Cheesecake #3 (I have yet to write #2) of that one week where I somehow ended up making 3 cheesecakes. Some context: I was speaking with my coworker about all these cheesecakes I had on the to-do list, which he related back to his wife… so when I asked him what to bring to his potluck superbowl party, of course, he replied “cheesecake”. A bit more digging revealed that his wife’s a big fan of lemon, and, like most women (or people with common sense), chocolate… and thus the wheels began turning. I had been wanting to try doing a swirled top and an even layer of something within a cheesecake, so here was my attempt. Between the chocolate, hazelnut, and lemon, this turned out ridiculously Italian. Strongly suggested to be made if you have visiting friends from the Land of the Boot.

Lemon-Nutella Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Blood Oranges

Ingredients (Crust):

• 3/4 cup almond-vanilla granola
• 3 packaged organic instant maple oatmeal
• zest of 1/2 a lemon & 1/2 a blood orange
• 3-5 tblspn soy butter, melted

Ingredients (Cheesecake):

• 30 oz softened (room temp) full-fat cream cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• 1 egg (brown, cage-free, organic)
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup orange-mango juice (by simply orange)
• the zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• zest of 1/4 of a blood orange
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup AP flour
• 1/2 cup warmed nutella
• 3/4 cup warmed chocolate (use the double-boiler method, for dipping the orange slices)

Process:

1. To make the crust: melt the butter in a medium-sized bowl. In a food processor, process together the granola and oatmeal until thin, small chunks that are soft to the touch. Add to the butter, and add in the zest as well. Mix thoroughly until a thick paste forms. If too dry, add another tblspn of soy butter.
2. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and then place the crust in the bottom, pushing it up an inch around the sides and firmly pushing it into the bottom of the pan
3. For the cheesecake itself: Preheat yoru oven to 360 degrees, then start by mixing together the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer on low speed until fluffy and well-combined. This is the most crucial step- do this out of order and your cake will have strange texture, so make sure that cheese is SOFT!
4. Add in the sour cream and continue beating on the lowest speed, slowly incorporating. Beat in the egg, then add the milk, still slowly incorporating. Add the orange juice, zest, lemon juice, blood orange juice, salt, and vanilla – mix until just combined and smooth.
5. Lastly, mix in the flour, until juuuuust combined. Do NOT overmix, and don’t go over the bottom speed of your stand mixer / electric mixer… you don’t want to hurry this.
6. Pour half the batter you’ve just made into your prepared springform pan. Then pour the warmed nutella over the half-batter and spread it evenly, keeping about a half-inch margin around the sides of non-nutella-ness (see photos below) as it will run and expand and you’d rather it not burn against the sides. Then pour in the remaining batter.
7. Take a little extra warmed nutella and pour thin ribbons of it onto the top of your cake. Then, taking a skewer/toothpick/etc, swirl this around until you get a pretty pattern.
8. Into the oven it goes for an hour’s time. After an hour, turn off your oven and let the cheesecake hang out there overnight or for the next 6 hours or so. While your cake is baking, dip slices of your blood orange (the one you earlier zested and partly juiced) and coat about 3/4 of the way up. Dip them then in large-grain candy sugar, then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer while your cake hangs out in the oven.
9. After the cake is done oven-itizing, place the blood orange slices on top, add chocolate shavings if that wasn’t enough for you, and cool in the fridge. It’ll be ready for eating in 2-3 hours’ time.

That’s it! Quite simple once you get through my wordiness, and will quickly make you seem sophisticated and Italian. They love lemon, and after this cake, you’re likely to as well. The longer you let the cake sit in the fridge (as in number of days, not hours) the more the lemon flavour will intesify and play off the nutella as they mingle and meet, so…. eat this one slowly so you can appreciate its flavour maturing as you go. Mmmh.

The best part about this torte should have been the pear- using canned pear was my mistake, but everything else about this torte was utterly fantastic. I’ll redo it next time by lightly poaching some pear halves and it’ll be lovely. I highly suggest you make it as it’s a) incredibly simple, and b) incredibly delicious. The crunch of the crust pairs (hah… pears) so nicely with the creaminess of the creamcheese mixture and the texture of the pears.

