Maple Rosemary Walnuts

This is a savoury cocktail snack that is secretly so easy and so addictive it ought to be illegal. Whole walnuts caramelized in a dry pan with maple syrup, a few finely chopped sprigs of rosemary, some flaky salt caramelize in a dry pan in a about five minutes. Who knew that "tree blood," and some herbs would be so delicious? The walnuts taste woodsy, sweet, bitter and salty, and a little bit like Thanksgiving stuffing. Obviously you could skip the rosemary, but then you'd just have Maple Walnuts, which doesn't have quite the same ring.
This recipe is the time to use that fancy flaky sea-salt, it adds the right amount of salty addictiveness without dissolving, so you only need a liberal sprinkle once the walnuts come out of the pan. Spread them on a baking sheet and once they cool, you have a sweet savoury snack- food, that takes the edge of pre-dinner hunger pangs, adds bite to salads and tames the effects of D.I.Y. cocktail party drinks. That is if you can keep them around long enough.

Maple Rosemary Walnuts

2 cups walnut halves
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
pinch of kosher salt

In a small bowl, stir together maple syrup, rosemary, and a pinch of salt. Heat a dry skillet (I used nonstick) over medium-high heat. Add walnuts to the hot skillet and pour in maple syrup mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until maple syrup has caramelized, about 3 minutes (it will coat the walnuts and the pan will look almost dry). Spread walnuts out on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with a bit more salt if desired. Let cool.

Wild Blueberry Creme Fraiche Tart

It's wild blueberry season again! Wild blueberries a.k.a. my favourite thing about late summer (yes I do realize it is september! Summer's not over 'til the leaves change colour!) are teeny tiny blueberries that are tarter and cuter than their cultivated cousins.
This season, I decided to bake something less rustic, and more elegant. Enter the Wild Blueberry CremeFraiche Tart, a recipe I had been saving until I could get my hands on my favourite forest fruits. This tart is made of a simple filling of blueberries, sugar, flour and lemon zest nestled in a simple roll-out tart dough, huddling under a rich blanket of tangy smooth creme fraiche.


This is one of the easiest and most successful tart doughs I've ever used. It comes together quickly, and rolls without much cracking, to a thin layer that fits almost perfectly in the pan. The only problem is that weighting is really essential as the dough did shrink more than I would have liked. That said, it was soft,tender and golden brown even after stay of about 40 minutes total in the oven.
The wild blueberry filling is tart and satisfying. It holds it's shape when you cut into the tart, and the tiny berries burst in your mouth like fruity caviar. I added about a tablespoon of lemon zest to the original recipe and it was just the perfect amount to keep the blueberries tart but to emphasize their inherent blueberry-ness.


The creme fraiche topping gets added much like one would add a sour cream layer on a cheesecake, and in fact sour cream would probably make an excellent substitute if creme fraiche is not viable. The creme fraiche layers gets baked last after the blueberry layer has been in the oven for 20 minutes, and it is baked until it starts to bubble and brown in spots as the juicy blueberries burst through the creme layer in purple spots. The broiled creme fraiche topping really added a layer of creaminess to counterpoint the zesty blueberry filling, and give another texture to this dessert.
Another thing to note , is that this tart is best eaten the day it is made (if it lasts that long!), as after a few days in the fridge, the creme fraiche absorbed some of the juices from the blueberries and turned a vibrant shade of magenta, delicious magenta.




Wild Blueberry Creme Fraiche Tart
dairy
makes one 8 inch tart, about 8 servings.

Tart pastry:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
• 1 tablespoon water
  

Filling:

• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 3 cups wild blueberries
• 3/4 cup creme fraiche

1. To make pastry: Combine flour, sugar, salt and butter until coarse crumbs, using a pastry blender or your fingers. Beat together egg yolk, lemon juice, and water. Sprinkle enough lemon mixture into flour base to bring dough together. knead into ball. wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Roll to fill an 8-inch loose bottom tart pan. press into pan, trim excess and chill for 30 minutes or until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
   
4. Place a sheet of foil or parchment on pastry and fill with rice or dried beans to weigh the pastry down. Bake for 15 minutes. remove foil and bake 5 minutes longer.
5. To make filling: Combine flour, sugar and lemon rind. Mix with blueberries. place in tart pastry and bake for 20 minutes. Spread creme fraiche over blueberries and bake for another 30 minutes or until creme fraiche has bubbled and is slightly browned in places.

