 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup vanilla sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Wrap the outside of the springform pan (with the cooled crust) in aluminum foil. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, mix together the pumpkin, heavy cream, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside.
4. With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until smooth. Slowly add the granulated sugar and vanilla sugar, with the mixer on low speed, until combined.
5. Next add the brown sugar, on low speed, until combined.
6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on medium speed for a minute or two.
7. With the mixer on low speed, add the pumpkin mixture. Increase speed to medium and mix for two minutes. Add the cornstarch and mix until combined.
8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and begin adding the eggs, one at a time, scraping down after each addition. When adding the eggs, keep the mixer on low speed, but increase to medium speed in between each addition.
9. Once the eggs have all been incorporated, pour the cheesecake batter onto the prepared crust.
10. Place the springform pan in a larger pan and add hot water to come one-inch up the side of the springform pan. Carefully transfer to the oven.
11. Bake the cheesecake for one hour and then check to see if it’s done. If the cheesecake is set around the edges but a bit wobbly in the centre, then it’s done. If it’s not set at all, bake for another 10 minutes and then check again.
12. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and immediately remove it from the water bath. Discard the aluminum foil and then place the cheesecake on a wire rack to cool completely.
13. Once cool, refrigerate for at least six to eight hours before serving.
14. Serve with whipped cream.
15. Enjoy!

Note:  I increased the amount of pumpkin puree in the cheesecake by a 1/4 cup. The original recipe also called for nutmeg but I omitted that. The original recipe did not require vanilla sugar but I thought it would be an interesting twist. It was very good and recommend it it if you have any vanilla sugar hanging around in your cupboard.

Technorati tags:  pumpkin, pumpkin cheesecake, the cake book, tish boyle, pie in the sky, alpineberry, culinary concoctions by peabody

These are busy days, my friends. Work is overwhelming at times. And on the personal front, family commitments and baking class seem to take up any extra time I have. Sometimes it’s all a bit much.

I suspect this is why I have been enjoying baking again so much. I survived without an oven during the month of September, but I just wasn’t the same Cream Puff. I feel better now, if spread a bit thin with all that’s going on.

The other night, to relieve some stress, I produced these beautiful little cakes from The Cake Book. It was one of those desserts that just happened. I just happened to have cream cheese in the fridge. I just happened to have dried cherries. I just happened to have kirsch. I just had to bake.

As a special treat, I poured the batter into mini-bundt molds. Once cooled, I dusted these little babies with icing sugar and treated myself to one.

Busy days are hard. Sweet nights help.

Ciao!

Cherry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Adapted from The Cake by Tish Boyle.

• a handful of dried cherries, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp. kirsch
• 1 tbsp. hot water
• 1 cup butter
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1-3/4 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 5 large eggs
• 3 cups cake and pastry flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• icing sugar

1. Soak cherries in kirsch and hot water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, drain cherries and reserve liquid.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a bundt cake pan or a mini-bundt pan.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and light (2 or 3 minutes).
5. With the mixer on medium speed, add the sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
8. Add the cherries and the reserved liquid, and mix until combined.
9. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. If using a bundt pan, bake for 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. If using mini-bundt molds, bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Cool the cake on a wire rack.
11. Once cook, dust with icing sugar and serve.
12. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  dried cherries, cream cheese, pound cake, the cake book

At this time of year, I’m sure I could bake an apple-based dessert every day of the week and not come close to trying even a fraction of the recipes for apple desserts out there. Everywhere I turn I see recipes for apple pie, apple cake, apple muffins, apple cookies … and the list goes on and on. I’m not complaining mind you. I love apples and it’s wonderful to have so much inspiration available when it comes to envisioning the perfect way to prepare those apples. It’s no wonder then that I decided to bake an apple dessert for Canadian Thanksgiving.

As some of you may know, Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday of October. While I’d never given much thought as to why Canadians celebrate this holiday a full month and more before Americans do, I recently queried a friend about it. She explained that part of the reason why Canadian Thanksgiving happens in October is that the origin of our holiday lies in the celebration of the harvest, which, in most parts of Canada, happens earlier in the year than in our southern counterpart. I did some casual research on the Internet and as is usually the case, I found a lot of contradictory information. The Government of Canada’s Canadian Heritage site finally provided some concrete facts on how we arrived at the second day of October as Canadian Thanksgiving.

For many Canadians, Thanksgiving Day remains a relatively new celebration, especially for those Canadians that haven’t been in Canada for very long. My own family has barely been in Canada for 50 years. Growing up, we never really observed Thanksgiving Day until my mom took it upon herself to learn how to roast a turkey and make proper stuffing. And so began the celebration of Thanksgiving Day in our household.

And just as Thanksgiving Day was relatively foreign to the life of an Italian Canadian, eating squash was equally as foreign. While squash is part of the regional cuisine of some parts of Italy, it never factored into the cuisine my father and mother ate in Le Marche or Calabria respectively. In fact, my father once told me that while they did grow some forms of squash in the town where he grew up, they never actually ate squash. Instead, the squash would usually be given to the pigs they kept.

Long story short, pumpkin and other types of squash are relatively new flavours for us. As a result, we’ve never been huge fans of pumpkin pie, for example. This means Thanksgiving Day dessert is usually based on another star of the fall harvest:  the apple.

For this year’s Thanksgiving Day dessert, I turned to Tish Boyle’s The Cake Book in the hopes of finding a recipe for an elegant apple cake. Instead I found a recipe for a most elegant cheesecake with cooked apples as a base. Even if this cheesecake recipe didn’t have apples in it, I think I would have tried it anyway for the sheer pleasure of creating a brûlée crust on a cheesecake!

This particular cheesecake starts with a straightforward graham cracker crust. The crust is then topped with a layer of apples cooked in butter, sugar and cream. The apples are topped with the cheesecake flavoured with cinnamon. Once baked and cooled, a sugar crust is added to the top of the cheesecake by sprinkling on sugar and then using a kitchen torch to brûlée the sugar.

From the pleasing crackle of the hardened sugar to the creamy layer of cheesecake to the satisfying flavour of apple and graham crust, this is a cheesecake that is perfect for Autumn. And who can resist a sugar crust just waiting to be cracked?!

I say bring on the apples!

Ciao!

Cheesecake with Apples and a Brûlée Top

Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

For the graham crust:

• 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2-1/2 tbsp. sugar
• 4 to 5 tbsp. melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
3. In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar. Add 4 tbsp. of the butter and mix. If the crumbs seem dry, add the last tablespoon of butter.
4. Press onto the bottom of the springform pan. Press in an even layer.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The crust should be firm and golden. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cool the crust completely.
6. Once cooled, wrap the outside of the pan in a heavy duty piece of aluminum foil.

For the apple layer (you don’t have to make this cheesecake with the apple layer, but if you do, it’s worth the extra effort):

• 3 medium-sized tart apples, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. butter, unsalted
• 1-1/2 tbsp. sugar
• 2-1/2 tbsp. heavy cream
• a pinch of nutmeg

1. Toss the apples with the lemon juice.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet.
3. Add the apples and cook for 2 minutes, over medium heat, until the apples begin to soften.
4. Sprinkle with sugar and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the apples soften further and begin to turn golden.
5. Add the cream and the nutmeg and lower the heat slightly. Cook until the cream has been absorbed by the apples, about 10 minutes.
6. Transfer the apples to a plate and let cool completely.

For the cheesecake:

• 3 packages cream cheese (8 oz. each)
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 cup sour cream (full fat)
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch or flour
• 4 large eggs

1. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the cream cheese for a minute or two until it’s smooth.
2. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until smooth, about 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add the vanilla extract, the salt, the cinnamon and the ginger and beat for another minute.
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the sour cream and cornstarch and beat until blended, another minute or two.
6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.

Assembling the cheesecake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Layer the apples over the cooled graham cracker crust.
3. Pour the prepared cheesecake filling over the apples.
4. Place the pan in a large, shallow roasting pan and add hot water to come about halfway up the side of the springform pan.
5. Carefully place the pan in the oven. The original recipe requires the cheesecake be baked for between 70 and 80 minutes. I found that I had to bake the cheesecake for 80 minutes. You’ll know the cheesecake is done when the filling appears set, but still a tiny bit wobbly in the middle.
6. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and from the pan. Peel off the aluminum foil layer and place on a rack to cool completely.
7. Once cool, place in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

For the brûlée crust:

• 2 tbsp. sugar

1. Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the cold cheesecake in an even layer.
2. Using a kitchen torch, pass the flame over the sugar in an even motion until it has caramelized.
3. Place the cheesecake back in the refrigerator for up to an hour. If you leave it for longer than an hour the brûlée crust may soften.
4. Enjoy!

Note:  This cheesecake will serve 10 to 12. The apples add a nice touch but you don’t have to make this with the apple layer. It’s a good idea to begin making this cheesecake the day before you plan on serving it so that it can rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Technorati tags:  cheesecake, apples, thanksgiving day

Over a month ago, I was in despair after Black Friday and the realization that I wouldn’t be able to bake for quite awhile.

How the times have changed!

Our new oven is a blessing and we are looking forward to putting it through its paces this coming Thanksgiving weekend. I have many wonderful things planned for this oven. Many sweet surprises, all of which I will share with you of course … but not right now.

You’re just going to have to be patient!

In the meantime, I’m sending all of you a piece of this incredible Sour Cream Chocolate Pound Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze and White Chocolate Drizzle. My chocolate pound cake is based on a recipe from the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month for October 2006:  The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

Cream Puff sends everyone a big hug and wishes for a wonderful Autumn weekend!

Ciao!