Pear Cheesecake Torte

Adapted from Cafecherie

Ingredients:

• 1 stick room-temperature organic butter
• two half-cups of granulated sugar
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 brick cream cheese (full-fat for best results, organic)
• 1 egg (organic, cage-free, brown)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 sliced peeled pears

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Beat the butter and 1 of the half-cups of sugar until light and fluffy. Once fluffy, add in the flour and mix until well combined. Take your dough (oh, that’s what you were doing!) and spread it firmly on the bottom and about an inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform (you’ll be glad you can remove the bottom)
3. Beat together the cream cheese and the remaining sugar in the same bowl from earlier (no need to wash!) until well blended. Once well combined, add in the egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Spread your cheesecake-y mixture evenly over crust the crust. 
4. Sprinkle the pears (peeled and cored) with some sugar, the cinnamon, and place in 1-2 tblspn of butter into a pan to lightly cook/soften them. Once soft, arrange them over the cream cheese mixture. At this point, feel free to sprinkle on almonds – the sister’s not a fan, so I decided to forego them.
5. Bake the torte in the middle of the oven for  10 min at the original temperature, then reduce the temperature to 375°F and continue baking for an additional 25 min.
6. Cool on a wire rack until cool enough to put in the fridge; then have it hang out there for 2-3 hours so it can settle into its cheesecakeyness happily before you get to munching upon it.

The wait time once cooked does test you, but it’s worth it – you’ve got cheesecake, tart, and soft baked fruit all in one dessert…. for added deliciousness, take some pear nectar and reduce it with vanilla, a little cinnamon, and a tiny bit of brown sugar to make a syrup drizzle to go on top!

These are the fluffiest chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat. If you don’t believe me, look at the picture and see for your own eyes. They are ncredibly ooey and gooey, may not be cooked through (I’m told this is a plus), and will melt in your mouth. I really don’t feel the need to say much more than that – just make yourself a batch!

Fluffiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Puffy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Levain Bakery Copycat)

Ingredients:

• 1 stick cold organic butter, cut into small cubes
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firlmy packed
• 2 tblspn granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, cold (cage-free, organic, brown)
• 2.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 & 3/4 cup unbleached AP flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 heaping tsp salt
• 1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (suggestion: guittard fair trade!)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & prep your Silpat (or parchment paper) onto a large baking sheet.
2. Beat the cold butter and sugar until barely combined (not creamed, not fluffy, not runny- still very cold) Then beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
3. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, then add them in 2 batches to the wet dough. Once mixed together, add in the chocolate chips, and be liberal with them! You only make puffy chocolate cookies for the first time once :)
4. Using an ice cream scooper, scoop out the cookie dough onto your baking sheet and then freeze the baking sheet for 10 minutes. The taller your mounds of cookie dough, the more puffy (and undercooked in the center) your cookies will be.
5. Bake your cookies for 11-13 minutes or until the outsides are lightly browned and the insides are mostly done – or, if you’re like most of my friends, purposefully undercook these guys so they’ll be mushy masterpieces. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes or as long as your willpower holds… then devour.

They’re waiting for you. Will you make a batch? They’ll make you new friends, repair problems relationships with old ones, perhaps even pave your way to lifetime luck and happiness. Try it out for yourself :)

For the New Year, the boyfriend and I were invited to his parents’ house for a potluck party. As is often the case, I was expected to bring a cake :). I was looking for something simple, fruit-based, light, and not very sweet. I decided to do something traditional and went with a light, almond spongey cake topped with whipped cream and a ton of fruits. It’s a very simple cake, and a great way to showcase delicious fresh fruit that’s in season, so it’s also easily editable for different times of year. Best of all, it appeals to a large audience as it’s something that really plays on the simplicity of clean flavours.

Fruit & Almond Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs (brown, cage-free, organic)
• 1/2 cup organic skim milk (no rBST!)
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• scant 1 cup cake flour
• 2 tblspn soy butter, softened to room temp
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• LOTS of fresh, seasonal fruit
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup apricot jelly (organic, without too much added sugar)

Process:

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease a 9-inch springform pan.
2. In your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time (be sure to really do them one at a time. trust me on this.)
3. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, and milk and beat on low until just combined. Then add the flour and barely mix enough- as soon as the flour is incorporated, stop beating.
4. Pour the mixture into your cake pan (and place it on a baking sheet), baking for about 25 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is spongey). Remove from cake pan and place on a wire rack to cool.
5. Once cooled thoroughly, cut the cake in half to make two layers, and beat the cream into a whipped cream (adding 2-3 tsp of sugar halfway through to make it a bit sweet).
6. Place a layer of whipped cream and some fruit on the first layer of the cake, then add on layer 2 and spread the remaining whipped cream over the entire two layers of the cake (and sides).
7. Arrange fresh fruit on top as desired and brush the apricot jelly (warmed in the microwave) over everything to make a nice shiny glaze.

