Sometimes the easiest way to a new dessert is to taking an existing one, like this Carrot Cake and tweak it just a little to come up with something new like Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. The recipe for the Carrot Cake was just a little too rich for cupcakes so all that was needed was to reduce the amount of oil to 1/2 cup from 3/4 cup!! Just a little tweak and deliciousness was ready to be devoured.
Looking back at all of the muffin recipes I have posted I was shocked that there was no bran muffins there!! Like really…everyone needs to have a healthy Bran Muffin recipe. So I went searching in my notes for my go-to recipe for bran muffins. This time I spiced it up a bit and the family thought they were delicious- didn’t tell them they were healthy too! For the fat in this recipe I decided to try olive oil instead of canola and with all of the spices you can’t distinguish the olive flavour, but because olive oil is so much better health wise you should try it.
The calendar says that today is the first day of Fall, but the thermometer says it is 26ºC! Record breaking temperatures here for the next few days – finally summer has arrived! But the pumpkins are in the grocery stores so that means baking must include roasted pumpkin. Pumpkin Apple Loaf with Crumble Topping has 3 healthy ingredients in it – pumpkin, banana and apple so indulge yourself.
Autumn is here…at least the apples are here! The colours are just starting to turn and all of the fall harvest is starting to appear at the farmers market. With all of the different varieties of apples out there you really have to try every apple recipe you can get your hands on. This recipe for Apple Brownie with Maple Frosting is just the one to bring out all of those fall flavours. For this brownie I used MacIntosh apples, but any tart apple would work just fine.
Sometimes a craving just hits you over the head. That’s what happened last weekend – I needed a slice of cheesecake. The fact that I also needed to make a birthday cake for two of my friends who both share the same birthday was a good reason to indulge. So Baked Cheesecake with Blackberry Sauce happened. This recipe for baked cheesecake isn’t all that difficult compared to some baked cheesecake recipes. It is the secret ingredient of yogurt that lightens the cheesecake and adds a bit of tang to the flavour.
Now first of all I want to apologize for the quality of the pictures! I forgot my camera at home and had to use my phone and the lighting wasn’t the best. But I think you can still appreciate the lightness and height of this yummy dessert.
The humid hot days of August are the perfect reason to make some luscious home-made ice cream. The combination of home-made vanilla ice cream and home-made blackberry raspberry jam creates an amazing flavour. This idea for Blackberry Raspberry Ice Cream sprang from an abundance of blackberries this year in our area. I have never seen the blackberries this huge and so many of them. Plus I had a craving for home-made ice cream so the stars had aligned in my kitchen.
Blueberry Zucchini Crumb Bars are the magical meeting of two worlds – fruit and vegetable! When the zucchini is cooked with lemon juice in this recipe it magically transforms into bits of apple. I’m not kidding you – everyone will swear that it is apple in with the blueberries, but you will know it really is zucchini. So it is the perfect backdrop for all of those zucchinis that are soon to show up dropped on your doorstep by the neighbourhood garden fairies.
SUMMER! Finally the garden’s bounty is starting to ripen – the most rewarding time of the year. With so many veggies waiting to be eaten this recipe lets you chop and throw it all together to make a most delicious salad. Summer Salad with Feta has just the right amount of crunch with creamy feta cheese and then the salt of the olives. That just means a bowl of YUM! The yellow and orange peppers are a perfect match for the sweet fresh cucumber and grape tomatoes.
Lately I have had a bit of an obsession with Browned Butter so I have been experimenting with substituting it in some of my favourite recipes. This cookie recipe for Brown Butter Pecan Cookies turned out divine if I do say so myself. The spices the butter is simmered in lend a dept of flavour to the dough plus the crunch of the pecans and toffee bits combines to make a really good cookie.
If you are looking for the perfect dessert to celebrate Canada’s 150th this is the one- Sponge Cake with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Strawberries! Delicious sponge cake, layered with vanilla whipped cream and fresh Ontario strawberries – dessert doesn’t get much better than this. Did I mention it is red and white? Canada’s colours showcased in a delicious cake that you can make ahead. White- vanilla whipped cream which is a stabilized cream meaning it will keep it’s form for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours. Of course it is cream which means you have to keep it refrigerated. Strawberries – finally fresh Ontario strawberries to make up the red colour in this decadent cake. Nothing tastes better than fresh local berries. These ones weren’t really local, just Ontario, but we will have local ones for July 1st I am sure. I will definitely be stopping at Emiry’s Berry Farm in Massey to get my load of berries for the long weekend!