Sour Cream Chocolate Pound Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze and White Chocolate Drizzle

Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

For the cake:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder plus 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 2-1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place a rack in the centre of the oven. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube ban.
2. On medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (4 to 5 minutes). Add your eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Mix together the vanilla and sour cream.
4. Combine your dry ingredients. Add them to the butter and sugar in three additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture. Start and end with the flour mixture.
5. Pour your batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Test the cake with a cake tester or a toothpick to ensure that it’s cooked in the centre.
6. Cool the cake for 15 to 20 minute and then unmold.
7. Let it cool completely before glazing.

For the Dark Chocolate Glaze:

• 3 ounces dark chocolate (I used a Lindt chocolate with 65% cocoa solids — use your favourite chocolate)
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Finely chop your chocolate.
2. Boil the cream and immediately pour it over the chocolate.
3. Let sit for 2 or 3 minutes and then stir until the glaze is smooth.
4. Place the glaze in a bowl and let sit for a few minutes to set a bit. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
5. When you’re ready to glaze the cake, place your cake on a wire rack with a lined tray beneath or place your cake directly on some waxed paper to or aluminum foil to avoid making a mess.
6. Pour the glaze over the cake and allow it to drip down the sides.
7. Let the glaze set completely.

For the white chocolate drizzle:

• 1 small bar of white chocolate (I used Lindt)

1. Melt your white chocolate in a double boiler.
2. Once it’s melted, stir to ensure that it’s smooth.
3. With a squeeze bottle, pastry bag or with a fork, drizzle the chocolate over the glazed cake in a decorative pattern.
4. Let set completely before serving.
5. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  chocolate, cocoa, pound cake, Lindt, white chocolate

Hello, Autumn!

Hello multi-coloured leaves and brisk fall days.

Hello warm sweaters and tea by the fire.

Hello rosy cheeks and scarves.

Hello hockey.

Hello apples and chestnuts.

Hello Flavour of the Month for October 2006:  The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

Hello brand new stove that finally arrived.

Hello baking.

Hello Vanilla-Flecked Chiffon Cake with Cacao Nib Whipped Cream.

Hello, October!

Ciao!

Vanilla-Flecked Chiffon Cake with Cacao Nib Whipped Cream

Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

For the cake:

• 2-1/2 cups cake flour (measure the cake flour, sift it and then measure it again)
• 1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (if you don’t have vanilla bean, you can use 1 tbsp. vanilla extract)
• 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. and place a rack in the centre of the oven.
2. In a bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (cake flour, 1-1/4 cups of the sugar, baking powder and salt).
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, place the egg yolks, water, vegetable oil and lemon zest. With a paring knife or a small spoon, scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pods and add them to the bowl. (If using vanilla extract instead, add it now.)
4. Mix at medium speed until well-combined, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. On low speed, add the four mixture a bit at a time until the batter is just mixed. Don’t overmix the batter.
6. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites (with a whisk or with a whisk attachment) and the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Slowly beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. If using a mixer, increase the speed to high and beat the whites until they’re stiff.
7. Using a rubber spatula, quickly mix 1/4 of the whites into the batter. Then carefully fold the remaining whites into the batter.
8. Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan (10 inches) with a removable bottom.
9. Bake the cake for 50 minutes to an hour. Test the cake’s doneness by inserting a cake tester in the centre. If it comes out clean, your cake is done!
10. If the tube pan you’re using has little feet, then turn the cake over and let cool upside down.
11. If your tube pan doesn’t have feet, try inverting and fitting the tube over the neck of a bottle. Let it stand this way until cooled.
12. Once cooled, carefully unmold your cake by slide a knife around the sides of the cake. Once the cake is out of the pan, slide a knife under the base and around the tube to remove the centre piece of the pan.
13. To serve, dust the cake with icing sugar and add a dollop of cacao nib whipped cream.

For the cacao nib whipped cream:

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 cup cacao nibs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar (optional)

1. Heat the cream and cacao nibs until the cream is just about to boil.
2. Add the vanilla sugar, stir well and let sit for 30 minutes.
3. Pour the mixture into a bowl through a sieve to remove the cacao nibs. Discard the nibs.
4. Refrigerate the mixture until you’re ready to use it (at least a few hours).
5. With an electric mixer, beat the cream until it’s thickened and soft peaks form.
6. Serve the whipped cream with your cake.

Note:  This cake easily serves 12. Don’t discard the vanilla bean halves. Place them in a jar covered with sugar and you can begin making vanilla sugar. You can buy cacao nibs from www.scharffenberger.com.

Technorati tags:  chiffon cake, vanilla, cacao nibs, the cake book

Goodbye lazy summer days.

Goodbye backyard barbecues and farmer’s markets.

Goodbye open-toed shoes.

Goodbye iced lattes.

Goodbye sitting outside until midnight.

Goodbye Flavour of the Month:  Simple Italian Sandwiches.

Goodbye, September!

Ciao!

Hot Sorpressata and Fontina Panini

Adapted from Simple Italian Sandwiches by Jennifer Denton and Jason Denton.

Note:  Sorpressata is a type of Italian salami that tends to be quite spicy. Any type of spicy deli meat will work well in this panino. Fontina is an Italian cheese made of cow’s milk. It can be very strong-tasting but compliments the sorpressata nicely. Fontina works well for panini because it melts well.

Now that September is over and it’s time to move on from panini, I wanted to mention a comment I’d received from Mrs B of Eating Suburbia about how to make panini if you don’t have a press. You can make great panini using one of the following two methods:

1. The old-fashioned way (A):  Heat a large pan and place your panino on the pan. With a large spatula, press on the panino and hold for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the panino and repeat on the other side. This method is a bit tedious but it works.
2. The old-fashioned way (B):  Heat a large pan and place your panino on the pan. Cover the panino with another pan or pot that is quite heavy. You can make it heavier by weighing it down with a dish or a tin of food. Let the panino cook for 3 to 4 minutes and then remove the weight. Flip the panino and repeat on the other side.

(Special thanks to Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Michel of shakylegs for also suggesting ways of making panini without a press in my previous post.)

• 2 ciabatta buns, split in half
• olive oil (for brushing the tops and bottoms of the bun)
• a handful of arugula leaves (washed and dried)
• 8 slices spicy sorpressata, thinly sliced
• 2 slices Fontina cheese, thinly sliced (you can use more Fontina if you like)

1. Heat the panini press.
2. Lay half the arugula on the bottom half of each ciabatta bun.
3. Top with the sorpressata and Fontina.
4. Cover with the top half of the ciabatta bun and brush the top and bottom with olive oil.
5. Heat on the press for 5 to 7 minutes or until the cheese has melted and begins to ooze slightly.
6. Remove the panini from the press and let cool for a minute. Slice the panini in half and serve.
7. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  panini, sorpressata, fontina

What a week! It seems that the arrival of Autumn has brought with it busy days and busy nights. As a result, I’ve been a bit neglectful and I apologize. But never fear. I shall catch up on missed posts and unanswered e-mails as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I’m sending this panino to all of you as a weekend greeting. It’s filled with arugula (is there a better lettuce to use in panini … I don’t think so!), prosciutto cotto, fresh mozzarella and hot mustard.

The idea comes from the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month for September 2006:  Simple Italian Sandwiches. For those of you that are unfamiliar with prosciutto cotto, it is ham that has been cooked as opposed to cured, such as Prosciutto di Parma. Prosciutto cotto (means "cooked ham" in English) is often used in cold salads (diced or cubed), on pizza and in sandwiches, and is wonderful baked in the oven. One of our favourite dishes is an eggplant dish where slices of eggplant are topped with prosciutto cotto and mozzarella and baked long enough for the mozzarella to melt. If you’ve never tried prosciutto cotto, visit your local Italian deli and sample it.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Ciao!

Prosciutto Cotto and Mozzarella Panino with Hot Mustard

Adapted from Simple Italian Sandwiches by Jennifer Denton and Jason Denton.

• 2 ciabatta buns or small baguettes, sliced in half
• olive oil (for brushing the tops and bottoms of the buns)
• a handful of arugula, washed and dried
• 2 to 3 tbsp. hot mustard (or any mustard that you prefer)
• 6 slices fresh mozzarella
• 6 slices prosciutto cotto

1. Heat your panini press.
2. Spread the hot mustard on one side of your bun or baguette.
3. Top with half the arugula.
4. Place three slices of the mozzarella on the arugula.
5. Top the mozzarella with three slices of prosciutto cotto.
6. Place the top half of the bun or baguette on the prosciutto cotto.
7. Brush the top and bottom of the bread with olive oil.
8. Grill the panino for 5 to 6 minutes, being careful that your bread doesn’t burn.
9. Remove the panino and let rest for a few minutes. Slice in half with a serrated knife.
10. Repeat with the second bun or baguette.
11. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  panini, prosciutto cotto

I just love surprises! The thrill. The anticipation. The agony of wanting to know. When Alanna of A Veggie Venture announced that the theme for SHF #23 would be "The Surprise Inside", I smiled.

I smiled a secret, Mona Lisa smile. And then I began to plan.

This particular SHF was most challenging for me because I knew I wouldn’t be able to bake. Instead, I hit the books, so to speak, for a surprising sweet that didn’t require the use of an oven. I contemplated many options in my cookbook travels, and yet it seemed like every place I stopped I wasn’t inspired.

Determined, I once again turned to my beloved cookbooks knowing that one of them would surely give me what I was looking for. And as always happens, they came through for me! In this case, it was a former Flavour of the Month that did it. Janie Hibler’s The Berry Bible was a book that I featured in August 2006. While I did share a few recipes with you, I didn’t delve that deeply into the book (it was a busy month) and I certainly didn’t close the loop by sharing my feelings on the book with you.