Yum, right? It’s simple, it’s not too guilt-inducing, and it’ll please the whole family. Make one for your next spring or summer potluck and take advantage of ripe stone fruit, fresh berries, melons, citrus…. so many options! I plan to make one again soon with different fruits and maybe a thin layer of marzipan halfway up the cake for added almond flavour :). Sprinkle on toasted almond slivers for a final touch or powder on some confectioner’s sugar in a pretty shape.

Happy birthday wishes to my best friend and sister, for whom this cake was baked :). I’ve been making my sister’s birthday cake off and on since her- correct me if I’m wrong here, E- 16th year and for her 22nd I asked for her to choose – and after long deliberation, she decided on the following: a fudge brownie, topped with a vanilla bean cheesecake, encased in white chocolate frosting, topped with strawberries and caramel. We ended up leaving out the brownie layer for fear of giving her birthday guests heart attacks, but kept the rest of this sinfully rich cake’s attributes. Thus I present to you the first of a series of three cheesecakes made recently (and according to my parents, the best of the three).

Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Cheesecake

Adapted from Simply Scratch’s New York Cheesecake

Ingredients (Cake Crust):

• 8 whole honey graham crackers, roughly cut into large pieces
• 12 nilla wafers minis
• 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients (Cake):

• 4 pck of cream cheese (and I’m sorry to say this but you really need all 16oz to be full-fat)
• 1 & 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup whole milk (no rBST!!)
• 4 eggs (cage-free, brown, organic)
• 1 & 1/2 cup sour cream (again, not light!)
• scant 1/4 cup AP flour (King Arthur)
• 2 tblspn vanilla extract
• 1 tblspn vanilla bean paste

Ingredients (Icing):

• 1 pckg (about 12 oz) white chocolate chips (guittard, ghirardelli, etc- just not nestle or other substandard choices)
• 2 tblspn soy butter
• 1/3 heaping cup heavy/double cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• dash of salt
• for garnish: fresh strawberry halves, caramel

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-inch springform (the spring really, really helps)
2. Get your food processor and place into it the graham and nilla wafer crackers. Pulse until a thick, coarse, somewhat-chunky meal emerges. Then get a medium-sized bowl and into it place the melted butter and vanilla. Then mix in the cracker mixture until it’s a thick, gooey mess and press that into the bottom of the pan going up an inch or so up the sides (or as high as you’d like, really, depending on how thick you like your crust to be)   
3. Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed until smooth, but NOT liquid- you want to retain the thickness of the texture here.
4. Add in the milk and stir briefly on low- then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just barely so that they’re incorporated. Don’t add them all at once as this will adversely affect the texture!
5. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla, and flour until smooth, still being careful to keep the whole mixture thick- then pour everything into the springform and place the entire cake on a baking sheet.
6. Bake the cakefor an hour at 350 degrees, then- and this will sound strange- turn the oven off and leave the cake to hang out for 5 or 6 hours, or overnight. Be sure not to open the oven door after you turn it off so it keeps steaming slowly. Then cool it in the fridge until ready – these get better with age, so I suggest making it a few days ahead of time.
7. Once it’s had ample cooling time (a few hours), prepare the icing- place all the icing ingredients in a medium saucepan and mix together until melted. Take off the heat and allow to thicken for 2 minutes- then spread over cake and cool for another several hours. Shortly before serving, add on strawberries and caramel.

It’s not too sweet, and it’s just rich enough – the age and topping make the difference, and the white chocolate icing gives it something sophisticated (along with the vanilla bean in the cake itself). This is a modified take on a classic, and one that a great variety of folks can enjoy. My sister loved it :) so it served its purpose! Happy birthday, lovely, and an exciting year 22 for you!!

Also known as the Sebastian Cake, this four-layer heavyweight was brought into existence for the birthday of a good friend and coworker of mine. All the guys from work were going to be over at the apartment that weekend for a retreat, so clearly cake needed to be involved (fall 2010… I’m still catching up!) I wanted this to be a special surprise and thus cunningly- if I do say so myself- asked Seb his cake preferences, and got to work.

As seems to be traditionally the case with my making layer cakes, the first two layers weren’t thick enough, so I baked an additional one- which rose to the occasion (far more than expected)- resulting in a taller cake than initially intended, but hey, who’s going to complain about having more cake?