Adapted from: LCBO Food and Drink Magazine Summer 2005

Peach and Raspberry Cornmeal Cobbler

A friend recently brought me a carton of Ontario peaches, and a quick perusal of the interwebs told me that my gifted peaches wanted to share the limelight with some raspberries in this sunny cobbler.
Fruit desserts, like this one are perfect for summer when you want something quick and easy to use up seasonal produce. You can toss together the fruit with some sugar, starch and lemon juice, top with a quick and easy biscuit recipe and you've cobbled together (if you will) a bubbling pan of comfort food-y goodness without much effort but for a lot of payoff.
This recipe is best eaten fresh out of the oven with some vanilla ice cream or yogurt, so that the biscuit topping doesn't lose its magic when it is stored for a few days. That's not to say you can't reheat it, but there is nothing like a warm peach cobbler and the anticipation leading up to it, when it's fresh from the oven. Trust me on this, I speak no lies.



Cornmeal biscuits are everything that is good and wonderful about both biscuits and cornbread. The recipe results in a faintly sweet, lemon scented biscuit that is crispy on top, but so tender it's almost cake-like on the inside. Breaking into the biscuit-layer the crackly yellow topping parts to reveal a saucy peach -raspberry filling. Peaches and raspberries complement each other so well, its a classic pairing, like a peach melba kinda thing. The baked fruit turns pink and orange the colours blending together like a sunset under yellow cornmeal clouds.



Peach and Raspberry Cornmeal Cobbler

makes 8 servings
dairy

• 7 cups firm ripe peaches, pitted and peeled and sliced
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon lemon juiceC

Cornmeal Topping

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
• 2/3 cup milk

1. In a large bowl toss together peaches, raspberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice: scrape into 8-inch square baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, soda and salt. Using pastry blender cut in butter until crumbly. Drizzle with milk stirring t form a soft sticky dough. Drop topping by tablespoon onto peach mixture.
3. bake in 375 degree F oven until bubbly and biscuits are golden and no longer doughy underneath when lifted, about 50minutes to 1 hour.

adapted from: Canadian Living August 2009

Cherry Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This is officially my consummate pound cake. All the other pound cakes I've made pale in comparison. I shall write sonnets about this cake. This will be my afternoon tea-casual brunch- last minute dinner-party-everyday-cake. Everyone needs a cake like this in their arsenal.
Fact: Cream cheese makes everything delicious and this cake is no exception to this rule of life. The cream cheese in this recipe contributes a fine, even crumbed texture and a moist interior as well as a subtly tangy flavour that balances what would otherwise be all sweetness and no bite.
the almond extract contributes a subtle, well-rounded flavour that complements the inherent nuttiness of the cream cheese and underscores the sweetness of the dried cherries. You could leave the cherries out if you wanted....this is The Consummate Pound Cake and it doesn't rely on gimmicks, but hey, why not gild the lily with plump dried cherries that add chewy spots of brightness to a delectable cake. Add a dusting of powdered sugar, and you are ready for any occasion that requires an afternoon tea-casual brunch- last minute dinner-party-everyday-cake.


Cherry Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake

makes one 10-inch Bundt cake

• 1/4 cup-1/2 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped, if desired
• 3 cups all-purpose or cake flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

1. If desired plump cherries in 2 tablespoons kirsch or hot water for 20 minutes. (I skipped this step as my dried cherries were pretty soft already.)
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to blend and set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium speed until well blended and light, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture at low speed, mixing just until blended. add the cherries (and any remaining liquid), and mix until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. bake the cake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
6. Unmold the cake onto the rack and let cool completely.
7. Dust the cake lightly with confectioners sugar right before serving.
8. Store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Adapted from: The Cake Book By Tish Boyle