The Berry Bible is a thorough and accessible tribute to berries of all sorts. In fact, it’s downright amazing in that it proves you can use berries in almost any dish or course. And for those of us that still have some trouble identifying our berries, there is a full colour insert that identifies each berry by name with a helpful photograph. Who knew there were so many types of berries?!

So towards the end of this lovely cookbook, I noticed one lone post-it at the side of the page. I flipped it open and … SURPRISE … I found the surprise inside the cookbook that would inspire me for the surprise inside SHF.

So what’s the surprise?

Do you know what it is?

Do you smell it?

Do you taste it?

Do you give up?

Okay. I’ll end your agony. It’s a phyllo pocket stuffed with mascarpone, blackberries and marcona almonds. The pockets are gently sauteed in melted butter until they turn a lovely golden and become gloriously crispy on the outside. Shatter the crust with your fork and you will discover an oozing, melting centre.

What a delicious surprise indeed. And on a Friday no less!

Ciao!

Phyllo Pockets with Mascarpone, Blackberries and Marcona Almonds

Adapted from The Berry Bible by Janie Hibler.

• 12 sheets phyllo dough, thawed and kept under a moist towel to ensure they don’t dry out
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup marcona almonds, chopped
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup mascarpone
• 1 cup blackberries
• more butter for sauteing

1. Combine the almonds and sugar in a small bowl.
2. Take one sheet of phyllo and lay it out on a work surface. Brush with butter.
3. Top with two more sheets of phyllo, brushing each one with butter.
4. Cut the phyllo sheets into three strips, lengthwise.
5. Starting at the left corner of each strip, place a tablespoon or so of mascarpone on the phyllo.
6. Top with 3 or 4 blackberries.
7. Sprinkle some of the almond/sugar mixture over the blackberries.
8. Take the left edge of the phyllo and fold it over the mascarpone/blackberries and almonds. From that point, fold the phyllo over as you would fold a flag, creating clean corners. Keep folding until you reach the end of the phyllo strip and tuck any excess pastry under the seam.
9. Put the phyllo pocket seam down on a plate.
10. Repeat these steps until you have made 12 phyllo pockets.
11. In a large pan, melt on or two tablespoons of butter. Saute the pockets for two to three minutes on each side, our until they are golden. Saute two or three pockets at a time.
12. Transfer to a plate while you saute the other pockets.
13. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.
14. Enjoy!

Note:  If you can’t find marcona almonds (I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma), use regular blanched almonds. Instead of blackberries, you could also use blueberries.

Technorate tags:  sugar high friday, phyllo, mascarpone, blackberries, marcona almonds

When hunger strikes, strike back with a panino filled with pesto, arugula, artichoke, Prosciutto di Parma and Asiago cheese.

May the panini force be with you!

Ciao!

Pesto, Artichoke, Prosciutto and Asiago Panini

Inspired by Simple Italian Sandwiches.

• 2 ciabatta buns, halved
• 2 tablespoons basil pesto (click here for a basil pesto recipe)
• a handful of cleaned arugula leaves
• small jar of artichokes packed in oil or water (be sure to drain the artichokes very well)
• 6 slices of Prosciutto di Parma
• 4 slices Asiago cheese
• olive oil (to brush the top and bottom of the ciabatta buns before putting them on the panini press

1. Heat your panini press.
2. Spread the pesto over the bottom halves of the ciabatta buns.
3. Divide the arugula evenly between the two ciabatta buns and layer the arugula over the pesto.
4. Drain your artichokes well and divide them between the two panini. Layer the artichokes over the arugula.
5. Divide the prosciutto between the two panini and layer it on the artichokes.
6. Divide the Asiago between the two panini and layer it over the prosciutto.
7. Cover the panini with the other half of the ciabatta buns.
8. Brush the top and bottom of the buns lightly with olive oil. Place the panini in the press and grill on each side for 4 to 5 minutes, being careful not to burn the bread.
9. Serve immediately.
10. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  panini, pesto, artichokes, prosciutto di parma, asiago

I am not a happy Cream Puff.

As the end of August approached, I began to scan The Overburdened Bookshelf for the next gem to pluck and feature as a Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month. I remembered that earlier this year, I’d made a promise to myself (more of a challenge, rather) to bake more bread. This made my choice very easy. Eagerly, I took Linda Haynes’ The Ace Bakery Cookbook from my shelf and began leafing through it, excited about my decision to finally start baking some bread.

And then it happened … the … ahem … minor stove mishap that ended with the realization that we needed a new stove. So off we went to the Cream Puff family’s official appliance supplier:  Tasco Distributors. We’ve bought every appliance that I can remember from this fine store without a whit of trouble. After much research, we decided on a lovely new stove that would be introduced to our family on September 9th.

September 9th.

That would mean a little over two weeks of no baking for Cream Puff.

Okay.

September 9th. I’m a big girl. I can handle no baking for two weeks. So the first week goes by. It was tough, mind you, but I survived.

Until Friday September 1st that is. Or as I am now calling it, Black Friday.

I came home from work to discover that the people who run the Tasco warehouse had suddenly realized that the stove we purchased was not in stock. This of course means they must order it from somewhere else. Which in turn means that somewhere else must deliver the stove to the Tasco warehouse before it’s delivered to the House of Cream Puff.

So what does all this mean?

It means that our new stove will not be delivered until at least October 1st.

October 1st.

More than a month with no working oven. That means no baking. NO. BAKING.

Don’t worry. Those screams of anguish that you hear are not signaling the end of the world. It’s just me expressing my extreme horror.

How am I to make it through September without baking? No apple pies with my neighbour’s apples. No peanut butter cookies that I always like to bake at the start of school. No roast chicken flavoured with the last of the fresh thyme from our garden. No slow-roasted tomatoes with the slivers of garlic and toasty breadcrumbs. And certainly no bread from Linda Haynes’ The Ace Bakery Cookbook.

No baking in September.

I am not a happy Cream Puff.

NOT. HAPPY.

For the last two days, as the truth of the situation sunk in, I found myself experiencing various emotions. Anger, disbelief, apathy, more anger and finally … resignation.

Sigh.

If there’s not going to be any baking in September, I guess I might as well make the best of it. Thankfully, I do have a book, newly in my possession, that will hopefully help me to get through. It’s called Simple Italian Sandwiches and is written by Jennifer and Jason Denton. While I won’t be able to bake bread, I will be able to buy lots of the world’s best bread from Toronto’s Ace Bakery, which I can then use to make delicious panini. And I suppose the fact that I’ll finally be putting that panini press that I received as a gift to good use is also a positive.

So here goes the September with no baking. Come back to see what interesting panini I concoct with the help of Cream Puffs in Venice’s Flavour of the Month for September 2006:  Simple Italian Sandwiches.

And if the good people at Tasco happen to  be reading this, I have only two things to say:  Boooooooo! Hissssssssss!

Ciao!

Chilling on the Italian terrace has been the recent activity of choice here in the House of Cream Puff. These past four days have surely been the most glorious days of this Toronto summer. The heat and humidity of July are but a distant memory as we’ve enjoyed leisurely meals on our little patio. A soft  breeze, a gentle sun … everything is green and ripe.

To me, the quintessential food of summer is the food that best exemplifies the carefree, casual spirit of summer. Think of how easy it is to kick off your sandals and walk in the grass, or push open the door and walk out into the backyard. These are not things that you can easily do in winter, where a trip outside means the layering on of clothing and the pulling on of boots and so on. Three-hour stews are fine and dandy in the winter, when the bitter cold keeps you inside. But in summer, I want food that’s fast, delicious and bursting with flavour.

For this reason, I am so deeply attracted to Valentina Harris’ Recipes From an Italian Terrace (my Flavour of the Month for August). There is a directness to her recipes that I like. They are simple and have all the hallmarks of classic summer food:  fresh ingredients, minimal cooking time and emphasis on flavour.

I’m almost embarrassed to be posting this salad because, to be quite honest, it requires almost zero effort. Wash your favourite salad greens and dress them as you like. Arrange them in a plate. Take some fresh bocconcini and wrap them with cured meat. Place your little bundles on the salad. Serve.

I think it took me all of 5 minutes to make this dish. The idea is inspired by a recipe in Harris’ cookbook, although hers is on a larger scale as it’s intended to serve more people. I scaled my version down as it was just my mother, brother and I. But seriously, even if you wanted to make this for 15 people, I don’t think it would take you longer than 15 minutes to prepare. And yet it’s such an elegant looking dish. It’s the perfect appetizer for that summer party you’ve been planning.

Just don’t forget to invite me …

Ciao!

Insalata di Bocconcini con Speck (Salad with Bocconcini and Speck)

Adapted from Recipes From an Italian Terrace by Valentina Harris.

• 6 larger-sized bocconcini or 12 baby ones (I used a type of bocconcino called a treccia. It’s soft cheese that’s pulled into a twist or braid.)
• enough speck to wrap around each piece of cheese that you’re using
• 3 to 4 cups of arugula, washed and torn into pieces
• a handful of cherry tomatoes (to garnish)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 or 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• sea salt
• freshly cracked black pepper

1. In a bowl, mix together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Toss the arugula with the dressing and arrange on a serving plate.
3. Take a slice of speck and wrap around each bocconcino. Arrange the wrapped bocconcini on your salad.
4. Garnish with the cherry tomatoes and serve immediately.
5. Enjoy!