This cake follows a roadmap of fudge brownie bottom, followed by moist white-chocolate vanilla cake encased between white chocolate ganache, vanilla buttercream, chocolate ganache, and double-chocolate cake. The whole thing is then encased in a thick layer of hardened dark chocolate ganache, liberally hosed with runny white chocolate ganache, and topped with Callebeaut bittersweet shavings. Yes, it’s a doozy. So, naturally, you’d like a piece, right? :)

Tuxedo Layer Cake

Note: For the ingredients and process for baking each cake layer, as these closely resemble cakes already posted on Fruippe, please use the ingredients listed here and the process described on that recipe’s page, altering as needed to take into account the slightly-modified ingredients list.

Ingredients (Brownie Layer):

• 2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate (chips, baker’s chocolate, you pick!)
• 1/2 cup soy butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons organic canola oil
• 3 teaspoons 2x vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs (cage-free!)
• 1 & 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup (slightly heaping) AP flour (preferably organic)
• 2-3 tablespoons cold water (based on your texture preference)

Ingredients (Chocolate Cake Layer):

• 2 whole eggs (brown, organic, cage-free)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil (make sure it’s fresh!)
• 1 tblspn vanilla extract (feel free to be liberal with this one)
• 1 cup light sour cream
• scant 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips, melted
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1.5 cups self-rising flour

Ingredients (White Chocolate Cake Layer):

• 1 & 1/3 cups King Arthur organic cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup white chocolate chips, melted
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 3 large cage-free eggs
• 1 cup plain low-fat Stonyfield organic yogurt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup organic canola oil

Ingredients (Chocolate & White Chocolate Ganaches): For the ganache portion, the below ingredients correspond to the chocolate ganache; repeat and switch out the chocolate chips for white chocolate chips and voila, you have the white chocolate ganache :)

• 1/2 cup (one stick) salted butter (I’m so sorry, I know it’s a lot…)
• 1 bag (usually 12 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips (suggestion: ghirardelli or guittard)
• 4 tblspn skim milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients (Vanilla Buttercream):

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temp (I know, I know, so much butter, I’m sorry!)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• approx. 2 lb confectioner’s sugar

Process:

1. Assemble in the following order:
2. Take out a heavyweight plate or cakestand and begin assembling. First, place the fudge brownie layer on the bottom- then coat with a light layer of ganache followed by a thicker layer of the vanilla buttercream.
3. Now add on the first vanilla cake layer, and top that with a good layer of the vanilla buttercream followed by some of the chocolate ganache.
4. Add on the chocolate cake layer, and top that one with a thick layer of the white chocolate ganache.
5. Now add on the final vanilla cake layer and top that one with some of the buttercream and white chocolate ganache. Use all of the buttercream that’s left- or store the leftovers in the fridge for when you’ll feel guilty at midnight because you should have been working but really just want frosting.
6. Spread on a thick layer of the chcolate ganache so that it coats the entire cake. Let it harden a bit, then drizzle the remaining white chocolate ganache on top and shave the callebeaut (or whatever block chocolate you desire) on before it hardens so it can settle into the ganache a bit.

…you probably were better off not knowing what went into it, but it’s too late now. If you’re looking for a showy cake that can feed an army of young men, then this is the cake for you! It’s a sugary overload and very intense, but… well… it was fun :)

This cake is the image of decadence: four layers of chocolate cake with toblerone pieces melted into the batter, layered in between dark chocolate ganache, encased in a rich chocolate cream cheese buttercream, topped with more chocolate ganache and mini toblerones…. need I say more? :)

A coworker of mine recently celebrated her 30th anniversary of being at our company- a great achievement!- and I knew celebrations needed to be underway. She’s a fantastic lady and helped me on my first project when I began working there, and I wanted to thank her for her kindness and friendship through the means I find easiest- cake.

January was a milestone in that it was my first month of beginning cakes in which I don’t even consult a recipe for proportions or basics – February is a milestone for icings and ganache to join that list. I’m happy to say I’m now able to complete an entire layer cake fully from scratch, lack of recipe included- something that’s made me quite happy. :)

This guy is big and heavy- the four layers will weigh on you, and if you’re looking to exercise your arms, cake weights can definitely do it- but well worth it. It’s really rich and can easily feed a very large group of people (I think 20-25) so it’s ideal for party/birthday size.