Black Forest Cookies

This cookie recipe has made it up onto my top 20 list of favourite cookies, the recipe comes from a New York City bakery, called Baked, which I have only ever visited in my dreams and in my kitchen thanks to their cookbook.
This recipe was inspired by the classic flavours and kitsch appeal of traditional black forest torte, a ubiquitous cake in old-school European bakeries. True to form, this cookie has all the appeal of the best possible version of a black forest torte, in a convenient bite-sized package.
This cookie dough is more cake batter than cookie dough, with very little flour, a base made by beating eggs to the ribbon stage, and a whopping 16 ounces(!) of deep dark chocolate melted into the batter. Once you mix the batter, it is very loose and liquidy, it looks more like it should make a cake than cookies, but a chill in the fridge firms the dough up, into a dense fudge-like cookie dough. It took Herculean effort not to eat vast quantities of raw cookie dough. Don't even get me started on the substantial amount of the dried cherries, and white and dark chocolate chips distributed throghout the batter. These cookies are rich and decadent to say the least, and that is exactly what I want to see in a chocolate-chocolate cookie.
The recipe says you can make 24 tablespoon-sized cookies,but I made at least 40 teaspoon sized cookies and the batter is so rich you wouldn't really want anything bigger anyways.
The baked cookies are dark, with crackly pebbly tops from the chips , and soft fudgy centres. The white chocolate chips create pockets of vanilla creaminess while the dried cherries almost disappear in the darkness of the cookie, only to resurface as sweet tangy counterpoint to the overall chocolate cacophony.
If you have periodic, chocolate cravings, these are the cookies to satisfy you.




Black Forest Cookies

makes 24-40 cookies(I made really teeny cookies, I got a lot out of the batter)
dairy
time: 1 hour mixing, overnight refrigeration, 20 minutes baking time total

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 salt
• 16 ounces dark chocolate(60-70% percent cacao- I used a mix of bittersweet, unsweetened and semisweet), coarsley chopped
• 10 tablespoons, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 6 large eggs
• 1-1/4 cup granulated sugar
• I cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried cherries

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and sat together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large non-reactive metal owl, combine the dark chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, about 5 minutes(the batter will get to ribbon stage.)
4. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and beat again for 10 seconds.
5. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds. Do not over mix.
6. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and dried cherries. The dough will look very loose, but it will harden in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with silpat mats or parchment paper.
8. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart, bake for 10-12 minutes, the time may be more or less than this depending on your oven, until the tops of the cookies are set and begin to show a few cracks. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before removing from the baking sheets. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Adapted from: Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Mojito Cakelets

These cakes came about a bit randomly. I invited a friend over for dinner, and wanted a nice dessert because baking is my thing and I have a reputation to uphold. I have also been having a lot of cocktail parties and playing DIY mixologist, so cocktails have been on the mind, as such I have a fridge full of limes, a bottle of rum, some fresh mint from a salad-making spree and a hankering for cupcakes. With booze in them, natch.
I started out with a recipe for margarita cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World, because I love their vanilla cupcake recipe and this one followed the same formula. I used dark rum instead of tequila and I added a tablespoon of fresh mint. I was most nervous about the mint because I was worried about having lots of big green bits in my cupcakes, but I chopped it quite fine, and it's sweet herbaceous flavour was a subtle and refreshingly cool complement to the stronger rum and lime notes in the cupcake. The entire cake gets topped with a simple icing sugar glaze made with the juice and zest of a lime as well as another healthy glug of dark rum.These cupcakes are super bright and refreshing. They bring to mind sunshiney days and sunny afternoons with cool breezes sitting on the porch. I have no porch but they will definitely be making there way to summer picnics in the near future.



Mojito Cakelets
makes 4 7-0z ramekin cakes
vegan
time: 1 hour

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mojito glaze:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• finely grated zest of one lime
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• fresh mint leaves to garnish cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees f. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners or grease 4 7-0z ramekins .
2. In a large bowl, beat together lime juice and zest, soymilk, canola oil, rum, vanilla, mint and sugar. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, powder and salt. Fold dry mixture into wet mixture, whisking until no lumps remain.
3. For cupcakes: fill liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick or knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. If using ramekins: fill 3/4s of the way full and bake for 25-35 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
4. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool at least 10 minutes before removing from pans. let cool completely before glazing with mojito glaze.
5. To make the glaze. Stir together all ingredients until of a drizzling consistency. Spoon over tops of cakelets and let run down the sides. While still wet, garnish cupcakes with fresh mint leaves, using the glaze to adhere the leaves.