Note:  For those of you that are unfamiliar with bocconcini, they are a type of soft, fresh mozzarella that are shaped into round shapes and kept in water or whey. They have a delicate, almost sweet flavour and are very versatile. You can use them in antipasti, in salads, in pasta and even on pizza. Most cheese shops or Italian stores should carry bocconcini. If they don’t, ask for them.

Use cured meats to wrap your cheese with. It’s an interesting variation on the platter of cured meats that Italians will often serve for a snack or as an appetizer. You can use any cured meat you like, but I would recommend prosciutto or speck. Harris uses speck, which is a type of smoked prosciutto common in Northern Italy and also other countries in Europe like Switzerland. It has a stronger taste than prosciutto, but is delicious. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it. For more information on cured meats, or Italian foods in general, check out Micol Negrin’s wonderful site at http://www.rusticocooking.com/. To read specifically about cured meats, click this link:  http://www.rusticocooking.com/curedmeats.htm.

I followed Harris’ directions and used arugula, but feel free to use the salad greens of your choice. If you can use fresh, locally grown salad greens, that’s always best.

Technorati tags: bocconcini, speck, arugula

Wanted:  A large Italian terrace graced with copious amounts of flowers and a breathtaking view. The terrace should feature an enormous table with seating for all my blogger friends. An open bar stocked with chilled Prosecco and San Pellegrino is a must. Please contact Cream Puff if you are in possession of such a terrace and are willing to sell. Cream Puff will pay any price!

An Italian terrace of my very own … now there’s a dream I’d love to see come true! While it may be awhile yet before I actually have a real Italian terrace of my own, it is possible to imagine that I have one right now, and you too, with Valentina Harris’ Recipes From an Italian Terrace.

Before I bought this cookbook, I was unfamiliar with Valentina Harris. It turns out she’s a noted cookbook author (she’s authored more than 30 cookbooks!) and she runs her own cooking school in Tuscany. So you can drop everything and run right over there to enjoy Valentina’s expertise in the area of Italian food and wine. Her school is called Villa Valentina, but I warn you now, visiting her website will make you cry with longing for the hills of Tuscany. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

So what type of cookbook is Recipes From an Italian Terrace? Well, it’s the kind of cookbook that makes you happy it’s August. It’s the kind of cookbook that makes you look at the simple, fresh ingredients around you and dream of all the wonderful possibilities. It’s the kind of cookbook that inspires and makes you hungry. It’s the kind of cookbook that makes you want to call a contractor and start plans on building a terrace. It’s that kind of cookbook.

Artichoke Pâté, Yellow Bell Pepper Boats, Frittata with Mozzarella, Rice-Filled Baked Tomatoes, Warm Seafood Salad, Stuffed Swordfish Rolls, Florentine Steak, Profiteroles with Ice Cream, Raspberry Semifreddo … I could go on and on and on. This cookbook takes all of the glorious summer foods and offers ideas on how to prepare them simply in order to maximize their flavour.

I’ve never made anything from this book so I knew that it would be a great choice for the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month for August 2006. And now that July has passed, hopefully the steamy weather will go with it. Toronto reached a high of 36 degrees Celsius today, but it actually felt more like 48 degrees Celsius!In this kind of weather, the oven becomes the enemy.

But this is exactly where Valentina Harris steps in with her recipe for Mozzarella Farcita (Stuffed Mozzarella). Her recipe uses the most beautiful buffalo mozzarella as a starting point. While buffalo mozzarella was once nearly impossible to find, it is now widely available. Any reputable cheese counter should offer it so search it out and ask for it. Buffalo mozzarella comes in balls and is usually packaged in liquid. It is soft and delicate with an incredible milky sweet flavour. This cheese should be consumed quickly, while it’s fresh.

Harris’ recipe involves splitting the mozzarella into layers and then topping each layer with a filling of celery and smoked fish. As delightful as that sounds, I opted for something a bit different. I combined the first fresh tomatoes from our garden, shallot and basil leaves, along with Italian sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. I topped each layer with whole basil leaves and then piled on some of the tomato filling. A drizzle of olive oil, some more sea salt, a few cherry tomatoes and some Mediterranean olives to finish.

It couldn’t have been simpler, more refreshing or more delicious! So please join me all this month as we explore the glorious summer food of Recipes From an Italian Terrace.

And if you know of any abandoned Italian terraces requiring occupants to fill and enjoy it … I am most definitely interested!

Ciao!

Mozzarella Farcita (Stuffed Mozzarella)

Adapted from Recipes From an Italian Terrace by Valentina Harris.

• 4 buffalo mozzarella (weighing 8 or 9 ounces each), drained of any liquid and sliced into three layers
• 2 large or 4 small, ripe tomatoes
• 12 whole basil leaves
• 1 shallot, sliced finely
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly cracked black pepper
• cherry tomatoes and black olives to garnish

1. Roughly chop your tomatoes so that you have small chunks of ripe tomato. Keep the tomato juices and put both the tomatoes and juice in a bowl. Add the shallot and drizzle with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of sea salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of cracked black pepper. Mix well and set aside for 30 minutes for the flavours to develop.
2. On a serving plate, place the first layer of each ball of mozzarella.
3. Top with a basil leaf and then sprinkle on some salt and pepper.
4. Put a spoonful or two of the tomato mixture on the basil leaf and top with the second layer of mozzarella.
5. Top each mozzarella layer with another basil leaf and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Put a spoonful or two of the tomato mixture on each basil leaf and top with the final layer.
7. Top each mozzarella with a basil leave as garnish. Drizzle with olive oil and with any reserved tomato juices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and garnish the plate with cherry tomatoes and olives.
8. Serve immediately.
9. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe serves 4. If you cannot find buffalo mozzarella, you can use whole milk mozzarella in its place.

Technorati tags:  buffalo mozzarella, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, tuscany, italy

Every season has its colours. For me, winter is silver and white. Spring is yellow and green. And my favourite season of all, autumn, is pure blazing gold.

But what are the colours of summer?

They’re the blues of the wildest blueberries and the deepest purple of eggplant. They’re the orange-red of ripened tomatoes and the dark, speckled green of zucchini. They’re the shiny blackness of blackberries and the blushing yellow of apricots.

But most of all, the colour of summer is the shocking, ruby red of raspberry and red currant jam. The two berries clasp each other in this concoction to form a vibrant colour that is not easy to forget. Not too sweet with a lovely hint of tartness, enjoy this on buttered toast. Or do as I do and eat it right out of the jar with a spoon.

How beautiful to be able to taste the colour of summer!

Ciao!

Raspberry and Red Currant Jam

Adapted from The Berry Bible by Janie Hibler.

• 3 cups red currants, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, be sure to thaw them and use the juice as well)
• 1-1/2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, be sure to thaw them and use the juice as well)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter

1. This recipe will yield 16 ounces of jam so be sure to wash and thoroughly dry either two eight-ounce jars or four four-ounce jars. Be sure to have the lids ready as well.
2. In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups of red currants with 1 cup of raspberries. Crush with a potato masher or with the bottom of a cup.
3. Once crushed, push the fruit through a sieve to remove all of the seeds.
4. In a large pot or skillet, combine the seedless crushed fruit, the remaining fresh fruit, the sugar and the lemon juice. Let the mixture stand for 2 hours.
5. Turn the heat on to high, add the butter and bring the fruit mixture to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes. Be sure to stir often to prevent scorching. The jam will thicken and you will know it’s ready when you drag a spoon across the bottom of the pan and are able to see the track left by the spoon.
6. Carefully spoon the jam into the prepared jars and seal them.
7. Process the jars in a water bath for 10 minutes.
8. Remove the jars and let cool completely.
9. Enjoy!

Note:  When processing jars in a water bath, be sure that the water comes at least an inch above the top of the jars. Once the jars have been removed from the water, test the seal by pressing down on the lid. If the lid pops back up in the centre, then the jars have not sealed properly and you’ll have to reseal it.  This jam will keep for months stored in a cool location.

Technorati tags: jam, raspberries, red currants

While I am mostly a good-natured and optimistic Cream Puff, I definitely have an impatient streak that pushes me to rush things. I’m usually the one peeking in the oven and muttering, "Hurry up and bake already!"

Lately, however, I’ve noticed that this impatient streak has given me a harsh edge. It’s not like me and I’m frustrated at my inability to stop it. I’ll snap at family members, I’ll think very rude thoughts of other drivers while I’m in the car, I’ll roll my eyes at the person standing in front of me in line at the store, all the while feeling terribly at my own actions. These past few hot and humid weeks, everything seems to bother me, even responsiblities that I would normally enjoy.

In the late 1990s, my parents bought a property on a ravine lot. The property has a little bungalow on it with a pool and an enormous garden and backyard. The idea was to rent out the property for several years and eventually build a new home. But you know how life is … always throwing you that curve ball.

Almost ten years later, the property is still rented and the enormous garden and backyard are still there. Except now, the burden of caring for this property has fallen on the shoulders of my mother, my brother and myself. My father, who for years so lovingly cared for every inch of that place, is gone and I’ll be honest, part of me chafes when we go there. As much as I love the outdoors and the flowers and vegetables and fruit trees, it’s a lot of work. Hard work. But there is also a part of me that resists going because it makes me think of my father.

A few days ago, duty called and we simply had to go to what we call "the other house". (Like a demanding mistress, the other house can be draining, both financially and emotionally.) The cherry trees required our attention. It has been a banner year for cherry harvests here in Ontario and when I got there, I was amazed to see the trees, stooped over with their burden of cherries. We haven’t seen that many cherries in years!