Chocolate Toblerone Layer Cake

Ingredients- Cake: You’ll be making this twice, so you’ll need double of all the cake ingredients. Written here is the recipe for ONE cake (which will make 2 layers)

• 2 whole eggs (brown, organic, cage-free)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil (make sure it’s fresh!)
• 1 tblspn vanilla extract (feel free to be liberal with this one)
• 1 cup light sour cream
• scant 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup toblerone, melted
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1.5 cups self-rising flour

Ingredients- Ganache:

• 1/2 cup (one stick) salted butter (I’m so sorry, I know it’s a lot…)
• 1 bag (usually 12 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips (suggestion: ghirardelli or guittard)
• 4 tblspn skim milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients- Frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temp (I know, I know, so much butter, I’m sorry!)
• 2 packages (8 oz each) light cream cheese, softened to room temp
• 1/4 cup of the above chocolate ganache
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• approx. 1 lb confectioner’s sugar

Process:

1. Heat oven to 355 degrees F and get out two large mixing bowls. Grease two 9-inch springform pans.
2. Crack 2 eggs and whisk with 2/3 C sugar in each bowl. Then add in the 1 cup of sour cream to each bowl and whisk until smooth.
3. Add canola oil (still to each bowl!) and whisk again until smooth. Then add vanilla, cocoa powder, salt, and milk, and still whisk until smooth. Now add the melted toblerone and it’ll become a thicker, darker batter. Lastly, whisk in the flour slowly until JUST combined – do not overmix so as to not toughen the cake.
4. Pour the batter into your two greased 9-inch springforms and place both on a large baking sheet. Place baking sheet in oven. The cakes will need to bake for approximately 30-35 minutes. Set your timer for 30 minutes and check with a toothpick after the 30-minute mark. If the toothpick has liquid-y chocolate-y-ness upon it, return to oven and check again in 5 minutes. Repeat process (these can be finnicky) until your toothpick is fully or almost clean.
5. While the cakes are baking, place all ganache ingredients in a small stockpot over medium heat and melt together, stirring the entire time to make sure nothing dries or clumps. Once melted, let it sit on low heat for another 10 minutes – then turn off and leave alone to cool.
6. Remove your finished cakes from the oven and open the springforms. Place on a wire rack (leave the metal bottom for now if it’s sticky- remove if it’ll come off easily) to cool for at least 2 hours.
7. While your cakes cool, you can prepare the buttercream frosting: Place cream cheese in a stand mixer bowl (or large mixing bowl and get out your electric handheld mixer) and mix until smooth. Then add butter and continue mixing until it’s a thick, smooth paste. Add vanilla and 1/4 cup of the chocolate ganache that has now cooled a bit. You’ll get a light-brown goopy mixture. Now, begin pouring in the confectioner’s sugar gradually as it continues to beat until you reach your desigred consistency- it should be stiff enough to where you could pipe shapes but soft enough to where if you press upon it lightly, you’ll make an indention with your finger.
8. Tip: If you’re worried about pieces of cake showing through your frosting, add a bit of vanilla bean paste to the icing. The little spots will camouflage any cake pieces that get unattached from the cake and join the icing party.
9. Once the cakes are cooled, cut each in half to make two fairly even layers (I use a large serrated bread knife to do this).
10. Begin assembly: place one layer cut-side up on a plate. Using a silicone spatula or icing utensil, spread on about 1/4 of the chocolate ganache. Spread ALMOST to the edges but leave a centimeter or so un-ganache-d: when you press on subsequent layers, the frosting will ooze to the sides, so this will create an even layering.
11. Continue alternating adding on layers of cake and frosting on the ganache. Reserve at least 1/4 cup (preferably 1/2 or 2/3 cup) of ganache for the top of the cake.
12. Once all four layers are assembled, let stand 10-15 minutes so the ganache hardens into the cake (this way it won’t disturb your buttercream). Then, using a frosting utensil again (rinsed), spread on your icing. I start by placing most of it in the top center of the cake, then slowly moving it out to the sides, over the sides, and around, so that it’s fairly even.
13. You can then pipe designs around the top and bottom if you like, or just go straight to pouring on the ganache haphazardly. Top with mini toblerones so as to alert your guests of the degree of yummyness to be found inside the cake.
14. Chill overnight so the icing settles – or at least a few hours. Then devour.

Those instructions are long, but that’s just me being wordy – it’s not a difficult cake to make at all, and quite delicious. It’s very rich, so don’t plan on eating too large a piece, but hey, that just encourages sharing :). You can always halve the recipe, make it in a 6-inch mini springform, and make a smaller version of the cake.

This was, I think, my favourite cake I’ve made so far. Imagine, if you will, a rich, gooey cream cheese danish… topped with candied apricots… and a sticky, syrupy coating. Upside-down fruit cakes with syrups seem to be my “it cake” of the moment and I’m experimenting around- so far apricot, pear, and peach have been brought to the table, and any other large stone fruit is liable to be next. This works equally well with canned or fresh ripe fruit, is rather quick to make, and utterly delicious. It’s not overly sweet, and has a richness that you just can’t beat. Best of all, it’s very adaptable- you can add and remove fat as desired- yes, this will affect the texture, but the overall taste should remain about the same.