Loosely adapted from: Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World

Lemon Pudding Cakes

This is a dessert I haven't made in a very long time despite the fact that I love citrus desserts and used to enjoy it all the time as a kid. Lemon pudding cake is one of the fancy desserts that I will always associate dinner parties and holidays. This recipe is a little bit different from the one my mom used to make, but the outcome is fairly similar: a tangy sweet lemon curd topped with a fluffy cloud-layer of lemon scented sponge cake.
Pudding cakes are the result of mysterious oven-magic, the cake is made by making a lemon mixture that is then folded into egg whites, but as it bakes in it's steamy water bath, the cake separates into a sauce with a fluffy cake topping. The result is delicious and moist and requires no garnish excet for some garden-fresh red currants and a dusting of powdered sugar. You can even make individual servings in ramekins but I opted to serve this dessert family style in a large casserole dish.
This two in one dessert is both pudding and cake, giving me ample opportunity to indulge my Anglophilia by calling it a "pud"and a generally using a parade of "British-isms" to assuage my longing to visit the land of tea and crumpets. Someday!

Lemon Pudding Cakes
makes 8 servings
dairy

• 1/2 cup all-purposeflour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest.
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice ( from about 2 lemons)
  
• 1-1/3 cups whole milk

1. Preheat the oven to 35 degrees F. Use either a large 2 quart soufle dish or 8 ramekins and place in a large baking dish. You do not need to grease the pans.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and the salt. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cups of the sugar until pale ad thick. they may be slightly grainy. Stir in the flour and beat until very thick, about 2 minutes more. Mine looked biscuit-like at this point. Stir in the lemon zest, juice and milk.
3. Using an electric mixer on high speed, whip the egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and whip until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Using a spatula, stir one fourth of the egg whites into the lemon mixture. Gently fold in the rest just until no streaks of white are visible. Divide among the ramekins, or pour into large casserole dish.
4. Plae casserole or ramekins in a large pan and fill to one inch with boiling water. Bake until the centres are firm to the touch and the edges are slightly golden brown and pull away from the sides of the ramekins or casserole, about 40-50 minuteas. Remove from the oven but leave in the water bath for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room tempertaure straight from ramekins or carefully cut into squares..

Adapted from: The Williams Sonoma Baking Book: The Essential Recipe Collection for Today's Home Baker

Lemon Ginger Oatmeal Cake with Dried Cranberries

This is a not-too sweet tea-cake full of oatmeal, bran, fresh ginger, lemon zest and chewy dried cranberries. It is the kind of cake you could justify eating for breakfast or as a hearty pick me up snack on a rainy afternoon. A simple sugar glaze and a smattering of crystallized ginger make it pretty and inviting and adding subtle heat to each bite. This recipe is a great way to use up your last batch of homemade crystallized ginger!


The cake gets baked in a 9' round cake pan but as I only have 8" pans, I made one 8-inch cake plus three single sized ramekin cakes which came out so pretty that I might just skip the large cake and make all mini cakes the next time and oh there will be a next time.


Lemon Ginger Oatmeal Cake
makes one 9' cake or one 8-inch cake and three ramekin cakes.
dairy
time: abut 1 1/2 hous

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 1-1/2 cups ap flour
• 1/2 cup bran
• 1/2 cup quick cooking ats
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
  
• 2 largeeggs, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk

glaze:

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup finely chopped candied ginger

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan (or an 8-inch pan plus three 6-oz ramekins) and line the base with parchment paper. set aside.
2. Place ginger, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice in a small pot over medium heat and simmer, stirring, until sugar has melted and mixture is hot. Remove from heat and stirring cranberries and lemon rind. reserve.
3. Combine flour, bran, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Beat together butter and remaining 3/4 cup sugar using an electric mixer untl light and fluffy. add eggs slowly and beat well. Beat in half of flour mixture, then buttermilk, then remaining flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in cranberry mixture.
5. Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes (even the rameking cakes took 40 minutes) or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let pan cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan, peel off parchment and allow to cool fully on a wire rack.
6. Whisk together icing sugar and buttermilk until it forms a thin icing. Drizzle over cake and sprinkle with candied ginger.

Adapted from LCBO Food and Drink Magazine winter 2011