But I’m also annoyed. It’s hot and terribly humid (damn you, July!). Everyone else is inside watching the World Cup. I can’t find the stupid ladder and when I do find the ladder I can’t find the right position to set it up. The ground is too uneven. The branches of the cherry tree are too thick so I can’t move in amongst them. I want to go home. I’d rather be baking. Unbelievably I’m even frustrated about this blog as I have no idea what to choose for the Flavour of the Month for July. And then I think about how much I dislike the month of July (my apologies to those of you who were born this month). I look around and see the two other trees loaded with cherries and my knees feel weak. Did I mention that it’s hot and humid?

My mother and I pick cherries for hours. At this point I’m bone-tired, hungry and thirsty and so we decide that it’s time to go home. As we pass through the backyard, we approach a set of steps leading up to the back terrace. On each side of the steps there is a tiered garden. At one time, when my parents bought the house, the garden was a sight to behold. Wild flowers and berry bushes were artfully arranged to create a breath-taking vision. But in the years since we’ve rented this house, the garden hasn’t been well-cared for. It’s a constant source of stress. Tenants simply aren’t interested and we only have so much time to do it ourselves. As a result, the garden has become overgrown. Wild sweet pea is taking over everything. Enormous flowering shrubs, which should be cut back, have staked their claim. And here and there I see the defiant red of currant bushes. I stop.

I cannot possibly leave without picking those red currants. I feel gardener’s guilt. As tired as I am, I simply cannot turn my back on those ripe berries. It’s almost a sin. So, with a deep sigh, we begin picking red currants.

Now I’m really irritated. I squash more currants then I pick. There are bees buzzing around me, attracted to the sweet juice, and I impatiently try to swat them away. I’m just about to explode when, unbidden, a thought enters my mind.

Recently, in an attempt to introduce some physical activity into my Cream Puff life, I’ve been taking yoga classes and enjoying them. I think of what my instructor said one evening about how in this life, we spend so much time rushing forward, that we rarely pay any attention to the moment we’re in. As a result, we often miss the simple joy that’s around us all the time. I remember scoffing slightly when she said that. "Easy for you to say," is what I thought.

But suddenly, I find myself thinking about exactly what is going on at that very moment. Immediately, I feel the hotness of the sun on my back. I’m wearing a dark t-shirt that is like a magnet for the sun’s rays. It feels good. Next, I notice a sticky wetness on my fingers. I look down and see that they are wet from the currants that I’ve squashed. I taste the juice and it’s sweet and bitter and good. I look down at my feet and see the basket of red currants, shining like little jewels. I look back and see my mother patiently relieving the bushes of their red currants.

All of a sudden I think of my father. And I know immediately that he would be so happy to know that we’re here, on this little piece of land that was heaven to him, and we’re picking the fruit that he loved. And I think to myself that there is no other place, in that very moment, that I’d rather be.

The drive home is a quiet one. Both my mother and I are tired. The streets are empty as everyone is inside watching England and Portugal duel on the pitch. When we pull into the driveway and get out of the car, my mother begins unloading bushels of cherries, but I march into the house. I’m dirty and sweaty. I have dried cherry stems stuck in my hair and my finger nails are caked with grime. Even so, I march right over to The Overburdened Bookshelf and I pull down Janie Hibler’s The Berry Bible. I remember my urge to be "berrified." I smile because I’ve found my Flavour of the Month. Patting the cookbook, I put it down on the desk by the computer.

And then I go back outside to help my mother with our harvest of cherries and red currants.

Ciao!

Strawberry Lemonade

Adapted from The Berry Bible by Janie Hibler.

• 5 cups cold water
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• juice and zest of 5 lemons (zest should be peeled or coarsely grated)
• 2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

1. Place 2 cups cold water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved.
2. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, lemon zest and remaining 3 cups water. Let cool completely.
3. Place the sliced strawberries in a blender or food processor and process until completely pureed.
4. Once the lemon mixture is cool, mix in the strawberry puree. Strain into a pitcher through a sieve.
5. Refrigerate until cold.
6. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  strawberries, lemonade, red currants

As fairytales do, this one has come to an end. June bids everyone adieu as July waits impatiently to be the star of the show.

Of all the months, July is my least favourite. I know many people will nominate the oft-gloomy November or the very unpredictable March as the months they can do without. But for me, it’s July.

And the reason is very simple. Without question, July is the most humid and muggy month of the year in Toronto. And I absolutely detest humidity. I’m a fall/winter girl to begin with, so while I enjoy aspects of spring and summer including the garden, fresh fruits and vegetables and long days, I do not enjoy the excessive heat. I survive, but I don’t enjoy it. Add to that the heavy layer of humidity that settles over the city in which I live and I generally become a cranky Cream Puff in July. Not a pretty sight.

But it isn’t quite July 1st yet so until then, I will enjoy the last of June. I had great plans for this month in terms of baking and cooking and the Flavour of the Month … Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau. But some computer woes and a decision to paint our entire house put a dent in my well-laid plans.

Ah, well … such is life.

Do not, however, be surprised if you see a Once Upon a Tart creation popping up now and then during the summer. There were quite a few recipes that I wanted to try from this lovely book and never had the chance. While the book is rich with recipes for savoury and sweet tarts, it has so much more. Salads … soups … muffins … cookies … the list goes on. If you have the opportunity, I urge you to pick up the book and peruse its charming pages. You’ll be smitten, I guarantee.

To further entice and tempt you, I leave you with this lovely Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Tart. What a lovely way to end the fairytale!

Ciao!

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Tart

Adapted from Once Upon a Tart … by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau.

The picture at the beginning of this post is one of the tart prior to being baked. It looked so beautiful that I just had to snap a photo.

For the tart shell:

Follow the same recipe as the tart shell in the Roasted Red Pepper Tart with Olive Tapenade.

For the tart:

• 1 large eggplant, sliced about 1/4-inch thick
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
• 6 plum tomatoes, sliced about 1/4-inch thick
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, washed and dried
• 1/4 cup parmesan, freshly grated
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup light cream (10%)
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 par-baked tart shell (recipe link above)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle generously (a few tablespoons) with salt. Let sit for 1/2 an hour. This draws out any excess moisture from the eggplant.
3. After 1/2 an hour, place the eggplant in a bowl (shake off any excess moisture) and add the garlic, olive oil and dried oregano. Mix well and spread the eggplant on the baking sheet. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes. Be careful not to burn the eggplant.
4. While the eggplant is roasting, place the tomato slices in the colander and allow to drain.
5. Once the eggplant is done, remove the baking sheet from the oven and place on a wire rack. Let the eggplant cool to room temperature.
6. Place your par-baked tart on a baking sheet (this helps when it’s time to transfer the tart to the oven and also helps in case your tart leaks).
7. Line the bottom of the tart with the basil leaves. Sprinkle the parmesan over the basil.
8. Alternating between the eggplant and the tomato slices, layer the items in your tart shell. You can be fancy in your design or not … it’s up to you!
9. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Add some freshly ground black pepper to taste (I used 1/2 a teaspoon).
10. Pour the custard mixture carefully over the tart. You may have to stop every now and then to allow the custard to flow down into the tart shell as the eggplant and tomatoes will be piled high. The custard should come up to within a quarter of an inch of the top of the tart shell.
11. Carefully transfer your tart to the oven. Bake for an hour or until the custard is set (doesn’t jiggle) and the vegetables are golden and roasted. Let the tart cool before you serve it.
12. Enjoy!

Note:  The original recipe calls for the basil and parmesan to be blended together in the food processor until they form a paste. I left the basil leaves whole and lined the tart base with them and it turned out lovely. I also increased the amount of basil from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. The original recipe also calls for 8 or 9 plum tomatoes. I found that to be too many so I cut back to 6 plum tomatoes.

Technorati tags:  eggplant, tomatoes, basil, tarts

Finally!

Finally the berries are arriving! Winter is but a memory here in Ontario and spring has waved goodbye. Summer is in full swing and with her she brings all the glorious berries that Ontario has to offer. Those plain, uniformly perfect, bland supermarket strawberries are a thing of the past. They’ve been replaced by the sweetest Ontario strawberries, some of which I hope to pick myself this week. And very soon the armies of Ontario raspberries, wild blueberries and blackberries will be marching in to set our taste buds free!

In celebration, I’ve been going berry crazy. And I couldn’t think of a better way to honour my favourite season (berry season) than the Triple Berry Coffeecake from Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau’s Once Upon a Tart. A simple coffeecake covered in berries and streusel, it really does not get much easier than this when it comes to cakes. And while blueberries and raspberries are not quite in season yet, I used the very last of my frozen stash of last summer’s blueberries and raspberries.

In addition to the copious amounts of fresh berries that I eat, I’m always careful to buy berries at their peak and then freeze them. These frozen berries will carry us through the long winter and well into the spring.

Freezing berries is a simple process. Wash and dry your berries carefully and remove any that are damaged. Spread your berries in one layer on a baking sheet and then slide the sheet into the freezer for several hours. This will allow the berries to freeze individually. Once the berries are frozen, remove the sheet from the freezer and divide your berries into freezer bags or into containers with lids that lock securely to form an airtight seal. I use freezer bags because I can easily stack them in my small freezer.

If you are using freezer bags, the key is to ensure that the berries are airtight. Before sealing the bag completely be sure to remove all the air from the bag as this will prevent freezer burn. Labelling your bag or container with the date also helps just in case you forget when exactly you froze the berries. Mind you this never happens in my house as the berries are long gone before that question even arises!