Apricot Cream Cake

Ingredients- cake:

• 1 & 1/4 cup self-rising flour
• 1 package (8 oz) plain cream cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3 whole eggs (brown, cage-free, organic)
• 2 tblspn soy butter, melted
• 1 tblspn vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 heaping cup granulated sugar
• 1 can apricot halves in pear juice concentrate (NOT syrup)

Ingredients- syrup:

• 1/3 can Kern’s apricot or apricot-mango or pear nectar (you pick!)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tblspn raw honey

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 335 degrees F
2. Grease an oval baker and then coat lightly with sugar. Place apricot halves face-down in the pattern of your choice onto the sugared dish and set aside.
3. Cream together the cream cheese and sugar until the cheese is fully softened and a thick paste emerges. Then mix in the sour cream until it, too, is fully incorporated in a tick, heavy cream.
4. Mix the eggs in one at a time , whisking after each addition. Then add in the vanilla, melted butter, and salt.
5. Add about 1/4 cup of the pear juice concentrate from the can and mix into the batter.
6. Add the flour and (now using a wooden or silicone spoon) mix in until just combined. Check the texture- it should be thick and glompy (see photo below) and hold its shape rather well. If it’s too thick, add a bit more pear juice concentrate from the apricot can; if it’s too thin, add more flour. The thicker the texture, the more danish-like the cake will be, so adjust the texture to your liking.
7. Place in oven to bake for approx 30-35 minutes or until golden-brown on top. Try wiggling the pan and if the middle wiggles (or place a skewer in to check done-ness) then put it back in. Don’t worry about slightly overcooking- the syrup will moisten the cake.
8. While the cake is baking, place all syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat to medium- cook it through until a thick syrup emerges, then turn off the heat and let it cool.
9. When the cake is baked, remove from oven and poke multiple holes in it using a skewer/toothpick. Let sit 5 minutes, then pour on the syrup, making sure to coat the sides as well as the top of the cake.
10. It’s yummiest if left out overnight to imbibe in the syrup-y goodness and should be refrigerated starting the next day.

Trust me when I say that this is an absolutely delicious cake, not hard or strenuous to make, and totally worth it. I’ve been doing multiple variations on it (trying out different fruits on top, different quantites of cream cheese and sour cream, caramel and syrup toppings) and it’s amazing every time. :)

These would have been so amazing had they worked out. They were totally delicious and felt like melting clouds, but boy was the texture all wrong. Macarons are insane- that’s my conclusion on life. It’s the ultimate test of timing, because you have to start with a meringue- which is evil by nature- but the piping on these, not to mention the precise baking- they can easily burn from both the bottom and the top- is far too complicated. We tried one batch and they got burnt; and batch number two never fully set and I had to painfully scrape them off the silpat days later after hanging out in the freezer in vain.

My lovely friends Z and M (Z = the one who was over before for hummus and palmiers) joined me for an evening of baking. I didn’t have the lovely stand mixer I gifted myself for the holidays at the time, and so M brought hers (arms of steel for bringing that thing up to the fourth floor!) and the macaron attempt began.

We failed miserably but that’s beside the point, right? They were yummy, we had fun, and there you go.

Vanilla Bean Macarons with Raspberry-Vanilla Cream

Failed Attempted at Technicolor Kitchen’s Beautiful Macarons

I was going to write out the recipe for these but we’re clearly not qualified. Not even the texture of the cream was right. All I’ll suggest there is that the fresh raspberry as a substitute for the roasted strawberry was delicious. But don’t take any other macaron advice from me ;). I’ll add to this post if we try again and get a more successful result!

…At least they look kind of nice?

So it’s now been nearly a month and a half since I last posted and a) I feel guilty about it, b) I’ve certainly been baking and cooking a ton, so there’s a bunch of catching up to do, and c) I may be a bit lethargic concerning the backlog. That said, I’m going to try my best to go in order and hope to catch up and be up-to-date soon. The boyfriend moving in, our re-organizing the place, and having some busy times at work have made for less posting time, but… here’s to finally documenting some of these.

