I just can’t help myself!

The weather has been so gorgeous lately as spring finally begins to show itself, little by little.

Perhaps it’s the long winter that we had or the fact that for a good two months I had almost no time to think about anything outside of work, but I’m just so happy that it’s spring.

Or perhaps it’s the fact that the Daring Bakers were mentioned by Nick Malgieri in an article in the Washington Post … let’s hear it for the Daring Bakers and all the other incredible bloggers mentioned in that article!

So to celebrate sunny days and good news, I thought I’d share the lovely lemon tarts that I made for Easter dessert (can you believe Easter happened already?!).

For the Daring Bakers out there who had some difficulties with the Perfect Party Cake and for those of you that read about those difficulties, here’s one to restore your faith in the great Dorie! Not that our faith was ever weak, mind you.

This tart recipe comes from Dorie’s Baking: From My Home to Yours. It’s a lemon cream tart that is made in a very unique way. Usually when making lemon curd, you cook it until it thickens and then add butter off the heat. Once cooled, the curd is ready to use.

This particular filling is made by putting the lemon base in a blender or food processor and adding the butter with the motor running. What you end up with is almost like a lemon butter rather than a lemon curd.

However you want to describe it, it’s beyond delicious. To read about the tart straight from Dorie, you can check out her post (and recipe) on Serious Eats.

So open those windows, let some sunshine in and enjoy the rest of the week!

Ciao!

Today is the spectacular Lis’ birthday!

I regularly thank my lucky stars for the day that I first met one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Lis of La Mia Cucina is a friend, a sister, a confidante, a problem solver, a listener, a buddy and a sweetheart.

For her birthday, I want to share with her (and all of you) a yogurt cake for the ages. Like Lis, this cake is warm, wholesome, comforting and oh-so-sweet.

Happy birthday, Lis!

Ciao!

The Best Yogurt Cake
From Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours (with a few tweaks).

Note: I’d never heard of yogurt cake until shortly after I received my copy of Dorie’s book. Of course who else but the great Dorie Greenspan to inspire one to take a glorious cake and make it even more glorious?! I’ve changed the lemon flavour of the original to an orange flavour, enhanced with the addition of Grand Marnier. This cake will serve 6 to 8 (or one very greedy Cream Puff) and will keep for several days.

For the cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake and pastry flour (sifted)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vanilla sugar (if you don’t have vanilla sugar, just use a whole cup of granulated sugar)
grated zest of an orange
1/2 cup plain yogurt (don’t use low fat yogurt)
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier
1/2 cup canola oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and butter a small loaf pan (8 x 4 inches or similar size).

In a bowl, combine the flours and the baking powder.

In another bowl, combine the sugar and the orange zest. This is an interesting way of introducing zest into a cake. Rub the zest into the sugar so that it’s fragrant.

Add the yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract and Grand Marnier to the sugar/zest mixture. Whisk until smooth.

Slowly add the dry ingredients, whisking all the while to ensure there are no lumps.

Add the oil mixing carefully until the you have a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, testing for doneness with a cake tester or a toothpick.

Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes before carefully unmolding. Once unmolded, glaze the cake.

For the glaze:

1/2 cup apricot jam (or any jam or marmalade of your choice)
1 to 2 tsp. Grand Marnier (enough to make it a smooth glaze that will pour rather easily)

Heat the jam and the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan. Stir until you have a smooth mixture that will pour easily.

Immediately pour it over the unmolded cake, using a brush to make sure that you reach all the little nooks.

I like to serve this cake warm, but it’s also very good at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Technorati tags: la mia cucina, cake, yogurt cake, dorie greenspan

Today is the great Julia Child’s birthday!

To honour this day, Lisa of Champaign Taste is hosting the second annual food blog event to honour the birth of one of the most influential women in food history. Not bad for someone who didn’t start cooking seriously until she was in her 30s!

What else can I possibly say about Julia Child that hasn’t already been said? She was glorious. On her birthday, I wish simply that we would all take a page out of her life book. Let’s get into the kitchen. Let’s cook. Let’s bake. Let’s enjoy!

Ciao!

To celebrate Julia’s birthday this year, I decided to finally try a recipe that I’d had bookmarked for many years. It’s the Pizza Rustica from the book Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. It’s essentially a slightly sweet pie dough that’s stuffed with a ricotta filling dotted with prosciutto and basil. Delicious!

For Julia’s birthday last year, I made Cantuccini.

Technorati tags: julia child, pizza rustica

After the excitement of baking for a bridal shower at the beginning of May, I could not have possibly imagined what was to happen next. I was barely over the high of baking (and being paid for it) when I had what I consider to be an opportunity of a lifetime.

I had lunch with Dorie Greenspan.

Dorie is the author of many incredible cookbooks including Baking with Julia, Paris Sweets and the recently pubished Baking: From My Home to Yours. In April, Dorie was awarded the James Beard Foundation award in the Baking and Dessert category, and deservedly so.

Dorie was in Toronto for the Santé: The Bloor-Yorkville Wine Festival. As soon as Dorie e-mailed me to let me know that she’d be in town, I knew I had to make time to meet with her.

After a few e-mails, we agreed to meet at the Avenue bar and lounge in the Four Seasons Hotel for lunch. I arrived early and chose a table by the window. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I fidgeted in the chair and kept fussing with my top. I looked at the menu. I looked outside. I tried to imagine what it would be like saying hello to Dorie.

And then there she was. And the very first thing she did was give me a huge hug. Within seconds, I felt like I’d known Dorie forever. She is as sweet and charming in person as she is in her cookbooks.

Over the course of almost two hours, we talked about everything from living in Paris to creating recipes. With a wonderful sense of humour, Dorie imparted so much wonderful advice and encouragement. I told her about the Daring Bakers and how much baking meant to me.

I find myself at a point in my baking where I’m trying to figure out how to create recipes of my own, but I don’t want to fail. Dorie very wisely pointed out that it’s okay to try something and chuck it if it doesn’t work out. It was a liberating piece of advice! I was amazed by Dorie. Her energy and her presence were infectious.

Best of all, Dorie signed my copy of Paris Sweets, a book that I hold most dear!

But before I knew it, I had to return to work. I would have loved to have spent the rest of the afternoon with Dorie and walked over to The Cookbook Store. Gracious as ever, Dorie sent me on my way with another hug and a smile.

As I made my way back to work, I could hardly believe that I’d just had lunch with Dorie Greenspan. When I got back to work, a number of my colleagues were eagerly awaiting the details as I’d told them about the lunch. I got to relive it all and it was no less exciting and unbelievable.

In the days that followed, as I reflected on Dorie’s words, I had this overwhelming urge to bake for her. That may sound silly, but baking is the best way I know to share my appreciation. I have a little theory that we bakers share a generosity gene and I think Dorie proves that. Her selflessness, her willingness to share what she knows and give advice, I think it’s all because of that little bit of baking DNA!

For Dorie, I decided to bake one of my most favourite little treats. They’re called Pasticcioni (plump pastries) and are from Viana La Place’s dear, sweet cookbook, La Bella Cucina. They’re plump little cakes filled with a dollop of pastry cream and baked. While the original recipe advises to eat them while warm or the day that they’re baked, I actually like them if they’re a few days old. They’re lovely dipped in espresso and then bitten into to find the pastry secret inside. Sometimes, I also like to tuck a perfect blueberry or raspberry inside each one as a little treat.

Technorat tags: dorie greenspan, paris sweets