The Triple Berry Coffeecake is a cinch to make. You can use any combination of berries you like. As the cake bakes, the berries blend together to form a lovely layer of fruit that in spots will bake into the cake. The streusel topping turns out beautifully golden. The original recipe calls for almond paste and pecans in the streusel topping, however, I omitted the almond paste as I thought it might overpower the flavour of the berries. I also used macadamia nuts instead of pecans. I had recently bought the macadamias for another purpose but decided to use them for this coffeecake instead. I was a bit worried as macadamias can be oily and I didn’t want the streusel topping to be too clumpy. It was perfect! The mildness of the macadamias complimented the berries very well.

I’m ready for berry season, people! BERRIFY ME!!!

Ciao!

Triple Berry Coffeecake

Adapted from Once Upon a Tart … by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau.

For the streusel topping:

• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped finely
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1. In a bowl, combine all of the streusel ingredients together. With a fork or with your fingertips, work the butter into the other ingredients until it’s thoroughly mixed and the streusel is crumbly in texture. Set aside.

For the cake:

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold buttermilk
• 1 cup fresh raspberries, washed and dried
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (if using frozen be sure to thaw them first), washed and dried
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, washed, dried and cut into small pieces (same size as other berries)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 13 x 9-inch pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt).
5. Replace the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment. Add half the buttermilk and mix well on low speed.
6. Add half the dry ingredients on low speed and mix well.
7. Add the remainder of the buttermilk and mix well.
8. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.
10. Scatter the raspberries, blueberries and strawberries across the top of the batter.
11. Scatter the streusel topping over the berries.
12. Bake for 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
13. Let the cake cool on a wire rack before serving.
14. Enjoy!

Technorati tags:  coffee cake, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries

Lest you get the impression that I only eat sweets, I’d like you to know that this Cream Puff also eats her veggies. Of course it helps if they’re roasted with lots of garlic, basil and olive oil, enrobed in a custard of cream and egg, and then baked in a golden tart.

Not that I’m picky or anything.

Ciao!

Ratatouille Tart

Adapted from Once Upon a Tart … by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau.

For the tart crust:

Follow the same recipe as the tart crust used for the Roasted Red Pepper Tart with Olive Tapenade.

For the tart:

• 1 large eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 large green zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large yellow zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup light cream (10%)
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a rack in the centre of the oven and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a colander, sprinkle the eggplant pieces with salt (2 to 3 teaspoons) and let sit for about 1/2 an hour. This will draw out any of the bitterness from the eggplant.
3. In a large bowl, combine the green and yellow zucchini and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and mix well. Spread on the baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Scrape the zucchini into a large bowl and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, combine the red and yellow bell pepper pieces, the red onion and the garlic and two tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. Spread on the baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Scrape the peppers and onions into the bowl with the roasted zucchini.
5. In a large bowl, combine the eggplant with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. There’s no need to add salt as the eggplant has already been salted. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Mix well. Spread the eggplant on the baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes or until the eggplant becomes golden. Scrape the eggplant into the bowl with the roasted zucchini, peppers and onion.
6. Add the garlic to the mixture of roasted vegetables and mix.
7. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and the cream. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour this custard over the roasted vegetables and mix well.
8. Pour this mixture into the par-baked tart shell. The vegetables will be piled high in the centre of the tart.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F for an hour or until the custard has set and doesn’t jiggle.
10. Allow the tart to cool on a wire rack before slipping off the outer ring. Slide the tart off the base. Serve this tart warm or at room temperature.
11. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe will yield one 9-inch tart. Leftovers should be refrigerated. The original recipe also includes 4 plum tomatoes roughly chopped. If you want to include those add them to the peppers when you roast them.

Technorati tags:  roasted vegetables, tarts, ratatouille

So there I was, happily navigating the Cream Puff Highway when out of the blue … computer woes.

Talk about getting kicked in the pâte à choux!

June was supposed to be a fairytale, but it’s turned into a bit of bad dream with my inability to post regularly. Admittedly, I’ve felt somewhat lost and it’s made me realize how important this blog has become to me. I’ve met so many wonderful people and on a daily basis, I’m presented with the opportunity to "virtually" feast on the most incredible food. I’ve missed it all terribly!

But it’s time for this Cream Puff to snap out of the bad dream and return to the food fairytale. This was made considerably easier by the incredible Alanna of A Veggie Venture. After I posted my first recipe from Once Upon a Tart, Alanna dropped me a note and mentioned that she too owned the cookbook. Alanna suggested that we have a Once Upon a Tart cross-post where we make the same recipe and blog about it.

Intrigued, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I got to choose the recipe and my choice was a Roasted Red Pepper Tart with Olive Tapenade. Why this particular tart?

Quite simple, my friends. Roasted red peppers and olive tapenade are two of my favourite things in the world. In fact, I briefly contemplated chucking the tart shell and just eating up the peppers and tapenade! But that would not do. I’d hate to deny anyone the pleasure of a buttery and flavourful tart shell embracing red peppers roasted in olive oil and some pretty luscious homemade olive tapenade (if I do say so myself).

I would never deny any of you that!

The ever-creative Alanna decided to turn the recipe into mini tartlets. I warn you now. You will be drooling all over your keyboard.

I’m glad to say that the tart I made was a hit on all counts. To begin with, the pastry recipes that Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau present in Once Upon a Tart are among the best I’ve tried. They have several recipes for pastry covering both sweet and savoury. Even if you have very little experience with pastry, you will find these recipes easy to follow and worth the little extra effort they may take.

While I have an olive tapenade recipe of my own that I use frequently, I decided to test the recipe in the cookbook. I was not disappointed. I used oil-cured black olives, lots of fresh basil, garlic, capers and lemon. The tapenade was thick and luscious. And the best part is that you only need a few tablespoonfuls for the tart. The rest is all for you to consume as you wish. My personal favourite method of consumption is to stand by the open refrigerator with the container of tapenade in one hand and a spoon in the other. Simplicity can be truly blissful.

Interestingly, the recipe does not require you to remove the skins of the roasted peppers. I’m so used to eating roasted peppers without the skins that I was a bit taken aback by this idea. Well you could have tipped this Cream Puff over with a feather when I finally tried the tarts. Since the peppers had been julienned, the skins were not unpleasant at all. In fact I enjoyed the bits of skin that became ever so slightly caramelized and even charred. It was a nice contrast to the sweet, roasted flesh of the pepper. Pair this tart with a refreshing summer salad and you have the perfect summer lunch. Add some figs and cheese and now you’re in exceptionally satisfying dinner territory.

It turns out that both Liza of the charming French Toast and Maura of the enviably beautiful Egg Hunt also count themselves among the proud owners of Once Upon a Tart. They too decided to try the roasted red pepper tart. Please read about Liza’s experience making the tart and Maura’s account of buying the book and also baking the tart.

As for me, the June fairytale is back. And if I’m not mistaken … I do believe that somewhere there is a frog turning into a Prince … or a Roasted Red Pepper Tart with Olive Tapenade. Whichever you prefer!

Ciao!

Roasted Red Pepper Tart with Olive Tapenade

Adapted from Once Upon a Tart … by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau.

For the tart shell:

• 2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, finely chopped (optional)
• 12 tablespoons (1-1/2 cups) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into small cubes
• a bowl of ice water

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, salt and rosemary) in a large bowl and mix with a whisk.
2. Add the butter and vegetable shortening and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or your fingertips. You want the mixture to resemble coarse oatmeal.
3. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and begin gathering the dough together into a bowl. If the dough does not come together, add more ice water one tablespoon at a time.
4. As soon as the dough comes together into a ball, knead it a few times on a floured work surface.
5. Cut the dough in half and flatten each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
6. When your ready to make your tart shell, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
7. Roll out one of the discs into an 11-inch circle and gently fit the dough into a 9-inch pan. Press the dough firmly into the pan and remove any excess dough.
8. With a fork, prick the base of the dough.
9. Line the tart with aluminum foil and place either pie weights or dried beans on the aluminum foil. This is called blind baking the tart. Bake for 10 minutes.
10. After 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights/dried beans. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
11. Remove the tart and let cool while you prepare the filling.

Note:  This pastry recipe will yield two 9-inch tarts. You will need a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.

For the olive tapenade:

• 2 cups black olives (preferably oil-cured)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 5 tablespoons capers, drained
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients, except the olive oil, in the bowl of a food processor.
2. Process until a thick paste forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pulse several times to combine.
3. With the motor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube until combined.
4. Taste and add black pepper if desired.

Note:  The tapenade can be stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the tart:

• 5 red bell peppers, julienned
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 a yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive tapenade
• 1/2 cup parmesan, freshly grated
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup light cream (10%)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper
• parmesan and fresh basil to garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a rack in the centre of the oven.
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
3. In a large bowl, combine the peppers, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well and spread on the the baking sheet.
4. Roast for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the peppers are golden. Keep an eye on the peppers as they can burn.
5. Once the peppers are done, scrape the entire mixture into a bowl and set aside.
6. Spread the olive tapenade over the base of the tart shell.
7. Sprinkle the parmesan over the tapenade.
8. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, light cream, salt and pepper. Pour into the bowl with the red peppers. Mix well and pour the mixture into the tart shell. Don’t worry if it appears that there are more peppers than the tart shell can hold. Pile them in the centre.
9. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. The tart is done when the custard is set and doesn’t jiggle.
10. Let the tart cool on a wire rack.
11. Once cool, carefully remove the outer ring and slide the tart of the base.
12. Garnish with parmesan and basil before serving.
13. Enjoy!

Note:  This tart is best served warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers (if there are any) in the refrigerator.

Technorati tags:  olives, olive tapenade, roasted peppers, tart

I seem to have misplaced my lemon tart! How very embarrassing.