When I asked the boyfriend what the one thing he’d like me to make for him was, he asked for cream cheese danishes. They’re his favourite pastry, and knew I had threatened to make them once before, so…. worth a shot, right? A quick investigate online yielded the following results: these things tend to be tricky to make when doing so completely from scratch, and quite unhealthy. Most cheat by using crescent rolls for the dough, and I wasn’t going to have any of that! Thus, I decided to make them up completely on the spot. Luckily, they turned out quite yummy! While the dough is on the drier side, the filling is incredibly moist and makes it a fabulous combination. Mmmmh. I’m actually considering making some after having looked at this…

Cream Cheese Danishes

Ingredients (yields 12 medium-sized danishes):

Dough:

• 1/4 cup sour cream (full-fat for best results, I’m afraid)
• 1/2 cup neufchatel cheese (low-fat cream cheese)
• 1/2 cup organic half ‘n half
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tblspn organic soy butter
• 1 tblspn organic vegetable shortening
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 & 1/2 cups organic AP flour
• 1.5 tblspn baking powder

Filling:

• 8 oz. neufchatel cheese (1 package)
• 1/3 + 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp organic AP flour

Glaze:

• 1 tblspn condensed milk
• 1 tblspn organic skim milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly butter a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 tsp organic AP flour and set aside.
2. Place wet dough ingredients (sour cream, neufchatel, 1/2 & 1/2, vanilla, soy butter, shortening, and sugar) in food processor and process for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth.
3. Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and mix together. Add to mixture in the food processor and and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (be sure not to overprocess- this will toughen the dough).
4. Emtpy the dough onto a flour countertop and knead gently into a ball (kneading process should only take about 20-30 seconds) .
5. With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle (about 1/2 cm thick). Using a pastry cutter, cut the rectangle into long strands, about 1-inch thick.
6. Take two strands at a time and intertwine them into small nest-like shapes. You can make these as thin as you like or use only one strand per nest if you’d like smaller danishes.
7. Place the nests on the baking sheet, about 2 inches at least apart- they will puff and expand!
8. Prepare the filling: place all filling ingredients in food processor and pulse until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Spoon the mixture in to the middle of the nests, about 1 tblspn of filling per nest, or until the hollowed-area is filled but not overflowing (it will run out a bit if it becomes thicker than the crust)
9. Place the baking sheet with the nests into the oven for approx 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are becoming a light golden brown.
10. While the danishes are baking, prepare the glaze: place the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. You may need more or less powdered sugar, add this bit by bit until the glaze has some body to it.
11. Place the baked danishes on a wire rack to cool. Place the baking sheet under the wire rack and spoon on the glaze – cover as thoroughly as you like. You can also glaze once, let it dry a bit, and then glaze a second time. The sugar content is up to you! :)

These were realllllllllllly good. They’re relatively simple, are sure to impress (turns out most people don’t make their own danish dough. or fake danish dough, at any rate) – and can be a delicious tea time snack or breakfast-food. Plus, check out that texture. You know you want to bite into it and feel the creamy, gooey goodness of cheese.

One of my happiest childhood memories is of baking tarte aux pommes with my mother. I wouldn’t necessarily eat it- for many years I was much more a fan of la tarte a la noix de coco -  coconut tart. Mmmh. I’m smiling happily just thinking about it :) My mother is a terrific baker, but her tarts are fantastic. She has the crust-to-filling ratio down to a science, knows the exact thickness the crust should be for each area (top, bottom, angles, sides, corners)…

Recently when I was home, my mother suggested we make tarte aux pommes together. Naturally, I was ecstatic – we had spoken of it in the past few months but had never gotten around to it. After we made the tart together – I was watching with even more avid interest than before- she kindly wrote down the recipe for me (“From an old maïzena (a cornstarch brand, I can’t remember the name now) recipe, I think” she tells me). Herein I shall share this delicious tart recipe. The best part? It’s so incredibly simple, and so good.

A quick note: The pictures here are from my recreation of it a few days later (we had some leftover tart dough). I used the leftover dough to make the minis and made a new crust for the large tart. You’ll notice that the colour is much lighter and the texture seems more crumbly and frail- that would be of two major changes. I used soy butter in place of real butter- much to my mother’s dismay, the French feel strongly in needing real butter for pastry- and potato starch in favour of corn starch. Both were delicious, just different- it’s difficult to compare.

You’ll be surprised at how few ingredients are in this- the filling is so simple, but the baked applesauce is delicious, and the texture of the apple slices on top, divine. So good!