Should you find it anywhere please let me know. I miss it desperately!

Ciao!

Lemon Tart

Adapted from Once Upon a Tart … by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau.

For the tart crust:

Follow the same recipe as for the Alsatian Apple Tart. In this case, once you’ve lined the tart pan with the crust, you must par-bake the crust.

To par-bake it, heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prick the bottom of the tart crust with a fork. Line the crust with foil paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Let cool.

For the lemon tart:

• 1 par-baked tart crust (see above)
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together for 2 minutes. Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix well.
3. Pour carefully into the par-baked tart crust. If you have extra, Frank and Jerome recommend pouring it off into ramekins and baking it along with the lemon tart.
4. Carefully place the tart on a baking sheet.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until the tart doesn’t jiggle when shaken.
6. Let cool completely.
7. I recommend serving with slightly sweetened whipped cream.
8. Enjoy!

Note:  Yields one 9-inch tart.

Technorati tags:  lemons, lemon tart

It is the month of June,

The month of leaves and roses,

When pleasant sights salute the eyes,

And pleasant scents the noses.

– Nathaniel Parker Willis, "The Month of June"

What is that in the air? Do you smell it? Close your eyes and breathe in deeply … there it is … the soft, sweet smell of June. May was lovely, but June is here now and what does it hold for us?

With any luck it will be a month of beautiful weather that we can all enjoy. Hopefully it will be a month where we will watch our gardens grow and begin to see all the familiar faces at our local farmers’ markets. We have so much to look forward to … bright and sunny mornings, hot afternoons made more bearable with a mint julep, and let’s not forget the pleasure of June nights spent with a gelato or a mojito.

But as lovely as June is, it needs something more. It needs a slight sprinkling of fairy dust to make it just that much more magical. As luck would have it, Cream Puff’s Overburdened Bookshelf has just the thing … a June fairytale called Once Upon a Tart.

In the enchanted land of New York, there is a lovely, little place called Once Upon a Tart, owned by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau. As much neighbourhood gem as it is fine bakeshop, Once Upon a Tart is a place where sweet (and savoury) dreams come true.  Frank and Jerome began their business to fulfill the lifelong dream of owing an establishment that produced the best food, both savoury and sweet. I just knew that this was the book with which to entice everyone’s tastebuds during the month of June. As a result, it is the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month for 2006.

Will it be a month of tarts? A month of salads? A month of sweet snacks? Or a little bit of everything? I don’t know where this fairtyale will take us. But I have a Cream Puff hunch that it will all end happily ever after …

Ciao!

Alsatian Apple Tart

Adapted from Once Upon a Tart by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau.

For the tart crust:

• 2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• a glass of ice water

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Pulse a few times to combine.
2. Add the butter and shortening all at once. Pulse the mixture until it becomes crumbly (between 5 and 10 pulses).
3. As soon as the mixture is crumbly, transfer the mixture to a bowl. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of ice water.
4. Either with your hands or a spoon, begin mixing. If the mixture is too dry and does not come together, add the ice water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together.
5. The dough is ready when it just comes to together. Do not overmix or your tart crust will be dry and hard. As soon as the dough forms a ball, divide into two pieces, flatten each piece into a disk and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour.
6. Remove one of the disks from the refrigerator and on a floured surface, roll to a thickness of a quarter inch. Using a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom, carefully transfer the tart crust to the pan.
7. Adjust the dough to fit the pan and trip any excess dough from the sides. Refrigerate the tart crust until ready to use.

For the apple tart:

• 4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly (1/8 inch)
• 1 prepared tart crust (unbaked)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light cream (10% cream)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup apricot jam
• warm water

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and position a rack in the centre of the oven.
2. Arrange the apple slices in the prepared tart crust in concentric circles, with the slices overlapping.
3. Transfer the tart to a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil (just in case there are any spills).
4. In a bowl, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk until the eggs are pale yellow (2 to 3 minutes).
5. Add the cream and milk and mix well.
6. Carefully pour the liquid mixture over the apples. The mixture will come very close to the top of the tart edge.
7. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the tart for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The tart is done when the crust and apples are golden and when the custard has set.
8. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cool, remove the tart ring and carefully slide the tart off the bottom of the tart pan and onto a serving platter.
9. In a bowl, combine the apricot jam and 3 or 4 tablespoons of hot water. Stir to combine.
10. Strain the jam into a bowl. You should have about a 1/4 cup of apricot glaze. Pour the glaze over the tart. Serve immediately or cover the tart and serve when ready.
11. Enjoy!

Note:  The tart crust recipe yields crusts for two 9-inch tarts. If you’re not using the entire recipe, refrigerate half the dough for later use (within 3 days) or freeze for up to a month.

Technorati tags:  apple tart, once upon a tart

"Enjoy with reckless abandon …"

These are the words that are written on the first page of my copy of Donna Dooher and Claire Stubb’s Out to Brunch, the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month for May 2006. How did I come by this autographed copy of such a wonderful book? Let me explain.

As you may have already guessed my entire family shares the philosophy of good food. So it’s not surprising that we are all, in our own way, deeply involved in the pursuit of good food. One of my uncles, Uncle C, has been a waiter for years and as luck would have it, his path brought him to the doors of Mildred Pierce, the restaurant from which the recipes for Out to Brunch come.

Uncle C spent many years at Mildred Pierce before eventually moving on. But during his time there, he developed a strong friendship with the restaurant’s owners. When Out to Brunch was published, knowing how much I loved the restaurant and how much I coveted the cookbook, he had Donna Dooher autograph a copy for me and her words to me were … enjoy with reckless abandon.

How refreshing!

How refreshing to read the words of an accomplished woman who is not afraid of eggs and butter and cream.

How refreshing to know that there is someone else out there who embraces the joy of food and eating without any guilt.

How refreshing, indeed!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating that you spend your days gorging on eggs, sugar, cream and butter. As lovely as blueberry pancakes are and as much as I love my goopy squares, the food universe is too enormous to imagine and it would be a shame not try everything … not to enjoy everything whether it be a vegetable, a piece of cheese or the best piece of chocolate cake you’ve ever laid eyes on.

But I am advocating enjoying your food. I am advocating turning off that stupid little voice that says "This is bad for you," or "You shouldn’t be eating that," because ultimately, food is not bad. What we do with our food, or don’t do with it, is what harms us.

Donna’s book is a constant reminder that a meal, in this case brunch, is what you make of it. You can deny yourself and feel a sense of pleasure over having denied yourself or you can choose to make all foods a part of your life and give up the silly guilt over that cookie you’ve had your eye on.

If you’re in the market for a trusty brunch book, look into Out to Brunch. You know that this Cream Puff does not recommend books lightly. I test as many recipes as I can and I have to feel a connection. Out to Brunch passes the test on all counts. And if you’re ever in Toronto, take the time to visit Mildred Pierce for a meal. You won’t regret it.

And so he we are, my friends. The month of May prepares to make its exit and June readies itself for the stage. Soon there will be a new Flavour of the Month and we will all be enjoying the fruits of June. But before we get there, there is time for Mildred to take her final bow.

For the grand finale, I chose a dessert that I am in the habit of describing as the King of Desserts … the crème brûlée. The Mildred Pierce version is a lovely concoction of cream and caramel. It’s light with just the right note of caramelly sweetness. It’s a beautiful thing.

And I leave you with the words that I have come to love … enjoy with reckless abandon!

Ciao!

Caramel Crème Brûlée

Adapted from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs.

• 3 cups heavy cream (35% cream)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 6 large egg yolks
• extra white sugar for the brulee tops

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Heat the cream in a saucepan just until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and set aside while you prepare the custard base.
3. Combine the sugar and water in another saucepan. Cook over high heat until the mixture turns a light amber, 5 to 7 minutes (have a bowl of ice water nearby just in case of splatters or in case you need to quickly cool down the caramel by plunging the bottom of the pot into the ice water).
4. As soon as the mixture has turned a light amber, remove from the heat and carefully add the cream. The mixture will bubble furiously so take extra care.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with a small amount of the caramel cream to temper the eggs. While whisking continuously, slowly add the remainder of the caramel cream.
6. Strain your mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and then pour the custard into 6 ramekins (ramekins should have a 1/2 cup capacity).
7. Place the ramekins in a large baking pan and fill the pan with hot water so that it comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
8. Carefully transfer the pan to the oven. Bake the custards for 45 to 50 minutes or until just set. The centre of the custards will jiggle slightly. Remove from the oven and let stand for half an hour.
9. Remove the ramekins and refrigerate until cold (at least 4 hours).
10. Before serving, spread 1 teaspoon of sugar across the top of each custard. Using a kitchen torch, brûlée the sugar until it has turned golden.
11. Enjoy!

Note:  Keep leftover custards in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days … if they even last that long.

Technorati tags:  caramel, creme brulee, mildred pierce

Ladies and gentleman, I am here today to announce an exciting discovery in the dessert department.

Up until this point in my life, I’ve defined desserts and sweets as cakes, cookies, bars, squares, custards, puddings and so on. It’s been a blissful existence investigating the possibilities of each and every one of these definitions. How many chocolate cake recipes can I actually accumulate? As it turns out … quite a lot. And I’ve often said that one can never have too many recipes for lemon bars. That’s just not possible.

When it comes to squares, I’ve always believed that squares are just as their name would suggest … square pieces of sweets with some sort of base, topped by some sort of sweet filling and often finished with icing sugar or whipped cream. You can’t imagine my surprise when I discovered a new category of sweet … "the goopy square".

What’s a goopy square? Well, it’s sort of like a square except that when you slice and serve it, it doesn’t remain a square. It becomes goopy. Hence, the name.

The goopy square has a base that is very similar to a shortbread crust. The filling, which is where the goopiness eventually comes from, is a caramel sauce that is firm when chilled, but goopy when allowed to come to room temperature. Goopy squares are best served slightly warm, preferably with ice cream. But you can enjoy them just as they are.

Unlike regular squares, goopy squares are messy. This of course means they are far more fun to eat than regular squares. I came upon my goopy square discovery when I decided to make the New York Pecan Squares from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs, which of course is the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month for May 2006.

I thought I was making a typical square that was rich with butter and pecans. But as often happens with amazing discoveries, you think you’re going one place and you end up somewhere else.

I hope you will discover the joy of goopy squares. And I dare you not to eat the whole pan.

I dare you!

Ciao!

New York Pecan Squares

Adapted from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs.

For the shortbread crust:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups cake and pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar for 2 minutes. Add the pastry flour and salt and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until just combined and the dough gathers in a ball.
3. Using your hands (wet them if the dough is a bit sticky), spread the dough evenly in the bottom of 9 x 11-inch pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Cover the dough with a sheet of parchment paper and fill with pie weights or with dried beans in order to blind bake the pastry. Bake for 20 minutes and then remove to a wire rack.
5. After 10 minutes remove the parchment paper and let the crust cool completely.

For the goopy squares:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1-1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (35% cream)
• 4-1/2 cups pecan halves (you can also use walnuts)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the butter, sugars, honey and salt in a large saucepan. Cook over high heat until it comes to a boil. Once it’s boiling, let it boil for 6 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and very carefully add the heavy cream. Have a bowl of ice water nearby in case the sauce overcooks or in case you get burned. Safety is very important when making a caramel or a caramel sauce! Stir the cream and then immediately add the pecans and mix well to coat the pecans.
3. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Allow to cool completely before cutting into goopy squares.
5. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe will make anywhere from 12 to 18 goopy squares depending on how large you cut them. The pan size called for in Out to Brunch is 9 x 11 x 2 inches. I found it very difficult to find a pan this size, however, I did find aluminum pans that size in the grocery store. I was told that you can find glass baking dishes in that size as well.

Technorati tags: squares, pecans, mildred pierce

I will keep this post short and "sweet".

If I ever started my own religion, it would be based on the belief that in every life there should be some fried dough covered in sugar. This idea was brought into focus awhile ago when I visited Orangette and read Molly’s post about fritters. So true!

Deciding to act on my sweet awakening, I made Cinnamon Sugar Beignets from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs. This recipe is a dream. You mix the dough at night. Go to bed. Wake up and fry yourself some beignets. Roll them in cinnamon sugar and experience bliss.

I say let there be fried dough!

Ciao!

Cinnamon Sugar Beignets

Adapted from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs.

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons fresh yeast (1 tablespoon dry yeast)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl combine the water, yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Mix and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to get going.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, the remaining sugar and the cinnamon. Add the eggs and yolk and beat well with a wooden spoon. Mix in the yeast mixture, the salt and the flour.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or with a dish cloth and keep in a warm place for about two hours, or until the dough has doubled in size. Punch down the dough and then put in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
4. When you’re ready to make the doughnuts, heat vegetable oil in a pot. The vegetable oil should come at least 3 or 4 inches up the side of the pot but should be filled no more than 4 inches from the top. Use a thermometer to determine when the oil is ready. Heat to 325 degrees F.
5. As the oil heats, take the risen dough out of the refrigerator and pat it into a rectangle that’s roughly 1-inch thick. You may need to flour your board and hands well as the dough can be sticky.
6. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, dipped in flour, cut out circles. Reroll the scraps and cut out more circles. In total you should get between 12 and 16 beignets.
7. Drop the beignets into the oil 4 at a time. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes or until they are golden. Drain on paper towels. As soon as you can handle them roll them in cinnamon sugar.
8. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe will yield 12 to 16 beignets depending on the size of your cookie cutter. When working with the dough it may be sticky so have flour at your side. If you can’t find fresh yeast, substitute dry yeast. The ration for substitution is 2:1. So 2 tablespoons of fresh yeast is substituted with 1 tablespoon dry yeast.

Technorati tags:  beignets, cinnamon sugar, mildred pierce

The more observant among you may have noticed that I like sweets and that I like to bake. Hope I wasn’t too obvious about it! As I lazed about in true Cream Puff fashion wondering what sweet to make next, I realized that I haven’t spent any time on savory dishes from the Cream Puffs in Venice Flavour of the Month: Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs.

My chronic sweet tooth means that I almost always choose something sweet for brunch. But I’m an equal opportunity Cream Puff so I decided to try something savory for a change. But what to make?

I decided to try some culinary golf and see if I could score (???) a hole in one, so to speak. If I’ve mangled any golf terminology you’ll have to forgive me. I’m a Canadian Cream Puff and my knowledge of sports terminology is mainly confined to hockey.   

Anyway … the golf equivalent of a hat trick is what I ended up with! A simple yet completely satisfying dish, you’ve probably had a version of this at some point in your life. It’s basically a slice of the best bread you can find, with a little hole cut out in the middle. A fresh egg is lovingly nestled in the hole and then cooked (either baked or fried) until ready. Serve with bacon and you have the perfect brunch dish. And no matter how old you are cutting a circle out of the bread and planting your little egg inside is just plain old fun!

I shall be returning to my beloved sweets soon, but for today, I’m going to make like Tiger Woods and enjoy my hole in one.

Fore!

Hole in One

Adapted from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 4 slices sturdy bread, sliced 1-inch thick (I used sourdough bread.)
• 4 large eggs
• salt and pepper

1. Butter both sides of the bread. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the centre of each slice of bread. Reserve the cutout pieces of bread.
2. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet and saute the cutout pieces of bread until golden; set aside.
3. Add a bit more butter to the pan if necessary, and lay the bread in the pan. You may have to cook these two at a time so as not to overcrowd your pan. Cook the bread for one minute and then turn. Gently crack an egg into the centre of each slice of bread. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until the bread begins to toast and turn golden on the bottom. Carefully, flip the slices of bread over and fry for another 1 or 2 minutes.
5. Serve with bacon and the fried cutout pieces of bread to dip into the egg yolk.
6. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe serves 4.

As part of the May Eat Local Challenge, I used eggs purchased from one of Ontario’s egg farmers. The delicious eggs I used were from the Clark Poultry Farm in Port Perry, Ontario!

Technorati tags:  eggs, brunch, mildred pierce, eat local challenge

When I was a very little girl, my mother would get up extra early on weekend mornings and make pancakes. Her pancakes, as with all the food she cooks, were perfect. They were golden rounds of puffed up goodness that I would happily drench in maple syrup. No matter what was happening in our household, I always knew that my mother would make those pancakes for me. And I loved her for it.

Several years ago, when I first made Mrs. Biederhof’s Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes, I was surprised as I watched my mother eat them. Her eyes lit up and her face took on the look that I must have had on my face when she would make her pancakes for me. So every Mother’s Day I must make these pancakes for my mother. They are gorgeous and fluffy and fat … and they taste the very best when you smother them in butter and the very best maple syrup you can find.

Because I’ve made these for my mother I hope you’ll forgive my use of blueberries at this time of year which is decidedly not eating locally. We’re still a ways off from blueberry season in Ontario. But hey … it’s for my mom!

Happily, this pancake recipe comes from my favourite brunch book, the same one that I’ve chosen as the Flavour of the Month:  Out to Brunch from the restaurant Mildred Pierce. If you ever have the chance to visit the restaurant and order these pancakes, please do. You will not be sorry.

In the meantime, I’m off to give my mother a big hug and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.

And I send those same wishes to all of you and to all the wonderful mothers out there!

Ciao!

Mrs. Biederhof’s Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Adapted from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• unsalted butter to cook the pancakes

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
2. In another bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk and melted unsalted butter and mix well.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently, preferably with a spatula, just until the ingredients are all wet. The batter should be lumpy. Do not over mix!
4. In a pan, melt 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Ladle the batter into the pan 1/3 of a cup at a time. Depending on the size of your pan you can make 2 or 3 pancakes at a time. If you want smaller pancakes use less batter.
5. Sprinkle the blueberries over the pancakes and cook until bubbles appear along the edges and surface of the pancakes. The edges will begin to brown slightly (should take 2 or 3 minutes).
6. Carefully flip the pancakes and cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes.
7. Serve the pancakes with butter and maple syrup.
8. Enjoy!

Note:  This recipe will make 12 pancakes. Remember not to over mix the batter and do not cook over very high heat or the butter will burn.

Technorati tags:  blueberries, pancakes, brunch, mildred pierce, mother’s day

Mildred’s daughter Veda has a message for you.

She wants you to eat her mother’s scones. And she wants you to make sure that you smother the scones in copious amounts of double cream and jam (preferably strawberry).

Why should you do what Veda says? In a review of the movie Mildred Pierce on www.dvdtalk.com, Glenn Erickson writes the following of Veda, "Audiences had certainly never seen a female reptile like Veda on screen before … Veda greedily consumes luxuries, pretending to love their source while constantly angling for a better deal … Veda takes the cake for sheer nerve. Her callous exploitation … is the work of a junior-league Borgia."

Still not convinced that you should do what Veda says? Well, let me put it to you this way:  she’s an evil, conniving, manipulating murderess who would stop at nothing … NOTHING … to have her way.

So if Veda says you should eat a scone … eat the scone.

Ciao!

Mildred’s Scones

Adapted from