Traditional French Apple Tart

Adapted from my mother’s recipe, from a maïzena container, long ago

Ingredients (makes one large 9-inch tart):

• 130 grams unsalted butter, semi-chilled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used soy butter)
• 4 egg yolks (cage-free, brown, organic eggs)
• 14 soup spoons (my mother was very insistent on using this! “Americans never use the right spoon measurements”) granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups organic AP flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch (for a more crumbly consistency, try potato starch)
• 1/2 – 2/3 jar of unsweetened, all-natural applesauce (depending on your preference)
• 1-2 medium-sized apples, peeled, cored, sliced very thinly (my mother used Granny Smith; I used Pink Ladies)

Process:

1. Place butter (cubed) and sugar in a large mixing bowl using a pastry cutter (not sure what to call this… my mother kindly gave me one… it’s plastic, round-ish (with an inward area), and hand-held) to cut the butter into the sugar.
2. Once these are well mixed together, crack in the egg yolks and cut the yolks into the butter-sugar mixture using the same round baking tool. Pour in vanilla and mix until the whole mixture has a brownish colour.
3. Sift together the flour and corn or potato starch into a small bowl. Pour into the liquid mixture in 2-3 batches, mixing together efficiently (still with the round thing) but being careful to NOT overmix. The more you mix, the tougher the dough will get.
4. Once the dough is in a ball and has reached a good texture (a bit sticky, but not falling apart by any means) – you can add milk if the dough is too dry and a bit of flour if it is too sticky – set aside and butter your tart pan.
5. Preheat your oven to 360 degrees F.
6. Place the dough in the middle of the pan, and use the heel of your palm to press it up into the sides of the pan, making sure it’s evenly distributed onto the sides.
7. Spoon the applesauce into the tart pan until it is about 70-75% of the way full. Then layer on the apple slices in a flower or row pattern.
8. Bake the tart for 30-40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the apples are slightly crisped on the edges. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes, then serve warm with cinnamon and vanilla ice cream; OR, allow to cool overnight and eat at room temperature (or chilled)- it’s delicious any way you have it!

Honestly, this is a terrific thing for snack, dessert, breakfast… try all of them! You can try other starches, other flours… you could probably make this one vegan, perhaps even gluten-free! I shall experiment more later. :)

PS if you’re confused about the other, odd-looking tarts… those are coconut. It’s just two egg yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of coconut, and 1 tsp of vanilla. I should have removed them from the oven a bit earlier, but… still good!

Yes, I realize they’re a bit overdone and not all that original, but that’s beside the point :). So we held a tropical, Hawaiian-themed Fourth of July picnic at work… and it was a potluck… and so of course I was expected to come bearing sweets. I decided upon the obvious but simple (I was seeing Eclipe with my sister and very close friend the night before and thus needed a do-ahead recipe) and settled on these pineapple cupcakes. They were rather good! There was some confusion, however, as to their assembly: to make transportation easier, I opted to bring the icing (which was, admittedly, fairly runny- more of a glaze than an icing, really) in a small bowl and allow everyone to dunk their cupcakes individually. Unfortunately, despite my having labeled ‘cupcakes!’ and ‘dunking station!’ few seemed to ice their cupcakes. But this is okay – those who understood it, enjoyed it (and ended up with some very sticky fingers aftward). Should you follow this recipe, I’d suggest removing the wrappers prior to dunking… or baking in silicone cups and not worrying about baking cups alltogether.

Tropical Pineapple-Coconut Cupcakes

Adapted from Pineapple Meringue Cupcakes at A Good Apetite

Ingredients:

• 3/4 heaping cup AP organic flour
• 1/2  heaping teaspoon baking powder (make sure it’s fresh!)
• 2 tablespoons soy butter, room temperature/ soft
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg (cage-free, brown)
• 1 teaspoon 2x extra strength vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• Just under 1/4 cup organic skim milk
• 1/8 cup apricot nectar
• 1 small can pineapple pieces (small) in juice (NOT syrup)
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut

Icing/Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 box jell-o vanilla instant pudding mix (weird, I know)
• 1/3 cup low-fat smart balance sour cream
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/4 tsp 2x extra strength vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon apricot nectar
• 2 tablespoons organic skim milk
• 1/4 cup pineapple chunks in juice (not strained)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 36 muffin cups with liners
2. Briskly cream together the soy butter, sugar, egg, & vanilla extract until light & fluffy. Then beat in the milk and apricot nectar.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the liquid mixture in 2-3 portions, being sure not to overmix.
5. Fold in the pineapple and coconut until just mixed. Do not overmix!
6. Fill the muffin tins until they are about 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden brown.
7. For the icing, combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse until combined. Chill glaze thoroughly before dipping cupcakes. Top with fresh pineapple chunks and toasted coconut for decoration.

They’re cute, and rather good, if you’re the tropical sort, so try them out! They’re certainly convenient for potlucks or transport if you ice them separately, and for those who catch the hint, dunking stations are quite a bit of fun… interactivity + food = stupendous :).